The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge  is for bloggers who wish to participate by publishing a blog post every day in April except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted. My theme for 2023 is Book Reviews.

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads.

Zambesi
by
Tony Park

Summary

“When a young American research assistant is killed by a man-eating lion, three people are devastated – Jed Banks, an American Special Forces soldier serving in Afghanistan; Professor Christine Wallis, a wildlife researcher in South Africa; and Hassan bin Zayid, a hotel magnate in Zambia. The victim, Miranda Banks-Lewis, was their daughter, protegee and lover respectively.

Desperate to find out what happened to Miranda, Jed and Christine, with the help of a determined Australian journalist, set out on a perilous journey of discovery in Africa. Forced to pit themselves against the continent’s dangers, they will also learn shocking truths about the woman they thought they knew.

A superb successor to the bestselling Far Horizon, Zambezi is an unputdownable novel of love, loyalty, betrayal and revenge set against the magnificence and terror of Africa” – Goodreads

Published 2005
Audiobook 16 hours 50 minutes

My Thoughts

I chose to use the Goodreads summary as they were the words that convinced me to read this book. When I came across Zambesi, I was just casually browsing and looking for a Z book. There isn’t much choice for the letter Z so when I came across the words in the summary I was very excited and I couldn’t wait to start listening to the audio book. At almost 17 hours, it is quite a long time commitment, but I have almost two hours in the car every day, going to and from work, and I listen to audio books on my walks, so it didn’t take too long.

Zambesi could be classed as a boys own adventure. It had everything that you would expect from an action thriller – mystery, adventure, suspense, terrorism, intrigue, danger and even gung ho characters. I found myself occasionally gripping the steering wheel so tightly, and felt I had to turn the book off, as I wasn’t concentrating on my driving. At times the danger and intruigue are very intense, heart stopping, and at times quite gruesome.

Other than the action in the book, I absolutely loved reading descriptions of Africa and it’s safari parks and of course the animals. Some of the animals are anthropomorphised, which did confused me the first time I came across it, until I worked out just what was going on. I came to love those parts of the story.

The characters were relatable and mostly likeable. The few that were not likeable were meant to be that way. There are many pages to this book, which has given space for the author to develop the characters realistically and fully.

My only issue with this story is that I really wish that I had read the actual book and not listened to the audio book. The story is so great that I would love to have read the words on the page.

“……Zambesi is an unputdownable novel of love, loyalty, betrayal and revenge, set against the magnificence and terror of Africa.

Action/adventure is not a genre that I would usually read, but I loved everything about Zambesi. I will definitely be reading more of Tony Park’s books. My last book for the April AtoZ Challenge definitely was a highlight read.

All books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library, unless otherwise stated.

About the Author

Tony Park was born in 1964 and grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney. He has worked as a newspaper reporter in Australia and England, a government press secretary, a public relations consultant, and a freelance writer.

He served 34 years in the Australian Army Reserve, including six months in Afghanistan in 2002. Tony and his wife, Nicola, split their time between Australia and Africa, where they own a house on the edge of the Kruger National Park. – Goodreads

Star Rating 

Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book.
For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Unputdownable. Would definitely read again
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Fantastic read. Not to be missed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️Enjoyable read. Would recommend.
⭐️⭐️Wouldn’t read again
⭐️Don’t recommend this book again

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

You can find my other blogs here:
Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

© 2023 Copyright. all rights reserved: bestbookishblog.com

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge  is for bloggers who wish to participate by publishing a blog post every day in April except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted. My theme for 2023 is Book Reviews.

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads.

Unfortunately, I haven’t read a book recently starting with X, so I have decided to repost a previous book review for this challenge, that was posted, a few years ago.

X
by
Sue Grafton

SUMMARY

A Kinsey Milhone mystery

This is the 24th novel in Sue Grafton’s series of novels that are named after each letter of the alphabet. Investigator Kinsey Milhone, known by regular readers of this author, is based in a fictional city in Los Angeles and ready to solve the latest mystery.

A glamorous redhead hires Milhone to find her long lost adopted son. This should have been a quick easy job for an investigator but the mystery quickly builds when Milhone finds that she was paid with notes that were marked. It becomes clear very quickly that this client has something to hide.

My Thoughts

I’m not a regular reader of crime, but I did enjoy this suspenseful mystery, with it’s very well rounded characters.  As this is the 24th book in this ‘alphabet’ series, I can help but wonder if Grafton’s books are written to an obvious winning formula. I will definitely be reading another of her books, and expect to be able to form an opinion after that reading.

Recommendation
Kinsey Milhorne is up there with the giants of the private-eye genre, as magnetic as Marlowe, as insouciant as Spenser…….Exhilarating” – Times Library Supplement

About the Author

Sue Grafton was a Number One International Bestselling and very prolific author of mystery and detective novels. Her books have been published in many languages and have appeared on The New York Times Bestseller lists many times and for many weeks each time.  She passed away in 2017 before Z for Zero was published and so the alphabet series ends at Y.

