Summary: Sophronia is not finished, but she will be soon -- in etiquette and espionage.
Why I Read This: It's about a Victorian/Steampunk/Spy/Finishing...moreSummary: Sophronia is not finished, but she will be soon -- in etiquette and espionage.
Why I Read This: It's about a Victorian/Steampunk/Spy/Finishing School. Who wouldn't want to read this?
Review: I enjoyed it. I wanted a fast read and this was the perfect fit. Light-hearted. Slightly Harry Potter-esque, but not quite as engrossing.(less)
Summary: Darcy is prideful. Jane is prejudiced. Can this couple ever come together?
Why I Read This: An ill-advised book club choice.
Review: I hated th...moreSummary: Darcy is prideful. Jane is prejudiced. Can this couple ever come together?
Why I Read This: An ill-advised book club choice.
Review: I hated this book when I read it 10 years ago. This time I thought it was ok. I was mostly bored and sick of the whole "we're rich. We're only kind of rich. We can't inter-marry." That only goes on for 200 pages before something happens. Then it's over. I can see some good in it, but not enough to read it again.(less)
Summary: John Thavis was the CNS reporter for the Vatican. He talks about a variety of issues and scandals in the church including the Legionaires, Po...moreSummary: John Thavis was the CNS reporter for the Vatican. He talks about a variety of issues and scandals in the church including the Legionaires, Pope Pius XII, and the sex abuse scandal.
Why I Read This: I was setting up microfilm and found this on a new books cart, so I started to read it and couldn't put it down. My goal was to finish before a new Pope was elected. Win!
Review: I enjoyed the book. I think that it was relatively fair and balanced, though I would disagree with some of the emphasis, particularly in later chapters. Overall I thought it was well done -- it didn't pander and allowed for nuances not normally found in press documents.(less)
Summary: The Life of Blessed Margaret of Castello, a hunchback, blind, young woman who lived a life of virtue.
Why I Read This: My patron for the year...moreSummary: The Life of Blessed Margaret of Castello, a hunchback, blind, young woman who lived a life of virtue.
Why I Read This: My patron for the year is Bld. Margaret of Castello, so I wanted to learn more about her.
Review: I loved this book. It's probably because I loved the terrible story of Blessed Margaret of Castello. It's a terrible story, but she rose above such terrible circumstances -- birth defects, unloving parents who imprisoned and abandoned her, abject poverty, rejections from a religious order -- to become one with God. There's so much in her story that I relate to, which seems impossible, but there's a reason that God led me to her.(less)
Summary: Margo feels complicit in the death of her father, so she takes to life on the river.
Why I Read This: Book group.
Review: I can see why people...moreSummary: Margo feels complicit in the death of her father, so she takes to life on the river.
Why I Read This: Book group.
Review: I can see why people would like this book, but I did not. I think that Margo was a good character until the end, where she made a giant leap in maturity and morality that I didn't feel she had really earned. The setting was phenomenal, but I'm not a setting person. The storyline was plausible and kept up at a good clip. And the writing was fine. I mostly found it personally not to my taste, but I could appreciate it.(less)
Summary: Queenie has been captured by the Gestapo while working for the SOE. Her best friend, who flew her into France, is dead. She's giving up her s...moreSummary: Queenie has been captured by the Gestapo while working for the SOE. Her best friend, who flew her into France, is dead. She's giving up her secrets because she's just not that strong.
Why I Read This: It was getting good reviews and seemed intriguing.
Review: I thought that it was an entertaining, enjoyable book. I recently wrote a biography of a female Resistance fight working for the SOE, so I recognized the historical accuracy and research that went into the book. (less)
Summary: Nancy Wake = Super Cool Resistance Fighter/Socialite
Why I Read This: BIOGRAPHIES!
Review: I actually enjoyed this. It was my second Nancy Wake...moreSummary: Nancy Wake = Super Cool Resistance Fighter/Socialite
Why I Read This: BIOGRAPHIES!
