The Bridge of San Luis Rey

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Thornton Wilder

In 1714 in Peru the bridge of San Luis Rey broke, sending 5 people to their deaths.

The accident was witnessed by Brother Juniper, who has been plagued by the question of the role the hand of God plays in the lives and deaths of human beings. He realizes that if he can find a common denominator among the five victims he may be find an answer.

As he investigates the lives of the dead, he finds many intersections where their lives entwined with one another, but can he find a reason why God would have wanted them dead?

I loved this book and have added it to my list of favorites. I do not wrestle with the big questions raised by this book, but I always love books that address the huge basic question of what it means to be human, and our role in the universe.

I was so impressed by how such huge themes were contained in this little gem of a volume. The writing was sure and powerful. I would have loved it for that, alone, but I loved everything about it. The characters, the situations, and the setting were all so wonderfully done.

The Westing Game

The Westing Game

Ellen Raskin

The Westing Game is a book for older children that deservedly won the Newberry prize in the late 1970's. Paper magnate Samuel Westing leaves a very curious will.

Sixteen potential heirs are paired into eight groups and each pair is given a set of clues. The first to find the cause of Westing's demise wins the game.

This book was a hoot. The characters were colorful and funny, the game was fun and the plot was surprisingly imaginative. This was a very cute book altogether.

Crooked House

Crooked House

Agatha Christie

Aristide Leonides had come to England as an impoverished Greek youth, and had built a fortune - and a lavish but slightly unusual house. At 85, the loving, wise, benificent family patriarch was found dead.

Which member of the Leonides household could be crooked enough to have poisoned him?

I find almost all of Agatha Christie's work to be very satisying reads, and this was no exception.

A Christmas Journey

A Christmas Journey

Anne Perry

Guests have been invited to spend a holiday weekend at Applecross, an English country estate.

When a young woman is apparently driven to suicide by the cruel remarks of another guest, thoughts of celebration quickly turn to thoughts of justice, forgiveness, and atonement.

As a group, the remaining guests decide that the young lady that they hold responsible for playing a part in the other's suicide must undertake a perilous journey into the brutal winter of the Scottish Highlands, in order to find the dead young lady's mother, and to explain her role in her death.

It always gives me a lot of pleasure to read Anne Perry's Chrismas books this time of year, even though the themes are often dark and difficult.

In an Antique Land

In an Antique Land

Amitav Ghosh

This is both an account of an Indian slave who was owned by a Jewish merchant in the 1100's, and an account of the time that Ghosh spent in Egypt.

Both accounts were interesting. I found passages about trade among the Middle East, N. Africa, India and Southern Europe during the Middle Ages to be especially fascinating. Ghosh's attempts to uncover the identity of the slave and to learn about his life are also interesting, though it seems to me that his conclusions were almost all pure educated speculation based on too lttle evidence. The slave's master makes up almost all of the narrative of the slave. Given that there is, of course, so little written material concerning the slave, or any of the lower classes of that time, it's to be expected.

The account Ghosh gives of his several visits to Egypt over a decade or so are also interesting.

Tied Up in Tinsel

Tied Up in Tinsel

Ngaio Marsh

An eccentric estate owner, a staff of convicted murderers, a hybrid Druidic/Christmas celebration, various and sundry guests, and a corpse are the ingredients of this fun and interesting Yuletide mystery.

I've read a few Ngaio Marsh books, and so far this is my favorite.

A Chirstmas Odyssey

A Christmas Odyssey

Anne Perry

It's Christmas time and James Wentworth enlists the help of his friend Henry Rathbone to reunite him with his estranged son, Lucien, who has fallen into the abyss of Victorian London's underground of unimaginable debauchery, sordid appetites of all kinds, and violent criminal behavior. Squeaky Robinson, who is nurse Hester Monk's assistant, Crow, an almost-doctor, and Bessie, a 14-yr-old who is at home in the underground but who has not yet been tainted by its fetid atmosphere join Henry on his quest to rescue his friend's peodigal son.

I enjoyed this, but I didn't think it was quite as strong as Perry's other Christmas books.

How Green Was My Valley

How Green Was My Valley"

Richard Llewellyn

This is the story of a Welsh coal-mining family at about the turn of thd Twentieth Century as narrated by the youngest son, Huw Morgan.

