I love reading, and while I try to write a blurb for each book, I don't have a central location to share the books I have read and recommend. So here is my solution... Some of these books I have already written about, but I will keep the page updated with more books I have read. I mostly read historical fiction, but I always take recommendations for other books, so please contact me (link).
Some of my favorites...
1. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith- Cassandra, as a narrator, is endearingly honest and candid--sometimes poetic, sometimes practical.. The story that emerges is so fresh and captivating in part because she comes to the page with her emotion and excitement still glowing from whatever event has just transpired. The story is set in the 1930s English countryside, where Cassandra, her sister Rose, their brother Thomas, and step-mother all live at the whims of their father, who wrote one groundbreaking book but now suffers from writer's block, and they fear he will never write again. They have been living practically rent-free in an old abandoned castle, but they are still "romantically destitute." Rose is so desperate for a change she makes a deal with a gargoyle that could be a devil or an angel, that is when life at the castle begins to change with the arrival of two brothers and the chance of love for both Rose and Cassandra. It's impossible not to get wrapped up in her story, her emotions, her fantasies, and her disappointments.
2. Emma by Jane Austen- I know a few people who despise Emma because she is spoiled, headstrong, and sometimes puts her own thoughts and feelings above those around her. She is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives, and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray and hurt the people around her. That is probably why I love her... because while she is all those things, she is always hopeful, she has a strong sense of rightness, and when she fails, she continues to fix herself (even if it leads to more blunders). I also love the story because of Mr. Knightley, who, though he knows all of Emma's faults, continues to love her, wants her to be a better person, and is not afraid to call her out when she needs it. I think that's the kind of person I want to love me.
3. A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers- I find reading this book when I am going through a low point in my faith is really reassuring. Hadassah has just lived through the Roman capture of Israel, where she watches her entire family die of starvation, disease, or other reasons, and now she is sold into slavery. She feels she barely has enough strength to continue on, but she is put to the test when she develops feelings for a handsome aristocrat, and she struggles to find ways to share her faith in a society that has outlawed Christianity. The story deals with dependence on God, dark temptations, family tensions, false religion, and tragedy...some of the things we deal with today. "Rivers uses these elements to weave a gripping story that allows God to show His strength and prevail as the hero." I also recommend the second book in the trilogy, Echo in the Darkness, but I wasn't a big fan of the third book.
4. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell- When seventeen-year-old Molly Gibson's widowed father remarries, her life is turned upside down by the arrival of her vain, manipulative stepmother. She also acquires an intriguing new stepsister, Cynthia, glamorous, sophisticated, and irresistible to every man, but she has her own secrets from the past. The two girls begin to confide in one another, and Molly soon finds herself a go-between in Cynthia's love affairs - but in doing so risks losing both her own reputation and the man she loves. I like this book because the writing makes it clear that Molly is beautiful on the inside, but her outward appearance is often overlooked because she is quiet. This is one of the few times I would say the mini-series is slightly better than the book because, sadly, Gaskell died before finishing, and the mini-series is able to give Molly a happy ending that I think Gaskell would be proud of.5. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen- I actually like all of Jane Austen's books, but Emma and Sense and Sensibility are my favorites. I consider myself an Elinor Dashwood but wanting to be a Marianne. Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing, unsuitable John Willoughby, she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behavior leaves her open to gossip. Meanwhile, Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Though their parallel experience of love - and its threatened loss- the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.
Historical Fiction...
1. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers- It is a retelling of the book of Hosea. It takes place in the 1850s during the California gold rush. Sarah "Angel" is sold into prostitution as a young girl, and though she is more beautiful than any other girl, she is also cold to the world around her (makes sense with her background). Then one day, Michael Hosea walks into her life, telling her they will get married, she laughs it off, thinking he just has empty promises. But he comes to her rescue, though she agrees to marry him, her heart is hardly in it. She runs away, and Michael always comes to rescue her. Even though she starts to love Michael, something inside her stops her from truly letting Michael into her heart. It is a great book to remind me how deep and all-consuming love God has for us.
2. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly- This is the novel that introduced me to the writing of Jennifer Donnelly, and I fell in love with her writing. And her storytelling abilities. Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come
true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel
guest Grace Brown (from Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy)
asks her to burn a bundle of secret letters. But when Grace's drowned
body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers the letters reveal the
grim truth behind a murder. Now she must decide whether to pursue her dreams or follow her family's wishes.
3. The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley- History has all but forgotten...In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown. Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her...
4. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah- I am not a big WWII reader, but I fell in love with this book. The story is about two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, who live in German-occupied France. Vianne just tries to survive the war, making tough choices between right and wrong, and between life and her farm, to save her child. Isabelle is more rebellious and joins the resistance against the Nazi's. It is a powerful story and kept me on the edge of my seat till the end. The book jacket put it best: "With courage, grace, and powerful insight, best-selling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years of experience, by ideals, passion, and circumstances, each embarking on her own dangerous path towards survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrated the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime."
5. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman- After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherborne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day's journey from the coast. To this isolated island, Tome brings his young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby cry on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. Tom, who keeps meticulous records and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel insists the baby is "a gift from God," and against Tom's judgement, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, they return to the mainland and come face to face with the reality that their choices have devastated the lives of people they have never met. It is beautiful, but I did have to have the tissues close to me. I also see they are making this into a movie... yeah I will not be wearing massacre to this one. 
6. The Lake House by Kate Morton- Living on her family’s idyllic lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented sixteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure…One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest child, eleven-month-old Theo, has vanished without a trace. What follows is a tragedy that tears the family apart in ways they never imagined. Decades later, Alice is living in London, having enjoyed a long successful career as an author. Theo’s case has never been solved, though Alice still harbors a suspicion as to the culprit. Miles away, Sadie Sparrow, a young detective in the London police force, is staying at her grandfather’s house in Cornwall. While out walking one day, she stumbles upon the old estate—now crumbling and covered with vines, clearly abandoned long ago. Her curiosity is sparked, setting off a series of events that will bring her and Alice together and reveal shocking truths about a past long gone...yet more present than ever. 
7. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.- It is 1939, Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger has lost her mother and brother and is living as a foster child outside of Munich, who scratched out a meager existence for herself, stealing when she encounters something she can't resist--books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and the power of words. She shares the stories with her neighbors during bombing raids and makes an unlikely friendship with the Jewish man hiding in her basement. I thought it brought to light a part of history I had never considered and told the story from the interesting perspective of Death. P.S.- Most of the descriptions come from Amazon.
No comments:
Post a Comment