Review: I actually enjoyed this. It was my second Nancy Wake book, so I didn't pay as much attention as to the first one, but I like that Nancy chose random things to pay a lot of attention to. For example, you get 1 paragraph on how the Marquis she'd attached herself to escapes from thousands of German troops. But, you get, like, 6 pages on how much fun she had messing with other refugees on the trip across Spain into England. (less)
Summary: This follows three stories: the story of the narrator in post-war Yugoslavia; the story of the Tiger's Wife; the story of the death-less man....moreSummary: This follows three stories: the story of the narrator in post-war Yugoslavia; the story of the Tiger's Wife; the story of the death-less man. An intriguing look into the world of several eras in Eastern Europe.
Why I Read This: For a book club.
Review: I thought that the book was well-written, but incomprehensible from a symbolic point of view. I'm still not sure what everything meant, even after discussing it with my group.(less)
Summary: Ambassador Dodd, a history professor in Chicago, was sent to Germany as ambassador in the turbulen 1930s. The story of him and his family in...moreSummary: Ambassador Dodd, a history professor in Chicago, was sent to Germany as ambassador in the turbulen 1930s. The story of him and his family in Berlin during the Nazi rise to power.
Why I Read This: I'm not really sure. I didn't love Larson's other book, but everyone else did, so I thought that I was missing something.
Review: I didn't really like it. I didn't hate it. He does good research and he writes coherently, but the lack of thesis drives me crazy. It is also my problem with his other book. I'm not really sure why he's writing -- just that he is writing.(less)
Summary: The Secret Service is a relatively recent addition to the registry of federal agencies, but in their time they have done a lot to leave their...moreSummary: The Secret Service is a relatively recent addition to the registry of federal agencies, but in their time they have done a lot to leave their mark. Learn their history and their faults.
Why I Read This: The latest Secret Service scandal made me want to learn more about them. I thought about reading this book when it came out but never took the chance. I decided to take the chance.
Review: I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I was quite the historical perspective. Also, it's full of presidential gossip. You learn very little about the selection or the training of agents, but you learn a lot about which presidents were nice or not nice to their agents. The author spends a lot of time discussing the unfortunate state of the secret service, and these were the parts that annoyed me the most.(less)
**spoiler alert** Summary: This is the book that started the Civil War. Ok, not really, but this moving portrayal of the lives of slaves and slave own...more**spoiler alert** Summary: This is the book that started the Civil War. Ok, not really, but this moving portrayal of the lives of slaves and slave owners had a significant impact upon its release in the 1950s
Why I Read This: For a book club.
Review: I love this book. I had only read it once before, and I will always remember it as the first book that I read that touched the depths of my soul. I was 11, and I remember sobbing on my loveseat while reading about Eva's death. I kept putting off reading it for my book club, not ready to engage the possibility that what changed my life at 11, might not live up to my memory of it at 27. But my fears were unfounded. I found myself not only profoundly moved by the story, but fell in love with the writing style. I kept posting arbitrary quotes to twitter, a few of which I will share below:
"There are in this world blessed souls, whose sorrows all spring up into joys for others; whose earthly hopes, laid in the grave with many tears, are the seed from which spring healing flowers and balm for the desolate and the distressed. Among such was the delicate woman who sits there by the lamp, dropping slow tears, while she prepares the memorials of her own lost one for the outcast wanderer."
"Ah, what said those eyes, that spoke so much of heaven? Earth was past, and earthly pain; but so solemn, so mysterious, was the triumphant brightness of that face, that it checked even the sobs of sorrow."
"They think it's nothing, what we suffer,--nothing, what our children suffer! It's all a small matter; yet I've walked the streets when it seemed as if I had misery enough in my one heart to sink the city. I've wished the houses would fall on me, or the stones sink under me. Yes! and, in the judgment day, I will stand up before God, a witness against those that have ruined me and my children, body and soul!"(less)
Summary: Ralph advertises for a reliable wife -- the wife that arrives is not who he expected, but he had his own secrets.
Why I Read This: For a book...moreSummary: Ralph advertises for a reliable wife -- the wife that arrives is not who he expected, but he had his own secrets.
