Miracles and Massacres: True and Untold Stories of the Making of America

Author: Glenn Beck (in case you couldn't tell since his name is twice as big as the title....it annoys me when authors do that)
Pages: 256
Rating: PG-13 (the title tells you why. Massacres)

Summary:
Thomas Edison was a bad guy— and bad guys usually lose in the end.

World War II radio host “Tokyo Rose” was branded as a traitor by the U.S. government and served time in prison. In reality, she was a hero to many.

Twenty U.S. soldiers received medals of honor at the Battle of Wounded Knee—yet this wasn’t a battle at all; it was a massacre.

Paul Revere’s midnight ride was nothing compared to the ride made by a guy named Jack whom you’ve probably never heard of.

History is about so much more than memorizing facts. It is, as more than half of the word suggests, about the story. And, told in the right way, it is the greatest one ever written: Good and evil, triumph and tragedy, despicable acts of barbarism and courageous acts of heroism.

The things you’ve never learned about our past will shock you. The reason why gun control is so important to government elites can be found in a story about Athens that no one dares teach. Not the city in ancient Greece, but the one in 1946 Tennessee. The power of an individual who trusts his gut can be found in the story of the man who stopped the twentieth hijacker from being part of 9/11. And a lesson on what happens when an all-powerful president is in need of positive headlines is revealed in a story about eight saboteurs who invaded America during World War II.

Miracles and Massacres is history as you’ve never heard it told. It’s incredible events that you never knew existed. And it’s stories so important and relevant to today that you won’t have to ask, Why didn’t they teach me this? You will instantly know. If the truth shall set you free, then your freedom begins on page one of this book. By the end, your understanding of the lies and half-truths you’ve been taught may change, but your perception of who we are as Americans and where our country is headed definitely will.

My Thoughts: I thought this book was fascinating. If you like history at all, you'll enjoy this collection of stories as well. They are written as stories, not a collection of facts, and if you really care, at the end of the book, Beck lists which parts of the stories were fabricated for the sake of creating a coherent story line, and which parts are solid fact. I appreciated this, and thought it was pretty interesting.  

My husband didn't like the fact that each story is told from varying viewpoints, and it switches back and forth. I didn't mind it, but just wanted to put that out there.

Personally I learned quite a bit about history from this book, and how the US is certainly not perfect. That being said, I don't think Beck was trying to turn our country into some secretive bad guy, I just think he wanted to expose stories that the government tried to hide or at least gloss over for a while. There are also several stories about bravery and heroism that you just may not have heard of.

My personal favorite story was "Saboteurs: In a Time of War, the Laws are Silent." During World War II, Germany decided to send 8 "spies" over to America to bomb some key factories and bridges and hopefully make things more difficult for the US. The Nazis chose these "spies" based on the fact that they had previously spent time in the United States and would easily blend in to the environment. Unfortunately, they didn't think to check the loyalties of these men, who had no intention of following through with their mission. After a Nazi sub dropped the men off a few miles off the US coastline in the middle of the night, one of the men went straight to the FBI and told them everything, including that he and his comrades had no hard feelings towards the US and that they would like to help the US win the war. However, the United States felt that its citizens needed the morale boost from hearing that 8 would-be saboteurs were captured and kept from their mission. The men were arrested and put in prison, and ultimately, 6 were executed, including one man who was actually a US citizen. The other two were sentenced to 30 years in prison, but only served about 6 of those years. The war ended and a new president freed them and sent them back to Germany.

To me, the ultimate lesson I gained from this book is that you can't always trust every news story or press release you hear. People in power are very good at twisting the truth and convincing unsuspecting listeners that an entirely different truth exists. In at least two of the stories, the American people were convinced that the government was doing the right thing, blissfully unaware of the truth.

