Book Review: The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

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The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a historical fiction novel that spans many years and tells of the friendship between former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. I don't know if I would have picked up this book if it hadn't been the August selection for one of the book clubs I belong to in my area because I don't read a lot of historical fiction. However, I am so glad that I read it and was able to learn many things I hadn't learned about in any of my history classes.  I don't recall learning anything about Mary McLeod Bethune, and she is an important part of American history. The things she helped spearhead to provide African American people equal rights is quite impressive. One of the things I was horrified to learn about is Franklin D. Roosevelt's resistance to stop lynchings because he was afraid of losing the Southern Democrats backing for his New Deal Bill. Another thing that I fo...
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Book Review: The Reunion Dinner (Busybodies Collection, #2) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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Book Review: The Reunion Dinner (Busybodies Collection, #2) by Jesse Q. Sutanto
book review the running bibliophile the reunion dinner

The Reunion Dinner (Busybodies Collection, #2) by Jesse Q. Sutanto is the second book in the Busybodies Collection on Amazon Prime. It opens to an Asian American family gathering to celebrate the Chinese New Year when one of the guest unexpectedly dies. The cops are called, and the family matriarch is trying to figure out who committed murder.

I enjoyed the first short story in this series so much that I decided to read the next in the series. These are all stand alone stories by different authors and are available to borrow for free or purchase from Amazon Prime.

Unfortunately, I didn't care for this installment as the first one as I didn't care for the characters as much, and the main character seemed a little overbearing. However, I did like learning a little about the Chinese New Year, some of the food served, and a tradition or two. 

What kept me from rating this story higher is that I absolutely hated the ending of the story. I won't say more as I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't read it. Three out of five stars is what I gave The Reunion Dinner (Busybodies Collection, #2) by Jesse Q. Sutanto.

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