Bookish Review: One Thousand White Women

Although fictional, the book is written as if a descendant found the actual journals of his great great grandmother. The author takes actual historical events and weaves a fictional narrative. A Cheyenne chief requests 1000 white women as wives for his men. In truth, this request was never fulfilled, but in this book, Fergus imagines what might have happened if it was. I came to really care about the characters, and as Fergus weaves in actual historical events (like the slaughter of Indians as more white settlers want to come look for gold in the Black Hills), the book will leave you in tears. A great read.

Bookish Review: Belladonna

Belladonna is historical fiction for tweens/teens. At least one of the characters is a real historical figure, but not one that I was familiar with. Set in 1757, a young Englishman stumbles upon a mysterious French girl in the English countyside. He is soon captivated by her and gets involved in trying to help her reccover her horse. As time goes on, she involves him in new opportunities and schemes and the path of his life is forever changed. An interesting and fun read, which horse lovers in particular will enjoy.

I got my hands on an ARC of this somehow, for which I thank the publisher, Candlewick Press, but the free copy did not affect my review.

Bookish Review: Alice I Have Been

Alice I Have Been is a very interesting read. The book is a fictionalized biography of the real woman who inspired Alice in Wonderland. Melanie Benjamin did a good bit of research into the life and times of Alice, but there are some holes in the truth that seem impossible to fill with certainty due to the destruction of documents by Alice's family. So, Melanie has filled in the blanks with what might have happened. The result is captivating, but also disturbing as she explores what the true nature of the relationship between the little girl and the author really was.

Bookish Review: Sorcery and Cecilia

Sorcery and Cecilia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot is a Regency romance with a touch of magical realism. It is also an epistolary novel (what is it with me and those lately?). The story is written in letters between two cousins, set in Regency England, except wizards are real and recognized and magic is not a fantasy. The cousins get swept up in a battle between wizards--luckily, one of them shows an aptitude for magic and with a little scheming, they manage to save the day and both find love--surprise!

Enjoyable romp--fans of the Pink Carnation series should enjoy.

Bookish Review: The Betrayal of the Blood Lily

Lauren Willig has again created a fun romp in her Pink Carnation series. The twist in this one is that our heroine is already married (she was forced into marriage at the end of the last book) and after relocating to India with her husband (yet another twist--it's not in England or in France!) she meets her true love. But she's already married! The horror! Will she come to love her husband? Will she run off with her new swain? Oh, the twists and turns!

I pretty much figured it out, but it was fun.

There is the usual spy snatching and fun interludes of Colin and Eloise to be had. If you've read the others in the series, you know what to expect. Fun and fluffy.

Bookish Review: The Chosen

The Chosen by Chaim Potok is the story of two boys growing up in Brooklyn during WWII. Both boys are Jewish but they come from two different sects. They begin the book as enemies, but when one nearly blinds the other in a baseball game, they become fast friends. Both boys have well-respected fathers who have very different methods of raising their sons, but both fathers support the friendship, knowing especially that Danny, the Hasidic (more devout & Orthodox) Jew will need Reuven's support.

Danny's future has been laid out since birth: he will inherit his father's position as Rabbi and will have an arranged marriage. The problem is that Danny is a genius with a love for psychology. He does not want to take his father's place, but his father never speaks to him about anything but the Torah, so he doesn't know how to tell him.

The book is a wonderful picture of what Jewish life was like in America following the Holocaust, as well as a great depiction of a friendship (it follows the boys from childhood through their college graduation). You don't have to be Jewish or know that much about Judaism to understand and enjoy the book--virtually everything is explained. It really is just a great story.

Bookish Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This book received a ton of press, so I was anxious to read it, though I didn't know anything about it. I didn't know, for example, that it is an epistolary novel. I probably would have been reluctant to read it, had I known, since I am always wary of books written entirely in letters, but my fears were quickly assuaged. The story is intriguing and keeps you turning pages (it might even make you want to write a letter!). The main character is a writer searching for inspiration in Britain after WWII. She stumbles upon a friendship with the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and goes to the island to visit, learning about the islanders' war experience along the way. It's a very interesting and touching story, and the letters reveal a lot about the characters writing them and being written about. Recommended.

Bookish Review: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane follows serious student Connie Goodwin on her quest to finish her thesis for her Ph. D. In the middle of her search for an original source, she is also on a mission from her hippie mother to clean up and sell her grandmother's old house. As she works on the house, strange things begin to happen, and as she follows up on a lead to an original source--a possible book of spells owned by one of the women involved in the Salem witch trials--things only get stranger. Add in a handsome stranger and a demanding advisor and you've got an interesting and compelling read. The only drawback is that Connie herself often fails to see the obvious, which is a bit annoying, but the story overall is good, and puts witchcraft in an interesting perspective, as a gift from God rather than the devil's work. Fun read.

Bookish Review: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Isn't the cover design of this book awesome?

