Monthly Archives: December 2011

Wrapping up 2011!

Posted on December 31, 2011
by

It’s that time of year again.  Last year, on December 31, 2010 I made a resolution, that being:

I will continue to work toward being fair and thoughtful in each of my reviews this upcoming year and to make certain that I continue to look for ways to improve.

I hope I’ve fulfilled that and that you have all enjoyed the reviews I’ve continued to offer here on the blog.

January 2 will mark the official “two year” anniversary of The Lost Entwife.  Technically, I began reviewing books in October of 2009, but I moved away from the WordPress.com site on January 2, 2010 to become an entity all of my own.  I’ve had so much fun over the last two years sharing my love of books with you all, and hope to continue that tradition in 2012.

2011 saw quite a few changes for me.  I moved from Atlanta, GA back to my hometown of Washington, IL in June, leaving behind my niece and nephew, who I helped care for for four years.  It was a difficult, but necessary choice to make.  I enrolled in school, first online while taking care of my niece and nephew, and then transferring to a small, Liberal Arts college in Eureka, IL (Ronald Reagan’s alma mater!).  I decided to finish my Music Performance degree and began to play piano seriously again, as well as double-major in an English-Literature program.  It’s been challenging, but good and, in spite of a major car accident two weeks after school started in the fall, I still managed to pull out a 3.79 GPA.

2012 will see some new things here on the blog.  I am hosting my first challenge, so spread the news!  The 2012 Western Genre Challenge should be a lot of fun, and will finally get me reading those Zane Grey books my dad keeps bugging me to check out.  I also have something very special planned for June of 2012, and will be announcing that event sometime in March – so watch for it!

This year I wanted to focus on getting re-reading done, and I did.  I re-read books I’ve been aching to pull off my shelves, and re-established how much re-reading does mean to me.  For 2012, my resolution is to re-read at least 2 books a month.  It doesn’t seem like much, but there are so many books on my TBR and review piles that I think it’s a reasonable goal.

I also want to make a serious dent into the canon of literature – many of which are listed on the 1001 books challenge.  I’ll be reading a bit more deliberately to that end, and cannot wait to see what I can accomplish.

So here are some fun stats for you all:

  • Books read in 2011 (full list of books read is here): 244
  • Books reviewed (and posted to blog) in 2011: 229
  • Books re-read: 13
  • Challenges completed in 2011: 2

And now, for one of my favorite times of the year – the best and worst list of 2011.  If you are interested in previous years Best/Worst lists here they are:

The Best and Worst Books Read in 2009

 

The Best and Worst Books Read in 2010

 

Top Reads in 2011 (by month):

Least Favorite reads in 2011 (by month):

So why do I include this list?  Because I have to have balance.  I dislike putting a list up of 10 books that I adored without also saying, look.. I loved books this year, but there were some books I didn’t love as much.  While I do try to be fair and to respect the authors work – these books just didn’t work for me.  If they worked for you, I’m glad! For both you and the author and I respect your opinion on them.  But yeah, I have to have a listing of the top and least favorite or it would make me a little nutty.

I hope you have a Happy New Year! Take time to read – it’s worth it!  See you all in 2012!


[ 3 Replies ]

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Posted on December 30, 2011
by
Order from:

 

Reason for Reading:
  • This book has been on my TBR since 2009.  I watched the movie, so I had to read the book!

I also  recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Sue Monk Kidd’s ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily’s fierce-hearted “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen, insults three of the town’s fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina–a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love–a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

My Review:

I get so conflicted with books like this.  Part of me feels like if I gush over it, I’ll be one of those white women who thinks that she can fully understand the issues African-American women faced back in the 60′s.. and part of me feels like if I criticize it (and thereby criticize myself for actually reading, and enjoying the story), that I’ll be fake and hypocritical.

So what do you do in that situation?

Lily’s story was, to me, like a really bad car accident in that it was hard to look away.  It wasn’t uplifting to me, or enlightening.  I thought it dealt well with the issues of guilt a girl could feel by being the cause of her mother’s death, I enjoyed reading about the sisters, the wailing wall, and the beekeeping.

