As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner

Title: As Bright As Heaven
Author: Susan Meissner
Publisher: Berkley
📖📖📖📖/5

The Bright family is new to Philadelphia when they move after the death of their son. The Brights move in with their uncle who runs a funeral home in the city. Just as they are getting used to life in the big city, Philadelphia (and the world) is hit by the Spanish Flu. The family watches as loved ones and friends are taken by a disease and their home fills with the bodies of the dead. In the midst of the death, they find a baby boy and take him in as their own. Together, they learn how to heal and move on in a world that has drastically changed.

I love historical fiction...but I don't mean the cheesy love/romance historical fiction you can find in the grocery store paperback section. I mean the kind where when you are finished, you felt like you were there. Like it could have been a true story. As Bright As Heaven fits that bill. Meissner beautifully describes a city many of us have seen, but not in the light of the 1920s when the world was being decimated by an unseen disease. I very much enjoyed Meissner's writing style.

The story is seen from four viewpoints: Pauline (the mother) Evelyn, Maggie and Willa (her daughters). I did enjoy hearing different accounts of what was going on through the eyes of different people. It did get a bit hard to follow at times, but those times were rare. If there was only one thing that bugged me, it was that the father did not get a point of view as well. I know that would have meant more stories to keep track of, but he was part of the family and it was sad we never got to hear his thoughts. Especially later in the story.

In all, I highly recommend this story for historical fiction lovers as well as general reading lovers alike.

#reading #books #bookofthemonth #botm #susanmeissner #berkley #penguinbooks #philadelphia #historicalfiction #spanishflu

Just Some Thoughts

I don't usually sit and reflect before I write a new review, but I thought I would try it this time. And what better place to sit and think about books than a library? The local High School's in fact. So here's some of what I'm thinking...

If you're a part of GoodReads, you know there are book challenges. Ones where you set a goal to read a certain amount of books by the end of the year. Mine is 40 currently and so far I have read 11. I like the challenge because it gets me reading more instead of maybe surfing the internet or staring at the TV all day. Plus I am reading some books I don't think I would have read otherwise. But there are some things about the challenge that have made me think as well.

Does having a "challenge" make you enjoy reading more or make it more of a race or a chore? While I'm reading books at a faster pace than in the past, I don't know if I am really enjoying the books I'm reading. I'm just reading them to get them done rather than really sitting and enjoying them the way I should be. Then on top of that, I participate in NetGalley too and they need a review in a timely manner. That just makes me want to read the book even faster on top of having to really think about whether my review will be productive or not. So much pressure!

But none of these "problems" are really that big of a deal. In the end, if I just go at the pace I'm comfortable at and I stop to reflect a bit on the book that I'm reading, I think I can overcome these thoughts and get back to the core of reading. What do you guys think? Anyone out there have any thoughts like these? :)

Happy Tuesday!

#books #reading #randomthoughts #bookreviews #tuesday #netgalley #bookchallenge #goodreads

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

The Silent Companions
By: Laura Purcell
Published By: Penguin Books
📖📖📖📖.5/5
//I received this ARC for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review//

The Silent Companions is the creepy story of a woman, Elsie, who inherits her husband's estate after he dies suddenly. She finds herself in an eerie town that doesn't seem quite right. Not even the home she comes to live in is comforting with less than welcoming servants that want nothing to do with her. To make matters worse, she finds a wooden figure, a companion, in a locked room that looks a lot like herself. Are these wooden figures really "companions" to make her feel less alone or are they something more?

I have to hand it to Purcell. There aren't too many books that properly freak me out and stick with me, but this is one of them. Who wouldn't be freaked out to find some creepy wooden figures in a room? It doesn't matter if they look friendly or not. I'm not going to be comfortable around that. Purcell knows just how much detail to use to make the reader uncomfortable without the story seeming fake. The reader slowly gets introduced to Elsie's background in a way that builds the story without throwing it in your face. Closer to the end of the story you wonder whether or not Elise is really the woman she says she is. Is she really insane? Are the companions really in her head?

I would write more, but I think it would give away too much about the story. Overall, I would highly recommend this book to horror lovers, historical fiction lovers and basically any reader at all. It is that good of a story. It doesn't just speak to one genre. I'd love to read more by this author for sure!

#books #horror #historicalfiction #penguinbooks #laurapurcell #netgalley #creepy #nowreading