36. The Darcy Connection

By Elizabeth Aston
Rated 4.7 Stars
From: Jani

This was a delightful surprise because I am not over fond of knock off books but this one has all new characters, the daughters of Mr. Collins and Charlotte. As knock off books go (all right - pastiche's if one wants to be fancy) this is one of the better ones I have read.

Amazon Blurb: "..... follows the children of Elizabeth Bennet's friend Mrs. Collins, who married the uninspired vicar Collins, now an uninspired bishop. Their eldest, Charlotte, has grown into rare beauty; Charlotte's sister, and our heroine, is Eliza—Mrs. Darcy's goddaughter. Eliza has ill-advisedly acquired a tendresse for Anthony Diggory, the son of the local squire, which is passionately returned. Sent off to London as companion for Charlotte, however, Eliza opens her eyes both to the possibilities of the larger world and her own place there, thence lessening the desirability of a Yorkshire life and of Anthony. Assisting this process is the handsome but proud banker, Bartholomew Bruton, with whom Eliza first becomes annoyed and then enamored. If she can save Charlotte from a cad and fend off Anthony, among other complications, Eliza may just find happiness. More development of Charlotte and one or two fewer complications would have helped, and some ends are simply too tidy. But the results are still utterly charming, with all the verve, humor and Austenian turns of plot one expects from Aston."

35. Getting Stoned with Savages

By J. Maarten Troost
Rated 4.8 Stars
From Library

Amazon Blurb: Using a format similar to that of his previous work, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Troost creates another comical and touching travel memoir. Troost and his wife, Sylvia, move from busy Washington, D.C., to Vanuatu, a nation made up of 83 islands in the South Pacific. As Sylvia works for a regional nonprofit, Troost immerses himself in the islands' culture, an odd mix of the islanders' thousand-year-old "kastoms" along with imperialist British and French influences. This really means that Troost gets to live in a nice house while he gets drunk on kava; dodges "a long inferno of magma and a cascade of lava bombs" at the "world's most accessible volcano"; and checks out the "calcified" leftovers from one of Vanuatu's not-so-ancient traditions, cannibalism. At the end of the book, the couple move to Fiji so that Sylvia will have state-of-the-art medical care when she gives birth to their first baby. While modern-day Fiji provides little fodder for Troost's comic sensibilities, the birth of his son enables him to share some deeper thoughts and decide it is "time to stop looking for paradise." A funny travelogue with a sentimental heart, Troost's latest work genuinely captures the search for paradise as well as the need for home.

34. How the Irish Saved Cililization

By Thomas Cahil
Rated 4 Stars
From Library

While I enjoyed this book I had to read it in small increments to keep from getting bored with it. I did enjoy the writing style but thought that the author spent way too much time beating around the bush and rehashing the reasons why the Roman Empire failed. I kept wanting to shout "Get On With It, Dude." That should have been another book instead of rolled up into this one. Below is the blurb from amazon and once again I seem to be in the minority as far as critical comments. Oh well......

Amazon.com

In this delightful and illuminating look into a crucial but little-known "hinge" of history, Thomas Cahill takes us to the "island of saints and scholars," the Ireland of St. Patrick and the Book of Kells. Here, far from the barbarian despoliation of the continent, monks and scribes laboriously, lovingly, even playfully preserved the West's written treasury. When stability returned in Europe, these Irish scholars were instrumental in spreading learning, becoming not only the conservators of civilization, but also the shapers of the medieval mind, putting their unique stamp on Western culture.

33. Gone With the Windsors

By Laurie Graham
Rated 3 Stars
From Library

This book is certainly not complimentary to the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor but then I don't think there was very much either nice or admirable about either one of them. A perfect example of what happens when fame and money are not accompanied by brains and character.

AMAZON BLURB: "The diary entries of shallow and oblivious Baltimore socialite Maybell Brumby comprise Graham's fourth novel, which explores the fictional lives of intimates involved in the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII. Maybell, widowed by her older husband, leaves for London in 1932 to join her sister Violet and falls in with her school friend Bessie Wallis "Wally" Simpson, the married woman (twice, in fact) who has set her sights on the then Prince of Wales. Through Maybell's American patricianism, Graham (The Future Homemakers of America) skewers the tedious royal family and their aristocratic hangers-on. Maybell's self-absorption and dim-wittedness make her endearing at odd moments (as when she learns that her other sister, "Doopie," is deaf rather than mentally handicapped); her chatty tone is grating when the action—primarily Wally's plotting, conquest and royal assumption—slows. Graham depicts the abdication as a kind of bedroom farce and uses Maybell's ignorance to add ambiguity to the controversial relationship of the duke (as he is known after abdication) and Wally to the Nazi regime. As WWII becomes imminent, the leisured friends must make a run for it, and the partings are not all amicable. This light romp through sordid territory is sly, gossipy fun."

32. The Sex Lives of Cannibals

By J. Maarten Troost
Rated 5 Stars
From Library

At the age of twenty-six, Maarten Troost—who had been pushing the snooze button on the alarm clock of life by racking up useless graduate degrees and muddling through a series of temp jobs—decided to pack up his flip-flops and move to Tarawa, a remote South Pacific island in the Republic of Kiribati. He was restless and lacked direction, and the idea of dropping everything and moving to the ends of the earth was irresistibly romantic. He should have known better.

The books tells the hilarious story of what happens when Troost discovers that Tarawa is not the island paradise he dreamed of. Falling into one amusing misadventure after another, Troost struggles through relentless, stifling heat, a variety of deadly bacteria, polluted seas, toxic fish—all in a country where the only music to be heard for miles around is “La Macarena.” He and his stalwart girlfriend Sylvia spend the next two years battling incompetent government officials, alarmingly large critters, erratic electricity, and a paucity of food options (including the Great Beer Crisis); and contending with a bizarre cast of local characters, including “Half-Dead Fred” and the self-proclaimed Poet Laureate of Tarawa (a British drunkard who’s never written a poem in his life).

31. Without a Map

By Meredith Hall
Rated 4 Stars
From Library

This is a beautifully written memoir and I could not help my heart from aching for what the author had to go through and how bravely she overcame such a traumatic event in her life.

But I was appalled by the way she was treated by her family and the community. I was a teenager in the 1950's, a full decade after Meredith and back then, as it always has been, girls got pregnant before they were married. I know, I was one of them myself. But the kind of treatment that she experienced was totally unknown to me. Maybe it happened here and I just ever knew about it. But mostly young people who found themselves in this kind of fix were supported by their families and most were rushed into an early marriage with the participating father of their child.

In Meredith's case she was only 16 while the father of the child was a senior at Boston U! This was against the law even back in the 1950's. It's just hard for me to believe that people can act the way they did. Perhaps her family were cold and unfeeling but surely the community couldn't have been that unfeeling. I am thinking that the author's memory of what happened were formed by how a sixteen year old girl interpreted events at the time and that we may have gotten a highly melodramatic version of what really happened. There must have been some decent people where she lived.

In any event, this was a well written, poignant book that made me think and feel. Isn't that what a good book is supposed to do?

FROM BOOK JACKET: "Meredith Hall grew up bonded to her insular New Hampshire community, comforted by the hallmarks of belonging: perfect attendance in Sunday school, classmates who seemed more like cousins, teachers who held her up as a model student, a mother who loved her unconditionally. Then, at sixteen, she became pregnant, and all at once those who had held her close and kept her safe turned their backs." "The same day in 1965 that Meredith was expelled from school, her mother told her "You can't stay here." Her father and stepmother reluctantly offered Meredith a cold sanctuary until she gave birth to the child she gave up for adoption. Then she was banned from her father's home forever. For the next decade she wandered, lost to society and to herself. Slowly, Meredith began stitching together a life that encircled her silenced and invisible grief." "When she was twenty-one years old, Meredith's lost son found her. She learned that he has grown up in gritty poverty with an abusive father - in her own father's hometown. Their reunion was tender and turbulent, a renaissance. Meredith's parents never asked for her forgiveness, yet as they aged, she offered them her love. Without a Map charts an extraordinary path in which loss and betrayal evolve into compassion, and compassion into wisdom."

