Recent Reads {Water for Elephants}

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - While the title had intrigued me for awhile, this is a book I would probably not have read on my own.  It was my book club's pick for last month, so I dug into it.  I hesitate to "recommend" it because it is full of vile, coarse language, and there are several se**al scenes that are more graphic than necessary.  Not all of that is gratuitous, of course - I think its an accurate portrayal of the people and atmosphere to include foul language and immoral behaviors, and generally it is part and parcel of the plot, so it's not added as sensationalism.  The story itself is fascinating, unique, and unpredictable.  The reading went quickly and I always wanted to turn the page to find out what would happen next.  I rather liked the ending too - it really wasn't quite what I expected, but was truly satisfying.

The main character is an elderly man in a nursing home and he is remembering his experiences as a young man and how he happened to "run away and join the circus" and the drama and tragedies he witnessed and lived through.  The author's note at the end reveals that many of the incidents and circumstances in the novel are based on actual events and anecdotes from the circus trains of the early 1900s.

Recent Reads {Sister's Choice}

Sister's Choice by Judith Pella.  Not that long ago, i picked up the first book in this series, Bachelor's Puzzle, and was pleasantly surprised at the character development and plot twists in what I expected to be a formula Christian romance.  I enjoyed it so much I decided that I would watch for the next book in the series.  I happened to see it at the library last week and even though I had several other books on my reading stack, I couldn't resist grabbing it.  Once again, Pella delivered a sweet romance that was not always predictable.  Likable and realistic characters, and a little bit of humor along the way enliven this installment in the series.  I kept turning the pages late into the night, always thinking "just one more chapter"  Now I find myself hoping that there will be a third book in this series, and perhaps it will satisfy my curiosity about the source of the long-standing disagreement between Ada and Florence.

Recent Reads {The Trailblazing Life of Daniel Boone}

The Trailblazing Life of Daniel Boone - How Early Americans Took to the Road by Cheryl Harness.  I took is book out of our library to supplement our study of US History, thinking it might be a reference for the boys to write a biography of Daniel Boone.  Instead, we wound up using it as a read-aloud and enjoying it thoroughly!  It reads like a page-turning adventure story - which, of course, the life of Daniel Boone really was!  The illustrations included, especially the maps, are beautifully done.  I also found the timeline along the bottom of each page interesting - it highlights events taking place around the world at the same that Daniel Boone was... serving in the French and Indian War or blazing the Wilderness Road or moving his family to Missouri, etc. 

I'd recommend this book as a read-aloud or for tweens and up to read, even if its not a school assignment.  I found it engaging and entertaining to read, and I'm very glad I took a chance on it through the library!

Recent Reads {Bachelor's Puzzle}

Bachelor's Puzzle (Patchwork Circle Series #1) by Judith Pella.  I saw this on the library shelf while browsing and decided it looked interesting.  I've enjoyed Judith Pella's books and this series has a quilt theme, so of course it looked good!  So this was my "light" reading while on vacation last week.  Like most Christian romance books, the eventual outcome was obvious (boy and girl fall in love, and both grow in their walk with the Lord), but what set this one apart was the plot twist that made it less easy to anticipate HOW the young man would extricate himself from the situation he was in.  I knew it was going to happen, just didn't know how, so it did keep me turning the pages.

The second book in the series, Sister's Choice, was released earlier this year, so I'm on the waiting list at the library.  Looking forward to seeing who the next couple in this frontier community will be!

Recent Reads {Crown of Fire}

Crown of Fire (The Thistle and the Cross #1) by Craig & Janet Parshall - this first novel in a trilogy is set during the beginning of the Reformation in Scotland, at the time of John Knox.  Actually, the main character is a student, and later an assistant and colleague of Rev Knox.  As with so many historical setting novels, the appeal to me was "seeing" a historical event as it may have been from the perspective of those who lived through it.  I really enjoyed this story, and look forward to getting the next book in the trilogy, but I did find it difficult emotionally in places - reading a first-hand account, even a fictional account, of seeing people martyred or tortured for their faith in Christ alone and for their love of God's Word, can be heart-wrenching.  To be reminded of the great cost to these reformers is humbling, to say the least.  They loved God's Word with all their hearts, and many gave their lives to give that Word to the people in their own language, and I am ashamed that I so often take that sacrifice too lightly - I own multiple copies of the Bible, in several translations, and have no fear of arrest or persecution because I have them; and yet I take that for granted and neglect the reading and study of the Scripture too often.  Even though this book is a work of fiction, it reminded me of the "great cloud of witnesses" and has been used by the Holy Spirit to convict me in this area.  So many Christians in generations long past have given their lives so that the gospel would come to us - do we cherish the inheritance that we have? And what legacy will we leave to those who come behind us?

Recent Reads {The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown}

The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America by Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith - This book was mentioned in a library newsletter I received, and it came while I was working on lesson plans for our study of the settling and colonization of the Americas in History.  I thought it might be interesting to read this for myself, as background for our discussion of Jamestown, and found it to be quite engaging.  I have to confess that in some chapters - especially towards the end of the book - I did skim a lot rather than read; but that was more because I was pressed for time than because of the material.  Glover and Smith present a well-researched history that, in places, reads like a novel.  They rely heavily on - and quote from - original sources such as the first-hand accounts of the colonists.  It really is a remarkable story, and one that usually is told only from the perspective of the colonists in Jamestown.  For anyone interested in the history of Jamestown, or of Bermuda, I'd recommend this as interesting reading - not nearly so dry as you might expect!

Recent Reads {Bram Stoker's Dracula}

Dracula by Bram Stoker - This was my book club pick for October.  We usually do our discussion at the end of the month, and thought it would be a fun idea to read something "spooky" to discuss so close to Halloween.  Like most people, I'm very familiar with the general story of Dracula and the vampire legend, but hadn't actually read the book.  It has been on my "I should read that sometime" list for quite some time now, since I saw (and loved) the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  After seeing the movie a couple of times, I decided it would be interesting to read (or reread in many cases) the literary works on which the "extraordinary gentlemen" were based.  At any rate, I really enjoyed this reading of Dracula, and of course throughout my reading, I pictured Mina Harker just as she was portrayed in the movie!

It's easy to see why this novel remains a classic.  Even knowing how it ends does not dampen the thrill and the suspense as I turned the pages.  Stoker tells the story using first person narratives of most of the characters, with a few newspaper clippings thrown in.  Each of the main characters keeps some form of journal and some write letters or memos, and the chilling tale of the vampire, his victims, and those who fight him are told through the chronological organization of these various pieces. 

The edition I read included an introduction by Leonard Wolf, in which he explains that Dracula is considered to be of the Gothic novel genre, and points out that this monster is an invention of Stoker's, just over 100 years ago.  Yet most everyone knows who Count Dracula is and what he looks like, and that the vampire legends date back at least to medieval Europe.  Don't they?  Wolf reminds us that they do not.  The vampire was introduced to English literature in only 1816, and that by what is considered a rather weak novel by John Polidori.  (Polidori was one who took up Byron's party challenge to write a ghost story - the best known story from that challenge is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein)  Two other novels appeared during the 1800s which featured vampires, and only one, Carmilla by Sheridan LeFanu, is likely to have influenced Stoker's writing of Dracula.  Wolf's analysis of Dracula observes that not only is it an imaginative and exciting Gothic adventure, but is also intended as somewhat of a Christian allegory in the struggle between good and evil.  Wolf says:

The struggle is not merely between good guys and a supremely bad man, but between high-minded Christians and a minion of the devil.  Dracula (his name, in Romanian, beans "dragon") is a creature of the night, cut off from God because he has chosen immortaility under the sponsorship of Satan rather than of Christ.  Though Dracula has supernatural powers, he is weak in God's daylight; he shrinks from any contact with the cross.  Still, he represents a more than mortal danger in his victims because his blood drinking is not simply an act of nourishment.  The more the vampire drinks, the greater is the victim's spiritual empoisonment, so that, when death finally comes, it brings not release from the shocks that flesh is heir to but the beginning of ****ation. (Introduction by Leonard Wolf , p xi, to Dracula)

Certainly the spiritual overtones are obvious, but I would not have described the story as a Christian allegory myself!!  And I certainly don't recommend reading it for the inspiration, because while good ultimately triumphs, Dracula could hardly be considered inspiring or uplifting! It is entertaining and well-crafted fantasy fiction, but dark and chilling in tone.  I enjoyed revisiting this classic novel.