The Philospher's Flight - Guys and Gals, you have to read this!

The Philosopher’s Flight

By: Tom Miller

Genre: Fantasy, Revisionist History

Rating: 5 stars

Reader Advisory: For my more gentle readers, this does have many instances of four letter language and sexual encounters

Summary:

Eighteen-year-old Robert Weekes is a practitioner of empirical philosophy—an arcane, female-dominated branch of science used to summon the wind, shape clouds of smoke, heal the injured, and even fly. Though he dreams of fighting in the Great War as the first male in the elite US Sigilry Corps Rescue and Evacuation Service—a team of flying medics—Robert is resigned to mixing batches of philosophical chemicals and keeping the books for the family business in rural Montana, where his mother, a former soldier and vigilante, aids the locals.

When a deadly accident puts his philosophical abilities to the test, Robert rises to the occasion and wins a scholarship to study at Radcliffe College, an all-women’s school. At Radcliffe, Robert hones his skills and strives to win the respect of his classmates, a host of formidable, unruly women. 

Robert falls hard for Danielle Hardin, a disillusioned young war hero turned political radical. However, Danielle’s activism and Robert’s recklessness attract the attention of the same fanatical anti-philosophical group that Robert’s mother fought years before. With their lives in mounting danger, Robert and Danielle band together with a team of unlikely heroes to fight for Robert’s place among the next generation of empirical philosophers—and for philosophy’s very survival against the men who would destroy it.

My Thoughts:

I read this book too early. I can’t believe that the sequel isn’t coming out until next year! Faster please Mr. Miller!

I rarely win things in my life. This is one of the things that I won from a Goodreads Drawing and I’m supremely glad that I did. The cover art is wonderful and fits in with the period of the piece and I loved the revisionist/alternative history this story presents. This of course is a free and honest review – thank you goodreads for giving me the chance to read this.

Ok, now that disclaimers are over:

This was fascinating. I feel sorry for my coworkers because I started it during a quiet moment at work (should I have been reading…probably not but it was the end of the day and I was tired of dealing with the ins and outs of account maintenance) and after the prologue I was already telling me reading buddies “YOU HAVE TO READ THIS!”

What a wonderful concept, to have a sort of magic, it of course is science/alchemy, that allows you to fly, to transport, make things grow or to utterly destroy. Then take that one step further from our views of the world by making it a power that typically only women can wield. Sure, there are men who can do it with a bit of success, but the true power lies with the ladies. This sets up a lot of politics that is an interesting contrast to the world at the time (this takes place at the beginning of the 20^th century) and can be a study in contrasts with certain cultures and industries that are around even until today. And because it’s looked at through a lens that is so incredibly alien to what we see today it is made that much more striking.

Robert does not have an easy go of it at Radcliffe. He faces harassment, misandry and all sorts of terrible actions done to him simply because he is a man who has the nerve to enter into a woman’s world. The Radcliffe women are an eclectic bunch. Robert though lucks out into finding some other fliers who instantly take him under their proverbial wing, and while it doesn’t stop the attacks on his person and his progress, he does have friends who stand up for him. It was a good School type of book, these are young students who are coming into their powers as sigilists and who are still growing up themselves. 

With all that going on there is also the Trencher movement that has become more active and more deadly. Trenchers are the Anti-Philosophers. A group that wants women back where they belong and to know they have full control again. (I imagine it’s hard to put a woman down in a world where she could, with almost no effort at all dissolve your bones where you stand so that you die in a puddle of your own organs) This group has been pressing for more and more Anti-Philosopher Legislation at DC, has been doing random lynching’s of women and their families. Robert’s mother has been known to pick of more than one Trencher in her time and Robert needs to determine how he is going to face the political battles of his parents generation that are now a part of his own.

