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Picture in the Sand by Peter Blauner
Stacey Irving • February 9, 2023
My favorite read of 2023 so far
I finished reading Picture in the sand by Peter Blauner and here is my review.
Alex has it all. The family, an Ivy league college acceptance but after a misunderstanding with the FBI, a misunderstanding that was racially motivated, Alex feels disenchanted with the Egyptian-American dream and suddenly disappears from his home leaving a note behind. He has run off to become part of a holy war…. A war his grandfather knows more about than he lets on.
Alex, refusing all contact with his family, does answer an email from his grandfather and in it, his grandfather weaves the story of his own life and what led up to him living in America. A story of a young man with a dream of working in motion pictures and it all starts on the set of the Ten commandments…. During a time in Egypt where the people revolted against their King but a new dictator took the reins instead…
A story so compelling and dangerous that spans 50 years yet the story is eerily similar.
I finished this book a few weeks ago and I got the worst writer's block ever. I don’t usually not have the words to write a review but this book left me speechless. The writing was so hypnotically beautiful that I read the whole thing in one sitting. I loved how the story was told from the grandfather's perspective and Alex came through via the emails he sent to his grandfather.
Alex literally left because he felt America had disrespected his family and that the reason for it was because they tried to assimilate to a place that would never accept them. He gets himself into a situation he can’t understand and doesn’t fully appreciate the trouble he is in but his grandfather sharing his story helps him immensely.
The story made me cry so hard at the end. I felt truly invested in Ali during his time in Egypt as a young man and the tale he weaves of meeting Mona and landing a job on a real movie set in hopes that one day, he can move to the land where dreams come true. Egypt is in upheaval and Ali spends his time trying to navigate his precarious position between the Americas filming and the Egyptian activists that want to take their country back by any means necessary. You can truly feel his fear for his grandson for getting himself into the predicament he is in.
Loved the descriptions of Egypt but I am biased because I am a lover of Cairo and one day I will make it back there again. The connection between the two men was tangible and raw which I found so enchanting and relatable.
This book ticked every box for me and it is definitely a book I would reread again one day.
5 stars. If you are looking for an intergenerational book then look no further because it really will hit you in places you didn’t know you had.
Thank you St Martin's Press for sending me my review copy!
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I just finished How to help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein and here are my thoughts. Cassandra returns to her hometown after the death of her grandmother. The last person she expects to see is her old best friend Seth. Seth needs her help. He is a werewolf and he needs the potion her grandmother was making for him and she just discovered she is a witch.. They come to a truce to get what they both need but the mating bond that is heating up between them and it really is a case of life or death. Cassie is my kind of MC. She was funny and sweet. I wasn’t a massive fan of Seths. I think he did a poor job of apologizing to Cassie for how he treated her. The pace was a bit insane. One minute the story was going a million miles per min then it didn’t seem to go anywhere but I kinda liked it. It felt like it was giving me time to catch up with my heart. The smut was perfect. Even if you don’t enjoy the story, the steam will do it for you. I think it was a good start to a series, the paranormal storyline was highly entertaining. I enjoyed the humor and I laughed out loud a few times. The world building was done really well but the writing got a bit juvenile in places but I could overlook that. 4 stars Thank you to @stmartinspress for my gifted copy. #howtohelpahungrywerewolf #charlottestein #paranormalromance #shifterromance #smuttyread #booklover #smp #stmartinspress #bookinfluencer #bookreview #bookishblog #readerblog #reading #bookalorian #thewrightkindofbooktalk
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Bitter is the heart by Mina Hardy When Tamar has to allow her abusive mother to move in with her temporarily, all the old memories resurface but the things happening now can’t be explained and remembering what happened in her mothers house all those years ago… Makes her wonder just what other evils were lurking within those walls. I really enjoyed this book. It was the right mix of horror and thriller with some excellent characters. The pace wasn’t fast enough for my freaky brain but this book was fantastically scary on a whole other level. I thought all the threads came together nicely at the end and definitely a must read for the spooky season. 4.5 stars
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I just finished The First Day without you by Melissa Hill Moving to California was a snap decision made by Leonie. She needed a fresh start, a place to flee from the mess she left behind back home. Not ready to face what she did, Leonie, while cleaning her new home, finds a stack of letters. Unable to help herself, Leonie decides to get the letters to the person they are addressed to. Dragging her neighbor into her quest, Leonie embarks on a journey with Alex to try and give someone else the happily ever after she knows she doesn’t deserve. I quite enjoyed this book. It's split between two POV, Leonies that span current day and her past and Alex’s. I usually like one POV more in these kinds of books but I enjoyed both ladies' stories. Alex is trying to divorce her ex Seth but he is as elusive as bigfoot. She works as a reporter and her skills helped Leonie track down Helena. As a hopeless romantic myself I found the book very cute and I liked the cynical balance that Alex provided Leonie the romantic. The writing was solid and I was entertained through the whole book. I liked the ending. I don’t think it could have been done better. I like the mystery of the letters and all the descriptive talk of San Francisco. I feel like it’s never too late to reach out when your heart aches for someone. 4 stars Thank you @bookmarked @melissahillbooks for my gifted copy #sourcebooks #landmarkbooks #melissahill #thefirstdaywithoutyou #romanceread #chicklit #bookblogger #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #igreader
I just finished Book Lovers by Emily Henry and here are my musings. Nora Stephens is a workaholic and who can blame her? Well, everyone she meets thinks she has no work life balance but she is a literary agent and she is a shark at what she does. The only person she is soft for is her little sister Libby. And when Libby wants to go to Sunshine Falls for a month. A sister bonding trip before Libby’s third child arrives into the world. Libby has a bucket list of small town things they are both to do. Proving it is a small world, Nora keeps jumping into an editor from New york, a man she has contrasting viewpoints on with one of her authors. Charlie may be hot, but he isn’t what she’s there for. The cosmos has other ideas and the two of them find themselves unexpectedly bumping into each other and each time the ice thaws a little more. This book is CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE….. Did I mention how cute this book is? I was completely charmed by Nora from the get go. Kindred spirit and all that. She crushes her goals then makes new ones. Charlie is too cute. That frosty bookish man just needed to get in the water with the “shark” to figure out that there is more to life. I love small town settings. If I could read one type of book for the rest of my life, it would be a small town book. I loved all the fun things Libby had them doing and the budding friendship between Nora and Charlie. I have fast become a fan of Emily Henry so maybe I am biased but I don’t care. This book is well written, highly entertaining and I love falling in love with books like this. 4 stars! Excellent read! #booklovers #emilyhenry #romancereader #chicklit #februaryread #bookworm #bibliophile #booksofinstagram #bookcommunity #bookdragon #bookishlife