But you may get a different message. Like I said, not all the stories are about mistakes. I would give this one a read. It's very interesting, and a pretty easy read too, since the stories are told in a novelistic fashion.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Author:  Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Pages: 274
Rating: PG (It's a post-World War II novel, and some of the wartime descriptions are a little too graphic for it to be rated G)

Summary:  January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

My Thoughts: This book was recommended to me by both my sister and a former roommate, so I knew I had to eventually pick it up. I really enjoyed it! Sometimes I get annoyed with books written entirely in letter format, as this one was, but it really worked for this novel. The worst part is that there are no "chapters" so there's nowhere good to stop! I pretty much binge-read this book. I am already a sucker for novels and books about World War II, so of course, I was automatically interested.

This is a different novel than you have probably ever read about the War. It's all about this eccentric group of friends from a little island off the coast of England, who had to deal with the German Occupation of their Island in the best way they could. They were completely cut off from any news or contact with anyone from mainland England for the entire 4 years the Germans occupied their island. They had very little food, and eventually, the Germans didn't have any either; they were resorting to killing and eating stray dogs and cats. The only thing that kept these island friends sane during this Occupation was their Literary society. They did not have many books (most of the books on the island ended up being burned for fuel after all the wood and other methods of fuel ran out) and some members of the society read the same book over and over again. However, they were able to spend a few hours every few weeks discussing these books and ideas, and forgetting about the war.

I loved this book a lot because it was a simple and easy read, but you really got a feel for these people, who, although fictional, could just as well have been real. It's been so long since we have suffered from such a terrible war that my generation doesn't know what it is like, and we take all of our blessings for granted. For example, just to have good flour and sugar to bake a cake was an unheard-of luxury for most during the dark years of the war. The "Potato Peel Pie" part of the name of the society came because the society wanted to serve refreshments at their meetings. Having no sugar or other such necessities for sweets, a member of the club made up a pie made of mashed potatoes sweetened with strained beets with potato peels for crust.

Another aspect of this book I liked was that the members of the society were able to separate the collective character of the German Army from that of the individual officers. In fact, they made good friends with one officer, who was very friendly, and not at all supportive or pleased with what his country was doing during this war. They also related the small acts of kindness some German soldiers would discreetly and quietly carry out: "accidentally" pushing a few potatoes off the back of a cart for the starving children following behind, delivering desperately needed medicine to a woman with a sick child in the village, helping a man in a churchyard dig a grave.

This one I definitely recommend. I gave it the PG rating because some of the descriptions of wartime activities and the way the Germans treated their prisoners can be intense. Not terribly bad though, and it's not something they dwell on a lot in the book. Happy reading!

Eat, Pray, Love

Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Pages: 331
Rating: PG-13 (a few scattered swear words, some brief talk about masturbation and sex, nothing extremely graphic, but I still would say this is a book for adults, no one younger.)

Summary: In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want - husband, country home, successful career - but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she felt consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and of what she found in their place. Following a divorce and a crushing depression, Gilbert set out to examine three different aspects of her nature, set against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence.

My Thoughts: I read the book and then I watched the movie, and I have to say, regardless of how you felt about the movie, read the book. It was much better than the movie. I mean, you really can't tell the story of a year in 2 hours, so it's automatically more fleshed out of a story in the book. Also, the movie made everything into a love story and I didn't like that.

Ok, so enough with the movie/book comparison and on to how I felt about the book. I'm not sure if I would say it was life-changing, but it was definitely interesting. There's definitely a feministic message: Gilbert says she married with the expectation that she would someday have the desire to have babies and be a cute little housewife, but when she hit 30 she realized this desire was just not there and might not ever surface. The only thing she could do was leave her marriage and go on this journey of self-discovery. She desperately wanted to find God and balance in her life. The message is: don't sit around feeling like you have to fill a certain stereotype. Go figure out who you want to be. I think it's just a reminder that you should really know what you want from life before you go and get married.

If you want to escape the talk of sex and whatnot, just skip the Bali section. That's where Liz finally decides she's ready for love again. In Italy, she learns to just enjoy life. Let it happen, and be happy. Don't allow depression and loneliness get you down. My favorite part was the section where Liz is in India. Here is where she is determined to find God and make peace with herself, and she does it. I think that most world religions have a lot of good in them, so it was fascinating to learn about how Liz feels that she finds God through meditations Sanskrit prayers. I just really resonated with the things Liz learns in India. Very interesting stuff.

