Category: Books

The Lives of Saints by Leigh Bardugo

I picked up The Lives of Saints by Leigh Bardugo because, well, the cover caught my eye, and I still occasionally like a good fairy tale. It was in the new book section of my library, and it is strangely reminiscent of many books I’ve seen in my travels in Eastern Europe. Not to mention many of the place names are modified real place names in Russian.
The cover of the book. For the record, that is NOT Cyrillic or any alphabet script I am familiar with.

Illustrations

Photo of the inside of the book


The art was good. The stories were generally good, although some were truncated to where the reader might shrug at the end. No matter.


The book was a relaxing evening read. Impersonal and at times I wondered f there really was a patron saint like the one described. I gave it 4 stars mainly because it was restful, the art was good, and I didn’t have to work too hard to read it. 

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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Talk Bookish to Me

This was a surprisingly entertaining read.

I picked up Kate Bromley’s book: Talk Bookish to Me from the NEW books section at my local library. I liked the idea that it was about a romance writer who is stalled, but who uses the rekindling of a past romance to inspire her writing.

From the first paragraph, I found the story compelling, the dialogue witty, and the premise–well, not terribly trite, so it was good.

Once I cracked open the book, I put aside the ten other books I am (still) reading, and finished this one. I even stayed up late to finish. That’s always a good sign.

Recommended. Especially if you like a good modern romance.

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History for Kids – California Gold Rush

Not long ago we were in San Francisco listening to a presentation on local history. Even though I am a native Californian, I must have slept through the history lessons in class. The discussion prompted me to check out a few books from the library, all of them children’s books. I confess I don’t usually enjoy the history books written for grown ups, and I usually don’t finish them. But kids books? Easy peasy.

Here’s a couple I read recently:

By Jean Blashfield

My GoodReads Review

This children’s book is a potpourri of facts about the Gold Rush. There are some social commentaries thrown in as if they were facts, but not enough to taint the book completely.

Interesting photos and timelines are included. The book is not very colorful, as it is done in sepia and lighter yellow tones.

If giving this to a kid to read, the kid will either need to be writing a report for school, or be extremely interested in facts related to that era. 

I gave the book a three star review.

By Caroline Attia

Here’s my brief GoodReads Review

Good art and an interesting story. When my 10 year old read it, she told me she wanted to know what happened next.

I gave the book a four star review, mainly because it was interesting. I don’t know that I had read anything that also included the Chinese immigrant perspective.

These two books are the lightest of the five books we got from the library. A good starting point, perhaps, for someone interested in expanding their knowledge on this era.

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The Whispered Word – Book Review

I thoroughly enjoyed The Whispered Word by Ellery Adams. You can read my review of the first book in the series here.

Here’s the book blurb from Amazon:

Nora Pennington, owner of Miracle Books, believes that a well-chosen novel can bring healing and hope. But she and the other members of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society know that sometimes practical help is needed too. Such is the case with the reed-thin girl hiding in the fiction section of Nora’s store, wearing a hospital ID and a patchwork of faded bruises. She calls herself Abilene but won’t reveal much else. And when a customer is found dead in an assumed suicide, Nora uncovers a connection that points to Abilene as either a suspect—or another target. After a second death hits town, Nora and her intrepid friends must help the new, greenhorn sheriff discern fact from fiction—and stop a killer intent on bringing another victim’s story to a close . . .

This was a better than expected second installment in an interesting series. I love the author’s idea of bibliotherapy throughout the book, and the books that are recommended reading to the main character’s customers.

This book had many layers of interesting characters and interactions. I finished it feeling as though I had also had some bibliotherapy of sorts.

Recommended reading.

5 Stars.

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Bronte’s Mistress – Book Review

There are few books that I think about for days after I finish them. I am a voracious reader. I will open up a book, get into the story, and then when I am done with the book, I move on to the next. Not so for Bronte’s Mistress by Finola Austin.

As nearly anyone who has studied English Literature at some time or another, I was of course familiar with the three Bronte sisters, and I recall reading something that mentioned their poet brother Branwell, who had such promise, but who never reached the literary heights that his sisters did. He was just a faceless name in the pages and pages of literary analysis undergrads are supposed to read.

Not any more.

Ms. Finola Austin has breathed life into his character, although her goal was to give a voice to the infamous Mrs. Robinson, Branwell Bronte’s purported mistress.

She has done both remarkably well.

A drawing of Branwell Bronte

Here’s my brief review from Goodreads:

Compelling and tragic, this novel breathed life into literary characters I have known about for decades.

Recommended reading.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I gave it a 5 star rating. Because I read it with interest, disgust, and curiosity. And I’m still thinking about it, a few days later.

Let me know what you think.

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Ready Set Rogue by Manda Collins

I picked this book up after reading another book by Manda Collins, A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem. I found the plot of that book entertaining, and who doesn’t enjoy a well off widow doing basically whatever she likes, but especially bucking tradition?

Ready Set Rogue is one of those romance novels I don’t normally read–you know, the ones with a half-clad dude on the front and a lady with her breasts partially covered. I’m not sure this book qualifies as a bodice ripper, but since it is book one of a series called “Studies in Scandal.”

Here’s an extract of the book blurb from Goodreads:

When scholarly Miss Ivy Wareham receives word that she’s one of four young ladies who have inherited Lady Celeste Beauchamp’s estate with a magnificent private library, she packs her trunks straightaway. Unfortunately, Lady Celeste’s nephew, the rakish Quill Beauchamp, Marquess of Kerr, is determined to interrupt her studies one way or another…

While I enjoyed the read, I did become disappointed when it was remarkably similar in plot and premise to another book I had read about rogues. A Rogue of One’s Own by Evie Dunmore is very very similar. There’s a familiar theme and a murder or two, and the murderer is predictable. It seems almost as though both books used the same plot map.

I call these kinds of books bon bons for the brain. Sweet and the first bite or two is pleasant. But after awhile, the flavors start to get old and they aren’t anything special.

I give it a 3 out of 5 stars, as it was entertaining, but it would have been much more fun if I hadn’t read a very similar plot just a month ago.

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