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birdienl.livejournal.com2013-06-04 12:13 am
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May reads
Waiting for Summer's return - Kim Vogel Sawyer 3/5
Summer Steadman has lost everything. Her husband and children died on the plains of Kansas and she has no home to return to. When local miller Peter Ollenburger asks her to teach his injured son, it seems to her simply the only option available. But unexpectedly, Summer begins to enjoy the quit life in the Ollenburger house and the friendship of father and son.
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moredetails was reading a Vogel Sawyer book recently and was grumbling about her overtly Christian writing style. I, though believing you should take Vogel Sawyer in small portions only, did not have a problem with this in Waiting for Summer's return. I really liked the characters and most of all Peter, what a wonderfully atypical hero. I also liked the interesting historical background of Mennonites in the 19th century, which was present very subtly, not like some in-your-face Amish novels. And I really liked reading about a relationship grounded in a firm friendship (in stead of some relationships in Christian fiction, starting with physical attraction from the first page.
Jane Austen made me do it - Laurel Ann Natress and others 4/5
This collection of Jane Austen-inspired short stories contains contributions as different as ghost stories, sequels of Austen's novels, 'missing scenes' and a story about Jane Austen's cat. Of course, with such a diversity of stories, it's impossible to like them all, but I enjoyed a great deal of them. My favourites where the stories taking place in the Regency era, which were all written with historical insight and a good grasp of Austen's characters. I was missing some more 'modernized adaptations' of the Austen novels, which I have a weakness for...
Crusade in Jeans - Thea Beckman 5/5
A reread, for an article I wrote for the online magazine Femnista. Thea Beckman was my top favourite author in my teens and Crusade in Jeans her most famous book. In the book, teenager and history lover Dolf Wega agrees to test a time machine and ends up in the middle of the Children's Crusade of the early 13th century. Believing himself unable to return to the 20th century, he decides to go with the children to Jerusalem and uses his modern knowledge to make their journey better organised.
What a wonderful blast from the past this reread was. A book written for teenagers which was still every bit as good as when I read it over 10 years ago. It totally transports the reader to the Middle Ages and connects you with interesting and loveable characters. Beckman manages to show multiple sides of medieval life in her narrative and contrasts it with our modern lives through the eyes of Dolf. I'm hooked anew and hope to reread more of Beckman's novels in the near future!
A distant melody - Sarah Sundin 4/5
Plain and reserved Allie Miller meets Air Force lieutenant Walter Novak at a friend's wedding and though she has a steady boyfriend, Allie decides to write with Walt. Through his letters, she finds the courage to shake off her parent's expectations and grow in her faith. But unwillingly, Allie and Walt start to feel more and more for each other.
Yay, a great 'new' Christian author writing about WWII! I loved A distant melody, it's characters felt so realistic, the atmosphere of '40s life was painted wonderfully. The idea of the two main characters getting to know each other through letters was wonderfully executed. I thought the end was perhaps a bit over-dramatized, but all in all a great start to a WWII trilogy, which I most certainly will read the next two books of.
Eat, pray, love - Elizabeth Gilbert 3/5
Elizabeth Gilbert writes honestly about the crisis in her life when she divorced her husband and went through a deep depression and how she decided to travel for a year to Italy, India and Indonesia.
I won this book two years ago. Since then it's been gathering dust on my bookshelf, until I gathered up the courage to read it. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Gilbert mixes her personal journey with observations about the cultures she gets to know. Especially the first part of the book, about life in Italy was quite funny and interesting. I cannot agree with most of the spiritual ideas Gilbert describes in this book and can hardly understand that it was this which made the book so popular. Well, I read it and I gave it away. Room for a better book on my shelf!
Rose in Bloom - Louisa May Alcott 4/5
In the sequel to Eight Cousins, Rose Campbell has grown into a young woman and must learn to life a good life with her wealth and budding romantic feelings.
A little more serious than Eight Cousins, I liked this book more, simply because it felt more mature and less like a collection of vignettes. I liked young adult Rose and the way you really get to know her in this book. Sometimes heroines from classic novels (with the exception of Jane Eyre) can feel somewhat distant, but that was not the case for this book. I was a bit disappointing at how the passing of one of the characters was layed-out, it didn't feel like it changed the other main characters that much.
