Chasing Vermeer

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Are there ever just coincidences in the world?? THis book explores that question as eleven year old Calder is pulled into an adventure involving a stolen Vermeer, a really hip schoolteacher and a grouchy old woman.



It was confusing sometimes, but fun most of the time. There are codes and clues hidden throughout the book and illustrations. I spent a blissful rainy afternoon reading the book and solving the riddles and codes.



The ending didn't do a very good job of explaining WHY some of the coincidences happenned, but I am not super picky, so it didn't bother me all that much.



I plan on passing this to my ten year old next and see what she thinks.


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Justice Hall by Laurie R. King

Justice Hall by Laurie R. King

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This story starts 24 hours after the last book in the series, The Moor ended, but we revisit characters from an earlier book that I haven't read yet.



These books are all so exciting I have a hard time putting them down. In this installment Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes head to an old friends estate to try and persuade his cousin to go back to Palestine with him and leave the Earldom to the next generation. You quickly realize all is not as it seems as "accidents" soon take on a sinister tone.



Murder, intrigue, fake heirs, and King Tut fancy dress balls all make a fascinating mystery.


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Ireland

Ireland: A Novel by Frank Delaney

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I so loved the first half of this book. A boy and his family are visited by a wandering storyteller in Ireland. (It was in the early 50's, I think...).



You are told the most amazing stories about Ireland. I was totally enthralled. After the storyteller is sent away by the boys mother it becomes this boys quest to find him again. And to collect his stories. It was very emotional and exciting.



And then the tone changed. As the boy grew older I began to care less about him. I am not sure why. When he goes away to college he has an absolutely disgusting professor that he loves. UGH.



The ending however was great. I don't want to give anything away, so I will just leave it at that!


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Kendrick

Kendrick by A. H. Holt

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I rarely read westerns, but we had this one and I decided to give it try.



I was pleasantly surprised. Kendrick is a warm, suspenseful novel with a bit of fun and romance thrown in.



Kendrick follows the story of Wayne Kendrick who pretends to be a gold prospector to investigate the disappearance of his close friend. They are some dangerous characters up on the mountain and Kendrick ends up having to deal with them all.



I was genuinely concerned about the characters. The story moved along at just the correct pace. I was never bored or overwhelmed.



I loved the resolution.



After reading it I read about the author and discovered that it was a woman...I should have guessed!!


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Fablehaven

Fablehaven (Book 1)" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170267540m/44652.jpg" border=0> Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
If any of you have been regulars to my blog you might have noticed that this book has been on and off of my currently reading list about 5 times.



I know, no one has noticed, but it has!



Anyway, I REALLY wanted to enjoy this. My kids loved it and it is an LDS author. But I just didn't get into it. Maybe it is just that fantasy is not my fave genre. I actually hope that it sit because it killed me to just give it 2 stars. Sorry Brandon!!



It is well written, but I just was not engaged by the characters. The kids kept breaking the rules.



Maybe that was the problem. I have 4 teenagers and am not entertained by kids breaking rules because they think the rule makers are doing it just to be random and mean.



Hmm... I may have hit on the problem!!



If you like fantasy I give you the hearty recommendation of Ella and Harrison, who both begged me to read Fablehaven.



If you are at your wits end with your own kids, maybe wait and read it when your grand kids are acting up!!ha ha


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FREE BOOK!!!

Anne over at Not Entirely British is giving books away every week!!

EVERY WEEK!!!!

So click HERE and get yourself signed up.

Mystery By Moonlight

Mystery by Moonlight by Mary C. Jane

My review

This is one of the first mysteries I read and I still keep it on my bookshelf. I re-read it once every few years and am always so pleased with it.



It is sweet and scary and fun. This would be a great book for your 2nd or 3rd grader to get an introduction to mystery writing. (It reads like a Nancy Drew)

I love a mystery that I can completely put myself into. When it is set in a very realistic way, I completely immerse myself. It cannot be too scary or dangerous, or it does not enchant me the way I want a book to.

I have not even checked to see if this is still in print, My copy is from the early 80's.

EDIT* I just looked this up on Amazon and it is out of print. She seems to have been published mostly in the early 70's. You local library might have her books. There were a ton of them. Now I want to read more!!


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Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

My review

***SPOILER ALERT***

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I read this in one evening, so maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance but... it was so confusing. I felt like I had started in the middle and then bits and peices were left out.



