ReadingWorld

BOOK REVIEW: Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman

2012-02-25T07:28:00.000-08:00

My reading pace has slacked off this month for a variety of reasons, or maybe just the February doldrums. But I finally jumped back in with another book that has been on my TBR list for way too long.

Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman is a intergenerational saga set primarily in Australia. We’re first introduced to Emma, the granddaughter, a prima ballerina in London. This is set in contemporary times. Emma is in her early thirties and, although she won’t admit it to herself, she is at the tail end of her career. She’s aging out. Dance is central to her life; people are peripheral, so Emma doesn’t even give any thought to what might come next. She has a boyfriend, Josh. Handsome, successful, and convenient, Josh is someone she loves desperately, but not desperately enough to pay any attention to until he leaves her. A career ending injury follows, and life-as-Emma-knows-it is over. She returns "home" to Australia where her mother somewhat reluctantly informs her of a bequest in her beloved grandmother’s will. She has been left an old farmhouse in a remote part of Australia. Wildflower Hill.

We then shift to Beattie’s story which is really the driving force of the novel. Beattie came of age in pre-WWII Scotland. Her parents were poor. Beattie worked two jobs to help out. And Beattie made some bad choices. Like having an affair with a married man who was quite a bit older. Inevitably, she finds she is going to have a baby. Being an unwed mother at that point in time is bad enough. Considering the father of the baby is already married – well, that doesn’t bode well for Beattie. She loses her jobs. Her parents kick her out. For awhile it seems even the father, Henry, has abandoned her.

This is when her last friend, Cora, offers this advice: "There are two types of women in this world, those who do things and those who have things done to them." Beattie decides to be a woman who does things.

Not to give away the whole plot, but Beattie does things. Major things. (Like run away to Australia for starters.) She’s a wonderful strong character and a very passionate one. She’s a good person (getting past that adultery thing), fair to others, and determined to succeed on her own. Her rags-to-riches tale is triumphant and yet, shot through with despair. Because whoo-boy! For all Beattie called upon Cora’s words of wisdom, I couldn’t wholly buy it. Beattie was the embodiment of both types of women. Things were done to her over and over again. She rises above it all impressively, but, realistically, this is not a happily-ever-after story for Beattie.

Emma, as modern day woman, has a different set of problems, all of which are self-imposed. If Beattie was "shunned" by the community, Emma shuts people out because she is too busy and too self-important. Where Beattie lived life to the fullest and loved almost sacrificially, Emma has had a very narrow life, devoted entirely to her ballerina career. Her injury forces her to reevaluate her priorities. Her exploration of her grandmother’s old farmhouse lead her to question what she really knew about Beattie. And while she is in the small community encompassing Wildflower Hill, she meets new people and discovers what is truly important.

There isn’t much that is surprising in Emma’s part of the narrative, but it’s a pleasant enough read. The real reward in this book is Beattie’s complex story. (But maybe that’s just my bias for historical fiction.) Beattie is not a perfect character. She makes mistakes. But she learns from them. She’s a fighter. She has a will of steel and a heart that won’t die no matter how many times it’s broken.

I’d read a few reviews of this book when it first came out and thought it sounded like something I’d enjoy. I requested it from the library, but it was one of those bad timing things – a few books all came in at once. I was in the middle of something else. At any rate, I had to return it before I could read it. To be sure that I wouldn’t forget about it, I bought it on my Nook. And there it sat for many months. It’s even easier to ignore Nook books than books on a physical shelf.

But this Mount TBR challenge (hosted by My Reader’s Block) is a wonderful thing. It inspired me to fire up my Nook and read this wonderful book!

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan

2012-02-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

I love historical fiction that can take me out of the here and now and completely immerse me in another time and place – even when that time and place is a frightening place to be. I’ve just finished By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan. This moving novel, set in fifteenth century Spain, follows the harrowing experiences and tumbling fortunes of Luis Santangel, the chancellor of the court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel.

Luis Santangel is extraordinarily wealthy and, as chancellor, enjoys the friendship (loosely defined as mutual back-scratching) of the king. Santangel is also an intellectual, curious about religion and philosophy, who is seeking the bigger questions in life. This may or may not be related to the fact that he is a converso, meaning he is a Christian of Jewish heritage. (He did not convert to Christianity. His grandfather converted. He was brought up Christian. However, there are some foggy memories of Jewish ritual from his childhood that come into play.) Santangel is aware of, and concerned by, things that are being done by the Inquisition. At first he seems to hope that his own influence will be a protective shield around those in his immediate sphere and he tries not to involve himself. But as the reach of the Inquisition expands, Santangel and the reader know that things are going to go from bad to worse. Santangel is forced to confront his own identity, his own priorities, and the limits of his own power.

The novel shows us Spain during the Inquisition from multiple viewpoints: Santangel and those close to him, Torquemada, even glimpses from the king’s and queen’s eyes. Christopher Columbus plays an important role in the novel. (Santangel was crucial in introducing Columbus to the court.) It’s fascinating to see Columbus as a cog in the larger wheel rather than as the star of a New World-centered tale of the times. Finally, we are introduced to a mature and sensitive woman, Judith Migdal, who is making her difficult way in the Jewish community in Granada. The love story between Santangel and Judith is beautiful and believable. It adds additional poignancy to an already strongly emotional tale. I suppose any story about the Spanish Inquisition is bound to be emotionally draining, but not every difficult story is as rewarding as By Fire By Water.

This is a historical fiction challenge book. (Check out Historical Tapestries to participate or just to see what other historical novels are being read!) I’m also challenge double-dipping and counting it for my Mount TBR challenge. (Hosted by My Reader’s Block.) I picked this book up at the Historical Novel Society Conference last June. I got quite a few books at the conference and am excited to read all of them, but I’ve been slow to get to the pile. I particularly wanted to read this one because I don’t often read about Spain and I figured it was about time I did. I was right!

YA BOOK REVIEW: Dreams of Significant Girls by Cristina Garcia

2012-02-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it’s not a good idea to set expectations too high for a book. I wasn’t going to review Dreams of Significant Girls by Cristina Garcia because I’m not sure that my reaction to it is entirely fair. But my reading/blogging has been a bit slack so I thought I should at least review some of what I've read. I loved The Lady Matador’s Hotel, a book that is not my typical reading fare but that is a superb piece of writing. When I saw Garcia was coming out with a YA novel, I got all excited. It received some wonderful reviews. It's set in the early 1970's, which is semi-historical, but in truth, for me, is more contemporary. And it was billed as being a friendship story, like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I haven’t yet read Traveling Pants but it’s been on my TBR list for a long time.

Anyway, I pre-ordered the book, I was so eager to read it. The novel centers around three wealthy (exceedingly wealthy) teens who are shipped off to summer school in Switzerland for various family/social reasons. It alternates among their points of view. Vivien is a Jewish, Cuban-American, sweet, overweight girl who wants to be a chef. Shirin is an Iranian princess, mathematically minded, and a ultra-snob. Ingrid is a Canadian rebel, party-girl, daughter of a Nazi war-criminal. Despite their differences, they are thrown together, have some boarding school adventures, and unlikely friendships ensue.

The first time I picked up the book, I read a few chapters and stopped, unable to get into the story. I couldn’t connect with the characters or their problems. But a few months down the road, I decided to give it another try. I did discover spots of lovely writing and nice insights. It’s fairly quick reading once I made up my mind to follow through. Still, I never really did come to care about the characters. Their angst-filled trials and tribulations were in some respects same-old, same-old. The only reason these girls were story-worthy was because of their fantabulous wealth and Swiss boarding school setting. And that somehow made their larger-than-life escapades seems a bit off-putting to me. Still, whenever I have this type of reaction to contemporary YA, I wonder when I turned into such a grouchy old lady.

So my verdict is: while this book didn’t live up to my expectations, I’m not exactly sure what my expectations were. I still think Garcia is a wonderful writer and I’ll be reading more of her work in the future.

This is my first book read for the Mount TBR challenge hosted by My Reader’s Block.

GUEST POST: Dickens' Hard Times- Rebuttal by Brad Asher

2012-02-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

Hard Times by Charles Dickens was the selection for our next historical fiction/history book club's meeting. My husband (Brad, author of Cecelia and Fanny. The Remarkable Friendship Between and Escaped Slave and her Former Mistress) just finished reading it. His take on it was very different from mine. In fact, while he was reading it, I had to listen to him chortling with amusement and saying things like - "You didn't think this was funny?"

So, to give Dickens his due, Hard Times may, in fact, be a very entertaining book and I shouldn't dissuade any potentially interested readers from giving it a shot.

Here is Brad's review:

Having just finished Dickens’ Hard Times, I found myself with a quite a different reaction to it than Sue’s. So she asked me to contribute this post as a sort of alternative take to her own review of the book from last week. I won’t rehash the plot summary, which Sue handled well in her post. But where she found the book a slog—at least until the last hundred pages or so—I found it ironic and broadly comic in its portrayal of the two respected members of English industrial society, Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby. These gentlemen—so over-the-top in in their insistence on hard facts and cold reason as the sole guides to life—get their comeuppance in the end, but I found Dickens’ "caricature sketches" of them in the beginning to be amusing and satirically biting.

Mr. Gradgrind, who forbids his children from using the phrase "I wonder…" and permits no idle entertainment or frivolous decoration in his surroundings, could have served as the inspiration for every soul-deadening educator portrayed in literature and cinema from Catcher in the Rye to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to The Simpsons. The industrialist Mr. Bounderby, who regards every demand by a worker or government inspector as a slippery slope toward a world of "venison and turtle soup" for the undeserving and continually trumpets his own [fictional] up-by-the-bootstraps rise to prominence, humorously parodied the puffed-up self-importance of the rich and successful. When Dickens described Bounderby and his fellow industrialists’ repeated threats to "pitch their machinery into the Atlantic" if the government regulated safety conditions or working hours, I was reminded of our own present-day Bounderbys threatening to move their operations to China if the EPA or the unions make more demands upon them to clean up their pollutants or live up to their pension obligations.

Absurd? Yes. Over-the-top? Yes. But Dickens uses the absurdity of Bounderby and Gradgrind to point up the absurdity of early English industrialism, which viewed workers as interchangeable parts and equated social happiness with industrial profitability. In that way, Hard Times reminded me of Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal—absurdity delivered with a straight face to satirize current social conditions.

To be honest, I have never really warmed to Dickens. He has always struck me as a little too sentimental, a little too earnest. And certainly Hard Times has its share of sentimental earnestness, but for me it had enough vinegar in its satirical send-up of these scions of the industrial system to cut the sweetness satisfactorily.

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: Hard Times by Charles Dickens

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

My historical fiction/history book group chose Hard Times by Charles Dickens for its next meeting. Having never read Dickens, and feeling that this omission should be remedied, I was pleased by the choice. As an added bonus, I am able to count this for my 19^th century choice for the Back-to-the-Classics Challenge.

Hard Times follows the rather bleak life story of Louisa Gradgrind, inhabitant of the poor/working-class milltown, Coketown. Louisa was not a member of the working class. She had the (?even worse?) misfortune of being born into the family of a Mr. Thomas Gradgrind, a teacher, and a proponent of the school of "facts." He had his children (primarily the two eldest, Louisa and Tom) brought up in a way that admitted no "wondering," no imagination, no play. They are taught a philosophy of rational self-interest. Thomas Gradgrind was eventually called away to Parliament and had less influence over the lives of his younger children, but Louisa and Tom were doomed to miserable childhoods and unhappy futures. Gradgrind also brought into his house one Sissy Jupe, the abandoned daughter of a wandering circus performer. She was supposed to be educated in the same fashion, but Sissy was too resilient – meaning he got to her too late. She had already developed a compassionate heart.

Louisa grew to be a pretty young woman and so she was snatched up by a friend of her father’s. The friend, Mr. Bounderby, was a blustering braggart, a self-professed self-made man, owner of a factory and the local bank. Louisa saw no option to marrying him. She hated him, but her brother Tom wanted the marriage. Tom, the only person Louisa truly cared about, had gone into service with Bounderby. He knew he would be getting into scrapes and he relied on Louisa’s influence with Bounderby to get him out of them.

Other characters are introduced: a gentlewoman fallen into poverty who works for Bounderby and spies on Louisa, a bored dissolute young gentleman who, having nothing better to do with himself than enter politics, comes to Coketown and falls in with Bounderby. He is taken with Louisa and sets himself the challenge of seducing her. There is also an upright, honest working-class man, Stephen Blackpool, as well as the generous, kind woman he loves, Rachel.

Hard Times takes a good long while introducing the characters and setting the stage for the plot. The characters (or caricatures) are fairly exaggerated representations of types. Dickens has a point to make and he wants to be absolutely certain the reader cannot miss it (although he buries Stephen Blackpool’s impassioned speeches in some painful-to-sort-through dialect. I took away the gist of what Stephen was saying but I had to start skimming over Stephen’s part of the dialogues to preserve my sanity.) About 3/4 of the way through the book, the plot-lines begin to come together and, finally, tension begins to build. There are unexpected twists, some poignant, some farcical. And the book hammers home its message.

This is Dickens’s 10^th novel and it is supposedly his shortest. My reaction is...mixed. There isn’t much in the way of actual story and what story is there is melodramatic. But the book is very carefully constructed, not so much for the plot itself, but for the way it is told. The characters represent what was wrong in society and what was right, and how people’s view of that right and wrong was often upside down. It was surprising (or maybe not) how much of the social commentary could be lifted out of 19^th century England and superimposed on society today. I think I went into the book expecting to be more entertained than preached to, and if my expectations had been more appropriate I would have better appreciated the book. As a political text, this is a remarkable piece of commentary that still speaks to us today. As a novel...well... it’s interesting political commentary.

GIVEAWAY HOP WINNER!

2012-01-20T16:23:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who joined in this hop - what a lot of fun! I discovered some great new blogs. And thanks to all my followers, new and old, for taking part.

The winner of the $25 Barnes & Noble gift card (chosen using random.org) is Brenda D. I'll send you an email. If I haven't heard from you by next Friday, I'll have to choose another winner.

BOOK REVEW: Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

2012-01-19T06:25:00.000-08:00

Here’s an opinion I’ll share that isn’t particularly earthshaking, but I’ll throw it out there to see if anyone feels strongly about it one way or another: Plays are much better to watch than read.

I don’t read very many plays. And yet, when it came to choosing one for the Back to the Classics Challenge, I was excited. I know there are a lot of great plays out there that I may never have the chance to see. I finally settled on Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize winner from1949, Death of a Salesman. I like Arthur Miller. I’ve read and seen The Crucible. I watched All My Sons. They are both powerful if emotionally difficult plays. I had high expectations for Death of a Salesman.

The edition I read (The Viking Critical Library edited by Gerald Weales) came loaded with extra reviews and criticisms, some of which I skimmed, but mainly I concentrated on the text.

What a downer.

It is the end of the road for Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, who can no longer sell. He has two grown boys. The older, "Biff," has just returned home from a ranching job in Texas. Biff is in his mid-thirties and is still "finding himself." Biff was a golden boy, a football star, right up through high school, and Willy had high hopes for him. He’s still Willy’s favorite. So it drives Willy batty to see Biff so unmoored.

Also at home, although he apparently has an apartment elsewhere, is the younger son, "Happy." Happy idolizes Biff and is desperate for Willy’s attention/approval. He’s always been second best, although now he’s the one following in his father’s footsteps.

Both boys are testosterone-fueled womanizers. They enjoy boasting to each other about all the women they’ve had and how many more they will have. The only worthwhile woman (and eventually they’ll find one just like her) is their mom.

Their mother, Linda, supports Willy in whatever he says or does, boosts his fragile ego, and does the same for the boys unless they are doing something to knock down their father.

Willy is at a particularly fragile crossroads. The life he has built for himself - that of successful salesman, father of sons who will be even more successful salesman– is clearly not working out for him. He claims that the important thing is to be well liked, and that will always open doors. (Nothing else is important - not doing well in school, not honesty or personal integrity - only being well liked.) But he is such an icky person, and his sons are such icky people, that it’s hard to imagine any of them being liked at all. Willy is delusional. The more the play goes on, the more truly delusional (or is he supposed to be suffering from dementia?) you see that he is.

The play does raise questions about Willy. Was he ever any good or was he always mediocre, chasing a dream he would never obtain? How significant, really, was the "shocking" revelation that caused the rift between Willy and Biff? At times, Willy thinks that this one episode is what made Biff give up on life, and he alternates between blaming himself and refusing the responsibility. But really, that one experience, as awful as it was, was only one small part of the terrible parenting by Willy.

And I’m not sure that simple bad parenting is enough of an excuse for what unpleasant men the boys turn out to be.

So here’s the thing. I imagine watching the play would have made it a lot more compelling. (There is a lot of drifting back and forth in time that would have been easier to visualize if it was separated into the compartments the way the stage directions indicated the scenes should be.) I could have better appreciated the pathos, maybe pitied Willy more for the way he tried to cover for his failures by blustering and lying, particularly to make himself look bigger in front of his boys. Willy is now not the man he once was, so the volatile, blustering, confused, pathetic character cannot be judged to be the real Willy. (But the Willy of his memory is no more likeable to my mind.) Maybe watching Biff and Happy interact would have been more comical or even poignant than off-putting. But reading it...I found the characters annoying. Except for the wife/mom. She deserved better.

Anyway, I’m glad to have read the play so that I have a better understanding of this piece of Americana. Some day I hope to have a chance to see a good production of the play to see how my appreciation of it differs when the characters are alive in front of me rather than flat on the page.

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: I was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve picked up a YA historical novel to relax and enjoy myself. So, this weekend, I borrowed a book from my daughter’s shelf: I was Jane Austen’s Best Friend by Cora Harrison. This book combines a bit of fictional biography of the young Jane Austen with a YA romance.

Jenny Cooper is Jane Austen’s orphaned cousin. After heroically coming to the rescue when Jane was desperately ill at boarding school, Jenny is invited to stay with the Austens at their home in the country. There Jenny is surrounded by Jane’s large family (six brothers and a sister), not to mention all her father’s pupils. The shy, sixteen-year-old Jenny finds the Austens lively, fun, and a little overwhelming. There is always something happening, and Jenny’s life opens up to more laughter, teasing, and friendship than she’d ever known before. She also learns a thing or two about flirting – a brand new experience for her. But of course, at this age, romance - meaning true love - is foremost in her thoughts.

Young Jane Austen is a steadfast friend and her outspokenness and confidence are the perfect complement to Jenny’s reticence, while Jenny’s common sense balances Jane’s impulsiveness. The story does a very nice job of imagining Jane’s teenage years and her early striving to be a writer.

Jenny was a lovely character to root for – far stronger than she gave herself credit for being. It was delightful watching her grow in confidence. The hero is sweet, making for a charming love story.

I haven’t studied Jane Austen’s life in any detail, but Cora Harrison has. By report, this book was extensively researched and is based on much that is true from Jane’s early life. So now I’m more interested in digging into Austen’s biography. So much for a nice relaxing read. Now I have more work to do!

January has been a good month for historical fiction. I'm moving right along in the historical fiction challenge hosted by Historical Tapestry.

BOOK REVIEW: Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout

2012-01-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I started off the year with a plan. It wasn’t carved in stone, but I did think I would read more than 2 of my intended books before getting sidetracked. Instead, after Olive Kitteridge and The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, rather than continuing to tackle my enormous pile of previously purchased books, I went to the library for one that was not even on my TBR list.

But I had a good reason! A fellow blogger, Sherry from Semicolon, commented on my Olive Kitteridge post with a recommendation to read Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout. (Her review can be found here .) I thought Olive Kitteridge was an amazing book, so I intended to read more of Strout’s work eventually. But Sherry’s review really grabbed me. I went ahead and requested it from the library and it came in only a couple days later. So, I settled in for the read.

This is also a small-town-New-England novel but this one is set in the past, in the late 1950s. (Hurray! I can use it for the historical fiction challenge.)

Skillfully employing an omniscient narrator, Strout takes us inside this close-knit New England community and opens it up to us, warts and all. The book focuses primarily on Tyler Caskey, a young pastor who came to be minister to the small congregation as his first job out of seminary. He is warm and affable, a man who loves to preach and who is sincere in his calling. Most of the town takes to him immediately. The only fly in the ointment is his beautiful young wife, who does not adjust well to the role of minister’s wife, but we learn about that in due course.

As the book opens, the wife is about a year dead; Tyler is a widower. His youngest daughter is being brought up by his mother in a different town. His older daughter has just begun kindergarten and is emotionally troubled – she’s causing problems at school. These problems start a ripple effect throughout the community, threatening the way Tyler views his flock, his role there, and himself.

The book moves back and forth in time and takes us deep into the psyches of several of the townspeople, as well as exploring the thoughts of Tyler’s five-year-old daughter Katherine. We see how much harm people can do by pettiness and gossip. And we see how far even a little kindness can go. We see faith tested and restored.

Once again, Elizabeth Strouth does a superb job of presenting fictional characters as real human beings. Their flaws are so glaring because they are so ordinary and believable. The ordinariness of their strengths is what makes the book reassuring. It’s a beautiful book, and I’m glad I took the detour to read it.

This is book number two for the historical fiction challenge hosted by Historical Tapestry. It's interesting for me to read a book set in such recent history compared to the historical fiction I generally read. There are very obvious differences between the time period of the book and now, and yet, compared to medieval fiction, the book is practically contemporary. When do you think historical fiction stops and contemporary begins?