Why I Read This: For a book club
Review: I thought it was interesting. It was a lot -- event after event kept happening, but they were unexpected, and not uninteresting. (less)
Summary: Hugo is alone in the world. An orphan who lives in a train station in Paris, repairing the clocks and stealing for his meals, Hugo spends his...moreSummary: Hugo is alone in the world. An orphan who lives in a train station in Paris, repairing the clocks and stealing for his meals, Hugo spends his time trying to complete his life's worth. This is until he meets Papa Georges who turns his plans upside down.
Why I Read This Book: Three reasons (1) A friend and I saw Brian Selznick at the National Book Festival. He was great. (2) We decided to do a collective reading experience - we would read a book, take notes in it, and then pass it to the next person, and so forth until us and a few friends had read the book together. (3) I have a book club reading this book this month.
Review: I think that I may have ruined the collective reading experience by not really liking the book. I thought that the story had potential, but never reached it. And I thought that the idea was good, but not particularly well executed. I do think, that through his drawings, Selznick created an interesting world, but I wasn't interested in being a part of it. Not my cup of tea.(less)
Summary: Jacob is fairly ordinary -- except his family is rich, his best friend is only mildly concerned with his welfare, and his grandfather is seni...moreSummary: Jacob is fairly ordinary -- except his family is rich, his best friend is only mildly concerned with his welfare, and his grandfather is senile. But his ordinary life takes an unusual twist when Jacob witnesses the violent death of his grandfather at the hands of wild dogs, and being left with an cryptic message. Jacob's attempts to understand that message, the monster, and his grandfather's grandious stories bring Jacob to a small British island where Jacob will learn more about himself and the world than he could have ever imagined.
Why I Read This Book: It's about a home for orphans. In my mind, that is practically an asylum. So I read it
Review: I really enjoyed it. It moved a little bit slowly at the end, but up until that point I was in love. First of all it is "totally creepers", which is my technical term for skin-crawlingly weird yet wonderful at the same time. In addition, as much as it is Jacob's story, it is the story the "peculiar children" and Jacob's grandfather as well. It has monsters, powers, time travel, and countless other aspects that make me love it. (less)
Summary: Minny and Aibileen are maids in Jackson, MS. When Miss Skeeter needs to find a topic to write about in order to get noticed by a big city pub...moreSummary: Minny and Aibileen are maids in Jackson, MS. When Miss Skeeter needs to find a topic to write about in order to get noticed by a big city publisher, she turns to these women and their friends to help her write her book about the life of maids in Jackson.
Why I Read This Book: I read this book for a book club. We decided to read it as (a) it has been very popular and (b) they're making a movie.
Review: Truthfully, its not a bad book. I might have even given it a 4. But it has had so much hype, and so many people have told me that its the best book ever. Truthfully, the hype made it more disappointing to me than anything else. I'm a book snob, and a good story and quirky characters just aren't enough for me anymore. But I will probably see the movie. The story and characters were interesting, which is what will be in the movie.(less)
Summary: Angel has had a hard life. She has always been an outcast, but never moreso than when she spends her time being the most sought after prostit...moreSummary: Angel has had a hard life. She has always been an outcast, but never moreso than when she spends her time being the most sought after prostitute in the West. But one day Hosea, called by God, changes all that and teaches her how to be the woman that she was designed to be.
Why I Read This Book: I had a patron who just raved about this book. She was an English teacher and this was her favorite book ever written. It was her enthusiasm for this title that made me pick it up.
Review: Truthfully, I didn't finish this book. Normally I'll push through a book, even if I'm not happy about it, but I was halfway through and still not interested in the content. So I gave up. It's a fine story, and I think that a lot of people would enjoy it, but the writing in no way interested me. I could see though, having just finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett how individuals who liked that book would enjoy this one. It also has well-defined characters who walk the fine line between good and evil. It also has a relatively fast-paced storyline. But I also found that book to be lacking. I found the writing mundane and the setting of the Wild West to be a little bit contrived. The original story, from the Biblical book of Hosea is largely a symbolic book about the relationship between God and Israel, but that symbolism was lost in this book. (less)
Summary: Henry Townsend has left this world for the next, but how will his wife run his plantation? Henry was one of the few black men in the Antebell...moreSummary: Henry Townsend has left this world for the next, but how will his wife run his plantation? Henry was one of the few black men in the Antebellum South who owned slaves. Follow him, his family, his friends, the townsfolk, and his slaves through the past present and future.
