Well I had an absolutely fantastic reading week since last week’s Sunday Salon. When we were last here I had 30 pages left of “The White Queen.” Not only did I finish that book, I finished ANOTHER book on Sunday as well. Here’s what I finished, day by day.
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Thursday
(audio)
Friday
Next week will definitely be slower, because I don’t think I’ll finish my current book until tomorrow or even Tuesday.
What did you read last week?
Last year, thanks to a fun, quirky book called “First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria” and the fantastic Swapna, I discovered The Debutante Ball. The Debutante Ball is a group blog for authors debuting their first book. There are 5 of them that each take a day of the week and blog about various topics throughout the year. I’ve read the books of two of the five 2009 Debs so far and am planning on reading the rest of them in the next few months.
This last week we were introduced to the 2010 Debs and I’m SO excited to read their books!
Emily Winslow, author of The Whole World – May 2010 from Delacorte Press
Set in Cambride, “The Whole World” is a mystery narrated by both American and British grad students. I’m interested to see how Ms. Winslow does switching between American and British English!
Sarah Pekkanen, author of The Opposite of Me - March 9, 2010 from Washington Square Press
“The Opposite of Me” is about the relationship between two 29-year old fraternal twins. Are they really as different as they think?
Alicia Bessette, author of All Come Home – August 2010 from Dutton Books
“All Come Home” is set in a small town and sounds so charming. Hello, there’s a 70-something chain saw artist, what’s not to love?
Maria Garcia-Kelb, author of 101 Ways To Torture Your Husband – January 18, 2010 from Adams Media
Maria calls her book “payback in book form” for all the blame men give women for the whole temptation in the Garden of Eden thing.
Joelle Anthony, author of Restoring Harmony – May 13, 2010 from Puttnam
Okay, so I haven’t actually found out what this book is about, but I think Joelle is fascinating, she and her husband are attempting to live a sustainable lifestyle, including growing their own food. Heck, the woman included a recipe for butter in her inaugural post. Gotta love it.
I can’t wait to see the rest of the book covers and read each of these books!
I finished 18 books in August, which I think is fantastic. We’ll see what happens in September when I go back to work… My 18 books were comprised of nearly 6,000 pages. This puts me at 129 books for the year, which means I’m only 21 books away from my goal of 150! I think this is a definite probability, I need to read just over 5 books a month for the rest of the year tomake it!
After my list of what I read this month, you’ll find a list of the other reviews I posted this month:
Fiction
The Last Beach Bungalow by Jennie Nash (review pending)
The Embers by Hyatt Bass
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (review coming September 23)
In The Wake Of The Boatman by Jonathon Scott Fuqua
Time Of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch
Young Adult Fiction
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr (review pending)
The Forest of Hands And Teeth by Carrie Ryan (review pending)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (reread in preparation for Catching Fire)
Historical Fiction
The Virgin’s Daughters by Jeane Westin
The Wet Nurse’s Tale by Erica Eindorfer
The Day The Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Devil’s Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (review pending)
Mystery
Bundle Of Trouble by Diane Orgain
Memoir
Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas (review pending)
Nonfiction
American Lion by Jon Meacham
The Mom’s Guide To Growing Your Family Green by Terra Wellington
Hands down, no question. You must read this when it is released September 29th. My review is coming September 23rd, so watch for it!
Book-Related Paraphenelia
The Book Buddy
Fiction
The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal by Sean Dixon
The Witch’s Trinity by Erika Mailman
Historical Fiction
The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles
Nonfiction
Mama Knows Breast by Andi Silverman
American Eve by Paula Uruburu
The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick
One of the most important personages of the courts of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine was the fourth son of the king’s marshal. William Marshal was one of the best knights on the tourney field and a man of great loyalty. Originally a tutor to the sons of the king and queen, William became part of the court of their son Henry when he was crowned as the Young King, concurrently with his father.