I felt a great sympathy for Huw and his entire family, in spite of the males' proclivity for fighting - settling scores with their fists.

The story was beautiful and poignant. The author's gift of storytelling is obvious. This was a wonderful book altogether.

The Face of a Stranger

The Face of a Stranger

Anne Perry

This is the first book in the William Monk series. Monk, a policeman in Victorian London, has been in a terrible accident. which left him severely injured, and without any memory of his past.

As he slowly begins to piece bits of his life and small bits of his memory back together, he is handed a case that requires him to move among the gentry with extreme delicacy.

As the case unfolds, he uncovers some shocking clues to his own past - clues which could well end his future.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Monk seems to me to be one of the most complex sleuths since Sherlock Holmes.

I've read some of Anne Perry's other series, the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt novels, which I also enjoyed, and I've read several of her Christmas books, which I love, but this is the most well-crafted of them all. I'm glad that there are umpteen more books in this series. I intend to eventually read them all. I hope they are all so strong.

*This book is also the first in my William Monk First Three Novels omnibus edition. I am only reviewing the first right now.

A Daughter's Love

A Daughter's Love

John Guy

This was a very readable biography of Sir Thomas More and, incidentally, of his daughter, Margaret Roper. I say incidentally, because she was treated with more depth than other family members and other background characters, but nto with nearly the same depth as More, the author of Utopia.

I really liked Guy's More. He was witty, jolly, fun-loving, socially conscious, and a loving family man. However, after I'd finished the book, and had a bit of time to digest what I'd read, I realized that he was the same person who condemned many people to horrible deaths as heretics. I couldn't help but think that his own fate at the hands of Henry VIII was a perfect example of poetic justice.

I really did find this a fascinating read. More was definitely an interesting man who was a deep thinker and very highly principled, although holding too tightly to those same principles led him to commit terrible acts, and, ulitmately, was his undoing.

Richard III

Richard III

William Shakespeare

I think that almost everyone knows Shakespeare's verson of the story of the monstrous King Richard III, how he plotted the murder of anyone who stood in the way of his gaining the crown of England.

This was certainly not my first encounter with Shakespeare. I've read his work several times before. However, I seem to have missed the history plays, until now.

I'm embarrassed to admit, that this is also the first time that I've felt the magic of Shakespeare. It's the first time I've been held in the thrall of the power of his words.

I've always enjoyed his work, but I never understood what all the fuss was about. Now I get it.

Some Tame Gazelle

Some Tame Gazelle

Barbara Pym

This is a gentle comedy of manners which takes place in an English village sometime during the first half of the Twentieth Century. It features two spinster sisters, curates, a rather sour, dour archeacon, a bishop, tea, cakes, church bazaars, knitting, and many more of the trappings you'd expect in to find in a gentle comedy of manners.

This book has been compared to Jane Austen's work. I can see that on the surface, but in the end, I don't think it really lives up to that billing. To be fair, can anything really live up to an original?

I enjoyed this, and am glad I read it. There were many passages that made me smile. I wouldn't say, though, that I was terribly impressed.

Roman Fever and Other Stories

Roman Fever and Other Stories

Edith Wharton

This book was a wonderful smorgasbord of delicious tidbits. I'm a fan of Edith Wharton, but I loved this collection of her short stories even more than I do the novels of hers I've read. Every story was a gem, and sparkled and shown in its own way.

My favorites were the title story, Roman Fever, Xingu, and Autre Temps. The thread through several of the stories is societal mores - what are the boundaries, and what happens when those boundaries are crossed.

Xingu was a jab at social and intellectual pretentions, and was almost told like a joke with a punchline. I saw the punchline coming a mile off, but I didn't mind, because it was such a great ride to get there.

Anyone looking for an introduction to Edith Wharton could not do better than this. Neither could anyone looking for an outstanding short story collection.

I loved this, and have added it to my always-growing list of favorites.

Madame Bovary

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert

An inexperienced, passionate, romantic dreamer of a girl marries a boring, medicre, widowed, milksop, country doctor with predictable consequences.

My feelings about Madame Bovary are ambiguous. At times the writing seemed uneven. There were many brilliant passages, but many that were not so great. That might have been the fault of the translation.

