The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner

The Jane Austen Society takes place in Chawton, England, Jane Austen's final home. The great estate inherited by Jane Austen's brother, Edward Knight, is a shadow of its former self, the tenant income having dwindled. There are two remaining relatives. One is dying; the other is agoraphobic and unmarried. There will be no more Knights to carry on the legacy. The Austen-related memorabilia at a separate estate has already been auctioned off and a Sotheby's employee is eager to get his hands on more.

During and a little after WWII, we get to know a few Jane Austen-obsessed people who live in the village of Chawton (and one American actress) in The Jane Austen Society. Each of the main characters has developed a love of Austen's writing, mostly due to the influence of a friend or relative. When they realize they have Jane Austen in common (and not merely because of the nearby estate that her brother inherited), they come up with a plan to create a society for the sake of preserving a little of the history remaining in Chawton. Will they succeed? Or will a spiteful, dying man ruin the legacy and send the last Knight relative out to fend for herself?

There's much more to The Jane Austen Society than the attempt to preserve the house. They don't even actually become a society till nearly halfway through the book. In the first 125 pages or so, you get to know the individuals and the trauma they've each had to endure: a housemaid at the Knight estate, a teacher, a doctor, a farmhand, and an actress. Each has found escape and solace in the worlds created by Austen; each has favorite novels and passages.

The Jane Austen Society is a very character-driven novel. While I'm not normally big on character-driven novels unless a lot happens and it does take a long time before the storyline really cranks up, after all of the characters have been very thoroughly introduced, I really enjoyed every minute of the reading and loved the denouement.

Recommended - Slow of character development, by the time The Jane Austen Society really gets going, you're completely invested in the lives of the characters, their potential to fall in love, and their possible upcoming battle with a distant heir. I would especially highly recommend The Jane Austen Society to devoted fans of her work. I haven't read all 6 of her novels, just 4 of them. I loved all of the novels I finished. One that I attempted to read fell flat for me and I'm hoping to read the last one, Northanger Abbey, soon. So, there were times that two of the characters would be conversing about various scenes and I either didn't recall them in such detail or hadn't read them, yet, but the characters mostly stuck to discussion about Emma, Persuasion, and Pride and Prejudice, with an occasional dash into Mansfield House (the one I abandoned) so I followed most of it just fine.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press and Laurel Ann for the review copy!


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Butterflies on the First Day of School by Annie Silvestro and Dream Chen - Children's Day #2

Rosie practiced raising her hand, writing her letters, and saying her teacher's name. 
She couldn't wait to start school. 
But the night before her first day, Rosie couldn't sleep. 
In the morning, her belly hurt. 
She didn't touch her chocolate chip pancakes. 
"Maybe I'd better stay home," said Rosie. "I don't want Emily to be lonely."


Butterflies on the First Day of School by Annie Silvestro and Dream Chen is about how one little girl gradually gains confidence throughout her first day of school. Metaphorical butterflies represent nervousness. When Rosie and her friend Isabella do something courageous (talking to a stranger on the bus when Rosie first speaks to her seat mate, Violet, for example), one or more butterflies will fly out of each girl's mouth, symbolizing that little bit of nerves that is flying away.

Butterflies on the First Day of School shows Rosie getting ready for school, riding on the bus, having circle time in which the children share three things about themselves, having playtime inside and out, making friends, and then waving goodbye to her new friends and arriving home.

Recommended, especially for new preschoolers or kindergarteners - The activities shown (painting, circle time, playtime, flipping through books) are done in both preschool and kindergarten so Butterflies on the First Day of School covers nervous schoolgoers across those ages but since some children don't attend either, I'm sure it'll work for 1st graders, as well. I adore the use of the butterflies to show how Rosie loses her nervous feelings and gains confidence throughout her first school day. I also am quite fond of the fact that Rosie has a cat at home so illustrations of her preparing for school, sleeping, and having breakfast include a kitty.

I received a copy of Butterflies on the First Day of School from Sterling Children's Books for review. Thank you!


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and The Statue and the Fury by Jim Dees

I ordered a copy of Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande on a bit of a whim after reading Al Franken's repeated exhortations about what a great guy Gawande is in Al Franken, Giant of the Senate. I'd heard of it but I don't believe I read any reviews of Being Mortal before I ordered it. As it turned out, the book was perfect for the moment in which I read it.

Atul Gawande is a physician who has slowly come to the realization that we make a mess of end-of-life care and decision-making and shares what he has learned and experienced. He talks about the different ways of handling the care of elders in decline, including a variety of approaches from allowing the elderly to make their own decisions and lock their doors -- even if it means they're shortening their own lives by continuing to do such things as eat unhealthy foods -- to the opposite extreme of nursing home care in which the elderly are confined, and various experiments and options in between, such as a nursing home with pets for the seniors to care for.

Gawande also talks about how important it is for those who are aging and/or dying to be able to decide what is most important to them as they approach their dying days. Throughout the book, he gradually tells the story of his own father's years with a slow-growing cancer and both the mistakes and wise decisions that were made.

Highly recommended - Being Mortal is a book I think absolutely everyone should read at some point, whether one is reading from the perspective of a caregiver or that of an older person who wants to be informed about end-of-life decisions like choosing a place to live. We were in the process of losing a family member as I was reading the book and while I was not the caregiver in this particular case, it helped me in surprising ways and even was reassuring about how we handled my mother's death, almost 10 years ago. I'll probably end up rereading Being Mortal at least a couple times. Whether you have aging parents, a family member who is terminally ill, or just want to think about how to eventually handle major life decisions in the future, it's a book about something we'll all face and a valuable resource for helping one gain perspective about what the options are and the most important questions to ask.

The Statue and the Fury: A Year of Art, Race, Music, and Cocktails by Jim Dees is about a year of life in Oxford, Mississippi during a time when a surprisingly controversial decision about whether or not to erect a statue of William Faulkner and where to put it had the residents of Oxford up in arms. Author Jim Dees was working for the local newspaper, during the time in question, and he describes various other happenings in the town, which at the time was still quite small (it's had quite a population explosion, in the past decade or so) and has been the host and a musician for the local radio show, Thacker Mountain Radio, for some time.

I read The Statue and the Fury for book group discussion in February but then missed the discussion because of a heavy thunderstorm (I live 30 miles from where my group meets, now), unfortunately. Both of my sons have degrees from the University of Mississippi in Oxford and one is back there, working on a second degree. So, we're familiar with the city, the statue in question, the bookstore, the radio show, and some of the local personalities. However, there were occasions when the author described various people and I had to dash off to look them up. And, the flow of the book is pretty rocky. It actually took me quite a while to realize the book wasn't a series of columns but a reflection on a specific year. The lack of flow confused me into thinking it was more of a collection of writings than a recollection of a specific time period.

Having said that, anyone who is passionate about William Faulkner's books will probably enjoy a peek into the crazy controversy about whether or not to put up a statue, the huge flap about a tree that was surreptitiously cut down during a time when tree-chopping was a little out of control, and the memories of Faulkner shared by various friends, relatives, and acquaintances of his. I particularly enjoyed finally finding out why there are two spellings of Faulkner (Falkner is the original spelling; Will or Bill, as he was known, added the "u") on the signs in Oxford. I particularly recommend The Statue and the Fury to Faulkner fans, Mississippians, and those who have lived in Oxford or visited the town. It's a bit disjointed -- not the best writing -- but a few of those small-town stories are worth the price of the book.

©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Summer of Me by Angela Benson

Destiny is a single mother with twins. Her ex, Kenneth, is a good father to the children but he has hinted at trying to get custody. His financial situation is much better than Destiny's and he lives in a better school district in greater Atlanta. To prevent losing custody of the children and keep from having to drive them all the way across town to attend school in Kenneth's district, Destiny has decided she must save up the money to move to his area. She's found an affordable house and located a job. But, the job has fallen through at the last minute and she needs ideas.

Destiny's friend Bertice has been known to get involved in shady opportunities but when Kenneth takes the children for the summer and unexpectedly cuts Destiny's child support payments in half, Destiny is desperate. Now, she won't be able to pay her bills, much less buy a house. Ignoring the feeling that something isn't quite right, she signs up with the company Bertice has been working for, writing product reviews.

Meanwhile, Destiny's mother has been pushing her to go back to school and Destiny finally gives in, while her other best friend has introduced Destiny to a charming widower and associate pastor who needs help with a program distributing his wife's insurance money to those in need. Destiny signs on to help. The money isn't great, but she's definitely interested in Daniel.

Between her job at a cosmetics counter, styling hair in her basement, helping Daniel plan a grant program and financial planning courses, and the new job writing consumer reviews, along with night school, you'd think Destiny wouldn't have time to eat or sleep. But, somehow she manages not only to date the preacher but balance everything else and go for a weekend trip to California to see the kids. She also meets a woman who takes an unusual interest in her and offers to help her get her license as a hair stylist.

So much happening! I could maybe buy into about half of what's going on in The Summer of Me all at once, but there were too many implausibles and here is where the spoilers come in. Highlight to view the spoilers, all of which I consider some of the "implausibles":

Destiny is involved in money laundering without realizing it, her mother has a secret that doesn't seem plausible (I won't go into why, but think "legal aspect"), and when Destiny's money laundering job leads to disaster, everyone involved gets off without consequences.

Another implausible, less spoilery, is the fact that Destiny's able to take a few extra days off from work and school when things go wrong while she's in California. And, you have to wonder, "How does a woman struggling to make enough money to buy a house find the funds to buy a round-trip airline ticket?" I also had difficulty with the fact that Destiny kept referring to the house she planned to buy as if it were just sitting there waiting for her to buy it -- no other buyers, no hounding from the real estate agent, no figuring out how to come up with a down payment and qualify for a loan, etc.

Add to all that the fact that the dialogue is stilted and I can't believe I finished The Summer of Me at all. But, I did and it served as the mental break I needed after Sylvia Plath's depressing novel. I also really love the fact that The Summer of Me is, at its heart, the story of a single mother doing her best to improve herself as a person and the lives of her children, as well as a clean romance. In those regards, The Summer of Me served its purpose. There is an epilogue and things work out in the end -- too easily, yes, and very implausibly. But, there's plenty of food for thought about how difficult it must be to be a single mother, particularly if you don't have a decent relationship with the father of your children or a nice support network of friends and relatives. Destiny had all that but was still struggling.

Recommended to romance fans, but with hesitation - I gave The Summer of Me an average rating because there were too many questionable threads and the dialogue didn't work for me, but it's a light, breezy read that I think romance fans (at least those who don't mind so much going on) will likely tolerate better than I did. Having said that -- and I do think my review sounds highly critical -- I have to add that I appreciate the book for helping me rise from post-Plath gloom.

I'm not sure if the image above is the final cover image, but I hope so. I have an ARC from HarperCollins and the cover of the ARC appeared white-washed, while this one clearly shows the fact that the protagonist is African-American. I requested the book specifically because I want to read more books by and about people of color and I'm concerned when I see a cover that's deliberately white-washed, although a part of me understands the reasoning -- that some people simply will not buy a book with a person of color on the cover. It's a problem worth talking about.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mixed feelings about these: A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith C. Mitchell and Homemakers by Brit Morin

I had mixed feelings about both of these books, so I've decided to pair them up for mini treatment in spite of the fact that one is a novel and one nonfiction.

A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell is a novel about three sisters who believe their family has been cursed. Their great-grandfather invented a toxin that may have been used to kill millions of people. Since then, every generation has been plagued by suicide or tragedy.

Lady, the eldest, has never been happy and has attempted suicide at least twice. Middle sister Vee has had a recurrence of cancer and is no longer willing to fight it. Delph is painfully shy. None of them have children. They've decided to write their story then commit suicide together.

I was reading A Reunion of Ghosts when I went to get my hair colored, last week, and I realized just how awful it sounded when I described it to my well-read beautician. She scowled; I defended it. The writing is, in fact, very witty and light-hearted. But, the characters are not happy people and you can't help but cling to the wish that the three women will discover some unexpected joy that will stop them from deliberately meeting their maker.