29. Miscarriage of Justice

By Kip Gayden
Rated 5 Stars
From Jani

I put off reading this be because I thought it was going to be a mystery and I have been kind of overdosing on mysteries lately. But it turned out not to be a mystery but a fascinating account of a murder and a trial.

Based on actual events, Anna Dotson is a passionate modern woman of the 1900s who finds herself stifled by the lingering outdated rules of Victorian society. When her every attempt to rekindle romance and affection with her husband--a prominent local doctor--fails, she finds herself turning to the friendship of Charlie Cobb, a new man in town. But as their relationship becomes more intimate, smalltown tongues start wagging, and their starcrossed affair leads to a shocking public murder.

28. Civil & Strange

By Clair Ni Aonghusa
Rated 4 Stars
From: Library

I googled for the pronunciation of Clair Ni Aongusha and it seems to be the Gaelic version of McGinnes. Go figure!

The library made a mistake and included this book in the last batch Shaun picked up at the library for me. I would have never requested it on my own. The Book God who seems to know me better than I know myself apparently thought I would like it. And so I did. It's a very Maeve Binchey kind of book. Slightly past Chick Lit and just barely over into Literature.

Library Review: "This richly detailed and deceptively simple American debut centers on Ellen Hughes, a 38-year-old teacher from Dublin who leaves her unraveling marriage to a callow PR man to live in the village where she spent childhood summers with her cousins. Ellen buys and renovates the cousins' crumbling homestead, all the while trying to exorcise the demons of her old life and gain purchase in her new one. Aonghusa stocks the novel with the usual suspects: a charismatic young contractor; a crusty but charming mentor (in this case, Ellen's uncle, Matt); a wise, older woman (Beatrice, who lost one of her sons to suicide) and an insecure but plucky heroine. This is not to say that Aonghusa's work (as opposed to her novel's structure) is riddled with convention. Where a less honest writer might whisk past the unhappiness of uprooting oneself to get to the juicy stuff, there are moments of real ennui in Ellen's new, rural life, and Aonghusa isn't afraid to depict Ellen as awkward and less-than-smoking-hot in a way that isn't gimmicky. The refreshing blasts of reality give the book emotional heft, and the credible romance that eventually develops is a break from the standard mold."

27. Peony in Love

By Lisa See
Rated 2.5 Stars
From: Library

While I did finish it this book never really drew me into the story or engaged my imagination. I never have done all that well with paranormal themes. Occasionally one will grab me but not often. I found myself having to make myself finish it. Below is the blurb from the book jacket:


""I finally understand what the poets have written. In spring, moved to passion; in autumn, only regret." For young Peony, betrothed to a suitor she has never met, these lyrics from The Peony Pavilion mirror her own longings. In the garden of the Chen Family Villa, amid the scent of ginger, green tea, and jasmine, a small theatrical troupe is performing scenes from this epic opera, a live spectacle few females have ever seen. Like the heroine in the drama, Peony is the cloistered daughter of a wealthy family, trapped like a good-luck cricket in a bamboo-and-lacquer cage. Though raised to be obedient, Peony has dreams of her own." "Peony's mother is against her daughter's attending the production: "Unmarried girls should not be seen in public." But Peony's father assures his wife that proprieties will be maintained, and that the women will watch the opera from behind a screen. Yet even hidden from view, Peony catches sight of an elegant, handsome man with hair as black as a cave - and is immediately overcome with emotion." "So begins Peony's unforgettable journey of love and destiny, desire and sorrow; as Lisa See's new novel, based on actual historical events, takes readers back to seventeenth-century China, after the Manchus seized power and the Ming dynasty was crushed. Steeped in traditions and ritual, this story brings to life another time and place - even the intricate realm of the afterworld, with its protocols, pathways, and stages of existence, a vividly imagined place where one's soul is divided into three, ancestors offer guidance, misdeeds are punished, and hungry ghosts wander the earth. Immersed in the richness and magic of the Chinese vision of the afterlife, transcending even death, Peony in Love explores the many manifestations of love. Ultimately, Lisa See's new novel addresses universal themes: the bonds of friendship, the power of words, and the age-old desire of women to be heard."--BOOK JACKET.