Throughout his years of service to the royal family, William was part of the retinues of Henry the younger, King Henry II, and King Richard, as well as being well-thought of by Eleanor. He was greatly valued for his loyalty, even protecting a dying Henry from his rebellious son Richard.
William Marshal is a fascinating and often overlooked character and Elizabeth Chadwick brings him to life beautifully. At the beginning of the book I was worried that, at over 500 pages, it was going to take forever to read. However, before I knew it I was on page 300, then I blinked and had made it another 30 pages. I really enjoyed reading the story of a man who tends to be a secondary character but absolutely deserves to have his story told.
Everyone who has raved about Elizabeth Chadwick as an author of historical novels is right, I hope that Sourcebooks decides to release more of her books, because as of right now, this is the only one readily available in the United States.
Buy this book from:
Powells.
A local independent bookseller via Indiebound.
Amazon.
Thank you to Danielle from Sourcebooks for sending me this book to review.
Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Evaand Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.
Well, I didn’t take out too many books from the library this week (although there are already 3 waiting for me to pick them up next week, and I anticipate two more audiobooks will be ready any day). Here’s what I got:
Posed For Murder by Meredith Cole
Author Meredith Cole was one of the members of last year’s Debutante’s Ball. I just discovered this blog last spring and am trying to read my way through the rest of last year’s class and am looking forward to reading the books from next year’s class.
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Boy am I happy for my library on this one. I both preordered this book and put it on hold at the library. Luckily I added myself to the holds list months ago, because I managed to be number six (they bought about eleven books) of 45 or so people. The copy I preordered shipped on Monday (“Catching Fire” was released Tuesday) from an Amazon warehouse less than 4 hours away. It took until THURSDAY to get to me! I can get stuff from Chicago to California in that time, why did it take it so long to get to me from Whereversville, Indiana? Anyway, my library saved the day and I was actually able to read this on release day. It is going back today for the next lucky soul to get it.
The King’s Confidante: The Story of the Daughter of Sir Thomas More by Jean Plaidy
Previously titled “St. Thomas’ Eve,” “The King’s Confidante” is the story of Sir Thomas More, an advisor to Henry VIII, and his daughter Margaret. History tells us that Margaret and More, who believed in educating his daughters to the same level as he wold sons, had a very close relationship. The story is told primarily through Margaret’s eyes, watching as her father became more and more influential at court and eventually rebelled against Henry’s tyranny, particularly in the dissolution of his marriage to Katherine and his marriage to Anne.
This book was fairly entertaining and was an interesting perspective on the reign of Henry VIII, the narrator being just outside the circle of the royal court. I think I would have really enjoyed this book had the title not been changed when it was republished. “St. Thomas’ Eve” may not be immediately catchy, but it does reference an extremely important plot point in the story. Although “The King’s Confidante” sounds quite intriguing, it is completely misleading. First of all, as the subtitle states, the book is primarily centered around Margaret, using her to tell her father’s story. Margaret was in no way a confidante of Henry, not in the least. “Okay,” you’re probably saying, “but Thomas More was one of Henry’s close advisors.” This is true, and many books depict More and Henry as very close, at least before Henry breaks with the church. However, many of these books also depict their closeness as something that Henry may feel more than Thomas does. “The King’s Confidante” does not depict the men as particularly close at all, perhaps because Margaret is not around to witness their relationship. Because of this, it didn’t even seem quite right to call More a confidante of the king.
Although the title drove me crazy, I would still recommend this if you’re looking for a good fictional account of More’s life and the life of his family, I did feel I learned a lot.
Have you ever had a book’s title impede your enjoyment of the book, either because you hated the title or because it led you to expect something else?
What’s the biggest book you’ve read recently?
(Feel free to think “big” as size, or as popularity, or in any other way you care to interpret.)
Okay, I’ll go ahead and interpret this both ways.
First, size.
“The Seamstress” is about 650 pages of fantastic historical fiction. This was the first book of over 400 pages that I read after Daniel was born and it gave me pause, I thought for sure it would take me forever, but it was a great book for my irst long post-baby read. It kept me entertained and reading and I finished it much faster than I anticipated. You can check out my review to learn more.