Spoiler . . . only highlight this part if you don't fear having the ending ruined:

They don't.  In fact, it appeared that at least one character was on the verge of changing her mind; certainly, she went through a brief time of self-discovery. But, the ending was not at all what I'd hoped for.

Iffy on recommendation - The writing is excellent - clever, detailed, with an interesting historical perspective (although the idea is based in part on reality, the story is heavily fictionalized and the sisters are entirely fictional). Unfortunately, in the end I was immensely disappointed by the denouement and how it occurred -- and I'm pretty sure I didn't want to know about Albert Einstein's personal failings. The final chapter is sweet, touching, a bit clarifying. But, it wasn't enough to redeem the book for this reader.

~*~

I'm clearly not amongst the target audience for Homemakers: A Domestic Handbook for the Digital Generation, but I like books with clever ideas for things to make and do, so I requested a copy from William Morrow when it became available for review. The author is around my eldest son's age and Homemakers is directed at that generation: youngsters who missed out on the joy (gag) of Home Ec, were not even taught to boil an egg, sew or craft by their mothers, and are absolutely tied to their smart phones. It's about new ways to improve your home life, often using current technology, but also about ideas that are still in the works . . . or will be . . . or at least someone is thinking about them.

I own a pay-by-the-minute phone, which makes a good portion of the book completely useless to me; and, I did grow up in the generation of Home Ec, although I confess it was more burden than learning experience. My mother taught me about sewing and cooking; Home Ec just gave me a chance to try to bribe whichever guy happened to be my current crush into adoring me (during the cooking portions). If you grew up in my generation, have been sewing, cooking and crafting for eons and aren't particularly interested in the latest apps to make your life easier, the most you can possibly get out of this book is a craft idea or two, maybe a recipe or a new way to organize. Probably not. I'm really trying to be kind. For my part, I liked a few simple craft ideas like using milk cartons, concrete and paint to make a couple cute bookend planters and this idea for an inexpensive jewelry board:

I also marked the URL for a website from which one can order 3-D printed creations but haven't looked into that, yet. Otherwise, the book was pretty to look at, not particularly useful as a guide to domestic bliss. A few problems I had with this book:

1. Much of what the author mentioned being able to do craft-wise via local businesses is likely not even a whiff of an idea where we live. She's in a large city; I'm living in a mostly-rural state that tends to run about a decade behind the trends.
2. The instructions for various crafts often left me with questions. It felt like there were a lot of missing steps. Even when there were illustrations of the steps, I sometimes couldn't figure out exactly what she'd done to get from one step to another.
3. Overuse of the new, dumb-downed word for everything (formerly known as creative ideas, clever tips, brilliant suggestions): hacks. Gah. I hate that word with a purple passion. Only a true hack could have come up with its new use.
4. The author repeatedly pitched her company. If you have the book in hand, I'm guessing it's not necessary for the author remind you she owns a web-based business after she's mentioned it once.
5. No resources. The best of the crafting/idea books I've read over the years have been those that not only provide readable instructions but also include sources, online and otherwise, for obtaining the items used in the book, particularly those that are harder to find. This is especially necessary for those of us who live in the Boonies.

There are also [long] hair and makeup tips, decorating ideas (kind of lame), tips on how to buy glassware (I do not need 8 different types of glasses taking up cabinet space, no), how to pack -- basically, suggestions for things to do in every room of the house, including the closet. There are a million pictures of the author (she's cute but, good grief, it's tiring to see the same person model everything) and lots of pages with merely a grid, space masquerading as room to take notes.

Recommended only to a specific audience - Clearly, in spite of the fact that I found a few crafts that I might maybe want to someday try possibly, this was not the book for me. However, I absolutely love the theme colors and her airy style. They're "in" and they'll go out quickly but I do like the look. Homemakers is relaxing to page through. It's probably of greatest interest and applicability to the 20- to 30-something crowd, as the cover indicates, and I would recommend the book specifically to that crowd. Older and already crafty? Check it out from the library if you're interested.

©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Momosas: Fun Alcohol-Free Drinks for Expecting Moms by Paul Knorr

I'll bet you guys thought I was gone for good, right? Not quite, although I'm just dropping in for about a week and then I'm going to take another week off. I still need to spend time away from the Internet for my sanity, but I feel like doing a bit of reviewing. Might as well go for it when the mood strikes.

I've mentioned Momosas: Fun Alcohol-Free Drinks for Expecting Moms by Paul Knorr in a few posts. It seemed like a fitting book to review because my daughter-in-law just happened to be expecting when the book was offered to me. I figured we'd try a few drinks and then haul the book up to New Jersey and mix up a few more. Best-laid plans and all that. We have managed to mix up one drink and it was fabulous but, first, a few thoughts and a comment.

I'm not a drinker, so that was the second reason I accepted Momosas. I figured it would be a fun way to add some variety to my life. There were a few things about the book that jumped out at me from a "just a non-drinker" persecutive, though:

1. Odd measurements - I'm not accustomed to recipes written as "one part this, one part that," and expected precise measurements. I had no idea what a "jigger" was, nor had I ever shaken a drink over ice and then poured it out. I had to have my husband explain a few things to me. That probably won't be a problem for people who typically drink.

2. The first section of the book consists of drinks in which vinegar is used to give the drinks the taste of alcohol -- but without tasting like vinegar, of course. It simply gives them the tangy zing of alcohol. Since I've never developed a taste for alcohol, I found that particular section unappealing. But, it's just one portion of the book and certainly not enough to recommend against it to those who don't normally drink. All two dozen of us. ;)

3. There are a lot of ingredients in many of the drinks. That's great if you're entertaining or you plan to mix large batches for yourself, but if you're just planning on the occasional drink for fun it will definitely narrow down the number of recipes that are of interest.

4. Most of the drinks are really, really heavy on sugar. This particular item might be of interest to some expectant mothers. My daughter-in-law, a doctor, said she cut out alcohol primarily to reduce her caloric intake so she wouldn't gain too much excess weight. It might be wise to substitute fresh fruit for some of the juices to avoid added sugar.

