My March reads

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

Erin McCabe – I shall be near to you 4/5
Rosetta has just been married for two short weeks to her Jeremiah when he leaves to fight in the Civil War. When she misses him more than she can bear, Rosetta takes a drastic step and decides to disguise herself as a man to fight beside her husband.

Erin McCabe was fascinated by the accounts of the over 400 women who fought disguised as men in the Civil War and wrote as wonderfully engaging debut novel about the subject. This book is raw and real as we follow Rosetta into the army camps and later the heat of battle. The book being written in the country dialect of Rosetta's farm upbringing makes you feel even closer to the characters.

Julie Klassen – The dancing master 5/5
Dancing master Alec Valcourt is forced to leave his successful business in London behind and move his mother and sister to a Devonshire village Beaworthy where they are to live with their uncle. Alec decides to set up a dancing school in the village but soon finds out there is an unwritten rule against dancing in Beaworthy, coming from the Lady Amelia Midwinter, for reasons buried deep in her past. As Alec reluctantly accepts a position as clerk at the Midwinter estate, he befriends Amelia's daughter Julia and together they try to restore life to the village.

Before reading this, I'd read some mediocre reviews about the newest Julie Klassen, so I went into the book with lowered expectations. But I really liked it! In fact, I think after Lady of Milkweed Manor this is now my second favourite Klassen. I wasn't too fond of Julia or the main romance, but the character of Alec and the supporting cast were wonderful as was the slow unfolding of the secret and the historical background of dancing and fencing masters.

Patrick Carr – A cast of stones 5/5
When the village drunk Errol Stone is asked to deliver and important message to the hermit priest Martin, he has no idea his whole world is about to change. Soon, he is on the run from dangerous assassins and swept up in the power struggle in his country with an old and childless king. Errol also finds out he may be more than just a boy from a backwater village when he discovers he has the powers of a reader.

An amazing start to a new fantasy trilogy. Patrick Carr describes a wonderful and fully realized medieval like world in which we meet many interesting characters. At first I was wary of a fantasy realm with a fully realized church in it, but it works great in A cast of stones. Errol is a great lead, insecure but shrewd and goes through a remarkable development in this first novel. There is a lot left to guess for the reader and the novel ends on a cliff hanger. So that leaves me looking forward to the other two parts in this trilogy even more!!

Jane Tara - The happy endings bookclub 2/5
A group of seven women from London come together once a month to discuss books with a happy ending! But what about the happy endings in their own life?

What a silly book this was. The description sounds fun, maybe not highly original, but still. I love books about books or books about groups of people. But The happy endings bookclub was neither really. It was just a collection of stories from seven different women who just happen to be in the same bookclub. Only at the start and finish of the book do they have a few scenes together, for the rest it's all just seperate stories. And because all the stories are so short, none of the characters really get a chance to develop very well. Some stories have potential, but would be so much better if they were full length or maybe novella length. Other stories are just silly.

Books read in March: 4
Books read in 2014: 16

Comments

[mattiescottage.livejournal.com]

Interesting comments on the "fully functioning church" in fantasy literature. One of the things that typically slows--or hastens--my enjoyment of fantasy is my ability to incorporate somehow into to a messianic understanding of the cosmos.

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

I knew it was a Christian fantasy novel, so I expected an allegorical tale of sorts. I don't mind that at all, I really enjoy it, if it's done well. But placing a church, looking very much like the church in 'our world' in a fantasy realm, I was surprised about that. I thought it would make it less 'fantasy-like' for some reason. But luckily, it worked out very well.