Jeannie Hudson's Blog: Bookmarks

A RAT AND A RANSOM by Y I LEE

I recently read YI Lee's YA novel A RAT AND
A RANSOM. I loved this enchanting tale about a boy and his rat caught in a caper
in England. This book is extremely well-written. Although I've never
been a big fan of rats, after meeting the
engaging Mask, I found myself becoming
very open to the notion of befriending a
lovable rat. I give A RAT AND A RANSOM,
FIVE STARS.

GATHERING STORM by YI LEE

I loved this fantasy. The story is face-paced and extremely well-written.
The sensitivity of the author creates a
plot where one truly knows the characters
and cares about them deeply. I very much enjoyed the romance between Irene and
Stagman and worried about them during the height of the evil king's campaign to destroy them. I truly despised the cast of
evil villains which is a credit to the author. I felt the sense of foreboding
and imminent peril, she develops so
effectively. Her description of the setting
is very well-done and the reader can 'see'
what the characters see as they ride through the countryside. I found the book
to be totally enjoyable and anyone who likes an exciting story with a lovely
romance in the center will love this. I
give it a strong 5 Stars!

THE WORLD BEFORE US by Aislinn Hunter

I love stories set in England. In the case
of THE WORLD BEFORE US, the setting adds to
the suspenseful atmosphere that's so vital
to this wonderful novel. Twenty years ago, Jane Standen was babysitting for Lily, a
young girl who was inexplicably lost in the
woods of northern England. Now Jane is conducting a research project involving
the disappearance of another person, a
woman who vanished a hundred years ago in
the same region as Lily. As Jane weaves
together the mystery of the woman's disappearance,she discovers the historical
facts of both cases are linked. The riveting story reminds us that we are all
united through the events of history and
the roles we play at any given time. This
is a marvelous novel. Five Stars.

MARIPOSA-BOOK II-WINTER IN EDEN

The second volume of my historical trilogy,
MARIPOSA-BOOK II - WINTER IN EDEN is coming soon!!!

Here's an excerpt -
The next morning, Damien watched the sun emerge above the distant mountains. He’d been riding for over an hour and the day was clear and cold, the sky deep azure. Dressed as he’d been yesterday when he rode out to assess the trail, he was warm enough and Beckett moved out at a mile-eating canter.
Once daylight spread across the plains, he looked over the open expanse of white where the snow lay in great towering folds many feet deep. He knew the drifts covered a graveyard of dead cattle. At intervals in cleared patches, he spotted carcasses, some marked by the excessively lengthy horns sticking up from the snow. Carrion floated above the dead or descended in dark shrouds to feed on what little flesh remained on the bones.
Damien was no longer sickened by the death surrounding him. He was aware of a peculiar sense of deliverance; the blizzard had eradicated the suffering that had filled the range throughout the autumn.
They were perhaps halfway to the Mariposa when his worst fears were realized. The weather
turned suddenly perilous. A low, dark curtain descended, obliterating the blue sky. Wind overtook the calm, hurtling out of the northwest,
hitting Beckett broadside. The horse struggled for
his footing, the effort further draining his strength.
Still, Damien was confident they could make it home. Yesterday’s snowstorm had whipped the fresh accumulation into frozen drifts that wouldn’t shift until spring. He decided Morris’s added layers of clothing might account for his optimism. While he’d been chilled to the bone during most of the ride from the Mariposa, he was comfortable today in spite of the threatening conditions. He was grateful for the oversized boots that so far had kept his feet warm, not benumbed as they’d been in his own snug riding boots. And Morris’s fur-lined mittens kept his hands from stiffening on the reins.
Struggling along the windswept trail next to the crusted banks, Beckett made halting progress despite the rising storm that steadily became the heavy onslaught Damien feared. The snow came in the swirl of large flakes and it soon took all of his concentration to keep a hazy sense of direction as weakness crept along his limbs.
At some point, he stopped Beckett and dismounted to take bread and cheese from the saddle bag. He also drank water from a canteen, regretful that he couldn’t share with his thirsty mount. He rubbed at the crusted snow clinging to the gelding’s hide and his own muffler over the
lower half of his face. When he’d managed to open his pocket knife with his teeth, he lifted each of Beckett’s hooves and removed the ball of ice and snow packed into each shoe. Replacing the knife, he slapped the horse’s shoulder. “Let us carry on, my trusty friend.”
“He’d put a hunk of cheese in his pocket and proceeded eating it as he walked on leading Beckett. After perhaps a quarter mile, he felt somewhat restored and remounted, only to be immediately swamped by drowsiness. His yearning for sleep was deepened by the spinning flakes, the pattern of which was hypnotizing in whatever direction he looked. The gathering of twilight removed this annoyance but his fatigue remained, along with a suspicion that he was lost. He recalled telling John of his need of a horse that knew his way home. Now he had little faith in Beckett’s instinct. The gelding might well be turning in a great circle.
New snow was piling up in the cleared channels along the towering banks, forcing the horse to struggle through the buildup. In the gathering darkness, Damien lost all track of time. Only the negotiation of one drift after another marked its passage. Cottonwoods looming ahead, black hulks in the night finally told him they’d reached the Lodgepole ford.
Once across, he pulled up in the shelter of the trees, he got down to clean the snow from Beckett’s feet again and force himself to swallow a few bites of food. He drank what remained of the water, then struggled back into the saddle.
The knowledge that they were only three miles from home should have roused him but by

THE PAINTED HORSES by Malcolm Brooks

PAINTED HORSES is a story of huge contrasts. Modern and historic, Good and evil. It is the well-written debut by a
writer who obviously loves his subject, the American West of the 1950s when the
opportunities for the intrepid soul were endless. Catherine Lemay is a young archeologist with recent experience on ancient history digs in England, who has taken a job in Montana, her assignment, to be certain nothing of historical value will be destroyed when a remote canyon is flooded in a major dam project. The job proves to be psychologically and physically harrowing while tempered by deep friendships and startling new love. But just as the untamed West was never a place where life unfolded in predictable experiences that resolved themselves in happyily-ever-after conclusions, PAINTED HORSES will delight and enchant you even as it shocks and enrages you. I give it five stars***** and look forward to the next offering from Malcomn Brooks.

