24. Last Dance at the Jitterbug Lounge

By:  Pamela Morsi
Rated:  5 Stars
From:  Library

LIBRARY SUMMARY:  Jack and Claire Crabtree were once happily married, but separate interests have left each one dancing to their own tune. She refuses to move into the brand-new house he built for the family. He spends too much time at work with a colleague whom she considers a threat to any man's fidelity. When Jack is summoned back to Oklahoma to see his ailing grandpa Bud, Claire only makes the trip at the last minute.Bud and Geri Crabtree danced through life together for seventy years as friends, lovers and devoted spouses. They always knew what mattered most in life—and the laughter and tears come naturally when their family gathers together. And if Jack and Claire can remember the bond they once shared, they might be able to rediscover what's wonderful about love.…

23. Mistress Shakespeare

By: Karen Harper
Rated 4.5 Stars
From: Library


In his book Shakespeare: The World A Stage Bill Bryson convinced me that absolutely nothing is actually known about Shakespeare's life aside from his birth, his marriage to Anne Hathaway and the birth of his children. Every thing else is conjecture. That leaves me free to enjoy whatever various authors choose to make of his life and in this case Karen Harper has put together an entertaining take on what might have happened. I throughly enjoyed this book.

LIBRARY SUMMARY: A delicious and intriguing historical novel about the woman who was William Shakespeare's secret wife by New York Times' bestselling author, Karen Harper. In Mistress Shakespeare, Elizabethan beauty Anne Whateley reveals intimate details of her dangerous, daring life and her great love, William Shakespeare. As historical records show, Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton is betrothed to Will just days before he is forced to wed the pregnant Anne Hathaway of Shottery. The clandestine Whateley/Shakespeare match is a meeting of hearts and heads that no one'not even Queen Elizabeth or her spymasters' can destroy. From rural Stratford-upon- Avon to teeming London, the passionate pair struggles to stay solvent and remain safe from Elizabeth I's campaign to hunt down secret Catholics, of whom Shakespeare is rumored to be a part. Often at odds, always in love, the couple sells Will's first plays and, as he climbs to theatrical power in Elizabeth's England, they fend off fierce competition from rival London dramatists, ones as treacherous as they are talented. Persecution and plague, insurrection and inferno, friends and foes, even executions of those they hold dear, bring Anne's heartrending story to life. Spanning half a century of Elizabethan and Jacobean history and sweeping from the lowest reaches of society to the royal court, this richly textured novel tells the real story of Shakespeare in love.

22. While My Sister Sleeps

By Barbara Delinsky
Rated 5 Stars
From:  Library

Delinsky has long been one of my favorite authors and I was not disappointed with this, her latest book.  The relationship between the sisters Molly and Robin Snow really rang true to me, although I will admit I never had a sister of my own.  Always wanted on though.

The plot device that Delinsky used to really bring this book together for me was a diary written my Robin that Molly discovers among her things.  I loved the way it showed how each individual in a family relates to their parents and siblings differently.  The parent or sibling that one person knows is not necessarily the parent or sibling other family members know even though they are the same people.  I thought Delinsky did a wonderful job of making that point.

From the Library Summary:

 Molly and Robin Snow are sisters, and like all sisters they share a deep bond that sustains them through good times and bad. Their careers are flourishing—Molly is a horticulturist and Robin is a world-class runner—and they are in the prime of their lives. So when Molly receives the news that Robin has suffered a massive heart attack, she couldn’t be more shocked. At the hospital, the Snow family receives a grim prognosis: Robin may never regain consciousness. As Robin’s parents and siblings struggle to cope, the complex nature of their relationship is put to the ultimate test. Molly has always lived in Robin’s shadow and her feelings for her have run the gamut, from love to resentment and back. The last time they spoke, they argued. But now there is so much more at stake. Molly’s parents fold under the devastating circumstances, and her brother retreats into the cool reserve that is shattering his own family. It’s up to Molly to make the tough decisions, and she soon makes discoveries that destroy some of her most cherished beliefs about the sister she thought she knew. Once againNew York Timesbestselling author Barbara Delinsky brings us a masterful family portrait, filled with thought-provoking ideas about the nature of life itself, how emotions affect the decisions we make, and how letting go can be the hardest thing to do and the greatest expression of love all at the same time.

