And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton

First, a clarification before I review this book: I said And They Called It Camelot is a fictional biography about John and Jackie Kennedy, a couple days ago. That's not entirely accurate. As you can see from the words on the cover, it says And They Called It Camelot is a novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Most of the book, however, does cover her years with JFK. There's a little bit before she started dating him and then it focuses on what it was like to date a Kennedy with the presidency in his sights, deal with things like his back injuries and her miscarriages, and become a very young First Lady with two small children. Jackie's story is told in four parts and the fourth part is the shortest, skipping ahead, little by little, to the final chapter in 1977.

So, what did I think of this story? I liked the learning experience. I knew JFK was known for having multiple affairs. I knew Jackie had at least one miscarriage while she was First Lady and I think I was aware she'd had a couple of others. I didn't know the details, though — how often JFK left his wife for months, hanging out in Europe with other women; how many miscarriages Jackie had and how far along she was. These things were much more severe than I realized. It was also interesting getting a glimpse into events like the election and why people thought it unlikely JFK would win; learning about what was important to Jackie as First Lady and how her past job keeping an upscale home informed the way she remodeled the White House; reading about her life after the loss of her husband to an assassin. I learned a lot! That's what I loved best about the book. It's also a very smooth read.

The only things I didn't like about the book were more about preference and personal viewpoint than anything else. I'm increasingly finding that I have a great deal of difficulty suspending disbelief when it comes to fictional biographies. I'll skid to a halt thinking, "Would he or she really have thought this way?" or wondering if the dialogue is anywhere near reality. I still can enjoy a book with those questions running through my head, but I'm leaning toward reading more biographies that include primary source documents within the text, in the future. I know not every biography is 100% accurate because there's always a little bit of the author's or historian's viewpoint involved and some things can only be guessed at, but I'm finding I prefer to actually see the words of the people I'm reading about. Also, this book made me kind of hate JFK. I've long known of his affairs but seeing it through Jackie's eyes was immensely painful.

Recommended to a specific audience - I enjoyed And They Called It Camelot especially for the learning experience and particularly recommend it to anyone who has a fascination for Jackie Kennedy Onassis and/or those who enjoy historical fiction or historical biographies. While I'm back on a buying ban, And They Called It Camelot piqued my interest enough that I'd probably hop online and order some books about the Kennedys and the Sixties (always a favorite time period to read about, anyway) if I wasn't avoiding purchases.

Fun side effect of reading this book: There are quite a few descriptions of Jackie's outfits, events they attended, people they knew, the interior of the White House, etc. I spent a lot of time looking up photographs of those things. It always adds a little dimension when photos of the subject matter are readily available.

My thanks to Berkley Books for the review copy of And They Called It Camelot!

©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.

A Duke Changes Everything by Christy Carlyle (The Duke's Den #1)

When Nicholas Lyon's father rejected him, he did so in an extraordinarily painful way. Now, years later, Nick is the owner of a successful gambling establishment and happy to strip the wealthy of their holdings when they lose at his tables. But, then disaster strikes. His brother is killed in an accident and Nick inherits his family's ducal holdings. Nick has never planned to return to his childhood home; it only holds terrible memories for him. But, as the Duke of Tremayne, Nick is responsible for his family's estate, Enderley Castle, the home he and his mother escaped many years ago.

When Nick arrives at Enderley, he intends to only remain at the castle long enough to sell off many of the valuables in preparation for leasing it out while he returns to his London home. He's not expecting to find that the steward of the estate is a trouser-wearing woman with a similar need for order. As he gets to know his steward, Mina Thorne, Nick is surprised to find himself dragging his feet and even enjoying his ability to improve the lives of his tenants. But, Nick was traumatized by his father's abuse. Will he be able to overcome the pain of his past?

Recommended to a specific audience - I read A Duke Changes Everything for the change of pace (thanks to a slumpy couple of months) and I was not disappointed. I thought it was surprising how quickly the duke softened, but the author managed to characterize him as a man with a softening heart and yet still retain the challenge of dealing with his childhood trauma while he was slowly falling in love with his steward. And, there were plenty of little surprises. There was one scene in particular that I felt was more authentic to what I'd expect of the time period than what you often find in historical romance. There were a couple historical anachronisms, but that scene helped to balance things out a bit and, anyway, I just enjoyed the reading. Mina is a likable character and the way Nick's heart is softened by doing good makes sense to me. And, the ending is incredibly satisfying.

My thanks to Avon Books for this unexpected gift. The next in the series is going to be the story of one of Nick's gambling business partners and I found him very appealing so I hope to read the next in the series, as well.

©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.

Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis (Heartbreaker Bay #6)

In Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis, Molly and Lucas work together at a security firm. When he wakes up in bed with Molly, Lucas is a little freaked out. He remembers feeling compelled to take a single drink, the night before, and then . . . nothing. What happened with Molly, last night? Molly is behaving more than a little bit shifty. Lucas has recently been shot, hence the blackout. Even a single drink with his painkillers was too much. But, Molly is not saying what happened.

