84. The Chevalier, #7

Cynthis Harrod-Eagles
Rated:  4.5
From:  amazon

The historical detail in these books are some of the most reader friendly I have ever read.  And a good thing it is too because this book is not populated with very appealing characters.  At least to me they are not.  But keeping the continuity of this marvelous series has become important to me so I grit my teeth and JKR.  Will Annunciata NEVER die?  *sigh*

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:  1689: the Restoration enabled the Morland family to restore their own fortune, but now the Jacobite rebellion brings another threat to their security.

Annunciata Morland, fiercely loyal to the Stuart cause, follows her beloved king, James II, into exile. She leaves her gentle grandson, Matt, to oversee Morland Place in her absence. Without her wise presence, Matt finds himself in an arranged marriage to India Neville and at the mercy of a woman as heartless as she is beautiful. After a lonely and sheltered life he lurches between the exquisite pain of love and the torment of deep despair.

When James III � the Chevalier � returns to claim the Stuart throne, the Morlands are reunited in one country. Death and defeat threaten them, but their loves and loyalty prove stronger than kingly ambitions.

83. The Red Heart

By:  James Alexander Thom
Rated 5+ Stars

I have been chipping away at this book all month dragging it out as far as possible.  It's descriptions of the daily life of the Indians is wonderful.  It was however a little heavy handed as far as depicting all white people with the exception of those of the Quaker religion as bad and all Indians as noble.  It would have more believable to me had he been more even handed in his portrayal of both races.  Still, it was a great read and I recommend it highly.

Product Description
The Slocum family of Northeastern Pennsylvania are the best of the white settlers, peace-loving Quakers who believe that the Indians hold the Light of God inside. It is from this good-hearted family that Frances is abducted during the Revolutionary war.

As the child's terror subsides, she is slowly drawn into the sacred work and beliefs of her adoptive mother and of all the women of these Eastern tribes. Frances becomes Maconakwa, the Little Bear Woman of the Miami Indians. Then, long after the Indians are beaten and their last hope, Tecumseh, is killed, the Slocums hear word of their long-lost daughter and head out to Indiana to meet their beloved Frances. But for Maconakwa, it is a moment of truth, the test of whether her heart is truly a red one. 

84. The Long Shadow

By: Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated 2.5
From:  amazon

I have been happily reading my way through these wonderful books and now all of
a sudden I came to The Long Shadow and I really, really hated the main character.   I am such a character driven reader that when that happens it's very hard for me to keep reading. It's a sign of how much I am enjoying this series over all that I stuck with it instead of wall banging it.

This book and the one before it was set in the years of the Stuart's whom I lost all respect for last year(February 2008) when  I watched The First Churchill's (netflix) a 1977 Masterpiece Presentation. It was fabulously done and started me on a quest to read about the Stuart Monarch's because I just couldn't believe they were really as dim witted as they were portrayed. Sadly, the more I read about them the more obvious it became that they were. In fairness I will have to except Charles II from this sweeping generalization because although he was not very intelligent he was at least shrewd and had a strong instinct for self preservation. I guess watching your Father being beheaded will drive that lesson home.

Annunciata the main character in this book is the illegitimate daughter of Prince Rupert, cousin to Charles II and James II.  CHE seems to have endowed her with a full set of Stuart characteristics. Vanity, obstinacy, the morals of an alley cat,  and especially - The Stupid! I hope she dies early in the next book so I can be done with her.

82. The Best of Times

Rated 3.5 Stars
From Library

I liked this book - sort of.  It kind of drug along in spots and I think I would have liked it a lot better had it been about one third shorter.  I got a little tired hearing about some of the characters.  Especially the whiners and also William who was just too, too good to be true.  I also thought that Barney should have cut Toby a little slack considering the circumstances.  Oh well . . .