Anyway, pretty good book. Did not get a negative rating from me.

A Matter of Magic

Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Pages: 448
Rating: PG (there's a few murders, but nothing grisly or overly upsetting)

Summary:
When a stranger offers her a small fortune to break into a traveling magician’s wagon, Kim doesn’t hesitate. Having grown up a waif in the dirty streets of London, Kim isn’t above a bit of breaking-and-entering. A hard life and lean times have schooled her in one lesson: steal from them before they steal from you. But when the magician catches her in the act, Kim thinks she’s done for. Until he suggests she become his apprentice; then the real trouble begins.

Kim soon finds herself entangled with murderers, thieves, and cloak-and-dagger politics, all while trying to learn how to become both a proper lady and a magician in her own right. Magic and intrigue go hand in hand in Mairelon the Magician and The Magician’s Ward, two fast-paced novels filled with mystery and romance, set against the intricate backdrop of Regency England.

My Thoughts: I decided to read this book after seeing it on my sister-in-law's Christmas wish list. And, my personal opinion....you can skip this book. I don't feel like it's very well written. Like the summary says, it's really two books in one, and I felt like both books failed to draw me in. The summary makes it sound way more exciting than it really is. They both have some sort of mystery in need of being solved, and random, confusing things happen throughout the book, and then they figure it out in just a few quick pages, and everything is wonderful. I've also never been a fan of the criminal randomly confessing his entire plot when the heroes finally catch up to him. It always seemed stupid to me, and in this book, it happens not once but twice. I just felt like there wasn't enough background information, plot points just kind of randomly appear, as if the author suddenly remembered she wanted to include this random thing so she just throws it in, but it doesn't really fit with anything else going on.

You might enjoy it, and if you're bored, it's not a boring book to read. It was at least entertaining enough for me to finish it, but I don't really recommend it.

Abandon Trilogy

Author: Meg Cabot
Pages: Abandon - 304, Underworld - 322, Awaken - 343
Rating: PG-13: It's violent in places, not too graphic, but she does have sex a few times and talks a little about it but only in very vague terms, nothing specific or overly graphic at all.

Summary:
Abandon - Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.
But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.
Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.
But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

Underworld - Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn't dead. Not this time.
But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey.
Her captor, John Hayden, claims it's for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they've come back as Furies, intent on vengeance . . . on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves.
But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there . . . and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies.
And unless Pierce is careful, this time there'll be no escape.

Awaken - Death has her in his clutches. She doesn't want him to let go. Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera knew by accepting the love of John Hayden, she'd be forced to live forever in the one place she's always dreaded most: the Underworld. The sacrifice seemed worth it, though, because it meant she could be with the boy she loves. But now her happiness -- and safety -- are threatened, all because the Furies have discovered that John has broken one of their strictest rules: He revived a human soul. If the balance between life and death isn't fixed, both the Underworld and Pierce's home back on earth will be wiped away. But there's only one way to restore order. Someone has to die.

My Thoughts: Not gonna lie, Meg Cabot is and always will be a fantastic writer. I was completely hooked on this little trilogy. I would recommend checking them all out from the library at once since you're not going to want to wait to get the next one. I literally closed one book and immediately picked up the next!  I read all three in less than 2 weeks. And I'm a pretty busy person.

The story is loosely based on the ancient Greek story of Hades and Persephone. Recap, if you don't remember, Hades kidnaps Persephone to be his consort in the world of the dead. She makes the mistake of eating 6 pomegranate seeds while she's there so even after her mother manages to free her, she is still obligated to spend 6 months of every year with Hades in the Underworld.