Calpurnia Tate is a girl growing up in TX at the turn of the 20th century. In a household filled with brothers, Callie's mother has high hopes for her coming out in a few years and is struggling mightily to get Callie to learn knitting, sewing, cooking, and other domestic arts--all of which Callie hates. What Callie loves is investigations with her naturalist grandfather, who teaches her about microbes, plants, animals, observation, the scientific method, and The Origin of the Species. As Callie grows to love science, she also begins to realize that a career or education at the university is probably off-limits to her as her family believes her future lies in a good marriage. As she sees the injustice of it all, she begins to wonder what her future holds.

Callie is a very compelling protagonist, and the ending does not answer all questions about where her future lies--there's definitely room for a sequel here.

Bookish Review: The Book Thief

I had heard a LOT about The Book Thief. The book garnered lots of awards and buzz and praise, so I was very excited to read it. From the title, I am not sure what I expected. I think I had read that it involved WWII, so perhaps I was thinking it was about someone who saved books from being burned in the war. It's not.

First of all, it is set during WWII, so you have to know it can't be the cheeriest story. It involves war, and death, and deprivation.

Secondly, it's narrated by Death. So, again, doesn't point to the warm fuzzies.

But it is a lovely book. A story about a young German girl in an unusual home in a small town in Germany. Her family takes in and befriends a Jewish man during the war, but eventually it becomes too risky, for him and for them. The girl cannot read, but her foster father patiently and painstakingly teaches her until she becomes a lover of words and a stealer of books.

It's not the typical Holocaust story or just a book lovers' story, but it is beautifully written and touching.

Highly recommended.

Bookish Review: Cross Bones

Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs is another book in her series featuring Temperance Brennan. This one takes Tempe on a crazy international quest to Israel to investigate the provenance of some bones that show up in Canada by way of France after disappearing from an archaeological dig in Israel many years ago. A possible conspiracy is involved, as some believe the bones belong to Jesus Christ, a find which would have huge historical and religious implications. The plot only gets more complicated, with more bones uncovered, once she arrives overseas.

The book is good and entertaining, but I have the same problem I had with the last book I read in the series: I am too much of a fan of the TV show Bones, which is (loosely) based on these books. The Bones depicted in the show is pretty much nothing like the Temperance depicted in the books, and since I like the show so much, I find that a disappointment. However, if you only read the books or don't watch the show, this is an interesting historical mystery with some grounding in actual archaeological finds. Fans of the Da Vinci code or Steve Berry books might enjoy.

Bookish: An Echo in the Bone

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon is the latest book in the Outlander saga. I don't recommend picking this up if you have not already read the other books in the series. I think you would be hopelessly confused and not very invested in the characters. This book picks back up in the midst of the impending revolution. There is a lot of side plot this time with Lord John and Willie--not all of which makes that much sense if you haven't read all of the Lord John books, but it's ok. The book drags a bit in the middle, after Jamie and Claire first attempt to get to Scotland (unsuccessfully) and then they just slog around while you are screaming "Get ON WITH IT! You are supposed to be in SCOTLAND!"

But I digress...

There is also some fun interactions with Bree and Roger, though again, there is a dry spell in the middle.

Things REALLY pick up at the end, though, and Diana totally leaves us hanging at the end! Makes for a very exciting ending; unfortunately, we've got many years to wait for the resolution.

Bookish: Spandau Phoenix

Yet another Greg Iles novel. This is a different one, a historical conspiracy thriller involving a WWII mystery. I had some problems with this. First, I made the mistake of taking this book on my beach vacation. This is not a beach read, and I found it hard to concentrate on it. It's a little heavy. The second problem: I know the basics of WWII, but I am by no means an expert. I know Hitler, Himmler, the Holocaust, Auchwitz, etc., but I was not familiar with Spandau or Rudolph Hess, which is some pretty important information for understanding this book. So, I didn't really know how much was fact and how much was fiction. I found it very annoying that there was not even a historical note at the end elucidating this information. So, the book is well-written and interesting, based on the idea that Hess's flight to Great Britan had greater implications than perhaps first realized and that the prisoner locked up in Spandau Prison was never Rudolph Hess, but rather an imposter. The main meat of the book is set in Germany and South Africa long after WWII, but before the destruction on the Berlin Wall. It involves Nazis, atomic bombs, secret identities, and secret societies. I think WWII buffs would get more enjoyment out of it than I did, but not a bad read overall. I didn't enjoy it as much as Iles's modern-day Southern thrillers, though.

Bookish Review: The Seduction of the Crimson Rose

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose is the 4th book in a series by Lauren Willig. The books follow hapless grad student Eloise Kelly as she tries to uncover the identity of the Pink Carnation and other similarly-named flowery spies (think the Scarlet Pimpernel). The books all have two levels: Eloise and her research and her ever-deepening romance with a decendant of one of the flowery spies, and a past romance Eloise uncovers in her research. The books are light and funny romances with a bit of intrigue and danger.

This particular one follows Mary Alworthy, a beautiful and wily girl who lost her best chance at a good suitor to her sister, as she teams up with the slimy and seductive Sebastian, Lord Vaughn. The more time Mary and Vaughn spend together trying to ensnare the Black Tulip (a.k.a. the bad guy), the more they are drawn together. But when Vaughn's dead wife shows back up, and the Black Tulip draws ever nearer, things get a little complicated.

Fun series. Start with The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. They are better in order