Books read in May: 6
Books read in 2013: 26
Summer Steadman has lost everything. Her husband and children died on the plains of Kansas and she has no home to return to. When local miller Peter Ollenburger asks her to teach his injured son, it seems to her simply the only option available. But unexpectedly, Summer begins to enjoy the quit life in the Ollenburger house and the friendship of father and son.
I know
moredetails was reading a Vogel Sawyer book recently and was grumbling about her overtly Christian writing style. I, though believing you should take Vogel Sawyer in small portions only, did not have a problem with this in Waiting for Summer's return. I really liked the characters and most of all Peter, what a wonderfully atypical hero. I also liked the interesting historical background of Mennonites in the 19th century, which was present very subtly, not like some in-your-face Amish novels. And I really liked reading about a relationship grounded in a firm friendship (in stead of some relationships in Christian fiction, starting with physical attraction from the first page.Jane Austen made me do it - Laurel Ann Natress and others 4/5
This collection of Jane Austen-inspired short stories contains contributions as different as ghost stories, sequels of Austen's novels, 'missing scenes' and a story about Jane Austen's cat. Of course, with such a diversity of stories, it's impossible to like them all, but I enjoyed a great deal of them. My favourites where the stories taking place in the Regency era, which were all written with historical insight and a good grasp of Austen's characters. I was missing some more 'modernized adaptations' of the Austen novels, which I have a weakness for...
Crusade in Jeans - Thea Beckman 5/5
A reread, for an article I wrote for the online magazine Femnista. Thea Beckman was my top favourite author in my teens and Crusade in Jeans her most famous book. In the book, teenager and history lover Dolf Wega agrees to test a time machine and ends up in the middle of the Children's Crusade of the early 13th century. Believing himself unable to return to the 20th century, he decides to go with the children to Jerusalem and uses his modern knowledge to make their journey better organised.
What a wonderful blast from the past this reread was. A book written for teenagers which was still every bit as good as when I read it over 10 years ago. It totally transports the reader to the Middle Ages and connects you with interesting and loveable characters. Beckman manages to show multiple sides of medieval life in her narrative and contrasts it with our modern lives through the eyes of Dolf. I'm hooked anew and hope to reread more of Beckman's novels in the near future!
A distant melody - Sarah Sundin 4/5
Plain and reserved Allie Miller meets Air Force lieutenant Walter Novak at a friend's wedding and though she has a steady boyfriend, Allie decides to write with Walt. Through his letters, she finds the courage to shake off her parent's expectations and grow in her faith. But unwillingly, Allie and Walt start to feel more and more for each other.
Yay, a great 'new' Christian author writing about WWII! I loved A distant melody, it's characters felt so realistic, the atmosphere of '40s life was painted wonderfully. The idea of the two main characters getting to know each other through letters was wonderfully executed. I thought the end was perhaps a bit over-dramatized, but all in all a great start to a WWII trilogy, which I most certainly will read the next two books of.
Eat, pray, love - Elizabeth Gilbert 3/5
Elizabeth Gilbert writes honestly about the crisis in her life when she divorced her husband and went through a deep depression and how she decided to travel for a year to Italy, India and Indonesia.
I won this book two years ago. Since then it's been gathering dust on my bookshelf, until I gathered up the courage to read it. It wasn't as bad as I thought. Gilbert mixes her personal journey with observations about the cultures she gets to know. Especially the first part of the book, about life in Italy was quite funny and interesting. I cannot agree with most of the spiritual ideas Gilbert describes in this book and can hardly understand that it was this which made the book so popular. Well, I read it and I gave it away. Room for a better book on my shelf!
Rose in Bloom - Louisa May Alcott 4/5
In the sequel to Eight Cousins, Rose Campbell has grown into a young woman and must learn to life a good life with her wealth and budding romantic feelings.
A little more serious than Eight Cousins, I liked this book more, simply because it felt more mature and less like a collection of vignettes. I liked young adult Rose and the way you really get to know her in this book. Sometimes heroines from classic novels (with the exception of Jane Eyre) can feel somewhat distant, but that was not the case for this book. I was a bit disappointing at how the passing of one of the characters was layed-out, it didn't feel like it changed the other main characters that much.
Books read in May: 6
Books read in 2013: 26