DREAMING OF BOOKS GIVEAWAY HOP January 13-18

2012-01-12T12:42:00.000-08:00

This week I'm participating in my first giveaway hop. Co-hosted by Inspired Kathy at I'm a Reader Not a Writer, and Martha and Martha's Bookshelf this hop features over two hundred bloggers all with different book related giveaways.

For my own giveaway (US entrants only this time), rather than pick one of my favorite books to give away (what would it be? Historical fiction, YA, a classic from the challenge? Too many choices!) I decided to let the winner choose what to read. So my prize will be a $25.00 Barnes and Noble gift card.

To enter, leave a comment with an email address. GFC Followers (new or old) get one extra entry (+1), but please let me know in the comment that you're a follower.

You can also get an extra entry (+1) if you choose to follow by email- confirmed email subscription at http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=ReadingWorld

Don't forget to visit the other blogs in the hop and check out their giveaways!

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin

2012-01-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

Melanie Benjamin has chosen a wonderful protagonist for her latest historical novel, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb. Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump, or "Vinnie," never grew taller than two feet, eight inches, but she was, according to newspaper accounts and to her own recollections, perfectly proportioned, graceful, intelligent, and lovely.

She was born in 1841 and grew up on the family farm in a small Massachusetts town. Although loved and pampered by her large family, she (and her younger sister, Minnie, who was similarly affected) were nevertheless a source of embarrassment to them. No one knew what to do with the girls, except to protect them from a world much too big for them. But Vinnie, perhaps as a result of her lively intelligence, refused to settle for a life confined to the farm. She was curious to discover what lay beyond.

This pre-Civil War era was a time when people with unusual medical conditions were either hidden away or were displayed as sideshow freaks. One man, P.T. Barnum, had demonstrated a remarkable success at marketing oddities of all kinds. One of his most memorable triumphs was Tom Thumb, or General Tom Thumb, a boy with a condition similar to Vinnie’s own. He had grown-up under Barnum’s employ and garnered fame as an entertainer because of his diminutive size. It was no surprise that others should try to mimic their success, or that Vinnie’s parents would be against the idea of having their children displayed and exploited.

A second-rate showman who owned a riverboat touring company appeared at Vinnie’s home one day, claiming to be a distant cousin. Over her parents’ objections, Vinnie signed on to join his tour. This was her first taste of the entertainment business and despite the shoddiness of his operation and her harrowing escapes from a few nasty enterprises, there was no looking back for Vinnie. What she learned was that she needed a higher class of employer.

Vinnie’s life story takes a turn when she finally meets Barnum, who puts her in contact with Charles Stratton, the man she had heard of as General Tom Thumb. Together, the three begin a lucrative, whirlwind, worldwide, burst of showmanship. Everyone loved Tom Thumb and his wife. While the Civil War raged, the famous couple even knocked news of battles off the front page.

This is a fascinating tale of a woman who refused to be bound by her physical limitations, and yet who drew boundaries around herself that were even more limiting. Although she hated to be defined by her size, the successful attainment of her huge ambitions depended upon the fact that she was tiny.

I enjoyed this story for the narrative’s sake, but I also found it interesting as a book that managed to encompass the Civil War in the US and barely mention the war. Two of Vinnie’s brothers fought for the Union, and yet she thinks of it only in passing, visiting a brother once because her work brings her near. I tend to picture the war as having been so horrific, so huge, so all encompassing, that life didn’t go on during it, which is a ridiculous way to think. Of course people were still concerned with fashion. People were still going out to entertainments. People were still worried about their finances. Vinnie was trying to build her career. She was a self-centered person. She had more important things to think about than the war. I love the way this book shows glimpses of all these other things that were going on at the time.

I also found this an interesting look at the nature of celebrity. It seems extraordinary that this pair could have received such acclaim, have been received by presidents and by royalty, have attracted enormous crowds, because of their height. But then you look at some of today’s celebrities and wonder...

This is a lovely piece of historical fiction and it’s great that Melanie Benjamin has given Mrs. Tom Thumb a place in the spotlight once again!

I almost forgot- This is my first book read for the Historical Fiction Challenge - 2012. Join in and enjoy some great books!

Literary Blog Hop Jan 7-10

2012-01-07T06:07:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Literary Blog Hop hosted by The Blue Bookcase!

This monthly blog hop is open to blogs that primarily feature book reviews of literary fiction, classic literature, and general literary discussion.

Here's the explanation of the hop:

How do I know if my blog qualifies as "literary"? Literature has many definitions, but for our purposes your blog qualifies as "literary" if it focuses primarily on texts with aesthetic merit. In other words, texts that show quality not only in narrative but also in the effect of their language and structure. YA literature may fit into this category, but if your blog focuses primarily on non-literary YA, fantasy, romance, paranormal romance, or chick lit, you may prefer to join the blog hop at Crazy-for-books that is open to book blogs of all kinds.

Instructions for entering the Literary Blog Hop:

1. Grab the code for the Button.

2. Answer the following prompt on your blog.
(Suggestions for future prompts? Email them to thebluebookcase@gmail.com)

Here's the question this week:

Do you like to supplement your reading with outside sources, like Sparknotes, academic articles, or other bloggers' reviews? Why or why not?

My wishy-washy answer is -- sometimes. Sometimes I've been inspired to read a literary work by an outside source -- a review or discussion article. Other times I'll read a book from "the canon" that is on my list of books I must read before I die. And then what happens depends on the book. If I'm moved to go beyond and learn more, I'll dig deeper, either because I loved it so much and wanted to be part of the community of people who appreciated it. Or, because I just didn't get it and wanted to see what I had missed. But with some books I just enjoy the story and the writing and then move on to the next.

BOOK REVIEW: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

2012-01-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

For some reason, right around the holidays, I always seem to read a book (or books) that pack an emotional wallop. Maybe it’s because I usually have a couple days off work so I feel I can tackle something engrossing. Maybe with all the holiday cheer I feel armed against depressing fiction. This year, I picked up my Back to the Classics award winner – Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2008. I bought the book soon after, and it has been sitting on my shelf ever since.

Olive Kitteridge is not a novel, not exactly. It’s a collection of short stories centered around Olive and her family and friends, solid New Englanders, inhabitants of a small town somewhere in coastal Maine. Olive is middle-aged to elderly over the course of the book. A retired school teacher, she is not the main character in most of the stories, but somehow or another, she figures into them all. We see her from many different points of view, and eventually we get a very good picture of the woman. She is exceptionally three-dimensional. (I know that doesn't actually make sense, but it will if you read the book.) In some of the stories she is hard and unlikeable and in others, achingly vulnerable. Remarkably, in these short stories, you not only end up feeling that you know Olive inside and out, but you also become very well acquainted with a fair number of her acquaintances. The insights into human nature (as demonstrated in the examples of the friends and family) are that good.

The writing is Pulitzer Prize caliber. Every detail is perfect. Every interaction is exquisite. Strout is able to capture a wide spectrum of interpersonal relationships in all their joy, pain, confusion, love, and inevitable loss. The book was, at the same time, emotionally draining and emotionally rewarding.

So my Back to the Classics Challenge is off to a wonderful start. I can’t recommend this book highly enough!

BACK TO THE CLASSICS CHALLENGE 2012

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

Sarah at Sarah Reads Too Much will be hosting the Back to the Classics challenge again this year. Check out her post for rules and to sign up. Here are the books I've chosen to read, along with links to reviews once (if) I've reviewed them.

Any 19th Century Classic : Hard Times by Charles Dickens

Any 20th Century Classic : The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

Reread a classic of your choice : Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

A Classic Play : Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime Fiction : The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Classic Romance : Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Read a Classic that has been translated from its original language to your languange : Lost Illusions by Honore de Balzac

Classic Award Winner - Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Read a Classic set in a Country that you (realistically speaking) will not visit during your lifetime : Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Challenge Wrap-up for 2011

2012-01-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

Time to clean up my side bar from 2011 in anticipation of my 2012 challenges. I completed my 2011 challenges just on time. Links to each (with links to reviews) are:

The Back to the Classics Challenge - 2011

The books I read were:

Uncle Tom's Cabin

All Quiet on the Western Front

To Kill A Mockingbird

The Once and Future King

The Picture of Dorian Gray

O Pioneers!

The Sense of an Ending

Les Liaisons Dangereuses

The YA Historical Fiction Challenge

The books I read were:

A Northern Light

Strings Attached

Deadly

In the Shadow of the Lamp

Daughter of Fire and Ice

Between Shades of Gray

Daughter of Xanadu

Crusade

May B.

The Wager

The Georgette Heyer Challenge -2011

The books I read were:

Devil's Cub

Frederica

Cotillion

The Historical Fiction Challenge - 2011

The books I read were:

Waverley

The Stolen Crown

Burr

Finding Emilie

The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare

Mary, Queen of France

Like Mayflies in a Stream

The Paris Wife

Moloka'i

The Mistress of Nothing

Happy New Year to all. Onward to 2012!

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: The Wedding Shroud by Elisabeth Storrs

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

Historical novels set in ancient Rome hold a great deal of appeal for me. I love the whole spectrum of books from those as intensely detailed and instructive as Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series to those as light-hearted and entertaining as Lindsey Davis’s Falco detective series. So when I saw the blurb for Elisabeth Storrs’s The Wedding Shroud, I was intrigued. I saw it blurbed and reviewed on a couple historical fiction blogs and decided I wanted to read it. The only problem was getting hold of the book. It’s not available in the US. I tried ordering it from The Book Depository but it was back ordered and eventually I got a message saying it would not become available. You can buy it for your kindle, but I don’t have a kindle and it wasn’t offered for the Nook. (There is probably a way to get an ebook version to read on the Nook, but I couldn’t figure it out.) I could have ordered it used from a few booksellers, but it would have run me about $50.00, which seemed a bit steep for a book that was $9.99 on kindle. (Currently $6.59.)

But, I got an iPad for Christmas! The first thing I did was download The Wedding Shroud from the ibook store to read over the holidays. And it’s one of the things I like best about my gift. I finally got to read this book.

Set in 406 B.C., Rome is not yet the sprawling empire it will later become. Surrounded by peoples who are alternately allies and enemies, depending on necessities and conveniences of the day, Rome is always at war. One of its neighbors was Etruria (the Etruscans.) Located just twelve miles from Rome, the dominant city of Eturia, Veii, was a powerful rival with a different culture, different gods, and different prejudices. In The Wedding Shroud, Storrs imagines a marriage between a Roman girl, Caecilia, and an Etruscan nobleman, Vel Mastarna.

Caecilia has been brought up with strict Roman ideals and so, even though she has never been anything but a pawn to Roman men, she feels loyalty to her homeland. She must live as a Roman matron would. She firmly believes that Etruscan ways are dishonorable. Caecilia is young and naive; she has a difficult time understanding her husband who is twice her age and uncommunicative, if kind. She has left behind a childhood crush, but Mastarna has been married before. The more she learns about her husband’s past, the more confused she becomes. Although she slowly falls in love with him, she doubts his feelings for her.

If Caecilia is unable to accept Etruscan customs wholeheartedly, the people of Etruria are also divided in their acceptance of her. As internal rivalries heat up, Caecilia is caught in the middle. The tenuous peace treaty unravels, and the fate Caecilia has always feared, of becoming a hostage to be used against her beloved Rome, becomes increasingly likely. Her very life is in danger. Mastarna has sworn he will protect her, but will he? Can he?

This is marvelous historical fiction. The details are richly imagined. There were times when I became irritated by Caecilia’s choices, knowing she was digging herself into deeper trouble, but realistically, I could understand why she did what she did. Mastarna was a complex but solid hero. The supporting cast were well-rounded and interesting. I was immersed.

I’m so glad I was able to get my hands on this book. It was the perfect way to wrap up my reading for 2011 – a beautifully done book in my favorite genre.

BOOK REVIEWS: Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff and Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen

2011-12-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

We can call this Memoir Monday - but it won't be a recurring theme. I finished two memoirs this past week, both enjoyable pieces of writing by authors whose voices I have to admire. Still, I’m afraid memoir just isn’t my genre. I found that even though I liked pieces of the books, I wasn’t all that interested in the plot of either one. Maybe it's because memoirs don't really have plots the way novels do -- and maybe that's why I have a hard time being pulled into the stories.

The first was Q’s Legacy by Helene Hanff. I suppose I was expecting a bit more of the "Q" in there – a bit more of how she taught herself to appreciate literature and to write thanks to a series of books-based-on-lectures written by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, a Cambridge don. I guess I wanted more of a blow-by-blow account of what books she’d read and what lessons she’d learned. Instead, the "Q" recollection was just a bit of intro to lead us into a tale of how and why she wrote 84, Charing Cross Road and the twists and turns her life took following the book’s success.

I loved 84, Charing Cross Road. That’s how I came to be interested in this memoir in the first place. But I wasn’t looking for a simple behind-the-scenes glimpse of the writing of the book with a peek at Hanff’s peripheral involvement in the various stage adaptations that came afterward. Hanff is a charming writer, but I much preferred her interactions with her friends in her letters. This seemed more forced.

I enjoyed the second book more. This was one that a friend lent to me but I put off reading because, well...I don’t read memoirs. But, coincidentally, my book club picked it for our January meeting, so I plucked it off the shelf: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen.

This is the story of a lapsed Mennonite who, at the age of forty-three, is dealt a rapid series of blows that cause her to reevaluate her life. First - a surgery with complications. Second - her husband leaves her for a man, and finally, she’s in a car accident that results in broken bones, limiting her mobility.

Rhoda is a college professor, an intelligent, professional woman. She’s used to supporting herself and her husband. However, she can’t afford her house payments without her husband’s contribution. Devastated and at her wit’s end, she returns to the Mennonites.

More specifically, she returns to her parents’ home to recuperate with her Mennonite mother and father and with the support of the community of wonderful family and friends. In course of the book, while poking gentle fun at them and at herself, she embraces and dispenses with stereotypes about Mennonites. She also allows the story of her marriage to haltingly unfold, showing the reader how very much better off she is without the guy, no matter how much she loved him. It’s complicated.

Janzen is funny and can get the most out of an anecdote. It’s an entertaining book and I’m sure I’ll enjoy the book club discussion. Still, all-in-all, I’d rather read a novel.

BOOK REVIEW: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

2011-12-19T06:35:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, my sister asked me if I had ever read J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey. I had not. Catcher in the Rye was quite enough for me. I read that in high school and found it hard going. But she said I would like this one and she knows me awfully well, so I thought I’d better read it.

I mentally added it to my list. I picked it up and put it down in bookstores several times. I thought about requesting it from the library. Somehow I never could quite summon up the enthusiasm to commit. Not until the Borders going-out-of-business sale. There it was on the shelf. A discounted paperback staring me in the face. What was I waiting for? I had no choice but to buy it.

And this weekend I finally read it.

Franny and Zooey is, as I understand it, two short stories woven together. They relate an incident from the lives of the two youngest Glass children. Franny is nearly finished with college when she has a nervous breakdown (in the day’s terminology.) Sickened by the phoniness and egoism of everyone around her, she is unable to stand being at school anymore. She makes a brave effort to visit her boyfriend Lane at a nearby college for the big weekend Yale football game, but he is the worst posturing phony of all. Unable to continue the charade, she haltingly confides what ails her. She tries to tell him about a book she has been reading that has been providing spiritual enlightenment. She is now attempting to follow its precepts by continually praying The Jesus Prayer. Lane doesn’t understand. He doesn’t want to understand – he wants to go to a cocktail party and then to the game. Fanny—dizzy, sweating, and ill—finally faints, bringing their weekend together to a close.

Franny goes home. This is where the reader meets Zooey, her slightly older brother. (Their mother, Bessie, is there, too.) First, Bessie tries to convince Zooey to talk to Franny. Apparently, Zooey already has talked to her. After a lengthy argument with his mother, Zooey does, in fact, go out (they were arguing in the bathroom) and talk to Franny again.

This is the story in a nutshell. The amazing thing is how bizarrely entertaining the book is, considering it is simply a prolonged gabfest. Nothing happens. The characters are arrogant, irritating, funny, and poignant. They are too intelligent for their own good. It leaves them bored with the world, cynical, and convinced of their own superiority. But being this way has made them miserable. Moreover, they’re aware that their misery is their own fault. I found myself caring for them even though I don’t think I’d want to be trapped next to one of them at a social function.

Salinger is an extraordinary writer. The characters were very real. I could see the settings precisely and watch the scenes as though I were watching a play. The humor leaped out at unpredictable moments, biting and cruel, but the love between the brother and sister was subtly sweet, and the contrast made me more aware of both.

The final verdict is I enjoyed the book so much I might just have to give Catcher in the Rye another chance.

Six Word Saturday

2011-12-17T05:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas is Coming! I can't wait!

Six word Saturday is a meme hosted by Show My Face. To play, you try to sum up your life, your week, or whatever in six words. (See link for details and to link your six words to the list.)

Mine are rather obvious this week, but we are in count down to Christmas mode. I'm going to see some extended family at Christmas this year so it will be particularly merry.

Enjoy your week!

TGIF!

2011-12-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

I'm participating in a new meme (for me) this week -- TGIF hosted by GReads! It's a great way to recap the week and head into the weekend. This week's question is:

Most Popular: What blog post has gotten the most

comments/activity on your blog this year?

I had to go digging for that answer. I guessed it would be a giveaway post, and I was right. It was my Mailbox Monday with Giveaway post for my husband's book Cecelia and Fanny. But I was surprised to find it tied with two other Mailbox Monday posts - like this one for a new old book.

Overall, the hops and memes get more activity than book reviews.

COME SEE ME AT THE MOD PODGE BOOKSHELF

2011-12-15T17:24:00.000-08:00

Today I'm being interviewed as part of the author interview series 2011-wrap-up at The Mod Podge Bookshelf.

Come have a look at my guest post and check out some of the other author interviews as well!

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: A Play of Heresy by Margaret Frazer

2011-12-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

Although this book came out at just the right time to be a perfect Christmas present (just like last year's release of A Play of Piety), I was far too impatient to wait a couple more weeks. I bought it for myself, then sat down and read it. I’m addicted to the "A Joliffe the Player Mystery" series.

Margaret Frazer’s A Play of Heresy continues the story of Joliffe, part-time player (actor) and part-time spy for the powerful Bishop Beaufort. As this instalment opens in the early summer of 1438, Joliffe is looking forward to a little well-earned respite from his spying duties. He’s returning to his company of players who are in Coventry for the Corpus Christi festival – a festival of plays. Each of the guilds sponsors a different religious-themed play and vies to put on the best production. While locals play most of the parts, they often bring in ringers to direct and perform, in order to boost their chances of outdoing the competition. Joliffe’s friends are well-employed by the tailors’ guild.

Unfortunately, as Joliffe is making his way to Coventry, he comes upon a friend of a different sort, another spy for the bishop. This man is perturbed because an informant whom he was supposed to have met in Bristol was lost somewhere between Coventry and the assigned meeting place. The spy is quite certain he’s dead and that Lollards, religious malcontents/heretics, are to blame. Since Joliffe is on his way to Coventry, he is assigned the task of investigating things at that end.

And so begins another intricately woven tale of murder, intrigue, love, and human failing. Joliffe gets to do the things he does best: work in theater and solve murders while pondering philosophical questions of life. I find Frazer’s style, the voice of her characters, to be original and pure pleasure to read. The historical details are always rich, bringing me fully into the world. And besides, I’m head-over-heels in love with the protagonist and have been since book one.

The book would stand alone as an interesting murder mystery, but I think you’re cheating yourself to read it this way. I’d really recommend starting with A Play of Isaac and reading through the series. Much of the entertainment of these books comes from the unfolding of Joliffe’s character. His interactions with his fellow players is more deeply appreciated also if you know what’s come before. What is here is fine for plotting and enough for carrying the story, but you won’t get the full emotional depth of the experience.

Now I’ll join the other "Joliffe the Player" addicts to ask: How long must we wait for book 8?

HISTORICAL FICTION CHALLENGE 2012

2011-12-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

(List of books read and links to reviews can be found at the bottom of the page.)

Although I'm watching the number of challenges I sign up for this year so that I don't get crazy in November/December 2012, this one is an easy one for me. Historical fiction is my go-to genre.

Once again, it is being hosted by the wonderful team of bloggers at Historical Tapestry. Head over to the link for futher information. Here are the basic details:

Each month, a new post dedicated to the HF Challenge will be created. To participate, you only have to follow the rules:

everyone can participate, even those who don't have a blog (you can add your book title and thoughts in the comment section if you wish)

add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll (the bloggers at Historical Tapestry) be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review)

any kind of historical fiction is accepted (HF fantasy, HF young adult,...)

During these following 12 months you can choose one of the different reading levels:

Severe Bookaholism: 20 books
Undoubtedly Obsessed: 15 books
Struggling the Addiction: 10 books
Daring & Curious: 5 books
Out of My Comfort Zone: 2 books

To join the challenge you only need to make a post about it, grab the button there if you like and leave your link in Mr Linky at Historical Tapestry. If you don't have a blog you can just leave a comment there saying that you are joining.

The challenge will run from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012.

This year I'm going to bump up my level of participation to Undoubtedly Obsesssed, 15 books. If you're a historical fiction fan, or just interested in exploring the genre, come join us!

The books I've read are below. Click on the link for reviews.