Review of FORTUNE HUNTER

I love historical suspense set in England so I looked forward to reading this book with great anticipation. And it was an enjoyable read. Yet, when I finished it, I
was left wanting more. I wanted to love
Bay as much as Charlotte and Sisi did but
his character development wasn't quite thorough enough to remove my misgivings
about him. After it was stated in the
beginning that Bay had fathered a child,
this was hardly mentioned again. This may have been perfectly acceptable in Victorian times but it left me fearing that Bay was a cad as Augusta and Fred feared. I would have loved to have seen some resolution of that situation. Despite my reservations, I found FORTUNE HUNTER a fast, intriguing novel. I give it 4 Stars.

Review of SEVEN WONDERS by Ben Mezrickk

In Ben Mezrick's novel SEVEN WONDERS, i
found an intriguing premise of garden of
Edens tied to the 7 Ancient Wonders of the
World and to the 7 Modern Wonders of the
World. Through the fast-paced chapters
where 'tickle the ivories' takes on a whole
new meaning, the improbable becomes realized. Mezrich masterfully ties such
disparate religions as Muslim, Judeo-
Christian, Hindu, Incan and Mayan into a
comprehensive, mysterious take that would
make Clive Cussler proud. The ending was
a bit murky with the world shattering
revelations unprovable and the mysterious
power behind the evil still unknown. But
the two protagonists walk happily into a
heart-shaped sunset. It was a hectic but
satisfying read to the end. I give SEVEN
WONDERS 4 Stars.

THE PAIN COLLECTOR by Christian Strayhorn Spencet

Upon winning a recent giveaway, I discovered an exciting new author in
Christian Strayhorn Spence. I really
enjoyed her story in THE PAIN COLLECTOR.
Early in the plot, I felt great sympathy
for Eva Kingley whose quiet, rather solitary life is abruptly assaulted by the
death of her father by suicide. She's
suddenly aware that a dark family secret
resides within her history. She inherits
a house and a library full of recorded pain
and hints from her father about a sinister
past. Intent on learning what she doesn't
know about her relatives because she never
had the opportunity to become acquainted
with them, not even her father, Eva sets
out on a journey to uncover the truth. In
the course of her quest, she learns of
appalling acts by her family amidst the
corruption of WWII. I loved the strong
characterizations and the weaving of a
beguiling and satisfying storyline. If
this novel is any indication of what Ms.
Spence may be capable of in the future, I look forward to more work by this promising new voice. I give THE PAIN
COLLECTOR 5 Stars.

5 Stars for SHOTGUN LOVESONGS

SHOTGUN LOVESONGS is a wonderful book, one
of the best I've read in the past year. It
is about coming home for four friends, all
born and raised in Little Wing a small town in WI. The author Nickolas Butler deftly describes the losses and triumphs of the four as some seek success elsewhere. His honest and heartfelt descriptions of the love among them and their women are nothing short of miraculous. You'll lose yourself in this rollicking tale, be moved to laughter and tears and perhaps be inspired to call an old friend or two yourself. Filled with
compassion and joy, SHOTGUN LOVESONGS is
positively a Midwest masterpiece and I
am already anxious for Nickolas Butler's
next work

5 Stars for THE SUMMER OF ORDINARY WAYS

I lived in several towns in MN some years
back, a total of twenty years. I lived in Morgan the last half of my stay. Morgan is home to barely a thousand souls in the midst of some of the finest farming country in the world. A few months before I was set to move back to the West where I was born and bred, I saw a review in PEOPLE for a novel set near Sleepy Eye, MN which was a mere twelve miles from Morgan. Indeed, I traveled to Sleepy Eye every week to run errands for my mother-in-law. The review of THE SUMMER OF ORDINARY WAYS caught my attention. The author was named Helget and I knew of many Helgets in the area. I quickly found the book, read it and was shocked to my core. The story wasn't fiction but memoir and the experiences of Nicole Lea Helget spoke of truly ungodly disfunction among her family who was quite famous as it turned out. Her father and uncle had been major league baseball players for a time before their demons defeated them. Her mother and grandmother are scary women who have learned to accept just about anything as 'okay' as long as no one finds out about it. Such as the time her father murders a milk cow with a pitchfork because she wouldn't cooperate, and all grandma can think about is getting the carcass to the butcher before the meat goes bad. As an animal lover and advocate, I found this book barely readable, yet the writer in me, applauds it as one of the most powerful works I've ever read. Kudos to Nicole Lea Helget for her courage. After I left Morgan, MN, I
was told her mother sued her to get her to retract the story. As far as I know,
she refused. I give THE SUMMER OF ORDINARY WAYS five stars.