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 Rebecca Berlin has grown up listening to her grandmother, Gemma, tell her the story of Briar Rose, better known as Sleeping Beauty. When Gemma falls ill and dies, her last request to Rebecca is to find the truth in the story, and Rebecca sets out to discover the story of her grandmother’s past. She discovers a link to the Holocaust and a moving story of a true sleeping beauty.
Ever since I discovered Robin McKinley, I’ve been in love with the fairy tale feel her books have, and when I found this YA novel, I thought it was a great place to branch out. This book is just stunning. It’s short, but packs so much in that it’s almost unbelievable. Through the medium of the fairy tale, told through the novel, Rebecca makes these shocking, moving discoveries about the Holocaust that blew me away. She has very few clues about her grandmother’s past, but as she pieces the story together she realizes that she must go to Poland; she has only fragments of the true thread of the story. And it’s in Poland that the story really comes together. I don’t want to give it away, so I can’t say much more than that about it.
In truth, since the book is so short, the characters aren’t fleshed out very well and the plot has some convenient elements to it, like people that just turn up because they have all the missing pieces, but all of that really doesn’t matter. As a reader, you’re far too caught up in the tale Yolen is weaving to care very much about Rebecca and her sisters. What this book does is apply a fairy tale to one of the most horrible events in recent human history, making a connection that brings home the tragedy of it all. The book left me feeling sad, but somehow hopeful that we can avoid this in the future. Briar Rose is a tragically beautiful book that educates as it tugs on your heartstrings.
Wonderful book. I doubt I’ve even come close to conveying why everyone should read it, but they should.
Buy Briar Rose on Amazon.
 Tecumseh Sparrow Spivet is a twelve-year-old genius living on a farm in the midwest. His mother, Dr. Clair, is a scientist searching for a rare beetle. His father is a farmer and cowboy. T.S. likes to think of himself as a mapmaker. He doesn’t just draw maps of land, though, he draws maps of everything from facial expressions to gunshots. One day, he takes a phone call from the Smithsonian Institute and discovers that he has been selected for the prestigious Baird award, for which his friend Dr. Yorn has nominated him. That phone call prompts T.S. to sneak on trains in his quest to get to Washington, D.C., to give a speech and accept his award. Along the way, he meets a number of strange characters and makes a series of important realizations about his life, his age, and most importantly, his family.
I’m not sure there are words to describe how I felt about this book. I haven’t seen many blog reviews around and I’m really wondering why. This book is phenomenal. T.S. is a stunning character. He is clearly a genius but clearly a child at the same time; he makes amazing conclusions but then his child-logic can’t always keep up with his scientific mind. I found this fascinating. I’m no genius, but I truly felt that with T.S. I was having a peek into the mind of someone like Stephen Hawking, although much more understandable.
This book isn’t for people who dislike footnotes, though. Me, I love footnotes, and this book is full of them, although usually on the sides, along with T.S.’s maps and observations. In my opinion, these little asides added immeasurably to the main story even if they required me to read a little bit slower. They flesh out this little boy’s world and show us how he works, who he is friends with, and sometimes illuminate larger questions in the novel; for example, his facial diagrams allow us to see the way his father appears when he looks at T.S. in a way that words could not really match. The maps allow us to slowly feel the depths of pain which T.S. has been experiencing since his brother, Layton, killed himself; so much is revealed in that sibling relationship not through words, but through the implied sharing and affection in certain maps and footnotes. My favorite of all of the asides, though, was probably the three-prong diagram of why McDonald’s appeals to adolescent boys.
I also really, really loved the backstory behind T.S.’s family which is covered towards the middle of the book in sections which were from a notebook T.S. stole from his mother. Having had no inkling of his mother’s writing talent, T.S. is startled to discover that she has been writing a novel of the life of one of his ancestors. I loved this story-within-a-story, both because it felt like historical fiction, my favorite genre, and because it revealed so much to T.S. about his mother, who has many more secrets than she lets on. I can’t say that it moved the plot forward, but I never minded at all.
In the end, this was a wonderful, quirky, endearing story about a boy who figures out what his family means to him and, in the meantime, starts to grow up on his journey east. It might not be for everyone, considering the lengthy footnotes and digressions from the main plot, but I loved every minute, especially after T.S. sets off. I was in the mood for an ambitious story and I certainly got one. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
This book is available from Amazon and Amazon UK. I also highly recommend checking out the book’s website. It’s very cool and may give you a better insight into the book’s personality. If you have already, it has just been updated, with a special song written just for T.S.’s sister Gracie, so it’s definitely worth another look!
