The Braintree Mission

While it took me a fair amount of time to get through this book, 11 days actually, it was only because the subject matter was not something I am used to. It is a very well written account of a proposal to the Boston Colony to make one of their own an Earl in the House of Lords in England just after the bloody Boston "massacre" in 1770, the hope being that it would give the colonies representation in England and improve relations. While this proposal never in fact took place, the author tells the events of how it may have gone down and to what affect it would have on the relationship, which I took to understand as none.
As I said, this is not my usual read, even though it can be technically classified as "alternate history" the outcome was no different from true history. That being said I still found myself enjoying the tale. The characters of John and Abigail Adams, whom the author himself titles the hero and heroine of the tale, were wonderful people indeed! And I was also attracted by the writing style, which I found to be beautiful.
That being said, I am sure this book is not for everyone. But I say history lovers should try and give it a read!

Birth of the Chess Queen

Marilyn Yalom was giving a lecture on the history of the breast when she was presented with a very unusual statue of Mary suckling the baby Jesus. She was told it was a chess piece, and this one event sparked her curiosity forcing her to take a close look not only at past chess queens but also the history behind the queen from when she first took up her place on the board to the changes in her movements on it.

This book was a fascinating read for me. I not only enjoy the game of chess but am also fascinated by the outside appearances that changed as women grew in power in the world. This book was an insightful look into the women who were powerful enough to change this game piece that people the world over played with, at a time when women seemed to have little to no power in the real world. As Yalom goes back to the beginning of chess to describe the original piece, the vsir, who stood in the place we now associate with the queen, the carefully picks her way through the history of several countries looking for the first appearances of the queen in each. She then looks at the women in power as the piece appears, trying to figure out who may have had a hand in bringing forth this now-powerful figure.

Not only does Yalom seem to cover all her bases, answer most of the questions she began with and then some, she makes it all clear to the reader in such a way that I was not once bored by what I was reading. Instead, like any work of fiction, I was drawn into the book wanting to know what detail she would present next, what historical Queen she would give me to consider next, and what other pieces have survived from the time that so differ from the one I have in my home. She is a skilled lecturer that is able to convey all she wants to onto the page with a beautiful outcome.

Finally Yalom presents in the last chapter a look at women players today. She shows that chess has once more become a men's game with women still being spoken down on when showing interest in it. While the chess queen remains supreme on the board, the players are still very misogynistic about the playing. A sad fact indeed.

I picked this book up off a whim at a discount store because of my enjoyment of the game, and I was pleased to discover something more. I look forward to picking up more of Yalom's books in an effort to get a look into her perspective of women. Consider it furthering my Women's Studies class from college! I recommend that lovers of the game take a chance and read this one. You could be surprised at what you learn!

Twelve Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Jane Yolen has pulled together 12 short stories and put them into this random little book to give the reader 12 new things to think about! Most of them are retellings of stories we have grown to love (i.e. "Lost Girls" is Peter Pan and "The Bridge's Complaint" is The Billy Goats Gruff) alongside some new stories (i.e. "The Babysitter" and "Wilding") all of them unique and incredible reads.

Yolen is one of those writers that I see in a store and pick it up without even looking at the description, knowing that she will tell an amazing tale. This book did not let me down! My only regret is taking so long to finally read it.

Each of these stories is unique, never thought before tales told by a master writer who loves making the readers look at things differently. And she does such a wonderful job making the stories come to life, making me a little afraid after reading one of the horror stories just before bed one late night!

I encourage everyone to give Yolen a chance, and this is a good place to start! I look forward to reading these shorts stories to my kids very soon!

Mutant Message Down Under

Marlo Morgan claims to have gone on a walkabout (a journey with no set destination or duration) with a small tribe of Aboriginals of Australia. This book is a retelling of her journey into knowledge given to her by these people that ave chosen to die out rather than remain on a planet that is being killed by the inhabitants, what the tribe calls Mutants.

I must say that by taking this book as a work of fiction it seems that I have a better view of it than most of the other readers. I don't know much about the Aboriginal culture or peoples, but I have always been fascinated with older, native tribes of any continent, hence why I picked this book up in the first place. I was a little hesitant to read it once I had discovered others' views of it, but I wanted to form my own opinion.

This book was not horrible, in my opinion. No, it was not a classic work of art, but it was not the trash many claimed. Yes, some of the notions, such as the selecting of the author to pass on the ancient ideas of this race, seemed far-fetched, but some of it made sense. Many of the views and ideas are not new ones, simply pure ones that I believe any culture would hold if they had been around long enough to truly gain wisdom.

