Happy February!  

What is everyone reading?  I am still working my way through The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson.  Not HF, but its quite excellent.

Beginning Cilka's Journey (Tattooist of Auschwitz, Bk 2) by Heather Morris.

Hello, friends! 

Reading A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii and listening to The Pearl Thief. Hoping to finish both up by the end of the week. 

Update - just finished A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii by Stephanie Dray, et al.  FABULOUS book.  I found it entertaining and beautiful and moving.  Highly recommended. I'm going to start Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson this evening, which is a new 2022 release. 

I am reading Frangipani Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu  set in 1936 Singapore  Very good. You don't see many books set in Singapore

Just finished Saboteur by Andrew Gross. All the Historical Fiction books by Gross are excellent reads.Three of them take place during WW2 and one in 1930's NYC. Highly recommend:

One Man

Saboteur

Button Man

The Fifth Column

Really enjoyed Cilka's Journey.  Sad as it was for much of the tale she finds happiness and love that make up for it during the rest of her life.  I had recently read The Tattooist of Auschwitz so I wanted to check out Cilka as it's linked to Tattooist.  Both are good reads and if anyone is interested I could send both to you.

My next read was The Hollywood Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal.  Wasn't sure I wanted to read another book about Maggie Hope but I'm glad I did.  The author came up with a scenario that was fascinating focusing on a group that hated Roosevelt and wanted to remove "ojbectionable" people from our country.  Of course, that means anyone of Jewish faith, people of color  and those who hated Hitler.  It all starts with the death of a young woman who is believed to have drowned accidentally in a hotel pool.  John Sterling, Maggie's former fiancee, asks her to come to the U.S. and investigate as he doesn't believe her death was accidental.  The young woman was his fiancee.  Unraveling the death which, of course, was a murder leads Maggie into new situations in which she can use her many talents.  Well done and well worth reading.

I finished listening to The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein the other day.  Pretty good.  Not nearly as good as Code Name Verity or even Rose Under Fire, but it was a charming little story.  I think I'll catch up on some podcasts and on-line lectures (houseplant education) before starting a new audio book.  I started reading Black Cake by Charmain Wilkerson a few nights ago, and I'm enjoying it. 

Finished Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson.  I didn't know if I'd like this one going in, mostly because it's a dual timeline thing, and I don't ever seem to really get into those, but this one was really good.  It's a new 2022 release. 

I started reading Moloka'i by Alan Brennert last night. Yes, an oldie that everyone has read but me.  Only a couple of chapters in. 

I finished Brining Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore. Very nice historical romance set in 1889 England. Women's rights, social norms, Queen Victoria and romance.  Pleasant read.

Just finished Dangerous Destiny A Suffrigette Mystery by Chris Longmuir, a Suffragette mystery not listed in pbs.  Five women are murdered in Dundee, Scotland.  Are are Suffragettes.  The question is who is doing the killing and why.  The police are less than helpful so three of the women start looking for the killer, leading to an encounter with the murderer.  This nearly fills my HF mysery challenge and it was a good read.  The author gives a brief explanation of the movement in both England and Scotlan.

Not HF but I started A Certain Justice by PD James yesterday.