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The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall: Book Review

Taking place before The Russian Concubine, The Jewel of St. Petersburg tells the story of Valentina Ivanova and Jens Friis as they meet during the fall of the Russian monarchy. Valentina is the privileged daughter of a wealthy Russian minister and Jens is a Danish engineer, working to improve the overall water quality in St. Petersburg. The two are immediately drawn to each other, even as their world is falling into chaos around them. Well, first things first. At least I know where this title came from--The Russian Concubine still doesn't make sense to me! I found this to be a page-turner. It took me a couple of days, but really I read it in just a couple of sittings. Even though I knew how this was going to end up--an irritation of prequels--I still wanted to know how they got where they did. Jens was wonderful. The big, gentle, Viking-looking type is right up my alley. You know he could get all bad-ass if he wanted to, but it doesn't cross his mind until someone he loves is threatened. He loves Russia but still sees that there are great flaws in the system and in the tsar. He understands where the revolutionaries are coming from but he believes their methods are completely wrong. He believes in working within the system rather than causing a national bloodbath. In his own small way, he's trying to improve the lives of the Russian poor. They keep getting sick because they don't have clean water to drink, and those forced to live in basements frequently get flooded out. By improving the water delivery system and the sewage system, he's making everyone's lives better. When injuries happen on his job sites, and they often do due to lack of funding for proper safety procedures,…

The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey: Book Review

Elena Klovis is badly mistreated by her stepmother. She is forced to clean the house, cook the food, and dress her stepmother and her two stepsisters, while she herself dresses in rags and goes hungry. Sound familiar? That's because Elena is supposed to be her kingdom's Cinderella. But her "Prince Charming" is completely wrong for her. So magic just keeps building and building around her. Finally, Elena's Fairy Godmother steps in with a most unusual offer. Elena's life is changed in a way that she could never have foretold. But will there eventually be a happily-ever-after for her? I loved the whole concept of this story. I love fairy tales and I love to see twists on fairy tales. This one was a lot of fun and it really wasn't very predictable. It was a fun, light read, and I would recommend it to other fans of fairy tales. Two things though: First, I was sort of thinking that my little cousin, a fan of all things princess and fairy, might enjoy having this book read aloud to her. Then I got to the sex scenes. There were probably only two, and they were pretty lightweight, but they were still there, so keep that in mind if you're thinking of the little princess in your life. Second, I've read several of Mercedes Lackey's books, and I would love to be her copyeditor. She absolutely kills me. She generally tells interesting, original stories, but the copyeditor whose red ink swirls through my veins cringes through her books. I would disable her italics key right off the bat. I don't mind the convention she uses of having a character's thoughts in italics. That actually makes things a little clearer. But I'm glancing through the book right now and it's almost impossible to…

Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland: Book Review

Girl in Hyacinth Blue follows the path of a painting, possibly by Vermeer, from an aloof math professor backwards to the painter and the subject. Each owner has a different story to tell, and even a little bit of a different relationship to the painting, but they all love it and find echoes of something they feel inside themselves inside the painting. And isn't that sort of the point of truly great art? The novel itself has the feel of a short story collection. Each chapter is about a different owner and is a complete story unto itself. The novel never feels choppy though. But--the writing. Beautiful. It lived up to the painting that I painted inside my head. I truly saw the landscapes Susan Vreeland paints with her words and I truly felt involved with each character's story. If you love beautiful language, or you love beautiful art, read this book. It's just gorgeous. Reviewed December 19, 2007

