Readin' and Dreamin'

3.5

If you haven't guessed by the synopsis, this is a sort of Jane Eyre retelling. I didn't realize it was when I requested it, so I was stuck with it, hoping that it was a decent story.

And it was. I was surprised. I usually don't read these kinds of fantasy stories, but I think the 'Eyreish' qualities of the story is what kept me focused. And somehow, the book managed to pay homage to Jane Eyre, while still being its own story. Also, the story seems to take place in an alternate past setting. Although never specified, it definitely doesn't take place in current times.

The book was slow going at first, but a little more than halfway through, it started to pickup, and then the action didn't stop. There were a lot of 'holy crap, did that just happen?' moments.

There will be a sequel, and I'm interested in how that's going to go. Perhaps that will be even more of its own story, and less Jane Eyreish.

A nice follow-up to Miss Buncle's Book. Not as charming, but still a clever and amusing book.

Barbara, Miss Buncle, is now a married woman. She and her husband move to a new town to get away from all the annoying obligations to their friends. If the newlyweds are expecting peace and relaxation, they are wrong. There is just a whole new group of hijinks to get into in Wandlebury.

While there was a matter of a Will, and Barbara having to keep a secret from everyone, including her husband, I felt the story was missing something that its predecessor had. In Miss Buncle's Book, the hilarity of Barbara's book and the effects it had on her town ensued madness. With the follow-up, it was mostly Barbara getting to know her new neighbors and her insights on them.

Overall, it was a nice book about a town with some interesting occupants. I certainly enjoyed myself while reading, and enjoyed Barbara's voice.

The Oracle Glass was a fabulously told historical fantasy tale that took place around The Affair of the Poisons, a real series of events that happened during the reign of Louis XIV.

After the death of her beloved father, Genevieve Pasquier escapes her abusive family and becomes Madame Morville, a 150 year old fortune teller with the help of La Voisin. La Voison, who really existed, was the ruler of a secret society of witches, and is the prime source in dealing out poison to high-end clients.

Genevieve keeps up this masquerade, and eventually weaves herself an infamous reputation upon the French aristocracy. This is a dangerous game, and Genevieve uses her wits to stay afloat, but her heart might put her at risk. In 1677, Genevieve is in real fear while the authorities were rounding up fortune-tellers and the like who were suspected of selling poisons.

Everything is very tense towards the end, and I loved it. However before that was interesting, as well. I loved all the secrecy, and the fact that there was a community of witches, alchemists, fortune-tellers, magicians, etc. It's just too bad that they weren't all good people. Anyway, the intrigue was great, and it fortunately never let up. Even though it wasn't a fast-paced story, it still held my interest.

Historical fantasy is one of my favorite sub-genres, and it's so hard to find good books that fit, but this one was great! I have some of the author's other books, which all look to be historical fantasy, as well, so I'm definitely going to keep going with this author's work.

The Map of Lost Memories already sounded good just by my reading the synopsis. It was everything I was hoping it would be, and more: a fast-flowing historical fiction story, complete with adventure and women breaking all the rules.

The story is set in 1925; Irene is fed up with being constantly overlooked for her contributions to the Brooke Museum, and decides to make her own legacy, by setting out to find a set of scrolls that tell the lost history of Khmer.

I loved all the mysteries swirling about. Lots of people were hiding things, and Irene wasn't sure who she could trust. Even during her journey into the jungle, among people she wasn't so sure about, she had to have faith that everything would end up all right. And in a slight twist, Irene herself wasn't so sure what she was going to do. As the journey progressed, her priorities for the trip shifted into something else. It wasn't until the end, that she knew what had to be done.

As I said, the story flowed well, almost effortlessly. And even though I didn't know a thing about the subject of the tale, I was surprisingly able to follow along. I never became mixed up with what was what, and who was who. That's in great credit to the storytelling.

One of the things I was fearful of when I started reading – because I knew the story was mostly set in Shanghai and Cambodia – was the glorification or romanticism of colonialism. As I read, I was satisfied that wasn't going to happen. It showed a pretty honest view of how western cultures were forced on people on the east, and how this changed the natives of these countries, both for good and for worse.

Overall, a pretty great book for historical fiction fans that are looking for something different. I know I say that a bit, but it's really true in this case. Highly recommended.

The Lady of Secrets is the sixth installment of the Dark Queen Saga, a series I had no idea was ongoing. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this pop up.

The heroine of this was is Margaret Wolfe, who readers of this series will be familiar with. Now The Lady of Faire Isle, she is sought out by people who need her expertise in healing. She's sought out by one man in particular, who needs her to help lift a curse from the King of England. Once in England, she soon realizes that no one is telling the truth, and everyone is hiding something.

While I don't think this book was up to par with the rest of the series, I still liked it. I think what fell flat for me was I didn't care much for the hero, or the romance. And Meg, while a good heroine, fell short of the previous heroines. She was still a great heroine in her own right.

The first half of the book was great. Even though not a whole lot happened, I was still engrossed due to the writing. The characters were fantastic, I thought: the good, the bad, and the ones that hovered in the middle. Although, in the second half of the story, it lost something, and I'm not sure what. The climax of the story, while interesting, was disappointing in its effectiveness as the 'big event'.

Still, a good story. It was nice to see what happened to Meg.

Another winner from Kate Morton! I've yet to be disappointed by one of her books. If anything, her stories just keep getting better and better.

I won't give away too much of the summary, and besides, you can read the summary anywhere. Basically, the book starts out in 1961 with a 17 year old Laurel, hiding up in her tree house, witnessing her mother stab a man and kill him. Cut to fifty years later, Laurel is a famous actress and her mother Dorothy is dying. Laurel needs to find out what led to that tragic event fifty years ago before her mother dies.

The story never goes back to 1961 after that. We either stay in the present, or we head to WWII London during the Blitz, hearing from Dorothy, her fiance Jimmy, and her friend Vivien.

The way the story unfolded is just as I expected from Morton. If anything, the plots get more intricate with each novel. With reading her previous three books, I thought I knew how to think while reading this, how to look out for stuff, how nothing was at it seemed.

With all her books, Morton gives us stuff at the beginning that tells us some of the end. We know, partly, how it's going to end, but we don't get the whole story. Not only, through the book, do we find out what led to the end event, but we always come across some sort of twist. Throughout reading the book, my guess to the ending kept changing; it never stayed the same. I STILL wasn't right, as usual. However, what did end up happening fleetingly crossed my mind at one point, but I thought it was too far-fetched. Shows what I know.

And, as usual, after I finished, I laid there in bed going over everything. With the twist at the end, everything I had just read had to be gone over. Because, as I said, nothing is ever what it seems, and with this new information, the entire story was seen in a different light.

Folks who loved Morton's other books will definitely love this! And it's a great story for folks who love historical mysteries with dual time lines.

I admit, I didn't catch everything in Deathless. A lot of things probably went over my head, but it doesn't matter. The prose was so deliciously beautiful, and I just got so lost in the world(s) that I didn't even notice if it all made sense to me.

All the characters were so interesting, but my favorite character was Madame Lebedeva, and I wish we saw more of her.

While the whole book was engrossing and just amazing, my favorite part was part four: There Are No Firebirds in Leningrad. There were passages in some of the chapters in this part that got me choked up, and I can't figure out why. These were probably some of the most emotionally charged chapters of the entire book.

Reading Deathless was an amazing experience, and I must read more from this author.

I haven't read any other non-fiction book about the Brontë family, but I can tell you that this is the Brontë biography to start with. Yes, it's a tome, but it's oh so worth it. It completely erases the myths and legends surrounding the family, and relies on fact (or as close as you can get to fact) using letters and other documents.

This book may end up depressing some people who like to believe the embellished sensationalism that are rooted in rumor. However, for someone who wants to know the real Brontës, then this book is a dream. We're shown the family as they are, flaws and all, and believe me, none of them are perfect.

Stripped down are the words of Elizabeth Gaskell in her 'biography' of Charlotte, and even the words of Charlotte are examined, especially in reference to her sisters. Charlotte was grossly unfair of Anne in particular, and in Charlotte's letters, a view of Anne emerged that is untrue. The Brontës does justice to Anne, showing her as an intelligent being, when Charlotte gave her no credit in that regard. I must admit that I've always been sort of a defender of Anne; I always felt as if she got the short end of the stick, in no fault of her own.

This book is about all the Brontës, not just about the three sisters. Granted, I basically read this to read about the sisters, but reading about Patrick, and Branwell, as they truly were, was fascinating. The stereotype of Patrick being a strict tyrannical father was shot down. The view of Branwell always being a drunk and screw up is also diminished.

Of course, we also find out that some of the sensationalist events in Brontë lure were true, such as Branwell's affair with his employer's wife, and Charlotte's infatuation with Mousier Heger. Reading the details of both gave shape to how these significant events shaped each respective sibling's life.

What was also fascinating, and something I never gave much thought to, was the imaginary worlds that the siblings created. Charlotte and Branwell with their Angria world, and Emily and Anne with their Gondal world. They created worlds and characters, wrote up histories for them, write poetry that were part of these worlds, and it's evident that the sisters' earlier work on these imaginary worlds were a huge part of their future novels. There are characters and events in the Angria and Gondal worlds that show up in disguise in the seven novels, along with personal events and real life people in their lives. Reading in detail about these worlds and the sisters' real life experiences gives me a new appreciation for their novels.

I could go on and on about everything I learned from the tremendously thorough biography, but I'll stop here. I don't think I need to do any more convincing.

I love historical fantasy (that doesn't have vampires, zombies, and werewolves) and The White Forest was a perfect example of historical fantasy done right. We get the feel of the time period, but with an added mystical atmosphere.

The specific date the story takes place in is never mentioned, but it takes place after the Crimean War. The story revolves around Jane Silverlake, who has a gift, a gift I don't want to even begin to explain because I'll just ruin it. Jane is friends with Maddy and Nathan, forming a sort of trio. When Nathan comes back from the war, he's a different man, and soon joins a cult which causes him to fall farther and farther away from his old life. One day, Nathan goes missing, and Jane must learn everything there is about her gift if she wants to help bring him back.

The descriptions of a dark and gritty Victorian London are told with such flowing prose. I got lost in the words and the pages just flew by. The characters were just great – well written and deep, even the side characters. The villain of the story, Ariston Day, the leader of the cult, was such a perfect villain. He was a villain who used his words to brainwash people, and brilliantly enough, we only see him for about two scenes, but by the time we meet him, we've already formed a determined opinion of him. His reputation proceeded him, so to speak.

A fantastically told story, and at some points it reminded me of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Very unusual, but in a good way.

A short, but gripping story of a fabulous sword wielding female Zorro!

After almost being assaulted one day, Catalina vows never to be a damsel in distress again. Not only that, but she will help other women from being victims. She learns to sword fight in secret, and finally has the opportunity to put her plan into action... at her engagement party. Donning men's attire, and a mask, Catalina assumes the identity of El Capitan. Catalina is successful as her alter ego for a while, but soon finds it hard to keep her identity a secret from her new husband.

One of my favorite historical interests are women pirates, but I'm pretty much interested in any story that has a women wielding a sword and assuming the protective role that has mostly been associated with men. So, I knew that I would like this story. The sword fighting was, of course, my favorite parts, and it was told in great description.

I loved the setting, characters, and the blow-by-blow of the action scenes. A fantastic, quick, and creative read that will satisfy anyone looking for something different.

3.5

The Ruins of Lace takes place in the 17th century, and the story revolves around the lust and illegality of lace into France.

The story is told from seven different perspectives, and we only get five chapters with each character. After the first two times I went through the characters' perspectives, I wondered how they're all connected, and it's soon made clear. However, there were a couple characters that we probably didn't need to hear from. One of which was a dog. Yes, a dog. I understand that one of the ways lace was transported to France was using dogs, but we didn't really need the perspective of a dog to get that. Another character that probably would have been fine leaving out was a soldier. If we took these two characters out of the equation, I don't think the story would have lost anything.

Like I said, the story was about lace, and how it changed and destroyed lives. The characters became more and more connected as the story went on, through one piece of lace. The second half of the story was better than the first half, I felt, and read faster.

I can't say much more, because I fear I'll just start giving things way. It's not a happy story, I can say that. However, some characters' stories ended a bit happier than others.

A good read about an unusual subject, and interesting time period.

After reading this and watching the movie, I really don't get the hype. It's a decent story, which wasn't converted very well into movie form, if you ask me. Also, people are acting like it's the first story/film to deal with something like this. Not even close.

When I decided to partake of a Victorian reading challenge, I decided not to read the same old stuff that everyone else was reading. I was looking towards the more obscure novels, particularly ones written by women authors whose names have been forgotten through history.

I first came across this book on Girlebooks. I liked the sound of it, and promptly downloaded and put it on my nook. It was a bit different than the average Victorian drama: set in Germany, with the heroine involved in the music scene.

The usual obstacles and secrets keeping the hero and heroine apart were there, but in a different setting. Our heroine, May, comes to Germany as a companion to an older, recluse lady. Once there, she starts singing lessons. May stays in Germany, when the lady decides to head back to England, and continues her musical pursuits. I loved reading about a young woman living on her own in 19th Germany perusing her passions. How unique!

The story is told from two perspectives: May, and Helfen, the roommate of the the suffering Eugen, who is the object of May's affections. Through Helfen's view, we can just about guess that Eugen is hiding something. What kind of Victorian hero would he be if he wasn't?

There's lots of German words, and much musical talk, which makes this story unique. It also has a dastardly bad guy, secrets (like I said) and melodrama, which makes it like the average Victorian story.

I enjoyed it. I liked the German setting; it was something different. And anything with a music storyline always grabs my attention. Very recommended – this book needs more love!

I'm so glad Sourcebooks decide to reissue Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson. Originally published in 1934, Miss Buncle's Book is such a delightful, funny and witty read.

Miss Buncle is going through some hard times financially, so she decides to raise some funds by writing a book. Unfortunately, Miss Buncle is not blessed with an imagination, so she writes about her town, and all the people in it, with names disguised, of course.

It's not long after the book is published that people in town begin recognizing themselves in the book. Some are amused, but some are outraged, and raise a huge stink about it. There are also some interesting things happening: some folks in town are starting to mirror the actions of their book counterparts.

Miss Buncle watches all in fascination, but also fear, because if they discover that she is the author, the jig is up, and she'll never live in peace again. However, this doesn't stop her writing another book.

The characters and their reactions to the book are absolutely hilarious, and unreal. Some say that the character in the book that is supposed to be them, is not really like them at all, but is somewhat like them. Hysterical. The lengths these people go through to find out the author is so ridiculous that it consumes their lives.

Miss Buncle's Book was a charming and funny book with a unique plot. Lot of shenanigans ensue that will crack you up.

I was sort of sad when I finished this. I just loved the world, and the characters, and the magic, that I really was caught up in it.

Young Lizzie Rose and Parsefall are the assistants of the master puppeteer Gaspare Grisini. When a little girl goes missing the night after they've entertained for her birthday party, everything is thrown into turmoil, and decades old secrets are revealed.

The story is set in early 1860s England, and is a fabulously weaved story of historical fantasy. People of all ages should love this. Honestly, it was very creepy in some places, and the plot was intricate. It really has something for everyone, so don't judge when you see it's a story for juveniles. It really, really does not read that way.

In the book, you're swept up in a dark, Victorian setting, almost Dickensian, with two orphans, an almost sadistic puppeteer, and an old witch who is obsessed with vanquishing herself of something before she dies. First, we're walking around the creepy, dirty London streets, and then we're up to an almost fairy-tale castle-like home, with a crumbling tower. The story can go from gothic to enchanting in a paragraph. I truly didn't realize that until just now, because it was done so masterfully.

Highly recommended to fantasy or historical fantasy fans.

Reminiscent of classic gothic historical romances, but with a gay twist. Enjoyable.