21. The Horizon

By Douglas Reeman
Rated 5 Stars
Purchased

I have been a fan of Douglas Reeman's books from way, way back.  This is the third book in his series about the Royal Marine Corps and the Blackwood Family.

Although I am very much a peace loving, pacifist at heart I have a very strange attractions to war stories.  One of my funny quirks.





Product Description
Set in the years 1914-1918, this is the third book in the Blackwood saga. For three generations, members of the Blackwood family served the Royal Marines with distinction. With the outbreak of World War I, at last comes Jonathan Blackwood's turn to carry the family name into battle. But as the young marines embark for the Dardanelles, and a new kind of warfare, it dawns on them that the days of scarlet coats and an unchanging tradition of honour and glory have gone forever. First in Gallipoli, and two years later at Flanders, comes their horrifying initiation into a wholescale slaughter for which no training could ever have prepared them. Caught up in the savagery of a conflict beyond any officer's control, Blackwood's future rests on the 'horizon' - the dark lip of the trench which was the last fateful sight for so many.

20. Heart and Soul

By Maeve Binchy
Rated 3.5
From:  Library

This was a typical,sweet and slightly sappy book by Maeve Binchy.  It was an OK read, just the thing to sandwich in among more challenging and adventurous reads.

Library Review: With the insight, humor, and compassion we have come to expect from her, Maeve Binchy tells a story of family, friends, patients, and staff who are part of a heart clinic in a community caught between the old and the new Ireland. Dr. Clara Casey has been offered the thankless job of establishing the underfunded clinic and agrees to take it on for a year. She has plenty on her plate already—two difficult adult daughters and the unwanted attentions of her ex-husband—but she assembles a wonderfully diverse staff devoted to helping their demanding, often difficult patients. Before long the clinic is established as an essential part of the community, and Clara must decide whether or not to leave a place where lives are saved, courage is rewarded, and humor and optimism triumph over greed and self-pity. Heart and Soulis Maeve Binchy at her storytelling best.

19. The Friday Night Knitting Club

By Kate Jacobs
Rated 4.5
From Library

This book was exactly what I needed at this time.

FROM LIBRARY SUMMARY:

A charming and moving novel about female friendship and the experiences that knit us together-even when we least expect it. Walker and Daughter is Georgia Walker's little yarn shop, tucked into a quiet storefront on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The Friday Night Knitting Club was started by some of Georgia's regulars, who gather once a week to work on their latest projects and to chat-and occasionally clash-over their stories of love, life, and everything in between. Georgia has her hands full, juggling the demands of running the store and raising her spunky teen daughter, Dakota, by herself. Thank goodness for Anita, her mentor and dear friend, and the rest of the members of the knitting club-who are just as varied as the skeins of yarn in the shop's bins. There's Peri, a prelaw student turned handbag designer; Darwin, a somewhat aloof feminist grad student; and Lucie, a petite, quiet woman who's harboring some secrets of her own. However, unexpected changes soon throw these women's lives into disarray, and the shop's comfortable world gets shaken up like a snow globe. James, Georgia's ex, decides that he wants to play a larger role in Dakota's life-and possibly Georgia's as well. Cat, a former friend from high school, returns to New York as a rich Park Avenue wife and uneasily renews her old bond with Georgia. Meanwhile, Anita must confront her growing (and reciprocated) feelings for Marty, the kind neighborhood deli owner. And when the unthinkable happens, they realize what they've created: not just a knitting club, but a sisterhood

Edward and Mrs. Simpson

BBC, Masterpiece Theatre Production
Rated 5 Star
From Library

This is one of those beautifully done films that the BBC does seemingly without breaking a sweat. Wonderfully cast, beautifully filmed it made for a delightful afternoon of viewing.

When dealing with real historical characters and events it's hard for any screen play to get precisely into the minds of the characters but I think that overall this film probably got darn close.

The Prince of Wales came across as a shallow but charming fellow who just didn't have it in him to buckle down and be a King. Too much work. He whined a lot about having to interrupt his pleasure to take care of what little business came his way. She came across as an ambitious but very naive woman who really though she could pull off being Queen of England some day. I think they are one of the best examples of the old saying "be careful what you wish for" I have ever run across because they got their wish and then had to live with the consequences for the rest of their lives. And England ended up with a much, much better King.

