I've been very very busy latley... reading books. :-) I finally got my Provo City Library card and believe me, I've been putting it to good use. I have read about 5 books in the last two weeks. So I thought I would give you a little review of them, you know, if anyone's looking for a good book to read.
The Goose Girl - by Shannon Hale
* This is a sweet story about a Crown Princess who is sent to another city to marry their prince. During the trek to the new city her lady in waiting takes her place and Ani, the Crown Princess, is sent fleeing for her life. She ends up taking care of the geese on the Palace grounds to make money while she plots away to gain back what is rightfully hers. The book follows her through her struggle to become the princess that she is, again, and her falling in love with the Prince. I would give it four out of five stars. It is cleverly written and intriguing. Shannon Hale is an LDS author and although she doesn't write her characters as LDS, she keeps her books very clean.
Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levin
*If you've seen the movie, forget it before you read this book. They are nothing alike. Although both of them are very cute I tend to like the book version better. The story is about a girl, Ella, who is given a 'gift' when she is first born by a fairy. She is to always be obedient. This gift ends up more as a curse considering she has to do EVERYTHING she is told. If someone told her to go jump off a cliff she would! This is a very interesting rewriting of the Cinderella story and is my favorite, besides the original, of course. And Prince Char is so cute! (Do you get it? Prince Char? Prince Charming?? I thought it was clever) I would say this book also gets a four out of five stars.
A Ring of Endless Light - by Madeline L'Engle
*I don't know why I re read this book. Perhaps it was because I couldn't remember it considering the first time I read it was more than ten years ago. Probably close to fifteen years ago. This is a depressing book. Everyone dies. Okay maybe not everyone, maybe not even close to everyone, but death is such a prevalant factor in the book and it's depressing. This book is about a family who moves to an island where their grandfather lives to take care of him because he has lukemia. The main character, Vicki, seems to have a strong connection with Dolphins and that is what gets her through all of the death that she encounters that summer. A good book. Depressing. Very thoughtful and well written. I love the grandpa. He quotes one of my favorite poems...
"I saw eternity the other night
like a great ring of pure and endless light.
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it, time in hours, days, years
driv'n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov'd; in which the world
And all her train were hurl'd"
-Henry Vaughan
I think I would give this book a three starts out of four. Interesting but not quite there.
The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen - by Syrie James
*I was so confused when I first started this book. Were these really Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen? The author seems to want to make you think that they really were, and she does an amazing job! I read this whole book in one day. Easy reading and really delightful. Jane Austen is one of my all time favorite writers and it was fascinating to read a book where she was the main character. The book follows her during her 'great romance' which inspired her books. While it was completley fictional I like to believe that she had something like this happen in her life. I would give this book a four and a half stars out of five and will definitley be looking for more novels by Syrie James.
"A love affair equal to anything Jane Austen wrote." —News Review
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That's four out of the five books I have read, and to be honest with you, I can't remember the fifth one! But I am starting a new book today: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini, the author of The Kite Runner. I am excited and I will let you know how it is!!
What I've been listening to:
Coldplay - Fix You
The Format - On Your Porch
"and if you fail well then you fail but not to us..."
Regina Spektor - Us
