The Ohter Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory

Rating: 5 Better than a new Derby Hat and the winning horse (¨¨¨¨¨)

Pages: 661

Challenges: 2008 TBR, A-Z Challenge (G Author), Chunkster

Synopsis (from BN.com)

When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots as the kings interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.
A rich and compelling tale of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her own heart.

Review

This book was great! It is one I would highly recommend. Believe it or not I was sad to see it end at nearly 700 pages. There was only one part where I thought moved a little slow, but clearly that didn't slow me down. This book really made me want to learn more about Henry's wives. It also made me very appreciative not to be in the King's court. The money it takes, the separation from your children, the lack of value in women, and the gossip! I am going to read more of Philippa Gregory's books.

By the way, anyone watching The Tutors on Showtime? The plot with Anne Boleyn seems to follow closely with the book, which I am not sure if it is because there are common facts that happen or if Ms Gregory should get some credit for writing! I have only seen one show, so it could have just been this episode.

Drums of Change - Janette Oke

Rating:2 Drink more Mint Juleps before reading (åå)

Pages: 240

Challenge: Reading Full Circle, Novella Challenge, A-Z Challenge (D Title)

Synopsis (from BN.com)
A young Indian girl must make a choice between the old ways of her people, the man she loves, and the white man's religion.

Comment

I just had to put in the Barnes & Nobel synopsis. Talk about summarizing a book in one sentence! I didn't think this book was excellent but I can think of more than one sentence...so here goes

My Synopsis

Running Fawn (notice I took on the challenge of using the character's name in the synopsis...just to prove I have read the book) and her Indian Tribe are at a pivotal point for their generation. The Indian Tribe is going through a transition to live on the White Man's Indian Reserve (after the Buffalo was eliminated and their food source was completely gone). A White man (the tribe calls him "Man with book") joins the tribe to teach them the Gospel. He starts a school and takes a special interest in Running Fawn and Silver Fox (the Chief's son). After the school has to disband Man with book convinces the tribe to let Running Fawn and Silver Fox to a boarding school to learn the ways of the white man. When Running Fawn learns her father is ill she leaves the school to meet up with the tribe. Silver Fox realizing she is in trouble follows her to help her make it to the tribe. This book has a little Christian inspiration, a little history, and a little romance.

Review

Although the book has a little of the topics it is very little. The concept is good and there are some American Indian books that I have loved, but this one missed the mark. I think that there were a lot of different parts of the history that could have been explored and the romance happened in the last chapter of the book. If you want to read Jannette Oke I would recommend Love Comes Softly.

By the way- was my synopsis better than B&N?

The Opposite of Love - Julie Buxbaum

Rating: 3 Don’t bet on this one…wait for the movie (···)

Pages: 306

Challenge: Pub Challenge

Synopsis (from BN.com)
With perfect pitch for the humor and heartbreak of everyday life, Julie Buxbaum has fashioned a heroine who will be instantly recognizable to anyone who has loved and lost and loved again.When successful twenty-nine-year-old Manhattan attorney Emily Haxby ends her happy relationship just as her boyfriend is on the verge of proposing, she can’t explain to even her closest friends why she did it. Somewhere beneath her sense of fun, her bravado, and her independent exterior, Emily knows that her breakup with Andrew has less to do with him and more to do with...her. “You’re your own worst enemy,” her best friend Jess tells her. “It’s like you get pleasure out of breaking your own heart.”As the holiday season looms and Emily contemplates whether she made a huge mistake, the rest of her world begins to unravel: she is assigned to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit where she must defend the very values she detests by a boss who can’t keep his hands to himself; her Grandpa Jack, a charming, feisty octogenarian and the person she cares most about in the world, is losing it, while her emotionally distant father has left her to cope with this alone; and underneath it all, fading memories of her deceased mother continue to remind her that love doesn’t last forever.How this brave, original young heroine finally decides to take control of her life and face the fears that have long haunted her is the great achievement of Julie Buxbaum’s marvelous first novel. Written with the authority, grace, and wisdom of an author far beyond her years, The Opposite of Love heralds the debut of a remarkable talent incontemporary fiction.

Review

I thought this book was ok. I thought it started a little slow and I was a little disappointed because I thought the prologue gave too much away and I knew how the book would end. I think I would have liked this more with more suspense. I wouldn't have read the prologue first if I knew it was going to give so much away.

Life As We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer

Rating: 5 Better than a new Derby Hat and the winning horse (¨¨¨¨¨)

Pages: 337

Challenge: A-Z Challenge (P Author)

What would you do if an Asteroid hit the Moon completely changing the way you live? This book explores this concept through the diary of Miranda a 15 year old girl. This book is FABULOUS! I do warn you though - after chapter 2 I dare you to put it down! If you are participating in any of the upcoming read-a-thons this would be a great book for it.

There are a lot of things in this book where I was thinking I would never think to do that!! I feel better prepared now in case of a tragedy and really don't think I have enough cash to liquidate!!

Miranda has an older brother and a younger brother plus her Mom and they have a good friend who lives down the street Mrs. Nesbitt. It is the story of how Miranda's family stays together through terrible life events. The asteroid hits the moon and forever changes the Earth's atmosphere and life itself. I highly recommend this book!

I will be reading the companion book Dead and Gone about a boy in New York and how the asteroid hitting the moon has affected him and his family. I will save this for the 48 Hour Read a-thon coming up in June! I know it will be a book that will keep me up all night reading. Plus Susan Beth Pfeffer is writing a continuation to Life As We Knew It that I can't wait to read, but since she is still writing it I expect that it won't be out for a while. I will be giving this book as gifts this year!!

I read this for Becky's Book Club - everyone loved the book you can read some of our comments here.

The Summer I Dared - Barbara Delinsky

Rating: 3 Third Place Win(···)

Pages: 512

Challenges: Chunkster 2008, A-Z Challenge (S Title)

Synopsis (from B&N)

What comes after the moment that forever changes your life?
This question haunts Julia Bechtel, Noah Prine, and Kim Collela, the only survivors of a terrible boating accident that claims the lives of nine other people off the coast of Maine.

Julia, a 40-year-old wife and mother, has always taken the path of least resistance. Feeling strangely connected to Noah, the divorced, brooding lobsterman who helped save her life, Julia begins to explore the unique possibilities offered by the quiet island of Big Sawyer, Maine. Suddenly, things that once seemed critical lose significance, and things that seemed inconsequential take on a whole new importance. With each passing moment, each new discovery, Julia grows more sure that after coming face to face with death, she must have more from life.

The Summer I Dared is a deeply moving story of the risky but rewarding search for self, and the irrepressible ability of the human spirit to rebound from disaster and to make life anew.

Review

I had a hard time determining if this should be rated a 3 or a 4. I was also reading Life As We Knew it and you know when you are reading a really good book it skews what you think of all the others, so my rating might be a little skewed. I like Delinsky's book and will continue reading them. I did enjoy Family Tree more you can see my review here. This is a good relationship book with a litte mystery thrown in. There were points that I wanted to shake Julia because she was letting people treat her so bad.

Quilters Apprentice - Jennifer Chiaverini

Rating: 4
Pages: 272
Challenges: 1st in a Series, Spring Thing, A-Z Challenge: Q title

Synopsis (from BN.com)
Tangled, anxious thoughts relaxed when she felt the fabric beneath her fingers and remembered that she was creating something beautiful enough to delight the eyes as well as the heart, something strong enough to defeat the cold of a Pennsylvania winter night. She could do these things. She, Sarah, had the power to do these things.

From debut novelist Jennifer Chiaverini comes The Quilter's Apprentice, a delightful, timeless story of loyalty and friendship.
When Sarah McClure and her husband, Matt, move to the small town of Waterford, Pennsylvania, to get a fresh start, Sarah struggles to find a fulfilling job. Disheartened by failed interviews, she reluctantly accepts a temporary position at Elm Creek Manor helping seventy-five-year-old Sylvia Compson prepare her family estate for sale after the recent death of Sylvia's estranged sister. As part of her compensation, Sarah is taught how to quilt by this reclusive, cantankerous master quilter.

During their lessons, Mrs. Compson slowly opens up to Sarah, sharing powerful, devastating stories of her life as a young woman on the World War II home front. Hearing tales of how Mrs. Compson's family was torn apart by tragedy, jealousy, and betrayal, Sarah is forced to confront uncomfortable truths about her own family -- truths that she has denied for far too long. As the friendship between the two women deepens, Mrs. Compson confides that although she would love to remain at her beloved family estate, Elm Creek Manor exists as a constant, unbearable reminder of her role in her family's misfortune. For Sarah, there can be no greater reward than teaching Mrs. Compson to forgive herself for her past mistakes, restoringlife and joy to her cherished home.

Heartfelt and inspiring, The Quilter's Apprentice teaches deep lessons about family, friendship, and sisterhood -- and about creating a life as you would a quilt: with time, love, and patience, piecing the miscellaneous and mismatched scraps into a harmonious, beautiful whole.

Review
I really enjoyed this book and plan on reading the series. My Mother and Grandmother are quilters and I have gone to the Paducah, Kentucky quilt show that is mentioned in the book with my Mother. Mom has taught me how to quilt but I rarely have time to try! I am lucky to have many handmade quilts from my Mom, Grandmother, and Aunt Teresa. I would love to go to Elm Creek to a Quilt retreat - and I think my Mom would too! I really enjoyed the history of the quilts and am looking forward to more of the series.

This was my initial concern joining the 1st in a Series Challenge...I would have to read ALL the books in the series!! Ha! I have started a Series List here. It's a good way for me to track what books are left.

Once Upon A Marigold - Jean Ferris

Rating:3 Don’t bet on this one…wait for the movie (···)

Challenges: Once Upon a Time, A-Z Challenge (F Author)

Synopsis:

This story is about a Christian who lives with his foster father Ed in a cave. Near his cave you can see the castle where Marigold lives. Christian starts sending her pigeon-mail and they become friends. Christian is Marigold's only friend. He decides he has to meet her and gets a job at a castle. There is one problem though. Marigold's mother is trying to marry her off!

Review

I liked this book and though it was a great young adult book! It was a quick read and has some great lessons in it.

The Monsters of Templeton - Lauren Groff

Rating: 5 Better than a new Derby Hat and the winning horse (¨¨¨¨¨)

Challenges: Pub Challenge, A-Z Challenge (M Title)

Synopsis

Willie comes home to Templeton after nearly running down her lover's wife. As she returns home a Loch Ness type monster is found in the lake near her house and her Mother tells her that the story she told her about her father wasn't true. In fact her Father is a distant relative AND he lives in the same town. Willie starts a quest to find out who her Father is while working to put her life back together. In the process we meet all the interesting characters of Templeton past and present.

Review

Loved it, Loved it! My only recommendation is if you listen to this on CD do it at times that you can pay a lot of attention to it and listen to it quick. I spent a couple of weeks listening to it which was the wrong thing to do since I was having problems connecting some of the characters to some of the others. This would be a great book on CD for a long trip! I highly recommend this book!

Family Tree - Barbara Delinsky

Rating: 4 Tell a Friend over a Derby pie (ääää)

Challenges: Spring Thing, A-Z Challenge (D Author)

Synopsis from B&N

Dana Clarke has always longed for the stability of home and family—her own childhood was not an easy one. Now she has married a man she adores who is from a prominent New England family, and she is about to give birth to their first child. But what should be the happiest day of her life becomes the day her world falls apart. Her daughter is born beautiful and healthy, but no one can help noticing the African American traits in her appearance. Dana’s husband, to her great shock and dismay, begins to worry that people will think Dana has had an affair.The only way to repair the damage done is for Dana to track down the father she never knew and to explore the possibility of African American lineage in his family history. Dana’s determination to discover the truth becomes a poignant journey back through her past and her husband’s heritage that unearths secrets rooted in prejudice and fear.Barbara Delinsky’s Family Tree is an utterly unforgettable novel that asks penetrating questions about race, family, and the choices people make in times of crisis—choices that have profound consequences that can last for generations.