Those were my initial thoughts as I flipped through the book. When it came to the mixing of actual drinks, we got the ingredients for a fruity drink but didn't get around to mixing it up before we left town to meet the little one. Kiddo came home to watch out for the kitties and drank most of the juice we'd gathered for that, while we were away. So we'll try gathering ingredients again, later. We did make one drink, the "Trimester High":

Hmm, the upload quality looks bad, as I'm typing. The recipe is actually a rare one that uses specific measurements rather than parts but that didn't influence our choice. We chose it based on the ease with which we could acquire ingredients (and the fact that we already had some of them on hand). Plus, it sounded good. In case you can't see the image, it contains ice cream, milk, shredded coconut, chocolate syrup, chocolate chips or shavings (we used chips), and whipped cream. When we got to "blend with ice", we kind of stared at each other because the recipe didn't specify how much and then decided to just wing it and use a cup or so, adding more if necessary. It worked fine and the drink pretty much tasted like dessert in a cup. It was delicious.

As to leaving Momosas with the new mama, I opted to skip that. I'd hoped the new parents would flip through the book (which I took to their house) in my presence and let me know their opinions; but, they were super busy with baby. My son did briefly flip through when I was not around and said he saw a few recipes he'd like to try, so that's positive. If/when we try more of the drinks or pass it on and get feedback from Eldest, I'll let you know. I have quite a few marked with post-its and do plan to give them a go.

The bottom line: Recommended I'd particularly recommend Momosas for its target audience: expectant mothers who plan to make large batches of drinks for social gatherings. If you're looking for a book of non-alcoholic beverage recipes for other reasons, like not being a drinker and just desiring to insert a little variety in your world, I'm certain you can find at least a few drinks that will interest you, although most are heavy on sugar and it might be wise to substitute fresh fruit for some of the juices recommended. Husband and I both found the recipes intriguing and we're looking forward to trying more. We were pleased with the results of the drink we tried. It makes an excellent dessert drink.

My thanks to Sterling for the opportunity to review Momosas!

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The NIV Ragamuffin Bible: Meditations for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up and Brokenhearted

I received a copy of the NIV Ragamuffin Bible for review, so what I'm reviewing is the meditations, reflections and stories that are placed throughout the Bible, although I will once again attempt to read the entire Bible in 2014 and plan to refer back to the NIV Ragamuffin Bible frequently.  

What's new about the NIV Ragamuffin Bible?  The additional material in this particular Bible is all excerpted from Brennan Manning's writings.  In case you're not familiar with Manning, he wrote a number of works but he's best known for The Ragamuffin Gospel (link leads to Goodreads description and reviews).  It's been a very long time since I read The Ragamuffin Gospel, but what I remember most about it is that it's not always easy reading, both because Manning sometimes can fall into the heavy use of what I'd call "ecclesiastical nomenclature" - very much the wording of a man who has studied the Bible deeply for the purpose of teaching (although a lot of his writing is very straightforward) - but also because Manning really makes you focus inward.  How are we as believers in Christ supposed to behave, treat others, live our lives? When you take the time to read and concentrate, you'll often find yourself taking a breath and saying, "Ooooh." His thoughts are deep and they really sock you in the core.

As in his classic work (and I have not read any other books by Manning, apart from The Prodigal, which he helped writer Greg Garrett plot but did not write), the writings in the NIV Ragamuffin Bible are not always quick-skim thoughts -- most are, but some require careful reading.  However, they're definitely placed to make you think. I deliberately started my reading of the Manning quotations in what Jews know as the Torah and a lot of Christians consider the boring, rule-heavy bit of the Bible.  I chose to begin there not because it's the beginning of the Bible but because there's been a lot of random quoting of scriptures of ancient rules by Christians in recent hot-topic debates and I wanted to see what Manning excerpts would be chosen for those books.  Here's an example:

Caring for Each Other 

read: Deuteronomy 19 

The way we are with each other is the truest test of our faith.  How I treat a brother or sister from day to day, how I react to the sin-scarred wino on the street, how I respond to interruptions from people I dislike, how I deal with normal people in their normal confusion on a normal day may be a better indication of my reverence for life than the antiabortion sticker on the bumper of my car.  We are not pro-life simply because we are warding off death.  We are pro-life to the extent that we are men an and women for others, all others; to the extent that no human flesh is a stranger to us; to the extent that we can touch the hand of another in love; to the extent that for us there are no "others". 

Here's the interesting thing about the placement of Manning's writings: even when you're in the midst of a section telling you when to take your rebellious son to the elders to be judged and stoned or which sexual sins are to be avoided at all costs, the thoughts from Manning's writings that were chosen for those sections are about love, self-evalutation and faith.  Basically, the NIV Ragamuffin Bible is a Bible whose extra material focuses on the reader.  When you're doing or saying something, is it done with love in mind?  How do you treat your fellow man?  Are you acting on faith?  

Boy, do I have a lot of work to do.  

What's not new or great about the NIV Ragamuffin Bible?  Well, there's nothing else besides a chart of weights and measurements, which is pretty standard in any Bible, and a bibliography that will lead you to the correct Manning work from which his thoughts are excerpted. No maps, no study notes, no topic index.  It is, otherwise, just a standard NIV Bible.  I would personally have appreciated a topic index in which you could refer back to what Manning had to say about a particular topic/theme. 

Some people might look at this Bible and think, "Heck, I might as well just buy some of Manning's books," but the really great thing about the NIV Ragamuffin Bible is that you can be reading all the annoying, outdated legalities for a primitive culture and Manning pulls your head right out of that mess to remind you that Jesus disagreed with the Pharisees who focused on legalities and ate with the sinners to make the statement, "We are all sinners." He will tell you the Jews used the Sabbath as a celebration of joy and family before the Pharisees came along and turned the focus on not lifting a finger.  In other words, Brennan Manning had a way of saying, "Look again, people. See where the weight of our focus is meant to be: love, love, love." 

I don't know about anyone else, but I like the reminder.  I have been chastened and uplifted, reminded of miracles and had a bit of hope restored, just in reading a portion of the writings in this Bible.  I want more.  I'm going to do my best to keep the NIV Ragamuffin Bible nearby while I'm reading, this year.

Recommended as a secondary Bible, kept to read in parallel with a good study Bible OR for those who desire an NIV Bible that is pretty basic but includes the occasional thought-provoking story or reflection to remind you as an individual where your focus needs to be.  

Speaking of study Bibles . . . I've yet to find the study Bible of my dreams, unfortunately.  If you've found a particularly illuminating study Bible that helps to clarify the meaning of tricky passages or to set scriptures in their historical context in a clear way, would you please share info about it in the comments?

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The NIV Real-Life Devotional Bible for Women and a Fiona Friday pic

The NIV Real Life Devotional Bible for Women is a Zondervan publication.  I got a hardback copy for review and you can view a Sneak Peek into the Real Life Devotional Bible for Women, here.

I am always extremely excited when a Bible becomes available for review because I love Bibles.  They've all got the same substance, of course, but the language changes from one Bible to another and the notes, maps and study aids vary.  I'm a big fan of the New International Version because I find it very readable, and it's apparently the most popular translation.

The Real-Life Devotional Bible for Women is standard in its layout, with 366 daily devotions/essays. It's not a consecutive Bible (the kind that's been rearranged so that the books are in order of when they were written), nor is it divided into daily readings with dates.  Instead, each devotion is numbered and spaced every 2-5 pages.  A highlighted verse upon which the day's devotion is based appears  just to the side of the devotion and there are a few extra verses to explore at the bottom of the devotional page.  The devotions are not divided by date so you'll never need to feel like you're falling behind, even if a year's readings taken you longer than a year -- no biggie.

There aren't a lot of extra materials besides the devotions in this particular Bible and the devotions are very casually written, directed at women and their particular concerns.  There's an author index, for those who find that a particular author's writings resonate, and a topic index for studying specific subjects, along with a weights and measurements chart.  Otherwise, the Bible is rather plain -- which can be a very good thing.  I occasionally revert back to using a Bible with no notes at all, simply because all those notes can get in the way.  

The devotions in The Real-Live Devotional Bible for Women each fill a page so they won't interrupt the reading flow.  The way the readings are divided is a little awkward because there's no clear-cut daily reading, but the spacing between devotions is nice -- a devotion around every 2-5 pages of Biblical text. It should be simple to read the Bible from beginning to end in a year with only a short devotion to ponder, each day.  I'm enjoying my copy, so far.

Recommended - To women looking for a very basic Bible, readable translation and light, women-focused devotions, this Bible is perfect for you.  There are no maps, no lengthy concordance (although the topic index is similar to a concordance) and explanatory notes at the bottom of each page are minimal.  

A Fiona Friday post finally stars its namesake:

We call this the "tabby sprawl" because both of our tabbies have been the type to sprawl on their back. Obviously, Fiona was not in the mood to have her picture taken.  

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Down at the Dino Wash Deluxe by Tim Myers & Macky Pamintuan and a little Malarkey

Down at the Dino Wash Deluxe by Tim Myers
Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan
Copyright 2013
Sterling Children's - Picture Book (Ages 4-7)
40 pp.

Down at the Dino Wash Deluxe is a cute take on the dinosaur storybook in which children run a dinosaur wash . . . like a specialty car wash, only bigger.  

How's a dinosaur supposed to stay clean in the city?
We soap 'em, scrub 'em, then send 'em down the line for rinsing and drying.  
But this job's no picnic -- you gotta know the customers!  No two dinos are alike, and they all need scrub-a-dubbing.

The children wash the knobs and spikes on an Ankylosaurus and scrub the frills and horns on Styracosaurus.  One of the dinosaurs warns the narrator, the little boy shown in a yellow jumpsuit, that Tyrannosaurus Rex is in town.  The children are nervous, but they haven't got the time to sit around worrying.  They scrub a variety of other dinosaurs.  And, then one day the T. Rex shows up.  As it turns out, Tyrannosaurus Rex plays at being intimidating but he really is a little nervous about getting cleaned because he's afraid soap will get in his eyes.

The unnamed boy assures T. Rex that they're very careful. T. Rex gets a nice scrubbing, then behaves himself when he becomes a return customer.  Down at the Dino Wash Deluxe closes with the little boy saying maybe if he plays his cards right, he'll get a ride from a winged dinosaur someday. And, then the author tosses in the usual educational section.

I liked Down at the Dino Wash but didn't love it, possibly because I've seen a few too many dinosaur books, over the years, and would like to see authors branch out to broader topics on geology and the changes in earth over time with equal entertainment value.  Dinosaurs have been so completely done to death that it's a rare book about dinosaurs that will sway me, these days. 1-2-3 Dinosaurs Bite is a personal favorite.

The best thing about Down at the Dino Wash is the vibrant illustrations with very likable expressions on the dinosaurs' faces.  The storyline is unique but I prefer real words, fully written out and grammatically correct ("you've got to", not "you gotta"), unless there's some overwhelming reason that text should be linguistically altered, as in the case of a pirate book with appropriate slang.  I'll admit the language put me off.

Recommended particularly for dinosaur-crazed children with a grammatically-tolerant parent or guardian.  I wouldn't hunt down a copy of Down at the Dino Wash for the educational material, which is limited and typical, but for the gorgeous illustrations and silly storyline.  When my children were small, I occasionally marked out and replaced poor grammar in their books.  Fortunately, this was not a problem I came across often but I would have personally been hesitant to purchase this particular book when my children were small, knowing I'd feel obligated to alter it.

And a bit of malarkey:

Last week was a very slow reading week but over the weekend (if the weekend includes early Monday morning), I managed to finish reading two books - If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin and Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh.  I enjoyed both for entirely different reasons.

Arrivals:

Only one book arrived the entire week and then today the postman suddenly decided to gift me so I ended up with a nice little windfall of 4 books:

• Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence by David Samuel Levinson - unsolicited from Algonquin Books and seriously tempting me.  I haven't started a new book, yet, but I stuck Antonia Lively in my purse to use as my Emergency Book when I ran errands, earlier today.  
• The Keeper of Secrets by Julie Thomas - from HarperCollins for review
• A Half Forgotten Song by Katherine Webb - from HarperCollins for review
• The NIV Real-Life Devotional Bible for Women - from Zondervan for tour/review 

I also got a copy of Sunshine by Alex Garland from Paperback Swap, recently, but was a little surprised and disappointed to find that it's not a novel but a screenplay.  Near as I can tell, there is no novel. I do read screenplays; I was just hoping to read another novel by Alex Garland (I read the super-weird Coma, a few years back).  Looks like I'll have to go a bit farther back in publishing time and locate a copy of The Beach or The Tesseract.