And there is a lovely and, in my opinion, real story of a relationship that blooms between him and Danielle Hardin. A heroine transporter who had saved the lives of countless men at war overseas. She is also African American and not at all what one would imagine a leading lady to look like nor act like. I loved them. Their story wasn’t first and foremost in the plot. It wasn’t the end goal, it simply happened, and the story was richer for it.

This just recently came out. I recommend it highly. It presents an interesting look at class warfare, gender warfare and the next book I am fairly certain will be looking into the actions taken in war and their consequences.

Read it, tell me what you thought. Let’s chat about it because I thought there is much that can be discussed.

The Bear and the Nightingale

The Bear and the Nightingale
By: Katherine Arden
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5 stars

Summary:
At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind--she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.
And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.
As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed--this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales. 
x

My Thoughts:
I have been lucking out with this round of Reader's Choice books at my library. I have loved all of the ones I have read thus far and each has been vastly different. So good on you Salt Lake County Librarians! Keep the good recommendations coming.

Oh what a wondrous fairy tale. Perfect to bring out on a cold winter night and take yourself to far away places. I often imagine myself reading books to my future children at night, and this is definitely going to be one of those. 

My experience with Russian literature is not extensive, the 3 Russian pieces that all American’s seem to read – War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and Crime and Punishment are the extent of my actual Russian exposure. But that was enough to make me love it. The cadence of the stories, the blend of the Christian, the Pagan and the Human, and he rich sentence structure (yes it was translated and I know that language itself is lost in the translation but there is just this feel in Russian writings that I don’t really find anywhere else)

I found this here. Yes the author is from the US, but she did spend time in Russia and studying Russian literature and at least to me it is reflected beautifully here. I loved the power and depth of the characters. I love how other worldly it felt. I want to learn more about Vasilisa  and her powers. And I’m very excited that we will get to do so.

She is so incredibly strong, yet also fragile. Fiercely loyal to her family, but also to the truth she knows to exist. She trusts herself and will not be swayed by the insistence of others, yet she balances her fierce spirit with a respect for the beliefs and lives of others. She is a character I wouldn’t want to sip coffee with, she is that fairy tale heroine who you look upto but could never touch. She is a wood-sprite, with a spirit part of me wishes to have and a freedom that I think everyone secretly or not desires. There is dignity and power to her, she isn’t immortal, the danger she faces is real Highlight for spoiler: and I never assumed that she would end up surviving the whole book. (Yes, I know there are sequels, but when Death is one of your characters really anything is possible)

And can we look at the Priest for a minute. He is such a complex mess of human follies. He has many talents, his painting and is voice are a siren’s call – there is magic in him that simply isn’t viewed as such. He is set on a path of grandeur while young and thrown from it without any say in the matter. He is prideful rather than pious, he is so far from the God he professes to serve that it is no wonder how he ended up.

I need friends to read this! I want to talk about it. To go over the characters, the story, the themes. To speak of bravery, loyalty - to self and to family, and of owning your destiny. Would I recommend this book? Most definitely. It is for those who are finally old enough to read fairy tales again, those who like the feel of Russia but don’t necessarily want to spend the eternity it takes to read War & Peace and for those who want a story with a strong female character that isn’t bogged down by romance.

Once you have read it, let me know – we can go out for a hot chocolate and discuss. I can’t wait to chat with you.

Gregor the Overlander Series

Gregor the Overlander Series
By: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Rating: 4 stars

Summary:

When Gregor follows his little sister through a grate in the laundry room of their New York apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland beneath the city. There, humans live uneasily beside giant spiders, bats, cockroaches, and rats--but the fragile peace is about to fall apart.

Gregor wants no part in this conflict, but again and again, he and his family are drawn into the Underland. Gregor must find his place in the frightening prophecies he encounters, the strength to protect his family, and the courage to defend against an army of giant rats.

My Thoughts:

I have been listening to this series for the past month or so while doing some overtime at work (the reader is great one of my favorites) and I gotta admit, this isn't the kind of book I should have been listening to. I would be IM'ing my co-workers with "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" or "Baddie is gone!" or "If this person doesn't die soon I am going to lose it." I have always been an emotional reader so bringing books into the workplace has always been a risk, but this was a very fun one to take.