Bored with being off work, Lucas insists on returning without clearance from his doctor. Molly is the office manager but she wants to get involved in the investigation side of the firm. To that end, she's brought up a case to her boss. Some elderly women who work as elves at a local Christmas Village are concerned that Santa is not sharing the profits as he usually does. They think he's being greedy and keeping their bonus money.

Molly's boss, Archer, says they're overbooked and that's not their kind of case, anyway. But, Molly is determined. To keep her safe, Archer asks Lucas to keep an eye on her. He'll have to pretend to work with her. But, before he gets around to offering to help, Molly asks for his assistance.

Now that Lucas thinks he's slept with Molly, he realizes just how much he's attracted to her. Molly feels the same but she has secrets and works hard to keep them close. But, now that the wall between them has been broken down, will they be able to stay away from each other? What will happen when Molly goes undercover as an elf and discovers that Santa's story is a lot more dangerous than she could have imagined?

Hot Winter Nights is a romance, so you know the answer to that first question about whether or not they'll be able to keep their hands off each other is a flat "No." But, neither one of them is the type to commit. Molly has been hurt in the past and Lucas has suffered two shocking losses that have convinced him he must never give his heart away, again.

Recommended to a specific audience - Hot Winter Nights contains a favorite blend for romance readers: an alpha male and a plucky female who is every bit as capable as the guys. I liked the story and I sighed at the ending. Romance readers will love it. I was a little disappointed that it was light on action. I'm not a typical romance reader, so the bedroom scenes honestly just bore me, and there are a lot of them. Fortunately, there are some terrific scenes toward the end -- an exciting concluding scene with plenty of danger, followed by a heartwarming ending. So I closed the book happy. It might not be a favorite because I like more action and less romance but Hot Winter Nights left me satisfied, in the end.

Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis is the 6th book in the Hearbreaker Bay series. I haven't read any of the other books in the series, but it stands alone fine. Back when I was involved in a romance writers group, Jill Shalvis was one of my favorite romance writers for her sense of humor. This particular book was less lighthearted than the Jill Shalvis stories I read back in the 90s but every now and then you get a glimpse of her sense of humor.


©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.

Homespun: Amish and Mennonite Women in Their Own Words, ed. by Lorilee Craker

I requested Homespun: Amish and Mennonite Women in their Own Words, edited by Lorilee Craker, primarily because I recently read an Amish romance and I know very little about the customs and beliefs of the Amish. I was hoping it would contain essays that were specifically about Amish and Mennonite traditions -- kind of a "Here's what we believe and here's what we do," type of book that would walk me through what it's like to be a woman living with a particular belief set and whatever goes along with those beliefs, whether that may mean going without electricity and modern conveniences or eating certain foods. What little I know of the Amish (I honestly know nothing at all about Mennonites) has been gleaned from the occasional fiction read set in an Amish community.

Homespun was really not at all what I expected it to be and for a while I was pretty much convinced I was going to abandon the book. And, then one of the essays changed my mind. The essays are divided into sections, each one written about a certain one-word topic:

• Welcome
• Abide
• Testimony
• Wonder
• Kindred
• Beloved

Those first few essays, I confess, came off as preachy to me. They didn't necessarily tell stories of "welcome" but would talk about what each woman believes "welcome" means within the context of her faith. They came off as a bit preachy. But, then I got to page 33, "On Appreciative Overnight Guests" by Linda Byler. Instead of describing her belief about the meaning of the chosen word "welcome," the author told a story about a time when one of her daughters came for a visit. It was funny, charming, and delightful. She playfully poked fun at herself in a way that's infinitely relatable.

We're supposed to be herrberg gerny: a Pennsylvania German term that means "be generous in hospitality." I certainly was. I was pious, devout, and well meaning. True, I did send our guests to bed with bombarding acorns, roaring traffic, mattresses like plywood, and a breakfast casserole that was a bit heavily salted, come to think of it. 

But it is a night that will be repeated many times. Everyone is already enjoying a good laugh about it. Hopefully it'll never be lost among the many humorous stories of our family's history. 

~p. 36

And, that was it for me. I was hooked. Yes, some of the essays are a bit on the preachy side and I'm pretty sure that in most cases I learned less from the essays than I did from reading fiction. It would have been particularly helpful to know what each woman's background was. Whether they were Amish or Mennonite was not always mentioned. It wasn't till I got to the end of the book, where each author has a brief bio, that I realized there was a place I could have flipped ahead to in order to find out which community the author hailed from.

But, some of the essays were quite informative. I particularly loved those that were closer to storytelling, in which the authors basically planted me in their shoes and went about their day. And, the "wonder" section spoke of miracles, which I always love. I was less enamored of the essays in which the essayists listed what they believed one should do to be hospitable, show love, share their testimony, or keep a household that Jesus would approve of. The book is as much inspirational as it is factual. I was looking for more of a factual read. But, in the end -- like any book written by a large number of authors -- I did find some favorites. I was particularly excited to find that there was more than one essay by Linda Byler. I'd love to read an entire book of her essays.

Recommended to a specific audience - I wouldn't particularly recommend Homespun highly to someone who was in search of a learning experience about what it means to be Amish or Mennonite. It's not a fact-based book so much as a peek into what each essayist believes a certain word to mean and how she applies that meaning to her life. But, Christians looking for inspiration and who like to read about Christian living will likely find it enjoyable and it would make a nice addition to a church library. The one thing I really learned about Amish and Mennonite women? They're not so different from the rest of us.

My copy of Homespun was provided by Audra Jennings for an I Read With Audra book tour.

©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.

Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi

However differently we express it, . . . faith shares an essential worldview: that the unseen is ultimately more real than the material, that this world is not a random construct but an expression, however veiled, of a purposeful creation. That we are not primarily bodies but souls, rooted in oneness. For me, the only notion more ludicrous than the existence of a Divine being that created and sustains us is the notion that this miracle of life, of consciousness, is coincidence.  

~ p. 8

I requested an ARC of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi, in part because I was hoping that it would shed some light on the Israel/Palestine situation. The book is a set of letters addressed generically to the people living near him, any Palestinian who may care to read one Israeli's thoughts on their territorial dispute, his beliefs and those of his people, what he proposes the most workable solution may be and why. It is absolutely not a primer in the history of the area and it is naturally a bit biased toward the Jewish point-of-view, although Halevi does his best to stay open-minded. If you've been reading my blog, you'll know that I did some online research and purchased a couple other books when I realized I just didn't know enough to fully understand this book.

My online research was enough to get a basic understanding and the two books: Israel/Palestine by Alan Dowty (which is very deliberately unbiased) and Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martydom by Norman G. Finkelstein (which may possibly be biased toward the Palestinian side but I won't know till I read it) should fill in the gaps. The only thing I lack, at this point, is maps. I really could use a nice atlas -- online maps just don't cut it. Unfortunately, I haven't owned an atlas for quite a while, so I just had to make do with what I could find online when Halevi mentioned particular locations.

I found Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor thoughtful and carefully written. The author's story alone is quite interesting. Halevi is American by birth, but he's deeply religious and knew by the time he was about 13 years old that he would want to return to Israel (where he had recently traveled) permanently, someday. As a Jew, he would be granted citizenship. He eventually made that move and has been an Israeli citizen for over 30 years. From his home on a hill, he can see his Palestinian neighbors. Halevi believes in a two-state solution, but I think it's best if I share a few quotes from the book that I think do a good job of expressing his thoughts and/or personal beliefs.

The notion of a people chosen by God wasn't intended to bestow privilege but responsibility. Jewish history attests that this role carries more burden than glory. The classical way Jews understood their own history was as the story of a people failing to live in the intensity of God's presence. This is the story told by the Hebrew Bible -- a national epic astonishing in its relentless criticism of the people it is supposedly intended to celebrate. 

~ p. 60

Even as we seek a two-state solution, we will likely remain with a two-narrative problem. But that historical divide must not prevent a political compromise. I honor history--up to the point where it no longer inspires but imprisons. Accommodating both our narratives, learning to live with two contradictory stories, is the only way to deny the past a veto over the future. 

~ p. 88

We are trapped, you and I, in a seemingly hopeless cycle. Not a "cycle of violence" -- a lazy formulation that tells us nothing about why our conflict exists, let alone how to end it. Instead, we're trapped in what may be called a "cycle of denial." Your side denies my people's legitimacy, my right to self-determination, and my side prevents your people from achieving national sovereignty. The cycle of denial defines our shared existence, an impossible intimacy of violence, suppression, rage, despair. 

That is the cycle we can only break together. 

~ pp. 115-116

"Justice, justice, shall you pursue," commands the Torah. The rabbis ask: Why the repetition of the word "justice"? My answer has been shaped by our conflict: Sometimes the pursuit of justice means fulfilling two claims to justice, even when they clash. 

~ p. 124

With the notable exception of Jordan, which granted Palestinian refugees citizenship, the Arab world has kept Palestinians as refugees, stateless and in camps, politicizing their misery as permanent evidence against Israel. 

Meanwhile, other humanitarian emergencies demand attention. There are, at last count, some sixty million refugees around the world, many of them from new crises in the Middle East. The special status for Palestinian refugees is unsustainable. And given the certain opposition of any Israeli government to right of return to Israel proper, the issue has become one of the main obstacles to your hopes for national sovereignty.

~ pp. 132-133

The biblical prophecy is that, in the end of days, the nations will gather in pilgrimage to the Mount, and God's House will be "a House of Prayer for all people." I don't know how that will happen. Nor is it my religious obligation as a Jew to plan that moment. There is a wise rabbinic parable about how the future Temple will appear: in a cloud of fire, descending from Heaven. The parable is a warning, especially to Jews today who once again conrol Jerusalem: Rebuilding the Temple is not in your hands. Leave the Mount to God. 