1. The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin
2. Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout
3. I was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison
4. By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan

BOOK REVIEW: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

2011-12-10T13:56:00.000-08:00

Two master illusionists/magicians have been trained from a young age to take part in a contest in which one must out-magic the other. The victor’s prize is survival. The contest will take part in a fantastical circus—one that travels from city to city on a train that defies reality, appears instantaneously, and is open to the public at nightfall, closing at dawn. The Circus of Dreams.

The contestants, Celia and Marco, build the circus, vying to show off their skill and imagination. Neither quite understands the rules of the game, not at first. Enamored of the wonders of the night circus, they collaborate with its initiators (a promoter, an engineer, a clock-maker, a costumer and a few others) and even with each other to create a magical place/event that seduces circus-goers around the world. And, not quite understanding the rules of the game, of course they fall in love.

The larger and more elaborate their game—their world—the more difficult it is to hold it together. Although they are the crucial players, innocent people are also entrapped. Celia and Marco are bound by their own masters to play it through to its conclusion no matter the consequences.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern has been receiving rave reviews that are well-earned. It is imaginative and lushly written. Her world-building is superb. It’s a gentle book, for all its threat of violence. (Two young people are forced into a contest in a created venue where they had to battle to the death for an ill-defined prize. But they defy their "superiors" by falling in love and redirecting their energies. I confess Hunger Games popped into my head as I was reading. But this is very unlike Hunger Games. It’s all very subtle and contained. They battle by creating fantasy tents in a circus of dreams and for a long time, they don’t even know they are engaged in a battle for survival.) There is a slow and dreamy quality to the book. Shifts in time added to the dreaminess—they were a bit disorienting until I gave myself over to the sliding back-and-forth. (Chapters start with a dateline so if you pay attention you shouldn’t get disoriented, but I’m not good at checking dates. I find it more distracting than I do being disoriented.) The circus itself is an addictive fantasy (what new tent would be created next?) and I was curious to see if Celia and Marco could escape their fate and if so, how.

Still, I think I had expectations for the book that were higher than could be realized. For me, it was all too surreal. I was never pulled into the world of The Night Circus because it was all too impossibly fictional. The tribulations of the characters didn’t touch me very deeply. But this could be, in part, due to the fact that I sat down and read the book on Friday night after a long work week.

So, gorgeous writing, imaginative, with a fantastical dreamlike setting. If you like fantasy and magic and love stories where superhuman soulmates must overcome obstacles like magical curses where they are doomed to have to fight one another to the death, destroying everything they love in the process – this book is spellbinding.

Blogoversary Prize Package Winner

2011-12-01T20:03:00.000-08:00

The winner of my Blogoversary Prize Package, chosen using Random.org, is Annette. Congratulations, Annette!

BACK TO THE CLASSICS CHALLENGE - The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

2011-11-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

Awhile back, I read A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon (an interesting enough book but I liked his The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time better.) Since then, I notice I’ve been reading more books in a genre that had never appealed to me previously. I can’t explain why these books keep falling into my hands. These are literary or literary-ish explorations of the lives of middle-aged men. Not mid-life crisis age. The protagonists have weathered that. They are past the stage of the affairs or divorces or whatever else happens during that "is this all there is?" panic. These men are in a more contemplative mood and Wham! A different sort of crisis hits.

I’m not sure what drew me to Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson, but it was a sweet, gentle, satisfying novel that cheered me last year. More recently, I read The Upright Piano Player by David Abbott, beautifully written but depressing. And now, even though I thought I was done with books about old men, I decided to read Julian Barnes’ The Sense of an Ending.

Why? For one, it is the winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize, so it should be good, right?

Here’s another reason. When I started my adventure as a blogger and began hopping around to other book blogs a lot, I saw mention of Flaubert’s Parrot (by Julian Barnes) on a blog one day. This book is on my shelf. I read it in college and thought I remembered it. The blogger loved it and so I commented that I did too. Then I saw it mentioned on another blog later with another glowing review. As I read the review it occurred to me that I had no memory of the story. (I had mis-remembered an entirely different book.) But Flaubert’s Parrot is on my bookshelf. So I asked my husband about it. (Could it possibly have been his book?) He said that I had, in fact, read it in college. I’d loved it so much I told him to read it.

I found this disturbing, but not all that surprising –my recall for details of novels is terrible. However, now that this book has been brought back to my attention, I see it mentioned with some frequency and the fact that my mind is a blank is driving me nuts. I’ve decided that I have to re-read it. But I’ve been promising myself this for about a year now. I have a hard time re-reading books when I have so much new to read. So... when I saw that Julian Barnes’s new book had won this prestigious prize I thought I’d read it instead. Or maybe first – I’m still determined to re-read Flaubert’s Parrot. But, to make myself feel better, I bought The Sense of An Ending.

And here’s what made me read it.

I gave up on, or recognized that I needed more time for, the book I’d chosen for my "book I think might be considered a 21^st century classic" for the Back-to-the-Classics Challenge. That was The Serf, the Knight and the Historian by Dominique Barthélemy. I chose it because it was so critically well received and is supposed to be representative of 21^st century medieval historiography. I suspect it is as important and groundbreaking as the critics say, but I have to read it very, very slowly. Eventually I will finish reading it, but I wouldn’t dare attempt to review it.

So I needed another 21^st century classic. The chair of the 2011 Man Book Prize said: "Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending has the makings of classic English literature. It is exquisitely written, subtly plotted, and reveals new depths with each reading."

So there you go. I’m not going to argue with Stella Rimington. It has the makings of classic English literature and here it is the 21^st century! So my challenge is completed.

And it’s a marvelous book. I don’t want to include any spoilers, so here’s my rather discombobulated review.

Tony Webster is an older gentleman looking back on his life, reevaluating what he thought to be true. He doesn’t relate his whole life story, just the pertinent facts. He’s not a reliable narrator. He knows he’s not. He spends some time ruminating on history and memory, letting the reader know that he is perfectly aware pieces are missing from the story but he’s doing his best to reconstruct it.

Once he has presented his past succinctly, we are introduced to the current dilemma. He is then forced to reopen issues from his past and examine them again.

You may or may not be surprised by the unfolding of the plot. Tony is a somewhat difficult character. He’s not particularly likeable but I didn’t have the problem of disliking him to put me off the book. His life story is rather ordinary as he presents it. He’s downplaying the plot of his life, perhaps on purpose, but in fact, the details of his life are rather dull. He’s emotionally disconnected from people and doesn’t quite understand why. The great tragedy of his life doesn’t actually even concern his life. He lived his life and, for the most part, missed it. I didn’t care about Tony, but I was interested in him.

How can that be?

It wasn’t the plot or the characters. In this short, intense piece of literature, it is entirely the language. Julian Barnes is a masterful writer. The book teems with insight, perfectly phrased. It transcends poor Tony and the broken people around him. It’s a book to savor and (dare I say it?) re-read. But first I have to re-read Flaubert’s Parrot!

My challenges for 2011 are done. Thank you to Sarah, Sab, Stephanie, and the team at Historical Tapestry for hosting these fun experiences this year and inspiring me!

Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day - Next Saturday

2011-11-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

Next Saturday is take your child to a bookstore day. I can't count the number of hours I spent in bookstores with my kids over the years. I still love to while away time in bookstores whenever we can, even though we tend to get in and out more quickly now that they're older and have more on their plates. And the number of bookstores has definitely dwindled over the past few years. Which makes it all the more important to get out and support bookstores and children's literacy. Celebrate take your child to a bookstore next Saturday by visiting your local indie bookstore or, if that isn't possible, your local big chain bookstore.

For more info visit: Take Your Child to a Bookstore.

Blogoversary Giveaway Ends November 30

2011-11-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

Time's running out. Don't forget to enter my blogoversary giveaway. Click here for details and to sign up to win.

BOOK REVIEW: Paris Without End. The True Story of Hemingway's First Wife by Gioia Diliberto

2011-11-22T20:01:00.000-08:00

I read and enjoyed The Paris Wife by Paula McLain over the summer. It was such a poignant story and so full of famous names and gorgeous places that the whole thing stuck with me. I took notice of a biography of Hadley Hemingway called Paris Without End - The True Story of Hemingway’s First Wife by Gioia Diliberto and decided I wanted to read it, too.

This is a meticulously researched, well-written book. Using a great deal of information taken from letters, interviews, and Hemingway’s personal papers, Diliberto presents a rich account of Hadley and Ernest’s lives. We see their first meeting, we watch their courtship, marriage, and eventual divorce and its aftermath. In fact, it covers all the same ground as the novel but in greater detail and from a different perspective. (The biography was written first and if I remember right was one of McLain's references.)

Paris Without End is a splendid biography. While reading it, I was struck (looking back) by how closely the novel had followed the story of Hadley’s life. In some ways, I felt the books were so similar I didn’t need to have read both. The biography does have some more detailed information, but some of the interpretation began to get a bit repetitive. And while the story is compelling, it wasn’t as emotionally gripping for me as the novel. Nevertheless, Hadley’s personality is well demonstrated. As far as the famous husband– while his faults are evident, the author balances this with Hadley’s generous and loving explanations for his behavior. She forgives him so I suppose I have to. He’s not a likeable character, but he had his own demons.

If you’re interested in Hemingway’s first wife and his Paris years, I can recommend both books. If you prefer nonfiction, try Paris Without End. If you’d rather read a novel, pick up a copy of The Paris Wife.

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: The Wager by Donna Jo Napoli

2011-11-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

I’ve just finished The Wager by Donna Jo Napoli. Napoli is a rather prolific award-winning writer of children’s and young adult books. I should have read her work before now!

The Wager is a retelling of an old Sicilian fairy tale. Set in Sicily, beginning in 1169, it tells the story of Don Giovanni, a handsome wealthy young gentleman who is, unfortunately, an arrogant wastrel. One night, an earthquake strikes, followed by a tidal wave that washes away everything he owns. His servants abandon him. His castle is essentially repossessed by his creditors. Robbers and worse chase him from his home. He’s too proud to be seen begging where he once was lord, so he makes his way to another city where he can do a peasant’s work to survive.

Don Giovanni manages to scrape by while the weather is warm, but come winter time, he slowly starves. This is when the Devil makes his move. He offers a wager. If Don Giovanni will not bathe, change his clothes, or cut his hair for three years, three months, and three days, the Devil will provide him with a purse that will yield unlimited riches.

Don Giovanni is not a fool. He knows enough to fear a deal with the Devil. But he’s starving and sees no other way out. He thinks he can manage being dirty if he is rich. He takes the purse.

The story then follows Don Giovanni through his years of degradation and redemption.

It’s a wonderful tour of twelfth century Sicily. The nitty gritty details of life for the peasantry come across as realistic even if the political/historical details of the time are bent to fit the fairy tale. It’s not meant to be true historical fiction after all. It’s a morality tale. And watching Don Giovanni’s inward transformation for the better while he is outwardly deteriorating does make you root for Don Giovanni to win. Still, I always wonder a little about this wager-with-the-devil genre. The fool who makes the wager always seems to wiggle out somehow at the end. Rather than a warning against betting your soul, the message seems to be go ahead! You’ll suffer, sure, but in the end, you can beat the devil at his own game.

Musings about the mixed message of the genre aside, The Wager is a thought-provoking story about the importance of community and what money can and cannot buy.

This is my final book for the YA historical fiction challenge. It’s a little more in the fantasy/fairy tale realm than the historical fiction I usually read, but it was a nice change of pace. I’ve now completed three of my four challenges and have just one more book to go for the fourth challenge. Phew! I might make it, but that last book, for the Classics Challenge, is a bear!

Six Word Saturday

2011-11-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hosted by Show My Face, Six Words Saturday is a fun meme where bloggers try to describe their life/week in six words. Click on the link for more details and to join in.

Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing.

This week my words are:

So much to be thankful for.

MOUNT TBR READING CHALLENGE 2012

2011-11-18T16:39:00.001-08:00

(A list of books I've read and links to reviews (if reviewed) can be found at the end of the post.)

I'm going to try not to go overboard on challenges for 2012, because I'm cutting it awfully close with my 2011 challenges. I want to keep them fun and not feel like my reading is being directed by the challenges I signed up for. So many of them sound so fun and so tempting, until I run out of hours in the day.

However, this challenge is one that I really need. It's a challenge to read down the pile of books I already own. I'm constantly acquiring books that I want to read. Books that I just have to have. Books that I imagine I'll jump right into. And then they go onto the shelf and sit there for months. Even years.

So here's the challenge. Hosted by My Reader's Block. The details and rules are:

Challenge Levels

Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Vancouver: Read 25 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Ararat: Read 40 books from your TBR piles/s
Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 50 books from your TBR pile/s
El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s
Mt. Everest: Read 100+ books from your TBR pile/s

And the rules:
*Once you choose your challenge level, you are locked in for at least that many books. If you find that you're on a mountain-climbing roll and want to tackle a taller mountain, then you are certainly welcome to upgrade.

*Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2012.

*You may sign up anytime from now until November 30th, 2012.

*Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2012. No ARCs (none), no library books. No rereads. [To clarify--based on a question raised--the intention is to reduce the stack of books that you have bought for yourself or received as presents {birthday, Christmas, "just because," etc.}. Audiobooks may count if they are yours and they are one of your primary sources of backlogged books.]

*Books may be used to count for other challenges as well.

*Feel free to submit your list in advance (as incentive to really get those books taken care of) or to tally them as you climb.

*A blog and reviews are not necessary to participate. If you have a blog, then please post a challenge sign up and link THAT post (not your home page) into the linky at My Reader's Block. Non-bloggers, please leave a comment declaring your challenge level.

*A progress site for reviews will go up in January and a link will be posted in the sidebar at My Reader's Block for easy access.

I'm going to aim low -- the Pike's Peak challenge because I know I'll be continuing to acquire and read new books in the new year. I can always raise my level if I'm especially good. But if I do manage to clear 12 "old" books off my TBR list, I'll be so proud of myself.

The books I've read for the challenge are:

1. Dreams of Significant Girls by Cristina Garcia
2. By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan
3. Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman

BACK TO THE CLASSICS CHALLENGE - Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos

2011-11-14T17:16:00.000-08:00

In one of my college French classes, we were assigned Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos. I don’t remember which class it was, or why we were given the English translation to read (although I’m glad I don’t have the French version or I’d never attempt a re-read now!) But I do remember being floored by the book.

It was first published in Paris in 1782. From the moment of its publication it was enormously popular. But it was also condemned as corrupt and dangerous. An epistolary novel, the book is introduced by a fictional narrator who claims to be presenting letters extracted from a larger collection. Thus, we can be misled to believe that what we are about to read is true. However a publisher’s note hastens to assure us that they don’t believe it. It’s absurd.

Settle in.

The anti-heroes of this tale are the primary letter writers, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont. At one time lovers, they are now friends and allies in a contest of sexual intrigue. Who is better at it? Valmont has seduced and ruined more women than can be counted; however, the Marquise de Merteuil has a more difficult task. She has managed to live a libertine’s life, taking a succession of lovers, while maintaining a spotless reputation.

As the story opens, the marquise has asked Valmont to help her with a new and worthwhile project – revenge. She wants him to seduce a young girl named Cecile Volanges, recently removed from the convent to marry the Comte de Gercourt. Gercourt was Madame de Merteuil’s lover but jilted her. She wants to see Gercourt humiliated.

Valmont, although generally willing to jump to his old mistress’s command, refuses this time because he is otherwise occupied. He has become obsessed with a young married woman whose virtue is known to be beyond reproach, Madame de Tourvel. He cannot rest until he can have her. He is determined that she fall in love and yield to him willingly.

Letters fly back and forth between the plotters as well as among their intended unfortunate victims. The innocent Cecile falls for an almost equally innocent young chevalier, Danceny, and Madame de Merteuil decides he will do just as well to ruin the girl.

Mercilessly, Valmont and Madame de Merteuil pursue their goals, ensnaring others along the way, goading each other to additional cruelties.

The letter are extremely well written. Each character has a distinctive voice that brings him alive even though we’re just seeing snippets through the letters. The plot moves quickly along. The story is shocking – not so much because of the subject matter -- we read much more graphic material today, but because of the cold-bloodedness of the protagonists. They delight in their own amorality and cruelty. The letters are witty and interesting to read, and when they tease each other you can almost get caught up in their fondness, except for the uncomfortable undercurrent of this is wrong!

I loved this book in college and I wanted to read it again for the Back to the Classics challenge, (the book to re-read) to see if it would still make such an impression on me. I’m more impressed with the writing this time around than I am swept away by the characters. I think back then I wanted to find some excuse for their behavior, something redeeming about them. Maybe their friendship? This time I just accepted them for what they were. They are horrible people, deserving of their fate. But they can sure write entertaining letters!

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: Crusade by Linda Press Wulf

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

I love novels about the crusades. As much as I recognize the waste and tragedy of the crusades themselves, they make for compelling fiction. (Jerusalem by Cecelia Holland is one of my all-time favorite historical novels.)

When you read nonfiction about the crusades, you’ll generally come across a short blurb about "the Children’s Crusade." It was a short-lived and completely doomed expedition, heartbreaking to imagine. Details are sparse because the people involved were so anonymous.

Here, for example, is what Judith Bennett has to say about it in Medieval Europe. A Short History (11^th edition) – In 1212 a visionary, ill-organized enterprise known as the "Children’s Crusade" ended in tragedy. Thousands of boys and girls flocked into the ports of southern Europe, gripped by religious fervor and convinced (wrongly) that the Mediterranean would dry up so that they could walk to the Holy Land. Some returned home; some were sold into slavery; some died.

(I like how Bennett sticks in the "wrongly." Just in case any of us might have been confused on that point.)

At any rate, what a horror. And yet, what a setting for a historical novel. Think of the people involved. They were individuals. Real people. Real children. These children and teens set out in a religious fervor (or for other reasons) to reach the Holy Land. Leaving everything behind. And not succeeding. Imagine what inspiring characters fictional they could be.

Linda Press Wulf also saw the potential for a remarkable YA historical novel. In Crusade, she follows two teens, Georgette and Robert. Both are extraordinarily bright and devoted to God. Georgette is a peasant, who spent time with the local priest and learned her letters. She is sweet, pious, beautiful, and strong. When the crusading children sweep through her town, led by the charismatic Stephen, she is unable to resist following, even though it’s unclear whether she follows because of God or Stephen.

Robert is a brilliant young orphan who has been taken up and taught by the Abbot of Blois. The crusading horde descends upon the abbey in need of a night’s lodging and food. Robert decides that he, too, is called to join the crusade. His motives are also mixed. He can’t understand why a mere shepherd has been given the gift of leadership while he, with all his learning, puts people off.

The children march onward. Wulf does a marvelous job of portraying the hardships the young crusaders endure. She shows that children were subject to the same conflicting motivations as crusading adults and risked falling prey to the same errors. Innocence is so easily lost.

The book succeeds best, for me, as a story of the crusade. It may be because that’s why I bought the book – that’s what I wanted to read about. There was something a bit predictable and rushed about the aftermath. Even though it was nice to see what happened to Georgette and Robert, I felt the characters were more realistic on crusade. Afterwards it was more of a wrap-up and got a bit preachy.

Still, the Children’s Crusade is an exciting and tragic historical episode, and Crusade by Linda Press Wulf does justice to the tale.

This is my eighth book read for the YA historical fiction challenge hosted by YAbliss.

SIX WORDS SATURDAY

2011-11-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

Hosted by Show My Face, Six Words Saturday is a fun meme where bloggers try to describe their life/week in six words. Click on the link for more details and to join in.

Want to play along? All that's necessary to participate is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing.

Here's mine:

I'm on vacation next week. Hurray!

Let's see if I can get my next chapter written.

BACK TO THE CLASSICS- 2012: A new challlenge

2011-11-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

Sarah at Sarah Reads Too Much will be hosting the Back to the Classics Challenge again in 2012. This was a great challenge for me this year. It's one of the most challenging challenges. I still have two books to go -- and I'm determined to get them read. It was a great way to get me to sit down and actually read books that have been on my TBR list for YEARS. I always intended to get around to them. Thanks to Sarah, I finally did. So I'll be signing up again for 2012.

Here is an explanation of the challenge. Click on the link above for more details and to join up on the linky link.

Challenge runs from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012. Books started before January 1st do not count, and all links/reviews/comments for each category must be posted in the correct place by December 31st. Feel free to join in at any time, but the end date is December 31.
Please feel free to use books in this Challenge toward any other Challenge you may be participating in. However, you must read a different book for each category of this challenge. Audio and e-books are allowed.
Please sign up for the Challenge using the linky list (or comment section if you do not have a blog/website). If you would be so kind, please spread the word about this challenge by creating a post on your blog/website and link back to the sign up page at Sarah Reads Too Much.
Once the Challenge has begun, you will see a new bar on the left hand side of Sarah's blog. This will list the places for you to link/comment your reviews of the book you have read for each category as well as a "wrap up" page. She will not be doing monthly check-in posts this year. She will probably do a "Half Way" post in June. These will be important because....
THERE IS A PRIZE THIS YEAR! People who complete the challenge will be entered into a random drawing for $30 worth of books (Book Depository will be used for an International Winner). There may be other prizes as well. Make sure you are following Sarah via GFC, Email, Twitter, or Facebook/Networked Blogs so you are in the know!