I was especially confused when Simon was killed. And then my big question; How did they get on the island??



A plane crash? There was no plane. THey talked about a plane and a fire. Why were they all on the plane to start with. WHere were they and where were they going?



If someone has answers, PLEASE enlighten me.



I just didn't get it. ANd I think it is a classic. And I have no idea why it was on my bookshelf or where it came from.


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The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1221698.Neil_Gaiman">Neil Gaiman

Summary:

This is the story of Bod Owens. He was a toddler when his parents and sister where killed and he was taken in and protected by ghosts in the local graveyard. He is raised and taught by the residents in the cemetery.

As he grows he begins to learn of his history and yearns to spend time among the living. But life among the living is dangerous for Bod.

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had no idea what this book would be like and I was pleasantly surprised. I love when characters that are traditionally "bad" are shown being good.
The growth of the boy, Bod, both physically and emotionally is well thought out and interesting. I really cared what happened to him and wanted him to make good choices.

The part in the middle when he was in the desert was a little slow for me, but necessary for developing some of the other characters, so I didn't mind.

I would like top read this again sometime now that I know all of the twists and turns, to see what foreshadowing I missed the first time.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The people living on the moor are terrified of a ghost hound that is being seen at night. It is running alongside a ghotly carriage. They both glow in the dark, and now people are dying...

Holmes will get to the bottom of it.

My Thoughts:

Another exciting Holmes mystery. I actually read it before I read Sherlock In Love because I wanted them to be chronological.

It was fun to revisit this story especially after having read The Moor last year.

I love the style of writing and the suspense. Conan Doyle exploits with the paranormal are legendary and I enjoy how they just get hinted at in this story.

The topography and the people of the moor area are fascinating. And a little creepy.

Definitely worth reading. Again!

The Importance of Being Ernest

The Importance of Being Ernest

by Oscar Wilde

This book is so funny. I laugh out loud when I read it. And then want to follow whoever is in the room with me and read them selections that I am finding particularly amusing at the moment.

I believe my family dreads it when they see me reading it.

It is such a gem.

Two Ernest's. No wait, NO ERNEST'S! An ailing friend in the country. A troublesome brother in town.

A baby in a bag left at the railway station?

And when the baby is finally found, 30 odd years later it is the return of the bag that is most celebrated.

I love that part.

I can't really give you a review, just go and read it. It is short and sweet, just three acts, I think. You will not be dissapointed.

The Moonstone

The Moonstone

by Wilkie Collins

I don't have enough good to say about this book. It had me hooked from the beginning. It is the tale of a missing Indian diamond- the Moonstone. The tale is unfolded with a certain calm urgency, if that makes any sense.

It is set in England in the 1840's and was written by Wilkie Collins. He was a friend and sometimes rival of Charles Dickens. The original edition of the Moonstone was as a serial in Charles Dickens weekly magazine.

Several of the key players write a narrative of what they saw on the days preceding the disappearance, the actual incident and then the activities of the following year. This allows you to see totally different and sometimes contradictory sides of the story.

It is satirical, thoughtful, suspenseful, and romantic.

There are even some loose ends that are left dangling, just a little tease mind you, but enough that I will lay in bed many a night pondering them.

Two big thumbs up.

Sherlock In Love

Set two years after Holmes has died a depressed and confused Watson keeps seeing him around every corner. But as his illusions start to become more real he is drawn into the past through his and Holmes' journals. Watson discovers a common thread that runs through several of their great adventures that was until then unknown to him.

As Watson investigates present day happenings it reveals a history of Holmes which he had no idea about. This book is one of the best I have read: warm, comforting and familiar. And yet it reveals an ending that I NEVER saw coming and that knocked my socks off.

Free book alert

Anne over at Not Entirely British is running weekly contests!

I agree, very generous of her!So go check it out.


This week the book is:Cameron Taylor's Does Your Bag Have Holes? 24 Truths That Lead to Financial and Spiritual Freedom.

April, this may be right up your alley. Not that I am trying to say I have been up your alley. Oh, wait something is going terrribly wrong with this post!

Just go and check out this giveaway!

Reading Challenge

I decided that for one of my New Year's Resolutions that I would join 3 reading challenges!

Are you so excited also?