~ p. 141

Recommended especially to those who have a working understanding of the Israel/Palestine situation - I went into the reading of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor knowing essentially nothing about Israel/Palestine. I had a lot of questions. I didn't understand the history, why many of my Christian friends blindly side with Israel, or what the potential options for solving this unique land dispute might be. I'd just started reading the book when the new American embassy was opened in Jerusalem and violence broke out, leading to the deaths of a substantial number of Palestinians. Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor reflects the opinions of one person, but it's a book that anyone knowledgeable about the situation can learn from.

If you're as unknowledgeable as I was (things are improving), I highly recommend reading up on the Israel/Palestine situation before diving into Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor. What you'll get from the book is a particularly pointed understanding of the Israeli side. The book is not meant to be neutral but he does his best to describe his beliefs with empathy. The whole idea is to share his side and to explain that he believes a solution is feasible. Read it with an open mind and heart. I think Christians can learn a great deal from this book, as well. The final quote, above, particularly resonated with me. I'm really glad I read this book because it has led me to dive into a new learning experience that I'm enjoying.

Note: I'm in the market for an atlas, now. Suggestions are welcome.

©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.

Hollywood Beach Beauties: Sea Sirens, Sun Goddesses, and Summer Style 1930-1970 by David Wills

Hollywood Beach Beauties by David Wills is a book of photographs, advertisements, and movie posters from the Thirties to early Seventies. Its subtitle does a good job of zoning in on the topics described in the text of the book (which was minimal, the book is mostly images and is divided by decade): "Sea Sirens, Sun Goddesses, and Summer Style, 1930-1970".  I'll admit up front to ignoring the subtitle because I was mostly in it for the vintage photography. I was curious about how the photography was done. For example: the changing poses and settings over the years. So, let's talk about the photography, first.

There were some really interesting things to note about the photography, but there were three things that really jumped out at me:

1. Poses have changed but not all that much - There are some photos, like the cover image, that look ridiculously posed and unnatural. And, I don't recall seeing models posing in bathing suits with high heels, before. But, there were also casual poses that have become more common in our era: the joyful beach photos in which models (the vast majority were also actors, not just models) jump in the air or splash in the water, for example, but there was a mix of happy and sexed-up photos. Note: from a fashion standpoint, it's extremely fun to see shoes of the various time periods.

2. Huge change in the body styles of models - While models in all 4 decades described were slender and beautiful, they were also curvy in earlier days, particularly in the 50s. And, quite a few of the early starlets who modeled bathing costumes were short. So, a good portion of them would be considered overweight by today's ridiculous modeling standards. It's notable that they looked every bit as terrific. You can't help but quickly note tricks to extend the length of legs, like the high heels, standing on tiptoes, toes pointed. I also noticed that the models tended to hunch their shoulders and clearly were pulling in their stomachs in many of the photos.

3. Almost no touch-ups - While some of the movie posters and advertisements were clearly manipulated (and many of the advertisements were artistic renditions rather than photographs), the vast majority appear unretouched. Some of the color photos, in fact, show that the models had skin that was burned in places. Poor Grace Kelly looked burned to a crisp in a beach photo from To Catch a Thief. A couple images also showed tan lines.

There's something deeply satisfying in the realization that women can still look utterly fabulous when nobody has gone in and removed the little pooches of skin that pucker above a bathing suit, thinned their thighs or made skin flawless with a computer program. I didn't expect to notice such details; as I mentioned, I was more interested in the changing photography than the human form or style. But, everything about the images ended up fascinating me.

Less interesting was the text, which I thought was a hot mess. While mostly about the crossover between modeling and acting and the changing styles of bathing suits, the author had a tendency to bombard the reader with names of actors who modeled, photographers, artists, and bathing suit designers . . . but then most of the photographs didn't show the specific suits or images described. At first, I went looking for particular images. One of the first models mentioned was not, in fact, shown at all. So, that baffled me. Then, I realized the author had chosen photos that matched the particular styles described without choosing the exact images that he had decided to highlight. I didn't care for that at all and I found the text really clunky and frustrating. But, at the same time I managed to learn a bit about changing styles, which was more interesting than I anticipated. I had no idea that early one-piece bathing suits of the type we wear today were knit and therefore very heavy when waterlogged. Nor did I realize that the early versions of stretchy bathing-suit material were quick to lose their shape. You couldn't just buy a swimsuit for the season, wear it for your daily dip in the pool, and expect it to last all summer.

Recommended to a specific audience - If you're interested in the photography alone, you might find this book a bit disappointing. But, I still enjoyed it. I just found that it held my interest for different reasons than I anticipated. It's more fascinating for the view of cultural and fashion changes than for the photography (my chief interest). So, I'd particularly recommend Hollywood Beach Beauties to people who are interested in fashion, with focus on bathing suits (although there is one photo of Audrey Hepburn in shorts -- totally out of place, I thought). It's also of interest for how women in movies were the models of most of the time period covered. And, if you have a fascination for old movie posters, you might enjoy how the beach images were incorporated into movie posters.


