June

June wasn't a big reading month.  Too many activities for kids, too many 100 degree days I had to work.
The Messenger- Siri Mitchell
Becoming Marie Antoinette- Juliet Grey
Band of Brothers- Stephen Ambrose
#1 Suspect- James Patterson
Hemingway's Girl- Erika Robuck
Where Lilacs Still Bloom- J. Kirkpatrick
11th Hour- James Patterson
50 Shades of Grey
One was an audio book, two were digital, rest were real books.  My account of the totally famous "Grey" book.  This is the dumbest book ever written.  It's about a girl who miraculously is a 22 year old never-been kissed virgin who meets a billionaire 26 year old self made man. Yeah, follows reality close, eh?  Then they immediately start a never ending always climaxing sex marathon complete with rods in order to beat her with if she misbehaves.  On a regular basis he says things like "sit", "eat", "good girl".  Yeah, that always turns me on, too.  And of course everytime he looks at her she has an orgasm.  ALWAYS.  She is the most orgasmic girl in the history of the  world. Oh, and the list!  They actually had a list of rules of things that could not be done, like they can't light each other on fire.  I can't tell you how many times I wished I had written that one down. I am totally bummed I paid for this thing.    When I read fantasy romance I want my guy to be fiction.  You know, nice, considerate, sexy, romantic, you know, fantasy.  There are men waiting in line to boss women around and smack them.  Why would we want to pay to read about it?

lilacs everywhere

I received "Where Lilacs Still Bloom" by Jane Kirkpatrick for free from bloggingforbooks.com.  I chose this book because of the cover and lilacs are my favorite flower.  This novel went waaaay more into lilacs than I thought it would.  This is a book for garden lovers.  I am more of a garden liker.  It's a good book, but it is very horticultural.  The book stars Hulda, a German immigrant who makes it her life's work to grow a beautiful garden better than originally intended.  She starts with apples and making them crisper, then moves on to flowers, namely lilacs.  She eventually creates 257 new types of lilacs.  Her main goal is to have a creamy white with 12 petals.  Kirkpatrick follows Hulda's life while life happens and she creates life in her garden.  The part that surprised me and impressed me the most was how she always thought her garden was just a little thing, but no one else ever did.  No one told her it was silly, stupid, or not worthwhile.  The only argument she got was when a local man accused her of playing with God's plan.  Hulda is a true story and it is a very impressive story.  She is a hero of her time.  A time when woman weren't considered valuable, she did what was exceptional.  She never let society stop her from doing what she loved.  I like that. 

hemingways girl review

I received "Hemingway's Girl" by Erika Robuck for free from edelweiss.com.  Earlier in the year I read "The Paris Wife" and though I thought Hemingway was a nut and so were any woman who wanted to be with him, I needed to read this book when it became available. I, too, had become strangely attracted to the man.  The Paris novel is about Hemingway and his first wife when he got started writing.  Girl is about when he later came to Key West and lived with his second wife after he became famous.  The girl in "Hemingway's Girl" is not the wife, but the maid.  It is her story about falling in and out of love with Hemingway and ultimately becoming his friend.  During her fall into friendship she meets a WWI vet, Galvin, and he becomes her true love. 
If you have read "Paris", and didn't like the style in which is was written (over-the-top descriptive) don't let that hold you back on "Girl".  It is written in a completely different style.  A much more modern telling.  I give it 4 stars.  Very good.

I Spy

"The Messenger" by Siri Mitchell is a really good book.  It takes place during the Revolutionary War with the lead characters being Hannah, a Quaker girl whose brother has left the church to join the rebel cause and whose aunt and uncle are Loyalist; and Jeremiah, a former King's Army colonist who lost his hand during the Indian Wars and since has become a spy rebel.  The book goes back and forth with each chapter telling the story from Hannah and Jeremiah's point of view.  Hannah is torn between her loyalty to the Friends and what she knows is wrong about the religion.  Jeremiah is torn between his friendship with his contact at the General's office and the guilt of using his contact to access information.  They both become spys for the Colonist.
"The Messenger" is well written, the characters are thorough and the end is riviting.  I am a bit of a history buff (as you can probably tell from my readings) and yet I had not heard of all the details that are given about the treatment of rebels that where prisoners of the British.  Hannah's brother, the rebel, is a prisoner.  Disease, starvation, the underhanded treatment.  You might not like this book, but you should read it.  I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers.

May has come and gone

I read 11 books last month.  Two audio, five paper and four e-books.  Here goes the list:
The Paris Wife- Paula McLain
Lizzie Borden- Elizabeth Engstrom
The Zero Game- Brad Meltzer (that one will scare you a little)
The Black Count- Tom Reiss
The Scent of Cherry Blossoms- Cindy Woodsmall
Brush of Angel's Wings- Ruth Reid
Amish Prayers- Beverly Lewis
Seal of God- Chad Williams
The Unholy- Heather Graham
The Covenant Child- Terry Blackstock
Eleven on Top- Janet Evanovich
Of the books this month the best probably went to Amish Prayers which is a book of wonderful, across the religious boundries, prayers that I highly recommend if you don't know what to pray about.  If you aren't into that sort of thing I recommend The Zero Game.  As an American, the possiblity of this being true is more than a little scary. 

decisions, decisions

"The Atonement Child" is one of those books that will stick with you forever.  Probably every woman has some sort of unwanted "attention" during her life.  Hopefully, usually, it's not a full on rape by an unknown stranger in the dark, in the open, leaving the woman completely exposed.  This book follows Dyna, while at college she is raped by an unknown man while walking home.  In her denial and trauma, she refuses the morning after pill given to her by the hospital.  As often happens in books or movies of rape, she becomes pregnant.  She continues her denial for many weeks, until she can no longer deny the obvious.  She decided to carry and keep the baby. 
Though I am sure the intent of the book was to promote pro-life, the trauma and struggles that Dyna endures are horrifying.  The author does not hold back on how awful any of it is.  It actually led me to re-affirm my pro-choice status.  How anyone can ask someone who has been through all of that to carry a baby conceived in that way is beyond me.   Yet even though Dyna decides to keep the baby, it is written in a way that makes the reader not think less of Dyna or the baby.  It is her baby and her choice.  If the woman can see past how the child came to be and love it as a mother should, then by all means she should keep the baby.  Her Choice.  As it should be.

the covenant child review

"The Covenant Child" by Terri Blackstock is a wonderful book.  It follows the life of the "billion dollar babies" who happen to be penniless orphans raised by neglectful and abusive biological grandparents.  They are the grandchildren of billionaires whose mother dies shortly after their birth.  Their father remarries and then is killed in a plane crash with his parents.  His parents are the billionaires.  Their step-mother is in the process of adopting them at the time of the death, but their maternal grandparents step in with dollar signs in their eyes.  I normally do not like to read or watch stories where children are taken from their parents, whether they be biological or not.  I believe a child should not be separated from the one who loves and cares for them.  Lizzie and Kara, twins, are taken from the only mother they know and given away to strangers who happen to share genes.  In this case, everything is about the money.
When the girls turn 18, they come to a cross roads and one goes one way, one goes the other.  The story follows Kara, the prodigal child who chooses to not trust anyone and go for the greed.  One might wonder how she can be so dumb, but if you think back to your own mistakes, I am sure you can figure it out.  I did.  This is a Christian story but uses it to relate to real life and not get preachy.  It also talks a bit on abortion.  Kara feels guilt, but is not condemned.  I like where the author took that story line.  I would highly recommend this one.  I have read Blackstock before, but this one is my favorite from her.  I received this e-book for free from http://www.netgalley.com/.