Review ~ The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

Title: The Zookeeper's Wife

Author: Diane Ackerman
Copyright: 2008
Type:  Historical Fiction/Biography
Pages: 384
Series: no

Reason for Reading: 

The movie was coming out and I thought I need to read this first. Sadly I never saw the movie nor did I finish the book before the movie went to DVD

Summary:

The New York Times bestseller: a true story in which the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands.

After their zoo was bombed, Polish zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski managed to save over three hundred people from the Nazis by hiding refugees in the empty animal cages. With animal names for these "guests," and human names for the animals, it's no wonder that the zoo's code name became "The House Under a Crazy Star." Best-selling naturalist and acclaimed storyteller Diane Ackerman combines extensive research and an exuberant writing style to re-create this fascinating, true-life story—sharing Antonina's life as "the zookeeper's wife," while examining the disturbing obsessions at the core of Nazism.

Thoughts:

I enjoyed this book I really did. The story over all was very sad and I found that I was crying over the animals more then the people which doesn't speak very highly of me but alas the way that Antonina describes them and how she cared for them made me feel for them even more. I felt so bad about the animals and her son Rhys who every time he got attached to one it was killed. I also couldn't image what it was like for Antonia being pregnant at this whole time and during WW2. It was so stressful for her and this book got it across to the reader. The tension was off the chain in this book. The thing I didn't appreciate was the fact of it skipping around and it was definitely not written by Antonina it was a lot of guessing and filling in. This bothered me since Antonina kept a journal during the whole time so why didn't they take more of it and use it. I have to say though for the most part I enjoyed it and I would recommend it to anyone who wanted to know what it was like for Polish people during WW2. 

Goodreads: 3 out of 5 stars

Would you recommend this book to others? It wasn't what I was expecting but it was okay.

Currently Reading

Title: The Princes in the Tower
Author: Allison Weir
Genre: historical non-fiction
Hardcover or paperback: large paperback
Page #er: 304
TBR since 2011

 Summary 

Despite five centuries of investigation by historians, the sinister deaths of the boy king Edward V & his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, remain two of the most fascinating murder mysteries in English history. Did Richard III really kill "the Princes in the Tower," as is commonly believed, or was the murderer someone else entirely? Carefully examining every shred of contemporary evidence as well as dozens of modern accounts, English historian Alison Weir reconstructs the entire chain of events leading to the double murder. We're witnesses to the rivalry, ambition, intrigue & struggle for power that culminated in the imprisonment of the prince & the hushed-up murders that secured Richard's claim to the throne as Richard III. A masterpiece of historical research & a riveting story of conspiracy & deception, The Princes in the Tower at last provides a solution to this age-old puzzle.

Review ~ Thieving Forest by Martha Conway

TITLE: Thieving Forest

AUTHOR: Martha Conway
COPYRIGHT: 2014
TYPE: historical fiction
PAGES: 416
SERIES:  not that I am aware of

REASON FOR READ:

Netgalley had it up and ready for readers

SUMMARY (from Goodreads):

On a humid morning in 1806, seventeen-year-old Susanna Quiner watches helplessly from behind a tree while a band of Potawatomi Indians kidnaps her four older sisters from their cabin. With both her parents dead from Swamp Fever and all the other settlers out in their fields, Susanna rashly decides to pursue them herself. What follows is a young woman's quest to save her sisters and the parallel story of her sisters' new lives. 

Over the next five months, Susanna tans hides in a Moravian missionary village; escapes down a river with a young native girl; discovers an eccentric white woman raising chickens in the middle of the Great Black Swamp; and becomes a servant in a Wyandot village longhouse. The man who loves her, Seth Spendlove, is in pursuit after he realizes that his father was involved in the kidnapping. Part Potawatomi himself but living a white man’s life, Seth unwittingly sets off on his own quest to reclaim his birthright. He allies himself with a Potawatomi named Koman, one of the band of men who originally abducted the Quiner sisters, but who now wishes to make his own retribution. Together they canoe through the Black Swamp and into enemy territory looking for Susanna, and while they travel Koman teaches Seth about their shared heritage. 

