Forestfire4's Blog

This book is the first effort of author Sara Henry, and if this book is any indication she needs to keep on writing! Very good book and it really didn’t turn out as I expected.

What I really liked about this book is that there weren’t many moments where you go “why did they do that? that was stupid” like you do with some mysteries. Doesn’t mean it isn’t a good book, but still. This book was just very realistic and you could say that you could see yourself reacting that way in that situation. I love how she would say “of course I wasn’t going to” in many situations. “Of course, I knew I should leave before I let my heart get broken…” “of course, I wasn’t going to”. You know you do that, you just know you do!

This was the April selection for my mystery book club.  Unfortunately I missed our meeting, but I had already purchased the book and it sounded interesting.  I am glad I read it, in fact I inhaled it over the course of 2 evenings.  Highly recommended.

Chapter 1 – A Birth “On the evening of the third day of labor, the woman’s screams filled the little cabin, escaping through the open door to tangle themselves in the dark hemlocks that mourned and drooped above the house.”  And so begins the story of “Least” the last of Fronie’s children, born shortly after the death of Fronie’s husband in 1922. 

Least is born with “the gift” and is a part of Appalachia, both harmed and helped by her mother’s neglect.  She can see the little creatures and work with the magic of the land in the way of her ancestors on her mother’s side who were Cherokee.  After the birth, Fronie has decided that she needs help, that all of her other children had left or were soon to leave and she wanted to ensure that Least stayed. So she put out that Least was “simple” and unable to take care of herself. She didn’t leave the homestead and she was not to be taught how to read or interact with people, she was basically hidden away.  Until her grandmother had to be taken in.  It is at this time that you learn that Least is in fact very intelligent and gifted in unexpected ways.  Her grandmother teaches Least all about the plants and medicinals, how to talk to the little creatures and what is to be feared or treated cautiously to ensure no harm.

This book takes us from her childhood and then leaps from her courtship and marriage at a young age (1938) to her widowhood in 2007 where she is now known as Miss Birdie. There is a dark time that has come upon her home and she must make the difficult choice of whether to follow her heart and use her skills or stay true to her late husbands beliefs that these talents were actually “witchcraft” and should not be used. 

Her life and struggles in the heart of Appalachia were very interesting.  The author also intersperses articles from local papers to highlight facts from these times that the fiction weaves around and references.  It was a compelling book and I wolfed it down.  It is not only the history of the area but also the culture that really comes through well.  The author is Vicki Lane and I do plan on finding other books by her.

This was the March selection for our mystery book club, however I am not sure you can really call it a mystery.  The book is set in two different time periods, one at the time when the Scots tried to bring King James Stewart (James VIII of Scotland or James III of England depending on  who you talk to) back to reclaim his crown, and one in modern day times.  The premise is that Carrie McClelland has found a home in Scotland outide of Slains Castle and has started to have “memories” of a past life (Sophia).

The historical background and the tale of these two women was very interesting.  However, I felt like they spent too much time in the past and the going back and forth so often was a little annoying.  I loved the present day romantic turn and the peek into life in  Scotland.  I would have loved to learn more about how the present day Scottish felt about this time in their history and more about Carrie and her new friends and family. 

All in all a fun read and one I would recommend to an armchair history buff like me.  But, it is a long book and it did take a while to get through it as I kept having to go back to remind myself who was who.  More on Queen Anne and how the whole split happened would have been good also.

I just finished listening to this wonderful book on tape.  Jennifer Chiaverini has a series of books based on the Elm Creek Quilter’s Retreat in Pennsylvania.  Her books are typically character driven.  Learning about the Bergstrom’s and their friends and family are definitely the center of all the stories.

This book includes the tail of Gerda Bergstrom and her brother Hans who came over from Germany shortly before the Civil War.  When she landed she met her brother on the docks thinking they were going to Kansas.  Instead, it turns out he won a farm after a horse race, the farm which was named Elm Creek.  They also meet a young lady, Anneka, on the docks who was supposed to meet her new husband who never showed up.  So together they pack up and leave for their new home.  Anneka and Hans marry and the three of them settle and start raising horses and a family.  However, Hans and Gerda have strong feelings of the injustice of slavery and through a chance meeting one night with a runaway slave, they become a key part of the Underground Railroad in this area. 

This book is strong on character development, as the current Bergstrom, Sylvia, reads Gerda’s journal which she found in the attic.  As Sylvia learns about her ancestors, she also learns more about herself and what she thought she knew about her ancestors.  Although the ending is bittersweet for the Bergstroms and though there is no clear answer to the mystery, that is what happens during war and it gives the book a real ring of truth.

This is the fourth book in this series.  Sylvia, the main character in the series, is the last American descendant of the Bergstrom’s and has returned to Elm Creek to turn it into a quilter’s retreat.  The descriptions of the classes, the type of quilt patterns, and the history of quilt-making are a real treat to read.  The thought that quilt patterns may have been used to describe stops on the Railroad is also an interesting premise.

I definitely recommend trying it out.  This book could  be read alone, although reading the first book in the series would definitely help you to understand some of the characters who are briefly mentioned here.

This book by Heather Graham is part mystery part ghost story, a nice suspenseful book.  The story starts with an acting troupe renting a Scottish castle to provide tours and theater enactings of the history of the castle.  The leader of the group, Toni Fraser, writes what she thinks is a fictional accounting, but as the book progresses she finds out how close to the truth her “fiction” really is.  The background mystery is two-fold.  First it turns out that the rental agreement is a fraud and they are trying to figure out how that happened, luckily the real owner is much alive and a real hunk, capturing Toni’s interest very quickly, yum.  The second is a series of murders of young women who are dumped in the woods behind the castle.  The chase to figure these out is the center of the book.

