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Wow, things have been somewhat crazy around here for the last week or so! I was so sad not to be able to find the time to put up Two-Sided Tuesday last week, but I had a great idea then and I’ll be using it now!

I remember the first time I saw this book in Barnes and Noble.  I was immediately caught by the cover and title and thought to myself “Hmm, I haven’t read a book on witches in a long time”.  What’s funny (at least to me) is my book club last month had to make our selections for the next six months and this book was proposed for the same exact reason.  Unfortunately, by that time I’d already read this book and had been completely underwhelmed by it.

Here’s what I did love about the book – the setting was fantastic and the premise was really quite a good one.  I wanted to know more about the history and to explore the believable aspect of the story but instead was plunged into some kind of murder mystery that was predictable, a little too over the edge and turned the book into a paranormal cross of historic/modern fiction instead of the plain historic fiction I’d been looking for.

Then I stumbled across this book:

Before I talk about this book I want to let you know; this is not a book on the Salem witch trials.  This book pre-dates that by almost 200 years and takes place in Germany.

This book revolved around the Malleus Maleficarum (“The Witch’s Hammer”).  Through the eyes of a family (grandmother, mother and daughter) we follow the story of what it was like to be a healing woman in a village during a time when the Malleus Maleficarum was a prominent book with the clergy and when everyone was on the lookout for a “witch”.  The author very carefully and accurately approached the trials of these women and, although horrified, I was unable to put the book down due to the immediate and forceful connection I felt to the characters.  It delivered exactly what I had been looking for in Deliverance Dane and I highly recommend it to those seeking a book about witch trials.

You can see my review of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane here.

You can see my review of The Witch’s Trinity here.

Do you have a Two-Sided Tuesday?  Enter your link here!

Sheila from One Person’s Journey through a World of Books hosts this meme and I love to participate in it!  Head on over and check out her blog and the great participants there.

While you are here, be sure to check out my giveaway of A.S. Peterson’s The Fiddler’s Gun! It ends this week, so hop on over there and enter!

Books I read this past week:

1. The Bridegrooms by Allison Pittman
2. Unknown by Rachel Caine
3. The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason
4. The Girl with the Glass Feet by Ali Shaw
5. Coming of the Storm by Kathleen and W. Michael Gear

Currently Reading:

1. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

Books to read this week:

1. Dancing for Degas by Kathryn Wagner
2. The Good Son by Russel McLean
3. Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
4. Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
5. The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson
6. The Kingdom Keepers II by Ridley Pearson

How have I ever managed to get along without Paperbackswap.com?  I’m having a blast trading in those books I know I won’t read again for books to fill out the series’ that I’ve been woefully neglecting.

This week wasn’t as busy bookwise as last week was (no library sale), but I still had a blast!

In my Mailbox (Hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren):

1. Artemis Fowl, the Arctic Incident by Eoin Coifer
2. Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan (Thanks Kari!)
3. Indivisible by Kristen Heitzmann (Extra one for Giveaway coming up!)
4. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith

Purchased this Week:

1. None

Library Loot:

1. None

Coming of the Storm: Book One of Contact: The Battle for America by Kathleen O’Neal Gear

Buy on Amazon

This book was FANTASTIC. I first saw the cover (and it’s a gorgeous one) on a GoodReads ad and, after looking it up, decided I needed to add some Native American stories to the books I read. I don’t think I could have picked a better book to start off with.

At first I was a bit intimidated by its size and wasn’t sure if I was going to really be in the mood for it, as I’ve had it checked out for a few weeks from the library. Now I’m kicking myself for not reading it more quickly (and hating that it ended so fast despite its 480 pages). I am eagerly awaiting the sequel and in the meantime fully plan on checking out the Gears other series named The First North American.

These authors are a husband and wife team, both of them archaeologists and it’s very easily apparent that their love is the Native American culture. This story dealt with what it would have been like to have the “Kristianos” invading our country. The story follows that of an outcast, “Black Shell” who is a Trader and a man of strong faith and a woman he meets, “Pearl Hand”, who, in her own rights, is as strong and full of faith as he is.

The story is brutal, frank and doesn’t mince words. Faults and strengths are laid bare and the atrocities committed were eye-opening. My sole experience has been history novels and nothing I’ve read compared to the story told in this book.

View all my reviews >>

Sheila from One Person’s Journey through a World of Books hosts this meme and I love to participate in it!  Head on over and check out her blog and the great participants there.

Well, I almost made it through my journey of Tolkien.  I’ll finish it up this week though so I’m not sad!

Here’s what I read this past week:

1. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
2. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
3. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
5. Fruits Basket Vols 1-2 by Natsuki Takaya
6. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

To be read this week:

1. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Bridegrooms by Allison Pittman (Blog Tour!)
3. The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason
4. Unknown by Rachel Caine
5. Coming of the Storm by Michael Gear
6. The Girl with the Glass Feet by Ali Shaw

Those of you who picked my reading list for this last week – I haven’t forgotten you! Just waiting for the books to come in at the library then I’ll be devoting an upcoming week. My vacation threw this one off, but I still plan on reading your suggestions!

Seriously, I am having so much fun!  I came home to books books and more books in my mailbox with still more that I’m expecting this upcoming week!  On top of that.. I went to a local library sale and made out like a bandit.  So happy with my purchases there!  This was the first library sale I’ve attended and… yes, I’m hooked.

