I love the Dear America series. It is such a great way for older children to learn about history in a way that doesn’t feel like learning. Dear America: Voyage on The Great Titanic continues in this vein, covering the tragic maiden (and final) voyage of the “unsinkable” Titanic.

The main character is a young girl. She is poor and has no family except a brother in America. When the opportunity comes to take a trip to join him, she jumps on it. Told from the girls point of view, the reader gets a great feeling for the awe inspiring splendor of the Titanic.

I highly recommend this book for children age 10 and up. Due to the tragic material covered, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with anyone younger reading this title.

A great book, a tragic story, a wonderful read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I purchased this book a year ago, but it kept getting pushed to the side. I was on a flight and needed something to read and saw this on my kindle and decided it was time to read it. I don’t remember much of the rest of the flights I took that day. This is a fantastically absorbing novel that pulls you into the world of the radium dial painters not only through history but through the fictional story that the author has created for us.

I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t really know much about the radium dial (well, I know about radium!). I knew something happened and I knew people died but not that they were ingesting this stuff! I actually learned a lot about that situation and how sad and out of control it was. I love when I enjoy a book and learn something and don’t feel like I’m having information shoved down my throat. Thank you to the author for presenting information in such a matter. Good for her.

The fictional part of the story was also very well done. I will admit that I was a little confused as to why the secrecy after all these years, but having said that, it didn’t detract from the story at all. I loved how it all pulled together. From what I can gather, this is the first novel by this author that I’ve been able to find and it’s such an amazing first effort – heck, had I not went looking, I would have sworn it was from a seasoned author. She manages to bring you into Helen’s life and and into the factory and subsequent years. I felt so connected to the characters that I found myself trying to talk to a few of them, trying to make them see things MY. I’m sure my fellow passengers thought I was completely crazy.

This book is highly recommended for those that enjoy not only historical fiction, but also good general fiction. Unless you only read one genre, this is something you would probably enjoy. It goes on my must read for the year, wish I had read it sooner!

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 28

NOTE: There might be a SMALL spoiler where I’ve starred – skip that paragraph if you don’t want to see, but it says it in the description, so…

What happens when you take a little science fiction, mix in some historical fiction, fold in a little paranormal romance and top it with just a hint of mystery? You get Out of Time by Monique Martin. I will tell you that history was NOT my subject in school, but whether or not the author researched the time period or not, she did an amazing job of bringing me over into the story. I was walking around the 1920s speakeasy with the best of them. Perhaps that’s the real time travel here?

The writing. Wow. This lady has talent and plenty left over. I got completely sucked into the story through the first half of the book. The words flow towards you like a wave, carrying you off into her imagination. I cannot even begin to explain how much I was impressed with the writing. I can’t say that I caught any editing errors either, obviously a book that was professionally (and well!) edited.

The characters of Elizabeth and Simon are so well rounded and well developed that I felt not only their connection but my own connection to each of them. Even the smaller characters were very well thought out. I never felt like we were given too much or not enough information about a character or their background.

I’m honestly a little astonished that this is her first novel. It feels much like the work of a veteran writer. For that reason alone, I’m adding this author to my watch list (plus I want to know what happens to Elizabeth and Simon)

**My only problem with this book was that the third quarter of it seemed to stumble. I’m still not 100% sure what the introduction of a vampire was about. I think the book could have easily done without it. In fact, I think it might have been better for it. I know, vampire fiction is “in” right now. I don’t care. I don’t think it needed it. He could have easily been any bad guy and I felt it was unnecessary. I hope she dumps that part in the next book(s) but because the professor teaches occult, I know that won’t happen. I also think it does the book a disservice because people want to always compare vampire fiction to Twilight and the two don’t even compare. This is a maturely written book and Twilight is for the YA set. (Hey, I liked Twilight, but…)

This book is recommended for those that like a good romance with a little historical fiction. I won’t compare it to Time Traveler’s Wife, but will say that if you liked it, you’d probably enjoy this as well.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2010: 69

This the 2nd of the Outlander series and I just finished this one. Like the first, it’s long, excessively so. What makes this different from the first, however, is that it’s really really slow. About a quarter of the way in, I was ready to stop reading it. It didn’t appear to be going anywhere and was starting to make me a little angry, to be honest. I felt cheated by the author. I had invested so much time into the first book and she’s killing me slowly with the second.

It did redeem itself in the end. The story is well done, but really, half of the book could have been edited out and the story would have remained the same. I didn’t realize there’s such a following for these books, apparently entire groups formed around them. I would say they are good, but now the end-all be-all. I think they might be slightly overrated.

Having said THAT, the history that goes into the books is actually kind of impressive. It’s not really my thing, but if you like hearing about the 1800s Scotland, France, etc… this is probably right up your alley and you wouldn’t want to stab your eyes out with a spoon.

I’m debating on reading the third, but will definitely be taking a break from this series to read something a little more light and airy.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2010: 51

I was expecting a Sci-Fi time travel book, but a friend of mine was INSISTENT that I read this book (although I cannot remember who to blame now) so I read it. Usually not my bag and not really what this book was about. I think this falls more under Fictional Romance or something like that. When I saw how long it was, it’s pretty intimidating.

The good is that the author does a really good job of pulling you into the story, putting you into the setting and fleshing out the characters. The story is compelling.

The bad is that the dialect is REALLY annoying and overused. If I saw “worrit” more one time, I might have completely lost it. It’s also too long, there were some things left hanging that I thought could have been pared down or scrapped all together.

The worst is this is a series. And the next book is even longer. I didn’t realize this was a series when I started. (yes, that sound is me saying bad words under my breath)… so now I have to keep reading it to find out what happens next.

There’s quite a bit of brutality in the book, lots of people get beaten, there’s some “domestic abuse” but I think it’s important to remember the time period this is placed in. Once I really thought about the period of time this took place in and what things were really like back then, it bothered me less.

There’s also quite a bit of sex. I didn’t mind that near as much, but found it to be a little bit “yeah, they did it and his member… yeah yeah yeah, whatever” after a while. We get it, they are both horny little fiends. Thanks. Got it.

Overall, probably a must read for those that enjoy historical fiction/romance. I’m loathe to call it romance though… it kinda fits the bill, but not quite. It’s kind of hard to nail down actually…

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2010: 32

84

This book had been languishing on my shelf for a while and someone from my bookclub choose it. No idea why I hadn’t read it before, just never got around to it I guess. There was a picture of a painting on the front which looked interesting but I hadn’t even read the description – someone told me it was good so I picked it up. (Yes, I do as I’m told a lot).

I guess I’m not all into art because I’d never heard of Vermeer and didn’t realize this was even historical fiction until the ending when the author made a note about the painting and painter. Oops! So, there you have. I ain’t got all that much culture, I suppose

At any rate, I really enjoyed the book. It was an easy read, the words flowed nicely off of the page and it all came together nicely – or at least how it must have in the end, I suppose. I was intrigued by this time period though. It seemed that maids basically belonged to the household, not quite indentured, as a recent read of mine called Bound by Sally Gunning, but almost like they had no choice but to put up with the “master” and “mistresses” crap. I felt bad for Griet, she seemed to want so much more out of life.

I wonder… in the end, did she ultimately get what she wanted out of life? What was expected? What did she want? While it was written from her point of view, I felt like I wasn’t given enough insight into her thoughts. It was more about her actions. I felt like I wanted to hear more inner dialogue from her.

Overall? A good book to read and I expect that our conversation will be great for book club on this one!

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From the author’s website:

One of the best-loved paintings in the world is a mystery. Who is the model and why has she been painted? What is she thinking as she stares out at us? Are her wide eyes and enigmatic half-smile innocent or seductive? And why is she wearing a pearl earring?

Girl With a Pearl Earring tells the story of Griet, a 16-year-old Dutch girl who becomes a maid in the house of the painter Johannes Vermeer. Her calm and perceptive manner not only helps her in her household duties, but also attracts the painter’s attention. Though different in upbringing, education and social standing, they have a similar way of looking at things. Vermeer slowly draws her into the world of his paintings – the still, luminous images of solitary women in domestic settings.

In contrast to her work in her master’s studio, Griet must carve a place for herself in a chaotic Catholic household run by Vermeer’s volatile wife Catharina, his shrewd mother-in-law Maria Thins, and their fiercely loyal maid Tanneke. Six children (and counting) fill out the household, dominated by six-year-old Cornelia, a mischievous girl who sees more than she should.

On the verge of womanhood, Griet also contends with the growing attentions both from a local butcher and from Vermeer’s patron, the wealthy van Ruijven. And she has to find her way through this new and strange life outside the loving Protestant family she grew up in, now fragmented by accident and death.

As Griet becomes part of her master’s work, their growing intimacy spreads disruption and jealousy within the ordered household and even – as the scandal seeps out – ripples in the world beyond.

