#45: The Roots of the Olive Tree

I received an advanced copy of author Courtney Miller Santo's first novel The Roots of the Olive Tree...read it...and enjoyed it...very much!

Go ahead...pre-order!  It's available August 21.

This novel relates the history of the five Keller women, the oldest of whom is 112, all are the firstborn, a line of daughters,  most of whom still live in the family home in California on an olive grove.

Told from various points of view, this novel introduces the reader to these ladies...Anna, Bets, Callie, Deb, and Erin... in bits and pieces, in such an interesting manner.  Their stories, of course, intertwine, always with just a hint of the unknown, the secrets that each have, that are revealed, page by page.

I learned much about olives and their history in our nation.  More importantly, though, Santo allows the olive trees to become a character within the novel.  The olive tree symbolizes the family,  the branches the ladies. The roots...yes, they represent the depth of this family...or, at least, that is my interpretation of that symbolism!

When asked to compare this author and novel to other works, I chose Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help; Kate Morton, author of The Forgotten Garden; and Katherine Howe, author The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. This is a novel that remains with you.  It has depth.  Its characters remain stay alive after the last page is read.

Please consider reading this novel.  Enjoy!

#41-43: Nerves of Steel + 2

This read (and two more in the series), I downloaded to the Kindle.  Yes, I am enjoying reading via an e-reader more and more, especially what I call quick reads.

This series is about a doctor...and written by a doctor.  Must make for great active research!

CJ Lyons creates the world of Dr. Cassie Hart, an ER doctor, who becomes involved in the defense...and sometimes offense...of her patients.  Along the way, she allows her relationship with Detective Drake to develop.

The action is fast-paced, but not unbelievably so.  The characters seem/feel real.  The plot is interesting; I remained hooked through all three novels, reading them consecutively, quickly.

Lyons has authored several other series.  Yes, I would, as time allows, look forward to reading them also.

Enjoy!

40: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

Abraham Lincoln hunted vampires?  According to the first-hand writing of Seth Grahame-Smith,  Lincoln not only  hunted, but he also killed many vampires.  Very interesting.

The movie came out over the weekend, and the hubby wanted to go and see it, so I suggested he read the novel before going to see it on the big screen.  He did.  He really enjoyed it.  Interesting.  So, yes, I had to read the novel, also.  I really, really (yes, to be redundant!) enjoyed the hunt...ooopppsss,the book.

First, I appreciated the historical accuracy of this novel, as I took a journey back and actually learned many of the narrative details of Lincoln's life.  Now, I would truly enjoy reading a "real" biography of this President of the United States.

Quickly, Grahame-Smith introduces the reader to other main character...vampires  (yes, the group as a whole acts as a main character).  We learn how and why vampires directly impacted Lincoln and the life-changing decisions that result, how and why vampires came to America, and why they so desperately wanted to remain in America.

As I told my students today (I am teaching in a summer high school program...Upward Bound Math and Science), if I were not convinced that vampires are pure fantasy, I just might be convinced that I have been wrong all this time, for this rationale for their existence really, just almost, makes sense!

I have heard from two sources that the movie is not that good.  Then, the movie must not follow the novel.  The hubby and I have a date to see the movie in a couple of days...I will be back to update this post then!

I have read several novels in which vampires played a prevalent part, including the Twilight series, the Sookie Stackhouse series, and the House of Glass series, and... drum-roll please...I really like this one.  Would be safe to say this is my favorite vampire book.  Yes, it is that good!

By the way, Grahame-Smith also wrote the best-seller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the just-released Unholy Night (his story of the three wise men in the Bible).

Please read...enjoy!

#39: Voyager

I am now hooked on Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and I enjoyed this third of seven (so far) novel Voyager the most.

After sharing the news with daughter Brianna that her father lived 200 years ago, Claire decides to return to Jamie upon learning that he did not die at Culloden. Then begins several hundred...a total of 870 pages in all!...of one adventure after another, traveling from Edinburgh to Lollybrach to Jamaica, from life-threatening scene to another.

What I appreciate...besides the characters, the plot, the twists, the turns...is the history so embedded throughout the novel.  Again, as I noted in the previous book review, my knowledge lacks greatly in the area of history, especially in other countries (of course, now, Jamie, Claire, and Ian have landed in America).  Scotland, England, France, Jacobite, King Charles.  Again, this may have been part of the reason for my not being pulled into the first novel as much as I now am into the series...I had to have a few history lessons!

