Mirkwood Reflections

Now You See Her by Joy Fielding - 5/5/2011  Good ~ Mystery Middle-aged and in the middle of a divorce, Marcy travels to Ireland on what was meant to be a second honeymoon and sees what appears to be her daughter who was declared dead two years before. I enjoyed this - I needed a captivating mystery and this was just the thing. The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier - 5/7/2011 Fair ~ Fiction What if pain manifested as light that everyone could see? A handwritten journal serves as the common thread that links several otherwise unrelated vignettes in this book that has no clear resolution. The vignettes were entertaining, and the premise promising, but I kept waiting for something to tie everything together at the end.... and..... and..... Don't bother. I Saw the Angel in the Marble by Chris & Ellyn Davis - 5/13/2011  Excellent ~ Nonfiction A collection of essays on the purpose and delight-directed methods of home education. I've been working on this (borrowed!...

I keep reading, but I've been forgetting to finish these blog posts! Here are my April reads.  Madame Tussaud: A novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran - 4/2/2011  Good ~ Historical Fiction Marie Grosholtz works with her uncle in their Salon filled with wax models and has a front row view of the Revolution in France. This one seemed like a bit of a chore to get through. I enjoyed it though, so perhaps that was just the fact that I hadn't had a lot of reading time and it was a LONG book. Marie was an strong and talented female character in a time when strength and talent in females was not so much appreciated. The plot was based on the true story of Madame Tussaud's Waxworks. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok - 4/4/2011  Good ~ Fiction Kim emigrates to America from Hong Kong and works in a sweatshop with her mother. For about 2/3 of the book, I thought this was a true story.  Instead of a memoir, though, this is a work of fiction based in the auth...

Clara & Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland - 3/1/2011 Fair - Historical Fiction Clara is a designer at Tiffany Studios around the turn of the 20th century. I listened to this on audiobook and I didn't particularly like the narrator. It was a good story, though. GOVERNESS: The Lives and Times of the Real Jane Eyres by Ruth Brandon - 3/2/2011 Fair - Nonfiction This was more about the lives of several real women who were governesses at some point. So, more about the TIMES than the LIVES of governesses. Mildly interesting and somewhat lurid (because one of the women was Byron's mistress and another was the mother of Mary Shelley), but not what I expected. I had expected something else, as this didn't seem like a fair account of the average governess. But I did learn a lot! Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo - 3/5/2011 Excellent - Chick Lit Emma Grant, college professor in disgrace, travels to England hot on the trail of some previously unknown Austen letters. Enjoyed...

Margins are acting crazy again. Sorry!   Me and Mr. Darcy Alexandra Potter 2/4/2011 Good Fiction Bookstore manager goes on Jane Austen tour on a whim and, through a twist in time, meets the real Darcy. But he's not all she imagined. Interesting, if you need something light and Austen-related.   Emma Jane Austen 2/8/2011 Good Classic Spoiled rich Emma Woodhouse tries to make matches for everyone but herself. Loved Emma this time! The Postcard Killers James Patterson & Liza Marklund 2/8/2011 Good Suspense A pair of killers roams Europe killing young lovers. Gory but interesting.   Northanger Abbey Jane Austen 2/10/2011 Good Classic Catherine Morland visits Bath for the 1st time and meets Henry Tilney Tilney is my fav. Austen hero!!!   One Tough Mother: it's time to step up and be the Mom Julie Barnhill 2/11/2011 Good Parenting Tips on parenting Took me forever to read this. Really, I started it a couple years ago and then it sat in my basket for a ...

Guess I never did a January or February post! Will remedy that now.   Beguiled by Deeanne Gist & J. Mark Bertrand - 1/2/2011 Good - Inspirational Suspense Dogwalker Rylee finds herself in the middle of a Robin Hood robbery and is implicated. Will reporter Logan Woods be an ally or an enemy? Not my favorite Deeanne Gist novel.   Sala's Gift: My Mother's Holocaust Story by Ann Kirschner - 1/3/2011 Good - Nonfiction As a young woman during WW2, Sala was placed in a Nazi work camp. She survived but never talked about her experiences until she gave letters she had saved for 50+ years to her adult daughter who then researched her mother's story. I never knew much about the WW2 work camps - very interesting and sad part of WW2 history.   The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe - 1/18/2011 Good - Gothic Romance Emily St. Aubert is orphaned and taken from France to Italy by her aunt and eventually to the castle of Udolpho where strange things occur. Read this to bet...

These are the books I read in 2010 that I rated Excellent. I would recommend any of them to you. They are in the order I read them. A Bride in the Bargain by Deanne Gist Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (But read Hunger Games 1st, ok? This is 2nd in a series) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte Emma by Jane Austen Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon (part of the Outlander series, so start with Outlander) Read It and Eat by Sarah Gardner Outlander by Diana Gabaldon Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen Every Last One by Anna Quindlen Let's Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Juliet by Anne Fortier Yes, my list is a little heavy on the Jane Austen. That's because of the Austentatious class I am co-teaching at our homeschool co-op. But if you h...

Well, this post is a little late, but I didn't read too much in December anyway. Not Ready for Mom Jeans by Maureen Lipinski - 12/9/2010 Fair - Chick Lit Immature and pretentious Clare Finnegan has her 1st baby and can't decide whether to remain at her job as an event planner or to stay home with her baby. This was not a book I'd recommend. I did not like Clare at all and by the end, I didn't care if her baby was ever around her. Juliet by Anne Fortier - 12/23/2010 Excellent - Historical Fiction Julie Jacobs travels to Siena, Italy to track down her parents' mysterious deaths and gets caught up in a modern Romeo and Juliet mystery. Excellent book recommended to ME by my friend Cathy. I think you'd all love it! Well-written, suspenseful, and not your normal storyline at all. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella - 12/24/2010 Good - Chick Lit Lexi wakes up in hospital with amnesia for the last three years and doesn't recognize the person she's become. Again - ...