Week in Review: September 28 - October 4

From September:
The Singing Sands. Josephine Tey. 1952. 224 pages. [Source: Bought]
In Search of England. H.V. Morton. 1927/2007. Da Capo Press. 304 pages. [Source: Bought]
Goodnight, Mr. Tom. Michelle Magorian. 1981. HarperCollins. 320 pages. [Source: Library]
 
From October:
The Orphan and the Mouse. Martha Freeman. Illustrated by David McPhail. 2014. Holiday House. 220 pages. [Source: Library]
Thursdays with the Crown. (Castle Glower #3) Jessica Day George. 2014. Bloomsbury. 224 pages. [Source: Review copy]
All Clear. Connie Willis. 2010. Random House. 645 pages. [Source: Bought]
The Wall Around Your Heart: How Jesus Heals You When Others Hurt You. Mary DeMuth. 2013. Thomas Nelson. 256 pages. [Source: Bought]
Key Words of the Christian Life. Warren W. Wiersbe. 2002. Baker Books. 130 pages. [Source: Bought]

This week's favorite:

I choose Goodnight, Mr. Tom. I loved, loved, loved this one. This book is set during World War II in England. Need I say more? That would be enough to get my attention at least. I also loved, loved, loved the movie adaptation of this one!!!

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Challenge Updates

For the Victorian Reading Challenge:

1. No Name. Wilkie Collins. 1862/1998. Oxford University Press. 748 pages.

For the British History Reading Challenge:

1. Goodnight, Mr. Tom. Michelle Magorian. 1981. HarperCollins. 320 pages. [Source: Library]
2. In Search of England. H.V. Morton. 1927/2007. Da Capo Press. 304 pages. [Source: Bought] 
3. Blackout. Connie Willis. 2010. Random House. 495 pages. [Source: Bought]  

For the 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge:

1. In Search of England. H.V. Morton. 1927/2007. Da Capo Press. 304 pages. [Source: Bought]  

For the 2014 Year of Rereading Challenge:

1. The Hobbit. J.R.R. Tolkien. 1937.  320 pages. [Source: Bought] 
2. Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney. 2009. Chronicle Books. 366 pages. [Source: Library]  
3. Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury. 1953/1991. Del Rey. 179 pages. [Source: Bought] 
4. Northanger Abbey. Jane Austen. 1817/1992. Everyman's Library. 288 pages. [Source: Book I Own] 
5. Blackout. Connie Willis. 2010. Random House. 495 pages. [Source: Bought]  

For the Vintage Mystery Bingo Challenge:

1. The Singing Sands. Josephine Tey. 1952. 224 pages. [Source: Bought]

For the 2014 Chunkster Challenge:

1. No Name. Wilkie Collins. 1862/1998. Oxford University Press. 748 pages.
2. Blackout. Connie Willis. 2010. Random House. 495 pages. [Source: Bought]   

For the R.I.P. Reading Challenge:

1. The Attenbury Emeralds. Jill Paton Walsh. 2010/2011. St. Martin's Press. 352 pages. [Source: Library] 
2. The Late Scholar. Jill Paton Walsh. 2014. St. Martin's Press. 368 pages. [Source: Library]
3. My Cousin Rachel. Daphne du Maurier. 1951. 374 pages. [Source: Library]
4. Death of a Schoolgirl (Jane Eyre Chronicles #1) Joanna Campbell Slan. 2012. Berkley Trade. 340 pages. [Source: Library]
5. The Lost. Sarah Beth Durst. 2014. Harlequin. 352 pages. [Source: Library] 
6. The Twilight of Lake Woebegotten. Harrison Geillor. 2011. Night Shade Books. 320 pages. [Source: Review copy]  
7. Northanger Abbey. Jane Austen. 1817/1992. Everyman's Library. 288 pages. [Source: Book I Own] 
8. Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury. 1953/1991. Del Rey. 179 pages. [Source: Bought]
9.  The Singing Sands. Josephine Tey. 1952. 224 pages. [Source: Bought]

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Reread #40 All Clear

All Clear. Connie Willis. 2010. Random House. 645 pages. [Source: Bought]

If you want a gushing review of the book, I recommend visiting my first review of the book.  It is always interesting to me to see which books reread well, and which ones don't. Mood obviously comes into it. And apparently, I was not in the mood for All Clear. Perhaps because I was taking my time, instead of rushing through, I found myself less enthusiastic with the stories and characters. Too much time to think and ask questions, maybe?!

