Books by Katydid

  A Brillliant Night of Stars and Ice Written by: Rebecca Connolly Based on the remarkable true story of the Carpathia―the one ship and her legendary captain who answered the distress call of the sinking Titanic. Rebecca Connolly's haunting but beautiful retelling of the story of the captain of the Carpathia and some of the survivors of the sinking of the titanic uses powerful imagery to evoke and portray the emotions that would have been felt among all that night. This story brought me to tears. The precursor to the sinking showed things as light-hearted. The sinking brought reality and tragedy to the seen. The scenes afterwards showed the devastation, raw emotion, and heroism of not just the captain but of all the crew and passengers of the Carpathia. While I personally struggle reading books about tragedies like this- there is such importance in not forgetting the disasters that have come before us. Rebecca Connolly does the event justice in portraying what it would have been li...

The Papers Daughters of Chinatown Based on a true story Written by: Heather B. Moore Heather B. Moore craftfully wrote the story of the paper daughters of Chinatown. She shares the real life story of Donaldina Cameron in a way that I wanted to keep reading until I finished. While being a hard story to read because of the very real tragedies that happened in California in the 1900s. The novel brings awareness to the history of sex-trafficking without being overbearing or too much. It brings hope by sharing the success stories of the women who were rescued from the criminal tong. I would recommend this story to anyone who can handle reading the difficult stories present within. The book is meaningful and shares an importance piece of history.

Simplicity A Simple Love Story: Book 1 Written by: Dana LeCheminant Simplicity claims to be a simple love story but it is anything but. As the "Davenport princess," wealthy Lanna has tried to be everything her mother wants her to be. Losing her two brothers, one to death and one to who knows where, made her life ever more lonely. Her only relief is her art. Even that becomes an unknown as the dashing gardener, Luke, questions the soul in her paintings. On the other hand, Adam, the wealthy heir to the Munroe art empire, shows her everything good and wholesome that can come from a life among the elite. Can she choose between the two men who help push the boundaries of her sheltered life? Or will tragedy change the course of her life. This sweet love story tugs at the heart strings as Dana LeCheminant speaks to the loneliness in every reader's soul. Lanna's life exemplifies the perfectionist standards that are so hard to achieve while her suitors introduce the ...

To Die Upon a Kiss A modern retelling of Othello Written by: Debra Chapoton To Die Upon a Kiss tells the story of tragedy and informs against the ill-fated trends of jealousy and revenge. Olivia and Devon have a love strong enough to fight the unjust system they live in but not strong enough to withstand the rumors of cheating and unfaithfulness. Olivia's minion, Cat, manipulates all those underneath Olivia to enact her revenge on Olivia for perceived errors of the past. Cassandra and Whitney, other underlings, are all influenced by the jealousy Cat encourages. Each of these characters play their part well in the story of Othello. This retelling of Othello has great ideas but struggled with implementation. Chapoton stuck close to the Shakespeare tragedy while pulling the story into the future dystopian America. The story goes back and forth between 4 or 5 different time periods and several different character perspectives. While the author created a world worthy of the Ot...