In my Mailbox (Hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren):

1. Labyrinth by Kate Moss
2. Artemis Fowl, the Eternity Code by Eoin Coifer
3. Crazy by Han Nolan
4. The Mermaid’s Mirror by L.K. Madigan
5. The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn
6. Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

Purchased this Week:

1. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
2. Fallen by Lauren Kate
3. Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern
4. Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran
5. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
6. Going Bovine by Libba Bray
7. Metropolis by Elizabeth Gaffney
8. Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunan
9. The Waterworks by E.L. Doctorow
10. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
11. Keeping the House by Ellen Baker
12. How to Sew a Button and Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew by Ellen Bried
13. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

Library Loot:

1. Dancing for Degas by Kathryn Wagner
2. Hand of Isis by Jo Graham
3. Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show by Frank Delany
4. The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Fransisco X. Stork

I’m going to deviate from my normal Two-Sided Tuesday post format a little bit here because, quite simply, I’ve yet to read a book that has the charm that this book has.  (Although I have been told to check another title out, which I plan to do this month).  However, the book I am thinking of was made into a movie fairly recently – starring Amy Adams.  The title is: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winnifred Watson.

I saw this movie in the theaters when it came out.  I went with my mother and we really had no idea what to expect.  I’d never heard of this story – but I’d heard of Amy Adams and couldn’t wait to see her in another role.  The movie was cute, bubbly, full of charm and cast extremely well.  However, the ending left me wanting.  Everything seemed so neatly wrapped up.  Then, as I was browsing the list of 1001 Books to Read I noticed a familiar name.

Ok – ignore the ugly cover.  Seriously, it’s hideous in my opinion.  This book is amazing and you should check it out like.. now. Seriously.  I put this book down and just wanted to crawl inside of it and live in the world created, problems and all.  I wanted to be best friends with Delysia and I wanted to experience Miss Pettigrew’s life as it unfolded.  The ending, by the way, was everything I was left wanting.  It was perfect.

You can read my review of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day here.

Do you have a Two-Sided Tuesday post? Leave a link here!

Sheila from One Person’s Journey through a World of Books hosts this meme and I love to participate in it!  Head on over and check out her blog and the great participants there.

I did good!  I did wimp out on reading the P.C. Cast book because, as I started it, I realized it was the second in the series and I need to get the first book read!

Books read this week (Links to reviews):

1. Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller
2. Billie Girl by Vicki Weaver
3. Tbe Lost Cyclist by David Herlihy
4. Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold
5. The Sea and the Silence by Peter Cunningham
6. A Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michele Young-Stone

Books to be read this week:

1. Fruits Basket 1 -3
2. Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
3. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

I’ve obviously read the Tolkien books before.. but I’ve been wanting to get to them (I usually read them once a year.. although last year I wimped out so I’m very ready for this).  All three books count toward the 1001 Books to Read so at least I’ll be getting a challenge filled there!

What about you? What are you reading this week?

It’s Two-Sided Tuesday time!  This week I want to talk about a book that was on my list of favorites for last year.  As I walk through Barnes and Noble I keep seeing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon on the book club table.. and every time I see it I remember how much more I loved another book that was very similar to it.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is about Christopher John Francis Boone, an autistic boy.  His neighbors dog, Wellington, is killed and Christopher is at first blamed for the murder.  So Christopher takes it upon himself to become a sort of Sherlock Holmes and investigate for himself.

I loved the book at first, but as it progressed I found myself comparing it more and more to a book I had read before it.  I think had I not read this other book I might have enjoyed The Curious Incident more.. but as it was it lacked the heart and emotion that I’d found in the other.  That other book is Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork.

I loved this book. LOVED it.  GoodReads says: Marcelo Sandoval hears music no one else can hear–part of the autism-like impairment no doctor has been able to identify–and he’s always attended a special school where his differences have been protected.

It may be because of this that, being a musician myself, I fell in love with this book so much.  The idea of someone hearing music such as Marcelo does and being so innately… good was a fascinating one to me.  Like The Curious Incident, Marcelo gets caught up in a sort of drama, a more legal-type mystery, but throughout it all, Marcelo is learning what the real world is like.  Spiritual matters are explored through various religions and more than once while reading the book I had to put it down and gather my thoughts and control my emotions.  I was deeply touched by this book and encourage everyone I meet to check it out.

My actual review of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time can be found here.

My actual review of Marcelo in the Real World can be found here.

Sheila from One Person’s Journey through a World of Books hosts this meme and I love to participate in it!  Head on over and check out her blog and the great participants there.

I’ve done well this week (I had to return one book to the library before my vacation, but otherwise I did well!)

Books read this week (Links to reviews):

1. Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
2. Fallen by Lauren Kate
3. The Fiddler’s Gun by A.S. Peterson
4. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
5. An Absence So Great by Jane Kirkpatrick (GIVEAWAY HERE!)
6. Black Ships by Jo Graham
7. The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough

Books to be read this week:

1. The Sea and the Silence by Peter Cunningham
2. The Lost Cyclist by David Herlihy
3. Brighid’s Quest by P.C. Cast
4. Billie Girl by Vickie Weaver
5. The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michele Young-Stone
6. Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold
7. Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller

I love vacations. I have a ton of time for reading this week and I’m taking full advantage of it.  This is also the week I’m dedicating to books just released or yet to be released – I’m excited to have the opportunity to read and review these books and am very much looking forward to all of them!

What do you plan to read this week?