Is All Clear a disappointing novel? Yes and no. On the one hand, I certainly didn't LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it the same way I loved Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog. Since I love reading books set during World War II, one would think that I'd almost have to love, love, love these two time travel books set in England during the war. I mean, I love time travel, I love books set during this time period. It would seem like the most natural thing in the world for me to ecstatically love Blackout and All Clear. But. That is not the case. On the other hand, the books are enjoyable enough. I certainly came to care about the characters and wanted to know what happened next. But there wasn't an urgency to KNOW if you know what I mean. I found both books less compelling than the previous time travel books. I found a handful of characters enjoyable or interesting. But I didn't LOVE any of the characters.

Would the books have been better if they'd been published as one book, perhaps an edited-down one book? Probably. Hard to say for sure. It wasn't that any one section or chapter proved boring or irrelevant. It is just that both books were so very, very thick. And the books weren't necessarily action-packed. Which I don't have a problem with actually. I prefer character-driven books typically. But essentially the books are just about three characters realizing they are trapped in the past and may never get back to the future. They think about being trapped a lot. They brainstorm. They panic. They brainstorm. They cling to hope but give into worrying.

Without any previous books in the series to compare it too, Blackout and All Clear are certainly enjoyable enough on their own. It is really only in comparison to Willis' earlier time travel novels that the novels become a bit disappointing.

I liked All Clear. I didn't love All Clear.

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Thursdays with the Crown (2014)

Thursdays with the Crown. (Castle Glower #3) Jessica Day George. 2014. Bloomsbury. 224 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I enjoyed reading Thursdays with the Crown. I'm glad I read it so soon after finishing Wednesdays in the Tower. I only wish I'd had the time to reread the first novel in this fantasy series, Tuesdays at the Castle. I'm sure I would have appreciated the whole series even more if I'd had the chance to reconnect with the characters and have an attachment. That being said, I ended up enjoying so many of the characters anyway. Thursdays with the Crown picks up right where Wednesdays in the Tower left off. I was prepared to love it from the start.

The novel opens with Celie, Lilah, Pogue, Rolf, Lulath, and Rufus (Celie's griffin) finding themselves in a strange, foreign place. They have been transported to the Glorious Arkower, a land they believe the Castle originated from. They come into this adventure with a few assumptions for better or worse. When they come across two different men with two very different stories--contradictory stories--everything becomes a bit confusing. Who is telling the truth? Is either man telling the whole truth? What is true and what is only half-true? If a man lies about one thing, does that mean he's lying about everything? Celie and her friends will have to puzzle things out.

It is definitely an adventure fantasy. It is a quick read, a delightful read in many ways. I think I love Lulath best of all.

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Orphan and the Mouse (2014)

The Orphan and the Mouse. Martha Freeman. Illustrated by David McPhail. 2014. Holiday House. 220 pages. [Source: Library]

I definitely enjoyed reading Martha Freeman's The Orphan and the Mouse, a fantasy novel inspired by E.B. White's Stuart Little. The book is set in 1949. (Note: I haven't read Stuart Little, but, this novel tempts me to seek it out.) This fantasy is told through multiple perspectives: a few mice, one cat who loves to hunt mice, a couple of orphans, and a practically evil orphanage director. It is illustrated by David McPhail.

I liked this one. I liked the setting. It took some time for me to get hooked on the actual story, but, no time at all to get hooked on the premise of the story. I liked the characters. Mary, the mouse heroine, was a great narrator. I also came to care for Caro, one of the orphans living at the Cherry Street Children's Home. The book offers some suspense and mystery, though often the reader knows much more than the characters in the book. Readers get to watch the characters put it all together and possibly maybe save the day.

I also really appreciated the length of the chapters!

© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews