The power of stories has been shown to provide people with higher levels of well-being and resiliency, even if these stories do not truly reflect who you are or your life experiences. They help us to find different ways of being and give us a chance to express ourselves. Illustrator Yoshi Yoshitani grew up with both Japanese and American traditions and is very comfortable using the power of stories to bridge different cultures. In Beneath the Moon there are unique and stunning colorful illustrations created by Yoshi that are paired with seventy-eight fairy tales, myths, and divine stories from around the world. Continue reading “Beneath the Moon and Tarot of the Divine Review from @kleffnotes”

Under Your Skin is in the genre of domestic thriller that includes books like Girl on the Train and Gone Girl. Rose McClelland has crafted a tense read that will keep you guessing and turning pages until you find yourself suddenly on the last page. While she has written a great deal of fiction, McClelland is taking us on her first journey into the world of thrillers and she has done a perfect job. Continue reading “Under Your Skin Book Review from @kleffnotes”

Set in July 2003, Maple Springs, Missouri, is going to be the site of a frightening tornado. Within Everyone Dies Famous, author Len Joy introduces readers to three men who will find themselves working together, but not all surviving the events to come. This story is one that highlight just how uncommon and diverse every person’s life is no matter where they live. Continue reading “Everyone Dies Famous Book Review from @kleffnotes”

Ruth Behar has crafted a story that is based on her family’s history, which celebrates resilience and the ability to preserver in even the most difficult situations. Letters from Cuba focuses on a young Jewish girl named Esther who finds herself fleeing Poland for a new life in Cuba as when it becomes evident that things can only get worse for them as World War II gets closer to beginning. This book is something that will show that anything can be overcome, especially with the love of your family. Continue reading “Letters from Cuba Book Review from @kleffnotes”

Line of Blood: Uncovering a Secret Legacy of Mobsters, Money and Murder is a book that came from the discovery of a newspaper article. Jana Marcus, award-winning photographer and author, found an article about a murdered mobster from the 1940s that was tucked away in a drawer in her grandmother’s home. This led to quest to uncover the history and the solution to the mystery in the article she found. Continue reading “Line of Blood Book Review from @kleffnotes”

Lan Cao has lived in the United States for more than forty years, but she does sometimes still feel tentative about her place in her adoptive country. After coming here at the age of thirteen and after eighteen years of being a mother, she still feels as though she is in a foreign landscape in some capacity. Family in Six Tones: A Refugee Mother, an American Daughter is a dual memoir from Lan and her American teenage daughter Harlan Margaret Van Cao that examines their experiences and interactions with each other. Continue reading “Family in Six Tones Book Review from @kleffnotes”

The Last Sword Maker is a novel from Brian Nelson that showcases the world as we have always known it changing. This though is because of something that may hit very close to home for some readers currently. An outbreak has led to thousands of deaths in Tibet is a rumor that keeps being whispered about. This disease can kill in minutes and the Chinese government is trying to keep it from being discovered. Continue reading “The Last Sword Maker Book Review from @kleffnotes”

Dr. Clemmie Whatley is herself a descendant of the Chubbs family and began the research that resulted in this book when her cousin Henry asked that she work with ESPN on a planned project about his son, Nick. Her mother had been the person keeping the story of the free Black Chubb family alive and Whatley found herself taking over the role. In her search she found her grandparents’ trunk and a bill of sale for the exchange of a slave lady and her son between two men, which led her to try and determine if this was the daughter who had been kidnapped into slavery and the bought back by the family. The Chubbs: A Free Black Family’s Journey from the Antebellum Era to the Mid-1900s is an examination of the Chubb family that begins in the mid-1700s and ends in the mid-1900s. Continue reading “The Chubbs Book Review from @kleffnotes”