Author: Erica Vetsch
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction
Publisher: Barbour Publishing Incorporated, 2015
Pages: 320
Rating: Recommend
Synopsis: Anything he can do, I can do better. At least that was what Cassie Bucknell thought before she pinned on Ben Wilder's badge and took to patrolling the streets of Cactus Creek, Texas. Cassie has been in love with Ben since primer school, but Ben treats her like a little sister. When they are picked to swap jobs for a month as part of the annual Cactus Creek Challenge in their Texas hometown, the schoolhouse is thrown into an uproar, the jail becomes a temporary bank vault, and Cassie and Ben square off in a battle of wills that becomes a battle for their hearts.
Review: I expected fluff, but this was a level of hokey I don't typically see in this genre. The concept of a teacher and a sheriff trading spaces for a month in a frontier town in the 1880s was entirely unrealistic.
What I did expect was the predictability.
At some point I was hooked. Such a quicky, fun read.
Author: David Wroblewski
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2009
Pages: 608
Rating: Recommend
Synopsis: Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life on his family's farm in remote northern Wisconsin where they raise and train an extraordinary breed of dog. But when tragedy strikes, Edgar is forced to flee into the vast neighboring wilderness accompanied by only three yearly pups. Struggling for survival, Edgar comes of age in the wild, and must face the choice of leaving forever or revealing the terrible truth behind what has happened.
Review: Most books are shorter than the number of pages it took this book to grow on me. I only stuck with it because my coworker recommended it, and I couldn't tell her I failed. Even if I didn't end up liking it, I still wanted to have an intelligent conversation and be able to defend my position.
I read somewhere that this novel is the author's retelling of Hamlet, and even though it's been decades since I read that play, the parallels are clear. From that perspective, this novel fascinated me.
It was also to my benefit to have someone with whom to discuss the novel. Talking about this with someone who likes complex, layered, slow-burn novels brought to light details I wouldn't have thought of and provided a different perspective. It was more like sitting in English class, rather than in a book club meeting. I enjoy having more thought-provoking conversations.
From the beginning I've struggled for the right adjectives to describe this novel. Intense? It's not a heart-racing novel. Depressing? Maybe here or there, but overall, no. Hopeful? Not really, it's one unfortunate event after another. I still don't know.
The conclusion of this novel gets a lot of criticism in the reviews I read, but my opinion is that it ended the only way it could.
Ultimately, I gave this novel 3 stars. Not a bad story or writing, but it could have been (and should have been) significantly shorter. If you're going to write a long novel you have to make sure it takes all of those pages to tell the story. In this case, it wasn't necessary.
Author: Karen Barnett
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group, 2018
Pages: 352
Rating: Recommend
Synopsis: Watercolorist Olivia Rutherford has shed her humble beginnings to fashion her image an avant-garde artist to appeal to the region's wealthy art collectors. When she lands a lucrative contract painting illustrations of Yosemite National Park for a travel magazine, including its nightly one-of-a-kind Firefall event, she hopes the money will lift Olivia and her sisters out of poverty.
After false accusations cost him everything, former minister Clark Johnson has found purpose as a back-country guide in this natural cathedral of granite and trees. Now he's faced with the opportunity to become a National Parks Ranger, but is it his true calling?
As Clark opens Olivia's eyes to the wonders of Yosemite, she discovers the people are as vital to the park's story as its vistas - a revelation that may bring her charade to an end.
Review: With better weather and more daylight, I haven't been reading as much. We've also decided to sell our house, and we have plenty of projects to complete before that can happen.
It's also been awhile since I read a book I could get lost in pretty quickly. Light, predictable historical fiction is usually the genre I need to get back into my groove.
My husband and I visited Yosemite for a day on our honeymoon, and it remains my favorite national park. This book was great. Exactly what you'd expect from this genre. I had such a hard time leaving these characters behind.
Vintage National Park Series
Book 1, The Road to Paradise
Book 2, Where the Fire Falls
Book 3, Ever Faithful
Author: David McCullough
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2019
Pages: 352
Rating: Recommend
Synopsis: As part of the Treaty of Paris, in which Great Britain recognized the new United States of America, Britain ceded the land that compromised the immense Northwest Territory, a wilderness empire northwest of the Ohio River containing the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A Massachusetts minister named Manasseh Cutler was instrumental in opening this vast territory to veterans of the Revolutionary War and their families for settlement. Included in the Northwest Ordinance were three remarkable conditions: freedom of religion, free universal education, and most importantly, the prohibition of slavery.
In 1788 the first batch of pioneers set out from New England for the Northwest Territory under the leadership of the Revolutionary War veteran General Rufus Putnam. They settled in what is now Marietta on the banks of the Ohio River.
McCullough tells the story through five major characters: Cutler and Putnam, Cutler's son Ephraim; and two other men, one a carpenter turned architect, and the other a physician who became a prominent pioneer in American science. They and their families created a town in primeval wilderness, while coping with such frontier realities as floods, fires, wolves, and bears, no road or bridges, no guarantees of any sort, all the while negotiating a contentious and sometimes hostile relationship with the native people. Like so many of McCullough's subjects, they let no obstacle deter or defeat them.
Review: When I saw this was about pioneers, I assumed this would be a story of a trail, or the trails, westward. However, had I read the jacket, I would have realized this was about the settlement of the Northwest Territory, which is now in part, the state of Ohio, specifically the town of Marietta.
Within the first 30 pages, I told my husband that we needed to plan a long weekend in Marietta, so clearly I was hooked. While this never really picked up momentum and became "unputdownable," it was interesting.
Author: Elizabeth Jeffrey
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Seven House Publishers, 2014
Pages: 224
Rating: Recommend
Synopsis: August 1914. The silver wedding celebrations of Sir George Barsham, MP, and his wife Lady Adelaide are overshadowed by the declaration of war with Germany. Over the following months, as the male estate workers head for the Front and the maids disappear to work in the newly-opened munitions factory, the Barsham family's comfortable, aristocratic lifestyle is set to change forever.
Determined to do his bit for King and country, James Barsham enlists as an office and heads for Flanders leaving Lady Adelaide's maid Polly devastated. To Lady Adelaide's dismay, her younger daughter Millie learns to drive an ambulance, a most unladylike skill. Meanwhile, Millie's sister Gina finds fulfillment in helping the local wives and children, left destitute while their husband's are away fighting.
During the course of the war, with devastating loses, the strength of character of the four Barsham siblings will be tested as never before. They encounter hardship, danger, heartache - and unexpected love.
Review: This book caught my attention on a scroll through Pinterest recommendations.
Beautiful Cover. . .check
World War 1. . .check
Family Saga. . .check check check
I was shocked when I picked it up from the library, and it was so skinny, 224 pages skinny.
I actually really liked this book, but it's not without problems. It's not expansive enough to be a true family saga, the characters are stereotypes, and the plot is predictable. For historical fiction though, the author is skilled in weaving a story.
Author: Maria Semple
Genre: Fiction / Satire
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company, 2013
Pages: 330
Rating: Highly Recommend
Synopsis: Bernadette Fox has vanished.
While her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces.
Which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades. Where'd You Go Bernadette is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are, and the power of a daughter's love for her mother.
Review: This has been on my "to be read" list for quite awhile now. I was browsing the library's audio books and this one jumped out at me.
In a word, entertaining. In two words, entertaining and quirky. This audio was great, although I think it'd be pretty funny in print as well. The movie is due out in August. I actually think I'm going to watch it.
Author: Chip Cheek
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Celedon Books, 2019
Pages: 256
Rating: Do Not Recommend
Synopsis: Late September 1957. Henry and Effie, very young newlyweds from George, arrive in Cape May, New Jersey, for their honeymoon only to find the town deserted. Feeling shy of each other and isolated, they decide to cut the trip short. But before they leave, they meet a glamorous set of people who sweep them up into their drama. Clara, a beautiful socialite who feels her youth slipping away; Max a wealthy playboy and Clara's lover; and Alma, Max's aloof and mysterious half-sister, to whom Henry is irresistibly drawn. The empty beach town becomes their playground, and as they sneak into abandoned summer homes, go sailing, walk naked under the stars, make love, and drink a great deal of gin, Henry and Effie slip from innocence into betrayal, with irrevocable consequences.
Erotic and moving, this is a novel about marriage, love and sexuality, and the lifelong repercussions that meeting a group of debauched cosmopolitans has on a new marriage.
Review: First, let's talk about the cover. It's so pretty and nostalgic. In fact, that's why I read the book despite reading some negative reviews, and knowing this would contain graphic sex, which really isn't my thing.
I tend to shy away from men writing women, but decided to give this guy a chance because. . .the cover.
Cape May actually started on with a good premise, and the writing was decent. I could see a story developing. With the exception of the last chapter, the final 1/4 of the book was nothing but sex, graphic sex. I suspect that section of the book is what the author actually wanted to write, but he had to build some kind of story around it to sell it. I skimmed over it, but actually felt like the first 1/2 of the book, and the last chapter were decent. The author has potential, but not everything you want to write has to be published. Reign it in a bit, and voila. Of course I realize this is just my opinion, and there are plenty of people who won't have an issue with it.
Also worth noting, the setting of this novel is immaterial. This won't give you a glimpse of vintage Cape May. The events in this story could have happened anywhere.
This author has a young (baby) daughter, and at some point she is probably going to want to read what he wrote. This isn't what I want to picture my dad writing, and I'll leave it at that.
Synopsis: Anything he can do, I can do better. At least that was what Cassie Bucknell thought before she pinned on Ben Wilder's badge and took to patrolling the streets of Cactus Creek, Texas. Cassie has been in love with Ben since primer school, but Ben treats her like a little sister. When they are picked to swap jobs for a month as part of the annual Cactus Creek Challenge in their Texas hometown, the schoolhouse is thrown into an uproar, the jail becomes a temporary bank vault, and Cassie and Ben square off in a battle of wills that becomes a battle for their hearts. 
