That Happy Reader

5 Books To Look Out For In March 2021

Sunday, February 21, 2021

Hi everyone! Today I'm highlighting 5 books which publish in March that may be of interest to you. These books have not been previewed in my Sunday Spotlight, but are on my reading radar either to buy or borrow from my local library. Here are my March 2021 selections:

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron falls into the Contemporary Romance genre. In this book, Reena Manji is dissatisfied with her career, her single marital status and the way her family meddles in her life. Thankfully, she has her sourdough starters to keep her happy. When her matchmaking father moves a new employee, Nadim, across the hallway, Farah realizes that she feels an attraction. The two strike a friendship and later a fake engagement in order to qualify for a couples artisan bread cooking contest. Will spending more time together lead to more than friendship?

Publication Date: March 2, 2021 by Forever, 384 pages.

Add Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron to your Goodreads shelf

Women in White Coats: How The First Women Doctors Changed The World of Medicine by Olivia Campbell is historical account of the impact of the first female physicians. In the early 1800's, women were dying in high numbers when they avoided medical care provided by males. Motivated by their own personal loss and frustration over medical care, the book recounts the experience of three women who became physicians, pioneering the way for many more females to do the same. This non-fiction book was written after much research and access to archives and is noted to be a great read for those that enjoyed Hidden Figures and Radium Girls.

Publication Date: March 2, 2021 by Park Row, 368 pages.

Add Women In White Coats by Olivia Campbell to your Goodreads shelf

Come Fly The World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am by Julia Cooke falls in the Non-Fiction genre. In the book, the author cleverly weaves together the real-life stories of several former Pan Am stewardesses who served the airline between 1966 and 1975. Stories include the airline's flights which transported soldiers from the Saigon to Hong Kong for 5 days of R&R and Operation Babylift which evacuated 2000 children during the fall of Saigon.

Publication Date: March 2, 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 288 pages.

Add Come Fly The World by Julia Cooke to your Goodreads shelf

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn is set in 1940 and is the story of three women who were hired to break German military codes. These women came from very different backgrounds: Osla the vivacious debutante, Mab who came from an impoverished family and Beth a shy spinster with a penchant for puzzles. By 1947, the three have been torn apart only to come back together to solve one last code.

Publication Date: March 9, 2021 by William Morrow, 656 pages.

Add The Rose Code by Kate Quinn to your Goodreads shelf

Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan is the story of a luxury steamship which sunk following a boiler explosion in 1838. Everly Winthrop, a Savannah history professor, is asked to guest-curate an exhibit using artifacts recovered from the ship. Her research leads her to a family of eleven aristocrats who boarded the Pulaski together, and includes the stories of two of the family's incredible women, including a survivor. The story reveals the decisions that these two women made during the tragedy, and the role of fate in their outcome.

Publication Date: March 9, 2021 by Berkley, 432 pages.

Add Saving Savannah by Patti Callahan to your Goodreads shelf

So there you have it - 5 Books to Look Out for in March 2021. Will you be adding any of these books to your To Be Read Shelf? Let me know in the comments!

Have a great day, and thank you for supporting this blog.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah - A Book Review

Thursday, February 18, 2021

Have you ever experienced the sensation that you are reading something very special right from the first chapter of a book? That is the feeling I had with listening to the audiobook of The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. If you’re a fan of historical fiction, or want to read a book full of emotion, this is a must read.

Plot Summary

The story begins in Texas in 1921. Elsa is a young woman whose been repeatedly told by her family that because of a heart ailment, and her advanced age of 25, that she will likely never marry. The farm community in which she lives is experiencing prosperous times, with farmers accumulating more land as the result of bumper crops. When she meets a young man from one of these farms who expresses his interest, her life changes and she becomes his wife and mother to their daughter Loreda.

The story then advances to 1934 to a time when millions are out of work and a drought devastates the Great Plains. The dust bowl era has taken away the livelihood of many men leaving families struggling to survive. Without giving too much of the story away, Elsa is required to take some meagre savings, a few belongings, and her children to try and find a better life in California. What they find in California is something very different then what they had expected.

Book Review

The story is told from the dual narrative of Elsa and Loreda. The characters are so well developed that I couldn’t help but be fully engaged throughout the book. This pair really represented the strength and resilience of women at a time in history where being female meant being subservient. Elsa’s journey from one lacking confidence and self worth to one of strength and powerful leadership was particularly heartwarming. Indeed, my experience of reading this book was both emotional and memorable. The Four Winds reminds us of the challenges of the generations that came before us which lends perspective into the challenges of today’s pandemic world.

Audiobook Review

I listened to the audiobook format of the book which was narrated by Julia Whelan who gives an exceptional performance. Her clear articulation and cadence provided a realistic quality to voices of Elsa and Loreda. I listened to this audiobook at my usual 1.25x speed which provided a comfortable listening experience. I highly recommend this format to those readers who appreciate audiobooks, and feel it enhances an already incredible book.

What I Liked About The Four Winds:

Strong female protagonists
Character development
The level of research by the author that went into this book
An engaging storyline

I Recommend This Book To:

Those readers that love Historical Fiction or General Fiction with strong female protagonists.

My rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5.

Add The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah to your Goodreads shelf

Similar Books I've Reviewed:

We Came Here to Shine by Susie Orman Schnall
Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland
Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

Thanks for reading! I hope I've brought you a little closer to your next great read. Have a wonderful day!

The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon - A Book Review

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Sometimes love comes when you least expect it. For Shay Goldstein, she certainly doesn’t expect it to come from her antagonizing colleague Dominic Yun. If you’re looking for an entertaining romantic comedy to read, I highly recommend The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon.

Plot Summary

Shay has come from a family where public radio was cherished. She loves her job as a producer for her Seattle public radio station - a position that she’s earned in her ten years at the station. The only thing she isn’t liking about the job is that her newest colleague, straight out of a Masters in Journalism degree program, thinks her knows everything about public radio. At a brainstorming session to come up with a new concept for a show, Shay presents an idea: two exes will banter about their past relationship and provide relationship advice for other couples. When the boss decides to go ahead with this show, he chooses Shay and Dominic as the hosts despite knowing that the two have never even dated. This sets the scene for a getting to know each other weekend away paid for by the station.

Book Review

I was thoroughly entertained by this book. It has many of the charms that an enemies to lovers trope affords. I appreciate the character development and the witty banter typical of a good romantic comedy book. While the book does have the predictability you would expect, the book held my engagement throughout. As a fan of podcasts and talk radio, I appreciated a book set within this medium. On a more serious note, there was evidence of thinly disguised misogyny in Shay’s workplace and I appreciated the choices that Shay had to make.

Audiobook Review

I listened to my local library’s audiobook version of this book that was narrated by Emily Ellet who had the sweet quality I have come to expect from a romantic comedy. Her tone and cadence were spot on and I enjoyed listening to her voice. I would not hesitate to recommend the audiobook edition of the book to those who appreciate this format.

What I Liked About The Ex Talk: