Review of: Roses by Leila Meacham

Spanning the 20th century, the story of Roses takes place in a small East Texas town against the backdrop of the powerful timber and cotton industries, industries controlled by the scions of the town's founding families. Cotton tycoon Mary Toliver and timber magnate Percy Warwick should have married but unwisely did not, and now must deal with the deceit, secrets, and tragedies of their choice and the loss of what might have been--not just for themselves but for their children, and children's children. With expert, unabashed, big-canvas storytelling, Roses covers a hundred years, three generations of Texans and the explosive combination of passion for work and longing for love.

Review of: The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall

The subtitle (by the way is that what it's called?) of The Penderwicks refers to Rosalind (12), Skye (11), Jane(10) Elizabeth aka Batty (4), Yaz and Carla and Jeffrey who turns 11 about 1/2 way through the three weeks that the Penderwick clan is staying in the cottage at Arundel Hall. There is also Hound (the girls dog) and Cagney (the 19 year old gardener). There are, of souse, some grown up, but as with any great children's book, they are somewhat incidental.

This summer the Penderwick sisters have a wonderful surprise: a holiday on the grounds of a beautiful estate called Arundel. Soon they are busy discovering the summertime magic of Arundel's sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts. But the best discovery of all is Jeffrey Tifton, son of Arundel's owner, who quickly proves to be the perfect companion for their adventures.
The icy-hearted Mrs. Tifton is not as pleased with the Penderwicks as Jeffrey is, though, and warns the new friends to stay out of trouble. Which, of course, they will - won't they? One thing's for sure: it will be a summer the Penderwicks will never forget.
Deliciously nostalgic and quaintly witty, this is a story as breezy and carefree as a summer day.

There comes a point early on in the book when Rosalind, the mother of the group, begins to crush on Cagney. What 12 year old girl hasn't crushed on an older man? Cagney is very sweet to all of the Penderwick girls. He never seems to realize how Rosalind feels about him. Skye is the spirited one. Jane is the dreamy, future author of the bunch. My hunch is that Jane is based, at least in part, on the author herself. Then there is baby sister Batty. She is very close to their dog and talks to him and understands his woofs. The girls' mother died when Batty was still a baby.

Poor Jeffrey has a mother who is snobbish and thinks the girls (especially Skye, whom she is forever calling Jane) are a bad influence on him. Mrs. Tifton wants Jeffrey to go to Pencey, a military academy, just like her father the General. All Jeffrey wants to do is play the piano. He has zero interest in being a soldier.

There are plenty of hi-jinx involved. There is an incident with a bull. There is an escaped rabbit to be rescued. Escaping from windows. A plan to runaway. There are so many adventures packed into the less than 300 pages of The Penderwicks.

I loved this book. There is more in the series and I will definitely be checking the children's section of my library for them!

I am awarding The Penderwicks my Hyacinth award.

Title: The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
Author: Jeanne Birdsall
ISBN: 9780375831430
Pages: 272
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers (Jun 4, 2005)
Genre(s): Fiction, Children's Fiction, Middle Grades, Series
Source: I borrowed this book from my local library.
Grade: A+ What does this grade mean?

Books in this series:
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy**
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
Jeanne Birdsall is working on the third book in this series. She is planning on there being five all together.
**This review.

Buy The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall:
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Review of: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, old same, in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she's painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

Lily narrates Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. She has written her life (from age 5 to age 80) story. The early parts of her story are a bit graphic. Lily holds nothing back when discussing her foot-binding. I actually reached a point where I was preparing to rate Snow Flower and the Secret Fan DNF if the foot-binding part of Lily's story continued for much longer. Amanda J in my Chatting Chicks group told me to stick with it. I'm glad she did and I'm glad I listened to Amanda J. There were only a few more pages about the foot-binding process at that point before the story moved on.

Lily's story is not wholly her own. In particular her life is very much bound together (pun intended) with that of her laotong, Snow Flower. A laotong is explained in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan this way: "A laotong match is as significant as a good marriage," Lily's aunt explained. "A laotong relationship is made by choice for the purpose of emotional companionship and eternal fidelity. A marriage is not made by choice and has only one purpose – to have sons."

Lily and Snow Flower go through so much together. Births, deaths, sickness, starvation. One misunderstanding of a written message on their fan causes much hurt on both sides. Something that I imagine could happen in this age of so many messages being sent electronically.

I am awarding Snow Flower and the Secret Fan my Hyacinth award.

Title: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Author: Lisa See
ISBN: 9780812968064
Pages: 269
Published by: Random House Trade Paperbacks (February 21st 2006 (first published 2005))
Genre(s): Fiction, Historical Fiction
Source: I borrowed this book from my local library.
Grade: A+ What does this grade mean?

Buy Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See:
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Review of: Flashforward by Robert J Sawyer

As I said to more than a couple of people on Twitter in the few days following finishing reading Flashforward, this book 'made my head go boom'. This was my first time reading something by Robert J Sawyer. Yes, there were parts that I didn't get, what could I expect from a book centered around two physicists.

Over the summer I kept seeing commercials for the new ABC show called FLASHFORWARD. I'm a LOSTie so I was interested in this new show by some of the same people. The I read that the show FLASHFORWARD was based on Robert J Sawyer's book of the same name. I'm one of those people that likes to read the book before seeing the movie that's based on it. I felt the same about Flashforward (and The Vampire Diaries). According to an article I read, Mr. Sawyer has been in negotiations for a TV show based on this book since it's release in 1999.

What would you do if you got a glimpse of your own personal future and it looked bleak? Try to change things, or accept that the future is unchangeable and make the best of it? In Flashforward, Nobel-hungry physicists conducting an unimaginably high-energy experiment accidentally induce a global consciousness shift. In an instant, everyone on Earth is "flashed forward" 21 years, experiencing several minutes of the future. But while everyone is, literally, out of their minds, their bodies drop unconscious; when the world reawakens, car wrecks, botched surgeries, falls, and other mishaps add up to massive death and destruction.

Slowly, as recovery efforts continue, people realize that during the Flashforward (as it comes to be called) they experienced a vision of the future. The range of visions is astounding--those who would be asleep in the future saw psychedelic dream landscapes, while others saw nothing at all (presumably they'd be dead). But those who saw everyday life 20 years hence have to come to grips with evidence of dreams forsaken (or realized). Soon, the physicists who caused the Flashforward are struggling to help the world decide whether the future is changeable--and whether the experiment is worth repeating. Robert J. Sawyer has captured a truly compelling idea with Flashforward, and he fully explores what such an event might mean to humanity. Fans will find this to be his best work to date, although the ending seems rushed after a detailed buildup. --Therese Littleton

I am awarding Flashforward my Hyacinth award. You will be seeing more of these in the coming weeks. =)

Title: Flashforward
Author: Robert J Sawyer
ISBN: 9780312867126
Pages: 320
Published by: Tor (June 12, 1999)
Genre(s): SciFi
Grade: A What does this grade mean?

Buy Flashforward by Robert J Sawyer:
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Review of: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

Author: Katherine Howe
ISBN: 9781401340902
Pages: 371
Published by: Hyperion Voice (June 2009)
Genre(s): Fiction, Historical Fiction, Paranormal
Grade: A
Challenge(s): 100+ Reading Challenge - Read 'n Review '09 - Spring Reading Thing 2009 - 2009 Pub Challenge

Please note: All quotes and page numbers come from the ARC and there fore may vary from the completed, finished version. I waited until the last minute to try to verify them with the publisher and was unable to verify them so close to the date I promised my review would be up.

Part love story, part mystery, part historical fiction... I loved (!!!) The Physick book of Deliverance Dane by new author Katherine Howe.

The Physick book of Deliverance Dane follows graduate student Connie Goodwin and her dog Arlo in the 1990's, Deliverance Dane and a few of her descendants. In the 1690's Deliverance is accused of being a witch.

While Connie is attempting to clean out her deceased grandmother's home in Marblehead Massachusetts she finds a key hidden in an old Bible belonging to the family. It isn't just a plain, old key though.

It was a key. Antique, about three inches long, with an ornate handle and hollow shaft, probably designed for a door or a substantial chest. She turned the key over in the soft light from the lamp, wondering why it had been hidden in the Bible. It seemed too bulky for a bookmark. As she warmed the small metal object in her hands, puzzling about what it could mean, she noticed the tiniest shred of paper protruding from the end of the hollow shaft.