I really couldn't sympathize with either Emma Bovary, nor her husband. The character that I had the most compassion for was Berthe, a minor character.

I'm glad that I read this, though, because I did enjoy some of the more outstanding passages, and it was so rich with symbolism and other literary devices, such as foreshadowing.

I can't help but conclude that Flaubert was a gifted writer.

The Western Lit Survival Kit: An Irreverant Guidd to the Classics, from Homer to Faulkner

The Western Lit Survival Kit: An Irreverant Guide to the Classics from Homer to Faulkner

Sandra Newman

The title and subtitle neatly explain what this book is about. Written with razor-sharp wit and satire, it also manages to convey a great deal of information and insight in a very accessible manner.

I didn't always agree with the author's assessment of a classic. For instance, she pretty much panned Frankenstein. I think she forgot that one keystone of great literature is that it addresses big questons - gets us to think about things that are larger than ourselves, particularly, the human condition. I consider Mary Shelley was a genius at this aspect of the writer's craft.

Even though I'm a bit put out about the author's assessment of Frankenstein, and even though it felt, at times, that the author were showing off a bit, I adored this book! I really needed to add dozens of books to my wishlist like I needed a hole in the head, (o.k., dozens might be a slight exaggeration), but that's exactly what I've done, thanks to this book. I'm also now dying to re-read some old favorites.

Sandra Newman is a book-junky's enabler.

Seriously, this book is more fun than a Six Flags theme park. It's a treasure for book lovers, and I think that it would make literature more accessible to those who are intimidated by it - as long as they're not intimidated by her erudition and dextrous display of wit.

The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Power-House

The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Power-House

John Buchan

This book is comprised of two rollicking-good novellas.

In each of these tales, the protagonist stumbles upon a plot that would have devastating consequences to the world. These protagonists, however, are no bumbling characters.

Both are pulled out of their comfortable lives, and both display razor-sharp wit and nerve as they desperately race to unravel and foil the plots. In the process, they put their own lives at risk.

I was delighted to find that The Thirty-Nine Steps is one in a series of four books featuring Richard Hannay. I'll be looking forward to reading them all. I still have to investigate whether The Power-House, which features Sir Edward Leithan, is part of a series or not.

These were wonderful tales of high adventure, espionage and poltiical intrigue, told with the kind of subtle humor that appeals to me.

I loved this book! It was great fun!

Footsteps in the Darkl

Footsteps in the Dark

Georgette Heyer

An old priory, the ghost of a monk, a skelton in a priest's hole, secret passages, and a murder sprinkled with a dose of humor and a small dash of romance is the perfect recipe for a great ghost story/mystery.

This book was so much fun! Add in some chilly, rainy weather that's perfect for bundling up and reading, and I feel as if I've nearly reached reading nirvana! I was almost sorry to have finished this book, and I will definitely be reading more of Georgette Heyer's mysteries in the future.

Exit the Milkman

Exit the Milkman

Charlotte MacLeod

When Jim Feldtster, the head of the dairy dept. at a small, New England, agricultural college disappears under mysterious circumstances, his unpleasant wife rouses her neighbor, Professor Peter Shandy, in the middle of the night. Shandy dismisses her pleas for help as attention-seekkng hystrionics.

When Feldster still hasn't turned up to teach his classes the next day, Shandy has second thoughts, and regrets being so dismissive the night before.

After Peter and Helen Shandy's friend, Catriona McBogle, gets lost on a rarely-used backroad and finds Feldster strapped into a wrecked car and apparently suffering from amnesia, the mystery only deepens.

The mystery becomes even more profound when Feldster's unpleasant wife is found dead in their immaculate home.

This was an entertaining read. Among the cozies I've read, I'd probably rate it somewhere in the middle - not the worst by any means, but certanly not the best.

The Australian Pen Pal

The Australian Pen Pal

Michelle Linn-Gust

Rachel Monroe has lost her husband, Tom, to cancer. During Tom's illness, she promised him that she would pursue the dreams that she had deferred during their marriage and his illness. Honoring Tom and her promise to him has made her a successful novelist.

When she is sent to Australia on a publicity tour, she seizes the opportunity to search for her teenage pen pal, who abruptly stopped writing.

