(no subject)

[tvordlj]

22. A Celtic Witch - Debora Geary
Another great book about the Witch Central characters. This one takes place in Nova Scotia so i could really relate to it. This is the story of Cassidy, an Irish fiddle virtuoso, who is taking her annual vacation away from her busy tour schedule. She always goes back to Margaree in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to recharge her batteries, play for small audiences and re-center herself. She's also a witch. She hears the vibrations and magic in the rocks, probably the planet itself. She hears about Fisher's Cove and feels drawn there by the rocks.

When she arrives, she meets Marcus, the curmudgeonly witch who has been struggling to bring up a tiny babe, Morgan. They both feel an instant pull to each other but neither is ready to open their hearts and change their lives. Not yet. For once, Moira, the Irish "matriarch" figure of the witches doesn't have to nudge them but does make a few salient points and asks a few pointed questions. It's inevitable, no surprise, but the story of both of them finding a new way in their lives is spellbinding. Pun intended.

23. The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood
takes place at the same timeline as Oryx and Crake with references to some of those characters. The book tells the story of two women who were both part of a religious group, God's Gardeners, a sort of back-to-nature commune. The women are survivors of the outbreak of the genetically engineered disease that has wiped out most of the population because they were both isolated at the time. They tell their stories alternately, back through their lives and connections to the Gardeners and then we move forward to their reunion with what's left of the Gardeners in a hostile environment. We end in the same place as Oryx ended, with the two storylines converging.

24. The Nature of Monsters - Clare Clark
During the Fire of London in 1666, a pregnant woman manages to escape. Apparently she gives birth a few months later. We then skip forward to 1718 where a young woman is sent to live in London in disgrace, having gotten pregnant by a local landowner's son who then rejects her. She lives with an apothecary and his wife and a mentally challenged girl, Mary. The apothecary is doing research into the effects of experiences on pregnancy and how it affects the child. i.e. exposure to the Fire of London appears to have caused the major disfigurement of a massive red birthmark on the apothecary's face. He is also addicted to opium. He is obsessed with his research and it may put Liza and Mary both in danger.

25. The Jane Austen Marraige Manual - Kim Izzo
A fun read, entirely predictable, frothy and fun. almost-40 Kate loses everything, her beloved grandmother, her home, her job and her fella. She decides to write a freelance article on marrying for money, the old fashioned way of doing things using methods that were popular in Jane Austen's day. She pretends to be titled and spends her last bit of savings hanging out with the jetset in Palm Beach, St. Moritz and London, trying to snag a wealthy man whom she's trying to steal from his young girlfriend. I liked the book, fun to spot Jane Austen scenarios through the book. You can spot how it's going to end up a mile away but it doesn't matter. There's always a happy ending with chicklit books!

26. Cleopatra: A Life - Stacey Schiff
Took me a few months to get through this one. Biography of Cleopatra  which is well researched though there aren't a lot of sources out there as the Romans destroyed a lot once they'd conquered Egypt and both Caesar and Antony were dead. Still, the author brings a lot of detail to the biography and tries to put aside the cliches that people have heard about Cleopatra via sources such as Shakespeare and popular legend. It's well written, very full of information, though and i could only read a bit at a time.

27. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Scifi about a child who is set up to become a fleet commander in an ongoing war against an alien race called "buggers" due to their insect like appearance and nature. There have been two wars in the past and the world fears a third one. They need a commander to lead them and are training children to be soldiers and leaders. Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is the chosen one that they hope will be the saviour. Ender is 6 when he is taken away from his home to battle school. He doesn't miss his parents, or his sadistic older brother but was very close to his older sister. All three are highly intelligent children and Ender succeeds all their expectations in battle school while being pushed to his limits. They use intense pressure, isolation and Ender fears he could be more like his brother than he wants to be. The mock battles exhaust him and then he's pushed into Command school, years earlier than the standard.

It's a good book, too. Interesting concept, using brilliant children who are genetically engineered for intelligence to be trained as fearless warriors.

Comments

[girfan.livejournal.com]

This is why I said what I did about OSC:
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/07/end_game_for_orson_scott_card_partner/

[tvor.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's very interesting!

[john beresford (from livejournal.com)]

What a brilliantly written piece. I am an egg.