THOUGHTS/OPINION:

I struggled with this book. On the one hand I adored it and would push and push to read it. On the other hand it would drag and I would have to force myself to push through. There were times when the book moved too slow to where I almost was completely over it and then all of the sudden it would rush through the parts I wanted it to go slow. All in all not a bad historical fiction novel the history was written in such a way I didn’t feel as if I was reading a history book. The characters were fleshed out well enough and they all evolved in one way or another. While there were some personal things I had issues with the book in general was a nice read.

THINGS I LIKED

I enjoy when characters grow and evolve and I have to say all of them did just that in this book. One or two took a step back but at least it was movement. None of the characters mentioned or introduced in this book remained stagnate.

The main character Susanna did grow but also maintained some of her original thoughts which is fair. There are things we will grow and learn from and yet they may or may not change our deep seated beliefs.

It was good to see the sister either adapting to their situations or not adapting. They all went through hardships and trials and for them to reach the point where they did to survive I have to say was the best part.

I liked that Indians were not the bad guys they actually helped the sisters at different points. This wasn’t a book that wanted us to think that all Indians are like this. This book in fact showed at least 3 different tribes and how they interacted with white people and each other. I enjoyed reading about the different tribes and different viewpoints a lot.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

I thought the ending was rushed. I felt as if I almost didn’t get any of the closure I was looking for. It felt like I read and read and read over the sanctuary and the snake bite and what that was like and yet I didn’t even really get to know what the heck happened at the end.
I wanted more I wanted to know what was happening with all their lives at the end not just a quick glimpse and oh there we go congrats you finished. (I am trying not to spoil it here) but dang I wanted more. I almost felt like that’s it? That’s all of an ending I get?

Don’t get me wrong this didn’t turn me off from the book I just didn’t have that sigh of wow great wrap up.

Favorite part or line from story:

I liked the part with Seth and Susanna (which is also the part I felt was rushed and didn’t get enough attention) but I have to say Seth had me from the beginning.

Would you recommend this story? yes

Is this a part of a reading challenge? New author and yearly challenge

Currently Reading

Title: Theiving Forest

Author: Martha Conway

Genre: Historical Fiction

Hardcover/paperback/ebook: Ebook

Page #er: 416

Netgalley ARC

Summary: 

On a humid morning in 1806, seventeen-year-old Susanna Quiner watches helplessly from behind a tree while a band of Potawatomi Indians kidnaps her four older sisters from their cabin. With both her parents dead from Swamp Fever and all the other settlers out in their fields, Susanna rashly decides to pursue them herself. What follows is a young woman's quest to save her sisters and the parallel story of her sisters' new lives. 

Over the next five months, Susanna tans hides in a Moravian missionary village; escapes down a river with a young native girl; discovers an eccentric white woman raising chickens in the middle of the Great Black Swamp; and becomes a servant in a Wyandot village longhouse. The man who loves her, Seth Spendlove, is in pursuit after he realizes that his father was involved in the kidnapping. Part Potawatomi himself but living a white man’s life, Seth unwittingly sets off on his own quest to reclaim his birthright. He allies himself with a Potawatomi named Koman, one of the band of men who originally abducted the Quiner sisters, but who now wishes to make his own retribution. Together they canoe through the Black Swamp and into enemy territory looking for Susanna, and while they travel Koman teaches Seth about their shared heritage. 

Review ~ The Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham

Title: The Queen of Last Hopes

AUTHOR: Susan Higginbotham
COPYRIGHT: 1/1/2011
TYPE: historical fiction/romance
PAGES: 400
SERIES: No

REASON FOR READ: Was offered by Sourcebook as an ARC and sounded interested so I asked for it.

SUMMARY (from Goodreads):
It would be called the Wars of the Roses, but it all began with one woman's fury...


Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England, cannot give up on her husband-even when he goes insane. And as mother to the House of Lancaster's last hope, she cannot give up on her son-even when all England turns against him. This gripping tale of a queen is at its heart a tender tale of love: passionate, for her husband, and motherly, for her only son.

THOUGHTS/OPINION:

Wow, just wow this book completely blew me away. I was mesmerized from the begging and found putting it down was very hard. This book reminds me a lot of why I enjoy historical novels. You get the history, the people, the way they live, but you also get the what were they thinking. In this one book I began to understand what one woman might have faced during this time when her king went mad and the country turned against them. Do I think this is what Margaret of Anjou was thinking? Who knows what I do know is that I loved this book.

I loved watching a young girl grow into a woman then slowly turn into the Queen the British hated. I enjoyed watching how she stuck by her king’s side even when he went mad and the country turned against her. I loved watching her strength as she did everything she thought was right to fight her for son’s rightful place as king. I also enjoyed the fact that she did fault and slip. That she made fatal mistakes that cost lives and even though she could have shrugged her shoulders and moved on. She didn’t in this book she grieved for every lost life. I have no idea what this Queen was like in real life but the way she was portrayed by Ms. Higginbotham makes me hope that this is what she was thinking and doing.

There are not a lot of things in here that I disliked the main thing that was hard for me was switching from different people. Alison Weir does this back and forth to show us different perspectives of what people were thinking and at times I find this hard to follow. Other than that I thought this book was lovely and well written. I will be picking up the back list for this author!

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Oh this will be one I am keeping I loved the writing and the historical accuracy. I really, really enjoyed this book. She reminds me of Allison Weir’s fiction stories.

Would you recommend this book? Yes I think it was very well written you could find yourself sympathizing with Margret. I am also going out to purchase Ms. Higginbotham’s backlist I enjoyed this one so much!

Challenges:

Out do Yourself

Reviewing Next:

Kiss at your Own Risk by Stephanie Rowe

Review ~ Devil's Desire by Laurie McBain

TITLE: Devil’s Desire

AUTHOR: Laurie McBain
COPYRIGHT: re-release 11/2010 original: 9/1975
TYPE: Historical Romance
PAGES: 325 pages
SERIES: no

REASON FOR READ: Sourcebook sent me an ARC to review

SUMMARY (from Goodreads):
In a rousing, unforgettable saga that sweeps across the valleys and peaks of human destiny, the stormy alliance of beautiful young Lady Elysia Demarice and Lord Alex Trevegne plumbs the depths of raw human emotion -- lust, jealousy and hate -- for though Lord Alex has married Elysia, he cannot possess her in flesh or spirit. Out of the turbulence of their clashing wills comes one of the greatest love stories ever written, as their twin passions mingle at last, in a rippling tide of liquid fire!

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
This book was hard to really get into at first. I found that I was constantly reminding myself that this was originally written in 1975 and that comes across perfectly clear. There are a lot of things that were great but others weren’t so great. The fact that Alex takes Elysia by force the first time and she’s okay with it because her passions gave her away. The different little twist that you could see coming at the end was there. But all in all this is the book that started a lot of people’s love for romance out.

THINGS I LIKED:
- Elysia did stand up for herself to Alex she rarely backed down and when she did it was due to picking her battles. This led was a well rounded character and I liked that she wasn’t what was considered a traditional beauty.
- I liked that when Alex made a mistake at least he would admit it. Was it done in a matter I would’ve liked NO but at least he did admit and apology for when he was wrong.
- The brother of Alex was very interesting. It made me wonder what Alex would’ve been like if he wasn’t the eldest. Would he and Elysia have had it easier?

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:
- I mentioned a few above the forced romance that she gave into b/c she couldn’t help herself.
- I didn’t like the twist towards the end you could so see it coming and at times I found myself rolling my eyes at the writing.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? This isn’t my favorite so I will pass

Would you recommend this book? If you want to read what started the romance genre out then yes read it.

Challenges:
100+ book challenge
Romance Reading Challenge
Historical Challenge

Reviewing Next:
Harry Potter 5
Or Moonshine by Rob Thurman

Review ~ Emma and the Vampires by Wayne Josephson

TITLE: Emma and the Vampires
AUTHOR: Wayne Josephson
COPYRIGHT: 2010
TYPE: classic match up with vampires ?
PAGES: 304
SERIES: Not that I’m aware of.