What she finds is that life, in all of its aspects and fullness, can indeed move forward again, after loss.

I found Rachel's story moving. It was satisfying and inspirational to witness Rachel's heart learn to open up again.

Quoth the Raven

Quoth the Raven

Jame Haddam

Former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian is schedued to give a lecture at a small, private college in the Pennsylvania mountains on Hallween night.

When the school's most eminent professor disappears and the secretary is poisoned with lye in front of a cafeteria full of students and faculty Demarkian gives a lesson in applied investigative skills as Hallween revelers party and prepare the school's traditional annual bonfire.

This was quite a pleasant cozy, and I enjoyed it, though I did have a couple of problems with it.

I found the author's choice of words distracting at times. I'm not referring to the dialogue.

Another thing I found distracting was that although it was set in the 1990's, it seemed dated to the early 1960's in many respects, and many of the students seemed naive and childish, as did much of the Halloween motif. I just can't picture female college students dressed en masse as pumpkins, or male college students in Batman costumes. The repeated mention of girls sewing costumes and making paper crepe decorations was dated and a bit distracting as well.

Even with the problems I had with this book, I enjoyed it and am inclined to give the author and the series another try.

War and Peace

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace is a stunning panorama of Russian life during the Napoleonic Wars, mostly from the perspective of the nobility or upper class.

Tolstoy's ability to pull the reader into the story is, IMO, unsurpassed. I feel as if I not only followed the fortunes of the Bolkonskys, the Rostovs, the Bezukhovs, etc., but I feel as if I lived with them for the six weeks or so it took me to read this book. I even feel as if I were able to catch glimpses into the minds of a few of the world leaders of the time, like Napoleon and Czar Nicholas.

My only complaint is the ending; the last 40 pages or so. It felt, then, that Tolstoy was speaking in his own voice. It seemed like a piece of expository writing, as if it might have been an excerpt from an essay. Since this only pertains to the last 40 pages or so of the book, and since I was immersed in the world crafted by Tolstoy for more than 1400 pages and for over six weeks, this complaint seems petty and insignificant.

War and Peace confirmed the love for Tolstoy that I discovered when I read Anna Karenina, and has become my favorite book of all-time.

Night and Day

Night and Day

Virginia Woolf

This book is about love and marriage - how relationships are affected by social mores and perceived obligations. Woolf also asks the bigger questions: What is love? What constitutes marriage? What is necesary for marital happiness? Is marriage necessary for happiness? What is happiness?

These are the questions facing Katherine Hilbery, who has been a willing, but bored, drudge, helping her mother with the task of researching her worthy grandfather, a well-known poet and family icon. These are questions also affecting her friends, William Rodney, mary Datchett, Cassandra Otway, and Ralph Denham.

I have loved every one of Woolf's works that I've read so far, and this one is no exception. Her writing rings as clear as a bell, yet every word, every phrase, every object is imbued with layers of meaning.

Ali and Nino

Ali and Nino

Kurban Said

I would characterize this book as Romeo and Juliet with an East/West culture clash rather than a familial clash. The setting, Baku, a crossroads between East and West is essential to the story.

Ali is a Muslim boy and Nino is a Christian, Georgian girl who happen to fall deeply in love.

While Ali's father agrees to the marriage, Nino's family at first refuses, until a supposed friend intervenes on Ali's behalf.

In the course of their courtship and marriage there are many obstacles thrown in their way - blood fueds, cultural and religious differences, and war. Much of their quest for happiness is played out in physical journeys from Baku to Persia, to Tiflis.

There was a fairy-tale quality about this story that I really enjoyed.

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women

Harriet Reisen

As is true for so many others, Louisa May Alcott and her alter-ego, Jo March, are icons of my childhood.

I already knew quite a bit about Louisa May Alcott but I still found this an informative biography.

Louisa seemed to resemble her counterpart, Jo March, even more than I'd expected. I was also surprised by how many details from the Alcott's real lives found their way into Little Women. Not surprisingly, it seems as if she wrote her life, but as she wished it to be.

I found some of the details from Louisa's mid-life a bit surprising. For instance, her romance with the real Laurie.