©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.

Moonlight Over Paris by Jennifer Robson, plus a little Monday Malarkey

Moonlight Over Paris by Jennifer Robson is a very light historical romance set during the 1920s. Lady Helena comes close to death from an infection after a terrible bout with scarlet fever. While recovering, she realizes she has spent too much time not living after agreeing to end her engagement five years ago. A pariah since her engagement ended and her fiance married someone else, it's unlikely that she'll ever marry, now that she's in her late 20s. Nearly dying has made her determined to live; but, Helena feels she must leave England to do so.

Helena's Aunt Agnes lives in France. She's happy to accomodate Helena for a year and even suggests that she sign up at a local art school to work on developing her artistic talent. There, Helena makes new friends and is challenged. But, when an American journalist comes into her life and she finds herself slowly falling for him, it seems that she is destined for another heartbreak.

I'll be painfully honest about Moonlight Over Paris: I didn't find it a good read either from the standpoint of historical fiction or romance. It's merely average. Helena is from the upper class and her Aunt Agnes is even wealthier than Helena's family. Most of the book is about interaction with her painter friends, the meals they eat, the dresses she wears. Because of her wealth and because she's an artist, she's occasionally thrown into the path of various people of the time period's wealthy ex-pat artistic crowd.

Like the only other book I've read by Robson, Somewhere in France, the focus is not on the romance so much as the heroine's life. But, I found her daily life rather humdrum. I liked the interaction between Helena and her artist friends. However, there was a lot of telling instead of showing. For example, Helena would go to dinner with a group of people and then talk or think about what a sparkling conversation she'd had with so-and-so. But, the reader wasn't privy to the conversation, itself.

I did like the hero and love interest. But, again, something was missing. They occasionally had dates, maybe kissed a bit, but he kept his distance and I was unable to fully understand or buy into his storyline. Until the end, he really didn't share his concerns with Helena, explain why he was really in Paris, or tell her why he was unwilling to commit. It does, however, have the ending of a typical romance, so romance lovers may be willing to overlook its flaws for the joy of the happy ending.

Recommended to a specific audience - If you're a fan of historical romance and like a decent sense of place, very light writing, and a happy ending, chances are good you'll enjoy Moonlight Over Paris. I wouldn't tell anyone to avoid the book but I also wouldn't heartily recommend it to someone who is looking for more depth. I finished the book because I needed a mental break from Lolita and I don't regret reading it. However, I thought Moonlight Over Paris was weak by comparison with Robson's first release, Somewhere in France.

On to Malarkey:

I didn't receive a single book in the mail, last week, and Moonlight Over Paris was the only book I finished. I'm still reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and Don't Even Think About It by George Marshall and will probably add another fiction read, soon, to continue breaking up the reading of Lolita, which frankly makes my skin crawl.

Last week's posts:

• Fiona Friday - Lazy day (cat photo)
• Sherlock: Chronicles by Steve Tribe (book review)

Cat-wise:

The cats are still separated most of the time and occasionally they've come close to harmony through the slats of their gazebo, when one or the other is inside. We don't think they're quite ready to spend time together, though. It's going to be a slow process. Now and then, we have a setback in which one or the other will growl or hiss. Night is really the worst time because they both want to be in the bedroom with me. Whoever is stuck outside the door will end up scratching at the door, howling and trying to open it. I'm not getting a lot of sleep. Fingers are crossed that they'll be able to hang out together, soon.

©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.

Monument 14 and Monument 14: Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14 and Monument 14: Sky on Fire (not pictured) are classified as YA. The writing is brain light so they're super quick reads but there is some sexuality (and, unfortunately, slut shaming), violence and a bit of gore and yuckiness.

Speaking of yuckiness, which requires backspacing because Blogger now has forced spell-check upon us . . . when did that happen??? No, I did not mean luckiness, Blogger.

Back to the books, but first a warning.

******SPOILER WARNING! I'm going to describe the plots in two books from a trilogy. There WILL be spoilers. Skip down to the bottom line if you're planning to read these books any time soon or you just worry about these things. It's okay to be a worrier (pat, pat). We still love you.******


Monument 14 and Monument 14: Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne are the first two books in a trilogy. They begin with a rather girly male narrator talking about catching the bus. He's on one bus; his brother is on the other. All of a sudden, giant hail falls from the sky, causing one bus to wreck. The other bus's driver plows into a local superstore, drops off its occupants and returns to rescue the survivors. The bus driver eventually leaves to get help but doesn't return, leaving 14 children from the ages of 5 to 18 on their own without any adult supervision in a Colorado superstore.

In this near future, the internet is government run (umm), there's no exit after the store's gates automatically lower for no apparent reason . . . except for a hatch in the roof (good grief - in this country, no fire escape?) and chemical weapons are stored very close to a city with a large population (not plausible in the United States, although Hollywood is fond of that kind of set-up).

It turns out a massive volcano has blown with no warning, causing a tsunami that wrecked the East Coast and took out the internet (which is not called the "internet" but it's been a couple weeks since I read the books, so give me a break). Then, there's a tremendous earthquake in an area with no fault lines, presumably related to the volcano. It's true that a massive volcanic eruption can cause weather changes around the world but I was iffy with the earthquake because of how it was handled, although that may be plausible, as well. Natural disaster is followed by local disaster as NORAD (this part seriously made the eyebrows go up) has a breach of chemical weapons, letting loose a cloud that poisons the outside air and contaminates the water, trapping the children indoors.

In the second book, the children venture out in the bus to seek treatment after one of the teenagers is seriously injured. It does not go well for most of the journey in Monument 14: Sky on Fire, but then I suppose it would be boring if all was hunky-dory.

There are some serious flaws in Emmy Laybourne's world building and some situations that I found frustrating but the one thing I found beyond complaint in both books is the pacing. Things happen. The narrator (seriously, very girly - so girly that when I first heard his name was Dean, I thought, "Short for Deanna, maybe?") gets stuck cooking meals and appoints smaller children as helpers, so there's a good bit of time dedicated to meal planning in the first book but there really is seldom a dull moment as they move from one challenge to another, both in dealing with personality differences and dangers, inside and out.

To be honest, I read the second book, Monument 14: Sky on Fire, only because I had already bought both books and couldn't bear the thought of wasting my money on the second. I'm glad I finished but I won't bother trying to locate a copy of the third book in the series. There were just too many problems with the set-up. The author was too present; you could easily discern why some incomprehensible plot point like the earthquake -- which was preceded by a smaller earthquake but not followed up by aftershocks -- was designed to cause a poison leak specifically to force the children to stay inside the store. In another example of what I considered author intrusion, the hatch in the roof appeared to be created for the purpose of forestalling trouble with invaders from outside. However, the fact that the characters are continually challenged is worth mentioning repeatedly.

******END SPOILER WARNING******

The bottom line - I'm too picky for this series but if you like a lot of action and don't mind a lot of questionable world building, you might love it. Some people think it's the best thing since sliced bread and I can see why they enjoyed the reading; the pacing is fabulous. I had to work hard to shut off my annoying internal editor, very hard. But, because the book was well-paced and a great deal happens, I was willing to work at just enjoying the ride. It's not easy to write the perfect balance between action and quiet moments and I do believe that is what Emmy Laybourne does best. With a bit of improvement in her research and world building, I think Laybourne could knock it out of the park in future books.

I should also mention that I had fun reading the first book because -- even while squirming over its problems -- I liked the way the book made me think about how I would handle writing about children stranded in a superstore. The setting itself is thought-provoking; it offers some interesting possibilities and I definitely enjoyed mentally comparing how the author directed her characters vs. how I personally visualized handling that particular set-up.

©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.

True Spies by Shana Galen (Lord & Lady Spy #2)

True Spies (Lord and Lady Spy #2) by Shana Galen

Copyright 2013

Sourcebooks Casablanca - Historical Romance
346 pp.

First sentence:

Elinor paced the vestibule of her London townhouse, her slippered steps echoing in the strained silence.

Summarize the plot without giving away the ending:

Lady Elinor is bored and fed up with her husband's disinterest in her after years of managing her household and children on her own.  When her husband doesn't show up in time to accompany her to a party, she decides to attend alone in a bold red dress that leaves little to the imagination. Yearning for a little excitement, she is already finding herself intrigued by the advances of a man who is trying to lure her to bed by fabricating an elaborate story about being a secret agent.  Will she give in to an affair for the sake of adventure? What will happen when she discovers the truth about her husband?

Lord Keating is weary with life as a spy but the Barbican group's deadly enemy has already taken out half a dozen of their people.  With one last mission to finish before he retires, he unexpectedly discovers that not only is his wife no longer interested in him, she's on the verge of an affair and so eager to do something different and meaningful that she will happily set herself in the path of danger.  

When a faltering marriage and a sinister threat collide, passions flare.

Capsule Description:

True Lies meets Regency romance.

What did you like best about True Spies?

I read Shana Galen's books for the action scenes and this was no exception.  I enjoyed the spy story within the larger romantic theme, loved the spy scenes and was satisfied with the denouement.  I also liked the fact that Elinor wasn't described as perfect and beautiful.  She was a woman who had blossomed (in her 30s, I think?) and her husband was surprised because he'd paid her so little heed for such a very long time.  I was one of those women who briefly went from duck to swan in my 30s so I did think that made sense and I appreciated reading about a heroine whose looks weren't ridiculously perfect.

What did you dislike about True Spies?

I really hate graphic sex, so it's important to read my thoughts with that reality in mind.  I saw a quote about that, today, actually:

I've always preferred the implied sex scene anyway, because having it spelt out always seems a bit tacky. 

