LillianFrost
I am an avid reader with a crazy long TBR, (honestly not sure how long anymore) and the delusion that I'll someday run out of books to read.
13655 points
LillianFrost is interested in reading...
5h
The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S. Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis
Elizabeth Letts
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Eighty-Dollar Champion, the remarkable true story of the valiant rescue of priceless pedigree horses in the last days of World War II. As the Russians closed in on Hitler from the east and the Allies attacked from the west, American soldiers discovered a secret Nazi effort to engineer a master race of the finest purebred horses. With the support of U.S. general George S. Patton, a passionate equestrian, the Americans planned an audacious mission to kidnap these beautiful animals and smuggle them into safe territory—assisted by a daring Austrian colonel who was both a former Olympian and a trainer of the famous Lipizzaner stallions.
LillianFrost is interested in reading...
19h
The Second Chance Trailer Park
Katie Powner
From award-winning author Katie Powner comes a funny feel-good novel about a woman discovering her second chance at life. This charming and heartfelt story is perfect for readers who loved Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame.Fifty-two-year-old Meredith McGillicutty is not having a midlife crisis. She’s just ready for a change of pace, that’s all. The fact that she lied to get into a retirement community has nothing to do with being passed over for a promotion at work nor her recent breakup with the only man she’s ever loved. Nothing. Meredith only wants some peace and quiet. To sit on a porch in elastic-waist pants and mingle with other mature individuals who value a life of serenity. But the residents of the Peaceful Pines retirement community have other plans for her. These quirky and endearing neighbors seem to know her better than she knows herself, and they decide Meredith’s life is only just beginning. Blending humor and tenderness, The Second Chance Trailer Park will appeal to fans of Fredrik Backman and Lenora Worth.
LillianFrost is interested in reading...
22h
Ink Ribbon Red
Alex Pavesi
Knives Out meets Saltburn in this wickedly plotted thriller where a group of friends play a deadly game that unwraps a motive for murder, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Alex Michaelides. Anatol invites five of his oldest friends to his family home in the Wiltshire countryside to celebrate his thirtieth birthday. At his request, they play a game of his invention: Motive Method Death. The rules are simple: everyone chooses two players at random and imagines a scenario where one kills the other, then writes it down as a short story. Points are given for making the murders feel real, as Anatol explains to the group. Of course, when given this assignment, it’s only natural to use what you know. Secrets. Grudges. Affairs. But once you’ve put it in a story, that secret is out. It’s not long before the game has reawakened old resentments and brought private matters into the light of day. So with each fictional murder, someone new gets a very real motive. Ink Ribbon Red ultimately asks: When a real murder is headed your way, will you be able to spot it in time?
LillianFrost commented...
1d
Wow so glad to hear you enjoyed this one!!! It is so eye opening and interesting and it deserves more hype so, I am so glad you liked it.
"But I think the violence isn't just a moral thing. It's not just a moral choice at this stage. It's a kind of reflex, and there's a great deal of establishment violence, as well."
I went into this book basically not knowing anything about the Troubles and I came out of it fully supporting the IRA. I'm not sure if Keefe wanted to write a pro-IRA book, but that is essentially what it read as to me, and while the later parts of the book detailed the ways in which the IRA perhaps became twisted from its original aims, the fact remains that to me, the IRA did what they did because of what the British started. When you have a majority colonizing force that is armed and violent, what other option do you have to get the them off your soil? Is there really another option, especially when they use violence against you and ignore your peaceful protests? I truly don't think the Sinn Féin party could have achieved the political success and prominence in politics that it did after the Troubles without the Provos IRA paving the way by forcing the British to take their aims (somewhat) seriously.
This book was well-researched, well-written, and never boring. There were twists and turns to the point where I would occasionally forget that this was actually a nonfiction book, because some of the things that happened, especially after the Good Friday Agreement, seemed to come right out of a political thriller (also fuck Gerry Adams!!) I feel like Keefe really dove into this topic and was able to draw from a variety of sources, including some of the oral history and recordings or transcripts that he did have access to, so we were able to read quotes straight from the sources of people who had been intimately involved with the IRA, like Dolours Price and Brendan Hughes.