I find it terribly sad that this woman who as a girl could go into raptures over nature, or who was always the one to lead any kind of fun, who gave so much pleasure to others, and who worked so hard for everyone around her was never able to find her own happiness. She never really was able to enjoy her own success.

Women in Love

Women in Love

D.H. Lawrence

Women in Love is the story of the Brangwen sisters who are very different in their approaches to life and relationships. The novel centers on Ursula's relationship with Birkin and Gudrun's relationship with Gerald Crich, son of the owner of the town's coal mine.

This is my first foray into Lawrence's work, and it will not be my last! In spite of the angst and over-analytical tendencies, it is the most lush, sumptuous writing I've ever had the pleasure to read. I loved it!

Flashman

Flashman

George MacDonald Fraser

The main character, Harry Flashman is a foolish, self-preserving, bigoted, womanizing coward. I didn't like him at all, yet couldn't help but laugh at the scrapes he would get into, and through no real effort of his own, get out of. I enjoyed the adventure, humor, and history. In its way, it was a fun read.

Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist

Nellie BlyL Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist

Brooke Kroeger

I love reading about unorthodox, adventurous, Victorian-era women and had recently wanted to know more about Nellie Bly.

Kroeger's portrait of Bly is both thorough and balanced. I came away with less respect for Bly than I thought I would, but I learned more about her than I had hoped. I also came away with respect for the author.

A River in the Sky

A River in the Sky

Elizabeth Peters

This is the last boook in the Amelia Peabody series to date, although it takes place out of chronological order.

This time, in a bit of an aberration, the Emerson family heads to Jerusalem and the Holy Land rather than to Egypt. The plan is to meet up with Ramses who has been working on a dig in Samaria.

While in Samaria, Ramses' insatiable curiousity and nose for trouble, (likely inherited from his fond maternal parent), leads him into a situation which may have dire consequences.

Meanwhile, as the Emersons await his delayed arrival, they must avert an explosion of the powder keg that is made up of Jerusalem's multitude of religious sects. A thoughtless, incompetent excavator, a man who might well have ties to German intelligence, may have deliberately lit the fuse.

I was very sorry to have come to the end of the Amelia Peabody series. It has been a great pleasure to have spent the last two summers with Amelia and her family.

Tomb of the Golden Bird

Tomb of the Golden Bird

Elizabeth Peters

This Amelia Peabody adventure centers on Howard Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922.

Of course, the Emerson family gets caught up not only in the excitement of the discovery, but in fighting crime and all kinds of intrigue as well.

This was a very satisfying addition to the series.

I simultaneously read Carter's own account of the tomb's discovery. which made this book even more fun and interesting.

The Serpent on the Crown

The Serpent on the Crown

Elizabeth Peters

This installment of the Amelia Peabody series brings us back into chronological order.

The Emeraons are approached by a wealthy widow who is also a famous novelist. She appeals to them to accept a stunning golden statue which was bequeathed to her by her husband, and which she claims is cursed. She claims to believe that only Emerson can safely keep it, as his talents for escaping all kinds of danger and for excorcising evil spirits are well-known.

Soon, the Emersons are thrust into the midst of a series of mysterious events involving dead bodies and black afrits. As they work to unravel the puzzle of who is behind these mysterious occurences, they never flinch from what may be the greatest danger they've ever faced.

Of course I loved this! It was one of the most suspenseful in the series.

Guardian of the Horizon

Guardian of the Horizon

Elizabeth Peters

This adventure of the Emerson family was written out of chronological order in order to fill in a gap left in the story of Nefret and the Lost Oasis. It takes place in the year 1907 - 1908.

When the Emnersons are summoned to come to the aid of their good friend, Tarek, King of the Kingdom of the Hidden Mountain, they do not hesitate to return to Sudan to come to his aid, though they are suspicious of the messenger.

When they arrive, they soon find that their suspicions were warrranted. Tarek has been usurped by one who has no right to claim the throne. The usurper plans to use Nefret and the Emersons to solidify his position.

I've been reading the Amelia Peabody books in order, and was thrown off a bit at first by the out-of-synch chronology. I was soon caught up in the story, though, so that quickly ceased to be a problem, and I quite enjoyed it.