Review

I really enjoyed this book. I really wanted to find out the mysteries that were going on around Lizzie’s birth. How was she born inter-racial while both her parents were white? It was interesting some of the genetics information. I also liked the knitting references and could picture the great knitting store. This book made me want to attempt knitting again! I can make a scarf but for now that is my skill level! This book was read by the book club I am in and it was a great discussion! It is interesting to debate on how we would handle the situation.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Rating: 4 Tell a Friend over a Derby pie (ääää)

Pages 552

Challenges: A-Z Challenge: Z Author; 2008 Chunkster; Spring Thing

Synopsis

This is about Liesel Meminger whose mother drops her off at a foster family in Germany during World War II. Her foster mother is very stern but seems to love Liesel, but her close relationship is with her foster father Hans. They adore each other. Liesel has a habit of stealing books. She stole the first one before she even knew how to read - it was a Grave Diggers Handbook. Her second book was stolen from a fire of censored books the Nazi's were burning. Her book stealing benefits many people. Liesel in that Hans teaches her to read - usually at 2:00 am when she has nightmares. She reads to people in the bomb shelter to calm them, and an old lady. Reading becomes a core activity for her and the books are her prized possessions. The stories around Liesel and her friends are incredible, from Rudy who is reluctantly training to be a Nazi, Hans who does not agree with the Nazi attitudes, Max a Jew who the foster family takes in and many neighbors.

Review

Lisa at Breaking the Fourth Wall reviewed this book and it intrigued me. I needed a Z author for the A-Z challenge...and I kept seeing it on other people's blogs. So I requested it from the library.

I really enjoyed this book - although there were several slow parts that were difficult to get through. I really liked all the characters and liked that Zusak carried the story through the years giving us more of a long term snapshot of them. Although Max was lost towards the end of the story and that was disappointing. I almost wish that he would write about Liesel after the significant ending point. He has an epilogue that says what happens to her, but it isn't enough. I want to know more details of her life. This book was very unique and was narrated by death! It is interesting that death narrated it and gave the reader an advantage of seeing the whole story develop and know the story of many characters lives.

Also this book made me cry - I always think that books should be rated high if they make me cry. It means I am really believing the characters and what they are going through. Do you agree?

A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray

Rating: 4 Tell a Friend over a Derby pie (ääää)

Challenges: Spring Thing, First in a Series, A-Z Challenge: G Title

Synopsis (from BN.com)

It’s 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma’s reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she’s been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence’s most powerful girls—and their foray into the spiritual world—lead to?

Review I liked this book a lot and really wanted to continue reading (really listening) to it. It reminded me some of Harry Potter but it was very different from Harry Potter. If you like Harry Potter I think you will like this book. I liked the characters especially Gemma and her Mom and the worlds that were created. I thought that Libba did a great job of researching girls in boarding school in this time period. On the audio version there is an interview with Libba Bray reading parts of her diary in trying to get the book published. It was great I really felt like she could be one of my good friends or my next door neighbor. She was so down to earth.

The Sister - Poppy Adams

Ratings:

Personal Reading: 3 Don’t bet on this one…wait for the movie (···)

Book Club Reading: 4 Tell a Friend over a Derby pie (ääää)

Challenge: Spring Thing, A-Z Challenge: A Author

This book is about 2 sisters who haven't seen each other in 20 some years. Vivian is coming home to her childhood home where Ginny has lived all of her life. This story goes back in time to tell us why it has been so long since Vivian has been home and the reasons she left. It also tells us the story of Ginny and her life with her parents.

The one aspect of this book that I found difficult involves all the technical details of moths. I am not that interested in bugs...so I found myself skimming these sections. I am sure that I missed some analogies in skipping these sections, but I was having a really hard time with them.

This is another book that is hard to describe without giving too much away. Here's the deal though...if you want a book that tells you all the answers you are not going to like this book. If you like a book that leaves a lot up to your interpretation you will love this book. Because this book doesn't lay all the answers out I think it would be a great for a book discussion.

This is a first discussion book on Barnes & Noble. This is my first on-line book discussion and my first Advanced Read! It has been an interesting experience. I would do a few things differently next time. I think I would drop everything I was reading at the time to concentrate on the advanced reading book, because I would rather discuss each chapter with everyone else while they were reading. I think this would be more enjoyable in the process. Instead I was worried about spoilers so I waited until the end, but I think it would have been more fun to participate in the discussions.

I would read more by Poppy Adams.