Now that is all out of the way, want to see the categories? Sure you do! Here they are:

Any 19th Century Classic
Any 20th Century Classic
Reread a classic of your choice
A Classic Play
Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime Fiction
Classic Romance
Read a Classic that has been translated from its original language to your languange - To clarify, if your native language is NOT English, you may read any classic originally written in English that has been translated into your native language.
Classic Award Winner - To clarify, the book should be a classic which has won any established literary award.
Read a Classic set in a Country that you (realistically speaking) will not visit during your lifetime - To Clarify, this does not have to be a country that you hope to visit either. Countries that no longer exist or have never existed count.

There are nine categories for twelve months. Hopefully you will have enough time to finish without stress, or shying away from a longer/more difficult book because of time constraints. You do not need to specify which books you plan on reading ahead of time, unless you'd like to.

So, now I have to decide what nine books to choose for next year! Sound like a fun challenge? Join us at Sarah Reads Too Much!

BACK TO THE CLASSICS CHALLENGE: The Once and Future King by T.H. White

2011-11-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Why do I do this to myself?

Every once in awhile, I can’t help myself. Even though I know it’ll tear me apart, I immerse myself once again in the immortal story of King Arthur’s Camelot. I love the fantasy and the ridiculous chivalry. Each retelling is just a little different. You can choose to see different episodes from different points of view. One author may make one character very noble while another will make him more of a churl and give the nod to his rival. Was Lancelot really the greatest knight or was it Gawaine? (Or Galahad?) And who was the wickeder witch/fairy? Morgause or Morgan Le Fay? How guilty was Guinevere, really? Was she a conniving adulteress or a poor misguided lovestruck pawn?

In the end, the variations on the theme don’t matter. I fall into the story and am swept along. I’m always heartbroken as the love triangle plays to its inevitable, wrenching conclusion. I know what’s going to happen and yet, even in this book, EVEN IN THIS ONE!- a well-established classic- I caught myself hoping for something to divert the train from its track to avoid the wreck.

This book was The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Written in parts between 1938 and 1941, it is one of the classic Arthurian tales and is regarded as one of the epic masterpieces of fantasy. I chose it for my YA classic for the Back-to-the-Classics challenge. We can debate whether it qualifies as YA. I’ve had the book sitting on my shelf for well over twenty years but never got around to reading it. Somehow, I thought of it as a book for teens, but that probably wasn’t the original audience. It was written well before YA had carved itself out as a "genre." I do think that there are many things about it that today’s YA fantasy readers would enjoy.

The book is divided into four parts. The first is The Sword in the Stone. This part reads almost as a children’s book. It tells of Arthur's (Wart’s) upbringing in the care of Sir Ector. He is tutored by Merlyn who "lives backwards" and teaches Arthur by turning him into animals. Eventually Arthur pulls Excalibur from the stone and thereby claims his rightful place as the next king of England.

But things get darker from there. In the next part we meet Queen Margause and her sons, the Orkney Clan. Morgause is an awful woman and a worse mother. Her sons are psychologically damaged by her neglect and ill-usage. We know them as Gawaine, Gaheris, Agravaine, and Gareth. Later, they will become knights of Arthur’s Round Table, but for now, they are sworn enemies of Arthur.

The third part is The Ill-Made Knight. Oddly enough, Lancelot is portrayed as an ugly knight, and one who is filled with self-loathing. To combat this, he is determined to live out Arthur’s ideals and become the greatest knight of the Round Table. He wants to be so good he can perform a miracle. He succeeds at this, but he also falls in love with Guinevere. This part of the book chronicles their love affair. (The book is definitely no longer a children’s book.) The knights also search for the Holy Grail. This part is told by the knights returning to Camelot rather than as a series of adventures, so it’s narrated rather than shown. But we’re in nostalgia mode by this time, so it’s an effective way of doing it.

And in the fourth part of the book, everything falls apart. It’s been falling apart for awhile, but now, it collapses. Arthur’s splendid Camelot dissolves back into warfare and just about everyone dies. Why doesn’t this story ever change?

T.H. White’s version is based on Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. It’s jam-packed with adventures and episodes of established Arthurian lore. White’s interpretation of the stories, often witty, often poignant or thoughtful, and tending to be heavily laced with intentional anachronisms, are what make this an accessible and thought-provoking read. In some respects, it is a little dated. For example, he compares some of the knight to cricket players that must have been contemporaries back in the 1940's. But at other times, the deliberate mixing of past, present, and a vague view of the future work to make this book and its message endure.

The story of King Arthur is timeless. I suppose that’s why I can’t get enough of it, even though it breaks my heart every time. There is a hopefulness buried in the smoking ruins.

I’ve got two books left to read for this year’s Back-to-the-Classics challenge. And now it’s time to sign up for the 2012 challenge!

BLOGGIVERSARY WITH GIVEAWAY PRIZE PACKAGE

2011-10-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

I missed my own bloggiversary. I knew it was coming up sometime in October, but then I forgot. My first official post was October 13.

So, quickly, before October disappears, I wanted to celebrate and thank everyone who has participated, commented, followed and helped me enjoy the blogging experience.

I'm going to hold a giveaway. It will be a couples' combo. One copy of my book:

The Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry

and one copy of my husband's book:

Cecelia and Fanny. The Remarkable Friendship Between an Escaped Slave and her Former Mistress by Brad Asher

The winner will receive both books and a $25.00 Barnes and Noble gift card.

To enter, please leave a comment including your email address. You don't need to be a follower, but followers (new or old) will receive 1 extra entry. (Please let me know in the comment if you are a follower.) I'm going to have to limit this contest to US and Canadian entrants only.

The contest will run today through November 30. Thanks again for joining me in Reading World!

SIX WORD SATURDAYS: A new meme for me

2011-10-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

Can I summarize my past week in six words?

Busy work. Busier kids. Week gone.

What is Six Week Saturdays? This meme is hosted by Show My Face.
In order to take part, the trick is to describe your life (or something) in a phrase using just six words. For more information, try clicking here. Feel free to explain or not explain. Add an image, a video, a song, nothing. Link your blog post back to Show My Face and visit the other blogs to see what other bloggers have said.

Have fun!

BOOK BLOGGER HOP: Halloween weekend!

2011-10-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

Gearing up for the weekend, it's time for the book blogger hop, hosted by Jen at Crazy for Books. This is a wonderful hop for book bloggers and book lovers. Join us and meet people with a similar passion for books. This is the last week of the hop before an indefinite hiatus so come and hop!

This week's prompt is:

“What is your favorite Halloween costume?
Even if you don’t celebrate, what kinds of costumes do you like?”

My favorite costume(s) is the combo worn by my kids a couple years ago. For several years running they would go as a matched pair of something - which, as a mom of a boy and girl approaching those middle school years, warmed my heart and gave me that bittersweet feeling of "oh, this is so precious, but it isn't going to last." But while it did last, I enjoyed it. One year my daughter wanted to be a mailbox. That's kind of bittersweet in itself. I have pangs of nostalgia as those mailboxes disappear from the landscape. My husband constructed a costume for her out of a big cardboard box. To match, we made my son into a mailman. (This is my Mailbox Monday photo.)

Anyway, Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays because it is such fun. One of the joys has been seeing my kids enjoy it together. If only there was a way to bottle that and keep it!

What is your favorite costume?

MAILBOX MONDAY: Two new historicals

2011-10-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

This week I bought two new books. First, Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman, was the subject of my WOW post a few weeks back. Now I have the book!

The second book is Road from the West by Rosanne E. Lortz.

The back jacket description is: You've heard of the Knights Templar, you've heard of Richard the Lionheart-- now learn the story that started it all with the adventures of the First Crusade.

Haunted by guilt from the past and nightmares of the future, a young Norman named Tancred takes the cross and vows to be the first to free Jerusalem from the infidels. As he journeys to the Holy Land, he braves vast deserts, mortal famine, and the ever-present ambushes of the enemy Turks -- but the greatest danger of all is deciding which of the Crusader lords to trust. A mysterious seer prophesies that Tancred will find great love and great sorrow on his journey, but the second seems intent on claiming him before he can find the first. Intrigues and passions grow as every battle brings the Crusaders one step closer to Jerusalem. Not all are destined to survive the perilous road from the West.

From the description, the book puts me in mind of the classic novel of the First Crusade by Alfred Duggan, Knight With Armour, a book I really enjoyed. So I'm looking forward to this one.

BOOK BLOGGER HOP 10/21-10/24: Chocolate!!!

2011-10-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hurray! It's Friday! Time for the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Crazy-for-Books. This is our weekly chance to get together with other book bloggers and share our thoughts -- usually about our love for books but sometimes other things. Like this week.

This week's question is Halloween themed:

What is your favorite type of candy?

I'll eat anything chocolate. My favorite is probably Butterfingers. Although...I do love Goldenberg's peanut chews even more. They're just so hard to find. Of course, some days nothing will do except a Mounds bar.

This is why, come Halloween, we're giving out fruity candies. Or maybe candy corn. We hardly get any trick-or-treaters where I live. And if we buy a bag of chocolates, I'll end up eating them all.

I'm not sure I should hop around. It's going to be too painfully tempting.

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: Daughter of Xanadu by Dori Jones Yang

2011-10-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

This past summer, I attended the Historical Novel Society conference and spoke on a panel about YA fiction. Dori Jones Yang was on the panel too, the author of Daughter of Xanadu. I’ve wanted to read this book ever since, and I’m very pleased to add it to my books read for the YA historical fiction challenge. (Check out the challenge hosted by Sab at YA Bliss.)

Set in the late 13^th century, this is the story of Emmajin, a Mongol princess, the granddaughter of the Great Khan Khubilai. Emmajin has been raised on stories of the victories of the Mongol army and the advancement of the empire. She is not only beautiful but strong; she is as good (or better) at archery as her cousin, the Khan’s heir. While her younger sister and the other girls talk of nothing but marriages and court gossip, Emmajin is interested only in conquest and military affairs. More than anything, she wants to be a soldier in her grandfather’s army.

The action begins when Emmajin is given a chance to prove herself – not so much as a warrior, but as a spy. Each of the Khan’s older grandchildren, the ones of age to become soldiers, are assigned to learn about the customs and military strength of one of the foreigners at court. Emmajin’s foreigner is a handsome, young "Latin" named Marco Polo.

Marco Polo has come all the way from Venice with his father and uncle on a trade mission. He is a merchant, not a soldier. At first, Emmajin is unimpressed with him. But as they spend time together, she comes to respect his abilities even though they are definitely not the warlike virtues she values. His talk makes her begin to question her own beliefs. And although she has never been interested in men or marriage, she finds herself drawn to Marco in a way she never anticipated.

Daughter of Xanadu is set in a time period I love, but in a completely different locale from my usual fare. The book sets the stage marvelously, making an unfamiliar, exotic location into a rich, real world. Marco Polo and "Kublai Khan" are names that I recognize, of course, but have to admit I know very little about. This novel does a wonderful job of bringing these characters to life. Emmajin is an inspiring young woman and her adventures make for a fast-paced, enjoyable read.

WONDERFUL WEDNESDAYS: The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough

2011-10-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

Sam at Tiny Library hosts a meme called Wonderful Wednesdays to give book bloggers a chance to spotlight wonderful books that they haven’t had a chance to talk about before. They don’t have to be recent reads. Just well-loved books. Each week has a different theme and this week’s theme is historical fiction.

This is a tough one for me. I have to take part because it’s historical fiction! I read this genre more than anything else. The problem is picking just one book to talk about. There are so many that I love.

I finally realized that Wednesday was going to end if I didn’t just pick one of my favorites and say something. So here it is. One of the best historical fiction writers of all time has got to be Colleen McCullough. She’s tackled various times and places and her books are amazing. But while many people will remember her as the author of The Thorn Birds (for those who remember when the T.V. miniseries was all the rage) I became addicted to her books because of The First Man in Rome. This is the first book in her massive Masters of Rome series, chronicling the end of the Roman Republic and the start of the Empire. I ate those books up.

The First Man in Rome is the story of Gaius Marius a wealthy, brilliant military man of low origins who becomes the most powerful man in Rome at a time when Rome was undergoing a massive (and violent) upheaval. Alongside Marius, sometimes in his footsteps, is Sulla, a poor but highborn man of questionable morals. Friends and rivals, they are ambitious men, loyal to Rome but with their own definition of loyalty.

The book, including glossary, is over 1000 pages. The history is meticulously researched. When reading the story you are thrown back into ancient Rome. For those unfamiliar with the huge cast of characters and the complexity of the political intrigues, not to mention the geography of the military endeavors, the book can be daunting. But the personalities as so forceful and the plot so compelling that I was sucked in to the story even when I couldn't keep track of all the threads. What I loved most about this book (and its sequels) is how alive the characters were and how deeply emotionally invested I became in their stories. For all the intricacy of the history and politics, for all I felt I was learning something about a pivotal time in human history, mainly, I was reading a tale of human striving, love, friendship – triumph and tragedy. The characters are larger than life and yet, they are real. Just thinking about the book makes me want to read it again!

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: Cotillion by Georgette Heyer

2011-10-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

The books I’ve reviewed lately have been well-written with in-depth characterizations and I’ve enjoyed them, but they haven’t exactly been...cheery. I needed a change of pace. It was time to read another book for the Georgette Heyer Challenge hosted by Stephanie at Books are a Girl's Best Friend! Although this concludes my challenge, I’m sure I’ll be reading more of Heyer in the future.

I chose Cotillion this time around. In this Regency romance, a very light-hearted romp, Miss Kitty Charing is about to be named heiress to a fortune. She is an orphan who was adopted by the grouchy old Mr. Matthew Penicuik. With no children of his own, it was expected that Mr. Penicuik would leave something to Kitty and the rest to his great-nephews – the bulk likely to his favorite, the handsome rake, Jack Westruther. But instead, Uncle Matthew summons them all to his manor to announce that Kitty will receive it all, provided she marry one of them.

Not all the nephews show up for the announcement. Jack, who does not like to dance to his uncle’s tune, has not come. Other nephews dutifully offer for Kitty and are roundly refused. Not only are the proposals painful, but Kitty wants to marry Jack. She’s been smitten with him for a long time. But she doesn’t want to be coerced into a marriage either, or to have Jack ask for her only because of the inheritance. Still, she’s miffed by his lack of interest.

And then, there is the last of the nephews, Freddy Standen. Good-natured and generous, Freddy is a dandy, more interested in clothes than females. He has plenty of money; he doesn’t need Kitty’s inheritance. He showed up by accident, not knowing why he was supposed to be there. He’s just the one Kitty needs to help her. She begs him to pretend to offer for her. With their false engagement, she can escape Uncle Matthew’s manor and spend a short while in London – all she’s ever dreamed of. Moreover, although she doesn’t mention this to Freddy, she’ll have a chance to make Jack jealous.

Freddy reluctantly goes along with the scheme, but once they get to London, nothing goes as planned. The story delightfully goes off in several directions as Kitty tries to play matchmaker for new friends and old ones. She has run-ins with Jack that bring her closer to her goal and then make her question what she really wants. And all along Freddy sticks by her side, rescuing her from her mistakes and, at the same time, learning what he is capable of. They both grow as characters – and guess what?

It’s sweet and fun. Innocent and silly. Hooray!

BOOK REVIEW: The Upright Piano Player by David Abbott

2011-10-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

The Upright Piano Player by David Abbott is a contemporary relationship novel, the kind of thing I usually stay away from because (except for romance) contemporary relationships tend to come across as rather bleak. (Small scale bleak - not historical fiction bleak which is grand scale and entirely different.) Nevertheless, I saw this blurbed elsewhere and I was intrigued enough to request if from the library. And once I started reading it, I really couldn’t stop.

The book opens with a short part one, a prologue really, set in 2004. Henry Cage, the wealthy, upright protagonist is reluctantly attending a funeral he cannot avoid. It’s the funeral of his eight year old grandson. As the prologue unfolds, we learn that his grandson died as the result of a grisly, violent accident, and Henry feels responsible.

We then jump back to 1999. Henry is being forcibly retired from the company—a London business consulting firm— that he helped found. The company is growing beyond Henry’s vision and Henry is tired of being the voice of restraint, so he goes without a fight. He is wealthy and respected. Life should be good, right?

But no. Through a series of flashbacks we learn of his divorce from his wife and resulting estrangement from his son. And we learn that his ex-wife is now dying of cancer. And then, late one night, through no fault of his own, Henry comes across a violent sociopath who starts stalking him.

Henry has to deal with the loss of his job and the routine that gives his life meaning, he has to confront his loneliness and the mistakes he has made throughout his life, and he has to figure out what to do about an increasingly crazy/creepy situation.

The author does a wonderful job of painting character sketches of a diverse bunch of people. Although some of the plotting hinges on coincidences that felt a bit stretched, the characters were realistic enough to make it all work.

Henry is a sympathetic protagonist. He’s flawed, but it does seem his suffering may be disproportionate to his crimes. (Particularly when contrasted with his sociopathic nemesis.) The book almost follows a redemptive arc with Henry going along a path of self-discovery, plunging to the depths, and finally finding solace and embracing his own need for humanity, for love of family, etc. etc. This was almost a book where I could have turned the final page and found a satisfying conclusion. Unfortunately, I was naggingly aware of that part one. I knew what was down the road for Henry. So I knew how futile it all was going to be for him.

If you like character-driven contemporary fiction and good writing and don’t mind having a dark cloud hanging over you for awhile after the book is done, I’d recommend this. However, as for myself, after this I’m calling a moratorium on depressing books.

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: The Little Bride by Anna Solomon

2011-10-03T06:48:00.000-07:00

Minna Losk is a 16-year-old Jewish orphan in Odessa in the late nineteenth century. She has been living a life of loss, fear, and poverty and has no hope of a better future in Odessa – but she has one chance of escape. She can offer herself up as a mail-order bride and go to America.

Minna is sustained throughout her long and difficult journey by a fantasy of the handsome, young (even weathy) husband awaiting her. However, when she arrives at her destination—South Dakota—she finds nothing more than a sod house and a failing farm. Her husband-to-be is more than twice her age and she is to be step-mother to his two teenaged sons. Minna is appalled. Worse, she is trapped.

Although there are kindly neighbors who offer advice, aid, and occasional companionship, these neighbors are a long way off. Minna’s world is pretty much limited to the ramshackle farm and the three males in her strange new family. Her betrothed is fussy and devout. Her younger stepson to be is devil-may-care and friendly, but a little annoying. And then there is Samuel. Her eighteen-year-old future stepson is serious, handsome, sometimes helpful, and sometimes aloof. Minna cannot force herself to love the man who will make her his bride. Unfortunately, she also can’t stop herself from thinking about Samuel. She grows increasingly attracted to him – and guesses that the feeling is mutual.

The marriage is inevitable – it’s why she was brought to America. Minna, miserable as she is, tries to make the best of it. At least, she goes through the motions each day without much outward complaint. But it is a bitterly hard life.

Minna learns all too soon that they are very poorly prepared to survive the harsh Dakota winter. Their struggles are painful, almost insupportable. This is no sweet-natured Ingalls family pulling together to make it through the long winter. Within their household and within their tiny community, Minna witnesses examples of cruel selfishness and extraordinary generosity that drive home to her the pettiness of her husband and the intolerable state of her marriage.

The Little Bride by Anna Solomon is a beautifully descriptive book. You’ll experience the incessant rocking of the ship of her transatlantic voyage, and the harsh, bleakness of the frontier landscape right alongside Minna. The characters are vivid and believable. It’s unfortunate that the closer they are to Minna, the less likeable they are. She is always in close quarters with people who have the effect of hardening her more. Minna is not an endearing person. But given the extremely limited options of her world (and thanks to the author’s in-depth exploration of Minna’s character), I was able to understand her choices and actions. Minna is adaptable. Under conditions that would defeat the pluckiest of pioneers, she could pick herself up and head off on a new path.

MAILBOX MONDAY: Wildflower Hill by Kimberly Freeman

2011-10-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Mailbox Monday is a meme originated by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. It's now being rotated through different blogs monthly. During October, Mailbox Monday will be hosted by Savvy Verse & Wit. Bloggers can share info about the new books that have come into their homes during the week. It's a great way to discover what everyone else is reading -- and have your own wish lists grow exponentially.

I have been trying to put a dent in the pile of books by my bed but I keep getting distracted by new books. So I made a bargain with myself that I would use the library more, and stop buying books to pile up in various places all over my house. Most of the requests I've made have been new releases, which means going on the library's waiting list. Which is great because I know I'll get the books eventually but can concentrate on my piles for now. But then, for some reason, in one week I get calls that 8 books are in. Not all are new releases, but the ones that are can't be renewed. All this is prelude to explain why I ended up buying Wildflower Hill by Kimberly Freeman.

Goodreads summary:

Emma, a prima ballerina in London, is at a crossroads after an injured knee ruins her career. Forced to rest and take stock of her life, she finds that she’s mistaken fame and achievement for love and fulfillment. Returning home to Australia, she learns of her grandmother Beattie’s death and a strange inheritance: a sheep station in isolated rural Australia. Certain she has been saddled with an irritating burden, Emma prepares to leave for Wildflower Hill to sell the estate.

Beattie also found herself at a crossroads as a young woman, but she was pregnant and unwed. She eventually found success—but only after following an unconventional path that was often dangerous and heartbreaking. Beattie knew the lessons she learned in life would be important to Emma one day, and she wanted to make sure Emma’s heart remained open to love, no matter what life brought. She knew the magic of the Australian wilderness would show Emma the way.