Children of the Storm

Children of the Storm

Elizabeth Peters

The Amelia Peabody series still hasn't grown stale for me. The characters are so delghtful, their adventures are so exhilarating, and so many wonderful new characters are added, that it is still fresh and more fun than the three-ring circus that their lives often resemble.

In this installment, Amelia and co. are on the trail of thieves who've stolen a few very valuable pieces of Ancient Egyptian jewelery from their good friend, Cyrus Vandergelt, as they try to work out a pattern to a number of other seemingly unrelated events.

The Golden One

The Golden One

Elizabeth Peters

The Great War and the Great Game continue. This time the entire Emerson clan follows Ramses on his assignment to Gaza.

Meanwhile, they have hired a very competent, eager young, Egyptian girl, and her lazy, incompetent brother, who may be involved in the discovery and pilfering of a very important tomb. They are also having to deal with an obnoxious American famnily who seems bent on openly dealing in stolen antiquities.

All in all, it's just anoher season in Egypt for the Emersons, which is always a delight for readers!

Lord of the Silent

Lord of the Silent

Elizabeth Peters

The saga of the Egyptological Emerson family continues. Lord of the Silent begins with their return to Egypt as WWI threatens, yet again, to pull them into its midst.

Even as they retreat to their beloved Luxor they are not immune to the effects of the war.

When Amelia discovers a recently dead body in a tomb, which is then followed by the discovery of others, they are plunged right into the thick of things, as usual.

Meanwhile, Amelia is busy trying to keep her son Ramses from being compelled to accept another dangerous undercover assignment and she is also working to discover if their arch nemesis is at work once again.

Fun, fun, fun!

He Shall Thunder in the Sky

He Shall Thunder in the Sky

Elizabeth Peters

In this book of the Amelia Peabody series, the shadow of WWI descends upon Europe and the world, including Amelia's beloved Egypt. The Emersons are caught up in the maelstrom and in the Great Game of espionage.

As always, this was great fun!

The Falcon at the Portal

The Falcon at the Portal

Elizabeth Peters

There was great character developement in this installment of the Amelia Peabody series. There were more surprises and twists regarding Amelia's family than there were involving mysteries.

All of the surprises made this one of my favorites in the series!

The Ape Who Guards the Balance

The Ape Who Guards the Balance

Elizabeth Peters

This is part of the wonderful Amelia Peabody series. There are approximately 19 books in the series. Last summer, which I christened "The Summer of Amelia Peabody", I read through the first nine. It was such fun that I decided to read the remaining books in the series during this, my "Second Summer of Amelia Peabody".

As I resumed the series, I was not disappointed. It is now "the season" of 1907. Independently-minded Amelia and her equally unorthodox family are off once again to Egypt. Amelia and her husband Emerson are disappointed that they've only been given permission to dig a minor tomb in The Valley of the Kings.

Of course, being the Emersons, it isn't long before they are distracted from their boredom by criminals, nefarious plots, and danger.

The Second Summer of Amelia Peabody was off and running with a terrific start!

The Ape Who Guards the Balance

The Ape Who Guards the Balance

Elizabeth Peters

This is part of the wonderful Amelia Peabody series. There are approximately 19 books in the series. Last summer, which I christened "The Summer of Amelia Peabody", I read through the first nine. It was such fun that I decided to read the remaining books in the series during this, my "Second Summer of Amelia Peabody".

As I resumed the series, I was not disappointed. It is now "the season" of 1907. Independently-minded Amelia and her equally unorthodox family are off once again to Egypt. Amelia and her husband Emerson are disappointed that they've only been given permission to dig a minor tomb in The Valley of the Kings.

Of course, being the Emersons, it isn't long before they are distracted from their boredom by criminals, nefarious plots, and danger.

The Second Summer of Amelia Peabody was off and running with a terrific start!

Poor Miss Finch

Poor Miss Finch

Wilkie Collins

Lucilla Finch is a young woman who has been blind since the age of one. The complications that ensue when her sight is restored combine with the complicatons that arise from the feelings that identical twin brothers have for her.

I was immediately grabbed by the Dickensian humor I found in the first part of the book, and which appeared from time to time throughout the book.

At other times the story became more gothic in nature, which was more in line with what I've come to expect from Collins. It never quite became truly gothic, though. I would venture to call it gothic light.