~Henry Cavill, quoted in "Hello, Hot Superman," June 2013 Glamour (British edition)

Mr. Cavill is referring to movie roles, but that quote struck me as similar to my thoughts about graphic sex scenes in novels. I don't know about the word "tacky" but it's a personal preference, obviously. I prefer action and plot to relationship (external vs. internal, blah, blah).  I keep coming back to Shana Galen's books, though, because they're adventurous enough to please me.  Of course, True Spies is Historical Romance -- I knew what I was getting into.  

In this case, I did find it a little difficult to buy into both storylines, a bit.  Winn (Lord Keating) didn't marry for love, sired two girls and has always been cold and distant.  It was hard to define the line between lust and love on his part.  I just couldn't accept that he "fell in love" with his wife so quickly and I thought Elinor should have resisted him longer.  It would have been more interesting if there had been more personal interaction before they started ravishing each other and I would have preferred a bit more fun with the pretend spy trying to lure her to bed before he was removed from the picture, although that was pleasingly wrapped up.

Also, Elinor was sharp but when she wanted to become involved in the Barbican group its leader said she was a natural.  It appeared to me that she was more natural at thinking things through than participating in the dangerous undercover side of the work. Unlike "Saint" (the female lead in Lord and Lady Spy), Elinor never seemed entirely prepared for the job.  I kept trying to imagine what on earth her plan was to deal with her voluminous skirts when under attack.  That's pretty relevant in action scenes that take place during the Regency time period. To be fair, she had little time to prepare and minimal training but managed to hold her own (Regency Girl Power!) 

A favorites scene:

There were a lot of fun scenes in True Spies.  I like the opening, when Lord Keating is running from the bad guys across a rooftop in London and the scene in which Elinor is trapped in a brothel.  And, the scene with the Prince Regent, when a number of spies are trying to save his life but he's more interested in the fact that they might hurt the pretties lying about the room.

Recommended particularly to fans of historical romance.  Not my favorite of Shana Galen's books,  but I enjoyed True Spies.  In spite of the fact that the book is heavier on romance than action,  I absolutely loved the spy bits and that's what kept me reading. Galen's action scenes rock.  I gave True Spies a 3.5/5 rating at Goodreads.

Past reviews of Shana Galen's novels:

The Making of a Duchess
The Making of a Gentleman
The Making of a Rogue
Lord and Lady Spy

Shana Galen's website

I received a copy of True Spies from Sourcebooks in return for an unbiased review.

©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 Emotionally Healthy Woman by Geri Scazerro (DNF with link to free sneak peek chapter)

The Emotionally Healthy Woman by Geri Scazzero is subtitled "Eight Things You Have to Quit to Change Your Life".  I should have known better.  When I read the description of this book, I got the impression that The Emotionally Healthy Woman leaned more toward memoir than how-to, because the description talked about some pretty drastic things the author has "walked away" from.  But the subtitle is directed to the reader, clearly indicating that the topic is about how the reader can make changes, rather than how the author did so.  My mistake.

The Emotionally Healthy Woman was, in fact, a DNF for me because I was hoping to read about how one person walked away from or "quit" certain bad habits/practices in order to improve her emotional health.  As I was reading, though, I was frustrated to find that the author's personal accounts of changes she's made in her life ("quitting" the church at which her husband was the minister, for example, and becoming a member of another) were very, very brief.  Even if it was not a memoir, per se, I would have liked to read far more about the author's personal experience.  I only lasted about 50 pages.

The Emotionally Healthy Woman is also a little heavy-handed thematically.  I felt like I could get all I needed from the list of things the author "quit" and the actions with which she replaced them.  From what little I read, I was already getting fatigued with the use of the "quitting" concept.  It's not necessary to flog a theme to death; it's okay to just use it as a guideline.

You can read a free chapter from The Emotionally Healthy Woman at my free chapter blog, but here's a very brief excerpt to give you an idea what the author is referring to with the "quitting" theme:

When we quit fear of what others think, we choose freedom.
When we quit lies, we choose truth.
When we quit blaming, we choose to take responsibility.

If you need or desire to hear those concepts elaborated upon, the author appears to have done a nice job of seeking out scriptures and Biblical examples (The Emotionally Healthy Woman is a Christian book from Zondervan) to back up the ideas.  But, I didn't personally feel like I needed to make a Bible study of the concept.  I think, if anything, I'd be happy just tearing out the one-page list of 8 items to give up and their replacement actions -- to hang on the wall as a reminder.  At this stage in my life, I prefer reading a memoir because I'm just happier vicariously experiencing a concept via a personal account.

Recommended specifically to Christian women who feel like they need a little guidance and some Biblical reference points to help them make life changes for the improvement of their emotional health, particularly those who are heavily involved in church and feeling a little overwhelmed.  There's some good material in The Emotionally Healthy Woman; it just was not the right book for me.


©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 Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani

Copyright 2012

Harper - Fiction/Historical

468 pp.