Amazon Review: On the evening of December 11, 1936, England's King Edward VIII formally broadcast his farewell to a nation. Torn between duty and love, he had decided to follow his heart. Follows the true story and the unforgettable romance that developed between the Prince of Wales and an extraordinary American woman named Wallis Simpson. That she was already married and rumored to have had other affairs, ruffled more than a few feathers. The scandal only heats up as the Prince becomes King and declares his intention to marry his mistress, who has since become divorced and available.

18. Mistress of the Monarchy : The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster

By: Alison Weir
Rated 5 Stars
From Library

The true story of Katherine Swinford and John of Gaunt is undoubtedly one of the great love stories of all times.  I loved Anya Seton's fictionalized version of their love story and now Weir has jumped in and confirmed most of Seton's version of the story.

The bare facts from the records show that over the years Katherine Swynford as John's mistress bore John of Gaunt four children and that throughout his and her life times he made sure she and those children were well taken care of, and kept in the style of royalty.  That they had his, her and their children, and that these children all apparently got along well and supported each others endeavors thoughout thier lives is down right unheard of in the royal households of the time. They even managed to pull off a "Happily Ever After" or at least as Happily Ever After as real life ever gets.

Anyone reading this how hasn't yet read Katherine I highly recommend that you do so.  And then to finish it up with Alison Weir's book as sort of a companion book is also recommended.

FROM THE LIBRARY WEB SITE:  Acclaimed author Alison Weir has been prolific with her books on English royalty covering everything from the Houses of York and Lancaster to the reigns of the Tudors and beyond. Now this remarkable historian brings to life the extraordinary tale of the woman who was ancestor to them all: Katherine Swynford, a royal mistress who was to become one of the most crucial figures in the history of the British royal dynasties. Born in the mid-fourteenth century, Katherine de Roët was only twelve when she married Hugh Swynford, an impoverished knight. But her story had already begun when, at just ten years old, she was appointed to the household of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and fourth son of King Edward III, to help look after the Duke’s children. Widowed at twenty-one, Katherine, gifted with beauty and undeniable charms, was to become John of Gaunt’s mistress. Their years together played out against a backdrop of court life at the height of the Age of Chivalry. Katherine experienced the Hundred Years’ War, the Black Death, and the Peasants’ Revolt. She survived heartbreak and adversity, and crossed paths with many eminent figures of the day, among them her brother-in-law, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Yet as intriguing as she was to many of her contemporaries, there were those who regarded her as scandalous and dangerous. Throughout the years of their illicit union, John and Katherine were clearly devoted to each other, and in middle age, after many twists of fortune, they wed. The marriage caused far more scandal than the affair had, for it was unheard of for a royal prince to wed his mistress. Yet Katherine triumphed, and her children by John, the Beauforts, would become the direct forebears of the Royal Houses of York, Tudor, and Stuart, and of every British sovereign since 1461 (as well as four U.S. presidents). Drawing on rare documentation, Alison Weir paints a vivid portrait of a passionate spirit who lived one of medieval England’s greatest love stories. Mistress of the Monarchy reveals a woman ahead of her time–making her own choices, flouting convention, and taking control of her destiny. Indeed, without Katherine Swynford the course of English history, perhaps even the world, would have been very different.

MOVIE - W.

Directed by:  Oliver Stone
Rated 4.5
From:  Netflix

I suspect that this is a film that many people will like and a few will take strong exception to.  Since I wasn't a fan of Mr. Bush in the beginning and came to detest him for what he did to my country I pretty much liked it.  

  Josh Brolin is really excellent as W. He doesn't have have so much the look, as he does the body language and the voice. He really nailed playing a man of extremely limited intelligence but one just smart enough to realize that he was inadequate but not smart enough to figure out what to do about it.  I think this is a pretty accurate portrayal. 

Richard Dreyfus as Dick Cheney did an excellent job of portraying  a Svengali like creature whispering evil suggestions in little Georgie's ear and manipulating him to carry out his agenda for his master plan for the USA to control as much of the world's oil as we can.