Loving Dickens and his particular brand of humor, (and pathos), as I do, and loving gothic novels as I also do, I thoroughly enjoyed Poor Miss Finch.

Passenger to Teheran

Passenger to Teheran

Vita Sackville West

I read this a few months ago, so, it's hard to write about it now. I do remember that I loved it. Not only is it one of my favorite genres, vintage travel, but it impressed me as one of the most beautifully written travelogues I've read.

It really made me want to read more of Vita Sackville-West's work. I haven't done so yet, but her work is definitely on my radar.

Four Spirits: A Novel

Four Spirits: A Novel

Sena Jeter Naslund

This is a novel of The Civil Rights Movement. In particular, it deals with the bombing of a Birmingham church that killed four little girls, and the effect this had on many people, especially the main character, Stella Silver. Stella Silver is a young, white college student for whom the bombing created a conflict between the compulsion to act on her conscience and concern for her personal safety and the safety of her friends.

The stories of so many others tie in as well. Naslund does an outstanding job of fully embodying each character, so that no character seems just a one-dimensional sillhouette, trivial, or unimportant to the whole of the story.

I wouldn't list this book among my favorites, but I am glad I read it.

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society

Trenton Lee Stewart

This is a book for older children, and children at heart. Fans of Roald Dahl or Lemony Snickett will especially enjoy this adventurous tale, although it also refreshingly stands on its own.

The Mysterious Benedict Society is made up of four unique children chosen by Mr. Benedict, who is indeed mysterious, to complete a very serious, very important task. They must use their wits and special gifts to act as spies, solve codes, and unravel clues, all while remaining undetected.

This is the perfect choice for anyone who is looking for a light, fun read.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag

Alan Bradley

When a famous puppeteer is murdered, Flavia DeLuce is on the case. In spite of having to constantly deal with two obnoxious older sisters and a visiting aunt who is cranky, stern, and eccentric, Flavia manages to put her investigative skills to good use.

I must say, I adore Flavia DeLuce. She and Amelia Peabody are my favorite amateur sleuths, bar none. This is a wonderful, wonderful series that I hope continues for a very long time.

Mrs. Woolf and the Servants: An Intimate History of Domestic Life in Bloomsbury

Mrs. Woolf and the Servants: An Intimate History of Domestic Life in Blooomsbury

Alison Light

This was an excellent biography of Virginia Woolf and her servants. The author seems to have researched many aspects of her subjects thoroughly and well.

The interaction between Virginia Woolf and her servants was fascinating , and gives a new perspective of her, making a subject that's been written about many times fresh and vibrant, giving it mew life.

My favorite parts, though, were about Woolf's writing, and how her relationship to her own and other Bloomsbury servants affected it. Sometimes there was even a direct correlation between a real-life servant and a servant in one of Woolf's novels or stories. I adore that kind of insight.

Mrs. Woolf and the Servants gets full marks from me. This is biography at its best.

The Oracle of Stamboul

The Oracle of Stamboul

Michael David Lukas

Briefly, The Oracle of Stamboul is about a very intelligent, very precocious , gifted young Jewish girl of the Ottoman Empire, whose birth is heralded by a flock of purple hoopoe birds.

Eleonor's mother dies, as a result of childbirth. Eleonor's father is a rug merchant, and when he decides to travel to Stamboul in the hopes of selling more carpets, 8-yr-old Eleonor, not wanting to be left in the hands of an uncaring setp-mother, and not wanting to experience the loneliness of separation from her loving father, stows away on the ship that is taking him to Stamboul.

In Stamboul, her father is killed, and she becomes the ward of her father's business partner, an important, wealthy man, Monef Bey.

Her gifts and intelligence bring her to the notice of the Sultan, and she becomes his trusted advisor, much to the disdain of many in the palace.

I enjoyed this, but perhaps not as much as I'd hoped.

Upstairs Downstairs

Upstairs Downstairs

John Hawkesworth

Upstairs Downstairs is the story of the fictional Bellamy family, an upper-class Edwardian family, and their servants.

This book is based on the television series that aired in the 1970's.

Even though I don't recall ever seeing the series, there were no real surprises. Both the Bellamys and their servants were locked rigidly into their class roles. There were inevitable rebellions from both classes, while most accepted their lot without complaint, and some even thrived in that system.