Wildflower Hill is a compelling, atmospheric, and romantic novel about taking risks, starting again, and believing in yourself. It’s about finding out what you really want and discovering that the answer might be not at all what you’d expect.

I've seen this book talked up on a couple blogs and it sounded like something I'd really enjoy. It's not exactly historical fiction. The prologue places us in 1989. However Beattie's life story starts us off in 1929 which counts as historical fiction for me. Mainly though I'm hearing this described as family saga, and I'm in the mood for some saga.

However, I apparently wasn't enough in the mood to read it before I had to return the book to the library. Time got away from me. So...I bought it.

BOOK REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY WINNER: Cecelia and Fanny. The Remarkable Friendship between an Escaped Slave and Her Former Mistress

2011-09-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today I’m reviewing Cecelia and Fanny. The Remarkable Friendship between an Escaped Slave and Her Former Mistress by Brad Asher.

In the spring of 1846, twenty-year-old Fanny Thruston Ballard and her father, members of Louisville, Kentucky’s elite, were vacationing at Niagara Falls. They were accompanied by Fanny’s personal slave, a fifteen-year-old girl named Cecelia. One night, Cecelia made the bold decision to escape across the Niagara River into Canada, thus gaining her freedom.

Over the next fifty years, Fanny and Cecelia went on to lead separate lives. During this time, both women married, raised families, and lost loved ones. The Civil War was fought. Both women dealt with its upheavals as well as the resulting changing economic circumstances. During this time also—surprisingly—the two women corresponded. Some of the letters (letters from Fanny to Cecelia) have survived.

Using a variety of primary sources including these letters, census records, newspapers, government pension files and a host of others, Cecelia and Fanny reconstructs the lives of these women, situating them within the antebellum, Civil War, and post-war periods. The book is not an in-depth dual biography of these women—although we do learn a good deal about the framework of their lives. Rather it uses the relationship between Cecelia and Fanny, in all its phases—childhood companions, mistress and slave, pre-war ex-mistress and escaped slave, to post-war ex-mistress and free black woman—to tell a story about the tenacity of the bonds of slavery. Cecelia and Fanny were linked not just as slave to mistress but within interwoven families. Theirs was an intricate web of connections: personal, economic, moral, and probably psychological. Along the way, the book also explores Louisville history (Fanny’s environment) during the second half of the 19^th century, as well as that of the free black communities in Toronto and Rochester, NY (Cecelia’s environments) during the same time.

Cecelia and Fanny is more than a book about a slave’s escape to freedom. What makes this book unique is that the principal characters were based in Kentucky, a Union state during the Civil War. Moreover, Cecelia was a domestic slave in an urban environment, not a plantation worker. She escaped while already in Niagra Falls, with freedom a visible goal—Canada just across the river. There was no harrowing story of her flight. Her harrowing adventure begins after she has obtained freedom. Another interesting feature is that the story of Cecelia’s life includes the Civil War. She was not emancipated by it – she had taken that step herself. And yet, the war’s successful conclusion gave her the freedom to move back to Louisville. She moved back to the city where she had been a slave.

In the interest of full disclosure, as I mentioned before, my husband wrote this book. So I’m obviously biased. I’ve been fascinated by the story ever since he told me he found this cache of letters at the Filson Historical Society. A woman wrote to her escaped slave in Canada? Why? (How cool is that?)

The letters are an interesting springboard to much larger questions. Who were these women? What was their relationship that this slave and this mistress would be writing to each other years after the slave ran away?

By placing the two women within their historical and cultural context, this book addresses questions of slavery, freedom, and womanhood with insight and sensitivity and helps us to imagine the perspectives of these two very different women at this pivotal point in history.

Of course, I think the writing is wonderful and the research impeccable, but how could I think otherwise?

The book is now available. You should be able to obtain it from your local indie bookstore or online bookseller. The kindle or nook versions won’t be available until Oct.7.

The winner of the Cecelia and Fanny Giveaway chosen using random.org is Sam from Tiny Library. Congratulations!

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman

2011-09-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event. Bloggers can share news of books that they are eagerly awaiting.

I'm very excited about Sharon Kay Penman's new release, Lionheart. Penman is one of the authors who lured me to historical fiction long ago and her incredible trilogy Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow, and The Reckoning cemented my love for the genre. I can't wait for her book about Richard. Here's the goodreads blurb:

They were called "The Devil's Brood," though never to their faces. They were the four surviving sons of Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine. With two such extraordinary parents, much was expected of them.

But the eldest-charming yet mercurial-would turn on his father and, like his brother Geoffrey, meet an early death. When Henry died, Richard would take the throne and, almost immediately, set off for the Holy Land. This was the Third Crusade, and it would be characterized by internecine warfare among the Christians and extraordinary campaigns against the Saracens. And, back in England, by the conniving of Richard's youngest brother, John, to steal his crown.

In Lionheart, Sharon Kay Penman displays her remarkable mastery of historical detail and her acute understanding of human foibles. The result is a powerful story of intrigue, war, and- surprisingly-effective diplomacy, played out against the roiling conflicts of love and loyalty, passion and treachery, all set against the rich textures of the Holy Land.

The release day is October 4. I'm debating whether to pre-order it or whether to try to read it on my Nook. I'm not crazy about reading off the Nook -- I'm not used to it yet. But one way or another, I'll be getting my hands on this book!

MAILBOX MONDAY

2011-09-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Mailbox Monday is a meme originated by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. It's now being rotated through different blogs monthly. During September, Mailbox Monday will be hosted by Amused By Books. Bloggers can share info about the new books that have come into their homes during the week. It's a great way to learn about MORE books to add to your wish lists and TBR piles.

I've always thought the Children's Crusade would make a great historical novel for kids and/or young adults. Evidently, Linda Press Wulf thought so too, because she wrote Crusade, published this year by Bloomsbury, UK. I've been trying to get a hold of a copy for awhile without luck, then once again remembered The Book Depository. It just arrived. I want to read it for the YA historical fiction challenge so I hope to get to it soon.

Here's the back jacket copy: When a dazzlingly handsome boy riding a white charger arrives in Georgette's village, she is spellbound - both by the boy and by the crowd that surrounds him. They are all children. The boy is even more entrancing when he speaks. He seeks volunteers to join his Crusade - a perilous mission from which some may not return. Georgette has never left her village before, but she knows she will follow the boy. And so begins a journey filled with terrible danger, sacrifice and true love, a journey which will take all of Georgette's courage to survive.

And while I'm at it, I'll cheat a bit and mention a book I bought last week. I was killing time at the mall waiting for my son and decided to make one last trip into Waldenbooks. I had a few dollars left on a Borders gift card. The store was practically cleaned out. It was so sad. I've spent many hours browsing in that store and have many impulse purchases to show for it. (Cutting for Stone was one-- what an awesome read that was.)

But what shocked me was that there on the nearly bare shelf was a single copy of The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin, a new release that I want very much to read. It was 80% off. And I had a gift card that was about to become worthless. The book ended up costing me 95 cents which is appalling, really.

Anyway, my TBR pile is getting bigger instead of smaller, but I'm really looking forward to these two!

YA BOOK REVIEW: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

2011-09-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

I just finished a wonderful YA historical, Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. It looks at WWII from an entirely different angle, one I knew almost nothing about. Certainly I hadn’t understood the depth and breadth of the cruelty attending the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In an effort to suppress supposed anti-Soviet activity, anyone suspected of harboring anti-Soviet sentiment (teachers, lawyers, doctors, writers, artists, librarians, military men, businessmen, etc.) were placed on a list to be deported. Deportations began in the summer of 1941. Men, women, and children were shipped to Siberia under conditions so barbaric that the majority did not survive.

Between Shades of Gray is the story of Lina, a 15-year-old Lithuanian girl with a promising future as an artist. Except that her father is a university professor who has helped a relative escape from Lithuania. Her parents are secretly trying to arrange for their family to flee also, but before they are able, the NKVD knocks on (nearly breaks down) their door. Lina is at home with her mother and her 10-year-old brother Jonas. They don’t know what has become of their father. They are marched off to the train station, allowed only a suitcase each and the clothes on their backs. They spend six weeks crammed into a cattle car with a group of other deportees, strangers, with whom they forge an uneasy bond. (Their car is one of many in a whole train. They pass other trains along the way. Many deportees die of starvation or sickness during the journey. Some are killed by the NKVD. The bodies are simply tossed aside. The purpose of the journey is in part transportation and part mass extermination.)

Lina’s mother is a generous, strong, woman who doesn’t judge others– she looks for the good. Her kindness is an inspiration to those around her. She moves forward out of the need to keep her family together and because of she believes she will one day be reunited with her husband.

Lina has more trouble seeing the good in people. She pours out her emotions in her art – art that she has to hide because it depicts the truth of the atrocities the Soviets are committing.

Within their tiny community is a boy about Lina’s age, Andrius. He, too, has lost his father. Andrius is drawn to Lina. Their growing (and blossoming) friendship is one ray of hope that Lina clings to, giving her strength and purpose to survive.

The story is intricately, painfully detailed. It’s a compelling read – even though I knew that reading more was just going to make me feel worse, I couldn’t stop. I had to keep going until something good happened. There were tiny nuggets of kindness and friendship among the suffering that give you hope for humanity. But overall it paints a pretty bleak picture.

This is a fascinating story and an important one. This history is real and shouldn’t be forgotten.

This is another book that I read for the YA historical fiction challenge. It was an emotionally powerful read and I learned some important historical facts. Highly recommended!

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison

2011-09-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

I didn’t used to read much WWII historical fiction, but for some reason, ever since The Book Thief, I’ve been on a bit of a roll. The latest book to catch my attention was The Very Thought of You by Rosie Allison. It was shortlisted for the 2010 Orange Prize for fiction and has received some nice reviews.

However, my reaction to this book was mixed.

It begins with 8-year-old Anna Sands and her mother Roberta in London preparing for their separation. Anna’s father has already gone off to war, and Anna is about to be evacuated to the countryside. Fearing German air raids, the British government has made arrangements to remove the children of London off to safer locations for the duration of the war. (I think I was expecting more of the book to be about this. I was expecting the war itself to be a larger part of the book.)

Anna is sent to Ashton Park in the North Yorkshire Moors. Thomas Ashton and his wife Elizabeth have opened up their large estate to 86 children. They’ve hired staff and turned it into a boarding school, a safe haven. Anna is homesick but settles into her new life at the school. There, she develops an admiration for the patient, nurturing Mr. Ashton – an admiration that will influence the rest of her life.

Thomas and his wife have a difficult relationship. Thomas is a courteous, gentle, and thoughtful man. However, he was crippled by polio and now is confined to a wheelchair. Elizabeth is beautiful and passionate. Unfortunately, she is barren and more than anything else, she wants a child. Disappointment has made her hard and brittle.

Their relationship has been strained to the breaking point by these unresolvable crises. If they had loved strongly enough they might have been brought closer together by their mutual sorrow, but now, their marriage is falling apart.

The book follows the characters over four years of the war and beyond, up to the present. Anna is a confused and reluctant witness to the disintegration of the Ashton’s marriage. The story examines infidelity from just about every imaginable angle.

And so this is where I end up with mixed feelings. It’s an interesting enough story about flawed people and a study of marriages going awry. But I was expecting a war time love story. (It’s billed as "not just a love story but a story about love.") This seemed more a story of lack of love than a beautiful love story to me. There was a love story buried in there somewhere, but it wasn’t one I found particularly inspiring. It was sort of...well...tawdry. And the wartime setting was just background. The characters could have been just as miserably trapped in their marriages in any setting with a little tweaking of the plot.

However, Anna’s story was nevertheless compelling. I was surprised, and a little disheartened, to see how it all played out in her life after she left Ashton Park. For me, this book was more interesting as a study of the ripple effects of infidelity than as a love story.

There is a lot to recommend The Very Thought of You, even if I did find it downbeat and a rather depressing view of human romantic relationships.

BOOK BLOGGER HOP 9/9-9/12

2011-09-08T18:18:00.000-07:00

Where did the week go? It's already time for another book blogger hop.

The blogger hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books. If you're a book blogger looking for new books to read, more blogs to explore, and to spread the word about your own blog, head on over to the hop and check it out. Be sure to follow the rules!

This week's question from Lori is:

“Many of us primarily read one genre of books, with others sprinkled in. If authors stopped writing that genre, what genre would you start reading? Or would you give up reading completely if you couldn’t read that genre anymore?”

I mostly read historical fiction -- any time period but my favorite is medieval. Historical fiction is my go-to read when I'm looking to relax, to escape -- I pretty much know that when I pick up one of these novels there's a good chance I'll enjoy it. I do read other genres though, a little bit of everything. If I was suddenly deprived of historical fiction, I think I would resort to the classics as my genre of choice, still with little bits of everything else sprinkled in. Why "the classics"? Because I have a to-read list that stretches out to infinity of classics that I want to read before I die. I'll never have time to get to them all. But if I couldn't read any more historical fiction, I could put a bigger dent in that classics pile.

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: Daughter of Fire and Ice by Marie-Louise Jensen

2011-09-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

Daughter of Fire and Ice by Marie-Louise Jensen was a tricky book to get a hold of, until I remembered The Book Depository. With free delivery, and UK published books in stock, I don’t know why I don’t remember to use them more often.

Thora is a beautiful fifteen-year-old healer and seer. Her talents have made her the target of Bjorn Svanson, the greedy young chieftain of her part of Norway. He has systematically reduced her father’s farm to the point where her father can no longer pay tribute. There is only one thing left for him to relinquish - her. But her family won’t let her go without a fight.

However Bjorn has troubles of his own. King Harald is aware that Bjorn is keeping too much of the tributes for himself. The king’s army is on the march. Bjorn’s plan is to steal Thora and sail for Iceland.

Thora has one chance for escape. Enlisting the help of a slave, a man she has seen before in her visions, she convinces him to steal the chieftain’s ship and his identity. Together, they might make a new life for themselves in Iceland. But they have to avoid their past – if they are caught it will mean ruin. And this is only one of their problems. They face starvation, disease, and a malevolent woman who not only sows discord among their small settlement but whose very presence destroys Thora’s hope for love.

Daughter of Fire and Ice is a fast-paced, adventure-filled YA romance that will sweep you to back to the Viking era. Thora is a strong, no-nonsense heroine, well-matched by the newly-minted Bjorn Svanson, as they lead the settlers in the new land. They face adversity with strength and pit steady goodness against evil. Although you’re never really in doubt who’s going to win, it’s a thrill to go along for the ride.

This is one of my YA historical fiction challenge books. If you you're a YA fiction fan, you can read reviews of other books I've read for the challenge (link at right) and check out the challenge at Yabliss.com.

BOOK BLOGGER HOP 9/2-9/5

2011-09-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

It’s Friday! Time to hop. Join us at the book blogger hop to meet other book lovers. The new book blogger hop, hosted by Crazy for Books , requires a back link to the hop post, so make sure you check out the post and follow the rules. And enjoy the hop!

This week’s prompt is:

"What are you most looking forward to this fall/autumn season – A particular book release? Halloween? The leaves changing color? Cooler temperatures? A vacation?"

I'm looking forward to some time off. I have a bit of vacation time left to take, but my kids are back in school so we won’t be doing any fall traveling. Which leaves me just hanging out at home. Although it’s not a very exotic way to spend my vacation, it does mean I can get a lot of reading done!

BOOK REVIEW: In Search of the Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault

2011-09-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

Once again, my loosely organized plan of attack for my TBR list was hijacked by a book I came across in a blog. This time it was Sarah at Sarah Reads Too Much who gave a rave review to Emily Arsenault's In Search of the Rose Notes. Somehow the book jumped the line and got read out of turn.

I don’t quite know how to characterize this book. At its core, it’s a mystery, but there is more too it than that. It's psychological study and plays on nostalgia and tween/teen angsty-trauma and real childhood pathologies. There's a whole lot packed in and it all works.

Sixteen-year-old Rose went missing many years ago. Was she a runaway? Was she abducted? Murdered? Nora was eleven years old at the time, and the last person to see Rose before she disappeared. Rose used to babysit for Nora and her best friend Charlotte. Even after the police investigation turned up nothing, Charlotte and Nora continued to try to solve the mystery using psychic techniques pulled from a series of Time-Life books about the paranormal. But Nora wearies of the game because she knows Rose must be dead.

Fifteen-ish years later, Rose’s body is found. Nora returns to her small hometown to face the unsolved mystery and unresolved issues of her fractured friendship with Charlotte. Through a series of flashbacks (alternating between now and back then), we relive Nora’s tortured adolescence. Was Nora’s isolation/depression a result of Rose’s disappearance or was it something else? (As she insists, she was weird before Rose’s disappearance, too.) As we meet more of the people from her past, we see how they were all affected in different ways. We also see how different the perspective becomes when a person is nearly thirty compared to when they were eleven. Or when they were in high school.

The plot unfolds as secret after secret is laid bare. It becomes more complex as each character is absorbed into the mix. Their lives are interwoven as small-town, small world lives would be. The details are elegant–pulling the reader into the world. The characters are utterly believable.

I don’t generally read "murder mystery" type novels because I don’t like gore and mayhem. This is not a blood-and-guts fest filled with sadistic murderers and on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense. It was a different kind of suspense. I was intensely curious to see what had happened fifteen years ago to this teenage girl who inspired such devotion in her young charges. And after all the twists and surprises, I was satisfied with the answer.

BOOK REVIEW(S): Some of the books I read this summer...

2011-08-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

One of my goals for my summer was to read the Hunger Games trilogy. I wasn’t expecting it to be heavy-lifting. The books are short and there are only three of them. (My other goal was to put a dent in the Harry Potter series. I’m halfway through book 4.) I wasn’t quite anticipating that I would be so engrossed I’d fly through them in three sittings. I took a little break after the first two because I had other things I needed to get done. I really wanted to finish though, so I picked up Mockingjay one evening after work and read straight through, breaking only for dinner. (No reading at the dinner table -- who made such a crazy rule anyway?) Reading so intently gave me a pounding migraine, but still, I couldn’t stop. I finished around 11:00, nauseated and medicated, but triumphant. So, my review is this: Suzanne Collins can really tell a tale.

I think this is the best way to read these books – fast and furious. The action is straight-forward. The message is not subtle. The characters wear their hearts on their sleeves, and when they are confused, they let the reader know why they are confused. So the reader can get completely caught up in the action and the hyper-intense emotion. The books are fun. I can’t wait for the first movie.

Contrast this with another wonderful book I just finished. This one I read aloud with my daughter: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. Somehow I missed Jansson’s work all these years. I’d never heard of the Moomintroll books. I read reviews of The Summer Book that spoke of it being perfect and magical, etc. How could I pass that up?

The book is a series of vignettes following six-year-old Sophia and her ?eighty-something grandmother as they spend slow summer days in their island home in the Gulf of Finland. Sophia’s father is there, too, but his presence is much less felt. And Sophia’s mother, recently deceased, is noted only by her absence. Sophia is precocious at times and bratty at times. The grandmother is very wise and can be remarkably nimble, but sometimes her age catches up to her. The relationship between them is poignant. The landscape and seascape of the island is a necessary part of it all.

The book is absolutely gorgeous. Each vignette is beautifully nuanced. This is not a book that you want to fly through – and yet we did. A couple times we would finish a chapter and I would pause. My daughter would say, "Huh." in a tone that meant – "Well, that was interesting– don’t start asking me what I think. It’s summer and you’re not my English teacher." So I plowed on to the next chapter instead.

However, this is a book that definitely deserves a re-read.

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers by Harry Bernstein

2011-08-29T06:24:00.000-07:00

Another genre I never read (except when I read it) is memoir. However, the book group I’ve been trying to get back to chose a memoir for its August selection. (Scheduling conflicts kept me from the meeting where Unbroken was discussed, so that book is still on my shelf, waiting to be read.) The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers by Harry Bernstein sounded lovely...and I really wanted to go to the meeting. So...memoir it is.

Harry Bernstein published this when he was in his nineties. It’s a look back at his childhood in a small mill town in Northern England in the years around WWI. What makes his situation unique is that one side of the street where he lives is Christian. Harry’s side of the street is Jewish. They are rigidly segregated by common consent.

The people of the town live in crushing poverty, and Harry’s family is among the poorest of the poor. He adores his mother, who does her best for the large brood. However, his father is a sulky, sullen alcoholic who terrorizes them all with his cruelty. Harry has two older sisters. Lily is ambitious, studious, and kind to Harry – his favorite sibling. His other sister, Rose, is mean-spirited and selfish, jealous of Lily, and resentful of their mother. He has brothers as well, whose presence in the book is more muted.

Throughout the book, Harry describes the struggles of the family, their bad times and the heartbreakingly-almost-good times. He rounds out the memoir with neighborhood stories, because despite the rigid separation, everyone knows everyone else’s business in that tiny community. The anecdotes make for a warm and interesting narrative. However, the focus whirls around Lily and a Christian neighbor, Arthur. Crisis erupts when the two fall in love.

This is a charming, well-written book that brings the reader into the home of this young Jewish boy in WWI era England. It’s a fascinating glimpse into a different mind-set in a different time.