Love Comes Softly - Janette Oke

Rating: 5 Better than a new Derby Hat and the winning horse (¨¨¨¨¨)
Pages: 240
Challenges: Novella Challenge, 1st in a Series, A-Z Challenge L: Title

I read this book because I love the Hallmark movie and the book didn't disappoint! It is about Marty who looses her husband as soon as they get to the west. All she has to her name is a covered wagon with a broken wheel. A man proposes that he marries her, because he needs a mother for his young daughter (his wife died also) and she needs a house. Clark promises her that if she stays through the winter he will pay her fare to go back to the East. This story is about Marty and Clark's relationship and how Marty learns to be a homestead wife and mother. Also, Marty is pregnant with her husband, Clem's baby.
If you have seen the movie the book is different, but with the same story line. For example, in the movie Missy - Clark's daughter is 6 or 7 years old, in the book she is 2. In the movie, Marty learns to cook from some books she bought in the book one of the neighbors teaches her to cook and shares her recipes with her. Also in the book you learn a lot more about the neighbors and the ending is different than the movie. The ending has the same result, but it is a different climatic end. I would recommend this book and can't wait to read the rest of the series!!

Five Fortunes - Beth Gutcheon

Rating: 5 out of 5

Pages: 398

Challenges: 2008 TBR, (F: Title)

This is a book about 5 women who meet at a fat camp:

Jill – who has issues in her past that are coming back forcing her to deal with them.
Amy – her marriage is falling apart and she is trying to help her daughter Jill deal with her issues.
Carter – a private detective who’s case has taken a personal toll
Laurie – she has recently lost her husband and is trying to deal with her grief
Rae – a wealthy older woman who has been to the fat camp 22 times and is dealing with the deteriorating health of her husband

They meet at the fat farm and become friends. The book details how their lives intersect as they go back to their lives and leave and still interact with each other and help each other. Laurie decides to run for a local political race and some of her friends join her. Jill and Carter strike up a friendship and Jill helps Carter with one of her investigations.

It’s hard to describe this book without giving a lot away, but I will say that I LOVED it! I would highly recommend reading it. It kept me entertained and I wanted to keep turning the pages to know what was happening.

This Heart of Mine - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Rating: 5 Better than a new Derby Hat and the winning horse (¨¨¨¨¨)

Pages: 432

Challenges: A-Z Challenge H: Title

From Barnes & Noble Review (BN.com)
Susan Elizabeth Phillips proves that not only can opposites attract, they can spark great flames of passion. In This Heart of Mine, Phillips pits the heart of a professional football jock against that of a free-spirited writer of children's books. The result is an electrified battle of wits and wiles that is, at turns, both affecting and amusing. These two star-crossed lovebirds couldn't have less in common, and their initial coming together is marked by conflict, rancor, and even tragedy. Yet over the long haul, they discover that love can not only bloom in these seemingly infertile soils, it can thrive.
Molly Somerville has long had a secret crush on the Chicago Stars' key player, quarterback Kevin Tucker. Kevin's career is hard for Molly to escape, given that Molly's older sister, Phoebe, is the owner of the team. Consequently, Molly also knows about Kevin's penchant for dating gorgeous bimbos and his puzzling need to partake of risky, life-endangering hobbies, a trait that drives Phoebe crazy. Molly, however, can relate to this part of Kevin, as she has shown a tendency toward some pretty reckless behavior herself.

When fate places Molly and Kevin alone together for a weekend in Phoebe's isolated cabin, sparks fly and passions flare when both refuse to leave. In the end, Molly makes her most reckless decision yet by climbing into bed while Kevin is sleeping and seducing him before he knows what's happened. When she ends up pregnant, Kevin insists on marrying her for propriety's sake. And when Molly then has a miscarriage, it leaves both of them wounded and wary. Forced to spend their summer at the beleaguered and rundown wilderness resort that Kevin has inherited from a relative, the twosome spruce the place up and get it to turn a profit. In the process they discover the healing power of love, but not before learning some hard truths about themselves, their pasts, and their feelings for each other.