I watched the sequel that aired back in April, and it got me in the mood to read this book. I quite enjoyed it, even though books based on television series or movies are almost never well-written, and this was no exception.

# 23 Radio Shangri-La: What I Learned From the Happiest Kingdom on Earth

Radio Shangri-La

Lisa Napoli

Lisa Napoli was a radio journalist in New York when she got the opportunity to go to the little-known Himalyan Kingdom of Bhutan, a place where the nation's success is not measured by the GDP, but by GNH...gross national happiness. Napoli volunteered to help Bhutan set up their first youth-oriented radio station, Kuzoo FM.

In spite of the over-supply of travel sub-genre where a woman reaches middle-age and decides to travel to an exotic location on some kind of quest to find herself, to find meaning, to find love, or to find something else, I still enjoyed this book, which almost falls in the category.

I especially enjoyed learning about little-known Bhutan, but I'm afraid the only thing I garnered from the book about happiness, in spite of the subtitle, is that ignorance is bliss, I suppose. The king had kept Bhutan isolated from the rest of the world, and the inahabitants seemesd to me to have a certain chldlike quality...a simplicity, a sense of wonder at the world that was slowly opening up for them, and a sort of patriarchal devotion to the king who seemed a father figurehead.
I don't think that Napoli made clear what it is that she learned from Bhutan, except that a simpler life is less stressful and therefore happier.

This was not the greatest book I've ever read, but I did enjoy it.

# 22 The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

Suzanne Collins

the Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future North America, a nation called Panem, which is comprised of The Capitol and 12 subordinate districts who flought a bloody war of independence against The Capitol and who have been under the tight, cruel control of The Capitol ever since.

One way that The Capitol reminds the district of its control over the districts is by The Hunger Games, which take place annually.

The district residents aged 12 - 18 must all put their names into a drawing. Two names from each district are chosen - a boy and a girl. Those chosen are called tributes. All 24 tributes will fight each other to death, until only one tribute, the winner, is living. This is The Hunger Games, and every moment is televised live across Panem.

This year Katniss Everdeen is District 12's female tribute, after she volutneers to take the place of her younger sisterm whose name was drawn.

The course of the games is naturally intense and fast-paced. I won't say more about the actual games for fear of spoilers.

This book was the most gripping I've read in a long while. It was hard to put down.


Collins did an outstanding job of making the reader care for the characters, and of making such a story believable.

This is defintely the best YA novel I've read in a few years!

#21 The Heroine's Bookshelf

The Heroine's Bookshelf

Erin Blakemore

This book's subititle, "Life Lessons from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder" exactly describes this delicious little gem. Each chapter is devoted to the life lessons that Blakemore, and millions of other readers have gleaned from a literary heroine such as Jane Eyre, Jo March, or Scout Finch, and her author/creator.

From the very first words of the introduction I identified with the author. Again and again this book resonated, and I found myself mentally crying out an emphatic "Yes!".

At other times, I was delighted to gain a new perspective of an old friend.

I suppose that it would be a bit redundant to say that I LOVED this book and that I highly recommend it. It's being added to my list of favorites, for sure!

The Sandalwood Tree

The Sandalwood Tree

Elle Newmark

It is 1947. Americans Martin and Evie have come to India because historian Martin has won a Fullbright scholarship to study the Partition. Evie has insisted on coming along in the hopes of bridging the distance that has grown between them ever since Martin returned from the battlefields of Europe.

Things don't go as Evie had hoped, however, as the distance between them seems to widen as they try to settle into their new surroundings.

One day, as Evie is cleaning the bungalow in which they've been staying, she finds a tidy little packet of letters that had been hidden away behind a loose brick by one of the bungalow's long-ago tenants.

In her loneliness and isolation, Evie becomes obsessed with the story of the two unconventional Victorian ladies who were the letters' correspondents. Adela and Felicity had come to India during the 1850's, ostensibly as part of the Raj's "fishing fleet", but in reality, in an effort to escape strict Victorian societal constraints.

I loved The Sandalwood Tree. The writing flowed beautifully. The two stories were masterfully interwoven together with the backdrop, creating a gorgeous, luminous tapestry.

I definitely give The Sandalwood Tree two thumbs up!