I really, yes, really wish I had begun this series several years ago, for in my attempt to read them all this year for the online challenge, I often feel a bit overwhelmed by the length of every book (you definitely receive your money's worth in this books!), knowing that I have several more to read...and that I have stacks of other books into which I also want to delve.  Plus, I want to have them read before next year's release of book eight Written in My Own Heart's Blood.  Oh, the pressure!  :)

Enjoy!

#38: The White Queen

Our high school faculty's third read in three months!  Cool!

Author Philippa Gregory, also well-known for her The Other Bolyn Girl, created The Cousin's War Series...after investigating this site, I realize now our group may have read book two!

As I read, I struggled.  Not because the novel is poorly written, for it is not, but because Gregory intensively researches...and my background in this time era lacks...greatly!  Thus, though, I learned so much. 

Told through the voice of Elizabeth Woodville of the house of Lancaster, the reader listens as she approaches King Edward, becomes his queen, births his children, and experiences the many ups and downs as the brothers and others fight for the crown, many of whom had the same name!  So confusing, at first!

For me, history has been too summarized, meaning that years of history has too often been condensed to one page in a history book.  Novels such as these enliven that history, reminding me of the humanness of the times, that these figures in history ate, slept, felt...just as I do.

I especially enjoyed Gregory's use of the gift of second sight and the power of the Melusina, the river goddess, that displays in Elizabeth's mother, then herself, and later in the novel through her own daughter Elizabeth.  I really was not expecting this. 

I look forward to reading the rest of this series.  What are you thoughts on historical fiction?

#37 Hide in Plain Site

Written by Marta Perry, Hide in Plain Site was another one I read on our Kindle (free here at Amazon!)...must say I do enjoy reading books on the Kindle, books, that is, that I do not have to annotate.  I can feel myself being drawn into this tech tool.

Marta Perry writes inspirational romance, often featuring the Amish.  This novel includes both.  I appreciated the reminder in this book that often God's will for our lives is not exactly what we had originally planned for ourselves.  Yes, He does have His way of placing us where He wants us!

Andrea returns home, from a climbing career, when her sister is injured and then struggles with her decision to remain and assist her grandmother in transforming the family home into a bed and breakfast  in hope of recovering from their dismal family financial strain.  Then...things begin to go bump in the night...

After venturing onto Perry's website, I now realize that this novel is the first in a trilogy...I do love a good series!

This is somewhat off the topic, but have you ever noticed how book covers select you?  They do me!  "Pick me, Tammy!"  If you have a moment, please go here and view Marta Perry's books' covers...love these!  In addition, if you enjoy cooking Pennsylvania Dutch style, here the author has posted several recipes.

Enjoy!

#36: Dragonfly in Amber

What a long (nearly 750 pages), intense (did I mention intense...very few pages) novel!  Diana Gabaldon gives her readers ample content for every penny spent on her novels.

Dragonfly in Amber, the second in Gabaldon's Outlander series, a series that contains eight novels (so far), continues the many adventures of Jamie and Claire Frasier via a flashback as Claire relates to her daughter who her father really is...a man who lived two hundred years ago. I became so caught up in the narrative that I forgot, until brought back to the future, that the whole novel was actually a memory.

I have struggled with this series...until about midway through this second novel, but now I am hooked!  I have already pulled the third one off the shelf, ready to continue the journey with Claire.

Claire almost seems to have a split personality:  the person she was two hundred years ago and the person she really is...or is not.  The passage through the stone changes not just time but also the character of Claire, as well.  Personally, I prefer the older Claire...or is it the younger Claire...the Claire from two hundred years ago.  She is truly alive and in love.

I have not read nearly enough historical fiction in a very long time and am greatly enjoying it and am learning much.  This may, in part, be why I struggled with the content, for I did not bring enough background knowledge concerning the history of English, France, and Scotland from several hundred years ago when I began this novel.  I actually slowed down as I read this second one and studied...yes, studied the historical context.

Summer is just the perfect time to delve into a book in which time allows the immersion into such an intense world.  Yes, now would be a great time to check out this series!