Book: We Have Always Lived In A Castle

 Book: We Have Always Lived In A Castle

Author: Shirley Jackson

Pages: 146

This is my 215th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Since the mysterious death their family, the superstitious Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood, her ailing wheelchair-bound uncle, Julian, and agoraphobic sister Constance have lived in a contented state of isolation, secluding themselves from the taunting villagers.  But when cousin Charles arrives in search of the Blackwood fortune, a terrible family secret is revealed.  

This was an okay book.  Not as good as I was hoping.  I read if for a reading challenge.  It was short and uncomplicated and I finished it in a few hours.  Started out okay - but then got sluggish.  It is slow moving with no real buildup - just a lot of bullying.  Ending was disappointing.

Stars: 3

Book: Three Sisters

 Book: Three Sisters

Author: Heather Morris

Pages: 402

This is the 214th read for the year

Amazon says:

Against all odds, three Solvakian sisters have survived years of imprisonment in the most notorious death camp in Nazi Germany: Auschwitz.  Livia, Magda, and Cibi have clung together, nearly died from starvation and overwork, and the brutal whims of the guards in this place of horror.  But now, the allies are closing in and the sisters have one last hurdle to face: the death march from Auschwitz, as the Nazis try to erase any evidence of the prisoners held there.  Due to a last minute stroke of luck, the three of them are able to escape formation and hide in the woods for days before being rescued.  And this is where the story begins.  From there, the three sisters travel to Israel, to their new ome, but the battle for freedom takes on new forms.  Livia, Magda, and Cibi must face the ghosts of their past - and some secrets that they have kept from each other - to find true peace and happiness.

This book was okay.  I really liked her other two books, so I had high hopes for this one.  The first half of the book was good.  It is detailed and hard to read about their time in the camps.  The second half fell flat for me.  It jumps ahead so quickly - marriages, babies, moving.....just seemed almost unrealistic.  It was like she told what she wanted to tell in the first half and then pieced together the second to make the book longer.  It became a chore to finish it.  I lost all interest in what was happening to the sisters by the end of the book and was just glad to be done with it.  It is based on a true story, but how much?  Not sure.

Stars: 3.

Book: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

 Book: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Author: Barbara Kingsolver

Pages: 432

This is my 213th read for the year

Amazon says:

America has long been a nation of farmers.  But within the past several decades, our food supply has become dependent on transportation that burns fossil fuels and on increasingly fewer varieties of vegetables and animals.  In a single generation, most Americans have lost their knowledge of agriculture and the natral processes that are a part of our food chain.  But while food is cheap, we pay for it in other ways, including shorter life spans for our children, argues Barbara Kingsolver.  Determined to integrate their food choices with their family values, Kingsolver and her family moved from suburban Arizon to a rural Appalachia, and embarked on an adventure of realigning their lives with the food chain.  Part memoir, part journalistic invetigation, it follows the family through the first year of their experiment.  They learn from other committed citizens who are trying to turn the tide in their communities, from organic farmers to members of the Slow Food movemnt who are doing their best to protect our foods against extinction and return us to a way of life that is better for our health, our wallets, and our environment.

This book was excellent.  Barbara Kingsolver is a gifter writer, and her non-fiction books are no exception.  I really enjoyed this look into her personal life and her personal quest to eat better, better the environment, and truly stick to her purpose - to eat only what she could get locally.  The book will make you hungry and you will want to run out and buy seeds and start your own movement after you hear her passion.  The whole family was on board - even her youngest.

I am so glad I found this book.  I read if for a reading challenge, and it did not disappoint.  I could not put it down.

Stars: 5

Book: The Cabin In The Woods

 Book: The Cabin In The Woods

Author: Sarah Alderson

Pages: 400

This is my 212th read for the year

Amazon Says:

In a cabine in a wood, A woman by the window stood.  Glancing out, she thought she heard.  Footsteps, whistling, somethig stirred.  Hiding here, she fears the night, for what's done in the dark will come to light.

This was a pretty good book.  Better than I expected it to be.  There were a few twists in there I didn't see coming, and that kept the story moving along at a good pace.  I listened to this one, and I consider it a great audiobook.  Characters were developed nicely.  The people that helped Rose when she was in the cabine were some of the best characters.  The ending was okay - I would have liked a bit better.  Writing was overall good.  Glad I read this one and I might try a few of her other books.

Stars: 4  

Book: The Wild Robot

 Book: The Wild Robot

Author: Peter Brown

Pages: 320

This is my 211th book for the year

Amazon says:

Can a robot survive in the wilderness?  When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island.  She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is - but she knows she needs to survive.  After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.  As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home - until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.  

This was a cute book.  We had recently see the movie and it was quite the tear jerker.  I was curious about the books.  This is again a young to middle grade book, and written for that age group.  Writing is still pretty good.  In this case I need to say that the movie was better.  I liked the story of Roz and the Gossling Brightbill in the movie much better than in the book.  And Roz was much more of a hero in the movie.  Overall - glad I read it.

Stars: 4

Book: Cirque Du Freak - Allies of the Night

 Book: Cirque Du Freak

Author: Darren Shan

Pages: 196

This is my 210th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Darren Shan, Vampire Prince and Vampaneze killer, faces his worst nightmare yet - school.  But homework is the least of Darren's problems.  Bodies are piling up.  Time is running out.  And the past is catching up with the hunters fast.

Why didn't I start with the first book do you ask?  Well this one fit a challenge, and honestly - because it is a middle grade book - it made little difference.  This book was fine.  It is a quick read with a thin plot as you would imagine for this age group.  It has some twists and turns and a little love story thrown in.  Not much else to say.

Stars: 3

Book: The Baker's Secret

 Book: The Baker's Secret

Author: Stephen Kiernan

Pages: 336

This is my 209th read for the year

Amazon says:

On June 5th, 1944, as dawn rises over a small town on the Normandy coast of France, Emmanuelle is making the bread that has sustained her fellow villagers in the dark days since the Germans invaded her country.  Only 22, Emma learned to bake at the side of a master, Ezra Kuchen, the village baker since before she was born.  Apprenticed to Ezra at 13, Emma watched with shame and anger as her kind mentor was forced to wear the siz-pointed yellow star on his clothing.  She was liekwise powerless to help when they pulled Ezra from his shop at gunpoint, the first of many villagers stolen away and never seen again.  In the years that her sleepy coastal village has suffered under the enemy, Emma has silently, stealthily fought back.  Each day, she receives an extra ration of flour to bake a dozen baguettes for the occupying troops.  And each day, she mixes that pcious flour with ground straw to creat enough dogu for 2 extra loaves - contraband bread she shares with the hungry villagers.  Under the cold, watchful eyes of armed soldiers, she builds a clandestine network of barter and trade that she and the villagers use to thwart their occupiers.  

This book was fine.  I read it for a reading challenge where the main character is a baker.  She is, but this book is more about WWII and Germany's invasion of France.  I was hoping it was going to be more than just another WWII book, but it really wasn't.  The writing was choppy.  And there wasn't a lot of character developement.

Stars: 3