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.

70. The Dark Rose, #2

 Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated: 5 Stars
From:  Amazon

I read this book on the day I shoed my family off to Disney Land and had a whole day to myself.  That was a good thing since this was a "can't put down" kind of a book.

I'm not completely sure if all the historical events portrayed in this book are accurate according to what is accepted as "actual historical events" but I am really not all that concerned about it.  I pretty much take the view that all history is written either from someones point of view or authors with an agenda and therefore fiction to some extent.  So as long as it's a darn good story I can go with the flow.  I do suspect that this author did a pretty good job of going with what is viewed as "actual" events.

In the Morland Dynasty series, the majestic sweep of English history is richly and movingly portrayed through the fictional lives of the Morland family. It is 1501, and Paul, great grandson of Eleanor Morland, has inherited the estate and has a son to follow him. But he fathers an illegitimate boy by his beloved mistress, and bitter jealously between the half-brothers causes a destructive rift that leads to tragedy. Paul’s niece Nanette becomes maid-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn, and at the court of Henry VIII witnesses first hand the events leading up to the rift with Rome, her mistress’s execution, and the further efforts of the sad, ailing king to secure the male succession.

69. The Founding, #1

By Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Rated 4.5 Stars
From:  Amazon

This book, or rather this series of books was recommended by one of the members of the Historical Favorites Group.  I am not sure yet whether to thank her or blow her a rasberry.  This is going to be a good series but YIKES there are 30 books and counting in this series!!

From what I have gathered so far the Moreland's are members of the landed gentry, probably what we would call upper middle class nowdays.  They depend somewhat on the patronage various members of the aristrocracy but their main claim to fame so far is that they are very enterprising sheep farmers from whom their weath (which ebbs and flows with the times) mainly comes and their abilities to hang on to it through wars, rebellions and political unrest.

I am going to plod through this series because it is good reading although a 30 book series seems pretty daunting to me right now.  I think I will try to read one or two each month.  Since they are not stocked by my local library that means I will probably have to buy them.  It's a testimony to how much I have enjoyed what I have read so far that I am considering this since I buy very few books nowdays.  Lack of space and a fixed income have drastically changed my book buying habits.

FROM AMAZON;  "In the Morland Dynasty series, the majestic sweep of English history is richly and movingly portrayed through the fictional lives of the Morland family. It is 1434, and seeking power and prestige, ambitious Yorkshireman Edward Morland arranges a marriage between his meek son Robert and spirited Eleanor, young ward of the influential Beaufort family. Eleanor is appalled at being forced to marry a mere "sheep farmer;" she is, besides, secretly in love with Richard, Duke of York. Yet in time this apparently ill-matched union becomes both passionate and tender, the foundation of the Morland dynasty, and sustains them through bloody civil war which so often divides families, sets neighbor against neighbor, and brings tragedy close to home."

68. Zemindar

By:  Valerie Fitzgerald
Rated:  5 Stars
From:  Library

An outstanding tale of Laura the poor relation on a journey to India with her newly married cousin Emily, Emily's husband Charles (who Laura thought herself in love with),  and Charles' half brother Oliver Erskine, a Zemindar, or large land holder. I liked that neither Laura or Oliver are out and out drop dead good looking, just strong, honorable people we come to care about.

A time or two I thought maybe that Laura was just a little bit too good to be true but them I remembered Isabella Bird and decided that maybe she was just cut from the same cloth.  Victorian ladies in literature have a tendency to be either simpering idiots or indomitable women as tough as nails.

Naturally Oliver and Laura fall in love. After a harrowing escape from Oliver's estate they make their way to Lucknow.  Along the way the author sets up her stage to the Sepoy rebellion an the seige at Lucknow in Northern India.   Oliver and Laura  are separated at Lucknow where after guiding the party to safety Oliver leaves to make sure some of his other people escape to safety. When they part Oliver said to Laura, "I will come back to you, for you".   Shades of Hawkeye (Last of the Mohicans) where he tells Cora "No matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you." *sniffle*

The rest of the book follows the harrowing conditions at the residency at Lucknow during the seige, the battles, deaths and brutal conditions suffered by the British. Be warned that this was a very brutal rebellion and some of the scenes described, although accurate, can be a bit gory, but important history to be reminded of and the mistakes that were made by ignorant pompous officials and the brutalities committed on both sides due to hate, ignorance and prejudice. It's unfortunate that we do not learn well from history and things are still so much the same in the Middle East in our present time.