So the first is the Young Adult Book Challenge

Next is the Victorian Challenge

And finally the Read and Review Challenge

And because I don't know how to stop myself I also am joining the

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2009

Cynthia, why are you joining this one?

1. I love love love historical fiction

2. Look at the button:

Hello Mr. Darcy!!!

Young Adult Reading Challenge

This is the post where I will list my Young Adult Reading Challenge Books

1. The Last Treasure by Janet S. Anderson

2. The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

3. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

4. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

5. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

6. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

The Africa House

The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream

Christina Lamb I don't read a lot of non-fiction. I like non-fiction, I just am usually lulled by the total non-thinking of paperback mysteries.

I am so glad I took this one home from the library. One of the other librarians had pulled it off teh shelf and was thinking about reading it. She had too many at home already, so she told me to take it.

Shiwa House is a traditional English Manor house built by Sir Stewart Gore-Brown in the early 20th century in Northern Rhodesia(Zambia now). Lamb is a reporter who stumbled upon the neglected manor in the late 20th century. She did some very good research and tells the story of Gore-Brown with depth and emotion. He was so obsessed with building his piece of England in the bush that sometimes he could not see what was around him. It follows his personal triumphs and struggles. At its grandest Shiwa House employed hundreds of Africans and then just 30 years after his death it was a rotted shell of itself.

The story is more of Gore-Browns life and just touches on the decline of the English Empire and African independence, which, surprisingly, Gore-Brown supported.

I really felt like I was there in Africa. The weather, that animals, the people all come alive in Lambs dialogue.

If you read no other non-fiction this year, read this one!

Separate From The World

Separate From The World

An Ohio Amish Mystery

P.L. Gaus

I brought this book home from the library last night. And I was able to return it this morning. Yep, read the whole thing last night. And I had the light off by 10:00.

Yo Cynthia, how'd ya do that?

Let me tell ya.

I never put it down. I carried it to two basket ball practices, a band rehearsal and a date with my husband.

Okay, I didn't actually read on our date, but I did have the book with me. It was so worth obsessing over.

Here is a quick synopsis. An Amish midget comes to a burned out college professor to ask him for help because he thinks that his brother has been murdered. While he is there in the professors office one of the professors students jumps to her death from the bell tower right in front of the window they are sitting at.

Into a crowd of anti war protesters.

Crazy and totally compelling. I was instantly drawn into the characters and the plot. And it is twisty and turny in a really nice way.

I love the comments that the Amish make about the lifestyles of the English. I have already returned the book, so I am going to give you a non verbatim quote of my favorite line in the whole book.

The Amish fellow says: (about pre-marital sex)

If sex is free what can you cherish in your
marriage?

Two big thumbs up on this one. It is number 6 in a series and I plan on reading the rest as soon as I can get my hands on them.

Sew Easy to Kill

Sew Easy to Kill

Sarah J. Mason

Bad Language Warning!!

When I looked this one up on Amazon it had two 5 star ratings.

It is probably a good story.

I couldn't get past about page 35.

Bad language out the wazoo was the main problem. But I also just couldn't seem to follow the plot very well. Every chapter introduces a new set of characters that I'm sure were wound into the plot together by the end, but it was just distracting to me in this story.

But really, the language was too gross for me to overlook.

Berried Alive

Berried Alive

Kate Kingsbury WWII. England. The Lady of the manor is divorced, broke and in love with a married American airman. She is determined to take care of her village and do the right thing. Always.

Then 4 American airmen turn up dead. It seems that they were poisoned with the berries of the Daphne plant. They have only one thing in common.

RED HAIR

When I checked this book out the woman who was returning it thought that it got a little silly at the end. I enjoyed the ending. Lady Elizabeth does a good job of investigating without letting on to anyone that she knows anything about what is going on. Her household staff is entertaining and the Americans spice village life up. I thought the ending was reasonable, even though it became glaringly obvious.

I seem to be picking a lot of books lately set in England in WWII. I was struck by the desire of the villagers to be allowed back on the beach. They couldn't go to it because there were mines planted.

Can you imagine? Very thought provoking. Not that this is a heavy book by any stretch. Just little realistic snippets of their lives.

I noticed one swear word, muttered by an employee when she didn't know Lady Elizabeth was within hearing distance. Oh, I just thought of one more. Okay, two. Other than that nice and clean.