However, the little quotes at the beginning of the chapter, and the feeling of self-centered-ness I got from Lily (and yes, I know she’s a child, but the book really seemed like it was unfairly tilted in her direction and the other women present were cast in the role of glorified support characters) kind of gave me a bad taste.  It felt as if the book was intended to be a sentimental story, targeting white women, in an effort to make us feel better about ourselves and how far we’ve come.

Again – that could have been me just being overly sensitive.

Anyways – I think I enjoyed reading the book about as much as I enjoyed watching the movie.  Once was enough – I think I’ll stick with a little more substance though for the next read.

Check out these reviews!

A Novel Menagerie

Books Without Any Pictures

[ 2 Replies ]

Of Faith and Fidelity by Evan Ostryzniuk

Posted on December 29, 2011
by
Order from:

 

Reason for Reading:
  • I have a thing for books about orphans. I can’t resist them!

I also  recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

As the papal wars of the Western Schism rage across Europe, a young man takes his first step on the journey of a lifetime.

Geoffrey Hotspur dreams of knighthood. As an English orphan-squire bonded to the court of Sir John of Gaunt, uncle of the English King Richard II, his prospects are few.

An inveterate gambler already deep in debt, young Geoffrey accepts an invitation to participate in a raid on French lands. His plans go awry, however, after a deadly street brawl results in his banishment from court. As further punishment, he is ordered to join a royal commission bound for Florence.

Accompanied by Jean Lagoustine, a mysterious Frenchman whose intentions towards the young squire are not all they appear to be, the ship upon which they journey is waylaid by corsairs. Barely escaping with their lives, Geoffrey and Jean find themselves forming part of a company of Catalonian crossbowmen en route to enlist with the Roman papal army.


My Review:

I am not sure how to review this book.  I really struggled with this one – but that’s not to say that I didn’t like it.  Just that I really struggled while reading it.

I’m not much of a war/wars type of reader.  I enjoy reading about the more personal (well, enjoy isn’t the word, but I find the more personal aspects easier to read) side, but not so much the strategy, historical facts, and world-building around the wars.  Which is funny to me, because I love world-building in fantasy books.

There’s a lot of building in this book.  A lot.  And it’s very frustrating if you aren’t already familiar with the historical basis behind it all.  I felt like I’d walked into a college level history course mid-way through the semester.  It was bewildering and I think I spent the first 30% of the book trying to get my bearings and wishing the story would just stay put on one character.

Because I loved Geoffrey Hotspur.  That character made me laugh so much, although I’m sure not all of it was intentional.  He was deliciously flawed, filled with life, and I wanted to cry every time the story veered away from him.

This book will take a commitment from you.  It’s over 400 pages long, and you will walk away having learned so much information when all is said and done.  Just prepare for it, set aside the time to really  read the novel, and do not be tempted to skim.  It won’t help, trust me.  You’ll just go back and have to read and re-read it again.

Check out these reviews!

Sawcats Book Blog

Living, Learning, and Loving Life

[ 2 Replies ]

The Hermetica of Elysium by Annmarie Banks

Posted on December 28, 2011
by
Order from:

 

Reason for Reading:
  • Medieval adventure? Sounds fun!

I also  recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

1494 Barcelona. As Torquemada lights the fires of religious fervor throughout the cities of Spain, accused heretics are not the only victims. Thousands of books and manuscripts are lost to the flames as the Black Friars attempt to purge Europe of the ancient secrets of the gods and the bold new ideas that are ushering in the Renaissance.

Nadira lives a dreary life as servant to a wealthy spice merchant until the night a dying scholar is brought to the merchant’s stable, beaten by mercenaries who are on the hunt for The Hermetica of Elysium. To Nadira, words are her life: she lives them as her master’s scrivener and dreams them in her mother’s poetry. She is pursued as passionately as the fabled manuscript for her rare skill as a reader of Ancient Greek, Latin, Arabic and Hebrew that makes her valuable to men who pursue the book to exploit its magic.

