Ireland

by Frank Delaney

I have to admit, I was disappointed with this book. This was a selection from Zooba when I was a member, and I bought it without really knowing what it was about. What I was expecting was some kind of historical fiction about Ireland. What I got was basically a collection of short stories and Irish folklore disguised as a novel. At the beginning we meet a storyteller and it is he who carries the book with story after story about some of the folklore of Ireland. Was it entertaining? Somewhat, some of the stories were neat. But I have no idea if these stories are actually part of Irish legend or if they were just made up for this book. Overall, this one was a bit of a disappointment. The continuity from story to story was seriously lacking, and I would have a hard time recommending this without reservations.

The Shunning, The Confession, The Reckoning

By Beverly Lewis

I thought I'd review these all together, because it really is one flowing story. You could probably get away with reading the first one and stopping, but you'd still wonder what happened. But all three books could have easily been published as one story, with maybe a little more detail. In fact, that's exactly what I wish would have happened with these books.

At the beginning we meet Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman who is looking forward to her upcoming marriage to a widower. We find her and her family busy planning and getting ready for the wedding, and as most young brides experience, Katie finds herself full of nerves. She has always felt like a free spirit, and is hiding a love for music and the guitar (forbidden in their Amish Ordnung). And one day, while looking at her mother's wedding dress, she finds a satin pink baby dress with the name Katherine Mayfield on it. The discovery of the dress takes the entire Lapp family on a long and winding road full of discovery and love for each other.

Overall, I really enjoyed these books. In fact, I read two of them in one day, they were gripping and very easy to read. I enjoyed learning a little more about the difference between Amish and Mennonite communities, and once again I found myself drawn to these people and their way of life. These are most definitely Christian novels, and there is no getting around the strong message of forgiveness among the pages. My only problem with this book was that it was really easy to figure out what was going to happen. The foreshadowing was pretty blatant, and while I was satisfied with the conclusion, I knew most of what was going to happen well ahead of time. I also found that there were several loose ends that just seemed to be dropped, and I would have liked a little more closure there. But overall, an excellent was to spend a few afternoons. I would read more from Beverly Lewis, and in fact, plan to do so, as she has several series of books set in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons

by Lorna Landvik

The title says it all, really. I picked up this book knowing full well that this was going to be full-fledged chick-lit. Hey, sometimes you just need to unwind and look at life behind a white picket fence. This was an engaging novel, I was snapped into it right at the very beginning, and I found myself absorbed into these friend's lives. At first I was a little annoyed that the narrator was going to change throughout the book- every chapter belonging to a different member of the Freesia Court Book Club. Oddly enough though, it worked really well for this book. There was still a sense of continuity that I don't normally feel when the point of view changes in a book.

This book definitely honed in on the sense of nostalgia. The ideas of an era gone by where neighborhoods still got together for picnics and children played together until dark without a care in the world. The five women we meet Faith, Slip, Audrey, Kari, and Merit all have extremely different personalities- and very different marriages. Each book the group reads together brings something else out for them to discover about themselves, and we see the journey from housewife to someone who affects change in the world around them.

This was an engaging novel, definitely recommended for the ladies- but guys, you may want to stay away from this one. My only beef with this book was with the character Grant. He added so much to the last portion of the book, I would have loved to see him introduced sooner. This was a perfect book for a coldwintry day, and I would look forward to reading more from Lorna Landvik.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Crime

by Tamar Myers

A Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery with Recipes.

It's been awhile since I posted a book review, and I'm sad to say that today's review is not a great one. If you look back at my past reading list, you will find that I do enjoy reading books about the Amish and Mennonite people. So when I stumbled on a whole series of books by Tamar Myers that are set in Pennsylvania Dutch country, I was a little excited. So I picked up this book with relish and dove in, and was sorely disappointed.

I can't speak for the rest of the series but this surely was a dud. First off, the Amish and Mennonite aspect of the book is sorely lacking. Our heroine is supposedly a non-practicing Mennonite, and she is very inconsistent. This is very evident as we see the story from her point of view, and many of her viewpoints contradict each other. One minute she is chastising another person for being prideful, and the next minute she is thinking some horrible thoughts about another person. Just very inconsistent in general, and surely not consistent with Amish and Mennonite beliefs. My second beef with this book is that the whole thing was very easy to figure out. It was so contrived, that I knew quite often what was going to happen before it happened. If I had to give it a term, it is very formulaic, and not very well done at that. And thirdly, this series is promoted as being set in Pennsylvania Dutch country with recipes. I found none of the recipes in this book even remotely appealing, and furthermore, one of the recipes called for several cans of cream soups and such, and I surely know that Penn-Dutch recipes do not rely on such convenience items.