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón: Book Review

Daniel Sempere's father takes him to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books when he's ten years old. One of the cemetery rules is that on your first visit, you choose a book, take it with you, and protect it forever. Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. Daniel falls in love with this exquisitely written book and is puzzled when he find out that very few copies of the book ever sold and that his copy is one of the few still in existence. He sets out to find out more about the author of the book that he loves so much, never dreaming of the secrets he will uncover over the next ten years. I don't think I've ever read many, if any, books by Spanish authors. So I'm reading along, starting to fall under this book's spell, and I all of a sudden started thinking about the movie "Pan's Labyrinth." Then I started worrying that maybe that brutal kind of sucker punch that happened at the end of the movie was a trademark of Spanish writers in general. And I think that affected the way I read the rest of the book. I think that if I ever go back and re-read it, I will enjoy it more. But this time around, I was afraid to let myself get too attached to anyone. Weird, I know. I wish that hadn't happened. All in all, this was a really good book. It had that melodramatic feel that I've loved in Jane Eyre and The Thirteenth Tale. There were several twists and turns that grabbed me and almost shouted, "This isn't going where you think it is! Pay attention!" When I could let go of my weird "Pan's Labyrinth" thing, I caught myself wandering through the house, holding…

Shadow of the Swords by Kamran Pasha: Book Review

The famous Muslim leader Saladin believes that he has finally driven the Christian crusaders from Israel's shores. The King of Jerusalem has surrendered, most other nobles have gone home, and there's only a small, stubborn contingent to deal with outside the town of Acre. Newly-crowned King Richard I of England (Richard the Lionheart) sees this as his chance to win everlasting fame and glory. He rallies his forces to travel back to Israel and try again. With his brilliant strategies and fearless leadership, the Muslims won't know what hit them. I guess in a nutshell you could say that this is the story of the Third Crusade told from a Muslim point of view. I found it incredibly interesting. It's always a little--what's the word?--enlightening to see things from the "enemy's" point of view. This took place so long ago that I didn't go into it feeling invested one way or another. Still, if you learn anything about the Crusades in school in the Western world (and I don't remember learning much), it's probably that the Christian knights were fighting to take the Holy Land back from the "infidels." I found it fascinating to see what the Muslims thought of Westerners at that time. Of course they saw them as infidels also. But they also saw them as dirty, ignorant, and without honor. They were medically and scientifically advanced and I'm guessing that Europeans hadn't progressed past leeches and wouldn't for several hundred years. The book opens with Saladin re-taking Jerusalem. The Christians still living in the city are cowering in fear, knowing how their soldiers had treated the Muslims when they took the city earlier. Saladin makes it clear that he's not going to harm anyone. The war is over, enough people have died, and if you don't harm…

Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian: Book Review

5 Stars. This was absolutely amazing. I just grabbed this at the library because I remembered it was on my to-read list, but I had forgotten what it was about. Once I read the book jacket, I was so excited. I told my husband, "This sounds like a book I can sink my teeth into!" I wasn't disappointed. The best part about the book [...]

Fireworks over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff: Book Review

Lily Davis was only 17 when she married a boy she had known for a short time. He was shipping out to WWII soon as a supply man for Coca-Cola and it seemed like the thing to do before he went away. Three years later, her hometown of Toccoa, Georgia has scheduled a big homecoming party for all the returning soldiers, including parades and fireworks. Lily stumbles into Jake Russo, the fireworks man, as he's setting up his show and he opens up a world of possibilities for her. This just isn't my kind of book. I love the cover, I love that it's set at the end of World War II in a town that isn't that far from my own. I was a little afraid that it would have more in common with a Nicholas Sparks novel than I would like, but I took a chance on it anyway. As far as I'm concerned, it could have been written by Nicholas Sparks. Not that there's anything wrong with this book or anything that Sparks has written, it's just not my taste. Tell me that a book was "so good you cried for the last 50 pages," and I will avoid that book like the plague. Not for me. And that's the kind of book this is. I did like Lily. She's a headstrong woman living in a time and place where her opinions and actions are frowned upon. Her mother is trying to mold her into the perfect Southern matron, but Lily is chafing against that lifestyle. It's probably telling of my taste in books and Lily's character when I say that my favorite scene involved Lily assisting a black soldier passing through town. I liked Jake too. What a hottie with surprising depths! There's so much to him…