After finding the key with the slip of paper inside (a slip of paper containing nothing except the words "Deliverance Dane") Connie begins investigating what her advisor thinks maybe the name of a person. Connie comes across not a few obstacles on her journey, including meeting Sam the architectural preservationist she can't stop thinking about. Sam becomes more help than hindrance though.

I'd like to share with you one bit from The Physick book of Deliverance Dane that really struck a chord with me:

"Yeah, but it speaks to how alienated we all are from history," Connie grumbled, blue eyes darkening. "For generations the witch trials were such an embarrassment that no one would discuss them. A proper history of them wasn't even written until the end of the nineteenth century. Now look at it -- it's a carnival."

Connie looked around at the relaxed people milling about the esplanade, gazing into the windows of costume shops and card readers. She tried to imagine other violent, oppressive periods of history that had similarly been transformed into a source of amusment and tourism but could not think of any. Did Spain have Inquisition wax museums, showing effigies of people broken on the rack?

This one is going on my "Keeper" shelf and I hope to have the money to buy the finished book once it comes out June 9th!


Buy The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe:
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Review of: Shanghai Girls

Author: Lisa See
ISBN: 9781400067114
Pages: 315
Published by: Random House (May 26, 2009)
Genre(s): Fiction, Historical Fiction
Grade: A
Challenge(s): 100+ Reading Challenge - Read 'n Review '09 - Spring Reading Thing 2009 - World Citizen Challenge - 2009 Pub Challenge

Pearl and May Chin grew up in Shanghai, China in the 1920s and '30s. When they are 21 and 19, respectively, they are 'sold' into arranged marriages with a pair of brother, to pay off their father's gambling debts. Pearl is already in love with an artist called ZG. May and Pearl are models, their faces sell everything from baby formula to tobacco. In the process of leaving China for America, after the bombing of Shanghai, many terrible tings happen to and around this pair of sisters.

I learned quite a bit reading Shanghai Girls. I'm not sure what it says about our education system that I'd never heard about Angel Island before. More tid-bits I found interesting:

• In Chinese culture, white is the funeral color, the death color. (Imagine what it was like for immigrants from China that went to a hospital or to see a doctor!)
• There were segments at least that were prejudiced toward the Japanese; calling them things like "monkey people" and "dwarf bandits".

I really found myself pulled in by Lisa See's words. I felt like I was right there with the sisters through their many struggles, fights, joys. I haven't read any of Lisa See's previous novels, but I am looking forward to reading more than Shanghai Girls.

From GoodReads: May and Pearl, two sisters living in Shanghai in the mid-1930s, are beautiful, sophisticated, and well-educated, but their family is on the verge of bankruptcy. Hoping to improve their social standing, May and Pearl’s parents arrange for their daughters to marry “Gold Mountain men” who have come from Los Angeles to find brides.

But when the sisters leave China and arrive at Angel’s Island (the Ellis Island of the West)—where they are detained, interrogated, and humiliated for months—they feel the harsh reality of leaving home. And when May discovers she’s pregnant the situation becomes even more desperate. The sisters make a pact that no one can ever know.

A novel about two sisters, two cultures, and the struggle to find a new life in America while bound to the old, Shanghai Girls is a fresh, fascinating adventure from beloved and bestselling author Lisa See.

(Full disclosure: I won this ARC of Shanghai Girls in a drawing on Random House's website. If you have any questions/concerns about how this may have affected how I feel about the book, please go here and read the last paragraph.)

Buy Shanghai Girls by Lisa See:
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Review of: King's Fool

Author: Margaret Campbell Barnes
ISBN: 9780356017556
Pages: 304
Genre(s): Historical Fiction
Grade: A+
Challenge(s): 100+ Reading Challenge - Read 'n Review 09 - since this book has been published in the US before it DOES NOT qualify for 2009 Pub Challenge
Release Date: April 1, 2009


I’ve wanted to learn more about Will Somers since reading Philippa Gregory’s books about the women in Henry VIII’s life. How interesting it would have been to be within Henry VIII’s inner circle, but not to be considered a threat by such a powerful man.

