Join Bunster as he finds friends in unlikely places as a celebration of Easter!
Our Thoughts
Bunster, An Easter Story is a beautifully illustrated board book geared to young children (ages 0-3). I love to draw and paint, so for me the illustrations were so special as they really helped set the tone of the book. The illustrations were whimsical and reminded me of spring with their colours and airy design. They helped to guide your eyes across the pages and visuals are so important for this age group. While there are many elements that we have come to associate with Easter (images such as lilies, Easter egg, ducks, baskets and so on), I found that the overall feel and tone of the story can make it a perfect story for you to read to your little one all year round.
The story itself was simple to read aloud and appropriate for the ages that this book is geared towards. It was easy to make the story interesting and change your tone to really engage your toddler in the story. The ending gives you an opportunity to have fun with the story and your toddler and encourage them to think about what could come next for Bunster and the squad.
Christine is an artist that dabbles in storytelling and enjoys working in different mediums including marker, ink, watercolors and colored pencil. She enjoys drawing fantasy creatures, anthropomorphic animals, and kids. She lives with her husband, Ian and sweet black kitty, Kida in the Bay Area, California and likes to take walks, go out driving, and play video games and board games with her friends.
Master of WWII-era fiction Sarah Sundin invites you onto the streets of occupied Paris to discover whether love or duty will prevail in Until Leaves Fall in Paris.
About Until Leaves Fall in Paris
When the Nazis march toward Paris, American ballerina Lucie Girard buys her favorite English-language bookstore to allow the Jewish owners to escape. The Germans make it difficult for her to keep Green Leaf Books afloat. And she must keep the store open if she is to continue aiding the resistance by passing secret messages between the pages of her books.
Widower Paul Aubrey wants nothing more than to return to the States with his little girl, but the US Army convinces him to keep his factory running and obtain military information from his German customers. As the war rages on, Paul offers his own resistance by sabotaging his product and hiding British airmen in his factory. But in order to carry out his mission, he must appear to support the occupation—which does not win him any sympathy when he meets Lucie in the bookstore.
In a world turned upside down, will love or duty prevail?
My Thoughts
I could not wait to dive into this historical romance and the novel did not disappoint – I could not put Lucie and Paul’s story down!
Lucie is a brave, kind, smart and compassionate young woman whose many gifts come in handy throughout the novel – from her command of the French language, to her passion for ballet and even to her kindness to others. While Lucie is an American at heart, she loves her home in Paris – this is where she called home since she was a young girl. It broke my heart for her when she comes to learn that not others feel the same – something that the war caused out of hunger, mistrust and anger at their situation. Lucie finds a way to help a couple who took care of her from a young age and becomes the owner in name of a lovely bookstore. And while she helps others in small ways, she wants to help more in the fight against the Germans. This comes with a great risk to not only herself but to the bookstore. She also meets Paul – a man who her heart tells her to trust but on the outside he appears to be aiding the Germans, but is this just a front?
I loved the many layers in this story – not only Lucie and Paul’s, but also the lives they touched and helped. Many times they had to put their own feelings and dreams on hold to help others, and many times this came with great risk to themselves. They had to find the strength to keep fighting and to keep going at so many times throughout the novel. So many times they could have given in, ran away, been selfish but still they carried on helping others, stealing small moments together and carrying for Paul’s daughter. As the story carries on, you wonder will they finally be together as they so deserve or will the war win and keep them apart for eternity?
Until Leaves Fall in Paris is an incredible read from start to finish. It has a touch of romance swirled in with the reality of war, compassion, strength and dignity. I loved every moment of this beautiful story.
Sarah Sundin is the bestselling author of When Twilight Breaks and several popular WWII series, including Sunrise at Normandy, Waves of Freedom, Wings of the Nightingale, and Wings of Glory. She is a Christy Award finalist and a Carol Award winner, and her novels have received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly, and have appeared on Booklist‘s “101 Best Romance Novels of the Last 10 Years.” Sarah lives in Northern California. Visit www.sarahsundin.com for more information.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
In They Called Him Marvin, A History of Love, War and Family, they were just kids, barely not teenagers, madly in love, desperate to be a family, but a war and a B29 got in their way.