Phillips includes several intriguing subplots in This Heart of Mine and tackles some issues that are emotionally and ethically touchy. Although she wisely avoids offering easy solutions and neatly tied packages, she does provide plenty of resolution. And despite all the pathos, there's plenty of humor to be found. In fact, in the end, shared laughter proves to be every bit as powerful as shared love. -Contributing editor Beth Amos is the author of three novels, including Cold White Fury and Second Sight.

Review

Loved it!! It's a new twist that the guy marries the girl out of obligation and then they fall in love. I have really liked a lot of Susan Elizabeth Phillips' other books also. I love the characters she creates and the situations that are out there but very believable! Her characters aren't perfect and make mistakes. She also is carrying her characters from one book to the next, but as supplementary characters which is great so you know what is happening in their lives. But that is not to say that you can't pick up any of the books at any time and follow them. If you haven't read her and like contemporary romance I highly recommend this author.

The Awakening - Kate Chopin

Rating: 3 Don’t bet on this one…wait for the movie (···)

Pages: 190

Challenges: A-Z Challenge: C Author; Novella

Annotation (BN.Com)

An American classic of sexual expression that paved the way for the modern novel, The Awakening is both a remarkable novel in its own right and a startling reminder of how far women in this century have come. The story of a married woman who pursues love outside a stuffy, middle-class marriage, the novel portrays the mind of a woman seeking fulfillment of her essential nature.

Review

This is not a book that I would normally read, but my husband is taking a Lit class, so I thought it would be fun to read a book together! He isn't a big reader so this was a special treat.

This book is about Edna Pontellier a married woman who has an affair with an unmarried man - Robert. She falls in love with Robert in a time where women having affairs was not acceptable behavior. Once she is awakened to what life can be she is no longer satisfied with her life. She then makes some drastic and unconventional decisions and changes in her life.

I thought that this book was entertaining and interesting. Some of the criticism of this book during the time it was published is that it is sexually provocative, which in 2008 is interesting since it only alluded to the fact that Edna had sex. I had to re-read the chapter a second time to see if I understood! It was interesting to have to imply a lot of what happened versus knowing exactly what happened and it challenge my comprehension. I thought it was a good read and I am happy to say that I have read at least one classic this year!

Can you imagine the critics of the Awakening reading some books today! Whew! That would be something.

The Touch - Colleen McCullough

Rating 3 Don’t bet on this one…wait for the movie (···)
Pages: 624
Challenges: 2008 TBR, Chunkster, A-Z Challenge: M Author

Synopsis (from B&N.com)
Not since The Thorn Birds has Colleen McCullough written a novel of such broad appeal about a family and the Australian experience as The Touch.
At its center is Alexander Kinross, remembered as a young man in his native Scotland only as a shiftless boilermaker's apprentice and a godless rebel. But when, years later, he writes from Australia to summon his bride, his Scottish relatives quickly realize that he has made a fortune in the gold fields and is now a man to be reckoned with.

Arriving in Sydney after a difficult voyage, the sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Drummond meets her husband-to-be and discovers to her dismay that he frightens and repels her. Offered no choice, she marries him and is whisked at once across a wild, uninhabited countryside to Alexander's own town, named Kinross after himself. In the crags above it lies the world's richest gold mine.
Isolated in Alexander's great house, with no company save Chinese servants, Elizabeth finds that the intimacies of marriage do not prompt her husband to enlighten her about his past life -- or even his present one. She has no idea that he still has a mistress, the sensual, tough, outspoken Ruby Costevan, whom Alexander has established in his town, nor that he has also made Ruby a partner in his company, rapidly expanding its interests far beyond gold. Ruby has a son, Lee, whose father is the head of the beleaguered Chinese community; the boy becomes dear to Alexander, who fosters his education as a gentleman.

Captured by the very different natures of Elizabeth and Ruby, Alexander resolves to have both of them. Why should he not? He has the fabled "Midas Touch" -- a combination of curiosity, boldness and intelligence that he applies to every situation, and which fails him only when it comes to these two women.

Although Ruby loves Alexander desperately, Elizabeth does not. Elizabeth bears him two daughters: the brilliant Nell, so much like her father; and the beautiful, haunting Anna, who is to present her father with a torment out of which for once he cannot buy his way. Thwarted in his desire for a son, Alexander turns to Ruby's boy as a possible heir to his empire, unaware that by keeping Lee with him, he is courting disaster.