These books were recommended to me by a friend years ago. She worked with 6th graders and helping them read and this series is right in that ball park. Suzanne Collins is much more widely known for her Hunger Games novels, but in all honesty I loved these ones so much more. They help young children explore themes of prejudice - like with Gregor's acceptance of Twitchtip in book 2, of how far should one go to win a war (book 3 on basically), the need for self control - Gregor and his Rager abilities and, of course, the importance of family. They do read more juvenile with some of the lessons being hit a little bit over the head (book 4 veers straight into knock-you-over-the-head Holocaust allegory) but they are good lessons to explore. I feel like Collins conveyed these themes much better with this series than she did with Hunger Games. I liked Gregor much more than Katniss and there was no stupid love triangles...because the kids are 12.

I have fallen in love with the strength of the various characters - everyone needs a Mrs. Cormacy in their lives, Boots is the little sister/niece/cousin who we all grew up with, and who wouldn't want a huge bat like Aires who could fly you around.  I found this to be a fun series, it is one that I will have on my shelves when I have children/nieces&nephews/god-children because it is a fun adventure with lots of growth mixed in.

Thank you Suzanne for this marvelous adventure. 

A Name Unknown 

by Roseanna M. White 

Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction

Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis:

Rosemary Gresham has found her family’s ticket to a better life – at least for now – when she is hired by the mysterious Mr. V to determine where the true loyalties of Peter Holstein truly lie. Set on the eve of WWII, A Name Unknown follows Rosemary’s attempts to prove Peter’s guilt. With such a German name, there really is only one country that has his heart, surely. Peter meanwhile is frantically trying to put his library in order trying to find proof of his British Citizenship while keeping some other secrets of his own.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this book. I read Christian Fiction to escape my life, be happy and find good endings. A Name Unknown fit the bill. It took me longer than I would have liked to be hooked, but I blame my busy lifestyle rather than the actual writing of the book. [I’m working 50 hour work weeks and getting my MBA so finding time to do anything besides sleep and homework really does take some doing. Thankfully I had a sick day which let me dive into this uninterrupted, to be completely honest...I finished this in class where I am, even now, as I write up this review.]

When I got into it I didn’t want to put it down. White did a wonderful job of weaving the story together, of bringing in characters that I loved. More than anything it has made me want to visit Cornwall.

It also felt timely. In a year with mounting xenophobia a book with themes of hating and fearing your neighbors simply due to their last name has been come all too strong of a temptation. We never should assume to know another person’s heart, projecting our biases and fears on to those who are around us. Peter and his struggle with his neighbors demonstrated how wrong we really can be in our judgement.

Overall, it was a nice story and I’m excited to read the next installment. 

Shame Nation

Shame Nation
Genre: Non-Fiction
Rating: 4 Stars
Summary

My Thoughts:

This is a book everyone needs to read. The title perfectly fits the world we are currently living in. Our society has changed from guilt to shame - much like the Salem Witch Hunts, we see perceived wrongdoing and vehemently attack - and the internet is the perfect place for that to happen. Sue and Melissa do a brilliant job of bringing empathy back into the game. They show the humans behind the meme's and the real consequences for what happens when someone is "cyberlynched."

They explore the many different ways that the internet has been abused - every thing from revenge porn, to the destruction of lives because of one wrong tweet. They also give advice for ways to keep yourself as safe as possible, while also demonstrating that really there is only so much you can do to protect yourself from the wrath of the web.

Reading this has made me think deeply about what I post, like and share. No longer do I want to take pictures of people who are living their lives but for some reason something that they are doing either makes me laugh or offends me - I don't know their life and I shouldn't be spreading it. When I post or comment is it something that could be hurting the person in the picture. Could I be tacitly contributing to the cyber-bullying that we are trying so hard to eradicate?

