31. Mr. Darcy's Dream

By:  Elizabeth Aston
Rated 4 Stars
From:  Jani

I had a little trouble orienting my self with this story since I have been reading the Rebecca Ann Collins series.  Aston's books are more of a Regency Romance book while Collin's series border on a more serious look a the life and times of the Regency period.  But for what it was, it was a good, diverting read and I enjoyed it.


LIBRARY SUMMARY:  When Phoebe, a young niece of Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Darcy, is shattered by an unhappy romance, she retreats to Pemberley and is joined by kind-hearted Louisa Bingley, unmarried after three London seasons. Once the young ladies are situated in the house, several handsome strangers also arrive -- all hopeful of winning the girls' hearts. As preparations for the ball which Mr. and Mrs. Darcy are to give at Pemberley gain momentum, mischief and love triangles abound, making life as difficult as possible for anyone connected with the Darcy family. Populated with authentic characters firmly rooted in Jane Austen's mores and stylistic traditions,Mr. Darcy's Dream has an unforgettable combination of romance, societal scandals, friendship, family, and marriage.

29. Still Alice

By Lisa Genova.
Rated 5 Stars
From:  Library

Sad, but good.   Naturally since my father had Alzheimer's I saw myself on every page. *sigh*

LIBRARY SUMMARY: Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University. Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring and terrifying. Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what's it's like to literally lose your mind...Reminiscent of A Beautiful Mind, Ordinary People and The Curious Incident of the Dogin the Night-time, Still Alice packs a powerful emotional punch and marks the arrival of a strong new voice in fiction.

30. The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

By Galen Becket
Rated 4 Stars
From:  Connie

When I started reading this book I didn't think I was going to be able to get into it.  It started so slow for me.  I almost lost interest in reading it when the author spent so much time phaffing around setting up for the story.  Lucky for me I stuck with it long enough to get interested.  I get the feeling that the author had fun writing this story and therefore it makes it fun to read.

I am having a little trouble picking up on the Pride and Prejudice aspect of the story though.  I am channeling  more Sense and Sensibility with the three Lockwell (Dashwood) sisters and Mr. Rafferty (Willoughby)  And I did have to laugh at the gothic Mr. Rochester (Mr. Quent) and the locked upper room that the housekeeper makes sinister allusions to. (shades of Grace Pool)  I never did figure out who in the world Mr. Garritt was a parody of and also wondered  and if the Highway Man had anything to do with ghostly galleons tossed upon storm swept clouds?

Product Description:
Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë and H.P. Lovecraft collide in Beckett's periodically entertaining debut. Young Ivy Lockwell, the unmarried daughter of a family stricken with poverty after her magician father went mad, travels from her home in Invarel, a mirror of Austen-era London, to become a governess at the country estate of Heathcrest, a Bronte-analogue complete with mysterious Rochester stand-in, Mr. Quent. As a woman, she is forbidden to perform magic and consoles herself with the study of magical history, discovering an ancient story still working its will on the world. Treading a fine line between homage and unoriginality, Invarel occasionally sparkles with descriptions of illusionist shows and quasi-fascist government activity, but Heathcrest is lifted part and parcel from Jane Eyre, and Beckett relies too much on references to that work to fuel emotional arcs and reader attachment.

28. Neither Here nor There

By Bill Bryson
Rated 5 stars
From Library - Audio

After 20 years as a London-based reporter, American journalist Bryson ( The Mother Tongue ) set out to retrace a youthful European backpacking trip, from arctic Norway's northern lights to romantic Capri and the "collective delirium" of Istanbul. Descriptions of historic and artistic sights in the Continent's capitals are cursory; Bryson prefers lesser-known locales, whose peculiar flavor he skillfully conveys in anecdotes that don't scant the seamy side and often portray eccentric characters encountered during untoward adventures of the road. He enlivens the narrative with keen, sometimes acerbic observations of national quirks like the timed light switches in French hallways, but tends to strive too hard for comic effects, some in dubious taste. He also joins other travelers in deploring the growing hordes of peddlers who overrun major tourist meccas.

27. Shadows in the Jungle

By Larry Alexander
Rated 5 Stars
From:  Library

Determined to retake the Philippines ever since his ignominious flight from the islands in 1942, General Douglas MacArthur needed a first-rate intelligence-gathering unit. Out of thousands, only 138 men were chosen. They were the best, toughest, and fittest men the Army had to offer. They were the Alamo Scouts.

Larry Alexander follows the footsteps of the men who made up the elite reconnaissance unit that served as General MacArthur’s eyes and ears in the Pacific War. Drawing from personal interviews and testimonies from Scout veterans, Alexander weaves together the tales of the individual Scouts, who often spent weeks behind enemy lines to complete their missions. Now, more than sixty years after the war, the story of the Alamo Scouts will finally be told.

26. For Valour

By Douglas Reeman

Rated 5 Stars
From:  Library

The story of the convoys delivering supplies to the Soviet Union through German controlled waters off Norway is not often told.  This book is a novel of the northern convoys. Commander Graham Martineau is still haunted by the ship he lost as he takes command of the crack Tribal Class destroyer Kakka and her weary crew to excort the cargo ships on the long run across the northern ocean.

World War II was a war which involved the home front as well. The irony of sailors in harm's way losing families at home is portrayed well. The characters are human and vulnerable, and entirely believable. They have the courage to continue human involvements in the face of separation and loss. All in all, the book is immensely moving and a good description of human character. The technical details are informed and accurate, as in all of Reeman's novels.

25. The Scent of Sake

By Joyce Lebra
Rated 4 Stars
From:  Library

This was a fair book but for some reason or other it never quite made it from an all right read to a very good read.  It just didn't ring true for me.

LIBRARY SUMMARY:  The sole heir to the House of Omura, a venerable family of Kobe sake brewers, nineteen-year-old Rie hears but cannot heed her mother's advice: that in nineteenth-century Japan, a woman must "kill the self" or her life will be too difficult to bear. In this strict, male-dominated society, women may not even enter the brewery--and repressive tradition demands that Rie turn over her family's business to the inept philanderer she's been forced to marry. She is even expected to raise her husband's children by another woman--a geisha--so that they can eventually run the Omura enterprise. But Rie's pride will not allow her to relinquish what is rightfully hers.

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.