75

This was… gorgeous. I can’t really think of another word for it. Gorgeously written, gorgeously executed, gorgeously edited. This book grabbed and pulled me in and twisted me around and then spit me back out. It’s a pretty wrenching book, truth be told. The writing style is so amazingly soft and descriptive, you don’t really know how you are feeling about it until it’s over.

I read this book for an online book club. There’s no way I would have found it and picked it out on my own. I’m so glad I had to the chance to read it. It’s a beautiful – nay, gorgeous – storyline and easily one of my top picks for the year. Read it.

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Synopsis

Alice Cole spent her first seven years living in two smoky, crowded rooms in London with her family. But a new home and a better life waited in the colonies, or so her father promised—a bright dream that turned to ashes when her brothers and mother took ill and died during the arduous voyage. Arriving in New England unable to meet the added expenses incurred by their misfortunes at sea, her father bound Alice into servitude to pay his debts.

By the age of fifteen, Alice can barely remember the time when she was not a servant to John Morton and his daughter, Nabby. Though work fills her days, life with the Mortons is pleasant; Mr. Morton calls Alice his “sweet, good girl,” and Nabby, only three years older, is her friend, companion, and now newly married, her mistress.

But Nabby’s marriage is not happy, and soon Alice is caught up in its storm; seeing nothing ahead but her own destruction, she defies her new master and the law and runs away to Boston. There she meets a sympathetic widow named Lyddie Berry and her lawyer companion, Eben Freeman. Frightened and alone, Alice impulsively stows away on their ship to Satucket on Cape Cod, where the Widow Berry offers Alice a bed and a job making cloth in support of the new boycott of British wool and linen.

At Widow Berry’s, Alice believes her old secret is safe, until it becomes threatened by a new one. As the days pass, the political and the personal stakes rise and intertwine, ultimately setting off a chain of events that will force Alice to question all she thought she knew. Bound by law, society, and her own heart, Alice soon discovers that freedom—as well as gratitude, friendship, trust, and love—has a price far higher than any she ever imagined.

Library Journal hailed Sally Gunning’s previous novel, The Widow’s War, as “historical fiction at its best.” With Bound, this wonderfully talented writer returns to pre-Revolutionary New England and evokes a long-ago time filled with uncertainty, hardship, and promise.

40

The ending to a book can really ruin the story for me. I need things wrapped in a pretty little bow. This book had no bow. I realize the author left it open because there will obviously be a sequel to this book, but it feels like she met some pre-determined word count and just ended it. Too much of a cliffhanger and not enough closure. I think it was a bad choice (having said that, I will be reading the sequel for sure so I guess the author had her reasons, eh?)

The book is beautifully written. What I like about it the most is that it’s a story with some history sprinkled in, it’s not history with a story mixed in. I learned a few things about this era, but the biggest part of the book was dedicated to telling Pearl and May’s story. I have to say that I didn’t really like the characters at times, they seemed a little shallow and unbelievable. My favorite character, Sam (one of their husbands), was a secondary character and I felt more for him than the girls.

While the book was long, I felt there could have been deeper descriptions of the area, the dress, the people. It felt sometimes a little surface-writing like. It is evident that the author has a beautiful writing style, I like the way the words flow, I just wanted some more description in there.

I liked 99.9% of this book. I would venture to say I loved it, actually. But the ending ruined it for me. I seem to run into this more often, an abrupt and rude ending in books. It’s really starting to be this odd trend. Readers have spent hours reading and absorbing the text, we need that big payoff at the end.

Definitely read this one, but just be prepared to wait to hear the end of story until the next book comes out.

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Synopsis

In 1937, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn’t be more different: Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid. Both are beautiful, modern, and carefree . . . until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides.

As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the Chinese countryside, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the shores of America. In Los Angeles they begin a fresh chapter, trying to find love with the strangers they have married, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, and striving to embrace American life even as they fight against discrimination, brave Communist witch hunts, and find themselves hemmed in by Chinatown’s old ways and rules.

At its heart, Shanghai Girls is a story of sisters: Pearl and May are inseparable best friends who share hopes, dreams, and a deep connection, but like sisters everywhere they also harbor petty jealousies and rivalries. They love each other, but eachknows exactly where to drive the knife to hurt the other the most. Along the way they face terrible sacrifices, make impossible choices, and confront a devastating, life-changing secret, but through it all the two heroines of this astounding new novel hold fast to who they are–Shanghai girls.