A Northern Light

I'm not quite sure how to rate this book. It's absolutely fantastic writing. My favorite line in the story was, "She is tiny. In the same way that a stick of dynamite is tiny." Isn't that perfect - unexpected, very descriptive, and short!?! Unfortunately, this book just felt sad around the edges all, and I really don't like sad books.
This story takes place in 1906 in a resort town. The historical part of the story is based on a young woman who dies and was probably murdered. The rest of the story (by far most of it) is a work of fiction. The characters are very real and well rounded. The ended realistic. The only complaint I have is that I felt sad while reading it and felt discouraged, with understanding, at the end. If you don't mind that, you'll enjoy the book. The language is fantastic!

I'm moving...again!

Hello there readers! I am sorry to have taken so long between postings. To see what I've been up to, go on over to my old/new blog at www.musingsofabookworm.com. I'll be posting my reviews there from now on. Thanks!

Evelina--only 4 months late

I actually read Evelina way back in February, but got distracted and never wrote it up. So here I am to enthuse about this 512-page novel by Fanny Burney, who was a lady-in-waiting at court and one of the first women novelists. Like many early novels, it is in an epistolary format--it is composed entirely of letters between characters, who keep each other updated on events and reveal important plot points at the right time.

Evelina is the 16-year-old heroine. She is, of course, perfectly beautiful and angelically good, but she has never moved in society and is quite ignorant of how to behave in social situations. She has been raised by her elderly guardian; her mother is dead and her wealthy father refuses to acknowledge her, though she is legitimate. Evelina goes on a visit to family friends, who then take her on an unexpected trip to London. She has no idea how to act at balls or assemblies and innocently causes offense to several people. Every man who sees her promptly falls in love and tries to take advantage of her, and she runs into several rather awful relatives who frequently embarrass her. Nothing ever seems to go right, but she does meet one good man whom she feels she can respect. Of course, in the end she marries the right man and even reconciles with her repentant father, but there are plenty of difficulties along the way.

I loved the book and couldn't put it down--I finished it in a couple of days. Evelina is a strange heroine to modern minds; she hardly ever does anything. For Burney, much of Evelina's virtue resides in her passivity, and she spends an inordinate amount of time fainting or crying or just not knowing what to do. Even so, it's a lot of fun to read and I enjoyed it very much.

I'm about halfway through my third book of the challenge--Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror.

Cream Puff Murder

I finished reading this book this weekend.  It was a good book for me for now.  It was light and fun.  Hannah has once again discovered a murder.  For a baker, she really stumbles into trouble!  Since most of the police department are suspects, she has to use her detective skills to solve the murder and get her town back to normal.  At the end of each chapter are recipes for the good food that the characters eat - I am hoping to try out the lemon bars.  

The story isn't really that different from the first Fluke book I read.  Hannah still hasn't decided on who her boyfriend is!  I do like them though.  It's a nice thing to read to pass the time.  

The Whole Truth

This is my first David Baldacci book.  I think this is definitely a stray from my norm.  I would say this is more of a man's book.  I liked it, but I won't be running out to get another one.  It's about this guy who is basically a super hero who goes around the world fighting crime and stopping wars, but isn't bound by "laws."  So, he kills people, etc., in order to serve the common good.  In this particular story, he saves the world from WWIII.  There's an attempt at a love story, but since there isn't a nice kiss in it, I say that it doesn't count.  Overall it's a good story with cheesy writing.  

The Duchess

Well, I cheated...  I was bogged down by this book and I rented the movie.  After watching the movie, I now know I will never finish this book.  I happened to grab this book at Target, as I was desperate for a book.  It's a biography about the life of the Duchess of Devonshire, who lived in the late 1700s.  She was an extremely influential woman in England during her lifetime.  She set the fashion trends and used her influence and fame to promote the Whig party and the candidates she admired.  I'm not going to finish this book because it's too slow moving and her private life is just so sad.

Glass Castle

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is very good. I have heard about it like crazy and finally got around to reading it. It is the true story of Walls' childhood. Walls' father was a raging alcoholic and her mother is an "artist" who couldn't be bothered with work. Walls has one brother and two sisters. They managed to scrape by and eventually got themselves out of the horrible living situation with their parents. It's very inspiring. I think this would make a great book for a book club. I wouldn't describe it as a page-turner, but it is worth reading.