Leslie's Bookcase

celebrating books & the literary lifestyle

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My first Atlantic sunrise!

ST. AUGUSTINE!

March 28, 2021 /

After visiting Jamestowne last summer, I became interested in the even earlier Spanish settlement of St. Augustine, Florida, “America’s oldest city.”

My family enjoys traveling to historical places, and I love the beach, especially the Atlantic, so I expected this would be a great spring break destination for us. The famous city also checked the fishing (my husband) and ghost tour boxes. We stayed at the perfect campground, and there was so much to do in the area we could fill up several more trips with activities. St. Augustine exceeded our expectations!

We traveled in our motorhome, and I realized I had never been in Georgia before, having always flown to Florida and therefore never had the “experience” of driving through Atlanta…I’m not sure how soon we’ll be doing that again!

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The pretty gold specks on the inside covers of The Four Winds.

KRISTIN HANNAH DOES IT AGAIN!

March 7, 2021 /

Once again Kristin Hannah has written an engrossing book that takes us to a difficult place and time alongside a strong female character. This new book may actually be my favorite by her:

The Four Winds: A Novel by Kristin Hannah

The initial setting is Texas during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. But when this environment truly becomes unsafe for her family, Elsa takes her kids to California looking for a better life. But so is everyone else! As refugees pour into California, their life is not much better there with the rough conditions, low wages, and prejudices against them.

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MY FAVORITE BOOK SO FAR THIS YEAR

February 6, 2021 /

I am making my way through my reading list for early 2021 and can already enthusiastically recommend this new historical fiction about the city of Savannah and the “Titanic of the South”:

Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

In a dual timeline, Callahan tells the story of the doomed steam ship Pulaski, which set sail from Savannah in 1838. Many of the city’s most prestigious families were on board to sail to Baltimore for the summer. But during the second night, a boiler exploded, and the ship sank. Many perished and those who did survive waited several days for rescue in the open sea or faced a harrowing journey in a lifeboat. Families were broken, assets (many took their gold, silver, china with them) were at the bottom of the ocean; this tragedy affected Savannah for years to come. But until reading this book, I knew nothing of this disaster!

The present day timeline follows Everly who is curating a museum’s exhibit on the disaster while recovering from her own personal tragedy.

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NEW BOOK PREVIEW – EARLY 2021

January 18, 2021 /

I say this every year, but 2021 is bringing several new books by my favorite authors. This list below is truly exciting to me. I can’t wait to get started!!

Here is what I’ll be reading during the first three months of this NEW YEAR:

You can click on the titles to view and purchase on Amazon (I do appreciate your support as an affiliate but I also encourage you borrowing from your library or your local bookseller.)

Also, if you missed it: here were my five favorite books from 2020.

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"Escape" to a murder mystery in the French Alps

‘ONE BY ONE’

November 21, 2020 /

Like many of you, I use literature for an escape but I only recently realized it can be comforting to “escape” to somewhere more terrifying that my/our current situation of COVID and politics.

Thrillers aren’t my primary genre but I do read them regularly including this recent favorite, and I have enjoyed Ruth Ware’s books before so decided to add this one to the top of my fall reading list.

One by One by Ruth Ware

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NEW BOOKS TO READ THIS FALL AND WINTER – 2020-21

November 15, 2020 /

With a lingering worldwide pandemic, we will continue to have lots of time to read these next couple of months. My fall/winter reading list below features new releases by many authors I’ve previously enjoyed as well as some of the best books I’ve read recently that I want to recommend. I hope you can find some books you will enjoy, and let me know if I’ve missed anything great that’s coming out this fall.

You can click on the titles or images to view and purchase on Amazon. While I appreciate a purchase through my affiliate links I also support buying from your local bookseller or using your local library.

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