Much of the story flashes back to the lead up to the Iraq War with showing why the first President Bush didn't go all the way to Baghdad.  Bruce McGill does a great George Tennant  trying to explain, repeatedly, that there's no evidence of nukes in Iraq.

There was a really great line in the movie where Bush Sr tells a young George W.  "You can't spend your life drinking, partying and chasing women! You're not a Kennedy, for God's sake!"

And he's right. George W Bush is many, many things, but he's certainly no Kennedy.

17. King George V

By Kenneth Rose
Rated 5 Stars
From Library

I checked this book out because I planned to watch the movie titled Edward and Mrs. Simpson and wanted some background on Edward's family. I ended up enjoying this book much more than I expected to.  Kenneth Rose is an excellent biographer.


Product Description
The Whitbread (and Wolfson and Yorkshire Post) Prize Winning account of the king whose life spanned the centuries. Grandfather of the present Queen, George V bridged the century from the 'glories' of the Victorian and Edwardian eras through the horrors of the Great War. His life is recounted here drawing on letters and diaries of the Royal family as well as intimates and social observers of the time. As his funeral cortege turned into New Palace Yard the Maltese Cross fell from the Crown and landed in the gutter. 'A most terrible omen' wrote Harold Nicolson. And indeed it was.

16. Agincourt

By Bernard Cornwell
Rated 4.5 Stars
From Library

I probably should have given this 5 stars but because this is my journal and not a review I am marking how it came across to me.  I thought there was too much course language in it.  But then again, I think soldiers are probably pretty course both then and now.

But it was an excellent book and the story was high adventure.  I really liked Will Hook, the common archer through whose eyes Cornwell chose to tell his story.

Library Summary:  "The greatest writer of historical adventures today" (Washington Post) tackles his richest, most thrilling subject yet-the heroic tale of Agincourt.Young Nicholas Hook is dogged by a cursed past-haunted by what he has failed to do and banished for what he has done. A wanted man in England, he is driven to fight as a mercenary archer in France, where he finds two things he can love: his instincts as a fighting man, and a girl in trouble. Together they survive the notorious massacre at Soissons, an event that shocks all Christendom. With no options left, Hook heads home to England, where his capture means certain death. Instead he is discovered by the young King of England-Henry V himself-and by royal command he takes up the longbow again and dons the cross of Saint George. Hook returns to France as part of the superb army Henry leads in his quest to claim the French crown. But after the English campaign suffers devastating early losses, it becomes clear that Hook and his fellow archers are their king's last resort in a desperate fight against an enemy more daunting than they could ever have imagined.One of the most dramatic victories in British history, the battle of Agincourt-immortalized by Shakespeare in Henry V-pitted undermanned and overwhelmed English forces against a French army determined to keep their crown out of Henry's hands. Here Bernard Cornwell resurrects the legend of the battle and the "band of brothers" who fought it on October 25, 1415. An epic of redemption, Agincourt follows a commoner, a king, and a nation's entire army on an improbable mission to test the will of God and reclaim what is rightfully theirs. From the disasters at the siege of Harfleur to the horrors of the field of Agincourt, this exhilarating story of survival and slaughter is at once a brilliant work of history and a triumph of imagination-Bernard Cornwell at his best.

15. Brethren

By Robyn Young
Rated 4
From: Library

I downgraded this rating because I found myself skimming over the really bloody bits. Usually blood doesn't bother me a lot but enough is enough.This sure was a difficult time and place to be in history.

There is apparently a lot more to this Knight Templar business than I knew. It seems the warrior knights are the only one who actually took those chastity and poverty vows and there were many in the order who functioned as laborers, cooks, blacksmiths, etc. If I had ever given any thought to the Templars I might have figured this out but I confess my knowledge before picking up this book was pretty much limited to the dastardly Gabriel in Disorderly Knights and the equally as dastardly Brian de Bois-Guilbert from Ivanhoe. So I am learning a lot more about the Templars than I even realized I wanted to know. Of course the author is setting down the story but she is doing a pretty skillful job of feeding me information without getting in the way of the story she is trying to tell.

