Alas dear readers, I have no Indie Authors
to review for you this month. And to be quite honest, I feel a bit fraudulent
and shamefaced because of it and wondered if you would find me to be
isingenuous for even writing this month's "What I'm Reading" section.
Nevertheless, I did quite a bit of reading this month and wanted to share my
thoughts on the books which occupied much of my free time.
I discovered Angela Duckworth's, Grit: The Power of Passion and
Perseverance, after watching her TEDtalk for a class assignment. I
purchased the Kindle version, realized I was underlining on nearly every page,
and promptly ordered a paperback copy for ease of flip-through reference. I
even recommended the book to my husband, who is not known for his love of
reading. Her insight into the influence of 'grit' on success is fascinating.
She effectively and engagingly explains why sometimes lackluster students go on
to surprising professional triumphs while students who breeze through school
sometimes struggle to find their place in a world which was once their oyster.
She offers advice for how to instill 'grittiness' in our children as well as
how to be more 'gritty' ourselves. We often tell others to never give up. Grit
exposes the characteristics of those who couldn't give up if they wanted to and
how we can cultivate those same characteristics to develop our own passions.
Melanie Karsak dives deep into the legend of Celtic Queen Boudica in her
book, Queen of Oak. If you enjoy tales of old magic, druids,
priestesses, faeries, family, love, and loss, you're sure to enjoy the quick
paced twists and turns as Boudica and her family strive to protect their
kingdom from greedy neighbors and worry over rumors of another Roman invasion.
Karsak creates a world grounded in reality with a healthy infusion of
fantasy as only the ancients could have imagined it. This is no fly by night,
read in one sitting tale. At 598 pages, readers are thoroughly immersed in the
Celtic Iceni holdings of Britain, now known as Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge and
Essex, during the first century AD. History is somewhat sparse for this period,
so why not turn our imaginations to what might have been. Fair warning, Queen
of Oak is the first in a series and the second isn't due out until
March of 2022. If you enjoy it as much as I did, you'll be left dangling by a
breathless thread until then.
When two of your FAVORITE authors drop much anticipated, pre-ordered books on
the SAME DAY, you are left shaking your fists at the Gods of Publishing and
gnashing your teeth in indecision about which to read first. This was the
dilemma I faced when Paula Brackston's City of Time and Magic dropped
on the same day as Diana Gabaldon's Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone. I
won't reveal which I read first because it is enough to say that I've now read
them both and am happy to pass along my thoughts to you.
In City of Time and Magic, Brackston masterfully manages a lovely bit
of crossover between her two very popular book series, Witches
and Found Things. When the previous book in the Found Things series, The
Garden of Promises and Lies, ended with a heart wrenching, gut
punching cliffhanger, I was eager to rejoin Xanthe in her quest to find
and rescue her lover, Liam, from her erstwhile Spinning mentor, Lydia Flyte.
Although she is understandably nervous about the potential consequences, she
decides she may need some 'muscle' on this trip through time and agrees to
allow the lovable bear of a barman, Harley, to accompany her on her mission.
Brackston graciously spared us from heartache this go around but not from
wanting more of Xanthe's time-traveling adventures. I am looking forward to
traveling with her. All I can do is hope the Gods of Publishing are more
benevolent next time. Oh! And don't worry, if you haven't read the Witches
books, you won't be lost or puzzled by the crossover. Brackston's story weaving
skills are impeccable. Familiar readers will recognize old friends, new readers
will simply make new ones.
Oh Diana Gabaldon, for some reason, I was under the impression that Go Tell
the Bees That I Am Gone was going to be the last installment in your
addictive Outlander series. When I saw the page count, I thought
"Nope. No way she wraps this up in such a short work." Don't laugh.
This series routinely tops 1000 pages per installment so I knew 960 pages would
never be enough. Indeed, Gabaldon has been doling out massive doses of Jamie
Fraser and Claire Randall for thirty years and quite frankly, I will be bereft
when she does finish their story. In Bees, Jamie and Claire rebuild
their home, welcome Brianna and Roger back to the ridge, argue with tenants as
the Revolution creeps further and further south, and of course, make lots of
love along the way. I won't spoil the story but I will tell you I was thrilled
and breathless when I read the last pages as I realized there absolutely MUST
be another book in the offing. Gabaldon works a cliffhanger as deftly as a
potter spins clay.
In tribute to my end of year reflections, I thought it would be nice to revisit
the book which forever and irrevocably hooked me, heart and imagination, on
Historical Fiction. Sharon Kay Penman's, When Christ and His Saints Slept,
illuminates the story of Matilda (also known as Maude), Empress of Germany
and granddaughter of William the Conqueror, who is forced into a
loveless, violent, political marriage to the much younger Count of Anjou, Geoffrey,
after her first husband's death. When her father, Henry I, names her as his
heir, the English Lords are unsettled. At his death, they swear he made a
deathbed proclamation identifying his nephew, Stephen of Blois, as his heir
instead. Maude feels robbed and, with her husband, launches a decades long war
to reclaim her stolen crown. With more twists and turns than even the best pure
fiction novel can provide, Penman's thorough research and recounting of
historical events proves the adage, "truth is sometimes stranger than
fiction." This epic tale, the first in Penman's Plantagenet
series, is spellbinding - every time I dip into its pages. I am in
perpetual upside-down debt to Penman for the gift she unknowingly gave me when
I stumbled on this book nearly 26 years ago.