My only big issue with this book was the writer's poor writing. As a memoir, maybe this book is done as best as it can be. But taken as a novel, she is clearly not a writer, or should have considered editing it once more before publication.

All in all the book was an interesting read, if not an entirely pleasant one.

2014 Challenge

A new year, a new reading challenge to help me tackle the growing list of To Read! Mostly my goal is simply to read as many books as I can, since in the past few years my numbers have been dwindling, leaving me with a huge pile of books in my possession that I have yet to even open! Suddenly I find myself with a lot more free time and I have decided to tackle all of those books on my book shelf, Nook, and Goodreads ToRead list!

Helping me on this project is the calender I got for Christmas from Half Price Books. This year they have a new list on each month with the first ten books from a select list. January is books you simply can't put down, February is classic love stories, and so on and so forth. I went through and highlighted books on each list that I had already read in the past, and found a lot of titles NOT highlighted! So I have decided to read at least two new books on each list during that selected month.

Then of course I have my Book Club that is always throwing new and interesting books my way that I may never have picked up on my own!

With these two main sources, plus my own supply, I have decided to really try and over take my Goodreads.com challenge number! I am going for just 64 to begin with, but maybe if I see myself overtaking that number I can raise it higher, something I have not been able to do in past years.

Join me in the challenge! And let me know how many books you have committed to reading this year, as well as any select theme!

The Book Thief

The Book Thief is a tale of WWII, but from the point of view of a little German girl. Plenty of stories have been told by Jews that saw plenty of horrors, and I am not knocking those, but people seem to forget that there were plenty of Germans caught among the events as well. And this is a wonderful story capturing the confusion, fear, and hope of one little girl.

This book had been recommended to me from many sources and always I thought it was just another war story that would make me weep and so I therefore did not want to pick it up. But when a friend sent it to me and I was forced to see it on my shelf every day and hear her ask "So have you read it yet?" I had to confront it. And then I wondered why it had taken me so darn long to pick this book up!

Everything about this book is simply magnificent. Firstly, it is all told from the point of view of Death, a character everyone seems to forget, but Zusak embraces him and allows him to tell the events as he saw them. Then the main character is a little girl who confronts the most profound moments in her little life by stealing! The other characters that surround her are just as flawed, making them each more lovable in their own rights. The imagery is amazing, the voice is beautiful, and the story is poignant.

Am I praising it too much? No, I really don't think enough praise has been given to this book. But maybe something will come from it being made into a movie. I don't know. I believe that this should be on everyone's list of books to read, and most likely reread. I am very happy that I now have a copy on my shelf to turn back to from time to time and encourage others to pick up. It is truly amazing.

False Hope

False Hope is the story of a man named Paul Jakarta and his mission to hunt down and destroy evil. This search takes him to H. W. Mudget High School where a demon has taken over the body of the principal there, making him do evil. It is the first book in a coming series that will follow Jakarta's movements across the country trying to do God's will in taking down the Devil to save mankind.

This book is not my usual order, as I sometimes have trouble with religious novels, but seeing as how my mother wrote it, I felt, of course, the need to see how she has done in writing. And while the result is typical of a first time writer, with room to improve, I have to say that I was not disappointed in the telling of the story.

Let me briefly point out some of my problems, for the benefit of other readers. The book does heavily lean on the use of religion, it is after all a tale of a man sent by God to cleanse the Devil out of America. So you must know that going in or be prepared to have God thrown in your face. Readers who are not of the Christian faith may find it a little difficult to believe parts of this book, but if one has faith, it all seems plausible enough. The only other problem I had with this was the first chapter. Upon first reading it the chapter seems to stand out, a random bit of back story that I didn't immediately associate with the rest of the tale. But the ability to simply ask the author, made life easier. She was able to point out that the child in the first chapter was in fact young Paul, it was a flashback to his past to show the faith he has always had.

Now, let me say that this is a unique tale. Yes demons have been done before, but I do not think that this type of novel has been explored enough, that is one in which faith is so predominate to the story line. After all Paul is fighting in a battle against evil and he has God on his side. I enjoyed reading about someone so focused on his life's work, so sure of what he was doing, with no wavering of his faith.
I also enjoyed the writing, especially the imagery. The author saw the scenes in her mind and made sure that the reader was able to join in on the viewing, giving plenty of detail to make each image real.

I look forward to watching her abilities develop and grow as she continues to tell the story of Paul Jakarta. I already have the next book on my shelf and ready to be read! I encourage everyone to give this author a shot. It is always incredible to find new talent as they strive to tell stories no one else has heard! And look out for her next book Things of the Flesh coming soon!