 Harriet, Duchess of Berrow, has been at a loss ever since her husband killed himself. She has found herself playing the role of dumpy country widow at all society gatherings and she realizes that she’s tired of it. She wants to be more than that. When the opportunity to attend Lord Justinian Strange’s house parties presents itself, Harriet goes for it. She dresses as a man to hide her true identity, but when she meets Jem, Lord Strange, she certainly feels anything but manly.
I’m a little torn about this book. I enjoyed it a lot more than I did the last book I read by Eloisa James, Desperate Duchesses. The focus was definitely on the couple and I enjoyed their love story to a certain extent. I cared about most of the characters, especially Jem’s daughter, which was a little odd because normally I prefer my romances without children in them. I don’t have kids and have trouble relating when they’re involved; they’re important to relationships, but I’m not reading these books for real life. I liked this one, though.
I could easily understand Harriet’s love of freedom in her men’s outfit. She could fence, ride like a man, and enjoy freedoms women couldn’t imagine at the time. It was also very amusing when all the female house guests developed crushes. I couldn’t really get on with Jem, Lord Strange, though. His personality isn’t really revealed until the end of the book and I found it hard to reconcile his behavior with his back story.
I’m torn mainly because I found the ending unrealistic. Jem basically changes to please Harriet and I don’t find that satisfactory at all. I know that I’m supposed to be suspending disbelief, but I just can’t do that here. A relationship will not work if you force someone to give up their former life to be with you. While he chose it in the end, I didn’t see it as a viable relationship, and that bothers me in romance novels. I want to at least imagine a happily ever after. This one had an epilogue, but I still felt that such a change would breed resentment.
So, I liked it up until the end, really. Eloisa James isn’t going to be my favorite romance author, but her books are still providing me with entertainment I need when I can’t focus on much else.
Buy Duchess By Night on Amazon.
Remember how I said I was overwhelmed with exams/essays/wrapping up my foreseeable academic career, aside from my dissertation, this month? It certainly felt that way, but you’d never know from my reading! Numbers correspond to total books read in 2009.
65. Breaking Dawn – Stephenie Meyer
66. The Sugar Queen – Sarah Addison Allen
67. Thirteen Reasons Why – Jay Asher
68. The Red Siren – M.L. Tyndall
69. The Love We Share Without Knowing – Christopher Barzak
70. Palace Circle – Rebecca Dean
71. Briar Rose – Jane Yolen
72. Wicked Lovely – Melissa Marr
73. The Traitor’s Wife – Susan Higginbotham
74. Queen’s Cross – Lawrence Schoonover
75. Simply Perfect – Mary Balogh
76. What Would Jane Austen Do? – Laurie Brown
77. Frenchman’s Creek – Daphne du Maurier
78. Old Man’s War – John Scalzi
79. Dead Until Dark – Charlaine Harris
80. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever – Julia Quinn
81. Living Dead in Dallas – Charlaine Harris
82. Oakleaf Bearers – John Flanagan
83. And Only to Deceive – Tasha Alexander
84. Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales – Eleanor Bluestein
85. Hotel du Lac – Anita Brookner
86. The Wonder Singer – George Rabasa
87. Follow Me – Joanna Scott
88. How to Marry a Marquis – Julia Quinn
89. The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet – Reif Larsen
90. The Host – Stephenie Meyer
91. The Last Queen – C.W. Gortner
I completely outdid myself this month. I read 27 books, which is the most ever. You’d think I’d stop reading when I had stressful things to get done. Nope, I just read more. Although I had reason, considering I had a flight on which I read maybe four books and during the 24 hour read-a-thon I finished 5 and later completed a 6th. The funniest part is that I was truly shocked. For most of this month, I felt I had no time to read, and while I do keep a list, I didn’t look at it much until composing this post today. It’s very strange how my perception of reality did not tally at all with actual reality.
I’m also absurdly pleased with myself because in the month of April, I added just 8 books to my TBR pile and managed to clear a massive 22 from it. That’s a net loss of 14, which for someone like me is awesome! I guess I had time to read but not any time to visit the bookstore.
It’s also virtually impossible to pick a favorite. I’d probably recommend anything on that list up there, with perhaps the exception of The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Breaking Dawn, or Palace Circle. I enjoyed everything else. I’ve gotten really good at picking out what I like and sticking to it.
