I ordered a bunch of the Dear America books from ebay and read several of them
this month, as well as a bunch of other stuff. I don't think I had any rereads
this month, but this was a fairly eclectic month.
Slow Way Home--Michael Morris
This was about a boy whose mother runs off with her latest loser
boyfriend, leaving him to be raised by his grandparents. Just as he's finally
settled into life with them, his mother shows up and wins custody, so the
grandparents hit the road with the boy. I really liked the writing in this
one, found it reminiscent (in some ways) of Grisham's A Painted House.
Tweed--Lass Small
This is an older Silhouette Romance about a pilot who rescues a woman
stranded in the wilderness. Her uncle has been murdered and she's been raped
by a group of men who saw the signal fire. Tweed, the pilot, is an orphan,
named after his foster father's coat. When Connie collapses after her ordeal,
Tweed is the only one to whom she'll respond. I'm not describing this well,
but this was one of the best romances I've ever read. Tweed is a truly
memorable hero, funny and gentle, and Connie has a core of strength beneath her
vulnerability. I really want to find the rest of the books in this series
because this was so well done.
Poisoned Vows--Clifford L. Linedecker
A very strange story about a female polygamist who was eventually
convicted for the murder of one of her husbands, this book was rather circular
and repetitive in its story-telling. The case was interesting, and there was
obviously an enormous amount of conflicting information to sift through, but
the presentation lacked a bit.
The Messies Manual: The Procrastinator's Guide to Good Housekeeping--Sandra
Felton
A lot of this is the basis for FlyLady's program. I learned a few good
tips, but overall, I still prefer FlyLady's method.
Uncle John's Second Bathroom Reader--Bathroom Readers' Institute
I love books like this, a compendium of lots of interesting and arcane
trivia, suitable for reading in brief chunks of time. I read the whole thing
pretty much straight through, but I get that way sometimes.
A Most Unsuitable Man--Jo Beverley
Gosh, I remember the cover of this so clearly, because for some reason,
the handsome hunk didn't LOOK British (I know that's irrational, but I can't
explain it). I'm blanking on the details, and I've already passed the book
along. I remember liking it a great deal, though.
Pillow Talk--Hailey North
I really hate the cartoony covers on these romances, because it gives the
wrong impression about the contents of the book. This one was about a young
widow who marries a guy for a few days for a price, only to have him shot dead
in a drug deal gone awry. Naturally his family are suspicious of her, and she
doesn't want to tell them how her marriage came about. The crusty old
patriarch of the family sends for the heroine's children, and she and the hero
retrieve her stepson from his private school and try to help him cope with his
father's death. I liked this a lot more than I expected to, and will keep an
eye out for more of Ms. North's books.
Undead and Unappreciated--MaryJanice Davidson
I read this for review.
The Secret School--Avi
I'm always amazed at the different types of stories Avi can write. This
was about a small rural school whose teacher must leave before term is over
because of an illness in her family. The two eighth graders don't want to have
to repeat a year of school, so they conspire to keep the school running long
enough for the children to finish out the year and take their end-of-year
exams. This was a quick, interesting read.
Empty Promises--Ann Rule
Another selection of cases from Rule's endless files. I always enjoy her
books, although the cases seem so old all of a sudden.
Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan, Delaware
Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763 (Dear America)--Mary Pope Osborne
This series is very well-written, and doesn't shy away from harsh reality,
although it does pad it a bit. The research is very well done, however,
although the illustrations are sometimes hard to decipher because the print is
so small and dark.
When Will This Cruel War Be Over? The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson,
Gordonsville, Virginia, 1864 (Dear America)--Barry Denenberg
Barry Denenberg is one of my favorite authors in this series, because he
is willing to explore the dark edges of the historical eras he writes about.
This volume will definitely give younger teens something to think about.
Forbidden--Helen Kirkman
It took me three tries to get into this book, which I bought purely for
the beefcake cover, but ultimately, I enjoyed it. An 8th-century widow buys
herself a slave in a fit of pique because she needs help with a secret mission:
finding proof that the King's Reeve is stealing taxes and keeping them for
himself. A lot of the dialogue consisted of the heroine reminding her slave of
his position in her household, which got rather boring and annoying after a
while. Details got skipped over and things resolved rather too easily, but the
book wasn't awful, just not as good as it could have been. I'll look for more
by this author, though, because I think she has potential.