I read The Queen of the Big Time in March of 2006 (pre-blogging by three months) so I can't go back to read my thoughts, although I know I disliked it enough to avoid Trigiani's books for 6 years. However, the storyline of The Shoemaker's Wife sounded so rich and appealing that I decided I had to give Trigiani a second chance.

The book turned out to be a "thumbs up," overall, although there were occasional irritations. I'm going to go for the seriously-casual summary method on this one.

Ciro and his brother Eduardo are left at a convent in the Italian Alps when their widowed mother can no longer care for them. She advises them to do more than the nuns tell them to do so that their presence will be more valuable than the cost of their care and promises to come back when she can.

Enza is the eldest daughter in a family living just a few miles away, up the mountains. Enza works hard to help her family, loves them deeply and feels an obligation to help provide for them.

When Ciro and Enza meet, she is touched by his kindness and he is impressed by her beauty and strength. Things are ticking along just fine when Ciro catches the priest doing something naughty and has to run to America to save his hide (because the priest is such an influential man). Around the same time, Enza's family gets into a financial bind that forces Enza and her father to travel to prosperous America in search of work.

Ciro and Enza do the proverbial "ships passing in the night" thing for years -- Enza always convinced that Ciro likes someone else better and Ciro busy sowing his oats but secretly mooning over her because she's totally hot, deeply genuine and a warm reminder of home. Will they ever end up together, for crying out loud? Or do we have to wade through similes about the stars looking like pinpricks in velvet or scattered diamonds or dazzling glitter till the cows come home?

What I loved about The Shoemaker's Wife:

I was expecting a several-generation family saga, for some reason (fortunately, I never remember exactly what I've read in those blurbs when I sit down to read a book -- I like to go into the reading knowing as little as possible), and that baffled me when I got to around page 200 or so but it turned out not to matter. As expected, The Shoemaker's Wife is a rich and meaty story -- maybe a little too rich, but we'll get to that in a minute. The characters are splendidly well-developed, flawed in ways that are genuinely believable, and the dialogue has a realistic feel, for the most part. If I hadn't loved Ciro and Enza, the nuns and Enza's family, I don't know if I'd have lasted 468 pages' worth, but they made it worth hanging in there through the dreary middle.

I also particularly loved the scenes that were set in Italy and the way the story came full circle. And, I adored this line, advice from Eduardo to Ciro that he didn't understand until later in life:

Beware the things of this world that can mean everything or nothing.

It took me a while to figure that out, myself. Trigiani had to help me a little.

What I disliked about The Shoemaker's Wife:

Great story or not, The Shoemaker's Wife is way the heck too long; it could have easily been cut by at least 100 pages, in my humble opinion. Now, this is coming from a gal who does tend to like fairly spare writing, but man . . . we're talking simile and adjective avalanche. At one point, I was so exhausted by the wordiness that I whined to Facebook friends that it was making my eyes burn and my hair fall out and I was starting to hate my favorite color (green -- Adriana Trigiani apparently is crazy about the color green). My friends humored me very nicely, although two of them are deeply devoted to Trigiani. It's a great read -- don't get me wrong! But, people who are burdened by "editor brain" from years of editing down their own work may be tempted to break out a red pen, just for fun.

Another thing that bugged me was the occasional comment that I thought was remarkably silly, like:

A man who needs a mirror is looking for something.

Geez, or maybe a man who needs a mirror cares about having tidy hair, wants to make sure his shirts aren't off by a button or doesn't want to cut himself shaving?

She also frequently remarked that Ciro, being a sturdily built and tall man, was obviously built to be a leader. Yes, it's true that there's a psychological effect that leads people to look to tall people as leaders, but height truly has nothing whatsoever to do with true leadership ability. There are certainly some prime examples of short but powerful people within the book blogging world.

The bottom line:

Recommended to people who absolutely love to sink into a big, wordy family saga. Beautifully crafted characters, believable dialogue, settings so vivid you feel like you could reach out and touch them and a sweet romance make this book enjoyable. If you prefer spare writing, this may not be the book for you. I was in the mood for chunky historical fiction and I still managed to stall around page 300, but I'm glad I decided to hang in there and finish reading.

A friend hit the sagging middle just as I was finishing The Shoemaker's Wife and I encouraged her to stick it out. She felt the same way I did -- it's too long, but worth persevering to the end. I will not ever be a gushy fan of Trigiani, but I'm glad I decided to give her a second chance.

Cover thoughts - I don't think of Enza quite like that cover image (she's really very down-to-earth) but she does become a seamstress at an opera house and the image fits the drama of the opera house and the fancy costumes. Plus, it's gorgeous. Love the color explosion!

Completely forgot to mention that I love Trigiani's sense of humor. Here are two lines that made me smile:

"Please don't turn into the wife that chases her husband with a broom."

"Monsignor Schiffer already dropped off a vial of holy water from Lourdes. Only a German priest would bring an Italian French holy water," Ciro joked.

Also, now I really, really, really want to go to Italy. Husband has unfairly gone without me twice. This is one of my favorite photos from his last visit:

©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.