Novelas Romanticas Gratis

I have to confess I didn't have a library card until about 6 years ago.  Never in my life did I have a library card, and I didn't go to public libraries.  Most of that reason lies in where I grew up, out in the country in Iowa.  We lived just over the county line, and that meant I couldn't have a library card for the city where my parents worked (plus it was 15 miles away).  My parents had a lot of kids, so random trips into town didn't happen very often. We were also about 20 miles away from the next biggest town, in the county where I lived.  We never went there, so that wasn't an option. I never asked to go to the library, and my parents never offered to take me.  None of my siblings seemed interested, either.  I did live for library day at my elementary school, and when I went to high school, we had a decent library, but I don't remember checking too much out.  Mostly we sat there and giggled until the librarian told us to be quiet. So while I somehow develo

It feels like I haven't read a solid historical novel for a long time.  I'm pretty sure it's only been a few months, but as I was reading Winter Sisters I said out loud to myself "I am so happy reading this novel!".  I have no shame in admitting I talk to myself, especially when reading.   I read My Name is Mary Sutter years ago, and loved it. Civil War novels always have a huge pull for me, and Mary Sutter is such a compelling character it's hard not to love her.  When I saw this was a sequel of sorts to Mary Sutter , I just had to read it.   It's 1879, Albany, New York.  Mary, now Dr. Mary Stipp, lives and works with her husband Dr. William Stipp, along with her mother Amelia and niece Elizabeth.  They have a successful clinic run out of their spacious home, and have a good life in Albany.  The Civil War has not left them, however, and they are forever changed by what they witnessed as doctors treating soldiers.  But life is pretty good, and they are hap

One of my side interests is reading about disasters.  It's always fascinated me that such horrible destruction happened in fairly modern history, yet remains largely unknown in today's world. Oftentimes people are completely oblivious about something that was in all the newspapers and largely known by everyone at the time, and seemed utterly unforgettable.  The Sultana, a river boat carrying Civil War soldiers back home after the war, exploded on the Mississippi River with 1,800 killed.  The Eastland, a passenger ship that capsized next to a dock in the Chicago River in 1915, killing 848 people.  The Great Molasses Flood  of 1919 in Boston, where 21 people were killed by yes--a flood of maple syrup racing down the streets.  There are so many, sadly, and I think the only one I have yet to read about is the Lusitania.   I had heard about the Halifax explosion, but this was the first book I read about it, and it was fascinating.  It reminded me of Erik Larson's book Isaac'

This novel took me a long time to read.  I was a bit disappointed in it, and reading reviews online has me in the minority.   Of course I knew who Mary Pickford was going into this novel, and I was excited to read about early Hollywood.  It had to have been such an exciting place--when Los Angeles was still a small outpost, and silent films were all the rage. Bungalows, tiled fountains, and orange groves, along with the warm weather, made it a paradise and a place to start new.  Frances Marion, whom I knew nothing about, was just an amazing woman. This is the type of historical novel that will have you pausing to do internet research, look at photos, and read up.  Did you know Frances Marion was the first woman screenwriter to win an Oscar?  And that she won two in the 1930's?  With movie star good looks, she could have easily become famous onscreen; but her talents and heart were all about creating stories.  She successfully wrote for silent films, and easily transitioned over to

This novel has been on my can't wait to read list for months.  I happily tucked into reading as soon as I bought the book, and now, after finishing it, I am not sure if I loved it, or if I just liked it a lot.   Anticipating a read can exciting, but I think sometimes it can be dangerous--expectations may not be met.  And that is no fault of the author, but rather my fault.  In any case, I did enjoy this book very much, even going in with  high expectations, and not knowing a whole lot about it other than a basic plot outline.  Tom Hazard is a man over 400 years old.  He looks like a forty year old man, but he carries a very large secret.  He's not immortal, but a man who ages incredibly slowly.  He will, eventually, grow old, lose some of his immunity to illnesses that kill normal people, and die, but not for centuries.  Time is what Tom has, and time is what is also driving him slowly mad.  For centuries, Tom wandered the world on his own, after a tragic childhood where his mo

Sourdough is a strange little novel that could be looked at from a few different angles.  One angle is just an enjoyable, slightly odd tale about Lois, who moves to San Francisco to write code for a robotics company, and discovers a love of baking bread.   Or, it could be about a young woman, Lois, who moves to San Francisco to write code for a robotics company, and discovers that life without creativity is pretty dull; creativity is what fuels our souls. Sourdough is her creative muse.  Or, it could be a funky mix of magical realism with a twist of technology that can make your head spin, all the while wishing you had a freshly baked loaf of sourdough bread on hand, and wondering if gee, maybe you should try making bread this weekend? Honestly, it was all three angles for me.  This sourdough starter, the stuff that changes Lois' life, is magical.  Gifted to her by a man who operates a small take-out restaurant specializing in  spicy soup and sourdough bread spicy sandwiches, it is