The end of the book goes over several lessons learned that anyone can start applying in order to protect themselves and to help others. I honestly don't believe that humanity is terrible as a whole, but we do have to consciously work to remember that we are good and this is a book that can make that easier to do.

I don't often say go out and read this book, but this is one I find to be relevant to the world we live in and most likely will demand my children read when they are old enough to be posting regularly. It's amazing, go read it.

**This galley was given to me in exchange for an honest review.**

Buried Secrets

Buried Secrets
By: Rachel Good
Genre: Christian Fiction
Rating: 4 stars

Summary:
Three years after the accident that almost claimed her life, Emma Esh has recovered physically but has no memory of the year before the accident. When she moves to a new community to help her sister Lydia and brother-in-law, Caleb, prepare for the birth of twins, she falls for their neighbor Samuel.

My Thoughts:

I have always been a fan of Amish fiction though sometimes they can be written too preach or too sweet. Not so with Buried Secrets. Good explored the path of recovery from past trauma. Emma's battle with anxiety and her fears was commendable and well done.

I didn't realize that this was a sequel when I picked it up, which I think actually added to my experience. Like Emma I had no inkling of what happened during her lost year and was waiting along with her for either for something to trigger her memory, or someone in her family explaining what was going on. The suspense was not overly done where I wanted to just get to the end to figure it out already, but when it did I was prepared for it and didn't feel like it was being added just for shock value.

I enjoyed reading this and would highly recommend it. 

**I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Love and Other Consolation Prizes

Love and Other Consolation Prizes
By: Jamie Ford
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 5 Stars

Summary: 
A powerful novel about an orphan boy who is raffled off at Seattle’s 1909 World Fair, and the friends who teach him what it really means to have a family, from the author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

Inspired by a true story, this is the unforgettable story of a young boy named Ernest, set during the 1909 Seattle world’s fair called the Alaska Yukon Pacific Expo. It is a time when the magical wonders of technology on display at the expo future seems limitless. But for Ernest, a half-Chinese orphan who found his way to America through a last desperate act of his beloved mother, every door is closed. A charity student at a boarding school, he has never really had a place to call home. Then one day, his wealthy sponsor announces that if a home is what he wants, then that is what he will have: Ernest will be offered as a prize in the daily raffle at the fair, advertised as “Healthy boy to a good home for the winning ticket holder.” The woman who “wins” him is the madam of a notorious brothel who was famous for educating her girls. He becomes a houseboy in her brothel and is befriended by the daughter of the madam, as well as a Japanese girl who works in the kitchen. The friendship and love between these three form the first real family Ernest has ever known.

My Thoughts:

I love Ford's books. Seeing that he has this coming out soon just makes my heart happy and makes me want to go back and read his others again (See my review for Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet). I think he is the perfect writer for book clubs because his writing is well thought out, engaging and definitely prompts discussion. 

Ford is able to weave in between times perfectly. I can have difficulty with authors trying to go back and forth in time - it can seem disjointed, or the future thinking colors the past and it's just not great - also it is difficult to avoid plot twists because you think you have it figured out but Ford does it masterfully in this novel. Going back and exploring the lives of these poor children who are given up because they are either unwanted, or the parents can't take care of them any longer just breaks my heart. But seeing their resilience was beautiful.

A big point to touch on was the suffragettes and their insistance on the morality of Seattle. I am not in any way shape or form an advocate for prostitution, but I am not in favor of marching around telling anyone forced into that kind of life that they are all going straight to hell. I think Ford did a good job of making me pause and think of how there is a need to see the people behind the actions that offend us and that we need to see how we can help others rise rather than look at their failures with the mindset of "I told you this would happen."

Really there is too much going on in this story for me to discuss it all here. Go and get it for book club, your group will not be disappointed. 