Kidnapped by Baron Montrose, an adventurous nobleman, she is forced to read from the Hermetica. It is soon revealed to her that ideas and words are more powerful than steel or fire for within its pages are the words that incite the Dominicans to religious fervor, give the Templars their power and reveal the lost mysteries of Elysium.

My Review:

I. loved. this. book.

Gutsy heroine? Check.  Intelligence? Check.  Action and Adventure? Check.  A touch of romance? Check. Fantastic setting? Check.

Seriously – everything needed to make a very interesting, historical novel that is very, very, very difficult to put down.

Nadira is a special creature.  Yes, she’s bartered about the men in her life, but it isn’t for her body – oh no, it’s for her mind.  You see, she speaks quite a few languages, and has been called upon to help with translation.  She is treated well by each one of her “captors”, and as the story unfolds it becomes apparent that, indeed, she is something special.

I ended up reading quite a few historical novels, set in medieval times this year.  There have been a few disappointments, a few surprises, and some books that end up being the best books I’ve read in quite some time.  While The Hermetica of Elysium doesn’t really rank that high, I will say it’s one of the best medieval books I’ve ever read.  I really enjoyed strong Nadira, I loved that the book could be so clean without seeming unbelievable.  This author is a definite “must watch” on my list of authors and I cannot wait for book two to be released next year.

Check out these reviews!

Layers of Thought

A Bookish Affair

[ 2 Replies ]

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Posted on December 27, 2011
by
Order from:

 

Reason for Reading:
  • I was a big fan of Anna and the French Kiss by the same author and, honestly, Stephanie Perkins is SO HYPED by the book blog community, how can you be a part of it and not read her books!?

I also  recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit — more sparkly, more fun, more wild — the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket — a gifted inventor — steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

My Review:

I’m going to jump on the Cricket bandwagon.  I. loved. him.

However, I do not love his name. Cricket, Stephanie?  Why Cricket?  And here I thought you couldn’t get worse than Etienne St. Clair.  I mean, you have these awesome, traditional, if somewhat old-fashioned, girls names with Anna and Lola.. but what is going on with the boy names?!  It’s just so hard to take a guy named Cricket seriously.

Speaking of Anna and St. Clair – LOVE the cameo’s here.

So the things I didn’t agree with, or that gave me a bad feeling from Anna and her story were still a bit present in this one.  I’m not sure why these stories need to have an element of breaking hearts through the whole flirting-with-cheating storyline, but I am really hoping the third companion book to these will see an end to that little bit.  I didn’t like it in Glee Season 1, I don’t like it here.

But I do love everything else.  I love Lola’s sense of fashion, her two dads, her family dynamics, the tension with Calliope, the best friend, the gorgeous boy next door, the history between them … I could go on and on, but most of all it boils down to just digging with Stephanie Perkins does to make what might otherwise be a hum-drum, teenage story into something like a party in between the pages.

Because that’s what this book is.  It’s a book party.  It makes me happy, giddy, and feel like I”m 16 years old again.

If you loved Anna, you are gonna love this book.  You haven’t read either of them?  Then get off your butt and do so! Libraries, book stores, and friends (I’m sure) will have them laying about, so fix it!

 

Check out these reviews!

Johan Unwound

Geeky Girl Reviews

[ 2 Replies ]

The Resurrection by Mike Duran

Posted on December 26, 2011
by
Order from:

 

Reason for Reading:
  • This was a finalist for the 2011 INSPY awards.

I also  recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

In the graveyard overlooking the city of Stonetree, a petrified oak broods. It’s a monstrous thing, not just because of its size, but because of who was murdered there. When Ruby Case limped into church that spring morning, she was not thinking about haunted trees. Mother of two young boys and wife to a backslidden believer, she faithfully prays for God’s visitation upon the city. Yet when she inexplicably raises a boy from the dead, Ruby gets more than she bargained for. The resurrection creates uproar in the quiet coastal town, turning Ruby into both a celebrity and a scapegoat. When Reverend Ian Clark joins Ruby in a search for answers it leads to a collision with unspeakable darkness. Together, they quickly realize that Ruby woke more than a dead boy, and the secrets she unleashed now threaten to destroy them all. Can they overcome their own brokenness before they become victims of an insidious evil?