I've been expecting an ARC of Caroline Leavitt's new book, Is This Tomorrow, but at this point I'm pretty much convinced it's become lost in the mail.  [huge, heaving sigh]  I'm saving my book-purchase pennies to use on vacation so I can't rush out and buy a copy, at the moment, but I would if I could.

Do you keep an Emergency Book in your car, desk or bag?


©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen by Syrie James

The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen by Syrie James
Copyright 2012
Berkley (an imprint of Penguin) - historical/contemporary fiction
422 pp. including Reader's Guide

The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen is the story of Samantha McDonough, who discovers a letter written by Jane Austen tucked into a book.  This letter hints at the existence of a previously-unknown Austen manuscript.  The letter and a little investigation lead Samantha to a shabby estate called Greenbriar in Devonshire, where she meets the very handsome Anthony Whitaker, owner of the crumbling estate. Anthony is preparing to sell Greenbriar.  It's a wreck; he's really never lived there long enough to become attached to the place, his father was an icky old man who didn't have anything to do with him and Anthony just wants to dispose of it quickly.

Clearly, Samantha needs to convince him to hang on long enough for her to dig in the house to find the manuscript that she believes was left or stolen at Greenbriar.  Not exactly a challenging conflict.  Man who wants to get rid of house immediately shoos away Austen scholar with a burning desire to dig around in his shabby mansion.  They have to find that manuscript or the book is rather pointless, right?

Anthony is, of course, quickly convinced that he should allow Samantha to hunt for the manuscript after letting her in long enough to locate a guest registry that lists the Austens as visitors.  He is motivated by money; she only cares about the joy of adding to the Austen canon.  It doesn't take long for the two to find the missing manuscript.  And, when located, they begin to read the manuscript. At this point, the tone of the book changes as it becomes a "book within a book".  I didn't find the Austen manuscript particularly convincing (nor the letter, for that matter).  But, the Regency-era manuscript slowly grew on me as its plot began to sound typically Austenish.  

At that point, I shut off my annoying editor brain and simply enjoyed the story.  The "missing manuscript" might have contained some modern expressions and Americanisms but, in the end, the Regency portion of The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen was tremendously entertaining.  Eventually, I found the modern portion of The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen so dull that it was irritating when the modern story interrupted. 

The Regency story is about a rector's daughter, Rebecca Stanhope, who finds that friends are not always what they seem.  There is the usual hero with a secret agenda and the surprising true love, etc. - definitely a story built with a bit of Austen formula. 

The modern portion of The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen, unfortunately, was too predictable, too pat, far too easy for the heroine.  Discovering a letter and locating a manuscript within 2 days?  And . . . well, I won't spoil the ending but it also lacks decent obstacles.  The only conflict was so obviously manufactured that I would not have managed to finish the book if the modern portion had not taken a backseat to the historical.  

Fortunately, the modern story becomes the lesser portion of the book as Samantha and Anthony read the discovered manuscript and, in the end, I really enjoyed The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen.  The modern ending was predictable and trite, but I pretty  much didn't care, by that point.  I'd already had too much fun and would have happily closed the book without a wrap-up of the crappy modern portion.  I gave The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen 4 out of 5 stars at Goodreads.  The modern portion would get no more than a 2/5 if I were to rate it on its own and if I'd taken off points for style I would have given it a lower overall score, but entertain me and I'm happy.  

Recommended particularly to fans of Jane Austen who enjoy reading spin-off novels and readers who love Regency novels, in general.  A delightful Regency tale is what makes the book entertaining. The ridiculously predictable modern story's ending is okay, if only because it doesn't deviate from the expected.

In other news:

No malarkey, today.  I'm just recovering from a 4-day migraine.  If I have time and energy, I'll write a Tuesday Twaddle post, tomorrow.  If not, I'll just dive right into more reviews when I can.  

Here's a cardinal to appease you. Obviously, I mucked around with this one a bit, using the "posterize" feature from Picasa and altering the color a bit at pixlr.com.  Photo editors are like the grown-up version of play-doh -- so much fun to mess with.  

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd

Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd
Copyright 2013
William Morrow - Historical Fiction/Mystery
343 pp.

It's probably a very bad idea to start reading a mystery series so late in the game.  Proof of Guilt is apparently #14 in the Ian Rutledge series.  I used to read out of order all the time, back when I was a regular mystery reader, though; and, I wanted to give mother-son writing team Charles Todd a second chance after the disappointment of The Walnut Tree (which I still believe was simply rushed to press without a decent attempt at editing).

Proof of Guilt is a bit twisty without every becoming an utterly confusing story.  It is 1920.  A body has been discovered but the man appears not to have died at the location where he was discovered. Tucked inside the coat is a very distinctive and obviously expensive watch.  There's no identification on the body and when Inspector Rutledge takes the watch to a jeweler, he finds that it is, indeed, an expensive family heirloom.  However, the body in question is not that of the watch owner and the man who does own the watch is missing.

There are a lot of things going on in Proof of Guilt.  There is a new man in charge and Rutledge doesn't have a great deal of respect for him.  There is a body, a missing man, a broken engagement, a connection to Spain and another body that doesn't appear to have any relation to the story in question until late in the book.  Inspector Rutledge may be a continuing character but near as I can tell, not many years can have passed during the scope of this series.  He served in WWI and suffers from PTSD, the ghost of a man he was forced to shoot for insubordination still haunting him, the claustrophobia and the occasional shaking/sweating episode ever-present.  Having perused reviews of a few earlier books (I chose to avoid reading any reviews of Proof of Guilt so that my feelings about it would remain untouched), I can see that not much has changed.

And, therein the problem lies.  There was just something missing from this book.  Well, several somethings, actually.  First, there are loads of characters without apparent distinguishing characteristics. Hamish, the man who haunts Rutledge, is well-described (at least, inasmuch as the reason the inspector is haunted) but the vast majority of the men Rutledge works with are not.  So, they all tend to blur together.  It's hard to determine who they all are and their working relationships with Rutledge. But, in fact, Rutledge also doesn't seem to want to have much to do with anyone but his sister -- and she only shows up briefly.  So, the book is strongly lacking in emotion and meaningful interaction.  It's all mystery and little heart, in other words.