**Copy given to me in exchange for an honest review**

Finishing up

So tired. I will do a better wrap up later-
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a reader engaged for next year?
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next season?
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
5. How many books did you read?
6. What were the names of the books you read?
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
8. Which did you enjoy least?
9. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

 I don't know how I am going to last :P But as Dori says - Just keep reading and as Marlin says:

Hour 19

5 more hours....I'm not sure I am going to make it. But gosh dang it I will try.

Since we last met I have listened to one little fluffy piece...and read another.

They are both on the same vein - something not to taxing to read in the later hours.

I have realized that I can get E-audiobooks through my library. Which makes me very happy and so I can stay awake and crochet/knit while listening to more books.

I really am hoping that this is going to make the next stretch work out.

Another thing I have been doing is alternating between chapters of different non-fiction books - 5 all told.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street.

The Hero with A Thousand Faces

It Starts with Food

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment

and

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

It may be a bit scattered, but I have noticed in past years that this is the time when I am getting too tired to focus on one thing for too long. Check back in an hour!

Hour 11 - Almost Halfway There

I fell asleep - just for a bit. I really need to get better at the night time sleeping thing.

But I just finished Twilight Child. "Gentle" is the best word that I can use to describe this book.

It's a nice little story about Eleni - a child born at twilight and therefore gifted to see the other folk - the fey. Her life takes her from Finland to Scotland when her father decides to take her after her mother's death. She finds herself in Tobermori, a small town in the Scottish highlands.

My Thoughts:

Its a short nice read about Eleni and her life and experience with the other from the tonttu of the Finnish sauna to the brounies of her Scottish home.

I read it once years ago and remembered it as a nice read and wanted to go back to it. I was glad that I did because it was a nice story. But I believe that's the best I can say of it. It was nice.

Well now I am in for the harder bit of staying up for the next 12 hours.

Wish me luck and I hope you all are enjoying your marathon!

Hour 7

Lucky Number 7.

I have just finished the second book of the day "A School for Unusual Girls" by Kathleen Baldwin.

Set between Napoleon's exile to Elba and his attempt to reclaim the continent Georgiana Fitzwilliam finds herself trying to develop a truly invisible ink to help the British in maintaining peace.

A cast set with 4 girls and their teacher Ms. Stranje this school is far more than meets the eye. Each girl having their own special talents they train to be able to enter the world of espionage.

My Thoughts:
This is definitely for a younger crowd than my last read. Shinn is more for college and beyond whereas this felt more high school. Not that I didn't enjoy it but it definitely felt younger. Several of the characters and some of the dialogue felt flat - and the action a little rushed. I found myself thinking - ah yes, here is the "oh my he touched me and I can still feel it even though we just met and I'm sure he hates me" cliche.

I do recognize that it's an extremely specific cliche but when you think about it - you know I'm right...it happens a lot.

It was fun - it did veer off of the history path which is always fun. Revised Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres and I think I will find myself seeking out the sequel and reading it with pleasure.

Hour 3 update

I have finished my first book from today's Read-a-thon. It is one that I was coming back to reread.  Royal Airs by Sharon Shinn.

I love this series. I love Sharon Shinn, she is one of my favorite writers and I can't wait for the final installment of this series to come out...Any word on that Sharon??

Hers is a world based on the classic 5 elements and their human counterparts (I have already shared my feelings about Troubled Waters and deeper feelings on Royal Airs read deeper if you so desire) and it is one I love going back to. The next Chapters Jeweled Fire and Unquiet Land are just as jam-packed of adventure, with well rounded characters and I love them dearly.

They are actually one of the few series I own that is in hard back. Because I know that I will read them over and over.

I have a habit of signing and dating my books every time I finish them. (just the ones I own, not the ones borrowed from either library or friends.) I find that it's great to go back and to see when the last time I read it was. And think how much I have changed since my last reading

Anyway. I have already taken a shower break and I really don't know how but I'm already a little drowsy....ok I do know how - not nearly enough sleep last night...oops.

Check in with everyone later.