"On an ordinary Friday afternoon, on a major motorway outside of London, a trailer truck suddenly and violently swerves across fives lanes of traffic--careening cars into one another like dominoes and leaving a trail of chaos and confusion. Within the space of a minute, an astounding miles-long pileup has amassed. As the survivors await help, their stories unfold.--From publisher description."

81. Murder For Hire

By:  Jack Ballentine
Rated 4 Stars
From:  Library

I didn't think this book was very well written but then the author never said he was a writer. He was an extraordinary man with an extraordinary story to tell. I learned about this book from listening to Coast to Coast, the crazy late night radio program I turn on when I can't sleep at night.   I listened to him being interviewed on the radio by the weekend host Ian Punit and he comes across much better in an interview than he does in the written word.  I probably would not have finished this book because I don't think I would have believed it had I not heard him being interviewed where he  came across to me as good, decent man who spent an incredible 15 years doing a very dirty job for the decent citizens of his State.  I was looking for a change of pace book after wallowing around in English History in the Moreland Dynasty and I certainly found it in this book.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: Jack Ballentine became a Phoenix police officer in 1978 and quickly rose to become one of the world's most successful undercover operatives. His specialty: posing as a hit man. None of the people who hired him had any inkling that he was actually a cop, and he obtained 24 convictions out of 24 indictments on murder conspiracy charges. He worked with criminals of all sorts, from vengeful spouses and partners to the criminally insane, with one thing in common: the desire to have someone killed. In assuming an alternate identity and developing a reputation among the Phoenix underground--bikers, strippers, junkies, and thugs--Ballentine developed an intricate network of sources who kept him extremely busy. All the while, he strove for the semblance of a normal life with a new wife and stepson. His story is a unique look at how law enforcement delves into the heart of the criminal world.--From publisher description.

80. A Matter of Justice

By:  Charles Todd
Rated 5 Stars
From:  Library

I have not been keeping track of these books as well as I should have and a couple of slipped past me.  I need to go bak and catch up.  This series is written by a Mother/Son writing team and I find it really remarckable  that they are seamless.  I would have never guessed that they were written by two people had the reviews not mentioned it.

Ian Rutledge is a WWI survivor who is haunted by a seventeen year old Scotsman who was killed serving under him.  He is a voice in Rutledge's head and delivers pithy and sarcastic remarks as Rutledge goes about solving crimes.

This book finds Rutledge traveling to a country estate in Somerset to investigate the bizarre murder of a well known London businessman.  While the man is liked and respected in London's business community he is universally despised by the people in the village where he lives with his family.

As his investigation progresses it is complicated by the fact that so many people have good reasons to wish the victim dead and several who are willing to take the blame for the murder.  This book was so well plotted that I had no idea who the actual murderer was until the very end of the book.  I need to go back and find the other books in this series that I missed.

79. The Black Pearl, #5

By:  Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated 4.5 Stars
From:  amazon.com

These books are entering my least favorite period of English History simply because the Stuart monarch were such a dim witted bunch.  CHE is giving a very charitable view of them but I'm afraid my mind was already made up about them.  Fortunately the book focuses on the Moreland family and not on the monarchs.  That saves the story for me.

AMAZON REVIEW:  Book Five of this series focuses on the life of young Annunciata, illegitimate daughter of Prince Rupert of the Rhine. It begins in 1664 ands ends in 1666. Annunciata moves from her quiet, old castle home outside York to be presneted before the newly crowned Charles II at court. She is put into the household of the new Duchess of York. Meanwhile, at Morland Place, Ralph is trying to make his wife, Mary Moubray happier. A spy is in the house. Ralph has to cope(sp?) with all this while Mary secretly meets with the priest for the forbidden mass of her Catholic faith. Ralph's uncle and best friend, Edward, is forced to leave the Place. He goes to London to live with Ralph's father, Richard. From there he goes to France and brings back with him, Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. There he meets his chilhood love, Annunciata's future husband, Hugo McNiell, Viscount Ballincrea. A cousin of Ralph's, Kit, is trying to get his lands in Scotland back that were stolen in the Civil War. He has some bad luck. All this unfolds into an illustrious tale of revenge, passion and intrigue. The Morlands' finest hour has arrived.