About They Called Him Marvin, A History of Love, War and Family
They were just kids, barely not teenagers, madly in love, desperate to be a family, but a war and a B29 got in their way.
Three hundred ten days before Pearl Harbor, buck private Dean Sherman innocently went to church with a new friend in Salt Lake City. From that moment, the unsuspecting soldier travelled a remarkable, heroic path, falling in love, graduating from demanding training to become a B29 pilot, conceiving a son and entering the China, Burma and India theater of the WW2.
He chronicled his story with letters home to his bride Connie that he met on that fateful Sunday, blind to the fact that fifteen hundred seventy five days after their meeting, a Japanese swordsman would end his life.
His crew, a gaggle of Corporals that dubbed themselves the Corporalies, four officers and a tech Sargent, adventured their way across the globe. Flying the “Aluminum Trail” also called the Hump through the Himalayas, site of the most dangerous flying in the world. Landing in China to refuel and then fly on to to places like Manchuria, Rangoon or even the most southern parts of Japan to drop 500 pounders.
Each mission had it’s challenges, minus fifty degree weather in Mukden, or Japanese fighters firing away at them, a close encounter of the wrong kind, nearly missing a collision with another B29 while flying in clouds, seeing friends downed and lost because of “mechanicals,” the constant threat of running out of fuel and their greatest fear, engine fire.
Transferred to the Mariana Islands, he and his crew were shot down over Nagoya, Japan as part of Mission 174, captured and declared war criminals. Connie’s letters reveal life for a brand new mother whose husband is declared MIA. The agony for both of them, he in a Japanese prison, declared a war criminal, and she just not knowing why his letters stopped coming.
My Thoughts
They Called Him Marvin tells the story of a young couple, full of promise and love (with a little one on the way) and the horrors of war that kept them apart.
Like many young couples during this time period, their time together was short, full of passion and hope. You can feel how quickly the pair fall in love and how much they mean to each other. The story begins to be told in a series of letters as Dean heads off to war. We watch as their relationships grows together and how each of them grows as a person while the war separates them. Dean was always there for Connie, I loved his thoughtful letters and gifts sent in the mail to her as he travelled to new places and the way he was able to bring to life the places he was stationed at. You can feel him wanting to be there with her but at the same time wanting her not to worry about him, to be reassured he was okay and that he would soon be home. Connie’s letters were full of all the information that Dean needed to know about their growing child and to make him feel his connection to his home. These personal glimpses into their lives give such a different look at what life was like for individuals at this time. I felt myself get excited to read the next one – would it be from Connie or Dean? Would it be in order or not? And you can feel the anxiety begin to rise as Dean’s letters stop arriving.
While I knew some of the events that occurred during World War II in Japan, this book really helped to expand my knowledge. You not only see the story told through an American viewpoint but also from the Japanese civilians and how the war affected their people – especially the bombings. You feel the suffering and pain of both sides and it is hard to put into words how painful this is.
I loved how the story took not only a historical approach but also told the story from the human viewpoint and the devastating affects it has on them as people. I would strongly recommend this book to readers of all ages for the important lessons it holds.
I am, by my own admission, a reluctant writer. But there are stories that demand to to be told. When we hear them, we must pick up our pen, lest we forget and the stories be lost. Six years ago, in a quiet conversation with my friend Marvin, I learned the tragic story of his father, a WW2 B-29 Airplane Commander, shot down over Nagoya, Japan just months before the end of the war. The telling of the story that evening by this half orphan was so moving and full of emotion, it compelled me to ask if I could write the story. The result being They Called Him Marvin.
My life has been profoundly touched in so many ways by being part of documenting this sacred story. I pray that we never forget, as a people, the depth of sacrifice that was made by ordinary people like Marvin and his father and mother on our behalf.
Grey Dawn of Dharaven, is a fantasy adventure book about an archeology expedition that heads off into uncharted areas on Katz Island on the planet Dharaven.