Hour 0 Prep/Getting to Know Me.

Good Morning Happy People.

The sun is not out yet, the birds are singing and it is earlier than I would ever consider waking up under normal circumstances 



...but these are not normal circumstances and I am so happy to be doing this.  

So to answer a couple of get to know me questions:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Salt Lake City, Utah
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Toss up between "The Accidental Empress" by Allison Pataki or "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell"

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
I didn't go all out on the snack front this year, just popcorn, swedish fish, little spearmints to get me going. So I'm pretty chill.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I'm living with a couple of roommates who aren't huge readers but who are wonderfully supportive of the read-a-thon plans. I really shouldn't be doing this this week as I'm going to Europe with a couple of friends on Tuesday...so I should be prepping for that...
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
This is not my first rodeo. I have done at least 4 other read-a-thons in the past. This time I will be a little more lax in the timing and probably will end up taking a nap somewhere between the 8-12 hour mark (not the whole time but for a bit) so that I can stay awake longer. I really do want to participate in as much as I can so I figured that for me this was the best way to go.


Anyway. Happy Reading everyone!

It's that time of year again!!!

It's time for the Dewey 24 hour Read-a-thon!!! I have done this several times in years past and I am so excited to get back to it. I have been prepping, stocking up on caffeine and popcorn and have a deep pile of books I'm hoping to get through.

I check in regularly and also be trying to get a handle on the whole instagram thing....I know I should be able to do that by now but hey, I'm late to the party social media-wise.

Anyway I hope you check in occasionally and I also hope that you read along - doesn't have to be for the full 24 hrs, but still feel free to join in and let me know what you are reading!

In the Shadow of Lakecrest

By: Elizabeth Blackwell
Genre: Fiction, Historical, Gothic
Rating: 3.5 stars
Summary:
The year is 1928. Kate Moore is looking for a way out of the poverty and violence of her childhood. When a chance encounter on a transatlantic ocean liner brings her face-to-face with the handsome heir to a Chicago fortune, she thinks she may have found her escape—as long as she can keep her past concealed.

After exchanging wedding vows, Kate quickly discovers that something isn’t quite right with her husband—or her new family. As Mrs. Matthew Lemont, she must contend with her husband’s disturbing past, his domineering mother, and his overly close sister. Isolated at Lakecrest, the sprawling, secluded Lemont estate, she searches desperately for clues to Matthew’s terrors, which she suspects stem from the mysterious disappearance of his aunt years before. As Kate stumbles deeper into a maze of family secrets, she begins to question everyone’s sanity—especially her own. But just how far will she go to break free of this family’s twisted past?

My Thoughts:

I will start out by saying that Gothic stories are not my favorite. I don't have much patience for the woman going mad story. I prefer to cut to the chase, figure out what is going on and actually having problems that you are capable of facing. Ghosts are not my things, thinking that you are being driven insane is also not my thing, being put in a position where you feel that all of your power is taken away from you - MOST DEFINITELY NOT. MY. THING.
 
I read it in just 2 days - so it was compelling. Irritating as anything, but compelling.

Kate makes a case for not marrying a man until you know who your mother-in-law is going to be. The first Mrs. Lemont is controlling, cold, manipulative and really I couldn't find anything redemptive about her. She is the spider and everyone in her family is caught in a web of her design and she comes across - at least to me - as flat out evil. Emphasis on the "flat" there wasn't enough of a development of her character to make her compelling. 


With all of the frustration from the MIL I will say that this was a book that made my lunch hours fly by. I was entertained by it and I needed to read it faster so that the book would actually get to the part that it had been hinting at so heavily.

If I find more of Elizabeth Blackwell's work I will definitely give it a go though this isn't a book that I would buy for my shelves. 