Pierce, our main character, has heard this story before and thinks its all a myth. Until she dies. The book is very frustrating on this point and is very vague about how she dies until you're about a third of the way in. Since there's no particular reason for this, I'll just tell you. Pierce is outside her home one day, in the winter time, trying to rescue a fallen bird. She trips on her scarf, hits her head, and falls into the frozen waters of her pool. She dies of hypothermia actually before she even drowns, and she goes to the Underworld, where she meets John. John is not Hades, per se, he just happens to rule the Underworld that is underneath the Island Pierce and her mother live on. He sorts the souls of the dead into two lines. They each get to get on a boat, which will take them to their "final destination." John knows nothing about these final destinations, only that one boat goes to a good place, and one boat definitely goes to a bad place.

When John and Pierce run into each other in the Underworld, he immediately falls in love and tries to convince her to stay with him forever. Pierce isn't too sure she's thrilled about this plan, but doesn't have to worry too much about it because the paramedics back in the real world manage to revive her. That's when everything starts to get WAY more complicated. Pierce would love to believe what all her therapists are telling her, that it was all just a hallucination. Unfortunately, while in the Underworld, John gave her a multi-million dollar diamond necklace to protect her from harm....and it managed to come back to earth with her.

Also, as it turns out, there are a bunch of people who are out to kill Pierce. Again. And they weren't too thrilled she didn't stay dead the first time. There's a lot of mystery and intrigue. John obviously has issues and baggage and secrets, and Pierce bugs him incessently about how he became who he is and why he is that way. He's only 150 years old, so he hasn't been Lord of the Underworld forever. There are also a lot of sketchy humans roaming about the island. Trust me, it's good, you'll be hooked. I loved that it was based on a Greek myth we've all heard a zillion times before. Super cool.

Like I said in the rating, there's not much language, some violence (people are trying to kill Pierce. On multiple occasions) but the main reason for the rating is that she does have sex a few times. It's not at all graphic though. No detailed descriptions or steamy writing. Very safe, in my opinion.

The Star Garden: a Novel of Sarah Agnes Prine

Author:  Nancy E. Turner
Pages: 304
Rating: PG (some intense fighting scenes, mild swearing)

Summary:
In this stunning sequel to the tale begun in These Is My Words and continued in the beloved Sarah's Quilt, pioneer woman Sarah Agnes Prine is nearing bankruptcy. After surviving drought and the rustling of her cattle in winter 1906, Sarah is shocked when her son brings home a bride who was slated to become a nun. Meanwhile, neighbor Udell Hanna is pressing for Sarah to marry him. Then a stagecoach accident puts Sarah in the path of three strangers, who will forever change her life....

My Thoughts: First of all, that summary is terrible. The people she meets in the stagecoach accident, although they do reappear later in the book, don't "forever change her life." That summary makes the stagecoach accident seem like much more of a plot point than it really is.

I had a rough time with this book, mostly because Sarah again is being a huge idiot when it comes to love. She loved Udell, but is so stubborn and ridiculous, it takes her forever to finally agree to marry him, and then she changes her mind at least twice. So frustrating. Also, this book is quite a bit darker than the other two. Although Sarah faced hardships in the past, I felt like this book was worse because her neighbor Rudolfo, who she used to be friendly with, is pretty much set to take Sarah's land from her. And if she won't let him, then he won't stop at anything to take it illegally, even if it means killing her whole family. So that creates a huge tension that finally climaxes near the end and makes you want to cry for days.

The realness of the characters was not diminished, however, and I still felt touched at the end, and like I'd read something that was really worth my time. You just can't get over the feeling of awe towards this woman. Sarah has had more than her fair share of trials, has buried WAY too many family members, and yet she still pushes forward and manages to find some happiness, even when she certainly has enough grief to justify giving up on life. She just comes to terms with her difficulties, and refuses to let them beat her. She's a character that, even though she annoys the heck out of you with her stubbornness sometimes, demands admiration and respect, while at the same time not sounding fake or like someone that couldn't possibly exist. I loved the three books in this little trilogy. So worth it.

Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled - and More Miserable Than Ever Before

Author: Jean M. Twenge
Pages: 242
Rating: PG-13, but only for some language, mostly when she is quoting young adults, or lines from movies.

Summary: Called “The Entitlement Generation” or Gen Y, they are storming into schools, colleges, and businesses all over the country. In this provocative new book, headline-making psychologist and social commentator Dr. Jean Twenge explores why the young people she calls “Generation Me”—those born in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s—are tolerant, confident, open-minded, and ambitious but also cynical, depressed, lonely, and anxious.

Herself a member of Generation Me, Dr. Twenge uses findings from the largest intergenerational research study ever conducted—with data from 1.3 million respondents spanning six decades—to reveal how profoundly different today’s young adults are. Here are the shocking truths about this generation, including dramatic differences in sexual behavior, as well as controversial predictions about what the future holds for them and society as a whole. Her often humorous, eyebrow-raising stories about real people vividly bring to life the hopes and dreams, disappointments, and challenges of Generation Me.

GenMe has created a profound shift in the American character, changing what it means to be an individual in today’s society. The collision of this generation’s entitled self-focus and today’s competitive marketplace will create one of the most daunting challenges of the new century. Engaging, controversial, prescriptive, funny, Generation Me will give Boomers new insight into their offspring, and help those in their teens, 20s, and 30s finally make sense of themselves and their goals and find their road to happiness.

My Thoughts:  While I thought this book was completely fascinating, I didn't feel like I really learned any new information. Most of it was me saying, "Yep, that's how it is!" Also, since the book was published in 2006, some of the information is a little outdated, and there was hardly any mention whatsoever of social media, which has become HUGE since then.

However, I felt the book made a very good case for erasing so-called "self-esteem" curriculum from schools and homes and replacing it with the learning of self-control. Twenge makes the point that GenMe was so saturated with the "You Are Special" message, that we tend to feel important for no reason at all, and are more narcissistic than high in self-esteem. Most members of GenMe feel that they are more important and more special than anyone else.

We also have a big gap between our expectations of life and the reality. We've been raised to believe that we can be anything we want to be, and that if we just try hard enough, it will happen for us. However, we can't ALL be movie stars, rock stars, and famous athletes, and all the trying in the world is not going to change the fact that some people just don't have the talent.We've also been led to believe that if we find the right job and/or the right life partner, that we will always feel fulfilled and completely happy. Previous generations never expected their job to feel personally rewarding, it was just expected to pay the bills. Previous generations also understood that their marriage was not always going to be soul-mate heaven. As a result, the divorce rates of today are high, and people unhappy with their perfectly good jobs are many.

GenMe also has a high tendency to be depressed and anxious, and for many good reasons. First of all, we're more likely to live far away from family when we reach adulthood, to move frequently, and fail to keep in touch with those who are important to us, meaning we don't have a strong support system underneath us to buoy us up in hard times. We also expect a lot out of life, at the same time when life has gotten more difficult. For example, we expect to have a good house, a good job, and great insurance, just when all of those things are ridiculously hard to obtain. Twenge relates that when her parents bought their first house in the early 1970's, it cost $23,000, a little more than their combined annual income. "The rule of thumb used to be that your house should not cost more than two times your annual income, and that you should spend about 25% of your income on housing. What a joke." A quote from political scientist Robert Putnam reads, "Virtually all of the increase in full-time employment of American women over the last twenty years is attributable to financial pressures, not personal fulfillment." We're stressed out because a lot of moms would like to stay home with their kids, but they can't afford not to work. However, the cost of child-care makes working almost as bad as staying home. According to the book, more and more women are forgoing having children at all. Because of what we see on TV (people who are able to afford basically whatever they want) we feel like we are constantly failing. "It's like a cruel joke - we've been raised to expect riches, and can barely afford a condo and a crappy health care plan."

The end of the book offers some practical solutions to employers, parents, and young adults about how to deal with the attitudes instilled in GenMe'ers. Overall, I thought the book was completely fascinating. Worth a read, even if you just need a reassurance that you're not the only one feeling like life is kind of impossible these days.
 