26. Pendragon's Banner

By Helen Hollick
Rated 4.5 Stars
From Beth

I am so enjoying this new and different take on the Arthur story. I guess I just can get enough of him. I am copying the blurb from amazon because I am behind in updating this blog and besides I don't think I could possibly improve on it.

Blurb from amazon: Camelot is less a romantic kingdom than a lusty and fragmented realm in this spirited retelling of Arthurian legend, the second novel in Hollick's projected trilogy (The Kingmaker). Over the years, Arthur Pendragon and Gwenhwyfar have accumulated a vast array of estranged relatives, rivals and half-mad adversaries. Among the most formidable of their enemies are Winifred, Arthur's embittered ex-wife, who's plotting to ensconce her son, Cedric, as heir to the throne, and Morgause, a manipulative priestess who wants to consolidate her power in the north to become queen of the realm. Hollick manipulates a large cast of characters with a deft hand. She is most successful in depicting Arthur and Gwenhwyfar not as a newly married couple but as parents who grieve as their three sons are endangered by many calamities. In an author's note, Hollick writes: "Arthur Pendragon, to those people who study him, is a very personal and passionately viewed character. We all have our own ideas, insist ours is the correct one, and argue like mad with anyone who disagrees!" Hollick's interpretation is bold, affecting and well worth fighting to defend.

25. A Presumption of Death

By: Jill Paton Walsh & Dorothy L. Sayers
Rated 4 1/2 Stars

I rated this down a little simply because I think I am starting to get burned out a little with these books. But I have to say that Jill Paton Walsh does a very good job of capturing Dorothy Sayer's voice. I sure wish she would do more of them. After a little change of pace I would be happy to revisit Lord Peter and Harriet. Below is a blurb from Barnes and Nobel.

"While Lord Peter is abroad on a secret mission, Harriet Vane, now Lady Peter Wimsey, takes their children to safety in the country. But there's no escape from war: rumors of spies abound, glamorous RAF pilots and flirtatious land-girls scandalize the villagers, and the blackout makes rural lanes as sinister as London's alleys. And when a practice air-raid ends with a young woman's death, it's almost a shock to hear that the cause is not enemy action, but murder. Or is it? With Peter away, Harriet sets out to find out whodunit...and the chilling reason why."

23. The Kingmaking

By Helen Hollick
Rated 5 Stars+

I ordered this book from Amazon's marketplace solely because I enjoyed Hollicks A Hollow Crown and Harold The King so much. I certainly wasn't all that interested in another take King Arthur since I have already read so many different ones that my eyes threatened to glaze over a little at the thought. But I do love Hollick's take on historical characters so I took the leap. Boy am I glad I did. Hollick is going to be an automatic must read author for me from here on. Below is a blurb from amazon. It pretty much agrees with my assessment:

"In this first volume of what promises to be a monumental historical trilogy, rookie British author Hollick depicts Arthur's rise from A.D. 450, when he was a 15-year-old boy of hidden parentage, to A.D. 457, when he took his place as the King Arthur of legend. The story combines private emotions and public statecraft as marriages, alliances and enemies are made and unmade to suit the politics of the era. Hollick mixes elements from fifth-century history, myth, early romances, contemporary fantasy and other novels about Arthur, adding her own inventions for good measure. The treatment of Gwenhwyfar and her love for Arthur (depicted here as star-crossed even without Lancelot's help) is especially vivid. Though the novel contains no supernatural aspects, with its exotic setting, passionate characters and epic battles and intrigue, it still should appeal to the fantasy fans to whom most Arthurian adventures are addressed. The language, too, is influenced by genre fantasy, especially in its dramatic descriptions and reliance on archaisms; but this big-hearted novel's historical speculations alone should make it of interest to the non-fantasy reader as well.
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