The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent is about a 10 yr old girl Sarah, growing up on a farm with her 3 brothers, younger sister Hannah and her parents Thomas and Martha. Like many mother and daughter relationships, Sarah and her mothers is fraught with tension and hostility. Sarah yearns for a more loving mother and when her brother is stricken with small pox Sarah and her sister are smuggled to her Aunt's house where she finds the love and attention she craves from her relatives. Soon however her father comes to take her back home and things go from bad to worse. People turn against their neighbors and accusations run rampant. Her mother is accused of being a witch and taken away. Soon Sarah and her brothers join her mother in jail awaiting their fate. Ms. Kent writes a compelling story of the atrocities that people went thru during this time in out history. Highly recommend The Heretic's Daugher.

I am a big fan of historical fiction and Ms. Gregory. This book tells the story of Mary, Queen of Scots and the time she spent "imprisoned" as the guest of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick. The good part of the book was that I know little about Mary Queen of Scots and need to get to reading the book I have on her by Margaret George. She is an intriguing woman and I would like to know more about her. The bad thing about this book is that very little ever happens. There is little dialogue. It is told in different chapters from each of the above characters view points. Other than George falling in love with Mary little happens. She is moved around from place to place constantly being told she will be freed and that she will never be freed. Bess I think was a woman before her time. She ran the households and managed all the lands and knew to the penny how much money she and George made and how much money it cost to keep an imprisoned Queen happy. I really wish I would have liked the book more but it was just lacking. For true historical fans only.

I started this yesterday afternoon and finished it last night One good thing about Patterson's books are they are very fast reads and I think they were written in much the same way . He and Howard sit down one afternoon and write a story. A very short story. They are almost implausible in their thinking. The sailboat in this book takes off from New Port Rhode Island and in practically no time at all they are in the Bahama's! It is all pretty much far fetched and is hardly worth the $27.99 asking price for hard back book. It would be good in paperback at $4.99 for a quick beach read or a 4-6 hour airplane ride. I wish Mr. Patterson would just take sometime and write a real book again. He must have more than enough money now and why he keeps putting out this drivel is beyond me. Read if you are a fan but only from the library or a used paperback.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

I just finished this last night and still can't stop thinking about the book. It's about a nameless porn star who is severely burned in a car accident. While recovering he meets Marianne who is a sculptor and suffers from some mental problems. Marianne states that they were lovers in medieval Germany and starts telling him of their love story and several others that take place in Japan, Iceland, Italy and England. Very strange love stories which I found very intriguing and disturbing. Once Marianne discovers from god that she has 27 sculptures left to complete and then she will die the story just seemed to turn for me. I still read on but something about the story changed. Would I recommend The Gargoyle? Hmm I am not sure. I found it an intriguing read but.. It's very different but, I do look forward to see if the author writes another.

I received this ARC from Harper Collins First Look. It is the story of french painter Berthe Morisot who is devoted to her life as a painter until she meets Edouard Manet. He asks to paint Berthe and she falls in love with him. Society and her mother want Berthe to settle down and marry but Berthe must follow her own heart. Manet must have been quite the lady's man as this is the second book I have read about him and a paramour. Berthe must decided how much she is willing to give of herself to Manet. A good quick historical read.

The Quality of Life Report

I have over 500 books at home to read and had just gotten about 6 from B&T that I want to read and what do I do but, see this on PBS and it has a huge waiting list so I go and order it from inter library loan. I thought it was a true story and had to read about 1/3 of it before I figured out it was fiction... call me slow. I enjoyed most of the book. It takes place in South Dakota which would take alot for a person to move to the middle of nowhere midwest. Lucinda was a hoot until she got a steady boyfriend and then I think she kind of lost herself adn I know this can happen but I kind of lost the thrill of the story. I am glad in the end that she came to her senses and stayed and hopefully life got much better for her after that.

The GuernseyLiterary and Potato Peel Pie Society

How can I ever say the many ways that I just loved this book!! It was just an awesome read from page one to page 274 and I so wish it would have gone on at least another 274 pages. The writing was wonderful, the story grabbed you from page one and I wish Juliet Ashton was a dear friend of mine. So many wonderful words about reading and book stores. I marked my copy up terribly but this is one that I do plan to keep on my shelf and give to everyone I know to read. One of my favorite passages "That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you into another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive-- all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment." This is exactly why I read. One book leads to another and another and I relish the sheer enjoyment I get from reading everyday. The book tells the story of Guernsey, the British Island that was occupied by the Nazis during WWII. How this small island was effected by the war and the occupation and how some survived just by picking up a book and reading. A wonderful story that I just can't recommend highly enough.