The stories of the lives of Alexander, Elizabeth and Ruby are intermingled with those of a rich cast of characters, and, after many twists and turns, come to a stunning and shocking climax. Like The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough's new novel is at once a love story and a family saga, replete with tragedy, pathos, history and passion. As few other novelists can, she conveys a sense of place: the desperate need of her characters, men and women, rootless in a strange land, to create new beginnings.

Review
This book was broken into 3 sections. I really enjoyed the first section and would have rated it a 4, but the book took a nose dive from there. I thought section 2 was a 2 and section 3 was a 3...for an average rating of 3. I thought that there was too much information about the details of mining and the story slowed down considerably. I did like the characters and thought they were all believable. Though I was disappointed in Elizabeth who couldn't seem to overcome her preconceived notions of her husband even if he didn't respond well in the beginning of their marriage.

This is my first Colleen McCullough book I would be interested to hear from you if you have read her books and have liked them! I am not sure I will read more of her books or not.

Blue Bistro - Elin Hilderbrand

Rating: 3 Don’t bet on this one…wait for the movie (···)

Pages: 371

Challenges: Themed Reading, A-Z Challenge (Title B)

This book is about Adrienne who has spent her life after high school floating around, moving colleges, changing jobs and cities, and changing men. Her newest move takes her to Nantucket where she meets one of the owners of the Blue Bistro the "it" restaurant on the island. Adrienne is hired to be a hostess of the restaurant. But there is some mystery afoot between the owners Thatcher and Fiona (also the Bistro chef) and why the Bistro is in its last year even though it is wildly successful.

I liked this book and I enjoyed seeing the workings of a restaurant. My only restaurant experience is McDonalds...and I can tell you it doesn't compare! Adrienne and Thatcher have a mutual attraction, but the mystery surrounding Fiona is always beneath the surface, which makes the story interesting (I don’t want to give too much away!). I might have rated this book higher but I really didn’t like the ending. I thought it was very abrupt and left a lot to be desired. Though if you have been debating working in a restaurant or feel that you may have missed out on this experience I think you would enjoy this read!

Tallgrass - Sandra Dallas

Rating: 5 Better than a new Derby Hat and the winning horse (¨¨¨¨¨)

Pages: 336

Challenges: A-Z Challenge (Title T)

Synopsis

This is about Rennie Stroud and her family and what happens to them when a Japanese are rounded up during WWII to stay at an internment camp. On top of the negative feelings for the Japanese a child is murdered at a house near the camp. The town blames the Japanese. The Stroud family though befriends the Japanese and the story follows 4 Japanese characters as well as the Stroud family and several of the towns people.

I thought this book developed the characters really well and did a good job of telling their story. It doesn't leave you hanging at the end either! I would highly recommend this book. I also liked the Diary of Mattie Spenser from Sandra Dallas.

Autumn Blue - Karen Harter

Rating 3 Don’t bet on this one…wait for the movie (···)

Pages: 304

Challenges: Themed Reading, A-Z Challenge (Author H)

Synopsis (from BN.com)
A lyrical, character-driven novel about a single mother who struggles to save her troubled young son and finds help in the most unexpected place.
Sidney Walker should have married her ex-boyfriend Jack when she had the chance, then maybe her teenage son, Tyson, wouldn't be under house arrest for attempted robbery. Her retired neighbor, Bradbury, has stepped in temporarily to watch Tyson while she's at work, but Sidney needs to make a permanent change. She knows what Tyson needs is a father, and though she's attracted to the deputy sheriff involved in his case, Jack wants to get back together and would make a far better parent. As autumn rolls across the landscape, Sidney must decide between doing what's best for her children and following her heart.

Review

I almost gave up on this book at page 50. I didn't because I selected it for the Reading Full Circle Challenge. I wasn't sure what would happen if I lost a connection book, so I stuck with it. Lucky for me it improved, but it was pretty predictable. I loved Millard Bradbury who is a great character...after Tyson started staying with him and he felt he had something to live for. It was nice to see that the two neighbors needed each other and became a family. This book also had a lot of Christian undertones which was nice to see in a non-Christian book. There are so many other great books out there that I wouldn't recommend this one.