As to the mystery itself, I found it convoluted enough that it wasn't completely predictable.  There were scenes that I found transparent but the ending itself surprised me.  Would it have surprised me if I was a regular mystery reader?  I can't say.

Here's how I felt about the book, as the reading progressed:

Beginning:  Meh.  Having trouble getting into it.  Seemed like there was a lot of uncomfortable pummeling with questions but otherwise the dialogue was stilted and unrealistic. Nice light reading, though; apart from dialogue, the writing was smooth.
About 1/3 in:  Still no grip on any of the secondary characters but I was becoming accustomed to the rhythm of the story and not tempted to set the book aside.  Definitely better-edited than The Walnut Tree.
Halfway:  Too many characters and no idea where the hell the plot was going.  Also, were inspectors at Scotland Yard really that incompetent?  The thought processes of various people investigating seemed quite off to me.
80-90% in:  There were at least 5 characters whose last names began with the letter "B".  Keeping names easily distinguishable by using different letters is a basic of writing.  I was kind of stunned.  But, I was really enjoying the story, by this point, and just kept flipping back to try to keep the characters straight.
90% in:  Seriously?  Did they arrest people and threaten to hang them without even discovering the body of a missing person?  Still curious what would happen, though.
Ending:  Totally pissed off.  There was an answer to the mystery but no wrap-up.  The book simply ended . . . and, in fact, there was even a line to tease the reader into buying the next book.  At 80-95% in, I was beginning to rethink my aversion to mysteries and considering reading more by Charles Todd.  The ending blew that concept out of the water.  I cannot bear being teased by an author.  That is it for me.  No more Charles Todd books.

Having said all that, I did enjoy this book.  It took some time and I never felt emotionally invested in the story, but had the book been properly wrapped up I would have loved it.  It went from being a 4.5-star book at about 90% (in spite of many problems) to a 3-star because of the way it ended.  That's a pretty huge deduction for a crummy ending, but that's how I felt when I closed the book.

Recommended only to regular mystery readers who enjoy this author's writing.  A decent mystery but the lackluster characterization and a terrible ending ruined this book for me.

My thanks to TLC Tours for the advance reader's edition of Proof of Guilt.  I am glad I gave this author a second chance, regardless of how I felt upon closing the book.

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

House of Earth by Woody Guthrie

I'm back!  First a review . . . 

One year.  And what is a year?  A Year is something that can be added on, but it can never be taken away.  Yes, added on, earmarked and tagged, counted in signs of dollars and cents, wrote down the income column and across the page with names, and photos can be taken of faces and clipped onto the papers, and the prints of the new baby's feet can be stamped on the papers of the birth, and the print of the thumb going back to work can be stamped onto the papers to say it is a good place to work.  And a year is work.  A year is that nervous craving to do your good job and draw down your good pay, and to join your good union.

And a year of work is three hundred and sixty-four, or five, or six days of the run, the hurry, the walking, the bouncing, and the jumping up and down, the arguments, fights, the liquor brawls, hangovers, headaches, and all.  Work takes in all climates, all things, all rooms, all furrows, all streets, all sidewalks, and all the shoes that tramp on them.  The whirl and roll of planets do not make a year a year, nor the breath of the trifling wind, changing from cold to hot, forming steam back into ice.  Oceans of waters that flow down from the tops of the Smokies and roll in the sea, they help some to make a year a year, but they don't make the year.

--from pp. 101-102 of House of Earth (Uncorrected Proof - some changes may be made to the final print version)

House of Earth by Woody Guthrie is a February 2013 release from Harper, so I jumped the gun a bit by reading it in December.  But I'm from Oklahoma, we claim Woody, and I was reading a book about the Dust Bowl at the time (although I didn't finish it) so I really, really wanted to read a novel set during the Dust Bowl.

As it turned out, I had a terrible time getting into House of Earth and, in fact, fell asleep reading it every day for about a week.  Had I not made it to the final section of the book (and I did consider abandoning House of Earth numerous times), I would have missed the best part.

In the beginning, Tike and Ella May Hamlin muse about their dream to buy a parcel of land on which to farm and build an adobe house, even while having sex -- for about 32 pages or so.  And, then pretty much all they talk about is the farm, their dreams, work that needs to be done and sex, sex, sex.  There is one point when Tike shouts at the house and you get the initial hint that this moment is not about the house alone but an expression of his frustration at being stuck in a dead-end cycle of poverty, living as a sharecropper and renting a falling-down house from a wealthy man who is not about to sell a workable piece of land and lose his regular income.  

I confess I may not have caught the meaning at that point, if not for the introductory notes, although eventually the symbolism is clarified.  At any rate, Ella May is happy, even though she's taken a major step down in the world by marrying Tike; and, later you'll find out why.

The first 2/3 or so of House of Earth is so buried in Tike's sexual urges and Ella May's cutesy responses that I found it difficult to see through to the purpose of the story.  But, in the final section a year has passed.  Ella May is bursting with child.  It's winter and Ella May is fiercely determined to make a new life for the family.  Now, sharecropping is no longer a tolerable inconvenience but a danger for her coming child, who will have to live with dust and wind coming through the walls.  That fine dust from ruined fields caused a kind of pneumonia that could kill.

During the final section of House of Earth, it seemed to me that all the symbolism buried earlier in the book went from fuzzy to overt and I could look back at the story and understand how the adobe house Tike wanted to build not only represented their dreams but the concept of self-sufficiency as a basic tenet of life that all people deserve to attain with hard work.

However, Tike was so very, very irritating that I gave the book an average rating at Goodreads, even though I felt like House of Earth was deeply meaningful, in the end.  The huge amount of sex talk was exhausting.  No wonder I kept falling asleep.  Maybe all that sex and sex talk was a parallel to the concept of the desire to give birth to the dream of owning their own home and land, growing things on it, etc.?  

