Fagin The Thief

 Book: Fagin the Thief

Author: Allison Epstein

Pages: 336

This is my 51st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Long before Oliver Twist stumbled onto the scene, Jacob Fagin was scratching out a life for himself in the dark alleys of 19th centur London.  Born in the Jewish enclave of Stephney shortly after his father was executed as a thief, Jacob's whole world is his open-minded mother, Leah.  But Jacob's prospects are forever altered when a light-fingered pickpocket takse Jacob under his wing and teaches him a trade that pays far better than the neighborhood boys could possibly dream.  Striking out on his own, Jacob familiarizes himself with London's highest value neighborhoods while forging his own path in the shadows.  But everthing changes when he adopts an aspiring teenage thief named Bill Sikes, whose mercurial temper poses a dnager to himself and anyone foolish enough to cross him.  Along the way, Jacob's found family expands to include his closest friend, Nancy, and his greatest protege, the Artful Dodger.  But as Bill's ambition soars and a major robbery goes awry, Jacob is forced to decide what he really stands for-and what a life is worth.  

This book was just okay.  My husabnd bought it because we both have been enjoying "The Artful Dodger" on Disney for a few seasons.  However, Fagin is my least favorite character on that show, and this book is a replication of that.  Also - the Artful Dodger is only a very small part of this story.  I finished it, but found it dry and boring.

Stars: 2.5 

Book: The Dressmaker's Gift

 Book: The Dressmaker's Gift

Author: Fiona Valpy

Pages: 287

This is my 50th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Paris, 1940.  With the city occupied by the Nazis, 3 young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can.  But all 3 are hiding secrets.  War-scarred Mireille is fighting with the Resistance; Claire has been seduced by a German officer; and Vivienne's involvement is something she can't reveal to either of them.  2 Generations later, Claire's English granddaughter Harriet arrives in Paris, rootless and adrift, desperate to find a connection with her past.  Living and working in the same building on the Rue Cardniale, she learns the truth about her grandmother - and herself - and unravels a family history that is darker and more painful than she ever imagined.  In wartime, the 3 seamstresses face impossible choices when their secret activities put them in grave danger.  Brought together by loyalty, threatened by betrayal, can they survive history's darkest era without being torn apart?

Stars: 3.5

Book: Lisa and David

 Book: Lisa and David

Author: Theodor Isaac Rubin

Pages: 144

This is my 49th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

2 stories about children who are emotionally different.  Jordi has trouble trusting others and is afraid of a lot of things.  With the help of a committed teacher he learns to trust and to distinguish between things that are harmless and those that may not be.  David is an aloof child who isn't interested in other people, but he becoems fascinated with Lisa, who speaks in rhyme and appears to have a second personality.

I read this book because it is on the Rory Gilmore list that I am working my way through.  It was decent.  IT is very short - read it in a few hours.  It says at the beginning of the book that Jordi wasn't a person but a representative of children who were like how he is represented in this book.  Lisa and David story was interesting and I understand it was a movie.  Might check it out.

Stars: 3

Book: The Women of Arlington Hall

 Book: The Women of Arlington Hall

Author: Jane Healey

Pages: 335

This is my 48th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

1947: Adventurous Radcliffe graduate Catherine Kileen cancels her wedding and upends a future that no longer suits her.  At the behest of her professor and hungry for a challenge, Cat arrives in Virginia to work on a confidential military project.  A student in cryptoanalysis, Cat is already ahead of the game - to assist in rooting out Soviet spices who have infiltrated the US.  Joining the government girls of Arlington Hall, Cat gains the respect of her superiors and the friendship of her peers.  Then, on a night out in DC, Cat runs into Jonathan Dardis, her arrogant and privileged Harvard rival and newly minted agent for the FBI.  What Cat and Jonathan share is a competitive drive and an attraction that's becoming just as spirited.  They're also united in the same critical goal for America.  Together, they're diving deep into the shads of espionage.  The stakes of the codebreaking operation grow ever higher, and Cat's relationship with Jonathn opens her heart.  Amid dangerous intigue and grave secrecy, Cat is ready for every risk - no matter how personal the stakes get 

This book was fine.  I wanted to like it more than I did.  I really liked the parts of the book where the Arlington Hall goverment girls worked closely on an espionage case.  Reading the author's note she based a lot of her characters on real people and some on actual people and their actual work.  Where the book lost me was two places.  One - I didn't find it overly well written.  And 2 - this became much more of a relationship/love story book than a work of the Government Girls.  More time was spent on this book with their activities outside of work than in, so it wasn't what I was hoping for.

Stars: 3

Book: Waiting for Godot

 Book: Waiting for Godot

Author: Samuel Beckett

Pages: 128

This is the 47th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The story revolves around 2 seemingly homeless men waiting for someone - or something - named Godot.   Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree, inhabiting a drama spun of theirown consciousness.  The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as mankind's inexhausitble search for meaning.  Beckett's language pioneered an expressionistic minimalism that captured the existential post-World War II Europe.  His play remians one of the most magical and beautiful allegories of our time.

This was better than I expected.  I read it for the Rory Gilmore challenge, and really didn't know much about it except that Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves recently performed it on Broadway.  I listened to it, and it was a good way to absorb this little book.  Quick listen with less than 2 hours of ime and a fun yet tragic story.  Glad I read it.

Stars: 4

Book: The Ferryman and his Wife

 Book: The Ferryman and His Wife

Author: Frode Grytten

Pages: 176

This is my 46th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Nils Vik wakes up on November the 18th and knows it will be the day he dies.  He follows his morning routine as voices from his past echo in his mind, and looks around the empty house one last time, before stepping onto his beloved boat.  His dog, dead these many years, leaps aboard with him, and then the other dead begin to emerge - from the woods along the fjord, from eah of the ferry stops along the route, from his logbook full of memories and quotations and jotted-down notes about the weather conditions.  The people from the past accompany him now, prodding him, showing him what he might have missed before, as he waits for his Marta, his late, remarkable wife, to finally join him on the boat again.  This is a novel about what we take with us - those moments that might seem insignificant as they happen but prove to be the most meaningful, in the end.

This was a really good little book.  I had seen it recommended for a reading challenge and decided to give it a try and I am glad I did.  Very well written with a great message about who and what we will remember when our life is near its end.  It is a quick read, and this version was well translated.  Check it out.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Snow In Love

 Book: Snow In Love

Author: Aimee Friedman

Pages: 222

This is my 45th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

What's better than one delicioiusly cozy, swoon-worthy holiday story?  4 of them, from some of today's bestselling authors.  From Kasie West, a snowy road trip takes an unexpected detour when secrets and cruses are reveals.  From Amiee Friedman, a Hanukkah miracle may just happen when a Jewish girl working as a department store elf finds love.  From Melissa De La Cruz, Christmas Eve gets a plot twist when a high school couple exchange surprising presents.  From Nic Stone, a scavenger hunt amid the holiday crowds at an airport turns totally romantic.

For people who read my reviews, you will find that I read some off the wall stuff to fill challenge categories on book challenges I am working on for the year with various people.  Sometimes I find some really good books that I would have not read otherwise.  Othertimes....I find these kind of books.  I needed a book with a fireplace that also took place in winter.  So - here we are.  The first story was actually pretty good.  Then they went downhill and the last one was remarkably bad.  Ah well.

Stars: 2.5