My Review:

Yet another of the books nominated for the 2011 INSPY awards, and one that definitely kept me reading until the end.

When I was in college (the first time around), we lived in a town that experienced quite a bit of spiritual warfare.  There were strange things that would happen, quite a few stories drifting around, and even a tragedy which made the national news.  It was a place that always had me feeling as if it was dark outside, even when the light was there, and a place that saw some things happen to me which have remained with me (in not a good way) since.

I don’t know how much of that was all spiritual warfare, and how much was just plain bad luck, but this book brought to mind a lot of these events, making it a difficult read for me.  The story was a fascinating one – a young woman, upon visiting a funeral, touches the boy who should not have died, and he comes back to life.  The way the family has to deal with the aftereffects, the church’s method of handling things, and the town’s history all end up knitting together to create an interesting story – but also a story that needed a bit of polish to make it really good.

For example – if you are going to name your book after an event like a resurrection, I think the story really needs to center more around that specific event, rather than just using it as a catalyst for something else that’s going on.  I never quite understood WHY the resurrection happened, even though I understand why everything else was happening.  This is a big pet peeve for me – using a name or an event or a disability/illness as a hook into a story about something else.  Although it wasn’t quite that bad with The Resurrection, I still was left a bit bewildered.

The Resurrection did not win the INSPY awards this year, but I think Mike Duran has the potential to write something that, in the future, will give that award a run for its figurative money.  Overall, The Resurrection made me think, provided me with a good story, and also opened my eyes to this author and the potential he has for future books.

 

Check out these reviews!

Writing for Christ

Live Simply, Simply Love

[ 4 Replies ]

It’s Monday, what are you reading?

Posted on December 25, 2011
by

This meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Such a busy week!  Wedding plans are still going on for my sister, who is getting married on the 27th, Christmas is this Sunday, and as of Friday – I FINALLY own a car again!  It’s a cute little 2010 Kia Soul, and I’ve named it Aretha Franklin (my mom insists on calling her “Frankie”) ((Also, if you eat food in her I’ve decided it would be “soul food”)) (((yes, the jokes keep on coming))).   =)

2012 is coming up – can you believe it? It really feels like just yesterday we were having the Y2K scares and now it’ll be TWELVE years since that time!  2012 will also kick off my third year of book blogging, and it’s been a great ride.  While you are here, be sure to check out the information on my 2012 Western Genre Challenge - have some great prizes happening there!  Spread the news, I’d be so grateful!

While you are here be sure to check out the third post in my annual series of five gift recommendations for the readers in your lives!  This week I featured books that’ll make you think.

Books I’ve read this past week (Links to reviews):

  1. All the Flowers in Shanghai by Duncan Jepson
  2. Pere Goriot by Honore de Balzac
  3. Ganymede by Cherie Priest
  4. The Bone People by Keri Hulme
Books reviewed this past week:
  1. The Charlatan’s Boy by Jonathan Rogers
  2. Harald Hadrada by Michael Burr
  3. The Falling Away by T.L. Hines

Books to read this week:

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg

My Antonia by  Willa Cather

If You Ask Me (and of course you won’t) by Betty White



[ 7 Replies ]

Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2011
by

I hope you all have a wonderful, love-filled holiday! 

[ 2 Replies ]

The Falling Away by T.L. Hines

Posted on December 24, 2011
by
Order from:

 

Reason for Reading:
  • This was a finalist for the 2011 INSPY awards.

I also  recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Native America Dylan Runs Ahead is running away. He ran from the Crow Reservation where he grew up because he felt responsible for his sister’s disappearance. He ran to the Army, but after his leg was mangled and his buddy was killed when a bomb exploded, he had to escape from those memories too. Now he’s gotten mixed up in the wrong line of business and he’s running from people who would prefer him dead.

But then he meets a woman named Quinn. She claims to see things that others don’t and tells him that he’s “chosen.” Oddly enough, his buddy in Iraq kept telling him the same thing. Before Dylan Runs Ahead can figure out what that really means, though, he’s going to have to stop and face the demons–both literal and figurative–that he’s been running from.