REASON FOR READ:
Rec’d this from Source book as ARC

SUMMARY (from Goodreads):
In this hilarious retelling of Jane Austen's Emma, screenwriter Wayne Josephson casts Mr. Knightley as one of the most handsome and noble of the gentlemen village vampires. Blithely unaware of their presence, Emma, who imagines she has a special gift for matchmaking, attempts to arrange the affairs of her social circle with delightfully disastrous results. But when her dear friend Harriet Smith declares her love for Mr. Knightley, Emma realizes she's the one who wants to stay up all night with him. Fortunately, Mr. Knightley has been hiding a secret deep within his unbeating heart-his (literal) undying love for her... A brilliant mash-up of Jane Austen and the undead

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
I have to admit during most if not all of this book I was highly confused. I couldn’t tell if Emma knew Mr. Knightley was a vampire or not. Or for that matter did she know that all the men in the country were? I mean she knew that there were rogues running wild but she acted as if she didn’t know the “gentlemen” were. But they were always making comments that should’ve clued her in.
Also keep in mind I’ve never read the Original all the way through.

THINGS I LIKED:
- I did like the writing. It was light and fun nothing too hard or serious. Plus for some reason this was really easy to understand while the Original wasn’t.
- I did enjoy Emma. She is a strong character that knows her mind and knows what she wants. I enjoyed that she wasn't running around trying to get married in fact she was trying to avoid it.
- Overall it was a cute story of love and finding your love.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:- While I enjoyed the Emma's strong character I really didn't like how flaky she comes across and having no back ground in the original I am not sure if she is like that or not. It just didn't fit with her.


Are you keeping it or passing it on? While enjoyable not a favorite of mine so I will pass on this one.

Would you recommend this book? Actually I would if you enjoy the Original I think you might enjoy seeing a lighter side. It did have some moments I caught myself smiling over. Also the vampire twist is fun as well.

Challenges:
100+ book Challenge

Review ~ A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

TITLE: The Reliable Wife
AUTHOR: Robert Goolrick
COPYRIGHT: 2009
TYPE: historical fiction
PAGES; 304
SERIES: no

REASON FOR READING: A co-worker thought I would like to read it.

SUMMARY: {From goodreads}
Abandoning her worldly life, traveling to a remote Wisconsin town in the dead of winter, trusting her future to a man she had never met - such was Catherine Land's new beginning. But there was an ending in sight as well, an ending that would redeem the treachery ahead, justify the sacrifice, and allow her to start over yet again. That was her plan." "For Ralph Truitt, the wealthy businessman who had advertised for "a reliable wife," this was also to be a new beginning. Years of solitude, denial, and remorse would be erased, and Catherine Land, whoever she might be, would be the vessel of his desires, the keeper of his secrets, the means to recover what was lost. That was his plan." Set just after the turn of the twentieth century, A Reliable Wife is the story of these two people, each plagued by a heart filled with anger and guilt, each with a destiny in mind. But neither anticipates what develops between them - the pent-up longings that Catherine discovers in this enigmatic man and the depth of her own emotional response; the joy Ralph experiences in giving Catherine the luxuries she has never known, his growing need for her, and a desire that he thought was long buried

THOUGHTS/OPINION:
I am not sure what I thought about this book. It wasn't a winner nor a loser. Is not one I would suggest to anyone in particular. In fact I could've done without reading it and not missed much but I'm not upset that I lost the time reading it though.

Things I enjoyed:
I enjoyed the setting even though it was the harsh winter of Wisconsin and I enjoyed learning the past of the main characters even though they weren't very loveable nor were they very likeable. I think they were both very hard on theirselves. I think the main heroine finally found what she wanted but would never know how to be satisfied with it. I think Truitt finally found what he needed but would never appreciate it to the fullest.


Things I didn’t care for:
I didn't care for how they thought about SEX all the freakin time. All the ways they had sex all the ways the wanted sex, all the ways that could've been, all the ways that had been, and all the ways they were doing it. I swear if you took out those parts the book would only be 150 or so pages it blows my mind. I also didn't think the "twist" was all that it wasn't hard to figure out and really I just didn't care. I think I didn't care b/c I just didn't care for the characters at all so there was no OMG she did that with him?

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Passing

Challenges it qualifies for
100+ Book Challenge 3/100
Year of the Historical 2/12
Romance Book Challenge 2/20