78. To Kill a Mocking Bird

By:  Harper Lee
From:  Library
Rated:  5+++++

I stayed up until after 11 pm last night which is unheard of for me and finished To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  I was asking my self why I had never read this absolutely marvelous book before now?    Every person in American was required to read this book in high school, how did I miss it?  Then I checked the publication date.  AHA, it was published in 1960 and I graduated from High School in 1953.  In 1960 I was living in Puerto Rico and coping with a house full of small boys.  But better late than never.  It is possibly one of the best books I have ever read.  I ordered the movie from amazon a minute ago.

Product Description

Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South -- and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred

One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, served as the basis of an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father -- a crusading local lawyer -- risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

77. The Oak Apple, #4

By:  Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated 4.5
From:  amazon

This is the fourth book in the Morland dynasty books.

AMAZON REVIEW:  The family is confronted with civil war, as the king and parliament fight for control of England in the 1640s.  The civil war also divides the family - Roundhead against Cavalier, Puritan against Catholic/Anglican. The family members are torn between family loyalty and individual conscience. As with previous books, the fortunes of the characters are well blended with actual historical people and events. The Morland heir Richard marries a Puritan, while his brother Kit fights for King Charles I and gives up his life at the battle of Marsden. Their cousins are sent to Virginia to claim land for the Morlands, and become American pioneers.

There is a large time gap between this book and the previous one "The Princeling". Characters that had just been born in the last few pages of book 3, are now middle aged adults with children of their own. It took some time to connect the current family members with those in the last book, but the family tree at the front was helpful.

This book also had more to offer than it's predecessor in terms of characters too. It wasn't just a series of births, death and marriages. The characters were individuals and tied to real events, something that was lacking in "The Princeling". In particular, the reclusive and mysterious cousin Ruth was a nice change to the line up. The Morlands have once again found their place at the forefront English historical fiction.

76. An Honorable German

By:  Charles McCain
Rated 5+
From:  Library

This book will go down as one of my favorite reads this year.  I do not remember what prompted me to put this book on my reserve list at the library because I have slept a time or two since then and have been to California and back.  What ever it was that prompted me to do it I am very happy that I did.


I was hooked from the first chapter.  The  descriptions of conditions on a U-Boat and the emotional and ethical struggles of Max as the commander in charge, and the battles and rescues at sea were fantastic as well as what life was like for the German citizens as they gradually lost the war. The description of how people converted their gasoline driven engines to wood burning really surprised me.  It's amazing what people can manage to contrive when they have too.

I also loved the fact that McCain weaved in a romantic life for the hero and delivered an in depth account of what it must have been like for a young German naval officer in WWII who was truly "Honorable" in thought, word and deed. A real page turner of a book.

75. Shanghai Girls

By Lisa See
Rated 3.5
From:  Library

I finished Shanghai Girls last evening and I am not particularly recommending.  I thought it was OK but I could never warm up to the characters and it was, IMO to dark for me to consider it entertainment.  However it was probably very realistic in spite of it being fiction  Everything that happened in the book was entirely plausible.  That was probably my problem. *shrug*

In 1937, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father's prosperous rickshaw business, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn't be more different: Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree . . . until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides. As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America. In Los Angeles they begin a fresh chapter, trying to find love with the strangers they have married, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, and striving to embrace American life even as they fight against discrimination, brave Communist witch hunts, and find themselves hemmed in by Chinatown's old ways and rules. At its heart, Shanghai Girls is a story of sisters: Pearl and May are inseparable best friends who share hopes, dreams, and a deep connection, but like sisters everywhere they also harbor petty jealousies and rivalries. They love each other, but each knows exactly where to drive the knife to hurt the other the most. Along the way they face terrible sacrifices, make impossible choices, and confront a devastating, life-changing secret, but through it all the two heroines of this astounding new novel hold fast to who they are--Shanghai girls. From the Hardcover edition.