At any rate, I was so startled by the clarity of the final section and how it pulled everything together that I considered giving the book a high rating on that basis alone. And, you can see from the quote above that House of Earth definitely had its moments. But, I decided in hindsight it would be crazy to highly recommend a book that fell into the sedative category till the final 40 pages.

3/5 - Recommended only to people who can tolerate lengthy sex scenes and appreciate symbolism.  Boring to me, till the final section, which pretty much knocked my socks off.  There is little about the Dust Bowl, itself; it is a setting -- maybe even an allegorical character, nature as the force of poverty, both unrelenting.  There's a lot of merit to House of Earth but too much that I detested about it.  One more fun quote:

". . . Ahhh. Ding bust this dad-ratted old dod-rotted radio to the south pole and back, anyhow!"

p. 110

In other news:

• I planned on staying on Holiday Blogging Break till Kiddo goes back to school but he still has a full two weeks before classes begin and my sidebar was getting a little on the heavy side with 11 books read since I wrapped up posting in 2012.  So, here I am.
• When Blogger forced the new interface on us (no, I still don't love it, although there are some features that are definite improvements) they narrowed the colors available for highlighting text.  I'd noticed that, but this is the first time I've gone looking for brown and realized there are no brown shades at all.  The color I used to highlight House of Earth is as brown as it gets, that nasty yellow ochre the darkest shade of yellow available.  Yeeeuck.
• I'm reading The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley (another February release, from WilliamMorrow) and I think it might be a good one for group discussion if you don't mind getting into controversial territory.  I'll likely finish that, tonight.  Can't seem to put it down.
• I've had no luck loading videos at YouTube, recently (I get an error message, every time) but I have a tremendously fun video of Isabel watching the Christmas train go round and round the tree, batting at it and occasionally going around the tree in the opposite direction to watch it coming toward her.  She was utterly fascinated with the train. Trust me, you'd love it.  
• I've bought and received a few books during my break (and have a big sack ready to donate).  I'll try to gather the new arrivals for a portrait, soon.  Usually, I have a specific shelf for incoming books but it's just become The Cookbook Shelf.  My husband has an affinity for Very Fat Cookbooks.  I shall have to adapt.

How is 2013 going for you, so far?

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson

Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson

Copyright 2012

Touchstone Books - Historical Fiction/WWII/Romance

416 pp.

Saba Tarcan has been singing since she was a small girl. Now 23, Saba has decided to do her part in the war effort. While singing at a hospital, she meets a handsome fighter pilot, Dom Benson. Both are immediately smitten with each other, but Saba is determined leave Wales; her Turkish father objects to Saba singing in public. She joins Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) and is sent to join a troupe of entertainers in North Africa, just as she's getting to know Dom.

Recovered from burns received when his plane was shot down, Dom returns to flying and gets a friend to pull strings so that he can serve in the same area as Saba. Communication is complicated by war, yet Saba continues to invade Dom's thoughts. When they finally manage to meet up, Saba and Dom are determined to get together. But Saba has been recruited to do work for the British Secret Service and can't always explain her absences, sparking jealousy and bitter feelings of rejection in Dom.

Meanwhile, North Africa is heating up; soon, the Nazis are expected to invade Alexandria. Will the secrets they must keep from each other tear them apart or can Saba and Dom stay alive long enough to solidify their relationship?

What I loved about Jasmine Nights:

I'm a sucker for books that are set during WWII, so I particularly enjoyed the glimpses into the time period, learning about ENSA and finding that entertainers were, in fact, used as spies during WWII. I don't think I've ever read any other WWII stories told from the viewpoint of an entertainer.

The details of the sights, sounds, smells and the hardships of living in the desert were what I found most engaging about Jasmine Nights.

What I disliked about Jasmine Nights:

The f-word was dropped at least half a dozen times in Jasmine Nights. I felt like the book lost a bit of authenticity in that regard. Sure, soldiers swore. The acronyms FUBAR and SNAFU both originated during WWII. But, that particular vulgarity was not flung about so casually at the time. Saba's use of the word (and, I think in one case, Dom used the word in her presence) really threw me. Women were less likely to swear, back then, and men tended to water down their speech in the presence of women and children.

Otherwise, the only thing I really disliked about Jasmine Nights was that it leaned toward romance and I thought the hero was a bit of a sap. I can't say I ever really felt much for the heroine, either. Oh, and occasionally I had trouble figuring out what was happening. But, only a few scenes confused me.

Wait, I thought of something else! But, part of it is spoilery. The unspoilery bit: LOTS of sex and no mention of protection but no pregnancy (although the sex is not overly graphic). That's a big no-no in my book. There either needs to be some mention of protection or consequences . . . sex amongst the young and fertile isn't realistic otherwise, is it? The spoilery bit will be thrown in at the bottom of this post, after the asterisks. See below***

The bottom line:

Recommended particularly to those who like a slightly longer, more detailed and character-driven/romantic book. There's not a great deal of action. I expected a bit more danger/close calls with the spying. Jasmine Nights was slower-paced and more romance-focused than anticipated. I gave Jasmine Nights an above-average rating of 3.5/5 at Goodreads. I liked it but didn't love it and I'm not entirely certain I would have finished the book if it didn't happen to be a book I was sent for review. The author definitely needs to work on tightening up her writing, in my humble opinion.

Pic of the day (taken in Oxford, MS), a sunflower to match the yellow edging on the cover of Jasmine Nights:

I keep forgetting to add my cover thoughts . . . again:

I don't know why writing cover thoughts keeps slipping my mind, but I love the cover of Jasmine Nights. The only thing that looks a little off to me is the length of Saba's hair. The model's coloring is right and I love the blend of her colorful dress (although I can't say whether or not it's right for the decade) and the gorgeous city background. Definitely an eye-catching cover.

***SPOILER WARNING!***

There was a scene I found particularly confusing because it appears that Saba was raped -- but I wasn't entirely certain, possibly because the character was trying to convince herself that it didn't happen. Again, no consequences, but worse than the consensual sex because there didn't seem to be any big emotional ramifications. I know several women who have been raped. Two of them attempted suicide; one succeeded. The other has channeled her anger in a very positive way, thank goodness. Rape should never, ever be glossed over. It has heavy emotional repercussions.

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.