Today, I’m going to start The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo. I’m also really looking forward to discussing The English Patient with my online book club later on. Keith and I are also going to watch more of LOST. We’re 6 episodes away from the end of season 1 and avoiding spoilers has gotten much more difficult now that I know who many of the characters are and actually have an interest!
First, though, time to get some work done.
How was your reading month?
 Hyacinth Bridgerton is the last unwed Bridgerton daughter. A good friend of Lady Danbury, Hyacinth is clever, snarky, and isn’t afraid to put men and women in their places. As a result, her family frets over her ever finding someone who can put up with her independent, knowing nature. Enter Gareth St. Clair, a man with serious family problems who doesn’t realize there is a gap in his life. When he is given his dead grandmother’s diary, he realizes that it may reveal the secrets of his past, but the diary is in Italian. Lucky for him, Hyacinth can read Italian. Working together with the diary, these two realize that they may work well together in other ways, too.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that this is the weakest of the Bridgerton novels. Hyacinth and Gareth didn’t sparkle together quite as much as the other couples, which is peculiar considering Hyacinth always has the best comebacks and snappy put-downs. Part of the premise is that she’s tongue-tied around Gareth, more so than usual, because she has a crush on him. It’s cute and endearing, but it’s not really like her, so it was a little hard to adjust to the new Hyacinth. That said, this book is better than any of the other romance novels I’ve read lately. Gareth and Hyacinth deal with real and sweet emotional issues. I also like that they fall in love what I’d consider typically. Gradual close contact -> slow realization of feelings -> engagement. In this sense, it’s probably the most conventional of all her works so far, but still very enjoyable.
Also, it cracked me up when Hyacinth and Lady Danbury were reading aloud the horrible trashy novels of the day. Felt a little bit like Quinn was making fun of herself, knowing full well that she’s writing what are considered the trashy novels of our day (even if I like them and don’t think so, you can get far worse than this). I like that. I was also really amused by the Bridgerton family as always. Their interactions are among the funniest that I have ever read.
This is the last Bridgerton book for me (I already read the last one, On the Way to the Wedding) and I’m sad to end the series, but I still have a lot more of Quinn’s backlog to find and read. And she’s still writing, so I can’t complain!
Buy It’s In His Kiss on Amazon.
 Not only has her fiance dumped her, but when Eleanor Pottinger gets to her hotel in England for a Jane Austen festival, she has no reservation. She’s given a tower which is reputedly haunted. Much to Eleanor’s dismay, the tower deserves its reputation, and in the middle of the night she encounters sisters Deirdre and Mina, ghosts who send her back in time to ensure that one of them is not compromised so that their brother will not be killed in a duel. Not only must Eleanor contend with strange conversation, dancing, and dining, but she must figure out who is the villain, and then avoid falling in love with him. Her only solace? Asking herself what Jane Austen would do, and more so, meeting her idol!
I’m not sure I so much expected straight romance from this, but I didn’t mind that it was a major part of the book. This is especially so since I really liked the frame story. Eleanor is a fantastic, funny character who has had her confidence knocked out from under her. She spends a lot of the story getting it back, as well as falling in love with dastardly man who supposedly compromises one of the sisters. She learns pretty quickly that things are NOT what they seem. She only has a few interactions with Jane Austen, but the theme of Austen’s advice is woven through the story fairly effectively.
One thing I didn’t particularly like, and I feel a little nitpicky for this, as I always am, was Eleanor’s obviously 21st century thoughts mixed in with all the Regency stuff. Calling Sherborne “yummy” was slightly disconcerting! Clearly women call attractive men yummy in this day and age, but it felt weird in the parts which felt like they were from a historical romance. Honestly, I don’t even know if that should bother me, and I probably needed the reminder that Eleanor is from the future! I also felt there was a little too much physical expression of said love story for my taste, but again, that is just my taste. I didn’t find it unbelievable, which is usually the case with romances like that, since there is enough character going on here to make me feel they were drawn to each other, but could have done with a little less.
Regardless, this book is a lot of fun. It is very sweet. I loved watching Eleanor adjust and get her confidence back. I loved the interactions with Jane Austen and how the story of the necklace and the time traveling parts went full circle. The ending was adorable. I have to say, I’d really recommend this, although I’d probably warn a non-romance reader. It’s still so much fun and has a lot of appeal for those who like Jane Austen, chick lit, and really any quick, sweet read!
Buy What Would Jane Austen Do? on Amazon.
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