Will Somers was in just such a position. Born in Shropshire, England Will Somers was the only son, only child actually, of a churchman father and a Welsh mother, she died of the plague when Will was only four. Will had pretty happy life until his beautiful singing voice broke at 14; his father taught the choiristers and this seemed to be their big connection. Soon after, Will moves in with his Uncle Tobias, a farmer. On his uncles' farm is where Will Somers meets Richard Fermor, a wool merchant. Meeting and becoming part of the household of Master Fermor is only the first of some very big events in the life of Will Somers.

From the back of the ARC I recieved:

When country lad Will Somers lands himself the plum position of jester to the mercurial King Henry VIII, he has no idea that he's just been handed a front-row seat to history.

With a seat near the throne and an ear to the floor, Somers witnesses firsthand the dizzying power struggles and sly scheming that marked the reign of the fiery Tudor King. Somers watches the rise and fall of some of the most enigmatic women in history, including the tragic Katherine of Aragon, the doomed Anne Boleyn, and Mary Tudor, who confided in the jester as she made the best of the fragile life of a princess whom everyone wished was a prince...

Based on the life of the real Will Somers, King's Fool is infused with Margaret Campbell Barnes's trademark rich detail and historical accuracy. This intimate peek into the royal chambers gives readers a unique view into one of the most tumultuous periods in English history.

As you can most likely guess from the grade I gave King's Fool, this book did not disappoint!

Pre-order/Buy KING'S FOOL @ a bookstore near you!

Pre-Order/Buy KING'S FOOL on Amazon

I want to thank Danielle Jackson of Sourcebooks for sending me the ARC to read and review.

For more information about my Hyacinth Award.

Here are other reviews of King's Fool by Margaret Campbell Barnes

• The Tome Traveler's Weblog
  
• historical-fiction.com
• Kittling Books
  

Review of: A Different Kind of Christmas

Author: Alex Haley
ISBN: 9780385260435
Pages: 101
Genre(s): Historical Fiction
Grade: A+
Start date: 12-6-08
End date: 12-10-08
Challenge(s): Winter Holiday Reading Challenge

Alex Haley's Roots is one of the world's most beloved and important books. In A Different Kind of Christmas, the intense drama of a white Southerner and a black slave who work toward a mutual goal, Haley once again gives us a moving story of physical and moral courage, and an unforgettable tale of spiritual regeneration. Rendered with a matchless sense of time and place, a poetic humanness, and a rich, robust humor; A Different Kind of Christmas will delight and inspire reader of all ages and faith for generations to come.

So says the inside of the dust jacket. Here I am reading this for the first time, 20 years after it's first printing, a white, non-Christian. I cried when it was over. Not a lot, but it definitely affected me.

Fletcher Randall, son of the owner of "North Carolina's 4th largest plantation", is a sophomore at Princeton when we meet him. After meeting and spending some time with 3 Quaker brothers, Fletcher becomes disillusioned with what he was brought up considering 'normal'; that people can be your property. Fletcher eventually becomes involved with the Underground Railroad (UGRR). Fletcher spends part of one of his Christmas breaks helping the UGRR in a surprising way. I'm trying not to give away too much. It's a 101 pages, pick it up, read it and I think you'll find that it picks you up in return.

As you might expect, this book is receiving my Hyacinth Award.

Shared Reviews: If you've reviewed this book too, please send me an e-mail or leave a comment with the link to your review, and I will add a link to it at the bottom of my review. Please, for convenience, if you leave a comment, leave it in the review-post.

Hyacinth Awards - Retroactive

Here is a list of the books that I am (retroactively) giving the Hyacinth Award to. They are in no particular order. To read more about my Hyacinth Award click here. I've also linked to the reviews.

• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
• The Wednesday Sisters by Med Waite Clayton
• Dancing Above the Waves by Susan Wallerstein
• What Your Mother Never Told You by Richard M Dudum
• The Prometheus Project: Trapped and Captured by Douglas E Richards
• Little Miss Smarty-Pants by Suzanne Kopoulos
• Jaclyn's Ghost by Dorlana Vann
• Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
• A Widow for One Year by John Irving
• Hearts Never Lie by Patricia Pickett
• Vampire Apocalypse: World Torn Asunder by Derek Gunn
  

Remember to keep a look-out for these awards in the future. =)