74. Murder Must Advertise

By Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated 5 Stars
From: Amazon

I think that this will have do go down as my favorite Lord Peter Wimsey mystery.  The plot is riviting and I had absolutely no idea who the murderer was until the very end.

FROM AMAZON:  When advertising executive Victor Dean dies from a fall down the stairs at Pym's Publicity, Lord Peter Wimsey is asked to investigate. It seems that, before he died, Dean had begun a letter to Mr. Pym suggesting some very unethical dealings at the posh London ad agency. Wimsey goes undercover and discovers that Dean was part of the fast crowd at Pym's, a group taken to partying and doing drugs. Wimsey and his brother-in-law, Chief-Inspector Parker, rush to discover who is running London's cocaine trade and how Pym's fits into the picture--all before Wimsey's cover is blown.

73. The French Gardener

By:  Santa Montefiore
Rated 4.5 Stars
From:  Beth

I think this is probably an updated version of D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterly's Lover.  I don't know this for a fact since I've not actually read Lady Chatterly's lover but from comment's I've read here and there it sounds like it must be.  Anyway it was a fast but entertaining read.  My thanks to Beth for this one.  I would have never heard of it otherwise.  I think I probably need to check out LC'sL from the library because now I am curious.  Who knows, someday something might even make me curious enough to stop being such a prude and read Lolita.

FROM AMAZON:  A rambling country estate may have lured Miranda and David and their children from their elegant London lifestyle, but not even the enchantment of once magnificent gardens, or fascination with an abandoned cottage can mend the emotional and physical chasm that is deepening between them. Left alone while David returns to London during the week, Miranda is overwhelmed by establishing a new home, disciplining an unruly child, and maintaining her own career. Her prayers are seemingly answered when a charismatic Frenchman suddenly appears with an offer to restore the gardens to their former glory. As the friendship between Miranda and Jean-Paul grows, so do her suspicions about David’s fidelity, leading Miranda to seek refuge in an abandoned diary that details a passionate tryst between the estate’s former owner, Ava, and her intriguingly unnamed gardener. Despite the obvious D. H. Lawrence overtones, Montefiore crafts a sweetly provocative romance that transitions seamlessly from Miranda’s contemporary marital discord to Ava’s past affair.

72. East of the Sun

By Julie Gregson
Rated 5 Stars
From:  Beth

Both Beth and Jani recommended this book and Jani gave her review a Perfect Ten.  So I knew when I started that I was going to love this book and I did.  It was also a good change of pace from the Moreland Series which held me spellbound for three books in a row.

East of the Sun is the story of three women who travel from England to India during the turbulent 1920s when India's and England's relations were in flux. Rose is going to get married to a soldier she met at a party in England the year before. Tor is accompanying Rose and will be Rose's maid of honor. Viva is hired as a traveling companion for Tor and Rose and also is hired just before embarkment to be a traveling companion for a expelled 16-year old boy returning to his parents for the first time in 10 years. Each of the women has distinct personalities which portends the resulting relationships with men. Each woman has secrets she wishes to keep deeply buried.

Well-written. Easy read. Definitely a page turner.

71. The Princeling, #3

By:  Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Rated 4.5 Stars
From:  Amazon

This made an excellent train book.  It lasted me almost all the way home.   It is probably going to take me a long time but I am definitely going to continue on with this series.  It's very well written.


PUBLISHERS DESCRIPTION:  Protestantism is sweeping the land and threatens the position of the Catholic Morlands, so they must seek new spheres of influence. John, the heir, rides north to the untamed Borderlands to wed the daughter of Black Will Percy, Northumberland cattle lord. But he finds he must first prove himself, and win her heart through blood and battle. John’s gentle sister Lettice is given in marriage to the ruthless Scottish baron, Lord Robert Hamilton, and in the treacherous court of Mary, Queen of Scots, she learns the fierce lessons of survival.