My Review:

Okay – first of all, I really loved the Native American aspect of this book.  Among other things, it really reminded me that I need to devote some time to reading some Native American literature.  I really have no excuse right now, because one of my professors wrote her dissertation on a Native American author, as well as wrote an Encyclopedia of Native American works and authors.

That said, The Falling Away is part-thriller, part-supernatural, part-just-plain-creepy-Twilight-zone-esque, story.  It has got it all, folks. Murder, running from the law, spiritual warfare, crazy cults, science fiction, drugs, smuggling – you name it, it’s an edge of your seat, this book is not going to let you put it down thriller.

It also won the 2011 INSPY awards.

I was really impressed, overall, with the quality of books being nominated this year, and I really, really enjoyed this piece of fiction.  I’m not always the biggest fan of Christian or Inspirational literature – so I consider myself to be rather tough on these type of books, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one – which tells you something!

That all said, I will say – in the interest of full disclosure, that there were parts that had me a bit confused.  The whole “chosen” bit, and the warriors seemed really vague – almost as if Hines didn’t want to cross any lines by making it seem like corny Christian-speak.  I got that Quinn was considered to be a type of “Warrior” against the dark agents (I almost said force, y’all, I really have been watching too many Star Wars reruns on TV).  But until things started to get knitted together at the end, I admit to being in a bit of a fog and fairly confused as a result.

Still, The Falling Away is a worthwhile read, and the perfect book to those who love both inspirational as well as science fiction/paranormal type books.

 

Check out these reviews!

Johan Unwound

Geeky Girl Reviews

Leave a Reply ?

Harald Hardrada: The Last Viking by Michael Burr

Posted on December 23, 2011
by
Order from:

 

Reason for Reading:
  • This book was pitched to me by Knox Publishing and I figured I could use a little education on the Vikings =)

I also  recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

In the dead of night, a band of Vikings ravage a lonely convent on the Brittany coast –and their fearsome leader makes a decision that will eventually lead to his downfall.

Ranulf de Lannion is fifteen years old. Crippled, deformed and abandoned by his family to the charity of the convent, he is seized by the Vikings during a midnight raid. Contemptuously nicknamed ‘The Scraeling” by his captors, his future appears grim.

Harald Sigurdsson, or ‘Hardrada’ as he will come to be known, is the leader of the Viking band. A violent mercenary with designs on the throne of Norway, Hardrada abducts The Scraeling on a whim.

Ranulf grows into an invaluable asset, smoothing Hardrada’s path over their thirty-five years together from mercenary to commander of the Varangian Guard, all the way to king of Norway.

My Review:

Between Linguistics and early British Literature this past semester, I got a crash course in the beginnings of the English language.  I watched YouTube movies, listened to lectures, experienced Old English (and read some of it out loud!), and got to read (for the first time) Beowulf and discuss it.  So some of what I was reading and expecting to read in Harald Hadrada did not come as a surprise.

What did come as a surprise was just how violently I reacted to the initial part of the story.  It was just so.. graphic and horrifying.  I know that’s how things were, how the “Spoils of war” were treated, but reading it put down there on the page just really made it hit home to me.

So, needless to say, I was on the side of the “Scraeling” throughout the entire story.

Harald Hardrada is based on the true story of Harald, the “last” Viking.  It chronicles his life through the eyes of his young squire, the “Scraeling”, a boy picked up after a raid on a convent that leaves the nuns raped and murdered.  The boy is crippled, due to a break in his hip and it being set wrong, but has incredibly high intelligence and does much for Harald’s campaigns and his victories.  But it’s all for a purpose.

This book was dense with history, facts and battles.  It read like watching a chess game between two matches is like.  I really had to keep my mind focused on each detail in order to fully grasp what was happening and see the effects of those actions coming.  I found it to be intellectually stimulating, engaging, and it has since been the topic of not a few conversations with friends.

Check out these reviews!

Susan Heim

To Read, Perchance to Dream

[ 2 Replies ]