MAILBOX MONDAY (WITH A GIVEAWAY!!): Cecelia and Fanny. The Remarkable Friendship between an Escaped Slave and Her Former Mistress by Brad Asher

2011-08-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Mailbox Monday is a meme originated by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. It's now being rotated through different blogs monthly. During August, Mailbox Monday will be hosted by Life in the Thumb. Bloggers can share info about the new books that have come into their homes during the week. It's a great way to learn about MORE books to add to your wish lists and TBR piles.

Guess what arrived at our house this weekend! Advance copies of my husband's wonderful book Cecelia and Fanny. The Remarkable Friendship between an Escaped Slave and Her Former Mistress published by the University Press of Kentucky.

The book uses primary sources, including a cache of letters from Fanny to Cecelia, to tell the story of their relationship and to explore the cultural roles and influences of slavery in an urban setting (Louisvile, KY) rather than on a rural plantation.

Publishers Weekly gave it a wonderful review here.

Sound interesting? Check out his CSPAN2 Booktalk interview.

I'm running a giveaway to correspond with the release date. Winner will be chosen on September 21st. Leave a comment below AND fill in this FORM to enter. The only requirement is that you leave a comment (and contact info on the form), but followers and those who help spread the word will get extra entries.

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger

2011-08-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Lucie, Lady Duff Gordon (1821-1869) was apparently an extraordinary real-life Englishwoman. Well-bred and well-educated, she knew several languages and translated a number of books. She was known to be an outstanding hostess, running a sort of salon, bringing together English elite for rousing conversations. She was generous, politically progressive, and widely admired. Unfortunately, she contracted tuberculosis. As her health failed, her doctors and her husband reached the conclusion she could not remain in cold, damp England. And so, she set off with a single lady’s maid to make a new home in hot, dry Egypt. She is remembered primarily for her book, Letters from Egypt, a compilation of her correspondence to her husband and mother. The life she led in the city of Luxor was even more triumphant than that she had led at home, and certainly more exotic. Except for the fact that she was dying.

Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger is the story of Lady Duff Gordon’s maid, Sally Naldrett. Why tell Lucie’s story this way? Here is this brilliant woman, facing death, refusing to give up, traveling to Egypt to bravely tackle new challenges. She learns a new language and adapts to new customs, takes up a new cause, suffers more heartbreak– why tell this thrilling story through the eyes of what might be considered a minor character?

If that was all Pullinger had done, the book would not be such a success. But this is not Lucie’s story seen through Sally’s eyes. This is Sally’s story. And it works.

In the hands of a storyteller as skilled as Pullinger, we get a much richer tale. We do view Lucie’s life peripherally through the eyes of a woman who has devoted her life to her Lady. Sally defines herself by her role. She exists to serve Lady Duff Gordon. It’s a life that is extraordinarily secure – there are very set boundaries that Sally has no intention of ever crossing and in exchange her plum position is guaranteed. But at the same time, Sallie’s life is exciting. As the favored maid, she is the one who gets to travel when Lady Duff Gordon’s health requires it.

Sally has no external ties beyond a sister to whom she is fairly loosely bound. Sally cannot even imagine having a man in her life because it would interfere with her duty. When she is called to follow her Lady to Egypt, she is perfectly happy to do so. She is eager to see Egypt. She wants to leave England behind. Sally, much more than Lucie, is able to be completely transformed by this new experience- although her transformation is a gradual and unanticipated process.

In Egypt, at first they are fish out of water. An acquaintance recommends they hire a dragoman. They acquire Mr. Omar Abu Halaweh. Omar is extraordinarily competent and efficient at all necessary tasks. He smooths their path as they sight-see and eventually choose the city where they will settle– Luxor.

The further they travel into Egypt, the further they leave England and its customs behind. The careful mistress-servant relationship between Lucie and Sallie undergoes a subtle shift. The relationship between Sallie and Omar undergoes a more drastic change. What Sallie doesn’t understand, not at first, is how heavily Lucie relies upon her two servants for utter devotion. When Lucie discovers that her servants have lives and loves of their own, the consequences are immense.

This is a beautifully moving story. The setting is richly described. There was just enough of the politics of the time to flavor the book without slowing down the narrative. The characterizations were spot on. Sallie was naive at times but forgiveably so. Omar was wonderful in many ways, yet weak when it counted most. And yet, when I looked at his choices I’m not sure I can fault him for the decision he made. And Lucie? This once vibrant, generous woman turned so cruel? I can only think of how miserable she must ultimately have been.

If you’re looking around for a bit of well-written, character-driven, historical fiction, have a look at The Mistress of Nothing.

I've finished the goal I set for the historical fiction challenge. That doesn't mean I'm done reading historical fiction for the year, but it does mean I'm going to turn some attention to my other challenges.

Book Blogger Hop: 8/19-8/22

2011-08-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

It’s Friday, time for the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books. We’re talking about LONG books this weekend. What’s the hop? Explanation below:

Are you a book blogger? Are you a reader? Then welcome to the place where all of us connect over the weekend and chat about books!

Not sure what a book blogger is and if you are one? Do you have a blog? Do you blog about books? Do you write book reviews on your blog? Do you rave about books and authors on your blog? Is your blog content primarily about books? Then you are most likely considered a book blogger!

How it Works

As long as you meet the qualifications of a book blogger, you may add your book blog link into the linky list at Crazy for Books. But before you do that, there are a few requirements. Read up, to save yourself a headache with the linky!

1. Before you add your link, you must post about the Hop on your blog and link directly back to THIS WEEK’S POST (not just the Crazy-for-Books domain, but the direct post for this Hop). The linky is going to review the link that you enter in your submission, looking for a link to this post on your blog. If it doesn’t find one, your link will not be approved. This is called back linking and I had to institute it because people were taking advantage of the Hop and getting some free advertising without promoting the Hop themselves. You can read more about this here.

2. While you are creating your post, answer the following question (there’s a new prompt each week)!

"What’s the LONGEST book you’ve ever read?"
(Note: I’m putting one caveat on this question. You aren’t allowed to say the Bible, Torah, Qur’an, or other religious/spiritual text.)

　

My answer: The longest book I ever read was Joseph and His Brothers by Thomas Mann. It’s a historical novel based on the biblical story of Joseph, but it’s literary fiction, it’s not an actual religious/spiritual text. The translation I read had 1492 small print pages. It was probably the best book I’ve ever read.

Possibly the next longest book may have been Gone with the Wind and I loved that too.

I guess if I didn't love the books I wouldn't have made it through them. How about you? Have you ever made it through a long book that you didn't love?

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: Cecelia and Fanny: The Remarkable Friendship between an Escaped Slave and her Former Mistress by Brad Asher

2011-08-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Bloggers get a chance to share the books they are eagerly anticipating. Here's mine!

"I hope Cecelia you are happy; much happier than when you were my property."
--Fanny to Cecelia, March 1852

　

I can’t wait to hold wonderful this book in my hands. According to Amazon, its release date is September 21. (I already know it’s wonderful because my husband wrote it!)

Brad and I both love history, but he’s always been the true historian. He writes nonfiction, US history and this is my favorite book of his so far.

Here’s the blurb from the publisher (University Press of Kentucky):

Cecelia was a fifteen-year-old slave when she accompanied her mistress, Frances "Fanny" Thruston Ballard, on a holiday trip to Niagara Falls. During their stay, Cecelia crossed the Niagara River and joined the free black population of Canada. Although documented relationships between freed or escaped slaves and their former owners are rare, the discovery of a cache of letters from the former slave owner to her escaped slave confirms this extraordinary link between two urban families over several decades.

Cecelia and Fanny: The Remarkable Friendship between an Escaped Slave and Her Former Mistress is a fascinating look at race relations in mid-nineteenth-century Louisville, Kentucky, focusing on the experiences of these two families during the seismic social upheaval wrought by the emancipation of four million African Americans. Far more than the story of two families, Cecelia and Fanny delves into the history of Civil War–era Louisville. Author Brad Asher details the cultural roles assigned to the two women and provides a unique view of slavery in an urban context, as opposed to the rural plantations more often examined by historians.

You don’t have to take my word for it. It’s one of the Library Journals two picks for Fall on African American History.

Visit www.bradasher.com for more info.

BACK-TO-THE-CLASSICS CHALLENGE: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

2011-08-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

The back jacket flap for Willa Cather’s O Pioneers! introduces the book this way: "One of the most important American writers of the twentieth century, Willa Cather mined her childhood experiences on the Nebraska plains and her later love for the Southwest to create timeless tales of romance, tragedy, and spiritual seeking." One of the most important American writers of the century? It sounded like a perfect choice for my twentieth century classic for the Back-to-the-Classics Challenge. The fact that the book has been sitting on my shelf for more than ten years, gathering dust, made me all the more determined to finally read it.

O Pioneers! is the story of Alexandra Bergson, a Swedish immigrant to the Nebraska plains. At the young age of twenty she is orphaned and left in charge of three younger brothers and a farm that is just barely supporting them. The two eldest boys are hard-working but unimaginative and dour. The youngest, Emil, is sweet, smart, and Alexandra’s pet.

Alexandra’s father leaves her in charge because he sees in her the intelligence and steadiness needed to make something of the land. (He suspects the boys will turn tail and run when time gets hard – and they almost do.) It is Alexandra who has the vision to make something of the farm and enrich them all. She is fair-handed with her brothers, but she particularly dotes on Emil. She sends him off to college so that he will have a chance to make something more of himself – the American dream.

The book follows their lives as the Bergson’s become wealthy landowners. The transformation is not necessarily a good one for the family. Alexandra, in particular, leads a very lonely life. It’s painful to see the self-centered actions of her brothers. (Smug superiority for the older two, tragic romantic in the youngest.) The book does not portray men in general in a very admirable way. Through it all, she soldiers on, embodying the pioneer spirit.

The novel very nicely portrays the lifestyle of Nebraska pioneers – the hardships, the friendships, the solidarity, and the importance of the land itself. The style is old fashioned and the narrative has a leisurely pace. It’s one of those subtle books that uses spare language yet nevertheless examines the characters carefully and gets you to pondering human nature.

In the end, I did have to admire Alexandra. However, I pitied her just as much. She deserved better people in her life.

YA BOOK REVIEW: Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr

2011-08-06T16:52:00.000-07:00

Despite my monstrous TBR pile, I keep coming across books on various blogs that sound good to me for one reason or another. One book recently caught my attention despite being contemporary YA, a genre I keep insisting I rarely read and yet one that I seem to keep making exceptions for—I had to check it out.

Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr is the story of fifteen-year-old Sam Taylor in the midst of the hottest, worst summer of her life. Sam is a PK, a preacher’s kid, in a small town. Everyone knows her family; everyone knows her business– or think they do. What they may or may not know is that Sam’s mom is an alcoholic. Sam has been covering for her since she was eight years old, trying to help her father pretend that everything is perfect in their family. This is the image they’ve always believed they need to project to the congregants.

Everything fell apart after Sam’s mother had a car accident. The judge ordered her into rehab. Sam waits for her father (Pastor Charlie) to announce to the church what has happened, where her mother is, but he doesn’t. He lies, continuing to pretend everything in their family is fine.

Sam frets about how her father has always been there for everyone in the church, but has never been there for them. Her mother was the one who took care of her, even as alcoholism took her farther and farther away. As Sam mourns the disintegration of her family, she begins also to question her faith. Depressed and confused, unsure who knows about her mother and who doesn’t, she wants to be left alone. She is alone.

Then another crisis strikes. A young girl in the congregation disappears. The whole town focuses on finding Jody Shaw. Pastor Charlie is very involved in supporting the grieving family and becomes even less available to Sam. She feels more and more abandoned and confused. What makes things worse is that Sam recognizes her own problems are not as bad as those of the Shaw family, but she can't help how bad she feels. And she doesn't know where to turn. She doesn't know how to help. No one in town is above suspicion. As the days tick by, it becomes less likely Jody will be found. Sam is no longer certain who to rely on or where she can place her trust.

This was a surprisingly powerful book. Sam is a very solid character who has carried a lot of responsibility for a long time. She’s no whiny, self-centered teenager. So it’s easy to empathize with her as she struggles with problems too great for someone who is still a child to handle alone. The adults in her life, the ones she should be able to turn to, are not reliable for various reasons. She has good, caring friends – but there is only so much they can do.

Despite the fact that the book revolves around Sam’s questioning of her faith, her church and youth group– it’s not preachy book. The messages are subtle and you can take away from it what you will. It is a hopeful book but one that is tempered with realism.

(It’s also a short, quick read.)

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

2011-08-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading a lovely historical novel that’s a bit different from my usual fare. I discovered it thanks to Donovan’s blog Where Pen Meets Paper. You can check out the review there too, if you like. The book is Moloka’i by Alan Brennert.

This is the story of the Hawaiian leper colony founded in the nineteenth century on the island of Moloka’i. The story is seen primarily through the eyes of Rachel Kalama. Rachel was just seven years old, a happy, healthy, playful child, when she was first diagnosed with leprosy. It was 1892. The disease was poorly understood and there was no cure. Victims were feared and shunned. In order to prevent spread, they were isolated from the rest of society and shipped off to Moloka’i. This was even true of children.

Rachel was fortunate in one respect; she had a beloved uncle who had previously been banished to the island. Her uncle had a warm, loving girlfriend who became a second mother to Rachel. This woman, Haleola, was a native healer who eventually taught Rachel about Hawaii’s culture and legends (enriching the novel as well!) However, when Rachel first arrived, she could not stay with her uncle because children had to live in The Bishop’s Home to be supervised by nuns. Luckily, she was allowed visits. Having that much family made the island a little bit more like a home. Living with the other girls turned out to be a blessing in disguise. She was able to grow up within a community, developed a support system, and had fun. She also found a lifelong friend in one of the nuns, Sister Catherine.

Rachel has a mild form of the disease. She watches many of her friends die over the years, but there are some longtime survivors. Over the course of the book, the world changes too. From the vantage point of this strange island cocoon, Rachel experiences the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the dawning of the electrical age, the advent of motion pictures, and much more. The leper colony is a microcosm. It’s interesting to follow Rachel as she grows to womanhood in the strange artificial environment, cut-off from the outside world. At the same time, the people of Moloka’i don’t just sit around waiting for word from outside. They have their own social and economic structures. They’ve created their own world. You never lose sight of the fact that they are exiles, forbidden contact with non-lepers, but their ability to make something of their lives within the context of that exile is a testament to their resilience.

This book has all the things I like in historical fiction. It has well-crafted characters, a fascinating setting, and it was clearly well researched and taught me new things. You might think the topic would be depressing, or possibly enraging, but it wasn’t. There were some bad guys, but overall, it was an encouraging story.

However, I did find it somewhat unevenly paced. There was a lot of life-and-times to cover. Sometimes the storyline lingered over episodes and at other times it jumped over large blocks of time and plopped us down again without much warning. Toward the end, we seemed to be hop-skipping from episode to episode just to get us through the rest of Rachel’s life, but that was OK with me because I was starting to count pages to see if I was almost done yet. I also had a bit of trouble settling in with the Hawaiian dialect at first. But these minor quibbles did nothing to detract from the novel overall.

For an inspiring and informative story about Hawaii’s attempts to deal with leprosy as the kingdom/state emerges into the twentieth century, read Moloka’i.

I've almost finished my historical fiction challenge goal, but I knew this would be the easy one for me. I've got to get working on my other challenges!

MAILBOX MONDAY: The Song of Troy by Colleen McCullough

2011-07-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

Mailbox Monday is a meme originated by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. It's now being rotated through different blogs monthly. Bloggers can share info about the new books they've obtained during the week. This month the host is Staci at Life in the Thumb. Come visit and check out links to see what we're reading (or planning to read soon!)

For all my good intentions about not acquiring new books for awhile, I took a weekend jaunt to Half-Price Books on Saturday. My kids dragged me. They were culling their shelves, making room for back-to-school. I came across an old novel by one of my favorite novelists, Colleen McCullough. I don't know how I missed this one, since I've read nearly all her books and this is certainly right up my alley. I had to grab it while I had the chance.

The Song of Troy by Colleen McCullough is (obviously) the story of the Iliad. It's told from multiple viewpoints. Each of the main actors get to tell his/her side of the tale. I love this epic tragedy. I've read multiple versions over the years. I also love McCullough's writing style. So I'm looking forward to seeing her take on this classic love story-adventure.

Book Blogger Hop 7/29-8/1

2011-07-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

Come join in the fun at the book blogger hop hosted by Crazy-for-Books

Welcome to the NEW Book Blogger Hop!

Are you a book blogger? Are you a reader? Then welcome to the place where all of us connect over the weekend and chat about books!
Not sure what a book blogger is and if you are one? Do you have a blog? Do you blog about books? Do you write book reviews on your blog? Do you rave about books and authors on your blog? Is your blog content primarily about books? Then you are most likely considered a book blogger!

How it Works

As long as you meet the qualifications of a book blogger, you may add your book blog link into the linky list at Crazy-for-Books. But before you do that, there are a few requirements. Read up, to save yourself a headache with the linky!

1. Before you add your link, you must post about the Hop on your blog and link directly back to THIS POST AT CRAZY FOR BOOKS (not just the domain, but the direct post for this Hop). The linky is going to review the link that you enter in your submission, looking for a link to this post on your blog. If it doesn’t find one, your link will not be approved. This is called back linking and I had to institute it because people were taking advantage of the Hop and getting some free advertising without promoting the Hop themselves. You can read more about this here.

2. While you are creating your post, answer the following question (there’s a new prompt each week)!

“Highlight one book you have received this week (for review, from the library, purchased at the store, etc.) that you can’t wait to dig into!”

My answer is the same as my Mailbox Monday answer. Only one new book (for me) came into my house this week: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger. I bought it at the Borders going out of business sale. It came highly recommended by my sister -- years ago. Now that I own it, I'm determined to move it to the top of my TBR pile and see if it's as wonderful as she said.

Mailbox Monday: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

2011-07-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

Mailbox Monday is a meme created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, that is now being hosted at different blogs on a monthly basis. This month, you can find Mailbox Monday links at A Sea of Books. Come have a look at the books we're all collecting!

On Friday after work I made my sad, sad pilgrimage to Borders. Although we’ve seen it coming for a long while, it doesn’t make it any easier.

I didn’t go hog-wild though. I bought a few books for my son who went with me. But as I wandered through the aisles, commonsense prevailed. I have to put a dent in my TBR pile before I heap anything more onto it. So I bought only one book for myself.

Years ago, my sister told me I should read Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger. My sister doesn’t recommend very many books to me. (Ella Minnow Pea was one, and it quickly became one of my favorites.) She couldn’t really describe to me what Franny and Zooey was about, she just said I had to read it. I’ve picked it up and put it down at bookstores a hundred times. I’ve contemplated taking it out of the library. It’s one of those books that is always there, so I’ve felt no urgency about getting to it. But now, here it was at the Borders going-out-of-business sale. So I decided it was time.

I now own a copy. I guess that means I really do have to read it.

THE LITERARY BLOG HOP July 21-24: Reading Therapy

2011-07-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

It's time for The Literary Blog Hop hosted by The Blue Bookcase!

This blog hop is open to blogs that primarily feature book reviews of literary fiction, classic literature, and general literary discussion.

How do I know if my blog qualifies as "literary"? Literature has many definitions, but for our purposes your blog qualifies as "literary" if it focuses primarily on texts with aesthetic merit. In other words, texts that show quality not only in narrative but also in the effect of their language and structure. YA literature may fit into this category, but if your blog focuses primarily on non-literary YA, fantasy, romance, paranormal romance, or chick lit, you may prefer to join the blog hop at Crazy-for-books that is open to book blogs of all kinds.

Instructions for entering the Literary Blog Hop:

1. Grab the code for the Button.

2. Answer the following prompt on your blog.
(Suggestions for future prompts? Email to them us at thebluebookcase@gmail.com)

Discuss Bibliotherapy. Do you believe literature can be a viable form of therapy? Is literary writing more or less therapeutic than pop lit or nonfiction?

Yes, I think literature can be usefully incorporated into therapy. Not for everyone or for everything, obviously. Christina addressed very nicely the value of the books that demonstrate to individuals that problems are not unique. Help is out there. But as for how much literature can help troubled individuals (how viable a form of therapy is it?)-- that's not something I feel qualified to discuss. Music therapy, art therapy...all these things have been shown to be useful in certain situations. Literary therapy can be too. But it would have to depend on the person and how they respond to different art forms.

Do I find reading to be therapeutic? Of course it is. I read as a form of escape. Escape from stress, from boredom, from just feeling low. Taking a "time-out" from my world to enter an entirely different world allows me to put things in perspective. (Yeah, things are falling apart, but at least 30-60% of our population is not being wiped out by the Black Death.)

Reading is soothing. A couple years ago my daughter needed some minor surgery. She was as fearful of the anesthesia as she was of the surgery. Crowded in the little pre-op cubicle, we read aloud to her from Tales from Watership Down. She didn't need as much premedication. The time passed more quickly. We were all stressed, but not as stressed.

Is literature more therapeutic than grabbing any old book? I'll go anti-book snob here and say no. Good literature may be better for the mind. In the long run, it gets inside you and is better for the soul. But if you're talking "therapy," it depends on who is doing the reading, what mood they're in, and what they are looking for when they pick up the book.

Literature is often uplifting, but sometimes it can be a real downer. Fluff is forgettable enough, but when you read it, it can bring a smile to your face. Sometimes I don't need to read a book that is improving, I just want a little boost. Reading is therapeutic. It doesn't have to be great literature.