Sarah's Quilt: A Novel of Sarah Agnes Prine

Author: Nancy E. Turner
Pages: 402
Rating: PG (More death. Nothing graphic, and nothing inappropriate)

Summary:
Sarah's Quilt, the long-awaited sequel to These Is My Words, continues the dramatic story of Sarah Agnes Prine. Beloved by readers and book clubs from coast to coast, These Is My Words told the spellbinding story of an extraordinary pioneer woman and her struggle to make a home in the Arizona Territories. Now Sarah returns.

In 1906, the badlands of Southern Arizona Territory is a desolate place where a three-year drought has changed the landscape for all time. When Sarah's well goes dry and months pass with barely a trace of rain, Sarah feels herself losing her hold upon the land. Desperate, Sarah's mother hires a water witch, a peculiar desert wanderer named Lazrus who claims to know where to find water. As he schemes and stalls, he develops an attraction to Sarah that turns into a frightening infatuation.

And just when it seems that life couldn't get worse, Sarah learns that her brother and his family have been trapped in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. She and her father-in-law cannot even imagine the devastation that awaits them as they embark on a rescue mission to the stricken city.

Sarah is a pioneer of the truest spirit, courageous but gentle as she fights to save her family's home. But she never stops longing for the passion she once knew. Though her wealthy neighbor has asked her to wed, Sarah doesn't entirely trust him. And then Udell Hanna and his son come riding down the dusty road. . . .

My Thoughts: I'm not sure if I liked this book better than These is My Words, but I definitely still loved it. It's a different kind of book in that the first one was a diary, and this one is absolutely more of a novel, though still written in first person with every section dated. Also, the first book covered about 10 years, and this book only covers only about 6 months.

Sarah is the type of character that you admire, want to be like, and by the end of the book, you feel as if you're as much a part of her family as anyone else. It's the type of book that draws you in by the closeness of the characters and the stubbornness and strength of the heroine so that you feel as if you're just keeping up with the life events of a close friend or family member by the end of it all.

Lazrus is the creepiest and weirdest part of this book. Not gonna lie, he freaked me out. He's this eccentric wild man who randomly decides to be obsessed with Sarah, and she can't seem to get him to go away. He terrifies everyone.

The only thing that drives me crazy about Sarah is that she's really stupid when it comes to love. She did that in the first book, taking forever to decide she was in love with Jack. And now in this book, she spends way too much time thinking about marrying her neighbor, who she knows she doesn't really like. However, the author does a great job of revealing Sarah's healing process. At the beginning of the book, Sarah (and me as well) was still mourning the death of her husband Jack. Even though it happened years ago, she misses him deeply and longs for him daily. However, you get carried along in her journey of letting go of him, and finally getting ready to move forward in her life. At the beginning of the book, I was right with Sarah, thinking she could never love anyone the way she loved Jack and that no one could ever replace him. But by the end, I was feeling the same way as she was, that Jack was wonderful, but that she could maybe start to let it go while still remembering the happiness of that relationship.

As a story, this book is full of even more tragedy and trial than the first book was, but Sarah is just so strong, you just know she'll be able to make it through, and things will be alright. When I finished the book, my feeling was that life is full of bad things happening, but that's normal. That happens to everyone. The important thing to do is remember your blessings and be grateful for what you still have. That will take the sting off of the difficulties.

Anyway, I loved this book, and can't wait to read the final book, "The Star Garden."
(By the way, don't feel like you have to invest in 3 books if you want to read just one. So far, the two books seem to be very able to stand on their own, with satisfying, not cliff-hanger endings.)

These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine 1881-1901

Author: Nancy E. Turner
Pages: 384
Rating: PG - it's the wild west, there are shootings, train robberies, and twice Sarah narrowly escapes rape, but nothing is overly graphic or inappropriate

Summary:

A moving, exciting, and heartfelt American saga inspired by the author's own family memoirs, these words belong to Sarah Prine, a woman of spirit and fire who forges a full and remarkable existence in a harsh, unfamiliar frontier. Scrupulously recording her steps down the path Providence has set her upon—from child to determined young adult to loving mother—she shares the turbulent events, both joyous and tragic, that molded her, and recalls the enduring love with cavalry officer Captain Jack Elliot that gave her strength and purpose.
Rich in authentic everyday details and alive with truly unforgettable characters, These Is My Words brilliantly brings a vanished world to breathtaking life again.

My Thoughts: Wow. I really really ended up loving this book, recommended to me by several people, and so I finally read it. If you're looking for a strong female character who feels as real as real can be, read this book. The book is largely fiction, and is only loosely based on the experiences of the author's grandmother, but I don't feel like that ruined the book for me at all. You can easily imagine that Sarah's experiences were not at all unusual to a woman living in the Territories during that time.

Sarah is an extremely strong-willed, sensible, and brave woman. She's a quick shot with a rifle or pistol, she works hard every day of her life and thinks nothing of it, she yearns for knowledge and does everything she can to read all sorts of books in order to further her learning, and she's smart too. I absolutely loved her character. Even though she has many moments of vulnerability, she is mostly someone who just takes whatever life gives her and just keeps moving on with it. She's completely in the dark when it comes to love though, and goes for years without realizing that someone is trying to secure her affections. She also doesn't know what it feels like when she's in love, and thinks that said man is frustrating and cruel.

Reading this book definitely alerts you to how many blessings you have and how easy you have it. I know I found myself more thankful in my daily prayers as I read this book. By the time Sarah is 18, she has lost two family members, several close friends, has witnessed the deaths of several people, and has actually killed a dozen men herself. Life in the Arizona Territories back in the 1800's was rife with Indian violence, and death was much more common of an occurrence than it is now. Sarah experiences so many trials and difficulties I hope I never have to deal with, and it makes me grateful for modern medicine and hospitals and the fact that we have cures or vaccinations for so many things that plagued Sarah's family.

I highly recommend this book. You will be amazed by Sarah's life. Throughout it all, she hardly ever complains, and then only for a moment or two. And I just know that there were women just like her that lived back then. They were amazing people. READ THIS BOOK! =)

Edenbrooke

Author: Julianne Donaldson
Pages: 255
Rating: G

Summary:
Marianne Daventry will do anything to escape the boredom of Bath and the amorous attentions of an unwanted suitor. So when an invitation arrives from her twin sister, Cecily, to join her at a sprawling country estate, she jumps at the chance. Thinking she'll be able to relax and enjoy her beloved English countryside while her sister snags the handsome heir of Edenbrooke, Marianne finds that even the best laid plans can go awry. From a terrifying run-in with a highwayman to a seemingly harmless flirtation, Marianne finds herself embroiled in an unexpected adventure filled with enough romance and intrigue to keep her mind racing. Will Marianne be able to rein in her traitorous heart, or will a mysterious stranger sweep her off her feet? Fate had something other than a relaxing summer in mind when it sent Marianne to Edenbrooke.

My Thoughts: The summary makes this book out to be more scandalous than it really is, but I still liked it. If you like Jane Austen or anything similar, this book is set in the same time period, but with slightly more modern language, and a little less tedium in the wording. Edenbrooke is a love story, and very well done I thought. Even though there weren't many surprising twists and turns, it was still a very sweet story, not too cheesy, and totally clean. Yay!

I really enjoyed the character of Marianne. She has always played second fiddle to her sister, and has never felt that she is very beautiful or even desirable. She's very innocent and pure, and feels that she could never really be an elegant lady because of how much she enjoys being outdoors and other activities not considered "ladylike." When a handsome gentleman begins to pay special attention to her, Marianne convinces herself that he treats all women like this and she is not anything more than a flirtation to him. She doesn't have the best self-worth, believing that her sister will always get what she wants, but Marianne will just get whatever is left. Definitely worth the read if you want a clean, sweet love story with just enough intrigue.