Caleb's Crossing

Thanks for letting me join this blog...I read a whole lot of books that I wouldn't review for you guys...I call them "junk" books.  But many times I read good literature that I want to share with you all. 

I just finished reading Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks.   This is the second book I've read by her, the first one was People of the Book, which I also enjoyed.  Caleb's Crossing is a historical fiction based on a true life in mid-seventeenth century Martha's Vineyard.  I thought most of you might know where this island is!  Caleb is a native American boy who gets to know a white settler's daughter, Bethia.  Bethia's father is a missionary to the Native Americans on the island, trying to bring them to Christianity. 

The story is fascinating in that Caleb ends up going to Harvard and graduating as the first Native American graduate.  The story tells of his transformation from a son of the medicine man to studying to become a minister.   I found the constraints of the Christian beliefs and the living conditions at this time in history extremely harsh and unforgiving as portrayed in this story.  Punishment was given out quite readily by the elders of the church if people were found sinning.  Sure glad this doesn't happen in our current Protestant churches. 

Linda/Aunt Linda

The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez

You know, I liked this book a lot and was going to write something crafty and witty, but Amazon just sums it up so well that I have again, just done a cut and paste from them.  The author has several interesting comments regarding America's involvement in Afghanistan and although this is a work of fiction, she lets her life experiences and thoughts come through in her writing. Meredith, thank you for this book!

"After hard luck and heartbreak, Sunny finally finds a place to call home—in the middle of an Afghanistan war zone. There, the thirty-eight-year-old serves up her American hospitality to the expats who patronize her coffee shop, including a British journalist, a “danger pay” consultant, and a wealthy and well-connected woman. True to her name, Sunny also bonds with people whose language and landscape are unfamiliar to most Westerners, but whose hearts and souls are very much like our own: the maternal Halajan, who vividly recalls the days before the Taliban and now must hide a modern romance from her ultratraditional son; and Yazmina, a young Afghan villager with a secret that could put everyone’s life in jeopardy. In this gorgeous first novel, New York Times bestselling author Deborah Rodriguez paints a stirring portrait of a faraway place where—even in the fog of political and social conflict—friendship, passion, and hope still exist."

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

I have always enjoyed Philippa Gregory's books and this one is no exception.  It is entertaining, engaging and thoroughly readable.... if you like her style of writing and period of history that is.  I don't have the book in front of me to write about it with a critical nature, so I am copying a review from Amazon.
 

Publication Date: April 3, 2012 | Series: The Cousins' War

A story rich in passion and legend, The Lady of the Rivers is the story of Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, a woman who navigated a treacherous path through the battle lines in the Wars of the Roses. When Jacquetta is married to the Duke of Bedford, English regent of France, he introduces her to a mysterious world of learning and alchemy. Her only friend in the great household is the duke’s squire Richard Woodville, who is at her side when the duke’s death leaves her a wealthy young widow. The two become lovers and marry in secret, returning to England to serve at the court of the young King Henry VI, where Jacquetta becomes a close and loyal friend to his new queen.
The Woodvilles soon achieve a place at the very heart of the Lancaster court, though Jacquetta can sense the growing threat from the people of England and the danger of their royal York rivals. As Jacquetta fights for her king and her queen, she can see an extraordinary and unexpected future for her daughter Elizabeth: a change of fortune, the throne of England, and the white rose of York. . . .

The Hunger Games -- all three books

I was so curious about all the hype that I delved in and read them all in a week.  I started over Iceland and finished before we came back to America - about a week of reading.  I couldn't put the first book down, was anxious to go on to the second and from there I lost steam.  It is evident they are written for a younger audience which made the reading easy and quick but by the middle of the second book I found myself wanting something a little more developed.  That being said, I would recommend them for an enjoyable read.  I won't even comment on the storyline or content as most everybody that reads this blog has read the books!

A Storm of Swords

I finished "A Storm of Swords" a few weeks ago, it is the third book in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R.R. Martin. Amazon Link for the summary and details...

This book was lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng and really, really good! It moved along several plots that had been simmering for the first couple thousand pages of the series. Martin's ability to make a long story interesting is impressive.
     The themes throughout the first books continue, the ones that are most overt to me involve morality. There are characters that you are sure you hate that end up, maybe, being not so bad. The morally pure (good or evil) players seem to have the most problems getting their way and also seem to have a short life span.
    This installment had quite a few surprises and twists that launched me right into book 4. I had planned on taking a break from the series but here I am. Thus far it has been much slower and is focusing on characters that are not as interesting. I may take a mid-book break yet... 

SEAL Team Six

Amazon link

Continuing in my current theme of military memoirs, I just finished "SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite SEAL Sniper". The title is pretty much what you get. It's well written, and it's an interesting look inside the training that goes into making a SEAL team member. The author was involved in the Battle of Mogadishu, which is also recounted in "Black Hawk Down". I was amazed at what these brave men endure in order to do what our country asks of them. One thing that stuck out to me was the absolute certainty that after making it through SEAL training, you are somehow more than human. I wonder what that does to your psyche over time? It certainly was interesting to see how the author reacted when faced with his own mortality.

This is a quick read, and written with the pacing of a good Clancy novel. Good for the beach or the plane.

Between Silk and Cyanide

To speed things up, here's a link to the Amazon summary.

I really enjoyed this book - it's the memoirs of the British code master for their commando units during WWII. At the beginning of the war, the Brits were using a simplistic code based on picking a set of words out of a poem they had memorized and coordinated ahead of time with home base. Leo Marks, the protagonist, realized how vulnerable the codes were to interception and decoding, and designed a set of codes that were significantly more secure. The conflict between the eggheads who were designing codes and the directors who were running the agents is fascinating, and it's kind of surprising that we don't all speak German at this point, given how much politics went into fighting the war.

As an egghead, it was also really neat to read about someone who made a difference and saved lives in the field, even from the home base.

This book is quite long (600 pages?) but it is very well written. I could hardly put it down - he even makes frequency analysis exciting! The author later went on to write screenplays. Well worth a read if you like WWII history or cryptography.