Rachel Kovaciny's Blog, page 4

"The Bronze Bow" by Elizabeth George Speare

I know I read this at least once as a teen.  I remembered basically none of it.  In fact, I actually misremembered things about it -- I thought it took place during the boyhood of King David, but that's completely wrong.  It takes place during the life of Jesus Christ!  I was way off.
I did remember it being really good, and that memory was totally accurate, though.  Whew.
Daniel is an angry young Jewish man whose parents were killed by Roman soldiers when he was a boy.  Now he's part of a renegad...

"Midwinter Murder" by Agatha Christie

Like Autumn Chills , this is a collection of short stories by Agatha Christie that are all set in a specific season.
I'd previously read only one story in this, "Christmas Adventure," which stars Hercule Poirot.  He's in several other stories, and there are also some with Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence, and some other semi-regular characters of Christie's.
Aside from that one, which I like a lot, my favorite stories were "The Manhood of Edward Robinson," which had a lovely twist, and "The World's ...

Interviewed on Almost an Author

Want to read an interview with me that Donna Jo Stone shared today on her blog, Almost an Author?  Here's a link.  We chatted about the unique challenges and strengths of writing fairy tale retellings and writing for a YA audience.  Hope you enjoy it!

Top Ten Tuesday: It's About Time

This week's prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl for Top Ten Tuesday is "Books Set in Another Time."  I'm using that to talk about my ten favorite historical fiction books.
I think of historical fiction as fiction set during a time before the author's adult life.  For instance, an author born in 1930 who writes about the 1950s isn't writing historical fiction... but if they write about the 1850s, or even the 1930s, then it's historical fiction.  (For another example, Jane Austen's books are not his...

"Hey, Jude Carpenter" by Storm Shultz

This is such a sweet middle-grade retelling of Romeo and Juliet! It's set in a small town that has two Baptist churches. There was a split in the congregation ten years earlier, with Jude's family on one side and Mona's on the other.
Jude Carpenter's family run a dairy farm, and it's in financial trouble.  Not to mention, his older brother just broke up with his girlfriend.  Things are getting pretty stressful.  But there's a bright spot in his life: his new friend, Mona.  But his mom doesn't l...

"A Run at Love" by Toni Shiloh

Even though this is my first time reading a book by Toni Shiloh, I think I'm going to start a new tradition of reading one of her books the week of Valentine's Day every year.  (But also here and there in between when I feel like reading some really good, romantic Christian fiction.)  I had such a great time with A Run at Love -- due in no small part to the book revolving around horses, but also because Shiloh balanced the character development and the pacing and the plot so well.  
I've mentione...

"Eragon" by Christopher Paolini

All three of my teens got into the Inheritance Cycle last year, and they really want to read Murtagh, but I said I had to read it first (because hey, I'm the one who bought that new release hardcover copy, after all!), but then I realized I need to reread the series.  Because I finished reading the original series in 2011 when Inheritance was released, and that is a looooooooooooong time ago.  I mean, my youngest kid wasn't even born yet when that book came out, and now she's a teenager.
So, for ...

"The Ark" by Margot Benary-Isbert

I read The Ark several times as a teen -- our rural North Carolina library had it and the sequel, Rowan Farm.  I still remember they were both bound in that weird orange hardcover binding that library books so often got rebound into when their original covers wore out.
I actually tried to find this book again every now and then as an adult, because I remembered loving it.  But I didn't remember the author's name, or the name of the sequel.  Do you know how hopeless it is to search the internet fo...

So Dawn Goes Down to Day: January 2025 Inklings

My friend Heidi at Along the Brandywine has gotten her wonderful monthly link-up series going again!  She's letting the January edition linger into the first week or so of February, so I am not too late to join.  Whew!  I used to participate in this a few years ago, sometimes on this blog and sometimes on my movie blog, and it was always fun.

Since this is my first time participating in a long time, I'll repost the rules here so you understand how it works.
Rules: 
1. At any time during the month, ...

"A Study in Scarlet" (Manga Classics) by Arthur Conan Doyle (original story), Crystal S. Chan (story adaptation), and Julien Choy (art)

FINALLY!  The Manga Classics folks are releasing new titles again, and the fact that their first new release in several years is a Sherlock Holmes novel fills me with absolute glee.  Especially since they are promising more Holmes mangas to come.
Y'all know I am a devoted Sherlockian.  I've loved the canon since I was in my very early teens, and I have read quite a number of pastiches and watched a lot of movies and shows based on the characters and books.  I can be a bit picky about how Holmes a...