I was given a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Everything

Always

by Sarah Jio
Genre: General Fiction
Rating 3.5 stars

Summary:
While enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with her fiance, Ryan, at one of Seattle's chicest restaurants, Kailey Crane can't believe her good fortune: She has a great job as a writer for the Herald and is now engaged to a guy who is perfect in nearly every way. As they leave the restaurant, Kailey spies a thin, bearded homeless man on the sidewalk. She approaches him to offer up her bag of leftovers, and is stunned when their eyes meet, then stricken to her very core: The man is the love of her life, Cade McAllister. 

When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense everything connected and felt "right." But it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now the poor soul on the street is a faded version of her former beloved: His weathered and weary face is as handsome as Kailey remembers, but his mind has suffered in the intervening years. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes that she must decide exactly what and whom she wants. 

My Thoughts:

I have difficulty figuring out how I felt about this book. There aren't very many books that I actually like the whole flip-flopping between two time periods. Kate Morton is one of the few authors where I have to read what is going on with each generation/time period. About halfway through I just passed on all of the parts taking place in the 90's. I knew how that part would end and that the mystery wouldn't be resolved there but rather in the present time.

It was good subject matter. I live and work in an area that has a rather high homeless population and it really is easy to forget that these people didn't start out here, they had a past and perhaps - if they accept help - they can have a much better future. 

Kailey is a well rounded woman - at least she would be if Cade hadn't suddenly popped into her life. The feminist part of me is thinking "Girl, finish your work focus on the life you have and don't let some boyfriend from the past mess it up." The nurturing part of me thinks "good job, way to take care of your man - even if he hasn't been yours for a long time." The only thing that drove me nuts was the fact that she wasn't straight up and honest with Ryan.  I think that it was a childish move and that she could have avoided a lot of pain had she done the adult thing and practiced open communication with her partner.

Overall I thought it was decent. I'm not racing out to purchase my own hard copy, but if I see anything else by Jio I most likely will get it. 

I received a galley for free in exchange for a review. 

Victoria

By: Daisy Goodwin

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 5 Stars

Summary: In 1837, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria – sheltered, small in stature, and female – became Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Many thought it was preposterous: Alexandrina — Drina to her family — had always been tightly controlled by her mother and her household, and was surely too unprepossessing to hold the throne. Yet from the moment William IV died, the young Queen startled everyone: abandoning her hated first name in favor of Victoria; insisting, for the first time in her life, on sleeping in a room apart from her mother; resolute about meeting with her ministers alone.

One of those ministers, Lord Melbourne, became Victoria’s private secretary. Perhaps he might have become more than that, except everyone argued she was destined to marry her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. But Victoria had met Albert as a child and found him stiff and critical: surely the last man she would want for a husband….

My Thoughts:

"Your subjects are not dolls to be played with...To be a queen, you have to be more than a little girl with a crown."

I love Goodwin. She is one of my top 5 current authors and I always want to read whatever she has written. The American Heiress is one of my absolute favorites. So when I saw she wrote about the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign I was so excited.

She didn't disappoint.

I have read a lot about Victoria - her tempestuous relationship with her mother, her love story with Albert and of course the scandals in the beginning of her reign with the whispers of Lord Melbourne - and Goodwin wove all of the history together brilliantly. I often forget that the greats of history were teenagers at some point - I mean I'm currently 7 years older than Victoria was when she took her crown and while she was more prepared than I will ever be to run a country, Goodwin allowed for her to be an 18 year old and showed her missteps and corrections.

It was beautiful to read. Well written, well researched and simply a joy. I would recommend this for anyone who has any interest at all in Queen Victoria.

I was given a galley copy in exchange for an honest review

The Magdalen Girls

By: V.S. Alexander

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 3 Stars

Summary: Dublin, 1962. Within the gated grounds of the convent of The Sisters of the Holy Redemption lies one of the city’s Magdalen Laundries. Once places of refuge, the laundries have evolved into grim workhouses. Some inmates are “fallen” women—unwed mothers, prostitutes, or petty criminals. Most are ordinary girls whose only sin lies in being too pretty, too independent, or tempting the wrong man. Among them is sixteen-year-old Teagan Tiernan, sent by her family when her beauty provokes a lustful revelation from a young priest.