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

2011-07-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, the best way to get myself to read a book is to borrow it from the library. If a book sounds good and I buy it, it tends to go on my shelf to wait its turn. Then it can be a very long wait, even for books that I want to read very much at the time of purchase. But a library book has to be returned, so there’s a sense of urgency. Especially if there’s a waiting list and it can’t be renewed.

So, I borrowed The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. This is the story of Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage. (I was curious about this novel because I was quite the Hemingway fan in my college days. Having read A Moveable Feast, I knew a tiny bit about those Paris years.)

It begins with Hadley Richardson at twenty-eight. She has had a difficult upbringing and feels now as if life might have passed her by. But she goes to Chicago to visit a friend and there she meets the twenty-one year old Ernest Hemingway. He is so full of energy and enthusiasm, he brings out the best in her. At least, she feels alive again. They are mutually smitten almost at once. Before long, to everyone’s surprise, they marry.

Hemingway is profoundly ambitious and Hadley is his most ardent supporter. A friend recommends that they go to Paris where the living is cheap and artists abound. He provides letters of introduction, and off they go. There they meet the famous ex-patriots Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, F.Scott Fitzgerald, and others. Ernest works on his writing and Hadley gives him all the support she can. They are surrounded by hard-drinking friends with unconventional ideas (particularly unconventional ideas about marriage), but everyone seems to agree that what Ernest and Hadley have is the real thing. From the descriptions of their days together, Hadley’s deep understanding of Ernest’s psychology, and her very sincere willingness to sacrifice for his career, it does seem that their marriage stands a fighting chance. That just makes it all the more poignant.

Their marriage works best when they are young, poor, and struggling. As Hemingway gains success and recognition, he loses perspective. He pushes away many of the friends who helped him in the beginning. Hadley has always been aware of her husband’s faults, but she trusts him. So when the final betrayal comes, she is blind-sided.

This is a beautiful and painful book about love, ambition, artistry, and the trickiness of marriage. The author does a wonderful job of inhabiting Hadley’s world, bringing Paris of the 1920's alive, writing with an almost Hemingway-esque voice. All along, despite Hadley’s seeming dependence on Ernest, she is the one with the true strength, the true unwavering sense of self. It’s an insightful character study for both of them.

I’m glad I didn’t let this one languish on my shelf!

I'm making progress on the Historical Fiction Challenge. Come on over to Historical Tapestries to check the links and discover other wonderful novels to add to your TBR lists!

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: Like Mayflies in a Stream by Shauna Roberts

2011-07-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

At some point in the educational process, you likely caught a whiff of Gilgamesh. For me, I believe I was exposed to a short excerpt and summary way back in high school. But tantalizing as the "whiffs" of something so great and huge and lasting may be, they can also have a dampening effect. Yeah, I learned about Gilgamesh once. Weird. And, well...kind of long, wasn’t it?

There is something awesome about legends that survive for 5000 years give or take a few. And The Epic of Gilgamesh, which comes from all the way back in Mesopotamia, is about as enduring and filled with mythological deeds as you can get. Nevertheless, my initial reaction was fairly typical. "Huh?"

I always regretted not "getting" Gilgamesh. I should have read the whole thing. I should have put more effort in. But the thought of going back to it is daunting. And then, last year, I saw Gilgamesh by Herbert Mason in my daughter’s pile of school books. There it was. Staring me in the face. Commanding me to read it. Instead, I waited for her to tell me about it. Maybe it had gotten better since I was a kid.

She had the usual adolescent’s reaction to a 5000-year-old Mesopotamian legend. And I thought, maybe this is a hurdle I don’t need to jump.

But then I met Shauna Roberts at the Historical Novel Society conference, one of the many delightful authors I was able to spend time with in San Diego. She wrote a novelization of the epic. A historical novel? That’s what I needed. I bought the book on my new Nook.

Like Mayflies in a Stream by Shauna Roberts gives us the story primarily through the eyes of Shamat, a priestess who knows firsthand the suffering of the people of Uruk because of the unbridled passion and restlessness of their powerful king Gilgamesh. He is a man who lives for the moment and thinks only of his own wants. And it seems that what he wants most is a playmate, someone equal to him in strength and speed who can help him burn off his energy.

A nomad named Zaidu, living outside of Uruk, is the first to discover the wild man. Something is breaking his traps and ruining his hunting. When he discovers it is a not a monster but a man, he cannot kill him, so he goes to the king for help. The king sends Shamat to tame the wild man, whom she names Enkidu.

For those who know the story, I don't need to outline it, and for those who don't, I don’t want to give any more of it away.

Like Mayflies in a Stream follows the outline of the Gilgamesh epic closely enough to keep the flavor of the legend but by focusing on the courageous and self-sacrificing Shamat more so than on the king and Enkidu, Roberts is able to tell a much more sympathetic tale. The ancient Mesopotamian world comes alive with a beautiful mixture of complex ritual and simple every day tasks, all richly described. If that isn’t enough, a touching love story gives depth to Shamat’s character. These are not just mythological figures, but people.

So am I now inspired to dig into my daughter’s book for more Gilgamesh? Maybe. Or maybe I’ll just savor Roberts’s interpretation for awhile.

MAILBOX MONDAY: Unbroken. A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

2011-07-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

Mailbox Monday is a meme created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, that is now being hosted at different blogs on a monthly basis. This month, you can find Mailbox Monday links at A Sea of Books. Come have a look at the books we're all collecting!

Here's the book I bought today: Unbroken. A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. I've heard some buzz about the book and thought it sounded interesting, but I don't read a whole lot of nonfiction except for research or for things I have a particular interest in. However, this is the July selection for a book club I've participated in before and am trying to attend more regularly. I downloaded the sample pages on my Nook and I have to say, I can't remember ever reading a more riveting preface. We were out at my local independent bookstore today (hooray for the indies!) and I bought the book. (I still prefer paper to the Nook.) I'm determined to make it to this month's book club meeting, so now I have to read the book. Has anyone read it? Is it as good as the preface?

GOODREADS DESCRIPTION:

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit.

Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit

LITERARY BLOG HOP-7/7-7-10: Literary Devices

2011-07-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

It's time for the Literary Blog Hop, hosted by The Blue Bookcase. I've missed the last few and have been trying to get back to it. For those interested, here are the rules:

This blog hop is open to blogs that primarily feature book reviews of literary fiction, classic literature, and general literary discussion.

How do I know if my blog qualifies as "literary"? Literature has many definitions, but for our purposes your blog qualifies as "literary" if it focuses primarily on texts with aesthetic merit. In other words, texts that show quality not only in narrative but also in the effect of their language and structure. YA literature may fit into this category, but if your blog focuses primarily on non-literary YA, fantasy, romance, paranormal romance, or chick lit, you may prefer to join the blog hop at Crazy-for-books that is open to book blogs of all kinds.

Instructions for entering the Literary Blog Hop:

1. Grab the code for the Button.

2. Answer the question:

What is one of your favorite literary devices? Why do you like it? Provide a definition and an awesome example.

I had an idea for what I thought I would answer, but after looking up a handy reference of "literary devices," I’m not sure my answer would count. So, I’ll go first of all with bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age story. The protagonist shows personal growth (moral, spiritual and/or psychological growth) throughout the timeline of the story.

Generally speaking, this is something we look for in most good literature, isn’t it? We want our main characters to grow? I guess in some of the heavily plot-driven stories the main point is to get the characters from point A to point B action-wise, but for me, if the character isn’t changed by what he has gone through, there isn’t much point to all the hullabaloo.

One example of bildungsroman that comes to mind simply because it’s a book I read recently (and because the writing doesn’t get much better) is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Over the course of the book, Scout loses her innocence and gains an understanding of the prejudices of her small town. But her own moral position also solidifies.

Now that I’ve answered that, I’ll just mention the literary device/gimmick that is actually nearest and dearest to my heart. I’m a sucker for epistolary novels. (Included in that can be diaries, letters written to oneself.) I think that to successfully tell a story – and make it riveting – make the characters come alive – but do it in a letter format, has got to be a difficult feat for an author. One obvious example of someone who achieved this was Anne Frank.

Another favorite of mine, read back in college was Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos, the story of two French aristocrats who challenge each other to greater and greater feats of immorality, and boast to each other in their letters. (Eventually they get their comeuppance.) I plan to reread it for the Back-to-the-Classics challenge and see if I enjoy it as much the second time around.

BOOK REVIEW: I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson

2011-07-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Although I’m usually quite content sticking with historical fiction and the occasional classic, every once in awhile I feel I should read something outside my comfort zone. I need a little exercise for my brain. The book reviewer on NPR is great for piquing my interest in "different" books. Like The Lady Matador’s Hotel by Cristina Garcia. Not my usual fare but I loved it.

More recently, a review for I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson grabbed my attention. The reviewer made the book sound so tempting I had to add it to my list.

The first part of the story is set in Wales in 1974. We can debate whether this is historical fiction, but considering the subject matter, and the fact that the second half shifts to 1998 where a contemporary woman reminisces about her 1974 tween self, I’m voting for no. It’s more of a fictional memoir than historical fiction.

Petra is the book’s thirteen-year-old protagonist. She’s very insecure, dominated by an unhappy mother who is constantly judging her and finding her lacking, and bullied by a queen bee/mean girl who heads up their school clique. However, what primarily shapes Petra’s young life (and drives the plot) is that she is desperately in love with David Cassidy. David Cassidy the American pop star. Keith Partridge for anyone who remembers 1970's T.V.

In fact, Petra’s whole clique obsesses over David, including her best friend (only friend?) Sharon. They spend long hours discussing him, reading about him, and listening to his music. In between, Petra agonizes over her marginal place in the clique. Will Gillian (the queen bee) kick her out of the group for some arbitrary reason? Or might some miracle occur that will allow Petra to gain Gillian’s favor and feel she truly belongs?

There is a parallel story. One of the fan magazines that they read, The Essential David Cassidy Magazine, is produced in Wales. The main feature writer, Bill, is a twenty-something college educated English major who has discovered to his dismay that writing for a David Cassidy fanzine is the only job he can get. He has to answer David’s mail and write letters and articles as if he is David. And the worst thing is, he’s quite good at it.

Part one revolves around David Cassidy to such a degree that, well, I almost gave up on the book. I understand that the obsessiveness of Petra’s tween love was important for the whole theme, but I found that I didn’t particularly enjoy obsessing over David Cassidy. Plus, the whole mean-girl genre for tweens is getting a lot of attention currently, and I don’t really need to be reading that much of it. Overall, I found the thirteen-year-old Petra to be relatively uninteresting.

However, Bill amused me, and I did want to know what was going to happen with him. That kept me reading on until we shifted gears to 1998. At that point, I became more interested in the story. Petra is now a grown woman. In a single day, she learns of her mother’s death and that her husband (a serial cheater) has decided to leave her for a younger woman. While grieving and cleaning out her mother’s wardrobe, she finds a letter announcing that she was the winner of a long ago quiz contest. The prize was an all expense paid trip to LA to meet David Cassidy. Her mother hid the letter. Petra is shocked into action. She tracks down the corporation that bought out the magazine that held the contest (The Essential David Cassidy Magazine) and asks to claim her prize.

It’s good to watch Petra finally take charge of her life as she sets out to meet her idol, now a singer in Las Vegas. (And we do get to see what became of Bill.)

The book is filled with observations about tween obsession with celebrity. It has a lot to say about the awkward years (young adolescence and early middle age.) I Think I Love You is, not surprisingly, a book about relationships. And although I probably didn’t need to spend quite so much time reading about someone’s imagined relationship with David Cassidy, the book did reward me for sticking through to the end.

BOOK BLOGGER HOP 7/1-7/4

2011-07-01T15:01:00.000-07:00

It's time for the book blogger hop, hosted by Crazy for Books. Join the fun! Here's what to do- I just copied the whole shebang this week, editing where needed:

Grab the Logo!

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list at Crazy for Books!!

The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don’t have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun! This is a weekly event! And stop back throughout the weekend to see all the new blogs that are added! There are over 200 links every week!!

RULES:

Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

1. Post about the Hop on your blog (feel free to grab the logo at the top of the post!)

Spread the word about the book party! The more the merrier!

In your blog post, answer the following question (new question each week!).

This week’s question comes from Sue who blogs at Cookie’s Book Club ! Thanks for submitting a question for our Hoppers, Sue! Be sure to visit her blog and tell her thank you!

“What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you want to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf?“

It's hard to explain exactly what keeps me reading. Sometimes it's the recommendation that led me to the book in the first place. I keep reading because I expect the book will grow on me, even if the first few pages don't particularly grab me. Sometimes it's bullheadedness. If I'm determined to read a book I'll read it even if the first few pages are dull. But as for what keeps me reading the books that I pick up more or less at random? It's that hard to define "voice." Something about the way the character (or narrator) relates to the reader sucks me in to the story.

What makes me put a book back on the shelf? I don't like graphic violence, particular when it's used as a device to grab a reader's attention at the opening of a book. If an author uses violence against, torture of, or terrorization of a child as a "hook," it pretty much guarantees I'll not be reading that book.

Now I'm off to see what others have to say!

VACATION MEMORIES: Part one- Paris

2011-06-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

I finally had a chance to look at some of the photos we took on vacation (almost 600 - sometimes the whole digital photography thing is not a good idea.)

So here is a smattering. Rather than Notre Dame's gargoyles or the Eiffel Tower which are so much more impressive in real life than in our photos, here are some of our favorite memories:

This is the view from our left bank apartment:

The kids both say Versailles was the best day. There was a special exhibition of thrones going on while we were there and it was packed inside the palace. We could barely shuffle our way through. But outside was gorgeous. It was also Ascension Day, a holiday, so they turned on the fountains in the gardens in the afternoon. A special treat.

The Orange Grove

The Fountain of Apollo

My husband's favorite spot was the catacombs. That's a popular one. It took us three tries to get there on time in a manageable place on line so we could actually get in. But it was worth it.

Finally, I think my favorite was the Tower of John the Fearless. It was out of the way, not at all crowded, steeped with history, and fascinating. (And on the way out, they gave us candy.)

Notice all the sunny blue skies. We didn't have quite such good fortune in Venice. But Venice is so incredibly gorgeous we still took pictures. I'll post some of them in a bit.

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

2011-06-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

My book group met Saturday night. We ate fondue, drank wine, and discussed our latest historical novel, The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. Is there any part of that that doesn't sound wonderful?

This was my first Kingsolver book. Kingsolver is another of those must-read authors for me that I keep intending to read but don't seem to get to. That list is so dauntingly long, there's no good place to start. Luckily, this book was elected our book club's choice. Just the push I needed.

The fictional narrator, Harrison Shepherd, is the son of a minor American beaurocrat and a Mexican woman with big dreams but a narrow vision. "Harry" is forced from a young age to learn to survive on his own, scraping his way on the fringes of society. He's a loner who tries not to draw too much attention to himself. He is enamored of words and stays sane by recording the details of his life and the world around him in a series of notebooks. The book uses these notebooks (and a fictional secretary/archivist/friend) to provide a curious blend of third person-diary memoir. In such skilled hands, this technique works surprisingly well.

Harry grows up in Mexico. As he reaches young adulthood, he finds work with the great Mexican painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. He is with them when they provide asylum to Trotsky, and later, Harry goes to work for this famous exile. Harry is more or less apolitical. Or claims to be. He's simply a cook, a secretary, and a secret novelist.

As historical events unfold, Harry has to leave Mexico. He moves to the United States where he blossoms into a writer, a phenomenally successful one. But the success of his art draws public attention to him as a person. This ends up causing trouble Harry never foresaw.

The Lacuna is an extraordinary book. The fictional characters are woven into history in a completely believable way, so real and compelling they leap off the page. Kingsolver's use of language is beautiful. Although it's a long book, it flies by.

So, we swirled our crusty bread in smooth thick cheese, washed it down with Riesling, and sang Kingsolver's praises. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday night.

MAILBOX MONDAY: A bonanza of historical fiction

2011-06-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little late getting this post together. Mailbox Monday is being hosted by The Bluestocking Guide this week/month. Next week it will switch, so check for details to participate. Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for book bloggers to share their new acquisitions and another way for book bloggers to get to know one another.

These are the books I brought home from the Historical Novel Society conference last weekend.

Books that I purchased and had signed were:
1. Great Maria by Cecelia Holland. (Yes, I've already read it and have my own tattered, treasured copy. But I didn't have a signed copy and this is one of my all-time favorite books by one of my favorite authors. I had to make room in my suitcase for it.)
2. The Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham. (I loved The Stolen Crown so I'm looking forward to reading this one.)
3. By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan (Has been getting awesome reviews and the author is a super nice guy.)

I was thrilled to get a goody bag packed with these books:

Queen by Right by Anne Easter Smith
The Summer Garden by Paullina Simons
Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
Noah's Wife by T.K. Thorne

And that was absolutely all I could cram into my luggage. So as soon as I got home I ordered:
The King's Mistress by Emma Campion and
Like Mayflies in a Stream by Shauna Roberts

I can't seem to make my TBR pile get any smaller!

GOLDEN OLDIES: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

2011-06-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

I love the Back-to-the-Classics challenge because it’s making me read books that have been hanging out at the back of my TBR list forever, just waiting for some sort of deadline to move them to the front. The latest example is Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I’ve tried reading this before, but never got past the first few pages before being distracted by something else. I had it in mind that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an important book, but not necessarily a good book. Going in, I anticipated something long, old-fashioned, and preachy. So I figured an airplane ride to Europe was the perfect setting for tackling it. Since we had a mandate to travel light, I downloaded it onto my new Nook. I was all set.

Although overall, the novel was the anti-slavery treatise I knew it would be, it was very different from what I expected. Uncle Tom’s Cabin follows the trials and tribulations of several slaves. The first to be introduced are living not on a plantation in the deep south but in a city in Kentucky. The first owners we meet are not cruel; in fact, the mistress is a God-fearing woman whose sympathies lie with the slaves. But the master is in economic distress and, to his dismay, he must sell one of his most devoted, trustworthy slaves, Uncle Tom. Not only that, but the man who wants to buy Tom also wants to buy an entertaining young child named Harry. This sets the wheels in motion. Eliza is Harry’s mother. She overhears the plans to sell him and therefore has no choice but to escape. (Her husband, a brilliant, hard-working young man who is owned elsewhere in the city had already decided to run away from his harsh master.) They meet up and begin a harrowing flight to Canada.

Uncle Tom, meanwhile, chooses a different path. He understands that if he is not sold the remaining slaves will suffer the consequences. Tom is a deeply religious man who is certain that God will watch over him. He goes with the slave trader.

For awhile, things go well for Tom. On the boat south, he meets a young girl named Eva. Eva is Christian charity personified. Eva asks her father to buy Tom. He takes up his new life with Eva’s family in New Orleans. Although he misses his own wife and children, life with Eva’s family is not a particular hardship. But there is constant uncertainty in the life of a slave. Eva’s father is a cynic and a reluctant slave owner. And Eva is a sickly child. When she dies, the future becomes even more precarious. However, her father understands Eva’s wishes and Tom is promised his freedom. But then, Eva’s father unexpectedly dies. The slaves are sold off.

Tom falls into the hands of Simon Legree. Legree is a cruel and bitter man. He hates Tom because Tom is good. Legree grows more and more determined to break his new slave, no matter the consequences, but Tom’s spirit will not be broken.

Throughout the story, Stowe demonstrates the cruelty and indignity of slavery. Even when masters are "kind," slavery is cruel. The writing is preachy and some of the events are melodramatic; however, the story is nevertheless captivating. I’ve summarized only the barest bones of the plot. Other characters swarm on and off the pages, demonstrating all the various ways in which humans are flawed, but also showing their strengths. I found myself drawn in to the story. I wanted to know how all the loose ends would be tied up, even for the minor characters.

Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of vague praise of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I realized I’d formed an opinion of the book without ever reading it. Now I can better understand why the book had such a tremendous impact on the antebellum world. And I have to revise my own opinion. It’s an important book AND a good book.

Historical Novel Society Conference- 2011

2011-06-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

Advance warning – This post is longer than my usual. It’s a report on the conference and an advertisement for the one to be held in 2013.

I’ve been to three of the four North American Historical Novel Society conferences, and I hope to be able to attend many more. What a treat!

First, San Diego had gorgeous weather. How lovely it was to escape the heat and humidity of Louisville, emerging into the warm, sunny Southern California climate. The hotel was less than ten minutes from the airport by shuttle. Exhausted as I am by my recent traveling, I was thrilled with the convenience. The organizers did a fantastic job.

We jumped right into a cocktail reception followed by a dinner banquet. Harry Turtledove was our entertaining Keynote speaker. Afterward, C.C. Humphreys moderated a panel of readers who entertained the audience with fight scenes from their novels. I confess I slipped out before that started. The three hour time zone difference hit me. And my panel was going to be early the next morning.

First thing Saturday morning, I spoke on a panel "Adult versus Young Adult Fiction" moderated by Gina Iorio. My fellow panelists were C.C. Humphreys, Pamela Bauer Mueller, and Dori Jones Yang. We covered topics such as why write young adult fiction and who is reading it, censorship, marketing to young adults and pitching to agents. It was a lot of fun and we had great questions and feedback from the audience.

Still, I was a bit relieved when my speaking part was over. Now I could relax and soak in the rest of the conference!

There were so many great panels, I wish I could have gone to them all. But there were generally four different panels running at once, so I had to choose.