A Woman's Innocence--Gayle Callen
Maybe I'm shallow, because I thought this title was sort of wasted on a
heroine whose sexual past put her out of the norm for Regency-set historicals.
Anyway, the heroine is accused of treason, and the investigator who built the
case against her is the son of the gardener of her family estate. When he
realizes that she is virtually guaranteed a death sentence, he breaks her out
of jail and soon realizes that she's been framed. They go undercover to her
brother's estate to research the crime, with her disguised as a man. It was a
fun book which could have used more fleshing out at the denouement.
Because You're Mine--Nan Ryan
I think I've blocked most of the details of this book because I didn't
care for it.
To Pleasure a Prince--Sabrina Jeffries
I always like Jeffries' work and this was no exception. This is part of a
trilogy about three bastard sons of the Prince of Wales. In this volume, the
hero agrees to let his younger sister be courted by the heroine's brother if
the heroine will agree to a sham courtship between them. This was a lot more
interesting than I've made it sound, because the brother has ulterior motives,
the sister is not the simpering miss she seems, and the heroine has a doozy of
a secret. Definitely recommended for historical romance fans.
The Duchess's Next Husband--Terri Brisbin
When a love match turns into a duty marriage after the hero inherits a
dukedom, his asthma and their inability to conceive become huge problems,
further complicated by the fact that the hero has overheard his doctors agree
that he will die within six months. This wasn't flawless, but it was one of
the fresher plots I've read in a while, dealing with upperclass Regency life
with a realism too often ignored in this genre. Brisbin did a really nice job
with this one.
Princess Nevermore--Dian Curtis Regan
When a princess who lives in the land under a wishing well finds herself
on the aboveground side of the water, she's faced with many challenges and
temptations. Very nice lesson on the consequences of greed and the desire for
power. The only problem with many YA novels, such as this one, is that they
end too fast.
Hand Quilted with Love--Joyce Livingston
I really wanted to like this one, because the premise seemed promisingly
up my alley. A widow (yep, another one) inherits a sewing goods store in
Alaska and has to move there with her young son in order to claim her legacy.
Unfortunately, the heroine was not very likable, constantly yelling at the hero
and afraid of everything. The hero's anti-marriage stance (he likes his
freedom to come and go as he pleases) seemed very contrived, particularly as he
spends the whole book chasing after the heroine, in spite of her repeated
shrieking attacks on him. I did not care for this book at all.
Brian's Winter--Gary Paulsen
I was very intrigued by Hatchet after I encountered it while subbing last
month, so when I saw this book at a consignment shop, I snapped it up. This is
Paulsen's take on what would have happened to Brian if he hadn't been rescued
before winter set in. I LOVE frozen wilderness survival stories, and this was
well done.
Drop-Dead Blonde--Nancy Martin, Elaine Viets, Denise Swanson, and Victoria
Laurie
This was an anthology of four mystery novellas, all of which I enjoyed
quite a bit. I found Laurie's contribution frustrating, though, because I
really liked the premise of a psychic, but the story suffered terribly from bad
writing and virtually no editing. Laurie has enormous potential if she can be
weaned from cliche.
Dead Certain--Mariah Stewart
This is part of a series that evokes Strangers on a Train on steroids.
After Amanda Crosby's business partner is found murdered, she's the prime
suspect because she'd threatened his life after a spectacularly bad antiques
acquisition. Once another victim turns up, Police Chief Sean Mercer realizes
Amanda's the victim, not the perpetrator, and then he's free to act on his
attraction to her while he tries to figure out who's gunning for her. Nifty
page-turner.
I'm up to 100 books and 31,756 pages for the year, but observers please take
note of how much YA I've read this year--I've got a lot of those books to clear
out of Mt. TBR!
Mellanie
CROWTHER QUOTES:
Mellanie: Evan, did you pack underwear for the trip?
Evan (age 10): Mom, I am not in the habit of going commando!
Hillary (14): He knows commando?!
Here's what the Crowthers are reading:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/magpye29
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