After reading this book, I will most definitely not read another by Tamar Myers. What a disappointment, and I cannot believe that she actually wrote over 2 dozen books, including about 15 of these Pennsylvania Dutch mysteries with recipes! They certainly won't be going on my must-read list anytime soon.

Captain Blood

by Rafael Sabatini

I enjoyed this book immensely. This was written in a classic style, so it did take a few pages to get caught up in the prose and the storytelling, but once I did, I was off for an adventure. Someone who does not know what this book is about may be concerned by the title. Fear not, for at the beginning of this book we meet a young doctor named Peter Blood. This is his story, and what a story he is. How unfortunate circumstances find him bound from his home in England to the South Seas and the New World as a slave. This book actually sheds a lot of light on why many of the pirates of old probably became pirates. And I couldn't help but think of Johnny Depp and Pirates of the Caribbean when I read this book. And I am positive that when he was studying his character for pirates, Johnny familiarized himself with Captain Blood. Because this was a pirate to root for, I wanted him to succeed every step of the way, and at every junction things would run amok and not work out quite the way I expected.

Because of the unexpected turns of events over and over, the ending was also unexpected, and left me smiling and wishing there were just a little more to the story. Fortunately for me, if I wanted to continue on, Rafael Sabatini wrote several more adventures about Peter Blood after the success of his first one. There are also once-successful movies in circulation starring Errol Flynn. And while I won't run out and buy a copy, I will keep an eye out for them to appear on TCM or another classic movie channel some day. I can definitely recommend Captain Blood if you're looking for a swashbuckling adventure, because it's pirates in and out, and just wonderful. Every page is inviting and the writing is beautifully done. A perfect book for cozying in front of the fireplace.

The Dante Club

by Matthew Pearl

Wow. Really, that sums up this novel in one word. Wow. What a fantastic tale of intrigue and mystery and literature.

This story is set in 1865 in the grand city of Boston. We meat a group of men who are attempting to translate Dante's The Divine Comedy into English from it's native Italian for the first time. The men who are working on this translation are none other than famous literary geniuses of old. We have Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and famous publisher J.T. Fields, who rounds out the foursome. While they are working diligently on their translation, the powers that be are set against the translation and subsequent publication. They feel the young American soil, recently ravaged by war, isn't ready for such a gruesome tale.

While working on their translation through "The Dante Club" ,which meets once a week, some gruesome murders occur in their community of education, and these four men stumble upon the reality that someone is committing murder right out of Dante's hellish travels. This books is full of actual historical references, and people of note come into the equation from time to time. This was such a tumultuous time in history, the civil was is still fresh in everyones minds, and the police officer assigned to the Dante murders is the first police officer of color- he isn't even permitted to carry a weapon. With references to actual events in history, this book is a page turner.

I can't tell you how often, while reading this book, I felt myself in Longfellow's study, surrounded by cigar smoke and poets pondering Dante's writings. I wanted them to finish their writings so badly, just as I wanted Lucifer to be caught. After a while, I got a little nervous upon meeting a new character, hoping that they weren't about to become the next victim. I could see these four educated men snooping in their own poetic manner- I could just go on. This novel was a wonder to read. I confess, it took a little while to get into it. The first chapter was overwhelming, and for the faint of heart, this book is not for you. The murders are gruesome, and portrayed very accurately- right out of one of the Cantos of The Divine Comedy.

This novel ranks right up there with the best I've ever read. It was a true page turner- gripping in the sense that I felt caught up in it. It was so well written...Matthew Pearl is clearly a genius, given his pedigree, but his gift for words is mesmerizing. This is the first I have read by him, and I will eagerly seek out The Poe Shadow upon my next trip to the library. I also now have an interest in the works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I can only hope that my small town library can satisfy my curiosity.

On A Highland Shore

by Kathleen Givens.

I loved this book. Loved it. It was definitely a book that I had a hard time putting down, and I'm looking forward to see if the author continues the stories that haven't been told yet.

In the beginning of the book, we meet Margaret MacDonald, a young Scottish woman who is preparing for her marriage. She is to be wed to a relative of the King, helping tie families together. She is excited about her marriage, until she finds her betrothed in bed with her best friend. Tempers flare, and Margaret attempts to have her marriage arrangement forfeited, going as far as seeking an audience with the King to settle the matter. She is told to honor the betrothal and heads for home, determined to figure a way out of her fate. Upon her arrival at home, she meets with disaster, and she is flung into the politics of the Scottish Highlands while still trying to find a way out of her marriage.