As far as *big* reads go, I’ve had two in the last month:
“Her Fearful Symmetry” is Audrey Niffenegger’s second novel. It has been a long time since she gave us “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and many people wondered whether she was a one-hit wonder or whether her new book is worth the wait. Let me tell you, it is worth the wait. It is being published at the end of the month and is definitely my favorite book of the year so far. My review is coming on September 23, but you can read my geeking out post.
“Catching Fire” is a totally different kind of book from “Her Fearful Symmetry,” but is just as big, if not even bigger. Suzanne Collins hit a home run with “The Hunger Games” and people have been waiting with great anticipation for the second book in the series. Let me tell you, it was just as good, if not better. Now I can’t wait for the third book in the series! Check out my (spoiler-free, I promise) review.
What’s the biggest book you’ve read lately?
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
I read “The Hunger Games” back at the beginning of March. Pretty much the second I finished I tried to go and put “Catching Fire” oh hold at the library. Unfortunately, it wasn’t listed. So I basically stalked the library catalog online. There was enough buzz about it that I only managed to be 6th on the holds list (out of 43, by the release date). Then I decided that I really wanted my own copy, and ordered the hardcovers of “The Hunger Games” and “Catching Fire.” I left my name on the list at the library, just in case the library’s copies were available on release day and my copy didn’t come. Well, it didn’t, but I did get my copy from the library. Miraculously, my baby decided he just wanted to sleep (on me) for the next 4 and 1/2 hours, so I was able to just sit and read and read and read.
Preordering a book AND putting it on hold at the library? Reading it immediately for 4 straight hours? That’s a lot for a book to live up to.
Let me just say, I had no disappointments. ”Catching Fire” totally lived up to the expectations I put on it. Katniss really developed well throughout the course of the story, and the twist at the Quarter Quell completely shocked me, although perhaps it shouldn’t have (particularly since I saw one blog review that, upon reflection, spoiled that a bit).
The ‘cliffhanger’ ending didn’t surprise me, other than the fact that it isn’t a traditional cliffhanger in my opinion, but none of that stopped me from wanting desperately to find out what is going to happen next. I can’t wait until we find out the title of the next book – so I can start trying to put it on hold at the library!
Buy this book from:
Powells.
A local indepdendent bookseller via Indiebound.
Amazon.
Only Milo by Barry Smith
Milo is a 62 year old aspiring author, eager to woo Margaret, the head of a small publishing company. Unfortunately, Margaret is more interested in his (somewhat fictitious) translation skills. Margaret has recently acquired the rights to the two novels of a young Mexican novelist named Jose Calderon. The only problem is that Jose’s work is not nearly as good as Margaret thinks it is, something Milo can tell even with his lackluster Spanish skills. Since Milo really needs this job and still wants to try to impress Margaret, he has to give her something and it has to be good. Luckily, the plot to Calderon’s novel is very similar to one of Milo’s twelve completed by unpublished novels. When Milo’s ‘translation’ achieves unprecedented success, it seems that he’s on the road to success. Until, that is, Jose arrives on the scene and threatens to upset the whole plan.
I often have trouble with books with unsympathetic characters. Milo was narcissistic and unpleasant with a strong sense of entitlement. That being said, he was so deliciously unstable that I really enjoyed reading his thoughts. Smith nails the angry, slightly crazy old man voice perfectly (perhaps he has spent some time with my neighbor?), so that I felt I was really in Milo’s head and understood when he felt that only the most drastic response would solve his problems. At just 143 pages of short paragraphs, big margins, and terse sentences, “Only Milo” is a very quick read, and one I found agreeably diverting.
You can buy this book from Amazon.
Thank you to Nicole from Inkwater Press for sending me this book!
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!
-The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick, p. 116
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Please feel free to email me at jen(at)devourerofbooks.com for any questions or comments. I will accept certain books for review, however please read my review policy before contacting me to review your book.