I attended a talk on Historical Fiction and the Fantastic. Mary Sharratt, Cecelia Holland, C.C. Humphreys, and Shauna Roberts discussed the incorporation of fantasy elements into historical fiction. How does an author make it work? Does it add or take away from historical fiction? (While my personal preference is straight H.F., one of my favorite books of all time is Mists of Avalon – filled with fantasy. So sometimes it does add to the book and work very well!) And I couldn’t pass up the chance to hear Cecelia Holland speak.

Next I listened to Mary Sharratt, Susanne Dunlap, Margaret George, C.W. Gortner, and Vanitha Sankaran discussing the pros and cons of writing historical fiction about Marquee Names. Are they really necessary for launching a book and attracting an audience?

Our lunchtime keynote speaker was Jennifer Weltz from the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. It’s always fascinating to hear an agent’s take on the industry. It’s also nice when an agent expresses her love for historical fiction. After her address, an editors’ panel (Jennifer Weltz, Deni Dietz, Shana Drehs, Heather Lazare, and Charles Spicer) talked to the crowd about selling historical fiction. Unfortunately, there is no magical secret key. But it was interesting to get their various takes on what they are interested in seeing and what is easiest to sell. I was particularly heartened to hear one editor suggest that male protagonists might be making a comeback. I love women’s fiction, but I do miss those sweeping epics centered on the men who made history.

Saturday night, Cecelia Holland gave the keynote address at dinner. She gave a short but inspiring talk. Since she is one of my writing idols, I was thrilled just to be in the same room. I’m not normally a celebrity-hound, but I do stand in awe of this writer.

After dinner, we were treated to a historical costume fashion show, narrated by Valerie Sokol. The costumes were stunning.

The Saturday Night Sex Scene Readings closed the evening, moderated by Diana Gabaldon. This has become one of the favorite events at the HNS conference. But, once again, I was too wiped out to stay for the whole thing. If the next conference is in the east, I’ll be less of a wimp.

Only two more panels on Sunday morning. The first was on how to use internet resources to do historical research– and how to incorporate the research into your novel. (As well as how to leave research out of it.) This panel was presented by Jay Dixon, Sarah Mallory, and Barbara Sedlock. They gave us a wealth of information. It was a beautiful presentation.

And finally, Frederick Ramsey, Margaret George, Cecelia Holland, Joyce Elson Moore, and Susan Vreeland spoke on Writing Biographical Fiction: How Much Fiction, How Much Fact? Since my own book is biographical fiction, I wanted to hear the different viewpoints from the speakers and from the audience. Again, the speakers did a great job and generated a lively audience discussion.

More than just the panels, the conference provided an opportunity to socialize with other HF writers, both published authors and aspiring authors. I had a wonderful time getting to know my fellow historical fiction devotees.

The next conference will be in 2013. Here are some tips if you decide to join us:

1. Bring a bigger suitcase than you think you’ll need. The goody bag was chock-full of books. And there is a bookseller on site so you can purchase books to be signed by all those authors present whose books sound too interesting to pass up. There were a few books I just could not buy because I’d have no way to get them home. I bought them when I got home. I’m not much of an autograph collector, but it still would have been nice to have them signed while I was there.

2. Bring a camera. Unless your cell phone camera is decent. Mine isn’t. And now I have no photo documentation of that wonderful weekend!

3. Go to the social functions. Meet people. Everyone is approachable, friendly, and eager to talk about their books and yours.

4. Relax and have fun. It isn't all about pitching your book. If that's all you're there for, you'll be stressed and disappointed. There are so many great books out there. Drink them in!

The Historical Novel Society Conference - 2011

2011-06-17T05:03:00.000-07:00

I'm off for San Diego! (And barely over my jet lag from Europe. This is not my usual life!)

I've been eagerly anticipating this years HNS conference. Some of my favorite historical novelists will be there. It's a great way to meet other authors and learn about upcoming historical fiction.

This year, I'll be one of the panelists. I'll be speaking on Adult vs. Young Adult Fiction tomorrow morning, along with C.C. Humphreys, Pamela Bauer Mueller, and Dori Jones Yang. Gina Iorio is our moderator. It should be a lively discussion.

I expect to have a haul of books to report for Mailbox Monday!

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: Mary, Queen of France, by Jean Plaidy

2011-06-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

We're still in the process of downloading and organizing our trip pictures, but I hope to post a few over the next week or so -- trying to prolong the memory as long as I can.

This weekend I'll be at the Historical Novel Society Conference in San Diego (more travel than I'm used to. Things just worked out this way. So I'll have lots to report on that, too.)

Now, back to book blogging:

Although I know I was introduced to Victoria Holt/Jean Plaidy many years ago, I don’t recall what books I read– there are so many! In preparation for my trip, I downloaded a few e-books for myself and my kids onto my new Nook, one of which was Mary, Queen of France, by Jean Plaidy.

This is the story of Mary Tudor, the youngest sister of Henry VIII, who was briefly wed to the aged King Louis of France. She was beautiful, vivacious, and used to having her own way. But her heart’s desire was to marry her brother’s closest friend, a man whose blood was not royal, Charles Branson. An impossibility? Don’t underestimate Mary.

She and Charles were both pawns of the king. Charles married twice early on, each time increasing his wealth and stature. Knowing the danger of getting involved with the princess, he was fearful of Henry’s wrath. Although Charles loved Mary, he didn’t have her confidence or fire. Initially, Mary felt certain she could circumvent her duty. Indeed, she managed to escape her first unwanted betrothal, due to political machinations going on around her. But she could not escape marriage to the king of France. She could only do what she could, short of actual murder, to hasten his demise.

The Tudors are an unlovable bunch, as are many of the scheming and ambitious nobles in their sphere. Mary, Queen of France is told from multiple perspectives. The narrative is somewhat jumpy, both because of the shifting points of view and its uneven chronology, but it does do a good job of presenting a complete picture of what Mary had to contend with before she could find happiness with Charles. I enjoyed being introduced to each of the characters and learning their place in history. However, I never really found myself pulling for Mary- a champion sulker. Selfish and self-centered, she was so certain that everyone loved her, even Charles – though he was willing enough to marry elsewhere to protect and advance his own interests – that nothing mattered to her but reaching her goal. No one else and nothing else were ever as important as her personal happiness. It made her a fairly one dimensional character, emotionally immature and not as interesting as if she had considered other peoples’ feelings or the consequences of her actions.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting take on a piece of the Tudor story. A quick, fun read, but for me, an emotionally superficial one.

BACK FROM EUROPE!

2011-06-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've gone missing for the past couple weeks because my family and I went on our long-anticipated European vacation. Actually, we only went to two cities in Europe: Paris and Venice. We spent 8 days in Paris, then flew to Venice for 3 days, then back to the Paris airport and home.

It was one of the best vacations we've ever had.

We had perfect weather in Paris (an unusual occurrence for our family vacations) and packed in an incredible amount of sightseeing. What an awesome city. It was surprisingly manageable (thanks to the extremely efficient metro) for all its bustle and crowd. We had tons to see but managed to get to most of our "must see" list.

And Venice is so completely different from anything else with its mazes of canals and tiny streets. The beautiful old buildings had us gaping and sighing. Unfortunately, the weather turned on us in Venice, so we got wet whenever we went out, but we still had a great time.

I did get some reading done on the plane rides, but not as much reading as I usually do on vacations. We never stopped moving! Reviews to come include my next Back to the Classics challenge- I finally read Uncle Tom's Cabin. And maybe I'll let you know how I'm adapting to my Nook, purchased for the trip.

BOOK BLOGGER HOP 5/27-5/30: Going to the movies!

2011-05-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

Hurray! Friday again! Time for the Book Blogger Hop. A chance to connect with other book bloggers and share the love of reading and blogging. Hosted by Crazy for Books, it's also a great way to find new books to read -- or in today's case, new movies to add to your Netflix queue.

The question today is:
"What book-to-movie adaptation have you most liked? Which have you disliked?"

The movie that immediately springs to my mind is Gone With the Wind. I saw the movie when I was in my young teens, before reading the book. What pageantry! What romance! I immediately got hold of the book. The book is richer and more complex than the movie. Even more of an epic. And of course, the movie had to leave some things out. But considering how big the book is, I think the movie does do a good job of capturing it.

I don't watch movies very often (as may be obvious by the age of my "like"--but, just for the record, GWTW was already a classic by the time I saw it-- I'm not that old) so I don't really have a dislike. The closest I can think of is the BBC's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. It's multiple episodes. I started to watch the first one with my daughter after reading the book. It just seemed flat and slow. We couldn't get into it so we gave up.

There are two adaptations I'm looking forward to though-- The Help and Hunger Games.

WAIT!! I remembered another adaptation that I loved that is actually from this millenium. Winter's Bone. The movie is incredible. It didn't spring to mind at first because I forgot it was an adaptation. (I haven't read the book.) I remembered because the Hunger Games actress, Jennifer Lawrence, was the star of Winter's Bone.

Historical Fiction Fans Check out Passages to the Past for a Guest Post and Giveaway!

2011-05-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

Doesn't C.W. Gortner's new book on Catherine de Medici look great? Read the fascinating guest post and enter for a chance to win at:

Passages to the Past: Guest Post by C.W. Gortner + GIVEAWAY: The Confes...: "As a stop on the virtual book tour for C.W. Gortner 's paperback release of The Confessions of Catherine de Medici , I have for you a guest..."

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

2011-05-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Knowing my love for epistolary novels, a couple of people have suggested 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. It’s not a novel, but a collection of letters that tells a story so delightfully it reads like one. Between October 1949 and January 1969, Helene Hanff, a writer in New York carried on a correspondence with the employees at a used book shop in London at 84, Charing Cross. Her primary contact was Frank Doel, but over time her letters inspired responses from other workers in the shop, Frank’s wife, and even a neighbor. Helene and Frank bonded over their appreciation of books, but a shared sense of humor moved the relationship beyond business to personal. The letters are a joy to read. Helene’s are bold. It takes Frank a little longer to come out of his shell. Although they never meet, you can get a sense of how much they value one another.

The book shows Helene’s personality best because she is the most open, sharing little tidbits of her personal and professional life as she requests new books and praises or complains about the ones she has received. But we are also treated to sidelong views of the booksellers, some of whom move away or pass away during the course of twenty years. It’s amazing how well they portray themselves in so few words. Lives are encapsulated in snapshots.

What I like best about the book is how uplifting it is. These are normal people going about their normal lives and they are open-hearted, trusting, generous, compassionate, grateful, kind, and friendly. What starts out as a commercial transaction – a woman writing an open-ended letter to a used bookseller – blossoms into a twenty-year friendship. It’s pleasant to catch a glimpse of a world in which people are inherently good. I need a little of that every once in awhile.

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: Dreams of Significant Girls by Cristina Garcia

2011-05-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is my first Waiting on -Wednesday post. "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Sometimes I get book recommendations in unexpected ways. I never used to catch the NPR book reviews, but now, every once in awhile, I'm in the car when they're on. Several books have grabbed my attention. I can't read them all, but there are a few that stick in my brain and even though they aren't my usual fare I feel compelled to read them.

The first book that NPR introduced me to (one I never would have picked up otherwise) was Cristina Garcia's The Lady Matador's Hotel. I loved the writing. And now, the author has a new release coming out in July. It's YA, and it sounds fantastic.

Here's the publisher's blurb for Dreams of Significant Girls by Cristina Garcia:

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Brought together each summer at a boarding school in Switzerland, three girls learn a lot more than just French and European culture. Shirin, an Iranian princess; Ingrid, a German-Canadian eccentric; and Vivien, a Cuban-Jewish New Yorker culinary phenom, are thrown into eachother's lives when they become roommates. This is a story of 3 paths slowly beginning to cross and merge as they spend the year apart, but the summers together. Through navigating the social-cultural shoals of the school, developing their adolescence, and learning the confusing and conflicting legacies of their families' past, Shirin, Ingrid, and Vivien form an unbreakable bond.

Like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, this story takes readers on a journey into the lives of very different girls and the bonds that keep them friends.

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare by Arliss Ryan

2011-05-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

I loved this book. The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare by Arliss Ryan is an entirely different life-of-Shakespeare seen from the eyes of the woman who should know him best—his abandoned wife.

I bought this book months ago because I liked the premise. Shakespeare’s little known wife? Intriguing. But after I bought it, it languished on my shelf. It became one of those books I figured I’d get to but wasn’t on fire to read. Then, once I started, I couldn’t put it down.

Very little is known about the actual Anne Shakespeare, but that hasn’t stopped scholars from concluding she was a mere bump in the road for the bard. He was only eighteen when he wed; she was several years older and pregnant. They had three children together. Nevertheless, he abandoned her for fame and fortune in London. Clearly, the marriage was a mistake.

In Arliss Ryan’s The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare, Anne refuses to play the role of cast-off wife. Told in a first person voice, the reader gets a chance to know Anne before she meets and falls in love with Will Shakespeare. Her eyes are wide open. She sees his faults as clearly as his strengths. Ryan paints a surprisingly realistic picture of a romance that is not particularly romantic. There is much to admire in Will, but it’s not his capacity to be a husband and father.

Will does escape to London, hoping to become an actor. For a time, Anne is the cast-off wife. But she continues to live a life of her own. She refuses to be defined as a just a wife, and an unloved one at that. She is beautiful, intelligent and strong willed. When the circumstances are right, she also leaves Stratford for London.

Despite a difficult start, Anne is even more in her element in London than Will. Their marriage may not quite be a marriage, but it is a partnership, a secret collaboration. Together, they become the Shakespeare that has endured.

The storyline is richly detailed and emotionally complex. Anne has to compromise quite a bit to put up with Will, but she never surrenders. She is able to build her own life around that of her husband. They complement each other, contributing to a greater success.

Anne’s drive-by analysis of each of the plays in the Shakespeare canon alone is worth the price of admission. Some she claims are her best work. Others, collaborations, they struggle over, and we get to watch the plays come together. Finally, there are those she simply dismisses as bad plays.

This is a delightful book. Although I recognize it as a complete fiction, while immersed in the book I was in another world. Nothing jarred. I was willing to believe. And I fear I’ll never quite look at Shakespeare in the same way.

If you are a historical fiction fan, have a look at the historical fiction challenge hosted by Historical Tapestry for some great book recommendations or to sign up!

Friday the 13th Book Blogger Hop!

2011-05-13T14:29:00.000-07:00

Hurray for Friday! It's time for the hop. Head on over to Crazy for Books to join in the fun, meet other book bloggers, make new friends, and share the love of books.

This week's question is:

"Are you going to Book Expo America (BEA) and/or the Book Blogger Convention (BBC) this year?"

No, not this year. One of these years, I'll do it, but there are just too many commitments to squeeze another one in. In June, I'm going to the Historical Novel Society 2011 conference in San Diego. (I'll be a panelist!) The registration deadline is May 22, and I think there are still spots available. If there are any historical fiction fans out there, this conference is awesome.

Still, I've heard so many great things about BEA and BBC. I'll have to read the reports and dream of going someday.

To all those who are going -- HAVE FUN!

ESCAPE TO THE PAST WITH: In the Shadow of the Lamp by Susanne Dunlap

2011-05-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

One of my heroes when I was young was Florence Nightingale (along with Clara Barton.) I was fascinated with biographies of these women who devoted their lives to medicine, to nursing, when the profession was emerging into its modern form. When I heard about Susanne Dunlap’s new book, In the Shadow of the Lamp, I knew I had to read it.

Set in 1854, the story follows Molly, a seventeen-year-old housekeeper who loses her position through the trickery of one of the other maids. Desperate for work, she is excited to hear that Florence Nightingale is looking to hire nurses to take to the Crimea to care for British soldiers. Molly's gift of compassion makes her a born nurse. But Molly isn’t hired. She’s too young, too pretty, and has no hospital nursing experience. Nevertheless, she manages to stowaway on the boat carrying the other nurses. After she is discovered, Miss Nightingale agrees to give her a chance.

Although fraternization with the soldiers is strictly forbidden, Molly nevertheless succumbs to the temptation. In fact, she is torn between two men. One is the boy who has loved her and aided her since she was a disgraced housemaid. He has joined the army and followed her to the Crimea. With Will, she feels safety and comfort. The other is a surgeon who teaches and challenges her. Dr. Maclean offers excitement and romance. But Molly has to tread carefully. She can’t risk being sent home—Miss Nightingale’s rule are very strict. And it is wartime. The men she loves are in constant danger.

The book does a nice job illustrating the horrible conditions of the hospitals and demonstrates Nightingale’s strengths as a wartime nursing administrator. Molly is a delightful protagonist, growing in confidence and competence as the story progresses. She has a knack for making herself useful at the right time and place. She idolizes Miss Nightingale, but is independent minded enough to break the rules when they need breaking.

In the Shadow of the Lamp is an enjoyable young adult historical, well paced, with interesting period detail. Although there was not much historical context regarding the war, it was a nice introduction to a time period I don’t generally think too much about. And I was very pleased to be reintroduced to a heroine from my youth.

I read this for the YA historical fiction challenge. Go to YA Bliss to see what the challenge is all about.

Derby Time!

2011-05-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

No time to hop this week :( And I've been remiss on posting new reviews. Things have been crazy.

I spent last weekend and beginning of the week in Philly at a medical convention --the American Transplant Congress. A fantastic meeting. My head is still spinning. And it was fun to see Philly again, even though I didn't stray from the few blocks surrounding the convention center.

I'm home now, swamped at work, but we're gearing up for The Kentucky Derby! There's nothing like Louisville at Derby time.

I did get some reading done while traveling. My next review will be Susanne Dunlap's In the Shadow of the Lamp. Stay tuned!

YA BOOK REVIEW: Deadly by Julie Chibbaro

2011-04-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Another book for the YA historical fiction challenge-2011. Head over to YA Bliss to see what the challenge is all about.

At some point during the course of your education, you surely heard about "Typhoid Mary." But chances are you didn’t hear very much. I remember learning that back at the turn of the century (that would be the twentieth century) there was a woman who infected a whole lot of people with typhoid fever because she was a healthy carrier of the disease. There was something vaguely sinister about the story, about Mary herself, but it wasn’t clear what. Was Mary doing it on purpose or was it just the ignorance of the times?

Did you ever want to learn more about Mary? Julie Chibbaro did. She researched the story of Mary Mallon, the Irish immigrant cook who, unfortunately, became Typhoid Mary. Chibbaro then gives us a glimpse of Mary through the eyes of an intelligent, sympathetic, young protagonist, Prudence Galewski.

Written as Prudence’s diary, Deadly, shows us a lonely sixteen-year-old girl, brimful of curiosity about science and disease. Prudence feels like an outsider at the finishing school where the other girls are interested only in clothes and gossip. They hope for jobs as salesgirls or typists. Prudence wants to do something about death and disease. Her older brother died from an infected wound and her father went off to war and never returned. So Prudence thinks a lot about death.

Providentially, the handwriting and typing skills she has acquired land her a job working for a chief in the city Department of Health and Sanitation—Mr. Soper. He appreciates her intelligence and diligence and tells her he doesn’t simply want a secretary. He wants an assistant. When he gets called out to investigate an outbreak of typhoid, Prudence goes along as an active team member. The clues they ferret out lead them to Mary Mallon.

Deadly is an interesting peek into the life of a working class girl in early 19^th century New York. It does a nice job portraying the scientific and medical knowledge as well as the limitations of the knowledge of that time period. The diary format makes for a quick read and allows the reader intimate insight into Prudence’s feelings, which become increasingly complicated over the course of the novel. The diary format can distance the reader somewhat from the action, but the action in this book lends itself to this kind of analytical narration. The sympathetic characters and a desire to find out how the issues would be resolved kept me turning the pages avidly.

I came away from the novel with a much greater understanding of Mary Mallon, just as Prudence did.

MONDAY MEMORIES: The Best-Loved Doll by Rebecca Caudill

2011-04-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

Today I'm taking part in a meme started by Annette at Annette's Book Spot called Monday Memories.

Here's the deal, it's a meme to "feature favorite books we've loved from the past. You can link to an old review, or write something new about a beloved book from your past. Really, what's important is not the book, but why it is memorable to you."

Do you have a book that brings back swarms of warm fuzzies? Head on over to Annette's and tell us about it.

This is one of mine: The Best-Loved Doll by Rebecca Caudill. If you've ever read it, you're probably feeling warm and fuzzy right about now, as memories flood back to you.

When I was young, that just-entering school age, I was not a girly-girl, but I did love my dolls. I knew they weren't real, but there was that part of me that believed they almost had feelings. I had a favorite, Ruthie, but I didn't want the other dolls to know because I didn't want to hurt their feelings.

So when I read this book about Betsy and her four special dolls: Melissa -- who is antique, Belinda -- with her hand-sewn, fine clothes, Mary Jane -- a mechanical doll who can sew at a sewing machine, and Jennifer -- a plain, rather worn-out, best-loved doll, I was spell-bound. Betsy is invited to a birthday party and asked to bring a doll along. There will be prizes for oldest, best-dressed, and for the doll who can do the most things. But Betsy decides to bring Jennifer.

The book is utterly sweet. Any child who whole-heartedly loves a toy will empathize completely with Betsy and will have her heart warmed by the conclusion.

And I love this story even more because I rediscovered it when my own daughter was at that doll-loving age. It's a perfect read-aloud story. And it's a beautiful favorite for mothers and daughters to share.