Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Mercury and Me by Jim Hutton My rating: 1 of 5 stars Of all the Freddie Mercury books to choose from, I had to go and choose this one. Big mistake! Although it purports to be an in depth look at Jim's life with Freddie and an up-close-and-personal never-before-reported look at Freddie, it seemed more like a great big middle finger to Mary Austin saying, "Ha ha. I gave him something you couldn't." Also, the writing was terrible (I don't know how the narrator managed to get through it.) and, Jim seemed to be more in love with himself than he was with Freddie. Disappointing on many levels. View all my reviews

The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis My rating: 5 of 5 stars I love historical fiction, especially when the main character (in both the 1920s and 1970s) is a strong woman. In this story, one is an artist; one is learning who she is after a divorce and other traumatic events. One of the underlying themes is how women are treated differently. It was so blatant in the '20s that people "in the know" in the art world didn't think a woman artist's work would sell -- despite the fact she was a successful illustrator for Vogue magazine and designer for Studebaker. In the 1970s portion, the woman learns Grand Central Terminal is in danger of having a skyscraper built on top of it and she wants to help (along with Jackie Onassis) stop that. Grand Central -- and the Grand Central School of Art -- are where the two parts of the story come together. View all my reviews

Keep You Close by Karen Cleveland My rating: 5 of 5 stars FBI agent Steph Maddox realizes she doesn't know her teenage son as well as she thinks she does and he may be involved in something nefarious. She has to figure out if he's a willing participant in a plot or if he's being used, because the plot is bigger than anything a high school senior could plan on his own and involves the US intelligence community, members of Congress, and more. This is a fast-paced thriller with suspense on every page and a plot that doesn't fully unfold until the very last line. (view spoiler) [This made me think about what would happen if Putin picked smart people in the US to do his dirty work. (hide spoiler) ] View all my reviews

These are the books I read from January through the end of March: