Gravity vs. the Girl by Riley Noehren

I loved this book so much it actually brought me out of a year and a half book review hibernation.  It is funny, witty, and relevant.  It's privately published so a little spendy but I understand it is available on kindle so maybe that helps.  LOVED it.  You must read.  Must.  Something More Substantial if ever there was one.

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

I've put off getting and reading this for a couple of years.  I wish I hadn't.  Maybe I wouldn't have been so disappointed if I hadn't waited so long to read it.  The story is meticulously rendered like Hale's other fairy tales.  The details are evocative and consistent.  The setting is medieval Mongolia and she paints a believable, breathable picture.  That said, the story was just ho hum for me.  I was bored.  If you're going to read Shannon Hale I would recommend you skip this one and pick up something else she has written.  Not that this book wasn't okay.  It's just that the others are better.

These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

I haven't reviewed anything in a while because I've been so busy with my kids home from school for the summer. These Is My Words was first recommended to me by my husband's aunt almost two years ago. Then this January, my sister-in-law borrowed it from the aunt and recommended it as well. I bought the book and put it on my TBR list/A~Z Challenge but had several other books ahead of it in my pile so I put it off. Last week two friends at choir practice were going on and on about it and I decided I couldn't put it off any longer. I came home and the next day I read the book. There is really only one thing I can say:


Dearest Mr. Darcy,

It pains me to have to tell you that I think we need to break up. You and I have had a good run of it and you have always meant a lot to me. I've loved you more than Edward or Jacob. I loved you more than Romeo and Petruchio. Once I had seen the A&E portrayal of you I even loved you more than Gilbert Blithe. But to go on this way would be unfair to you. I've found someone else and now that I know him, you will never again be the literary model of male perfection. I am so sorry to do this in writing but since it is where we first met, I felt it was only fitting. Please know that you will always hold a special place in my heart, but that heart now belongs to the husband of Sarah Agnes Prine.

With love,
Aberjaber

The story is based on the family memoirs of the author and takes place in the late 1800's in the Arizona Territory. It is a heart-warming (sometimes heart-wrenching) tale of a family and the struggles of frontier life. It is exciting, interesting, moving, and filling. I felt like I had a comfortable quilt wrapped around me the entire time I was reading it. Once I finished, I wanted to start at the beginning and read it again. This book is the heart of Something More Substantial.

The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Mary Street

Let me start by saying that I have always shunned books like these, written about an author's characters after the author's death. It has always seemed to me conceitedly presumptuous to write such a book. That said, when I saw this book on the bargain table at Barnes & Noble, I found it irresistable. The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy is the story of Pride and Prejudice as told from Mr. Darcy's point of view. All I can say is that once again I have been shown that sticking to your principles is always the wisest course of action. I did not think it would be possible to take a story I love and turn it into pure drudgery. The story was choppy, and completely lacked imagination. I was sorely disappointed, particularly at the lack of introspection. Here is a character who clearly is both extremely intelligent and very reserved. This would suggest that he spends a lot of time with his own thoughts. You won't find them in this book. I almost feel like saying it is unnecessary since many of you probably accept this as a no-brainer, but skip this one.

Austenland by Shannon Hale

I love this one! Austenland is a tale of a woman who can't seem to find a guy to hold on to because none of the men she meets can measure up to Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy (especially as portrayed by Colin Firth). I had a hard time getting into the book. The first couple of chapters didn't exactly grab me. I stuck with it though and I'm glad that I did. Hale does a marvelous job of capturing the flavor of Austen's writing and the essence of Mr. Darcy, all in a modern context. The ending was wonderfully unpredictable and the author manages to write the story in such a way that any of the possible opposing outcomes would be happily accepted by the reader. The book is a wonderful romp through Regency England and an interesting commentary on what life might truly have been like for young women of that period. I recommend this book to lovers of Jane Austen's works- not just Pride and Prejudice, but the rest of her novels as well, and anyone who loves seventeenth century English literature. The book makes frequent reference to Austen's novels and there are also allusions to works from other authors of the time period such as Charlotte and Emily Bronte. In spite of the slow start I give this book a hearty something more substantial.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey was Jane Austen's first book ever written and last ever published. I believe is was published posthumously and I'm not sure she ever intended for it to be read by an audience (although I have not read anything one way or the other). The book seemed to me to be a study in writing novels. She asked and answered a lot of questions in this book. What makes a heroine or a plot worthy of reading? Which works to take inspiration from, which to completely diverge from? Are novels worthy endeavors? Can one be written about normal people? Will doing so make novels more socially acceptable? Do popular opinions matter on the subject of novels anyway? Jane makes many asides to the audience which I felt were more of a stream of consciousness creative writing exercise than anything else. I especially felt that the book was not intended to be published at the end when she essentially said, "and then they all lived happily ever after, etc., etc. You know all the rest and I can fill it all in later without giving it much thought." It is possible that this was an underdeveloped stylistic choice, especially considering the similar though less abrupt ending of Emma. I think however, that Northanger Abbey was just a practice to help the author decide more precisely on a direction to take her work.

I didn't particularly like this book and I found the asides to the audience on par with political lobbyist soapboxes, of which I am not a fan. I am quite glad I had read a number of other Jane Austens before reading this one. I fear that I would not have picked up any of the much more worthy ones, had I read this one first. I don't think anyone should miss out on Austen but in this case I am going to have to say skip this one, at least until you have read some of her other more wonderful books.

First Two Book Reviews

I posted these first two book reviews on my other blog.

The first was "The Jane Austen Book Club". The short story is that I hated it. For the long story you can go here.

The second was "Love Walked In". Yes it did. I loved this book. Here is my review.

More to come soon!