I was shocked (but not surprised, let's be real) at the amount of crimes that the British state essentially got away from in the years before and during the Troubles, including state-sanctioned assassinations and situations where people who committed crimes during that period were just never prosecuted. Of course, when the oppressed rise up with violence, it’s always decried as “terrorism.” When the government does it, it’s always “self-defense” and “justified.” However, I was not shocked by certain people's attempts to rewrite history, particularly to paint the IRA negatively after the unification of Ireland actually began to be a talking point that people took seriously. The way that Price, Hughes, and other ex-IRA members were discarded and struggled with PTSD, alcoholism, and more made me think of the veterans who went through the exact same thing—and it really was the exact same thing, because they were basically in a war throughout their teens and early 20s, but without government (from the Sinn Féin party) recognition of what they had gone through or support to manage the fallout. Instead, it was all about how to appear squeaky-clean in the eyes of the press by denying, denying, denying.
I will say though, that I did not come away from this book with sympathy for the abduction and murder of Jean McConville, which is one of the stories that this book is woven around. At least one reason for that is because I felt so much sympathy for Price and Hughes, and they both stated that she was an informant for the British state. The book stated that more ex-IRA and supporters were prosecuted for their crimes than loyalists and British supporters, and it feels like this was another situation where the official powers spent a lot of time trying to bring her murderers to bring more ex-IRA people to "justice" when the British 1) started it and 2) did the same and worse to people.
Anyway, my own leanings and opinions aside, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the Troubles, the players who were intimately involved, and the subsequent political fallout after the peace talks and Good Friday Agreement. This book goes into both an overarching picture and the small details and events that happened throughout the many decades of upheaval with thorough research and engaging writing. I know that I, for one, will definitely be seeking out Keefe's other books, because with this one book, he has definitely established himself as a non-fiction great!
[tw: Alcoholism, child abuse, eating disorders, gun violence, murder, pedophilia, sexual assault torture, war]
LillianFrost is interested in reading...
1d
The Little Bookshop of Love Stories
Jaimie Admans
Today is the Mondayest Monday ever. Hallie Winstone has been fired – and it wasn’t even her fault! Having lost her job and humiliated herself in front of a whole restaurant full of diners, this is absolutely, one hundred percent, the worst day of her life. That is until she receives an email announcing that she is the lucky winner of the Once Upon a Page Bookshop! Owning a bookshop has always been Hallie’s dream, and when she starts to find secret love letters on the first pages of every book, she knows she's stumbled across something special. Things get even better when she meets gorgeous, bookish Dimitri and between them, they post a few of the hidden messages online, reuniting people who thought they were lost forever. But maybe it’s time for Hallie to find her own happy-ever-after, too?
LillianFrost is interested in reading...
1d
For Whom the Belle Tolls
Jaysea Lynn
They told her to go to Hell.She’ll go on her own terms.Lily is less than thrilled about her arrival to the Afterlife, but what awaits her is more fantastical than she ever could have imagined. Deities wait in line at the coffee shop. Fae flit between realms. Souls find ways to make death a beginning.As Lily explores everything the Afterlife has to offer, she finds herself drawn to a place most people would rather avoid at all Hell.What she discovers there subverts everything she’s ever learned, and Lily realizes the demons working at the gate to guide souls need help—badly. Armed with years of customer service experience and pent-up sarcasm, Lily carves out a place for herself among the demons, confronting, sassing, and aiding the spectrum of humanity to redefine justice and redemption.A chance meeting with Bel, a demon general with a distractingly sexy voice, sparks an immediate and deeply healing friendship. However, the undeniable heat between them simmers, and it’s only a matter of time before it combusts.Meanwhile, something stirs beyond the boundaries of their world, threatening to destroy everything they’ve ever known and everything that could be… unless they fight like Hell to stop it.