Review: I can see the value of this book. It's well-written with well-developed characters. Truthfully, I just wasn't in the mood to read it. Perhaps I will read it again one day when I can better appreciate it.(less)
Summary: Tells the story of Adele Brise and the apparition of the Blessed Virgin that she experienced. It then follows her life and that of the commun...moreSummary: Tells the story of Adele Brise and the apparition of the Blessed Virgin that she experienced. It then follows her life and that of the community that she founded.(less)
Summary: 90 days (or more?) with short stories and prayers about Mary and Marian influence and miracles around the world.
Review: It was a fine book an...moreSummary: 90 days (or more?) with short stories and prayers about Mary and Marian influence and miracles around the world.
Review: It was a fine book and all, but a really long commitment. I did a good job through Lent, but the Easter season was a little bit too much for me.(less)
Summary: The Pope follows Jesus starting from his entrance into Jerusalem and ending with his Ressurection.
Review: I read this book throughout Holy W...moreSummary: The Pope follows Jesus starting from his entrance into Jerusalem and ending with his Ressurection.
Review: I read this book throughout Holy Week and I think that I will do it again. It is so deep that I couldn't understand it all, but the Spirit moved me to a greater understanding of moments within Holy Week. It helped me to focus on the events of Holy Week even outside of the day's services. My favorite part this time around was sitting with Christ in the Garden. Being able to read that chapter while in adoration of Christ, staying awake with Him that night, was oen of the most meaningful parts of my Holy Week experience.(less)
Summary: Susan Rose is a wet nurse. She became pregnant at the hand of her master, and was forced to leave her employ. Throughout the book see how oth...moreSummary: Susan Rose is a wet nurse. She became pregnant at the hand of her master, and was forced to leave her employ. Throughout the book see how others treat their own children, and how she fights for hers in Victorian England.
Review: Meh. It was a very meh book. I finished it, but it was meh.(less)
**spoiler alert** Summary: The Louvre, many years in the future.
Review: Honestly, I have no idea what happened in this book. Perhaps the point is that...more**spoiler alert** Summary: The Louvre, many years in the future.
Review: Honestly, I have no idea what happened in this book. Perhaps the point is that there's too much in the Louvre to understand in one lifetime.(less)
Summary: Leela Naidu led an enchanted life, changing the world through beauty and acting.
Review: I have no doubt that this is what Naidu believed that...moreSummary: Leela Naidu led an enchanted life, changing the world through beauty and acting.
Review: I have no doubt that this is what Naidu believed that her life was like. But is a big crock. You can tell that she's a little bit deluded about what she believed her life was like and her influence was like. Much of the book's contents are probably true, but a lot of it probably isn't. Unfortunately, you don't know which is which.(less)
Summary: Sadie and Carter Kane are bro and sis, but they don't really know each other. They were separated after their mother's death a few years ago:...moreSummary: Sadie and Carter Kane are bro and sis, but they don't really know each other. They were separated after their mother's death a few years ago: Sadie to live with her grandparents and Carter to live with his father. They both wish for each others lives. That is, until one fateful night they begin to experience weirder things that are really possible, only to be brought on a great adventure to save their father and the world.
Review: Dear Rick Riordan, I read your last series. Will it be exactly like this one? Sadly, I keep reading, so its my own fault. I am learning about Egyptian gods because of you, so good job on that! <3 - kabergeron(less)
Summary: The story of two men who used their incredibly talents during the building of the Columbian Exposition - the Chicago World's Fair. One use it...moreSummary: The story of two men who used their incredibly talents during the building of the Columbian Exposition - the Chicago World's Fair. One use it for good: building a magnificent exposition. The other use it for evil: to lure in the innocent.
Review: This was definitely interesting. It was a little bit hard to get into, but still intriguing. In our book club it seemed as if the boys all gravitated to Burnham, the builder. All the girls seemed to gravitate to Holmes. It was an interesting mix and very discussion-sorthy(less)
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