So Many Books, So Little Time

Synopsis: Now is the winter of our discontent, Made glorious summer by This Son of York…” — William Shakespeare, Richard III Richard III was Anne’s muse for her first five books, but, finally, in This Son of York he becomes her protagonist. The story of this English king is one of history’s most compelling, made even more fascinating through the discovery in 2012 of his bones buried under a car park in Leicester. This new portrait of England’s most controversial king is meticulously researched and brings to vivid life the troubled, complex Richard of Gloucester, who ruled for two years over an England tired of war and civil strife. The loyal and dutiful youngest son of York, Richard lived most of his short life in the shadow of his brother, Edward IV, loyally supporting his sibling until the mantle of power was thrust unexpectedly on him. Some of his actions and motives were misunderstood by his enemies to have been a deliberate usurpation of the throne, but thr...

Synopsis:  There is Always a Tomorrow is the ninth book in Anna Belfrage’s time slip series featuring time traveller Alexandra Lind and her seventeenth century husband, Matthew Graham. It is 1692 and the Colony of Maryland is still adapting to the consequences of Coode’s Rebellion some years previously. Religious tolerance in the colony is now a thing of the past, but safe in their home, Alex and Matthew Graham have no reason to suspect they will become embroiled in the ongoing religious conflicts—until one of their sons betrays their friend Carlos Muñoz to the authorities. Matthew Graham does not leave his friends to rot—not even if they’re papist priests—so soon enough most of the Graham family is involved in a rescue attempt, desperate to save Carlos from a sentence that may well kill him. Meanwhile, in London little Rachel is going through hell. In a matter of months she loses everything, even her surname, as apparently her father is not Master Cooke but o...

Please follow Anna Belfrage as her beloved Graham Saga series is blasted around the blogosphere and enter to win Books #1-8! About The Graham Saga Series This is the story of Alex and Matthew, two people who should never have met - not when she was born three hundred years after him. It all began the day Alex Lind got caught in a thunderstorm. Not your ordinary storm, no this was the mother of all storms, causing a most unusual rift in the fabric of time. Alex was dragged three centuries backwards in time, landing more or less at the feet of a very surprised Matthew Graham. In a series of books we follow the life and adventures of the expanding Graham family, both in Scotland and in the New World - and let me tell you it is quite an exciting life, at times excessively so in Alex' opinion. Sometimes people ask me why Alex had to be born in the twentieth century, why not make her a woman born and bred in the seventeenth century where the story is set? The answer to that is I have n...

Synopsis: When Liam reluctantly returns to Northern Ireland he learns that not only was his uncle shot to death, but he’d anticipated his own murder. In an astonishing last will and testament, Uncle Fergus has left his entire estate to a secret trust, directing that no distributions be made to any person until the killer is found. Did Fergus know, but refuse to name his killer? Was this a crime of revenge, a vendetta left over from Northern Ireland’s bloody sectarian war? Or is it possible that the killer is a family member seeking Fergus’s estate? Otherwise, why postpone distribution to the heirs? Most menacingly, does the killer now have his sights on other family members? As his investigation draws Liam further and further into the past he had abandoned, he is forced to reopen doors long ago shut. Now accepting the appointment as sole trustee of the Fergus Taggart Trust, Liam realizes he has stepped into the center of a firestorm. My Thoughts:  I LOVE Ronald...

I may have mentioned that I'm kind of obsessed with the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  They are one of my childhood favorites, I've read all the books more times than I can count.  I grew up mostly in Southern California so visiting a Little House museum wasn't really an option.  I know live in the Midwest and all of the museums are within 8 hours (driving distance) from where I live.     The Little House on the Prairie museum is only 2 1/2 hours from my house and I've been dying to go visit.  Every June they have a festival called 'Prairie Days' and this year we were finally able to go!  I've been reading the 'My First Little House' books with her so she's familiar with Laura and Mary and their stories so she was super excited too. The property has an old original schoolhouse, an old original post office and a replica of the cabin Pa built in the Little House on the Prairie book.  I wish I had taken ...

Synopsis: Adam de Guirande has cause to believe the turbulent times are behind him: Hugh Despenser is dead and Edward II is forced to abdicate in favour of his young son. It is time to look forward, to a bright new world in which the young king, guided by his council, heals his kingdom and restores its greatness. But the turmoil is far from over. After years of strife, England in the early months of 1327 is a country in need of stability, and many turn with hope towards the new young king, Edward III. But Edward is too young to rule, so instead it is his mother, Queen Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer, who do the actual governing, much to the dislike of barons such as Henry of Lancaster. In the north, the Scots take advantage of the weakened state of the realm and raid with impunity. Closer to court, it is Mortimer’s increasing powers that cause concerns – both among his enemies, but also for men like Adam, who loves Mortimer dearly, but loves the young kin...

See Me For Who I Am edited by David Chrisinger I stumbled across this book when I was just messing around on Amazon and I am so glad that I found it.  I work in higher education and in my role, I'm working with more student veterans so this was a must read.  My brother is also an Iraq war vet so this hit close to home.  It was absolutely fascinating.  It is a book of essays written by student veterans in a first seminar course and the stories are so profound.  Some of the essays go into detail about deployments while others discuss reintegrating into civilian life and some are just about major moments in the student veterans' lives.  Each essay is very different as each veteran had a different experience during their time in the military.  I feel like I learned a lot from this book and I really think that it's a must read for anyone in higher ed and for anyone who is interested in the veteran experience. 5 stars. A Court of Thorns a...