About Grey Dawn of Dharaven Bk.1: Katz Island
A fantasy adventure book about an archeology expedition that heads off into uncharted areas on Katz Island on the planet Dharaven. Earth Dragon Clan born archaeologist Grey Dawn Fields leads to a team of explorers and archaeologists into the wilds of Katz Island looking for a human underground settlement. She’s seen it on an ancient map found in an antiquarian store. That’s when the problems start, and they’re not only coming from the island. When they arrive on Katz Island the expedition is forced to wonder why they are even there when they find little in the first valley the team ground searches. The second valley is more promising as it shows signs of old habitation in its cliff caverns. It’s still not what Grey is looking for.
When an Earth Dragon attacks the second camp looking for food, then dies leaving a baby Earth dragon behind; Grey realizes she has trouble on her hands. Between training a baby Earth Dragon and her archaeology expedition duties Grey is required to stretch her problem solving capabilities and is forced to rely on her friends, colleagues and even her Earth Dragon Clan for help.
Is there an ancient human underground settlement on Katz Island or is Grey on a crazy quest to find something that does not exist? Grey’s archaeology career rests on her ability to solve every problem that stands in her way of success. Readers of fantasy adventure books will be captivated by this book.
Katherine E. Soto is a writer of fantasy novels. Her passion for writing started in high school with free form poetry writing, although she does remember creative story writing at an early age. Katherine enjoys composing short stories, flash fiction, poetry, sci-fi/fantasy novels, and nonfiction. She wrote her first fantasy novel in 2019 and it was published in 2022.
The Art of Traveling Strangers is a journey of self-discovery and personal empowerment inspired by the great art masterpieces of Italy and France. It’s a tale of female bonding and the amazing powers of perception. After all, reality, like art, is just an illusion.
About The Art of Traveling Strangers
It’s the 1980s, and art historian Claire Markham reels from a series of heartbreaking losses. Desperate to escape her shattered reality, she becomes an art guide in Europe for quirky stranger Viv Chancey and embarks on a life-changing journey through the art-filled cities of Milan, Venice, Ravenna, Florence, Siena, Rome, and Paris.
Once abroad, Claire tries to hide her woes by focusing on Viv’s art education, but Viv—who is not who she seems—has a different learning experience in mind. Frustrated and wanting to reimagine her life, Claire embraces the idea of reality as illusion and finds herself slipping into the tales of art and history.
When threatened with one more crushing loss, Claire must learn from the spirit of her eccentric companion and the lessons from the art they encounter to take charge of her life or lose the most precious thing in it.
The Art of Traveling Strangers is a journey of self-discovery and personal empowerment inspired by the great art masterpieces of Italy and France. It’s a tale of female bonding and the amazing powers of perception. After all, reality, like art, is just an illusion.
My Thoughts
“If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing – Coco Chanel” – The Art of Travelling Strangers
This quote, found at the novel, resonated with me. I feel like this was Claire – a woman with so much potential but who was holding herself back. She was scared to fly, allowing first her husband, then her affair and even her work to hold her back. She found her security in her love of art history.
Claire is at a difficult point in her life. She has come to the realization that her marriage is over – her husband being an overbearing, thoughtless and unkind man. She starts an affair with a man who shows her what love should be – kind, caring and thoughtful of both partners. She loses her Mother, her husband, her lover and financial security all at once. This leaves her spiraling and trying to figure out how to move forward both personally and professionally. She goes to Europe with Viv and this is where through some ups and downs, she finds and grows those wings.
In Europe, Claire learns forgiveness, healing and most of all, how strong she truly is. Her journey is not an easy one, it is full of pain, heartache and stubbornness but it is her journey of growth and healing. She becomes a stronger woman through the bonds that she forms.
I really enjoyed this book, although it did feel fast paced. Claire goes through so much in this novel and while so many of this could have broken her – she forces herself to push forward and deal with each moment. She grows from a woman who let people walk all over her, to someone who is ready to embrace her future and change. The bonus? All of the amazing art history details throughout this novel (I love my art!). I truly enjoyed every moment of this book about growth.
Zoe Disigny holds a master’s degree in art history and has taught at the college level throughout her career. She has led numerous art tours in Europe and established a business in Paris offering art history adventures for American tourists.
Enter THE ART OF TRAVELING STRANGERS Book Tour Giveaway for a chance to win an autographed copy of The Art of Traveling Strangers, 2 signed postcards designed by the author depicting locations from the book, and a pair of earrings and matching brooch from Ancient Artisans.
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