Teagan soon befriends Nora Craven, a new arrival who thought nothing could be worse than living in a squalid tenement flat. Stripped of their freedom and dignity, the girls are given new names and denied contact with the outside world. The Mother Superior, Sister Anne, who has secrets of her own, inflicts cruel, dehumanizing punishments—but always in the name of love. Finally, Nora and Teagan find an ally in the reclusive Lea, who helps them endure—and plot an escape. But as they will discover, the outside world has dangers too, especially for young women with soiled reputations.

My Thoughts:

Wow - well first off, I didn't know what I was getting into when I picked this up. It was definitely judging a book by it's cover - because I really love it. But the subject matter was hard for me to read. It was a part of history that I didn't know existed - at least in this fashion. I knew about women being locked in insane asylums when they didn't fall in line with the societal norms but I didn't know the religious side of it. 

Alexander did a good job at trying to not demonize the Catholic church while still showing the indignities that occurred. 

It was a book that left me angry and frustrated for the characters - for the fact that there was no way for their voice to be heard - for the lack of justice and mercy. It went against the grain of innocent until proven guilty and just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I think Teagan was the one who gave me the most grief. She was put in simply because a priest (who really had no business joining the clergy) was having "impure thoughts" about her. And just like that her parents signed her over to the custody of the nuns with no sign of ever taking her back. So many times she tried to tell the truth, explain what happened and no one would listen to her simply because she was fallen. 

Being a Christian myself the whole scenario left me feeling terrible. In no way did the actions reflect the teachings of Christ - but as I earlier stated, Alexander wrote this in such a way that while the local leaders we dealt with drove me crazy she didn't condemn the Church as a whole.

Overall, if you want to find out more about a little known bit of history go for it.

I was given a galley copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a Disappointment...

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

By: John Tiffany and Jack Thorne.
Genre: Drama (It's a script after all)
Rating: Goodness, like 2 stars.


Here it is, the big one, the one we've all been waiting for...Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!

And what a load of rubbish it was. Let's make one thing very clear - ROWLING DID NOT WRITE THIS. Her's might be the biggest name on the cover but she didn't write this book. I am very disappointed with the results Jo. And so is Minerva.


While perhaps the story might have come from her, the words most certainly did not. I was not at all reading the same characters in this script which I grew up reading and listening to almost daily at some points. (It helped me go to sleep as a child, it's almost impossible for me to read the books without Jim Dale narrating for me.)

The story was good and when I get to go and see the play I know that it is going to be phenomenal. The magic that those stage hands are going to have to do, the technical work that will have to be done. Goodness it is going to be amazing. 
But this was not Rowling's characterization, these were not her words. It got frustrating at times to read because all I could think of is THIS. IS. NOT. RIGHT.  
The part that was the worst was the fact that in the alternate universe they freely used the Dark Lord's name. Voldemort was said all over the place. That is in direct conflict to what Voldemort stood for - the fear, mystery and intimidation which surrounds him. We remember that "fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself." Even in the 7th book when the ministry had fallen and the dark powers were in charge he made it taboo. That part of his mentality was never going to change.
Nor was he capable of having a child. Nope, nope, nope. His lust was for power, his drive was all funneled toward his ambitions, his release from death and torture. To imagine that he had a child with Bellatrix? Esp. when we clearly saw a not at all pregnant version of her when escaping from Malfoy Mannor.


Read on if you dare, there are spoilers in the rants.

And then there is the relationship between Scorpius and Albus which while reading makes me wonder if Scorpi's obsession with Rose is merely a cover up. 

This is NOT the 8th installment of the series. This is just bad fan fiction - granted it did better by the Harry Potter series than 50 Shades did to Twilight. But goodness, not worth the hype, time or money. (But I am still excited for the play, just because the stage directions promise that this will be great.)