Recent Reads {The Eight}

The Eight by Katherine Neville - I first read this as a book club pick over a year ago, and loved it.  Honestly, not near as fond of the cover displayed here as I am of the cover of my copy, which has a chessboard with the white knight piece.  But that's really not important.  This is a thriller/medieval mystery/historical novel/romantic adventure story all rolled into one.  The actions jumps back and forth between two main characters and their respective time periods - Mireille, a French nun in the late 1700s; and Cat, a modern-day computer specialist in the 1970s.  Each finds herself on a quest to find and decode the secret of an ancient chess set with a mysterious power, and to find the scattered pieces of the chess set before the team of  "bad guys" does.   Intrigue, conspiracy, power struggles,  and dangerous situations are part of their daily adventures in the Game they are involved in.  In many instances, it's hard to tell who is on the White Team and who is on the Black Team - and even which team is considered the "good guys"  The first time I read it, most of the surprise ending elements were truly unexpected - I read the final chapters with all the storyline resolutions and realized that it all made sense but I hadn't seen it coming at all.   There is a sequel, titled The Fire, that is an upcoming book club pick, and I am eager to get started on it, in hopes that it will be just as enjoyable as The Eight.  If you want to read it, I do want to add a little disclaimer - the review blurb on the front cover of my copy says "Readers thrilled by The DaVinci Code will relish the mulit-layered secrets of The Eight."   In other words, if you're the type of person who was bothered by The DaVinci Code, you may not be comfortable with this either.  It is definitely a secular book, and subtly presents the idea that all religions have their basis in ancient mysticism, and also contains a couple of 'love scenes' that aren't overly graphic but are pretty descriptive nonetheless.

Recent Reads {unChristian}

unChristian by David Kinnaman - I really took my time reading this book, which is a compilation and commentary on what surveys of "outsiders" reveal about the perceptions of Christians.  I preferred to read it in short chunks and then mentally chew on what I'd read before tackling the next section.  The research is eye-opening and really quite sobering; it should move all of us that claim to be Christians to think through our own attitudes and how we are representing the Gospel.   Did you know that a large percentage of "outsiders" (those who do not attend church or profess Christian faith) view Christians as hypocritical, judgmental, anti-homosexual, or sheltered and out-of-touch?  Sadly, too often their perceptions are based on their interactions with Christians who have acted in an "unChristian" way.   It's up to us to change those perceptions, starting with the outsiders that we each have contact with, by actually living what we say we believe and accurately reflecting Jesus Christ to those around us.

Recent Reads {Mr Darcy's Diary}

Mr Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange - Yet another in the growing list of Pride and Prejudice off-shoots... this was a very quick read, I finished it in one day and found it interesting to speculate on Mr Darcy's point of view.  I'd call it a good "beach read" for anyone familiar with the storyline of Pride and Prejudice.  And I must admit that the Mr & Mrs Darcy mystery series will be coming up soon on my to-read list, as I seem to be in an Austen-exploitation-lit phase.  ;-)

Recent Reads {The Dead Travel Fast}

The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn - Quite some time ago, I read the Lady Julia Grey mysteries by Deanna Raybourn and enjoyed them.  Then a few weeks ago I spotted this new title by Raybourn and picked it up.  It's a vampire story!  After laughing at myself for my recent dive into reading about the "undead" I decided I would give this one a try too.  At first attempt, I found it difficult to stay engaged with the book and set it aside after the first chapter.  It's possible I was just too distracted at the time to focus on reading, because when I picked it up and restarted it several days ago, I found it to be another light read with an unconventional heroine and mix of mystery and folklore.  So after a false start, I did actually enjoy this book and will keep an eye out for more by this author.

Recent Reads {Mr Darcy, Vampyre}{Pride and Prejudice and Zombies}

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange - after reading (and loving!) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies I couldn't resist checking out some other tangents to the Jane Austen classic.  This one was a quick, light read; and just like the zombie version, it's surprising how well the characters and storyline lend themselves to these "monstrous" adaptations! 



Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith - I decided to just include this one here too, since it's the same general idea - take a classic piece of literature and adapt it as a cheap horror thriller.  LOL  We chose this as our book club pick several months ago and all enjoyed it immensely.  We followed up the reading by watching one of the movie versions of Pride and Prejudice (the one with Colin Firth, we all agreed it was our favorite of the movie adaptations) and imagined the zombie appearances where they showed up in the book.  Great fun!

My apologies to the Jane Austen "purists" who are properly horrified at these treatments of her work, but I thoroughly enjoyed both of these, and am planning to read similar works such as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters...  :-)

Recent Reads {The Queen's Lover}

The Queen's Lover by Vanora Bennett - Having read at least one of Bennett's books previously and enjoyed it, I picked this one up on a whim.  Historical fiction/novelizations always seem to catch my eye.  This one focuses on Catherine of France - a generation before The White Queen.  Catherine, a Princess of France, is brought up in a chaotic and odd royal family - her father, King Charles VI of France is mentally unstable and her mother has a reputation for scandal; the children are left to fend for themselves for long periods without anyone assigned to make sure they are properly clothed and fed.  An English delegation comes to negotiate a marriage between the English King Henry V and Catherine, and she meets Owain Tudor.  Eventually Catherine and Henry do marry and have a son who will be heir to both the thrones of England and France.  Unfortunately Henry dies while his son and heir is still an infant, and Owain Tudor is called into service again as part of the royal household.  Years later, of course, Catherine does marry Owain, giving the Tudor descendents their claim to the English throne after the Wars of the Roses.  Bennett tells her version of the story in a compelling way, keeping me turning pages even though I know from my history books what the outcome will be.  I enjoyed this book and think that anyone who enjoys historical fiction probably would as well.

Recent Reads {The White Queen}

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory - Another book club choice, this happens to be the first novel by Philippa Gregory that I've read.  I like historical fiction and I usually like biographies, so a novelization of a historical figure is very likely to get the thumbs up from me.  This book definitely met my expectations.   The title character is Elizabeth Woodville,  who married Edward IV of England in 1464 towards the end of the War of the Roses.  In many accounts, and in all of the other historical novels I have read, Elizabeth Woodville is characterized as a grasping, vindictive, power-hungry schemer.  In fact, she is presented as one of the 'bad guys'.  As we should know by now, there are usually two sides to every story, and Gregory presents this time period as it might have been seen from Elizabeth's point of view.  Not surprisingly, many of the things Elizabeth and her family did take on a slightly different flavor when one considers that her actions may have been motivated by love of her husband and children, fear for the safety of her family, and self-preservation; and not purely from greed or a thirst for power.   The White Queen is the first in a new series by Gregory, and I noticed that the second installment, The Red Queen, will be released soon.  I plan on reading it, and will be adding Gregory's other works to my "plan to read" list as well.