LillianFrost is interested in reading...
1d
A Bookshop to Die For (A Wonderland Books Cozy Mystery, #1)
M.P. Black
Ditching her fiancé at the altar, Alice Hartford bolts to her childhood hometown to reconnect with the last, happy remnant of her her mom's old bookstore. But the bookstore is falling apart. And when a handyman working there falls to his death, the local chief of police insists it's an accident. Alice knows better and must put her detective skills to the test — before a determined developer destroys her last chance at a new beginning. Join Alice in book 1 of the Wonderland Books Cozy Mystery Series for a twisty, feel-good cozy mystery that celebrates books, friendship, and the courage to start anew.
LillianFrost is interested in reading...
1d
More Miracle Than Bird
Alice Miller
On the eve of World War I, twenty-one-year-old Georgie Hyde-Lees—on her own for the first time—is introduced to the acclaimed poet W. B. Yeats at a soirée in London. Although Yeats is famously eccentric and many years her senior, Georgie is drawn to him, and when he extends a cryptic invitation to a secret society, her life is forever changed. A shadow falls over London as zeppelins stalk overhead and bombs bloom against the skyline. Amidst the chaos, Georgie finds purpose tending to injured soldiers in a makeshift hospital, befriending the wounded and heartbroken Lieutenant Pike, who might need more from her than she is able to give. At night with Yeats, she escapes these realities into an even darker world, becoming immersed in The Order, a clandestine society where ritual, magic, and the conjuring of spirits is practiced and pursued. As forces—both of this world and the next—pull Yeats and Georgie closer together and then apart again, Georgie uncovers a secret that threatens to undo it all. In bright, commanding prose debut author Alice Miller illuminates the fascinating and unforgettable courtship of Georgie Hyde-Lees and W. B. Yeats. A sweeping tale of faith and love, lost and found and fought for, More Miracle than Bird ingeniously captures the moments—both large and small—on which the fate of whole lives and countries hinge.
LillianFrost is interested in reading...
2d
Tides Wait for No Witch
Natalie Summers
A magical island. A mysterious relative. A family she didn't know existed. Inheriting a house from a dead great-aunt she’s never met should've been Sara Rivers' first clue that things were about to get weird. The talking sea otter? That was clue number two. Sara's plan was simple: stay the six months to get her inheritance, sell the house, and figure out what comes next. What she didn't plan on was discovering she's half witch, half undine, has magic she can't control, and has a family history she was never meant to know. Then a suspicious journal entry makes her doubt everything she's been told. The locals are friendly, the town is charming, and absolutely no one wants to talk about how her great-aunt really died. When another body turns up, Sara realizes Katrika’s killer isn’t done. Between mandatory magic lessons, the game shop she inherited, a runaway teen hiding out in her basement, and an infuriatingly attractive FBI agent who may (or may not) be on her side, Sara's getting closer to a truth someone killed to hide. And the killer is watching. Welcome to Spelltide Bay, where the gossip travels faster than seagulls, sea otters have opinions, and secrets never stay buried for long.
LillianFrost is interested in reading...
2d
The Little Porto Book Club
Rebecca Raisin
Introvert and self-described whodunnit enthusiast Viviane has never much believed in living life outside of the pages of a book. But when her interfering mother insists that Viviane needs some friends who aren’t fictional, she decides to head into the beautiful bustling streets of Porto in search of her community. What better place to start than by reading her favourite mystery in the corner of a little-known café? But when one, then two, and then outrageously six other people decide to join her silent book club Viviane realises that she is firmly out of her depth. There’s Thomas, a middle-aged man hiding his love for romance novels, Lucinda, a chic sixty-something with a penchant for Christie, and then there’s Tiago, the hot alpha male of every romance novelist’s dreams. But when one of these newfound friends disappears from the book club without a word, will the community come together to find their fellow lost soul, and will Viviane find love along the way…?