In the Fall, I posted about taking a Laura Ingalls Wilder course and rereading some of her books.  At that time, the class covered the first four books in the Little House series.  This Spring, I took the second half of the Laura Ingalls Wilder class and we read the last five books in the series.  These books show a more mature Laura and the reader gets to see her get her first job, get married and have a child.  I really enjoyed rereading all of them but there were a few that stood out more than others. Little Town on the Prairie has always been one of my favorites in the series and it still is.  I love the descriptions of life in DeSmet and the creation of Mary's college clothes.  It's such a light-hearted read after the seriousness of The Long Winter and for once Pa and Ma aren't pinching pennies and struggling to make ends meet.  I kind of feel like These Happy Golden Years and Little Town on the Prairie could be one long book...

Synopsis:  To Catch a Falling Star is the eighth book in Anna Belfrage’s series featuring time traveller Alexandra Lind and her seventeenth century husband, Matthew Graham. Some gifts are double-edged swords … For Matthew Graham, being given the gift of his former Scottish manor is a dream come true. For his wife, Alex, this gift will force her to undertake a perilous sea journey, leaving most of their extensive family in the Colony of Maryland. Alex is torn apart by this, but staying behind while her husband travels to Scotland is no option. Scotland in 1688 is a divided country, torn between the papist Stuart king and the foreign but Protestant William of Orange. In the Lowlands, popular opinion is with Dutch William, and Matthew’s reluctance to openly support him does not endear him to his former friends and neighbours. While Matthew struggles to come to terms with the fact that Scotland of 1688 bears little resemblance to his lovingly conserved memories...

From Goodreads:  Joe O’Brien is a forty-four-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and respected officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family’s lives forever: Huntington’s Disease. Huntington’s is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. Each of Joe’s four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father’s disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching her potential future in her father’s escalating symptoms, twenty-one-year-old daughter Katie struggles with the questions this test imposes on her young ...

I had absolutely no intention of ever reading these books.  I really enjoyed Maggie Stiefvater's 'The Wolves of Mercy Falls' series but when The Raven Boys first came out, it did not appeal to me at all.  I heard nothing but good things about and still I didn't want to read it.  I'm always the person who reads something that is super hyped up and doesn't like it and I figured that would happen this time. No matter how much hype I heard about the series, I just wasn't interested...until this Fall.  I don't know what made me do it but finally after years of hearing about this series, I finally gave in and decided to try it.  Why didn't I read it sooner???  The Raven Cycle is weird and creepy and awesome.  I don't really know how to describe it; there are all kinds of unusual things that just boggle my mind but are so cool at the same time.  Maggie Stiefvater is some sort of uber creative evil genius for coming up with this story.  It has ...

Synopsis:  Whither Thou Goest is the seventh book in Anna Belfrage’s series featuring time traveller Alexandra Lind and her seventeenth century husband, Matthew Graham. In their rural home in the Colony of Maryland, Matthew and Alex Graham are still recovering from the awful events of the previous years when Luke Graham, Matthew’s estranged brother, asks them for a favour. Alex has no problems whatsoever ignoring Luke’s sad plea for help. In her opinion Matthew’s brother is an evil excuse of a man who deserves whatever nasty stuff fate throws at him. Except, as Matthew points out, Luke is begging them to save his son – his misled Charlie, one of the Monmouth rebels – and can Charlie Graham be held responsible for his father’s ill deeds? So off they go on yet another adventure, this time to the West Indies to find a young man neither of them knows but who faces imminent death on a sugar plantation, condemned to slavery for treason. The journey is hazardous and a...

A few weeks ago I posted about how I was taking a class on Laura Ingalls Wilder's early works (see the post here ).  The class has ended and I have finished my re-read of the first four 'Little House' books.  I have read each of these books countless times but this was the first time I have read them as an adult. I loved reading these stories again.  The illustrations are beautiful and each book is as wonderful as I remember it being.  I've been trying to come up with a favorite of these four and I just can't.  I do really lean toward Little House on the Prairie because I love the descriptions of the family setting up their homestead but I don't think I could choose a true favorite of these four.  Farmer Boy was a little less fun to read because the edition I read didn't have any illustrations in it; Garth Williams illustrations help make these books great so I was really bummed to realize that the copy of Farmer Boy I got from the library didn't ha...

Picture from www.readingrainbow.com When I was a little girl my aunt bought me a copy of Little House in the Big Woods for a holiday gift (I can't remember what holiday) and I completely fell in love with Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I wish I had a picture of my copy of this book because it is very obvious that it was well-loved.  My aunt continued to buy me each book in the series for holidays and birthdays until I had the full series.  I devoured each book and read them over and over again all the way up through my teen years.  I had the Little House cookbook and a Mary and Laura porcelain doll and I dreamed of living in the pioneer days.  I even read a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder when I was fourth or fifth grade.  I just thought she was awesome. Fast forward to now, I still have my entire set of Little House books and they look much like the picture above.  They are in a box at my mom's house and I can't wait to get them out to share with...