Rachel Kovaciny's Blog, page 53

"Mr. Rochester" by Sarah Shoemaker

Head canon accepted.

Seriously.  This is so exactly what I wanted from a book about Mr. Rochester, the Byronic, enigmatic love interest from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.  Which happens to be my favorite book.  It fills in gaps, explains little quirks and questions, and fleshes out even more fully the man who loves my favorite literary heroine.

(This contains spoilers for this book as well as for Jane Eyre.  You've been warned.)

This book starts when Edward Fairfax Rochester is just a boy, rattlin...

"Prairie Lotus" by Linda Sue Park

I quite liked this book.  In fact, I wish it had been a bit longer.  That's always good, right?  To not be hoping the book will end soon, but hoping it will go on a bit longer?

Hanna and her father move to a new town out in the middle of the Great Plains.  Her father wants to open a dry goods store specializing in fabrics and sewing notions.  Hanna hopes to add dressmaking to the business, as she learned dressmaking from her mother and, even though she is only fourteen, she is already quite good ...

Tolkien Reminders

Just a quick reminder for you that my Tolkien Blog Party starts one week from today!  You can learn more about it here.

Also, my friend Heidi is gearing up to lead a read-along of The Lord of the Rings starting September 28, which is just a little over two weeks away.  If you've never read LOTR, or if you've read it a dozen times, you're welcome to join her!  I plan to participate myself.  You can read more details about that here.

"Mr. Bliss" by J. R. R. Tolkien

This is the most adorable little picture book!  Tolkien wrote it for his kids, somewhat inspired by his own distaste for automobiles.  In it, an eccentric man named Mr. Bliss, owner of a giant girabbit (half giraffe, half rabbit) and wearer of a very tall hat, decides to buy a snazzy yellow car and proceeds to have a series of comical, absurd adventures as a result.  Those include talking bears, missing garden produce, and the girabbit.  I loved it.

Tolkien's distaste for complicated machinery an...

"The Reluctant Godfather" by Allison Tebo

This book made me chuckle repeatedly :-)  AND it surprised me at the end -- it has a little twist that I wasn't quite expecting, though I started to suspect it partway through the book, which was fun.

In this Cinderella retelling, Cinderella has a fairy godfather named Burndee who does NOT want to be a godfather at all.  He wants to concentrate on his baking and cake decorating and leave stupid humans to their own devices.  But such slipshod godfathering is not allowed, and so he cooks up a schem...

"Just Mercy: Adapted for Young Adults" by Bryan Stevenson

Did you know there was a version of Bryan Stevenson's bestseller Just Mercy that was adapted for younger readers?  I didn't realize that until this arrived in the mail -- I must not have been paying good attention the day I ordered it.  Oops!  I got it to read with the book club hosted by Musings of Jamie this month, and I tried to get the adult version from the library once I realized my mistake, but too many people were in line ahead of me. So I read the copy I had.  

And I'm glad I did. Even t...

"Frederica" by Georgette Heyer

This book made me laugh so much!  It is light and fluffy and a bit predictable, and it was exactly the tonic I needed this month.  I loved it.  

I especially loved that it surprised me.  Because I kept fearing that the author was just going to throw in some dumb misunderstanding to keep Frederica and Alverstoke apart for the rest of the book, which is a common device in romantic plots, and one I abhor.  Deeply.  But she never did!  I was extremely pleased.  In fact, I think I liked this better th...

"Rook di Goo" by Jenni Sauer

Do you like stories that revolve around "found families" at all?  That's one of my favorite storytelling devices, or themes, or what have you.  And Rook di Goo has one.  A delightful found family that the main character stumbles into and is embraced by.  Eventually.

Cadet Elisandra Elis has deserted.  She's run from her military duties, overwhelmed by things she's done under orders.  Haunted by them, even.  She winds up on a rustbucket of a ship captained by someone more important than he seems, ...

Announcing the 8th Annual Tolkien Blog Party!

Good morning, fellow Tolkien fans!  The time has come to announce my eighth Tolkien Blog Party.  So I shall.


Ahem.  Hear ye, hear ye!  Let it be known that Hamlette shall be hosting her annual Tolkien Blog Party Sept. 20-26 this year, right here at The Edge of the Precipice.  And YOU are invited to join it!


I had such fun with last year's party, with people contributing all manner of nifty posts, that I'm going to run this year's party the same way.  I'll host a giveaway and a game or two, and I'l...

"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte (again)

Have you ever thrown caution to the wind and decided to read a massive book in a very short space of time?  Like, say, a 627-page book in three days?

If so, you're not alone.

One Sunday, I decided that I could not pass up the opportunity to discuss my favorite novel with one of my favorite living authors, Katherine Reay.  She and a couple other authors direct the "What the Dickens" reading group on Facebook, and Jane Eyre was their latest book to discuss.  And the discussion was slated for Wednesd...