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly: Book Review

“Um, and what about ‘happily ever after’?” asked David, a little uncertainly. “What does that mean?” “Eaten quickly,” said Brother Number One. That should give you an idea what you’re up against with this novel. Twelve-year-old David finds himself in a fairytale kingdom one night, but this kingdom isn’t exactly the way he expected it would be after reading his favorite stories. I’m a sucker for fairy tale retellings, so I was biased in favor of this from the beginning. But this novel worked in several different ways. On the surface, it could just be read as a big adventure story/mash-up of a lot of the classic fairy tales. But David learns a lot about confronting his fears, jealousies, and all the worst parts of himself. I have to say that the tone was fairly dark throughout, so I really had no idea how everything was going to turn out in the end. There were funny moments, and Snow White’s part absolutely cracked me up. It was worth reading this for that scene alone! Apparently, some editions have some sort of appendix at the back with all the original fairy tales and how they were worked into the story. My copy, the blue one, for what it’s worth, doesn’t have any of that. I think it would definitely be worth it to look for the editions with the extra information. The red ones? I’m sure I got the obvious references, but there may have been some that I completely missed. I highly recommend this, especially if you like a well-written remake of fairy tales.

Lumby on the Air by Gail Fraser: Book Review

Pam and Mark Walker are celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary by inviting their families to stay at their bed-and-breakfast for a week. As in all families, there are some underlying issues that make the prospect of spending a week together a bit...interesting. Luckily, the county fair is in town that week, so everyone has plenty to do, if Mark can just make it through all the various competitions intact! What a sweet book! Just what I needed. This is the fifth in a series. I haven't read the others, but I picked up on the story with no problems. There were a few serious underlying ideas, like redemption, a teen's need to fit in at any cost, those family issues, and how the sale of a large tract of land to the wrong person can change a community's character forever. Linking all of these together was the question of how responsible we are to each other. Mostly this was just a nice story with repaired family relationships, a community that looks out for everyone, and Mark's crazy antics to lighten everything up. Seriously, who enters a chainsaw art competition when they've never done anything like that before? Overseeing it all is the town's mascot, Hank, a plastic pink flamingo who longs to be an eagle. I loved the newspaper excerpts! They added a perfect little taste of small-town life. I have to say that the resolution to the angsty teen didn't feel drastic enough. I didn't quite buy it. But the whole book is more of an escape than anything, so it did fit with the tone of everything else. I also could have used a cast of characters. I lost track of who everyone was. This is where it might have helped if I'd read the books in the…

Duchess of Aquitaine by Margaret Ball: Book Review

This review is full of spoilers if you don't know anything about Eleanor of Aquitaine. This is (obviously) the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine, from the time of her father's death to her divorce from whichever King Louis of France (that was never made clear). She plots to become Queen, goes on Crusade, and then divorces her weak, religious husband. This book was okay. I've heard of Eleanor, of course, but I didn't know much about her. I did learn some things, but the pacing of the book was all wrong for me. The part where she's trying to choose a husband who will help her hold her father's lands was pretty quick. All of a sudden, she was a queen. Then she was an unhappy, bored, unappreciated queen. That part dragged on and on. Then she went on Crusade with her husband, on his orders. This was actually pretty interesting. She meets the Emperor of Constantinople, she sees fighting, she discusses strategy with the local leaders, and then her husband grows a backbone, tells her he's doing everything his way, and she'll be quiet and like it. Flash forward about three years. We've read what feels like her every waking thought for the previous ten or so years, but just when it gets interesting and she starts to show what she's capable of, we just flash forward. I was disappointed. Then she gets divorced from the mostly spineless King Louis and outwits him to marry Henry Plantagenet. And they lived happily ever after? Who knows? This is where the author just decided to stop. For me, there was way too much of the parts I didn't care about and very little of the parts that were interesting. The character of Eleanor was very well-developed. I was interested in her…