Friday Fives - Five Short Reviews for Books I've Read Recently

I'm in a list making kind of mood so I thought I'd start making random fve lists.  Sometimes they'll be bookish other weeks not so much. This week I'm sharing 5 quick reviews for books I've read recently.

1.  The Glass Ocean by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White - I've read and enjoyed books by all of these authors and this is the second collab book I've read.  I enjoyed this one.  It's hard to beat a Lusitania setting with a modern day timeline involving an author who is trying to solve a family mystery and revive her career.   All the characters were interesting and I enjoyed getting to know them.  The start was a bit slow but the second half really hooked me.  I did want more from Tess's timeline as the other two were fleshed out a bit more and I felt like there were a number of aspects of Tess's story that were left unexplained.  I went with the audio of this book and enjoyed all three narrators.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)

2.  Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost - This is the story of a guy who because of his wife's job got used to living in out of the way places and writing about them.  When they move to California he now has to go out on his own and so he decides to go wander around China for a bit.  And he does and then he writes a book about it.  He doesn't speak Mandarin or any other language spoken in China and definitely can't read it so he's pretty much just winging it which leads to some interesting situations.  He does have some awareness of the culture and history and brings context to his experiences while still pretty much flying blind.  It was an interesting read that had me laughing a time or two and explored regions of China that I knew very little to nothing about.  His tone is not for everyone so if you haven't read anything from this author I recommed going the library route to make sure you can tolerate his writing style.  My Rating: Liked It! (3.5 Stars)

3.  Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy - Well this was lovely!  The day of a tragedy in a small coastal village in Greece, four strangers (plus a hanger on) from different countries find themselves in a cafe on a hill watching things unfold from afar.  The four become immersed in the life of the village as they try to figure out their own personal battles.   Vonni and Andreas become involved in helping the four foreigners - Elsa, Fiona, David, and Thomas - come to terms with their struggles and what they are running from.  At times the actions or decisions of the characters made me want to shake them but I never got frustrated with the book.  Despite the serious topics dealt with Binchy's writing style has a soothing quality to it that made it a peaceful feeling read.  I'm so glad I picked this one up and am looking forward to reading more from her.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)

4.  Old World Murder by Kathleen Ernst - This mystery takes place in a living history village in Wisconsin that sounds absolutely amazing.  The setting of the book takes place in the early 1980s and Chloe Ellefson is just starting her new job as collections curator.  Honestly, Chloe drove me crazy.  She's struggling a bit with her mental health but she comes off as so incompetent I had a hard time taking her seriously.  The book had a bit of a slow start and the murder isn't the typical murder but I did get interested in the story after about a third of the way through and it was interesting to see how everything played out.  I have a later book iin the series on my review shelf and I will read that but I don't see myself reading all the books in the series.  My Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)

5.  Secrets of the Greek Revival by Eva Pohler - Three friends decide to give themselves a project to put all the HGTV watching skills to the test and give themselves a bit of a distraction as they deal with aging parents and marriages that haven't always turned out how they want them to go.  So they buy a house - a house that might be haunted and has a tumoltuous history.  What's really going on in the spooky abandoned house in San Antonio and does the rumored gold really exist.  This was an entertaining read with a bit of mystery and ghostly atmosphere.  The writing was a bit clunky and I had some issues with aspects of the story but overall it was an entertaining distraction.  My Rating: Liked It (3 Stars)

What have you read recently?