An Incomplete Revenge

This is the 5th installment in the Maisie Dobbs mystery series. Set in England, during the post-WW1 era, Maisie is a private investigator and psychologist that uses keen insight and the study of human behavior to solve cases. This novel focuses on an area of Kent during the hop picking season where strange events have occurred in a small village since the war. The blame is usually given to the gypsies or Londoners who come to pick the hops. But Maisie thinks there is much more to it.

I wish Maisie were a real person because I would love to be her friend! I find her a fascinating character (the feminist in me is always a sucker for the independent woman) but I don't think there is a lot of me that resembles her. I definitely wish I understood people the way she does. I probably resemble Priscilla much more (without the drinking problem)!

Ah well, I highly recommend this series if you haven't picked it up before. The psychology side makes them a little different from your standard mystery fare. I actually think I'm liking each book Winspear produces better than the last.

80 Online Resources for Book Lovers

Check out this list.

Any of the services you would recommend? Would like to try?

Jane Austen in Scarsdale

At first I was totally embarrassed to admit I was even reading this. I rarely pick something up at the library on a whim (usually I just trust my handy list). But, it looked cute and I saw it on a display of all things Jane Austen. Turns out, the book is a total rip-off of Persuasion. So, it was a little disappointing to know from the get-go exactly how it was going to turn out. Then again, last week my brain was in no mood for thinking, so it turned out rather nicely. It's funny, cute, fluffy, and brainless...and if you haven't read Persuasion, you might even be surprised.

The Novella Challenge

I'm moving into uncharted territory for me here. I'm joining my first book challenge! Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? is hosting her first challenge, so I think it is a good one to start with.

The Rules:
Read six novellas (defined as books between 100 and 250 pages for the purposes of the challenge) between April 2008 and September 2008.

Check out more about The Novella Challenge here.

My book choices:

1. The Scarlet Letter
2. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
3. The Old Man and the Sea
4. The Uncommon Reader
5. A Walk to Remember
6. Cannery Row

Book of a Thousand Days

This is the latest Shannon Hale's young adult novel. The story is a retelling based on Brothers Grimm Maid Maleen. The novel is written in diary form by Dashti, the maid of Princess Saren. Set in Mongolia, the two are locked together in a tower for seven years by Saren's father for her refusal to marry the horrible man he desires. However, Saren is secretly engaged to another, Khan Tegus, despite her father's wishes.

And with that, I will leave you to go and get it for yourself, so I don't totally ruin it. Just know that the book is wonderfully-written, the setting is fascinating, and it has a nice dose of romance.

I highly recommend it.

A Great and Terrible Beauty

I tried to like this book. Honest, I did. I'm still new to fantasy, and I just couldn't get into this book. I never cared about a single one of the characters. I thought all the fantasy bits were confusing. It just seemed like Harry Potter meets Dead Poets Society for stuck-up girls in the late 19th century.

This is the first of a trilogy of books about Gemma Doyle, a sixteen year old. Her mother is murdered in India, and she has been sent to finishing school in England. The circumstances surrounding her mother's death leads her to a series of discoveries, most important of which is her supernatural powers to move into other realms. There are friends, teachers, and love interests involved--and it's pretty racy for YA.

Usually if I read one book of a series I have to finish. But, I won't this time. The first book has to wow me, and this one just didn't.

Lookybook

This is a fun and potentially very useful website I found through a library-related blog I read. You can view entire children's books online (the quality is gorgeous) to read with your kids or help you make decisions about what books to purchase/get from the library. There is also a bookshelf element similar to Goodreads or Shelfari to collect your favorites and share your collection with others. If you like children's books, check it out!

Lady Laura the Librarian

"A nation that does not read for itself cannot think for itself. And a nation that cannot think for itself risks losing both its identity and its freedom. Ray Bradbury was right when he said, 'You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.'

"Both reading and a love of reading are learned behaviors that should be taught at home and in schools. Like many of you in this room, I've spent my life in the company of good books, because my mother taught me to love them, and my teachers taught me to read them, and my library let me take them home free. Those early experiences had a profound impact on my life, and on my career as a public school teacher and librarian, and on my present work in the U.S. and around the world."--First Lady Laura Bush, speaking yesterday at the AAP annual meeting in New York City.

Bound on Earth

I should say up front that I don't generally read LDS fiction. My friend, Andi, got me to read Dean Hughes' Children of the Promise and Hearts of the Children series a few years ago, which I did enjoy and would recommend. Other than that, I don't think I've read any other LDS fiction after purposely boycotting The Work and the Glory because I got sick of people bearing their testimonies about them.

However, Julie over at BestBooks got me interested in this one, enough to buy it with my B&N birthday money. It was a short novel, made up of various essays about different members of the Palmer family through different generations. I liked how the novel dealt with real issues like bipolar disorder, divorce, and children who stray from their faith. I also enjoyed Hallstrom's sparse prose that often cut quickly to the heart of the matter and left room open for reflection.

The last chapter wasn't my favorite. It seemed like the author was trying to tie the messiness up as best she could. I wish she wouldn't have because that wasn't really the point of the rest of the novel. Life is messy and how we work through it together as families is the true test of our eternal relationships.

Sarah: Women of Genesis

This is the first book in Orson Scott Card's Women of Genesis series, which also includes Rebekah and Rachel and Leah. It is actually the last one of the series for me since I read the others in 2006.

I think it is a good exercise to read about people in the scriptures as real people, with day to day lives, hopes and dreams, as long as you remember that it is just a fictional interpretation based on the Bible. The fact that Card and I share the same faith (and he's a North Carolinian) is nice, but I also love perspectives from other faiths such as Anita Diamant's The Red Tent.

Card chooses to portray Sarah as a strong feisty woman, deeply in love with Abraham. Sarah and Abraham do (gasp!) argue, since sometimes she has to tell it like it is while Abraham's head is in the clouds. Her devotion to Abraham's God is also an issue as she was raised to believe in a different God. However, her faith is strong and she always remains true. As you would imagine, her fertility struggle is a central issue and the portrayal of her relationship with Hagar was, for me, the most interesting plot line.

Thank you, momseguine, for recommending these. I have enjoyed them!