Also in the background is some historical reference to Cromwell (when Cromwell reigned) and King Charles which was interesting.  The way this was woven into the story as part of the ghost and his need to clear his family history is pretty interesting.

Another fun read!

I tend to say “fun read” a lot, don’t I?  🙂  What can I say, my job tends to be a bit stressful and I need some good escapism now and then.

This is a light, breezy and fun book by Kristen, Kari and Julianne (K.J.) Larsen and I highly recommend it for a quick weekend read when you are in need of having your spirits lifted.  The main character has started a private detective agency dedicated to catching cheaters, after going through the agony of finding your now ex-husband was doing the same.  Boy do I know how that feels!! 

The name of her agency is “Pants on Fire Detective Agency” and is set in Chicago, Illinois.  Caterina (Cat) DeLuca is a nice Italian gal with a houseful of Chicago cops as brothers (one a crook) and a typical interfering Italian mom that is just a hoot.  The case starts with her tracking down what she thinks is a cheating spouse (Chance Savino, great name) and ends up with her being caught in a bomb blast which puts her in the hospital.  Chance shows up to see how she is doing, but no one believes her as the FBI and the police all say he is dead.  Her mom even calls an intervention with their parish priest to help her see the light!  🙂  You can just see it, the visualizations from this book are great.

This is a fun ride but what really makes the book is the cast of goofy characters, her family.  I am definitely looking forward to future books.  I always love it when they go out and catch those cheaters.  Their web site is www.kjlarsenauthor.com if you want to learn more!

This is the second book in a series of history-based thrillers.  This one revolves around a medalion that is found in the Libyan desert during an archeological dig. The medallion is inscribed with the phrase “Hic Latito Lux Excito – Vox Luceferus” or here lies hidden the bringer of light, the words of lucifer.  Hm.  This is the second book in a series about Finn Ryan, a young archeologist who is following in her father’s footsteps.  What she is also finding out is that her father also worked with the CIA as a spy, what a better way to find out more about someone than to work as a professor working on an archeological dig?  🙂  I started reading these stories as I love history and I enjoy books that leave me wanting to find out more about the subject of which I am reading.  I really enjoyed reading more about Libya and some of the archeological treasures that they are finding there.  However, I have to say that while I enjoyed the book, the ending was abrupt and a tad confusing.  I felt the first one also had an abrupt, too tidy ending.  I have already purchased number 3 but at this rate I am not sure how far I will get in the series.  But it has great potential!

This is not a book I would typically pick up and read and as such I was pleasantly surprised.  This book by Barbara Kingsolver is a book to teach you a bit about history, to leave you thinking “hm”, to want to find out more.  The book is based on a fictional character in the midst of a very tumultous time, from WWII to the McCarthy era.  I learned a lot about these times that I hadn’t read before.  The story of how his writing was first adored and then reviled all because of the words of one man was definitely something I could see happening.  It was a very scary time during the McCarthy witch hunts, something I can see once in a while in current days too.  We all like to point fingers and we all are scared of the unknown around the corner. We also sometimes trust too much in a single news source, it is hard to go out and search for the truth among the weeds at times.

One theme that came out in the novel that was pointed out during a discussion at the Naples Philharmonic Book Club was the way that art is woven into the story.  The book starts in Mexico when the main character, Harrison Shepard, is a young man. The style is as if you are reading a series of journal entries that have been transcribed by his friend and secretary.  It is a very unusual style.  But anyway, one of his earlier acquantices is Diego Rivera and his wife Frida.  In Mexico, art was a part of the political and cultural fabric of the country.  But when he came to the United States, that isn’t seen anymore.  The US doesn’t really hold art in the same way that other countries do.  We have art, but art isn’t woven into our politics or our social fabric.  There isn’t an artist that is seen as a hero in this country the way that Diego was in Mexico.  It makes you wonder why that is?  The question was also raised on what is “American art” anyway?  There is one important nexus in this book where what the politicians wanted to see as American art didn’t fit with what the cultural staff they hired thought it should be.

Anyway, I am really not doing this book justice.  It is not a sit down and read straight through book, it is a sit and think, take a break and come back for more type of book.  I did enjoy it all in all and have to thank my mom for getting me into it.

Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton is a disturbing read, and a definite thriller.  There are so many questions based around the ending too, is there something to the stories and history of the population  in question?  You wonder…

Set in the Shetland Islands, the story centers around some of the legends brought to this area by the Scandinavian settlers many years ago.  The starting line is – “The corpse I could cope with, it was the context that threw me”.  The story jumps right into the fray when the main character (Tora) is digging a grave for her beloved horse that just passed.  In the process she uncovers the body of a young woman and off the story goes.  First, discovering her identity and also the discovery that there was a second death of a young woman who may be connected.  It is these connections and her husband’s history on the island that lead to a dark, grim story. 

This was a mystery book club selection and one that I definitely enjoyed.  The one comment we had in common was that the life and atmosphere of the island itself doesn’t come out as well as we would have liked.  Although it is a good story and you get something of a sense of the lives of the main characters, the general feel and look of the island and its people doesn’t come through.  How Tora, a doctor, came to this island and was trying to fit into the community from which her husband came was interesting though.  How the hospital culture worked is different from what we have here in some ways.

This is the first of a series and one I will pursue in the future, as I find time!  🙂  Too many books, not enough time.