All books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library, unless otherwise stated.

Star Rating 

Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book.
For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Unputdownable. Would definitely read again
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Fantastic read. Not to be missed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️Enjoyable read. Would recommend.
⭐️⭐️Wouldn’t read again
⭐️Don’t recommend this book again

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

You can find my other blogs here:
Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

© 2023 Copyright. all rights reserved: bestbookishblog.com

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge  is for bloggers who wish to participate by publishing a blog post every day in April except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted. My theme for 2023 is Book Reviews.

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads.

Many book bloggers re-post a book review that they have written in the past, under the #throwbackthursday hashtag. I will be joining them in this each Thursday.

The following book review was first published here in April 2019. One of my favourite genres is Australian historical fiction. This is a book of that genre which I enjoyed very much, and I feel warrants highlighting again.

The Queen’s Colonial
by
Peter Watt

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

SUMMARY

The Queen’s Colonial is the first in Australian author, Peter Watt’s new series featuring Captain Ian Steele, commander in the British Army, in the mid 1800s.

The story starts in Sydney in 1845, where Ian Steele, is supporting his frail and widowed mother, while dreaming of how much he yearns to live a life in uniform, in Queen Victoria’s army.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, Second Lieutenant Sam Forbes, a gentle soul and a poet, from a wealthy and aristocratic, but treacherous, English family, wants nothing more than to leave the army, and live a more gentle life. Due to his family and his upbringing, he knows that is not likely to ever happen.

Later, these two men happen to meet in Sydney, and realise there is a striking likeness to their appearance. They very quickly devise a plan for Ian to take Sam’s identity and go to England, convince the family that he is their son that they haven’t seen for many years, and accept a commission into the British Army, who are about to face the Russians in battle.

Published in 2018 by Pan MacMillan. Paperback 396 pages, including author notes.

MY THOUGHTS

t first I thought the story line about the swap of identities was ridiculous and unbelievable, but the author quickly convinced me that it made sense and it would work.

I have a love of history and war history, so this book was a pleasure for me to read. Even though The Queen’s Colonial is a novel, Watt has based it on thoroughly researched archival information. The battle scenes are taken from the actual eye witness reports of a newspaper journalist who posted war zone reports from the battle front via telegraph. These reports titled Reports From The Crimea were published frequently in The Times of London.

This is the first of Peter Watt’s books that I’ve read, and it seems that I’ve found a new favourite author. I will be watching out for the second book in this series.  I love the title, The Queen’s Colonial and very much look forward to the title chosen for the second book in the series. The book is beautifully presented with extremely beautiful artwork on the front cover.

About the Author

Peter has been a soldier, articled clerk to a solicitor, prawn trawler deckhand, builder’s labourer, pipe layer, real estate salesman, private investigator, police sergeant and adviser to the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. He has lived and worked with Aborigines, Islanders, Vietnamese and Papua New Guineans and speaks, reads and writes Vietnamese and Pidgin. He now lives at Maclean, on the Clarence River in northern New South Wales. He is a volunteer firefighter with the Rural Fire service, and is interested in fishing and the vast opens spaces of outback Queensland. – Pan MacMillan

All books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library, unless otherwise stated.

Star Rating 

Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book.
For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Unputdownable. Would definitely read again
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Fantastic read. Not to be missed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️Enjoyable read. Would recommend.
⭐️⭐️Wouldn’t read again
⭐️Don’t recommend this book again

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

You can find my other blogs here:
Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

© 2023 Copyright. all rights reserved: bestbookishblog.com

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge  is for bloggers who wish to participate by publishing a blog post every day in April except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted. My theme for 2023 is Book Reviews.

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads.

THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN
BY
MARIE BENEDICT AND VICTORIA CHRISTOPHER MURRAY

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Summary

“The remarkable, little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian—who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept in order to make her dreams come true, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray.

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle’s complexion isn’t dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.

The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths to which she must go—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives”. – Goodreads

Published in 2021. 341 pages.

My Thoughts

This story is a fictionalised version of the life of this amazing woman. The story is told in chronological form, along with flashbacks to her earlier life. Belle is employed by J.P. Morgan to curate the Morgan Library and the famed art collection. What began as a job for her becomes much more than that. It becomes her life. She became very well known and prominent in the art world at a time when women weren’t usually in powerful positions. As powerful as Belle was in her professionl life, she was never able to completely be herself. There was always the worry for her that somebody would find out about her background and that she was not white. At that time, her career would have been negatively affected by that information coming out.

One of my favourite genres is historical fiction, so I enjoyed all the dates and places, however for that could become a bit tedious for someone not as interested in the history. I also enjoyed learning more about American history and well known people in history, as I haven’t read much American historical fiction.