Publishers description: A detailed, epic historical adventure set in Paris, London, Egypt, and Palestine on the eve of the last Crusade, Brethren tells the story of a young knight's search for a mysterious (and potentially deadly) book belonging to a secret organization within the Knights Templar. When young Will Campbell joins the most powerful organization in Europe, he is given the task of recovering a heretical book stolen from the order's vaults--but the book hides the covert plans of a secret group within the Temple, and it seems that everyone around Will is ready to kill to possess it. Brethren also traces the rise of an ambitious commander in the Egyptian army, who, after assassinating the sultan, takes control of Egypt and Syria. The two stories come together during his campaign for a new Holy War that will cripple an empire and bring the Crusaders to their knees.--From publisher description.

14. The Ginger Tree

By: Oswald Wynd
Rated: 4.5 Stars
From: My Shelves

This is the best example of the East-meets-West genre to come my way in ages. Written mainly as the diary extracts of an innocent Scottish girl who sails out just after the turn of the century for her proper marriage to a British military attache in China, the novel tells of her subsequent scandalous love affair with a Japanese aristocrat.

MY COMMENTS FROM MY AMAZON REVIEW OF DECEMBER 30, 2002: From the very first page of the book my interest was firmly engaged. I loved the descriptions of Mary's travels and how she slowly started changing her ideas and started emerging as a person in her own right and changing in ways that she couldn't write home to Mama about. That's one advantage of first person, I think and in particular of a diary/letters format. You hear the person's voice directly and vividly, and if the diary/letters format is used, you get a little bonus of feeling like you are eavesdropping and even spying.

I was momentarily distracted from the story during the typhoon when I caught myself drafting a Complaint for a lawsuit to file on Mary's behalf against the steam ship line for gross negligence in failing to provide any safety precautions for their passengers and leaving Mary alone in her cabin clinging to her bunk to keep from being hurled out onto the floor where her trunk was being catapulted from one side of the cabin to the other with the rolling of the ship. Had this story been set in more litigious times Mary would have owned that steam ship line by the time she got to Singapore.

While not my favorite style, generally first person POV's don't bother me all that much, although I regard them pretty much as a cop out on the part of most authors. But with this book once the story arrived in Singapore it's first person POV started to get in the way of the story. Or at least it got in the way of the story I wanted to read. This was a very rich tale, set in times that were fascinating to me. 1900-1945 is my very favorite period in history and IMO if Wynd had used all the same exact scenarios and expanded on them by introducing other point of views this could have been a great novel instead of merely a good one.

For example: While I loved hearing Mary's POV in her journals and letters, a little peek into Richards POV would have been very interesting. I kept wondering what's was with this guy?
Then after the story moved to Tokyo and so much conflict developed between Kentaro and Mary I was wishing for a station break and Paul Harvey's voice to come into my head saying "And now....for the rest of the story" I longed to hear Kentaro's POV.
And the last scene in the book, well.....to my mind that scene begged to be in Tomo's voice. That would have been so poignant and would have given me some real closure.

But in spite of all of the above, I really liked this book. My favorite parts involve descriptions that somehow convey the Chinese and Japanese cultures and show how a person who is open to different experiences and emotions can discover a whole alternate reality, if they're willing.

13. What I did for Love

By Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Rated 5 Star
From: Purchased

It's not easy being famous when your life is falling apart... Georgie York has been dumped by her movie star husband, her own film career is tanking, and her public image as a spunky romantic heroine is taking a serious beating.

What should a down-on-her-luck actress do? NOT go to Vegas...NOT run into her detestable former co-star—dreamboat-from-hell Bramwell Shepard...and NOT get caught up in a ridiculous incident that leads to a calamitous elopement. Before she knows it, Georgie has a fake marriage, fake husband, and maybe (or not) a fake sex life.

It's a paparazzi free-for-all, and Georgie's non-supporting cast doesn't help. There's Bram's punk-nightmare housekeeper; Georgie's pushy parent; a suck-up agent; an icy studio head; and her ex-husband's new wife, an international do-gooder who just might win the stupid Nobel Peace Prize!

As for Georgie's leading man... Bram, with his angel blue eyes and twisted black heart, has never cared about anyone but himself. Still, he's giving the performance of his life as man in love—thanks to the half a million dollars she's paying him. It was official. She'd married the devil. Or had she?

Two enemies find themselves working without a script in a town where the spotlight shines bright...and where the strongest emotions can wear startling disguises.