I was surprised to learn that this was a romance novel. I am not one to typically pick up a romance novel, and while this did indeed have romance in it, and some fairly accurate bedroom descriptives, it wasn't overwhelming. The romantic part of the story was expertly entwined with actual historic events of 1263. I love reading historic novels that have a little bit of fact and a little bit of fiction expertly woven together, and this is just such a story. I found myself rooting wholeheartedly for the Scots and their Irish allies who come to their aid when needed.

This book read like a movie. I could see the grey skies and the mountainous terrain as they were described. I could see Margaret standing on the shore, the wind swirling her hair and dress around her as she lamented her coming marriage. Overall, it was wonderful. And with a slight warning that there is one "bedroom encounter" in the book, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun book to read. Something to get lost in for a few hours...

One Mississippi

by Mark Childress

I enjoyed this book for the most part. It's a coming of age novel, set in 1973 in rural Mississippi. The schools have just been integrated by law, and the views of the general public are quite conservative. Our main character, Daniel, has an extremely dysfunctional family that provides plenty of comic to this book. Upon his arrival at Minor High School, Daniel finds a new best friend, Tim, and they journey through their Junior year of high school together. This book is full of friendship and high school events that really have you rooting for Daniel through the whole thing. Both Daniel and Tim have secrets that they hide from each other, and while the author tries hard to keep things hidden, it really didn't take me long to put together Tim's secret, which added a whole new dimension to the book.

Overall, this is fiction set in high school, and may not be the type of book a grown adult would want to curl up with. And while I did enjoy the story, it was a little advanced for a younger high-schooler. There are definitely some adult situations and the setting sometimes didn't match up with the content. Some of the issues confronted in this book include religion, drugs, homosexuality, and school violence. The content was much more suited to the time period of today, and other than a fascination with Sonny and Cher, I fail to see why the author chose to set this story in 1973, other than the issue of racial integration. I guess having said that, the book is inconsistent in that regard, but still enjoyable.

I'll be honest though, I didn't care much for the ending. There were many unresolved issues, and it felt like the ending came on much too quickly, and then tidied up too nicely. So do I recommend this book? Yes, if you're looking for an an enjoyable story that takes you back to high school. If you're looking for something with depth... this may not be the book for you.

the realm of secondhand souls

by Sandra Shea


Well, this makes two in a row. This one though, had promise. It opened with a beautiful and intense birthing scene, and immediately I wanted to know more about these characters and how they would develop. But they never really did. The book was beautifully written. Sandra Shea has a beautiful prose style and her descriptions are wonderful. There just wasn't any substance behind the descriptions, and when so much attention was given to the details, it seems that the characters were forgotten.

I also need to preface here that I enjoy reading fantasy, and this promised to be a sort of fantasy. Instead it dug into the idea of magical realism, and it just didn't make sense to me. I can suspend reality and get lost in a book about another land, another world, or an alternate history. I can even get into talking animals and trees sometimes. But I just can't get into a book where clothing has a persona, where objects represent people... I just can't seem to grasp that concept.

I think I would have enjoyed this book more if it flowed a little better. There were just some things that didn't make sense to me, and there really were many ideas that were left unfinished. I wanted more of a dynamic between the characters, and I think that's where this book failed most. The interaction was sparse, and when it did occur it felt contrived, and often times out of place. Not a recommended read by me, but if you enjoy books about magical realism, then you may enjoy this one.

In The Land of Second Chances

by George Shaffner


This book makes me regret picking up a random book and reading it. That's usually how I choose my reading material- I just grab and read the synopsis. Most often, if the synopsis catches my attention, I'll enjoy the book. This book... not so much. It was a very quick read, and for that I am grateful to the author. But his style of writing leaves a lot to be desired. He writes in this rambling prose that at times, seems to contain run-on sentences and dropped ideas, without actually HAVING run on sentences. It really read as if it was written by a junior high age kid. The characters were void of any depth, and I really had a hard time placing them in the story. The woman who is telling the story is supposed to be older, with grown adult children and grandchildren, yet her tone was that of a twenty-something. The characters were just poorly developed. The whole story was very predictable, and to be honest, I am angry with myself for trudging through and reading the whole thing. Even more shocking is the fact that this is part of a trilogy, which makes me wonder if just anyone can proclaim themselves an author these days.

In short, don't read this book. The story COULD be good if it were original, sadly, it was reminiscent of The First Wives Club with The Music Man thrown in for good measure. Just take my advice, put the book down, and back away.