Star Rating 

Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book.
For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Unputdownable. Would definitely read again
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Fantastic read. Not to be missed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️Enjoyable read. Would recommend.
⭐️⭐️Wouldn’t read again
⭐️Don’t recommend this book again

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

You can find my other blogs here:
Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

© 2023 Copyright. all rights reserved: bestbookishblog.com

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge  is for bloggers who wish to participate, by publishing a blog post every day in April, except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B, and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted. My theme for 2023 is Book Reviews.

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads

A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 21 WOMEN
BY
JENNI MURRAY

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Summary

“They led while others followed. They stood up and spoke out when no one else would. They broke the mould in art, music and literature. Each of them fought, in their own way, for change. Encompassing artists, politicians, activists, reporters and heads of state from past and present, A History of the World in 21 Women celebrates the lives, struggles and achievements of women who have had a profound impact on the shaping of our world. Jenni’s 21 are: Joan of Arc, Artemesia Gentileschi, Angela Merkel, Benazir Bhutto, Hillary Clinton, Coco Chanel, Empress Dowager Cixi, Catherine the Great, Clara Schumann, Hatshepsut, Wangari Maathai, Golda Meir, Frida Kahlo, Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, Isabella of Castile, Cathy Freeman, Anna Politokovskaya, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Madonna and Marie Curie”. – Goodreads

My Thoughts

These stories about wonderful women who were never to be deterred in their goals, were more than inspiring to me. I knew the basic stories of most women, but not all. However, Jenni Murray added so much more, as the struggles and achievements of each woman are celebrated.

It’s hard for me to pick a ‘favourite female’ as every one of these women have great stories, and have endured much more than they should have been expected to endure. I found the story of Joan of Arc to be incredibly sad and heart breaking. I thought I knew all about her, but her back story is more amazing than the fact that she was burnt at the stake. Australian athlete Cathy Freeman was featured and I learned much about her early life, and loved being able to revisit her achievement of winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000.

Jenni Murray is a journalist and stresses that these women are her personal choices. The women she has chosen are very diverse such as Joan of Arc, Catherine The Great, Angela Merkel, Coco Chanel, Cathy Freeman, just to name only a few. Their backgrounds and experiences vary greatly.

I’d definitely recommend this book. As the title says, it is a history of the world but it is also the story of how these amazing women fought for their causes. The stories of each woman are quite brief, but they have prompted me to search out more indepth information to read about them.

All books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library, unless otherwise stated.

Star Rating

Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book.
For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Unputdownable. Would definitely read again
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Fantastic read. Not to be missed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️Enjoyable read. Would recommend.
⭐️⭐️Wouldn’t read again
⭐️Don’t recommend this book again

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

You can find my other blogs here:
Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

© 2023 Copyright. all rights reserved: bestbookishblog.com

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is for bloggers who wish to participate by publishing a blog post every day in April except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example, April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted. My theme for 2023 is Book Reviews.

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief, and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads.

THE GAMES
BY
JAMES PATTERSON AND MARK SULLIVAN
#Private No 11

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Summary

“Two years ago Jack Morgan – the head of the renowned worldwide investigation firm Private – was in charge of security for the World Cup in Bazil. During the championship final, the action nearly spilled from the field into the stands. Fortunately, Jack and his team averted disaster on football’s biggest stage.
Now he has returned to Rio to secure the Olympics. But before the torch is lit, the threats come fast and furious as Jack discovers that someone is trying to sabotage the games. A lethal plan put in motion during the World Cup is set to decimate Rio, and turn the Olympics from a worldwide celebration into a horrifying spectacle” – Blurb

Published in 2016. 366 pages.

My Thoughts

When I finished reading this book, I realised that it was the 11th book in the Private series. Not having read the previous 10 books had no affect at all on my enjoyment of The Games.. My only thought was that I would love to read the entire series, even though it would take a special series to have me committed for that length of time. I would quite like to go back and at least read No 1 in the series, but I have a feeling that if I did that, I would be hooked.

This Book is not at all the type of book that I would choose to read. My reason for choosing was due to the title alone. I was looking for a book for letter G of the AtoZ Challenge. The Games jumped out at me from the library shelf, and I have to say that it’s a great read, with lots of action, drama, and all that you would expect from a book that call’s itself a thriller.

This is another of James Patterson’s collaborations with lesser known authors. Those that I’ve particularly enjoyed are his books that were written with Candice Fox. It’s my opinion that this collaboration with Mark Sullivan is very successful.

All books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library, unless otherwise stated.

Star Rating 

Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book.
For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Unputdownable. Would definitely read again
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Fantastic read. Not to be missed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️Enjoyable read. Would recommend.
⭐️⭐️Wouldn’t read again
⭐️Don’t recommend this book again

This post is linked to Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

Images and author information: Goodreads

You can find my other blogs here:
Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family

© 2023 Copyright. all rights reserved: bestbookishblog.com