In the Shadow of the Lamp by Susanne Dunlap

genre: young adult historical fiction

In 1854, there aren't a lot of respectable opportunities for young girls in London, so when parlormaid Molly hears that a Miss Nightingale is looking for nurses to join her in the Crimea to tend to the soldiers, she will do whatever it takes to join the group.

Of course, Molly isn't actually a nurse, but she is naturally gentle, with a talent for helping the sick and there is so much to learn. Miss Nightingale runs a seriously tight ship and somehow Molly keeps ending up under her disapproving eye. Slowly, of course, Molly gets the hang of life as a war-time nurse and a certain young doctor who catches her eye makes life confusing and exciting, especially since there is a boy at home that's still in her mind.

I really enjoyed this story. I loved seeing Florence Nightingale from this angle, from the point of view of a young girl just starting out in the world who viewed Florence as some kind of nursing goddess. I think that the wartime violence and all that went with it felt accurate and appropriately painful without being overly graphic (or really all that extensive). The love triangle kept the plot going along, it surprised me sometimes, and there is a soft sense of magical realism in the story, in certain scenes, that I found intriguing (others might be a bit distracted by it in this very historical story). My only complaint, and the only reason it gets 4.5 stars instead of five, is that the ending left me with a few too many questions. Don't get me wrong, I loved the ending, actually, but it was harder for me to suspend my disbelief than I would've liked. Still, it is absolutely worth picking up,especially if you're a historical fiction buff like I am.

Cuba: My Revolution by Inverna Lockpez and Dean Haspiel

genre: graphic novel, semi-memoir

Modern Cuban history, from a personal point of view, is very interesting to me. The struggle that the Cuban people have gone through is so intense and this book is no different: intense is the right word.

Sonya is 17 at the beginning, she is smitten with Fidel and his revolution and while she is studying to be a doctor to make her father happy, she also wants to be an artist and a soldier. As Fidel takes power Sonya slowly grows up, realizing that revolutionary dreams and revolutionary reality are two very different things. Promises are broken, society breaks down and for Sonya, who truly believed that a bright new future was coming - it's a very emotional journey.

Let me give you fair warning: no pun intended, but there are some graphic scenes. There is torture and interrogation, wartime violence and suffering. Because we are seeing it through Sonya's eyes, it's not only upsetting but terrifying. I cannot imagine having to live through some of her experiences and it is apparently based on the life of the author. To live in fear, every day. To watch people you live disappear, some to safety in America and some into the hands of the people who told you they would make your country better. So, if you are prepared to see a few disturbing images, this account has something very important to say.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

genre: adult fiction

Can you believe I had never read this classic until now? I saw an awesome copy of it at the Five Below (random, eh?), it's a DK unabridged version that has all kinds of historical and cultural information in it, which really rounded out my reading experience.

SO. Now I have all kinds of misconceptions sorted out. First off, I thought Frankenstein was the CREATURE, but he's the CREATOR of the creature. Somehow in my mind, if you dressed up as Frankenstein for Halloween then you were that guy who walked funny with stitches on your forehead, but no no. That's just the monster whose name we never even learn. Victor Frankenstein is a promising scientist from Geneva who figures out how to use electricity and "parts" to create a living being who can think and interact with the world.

That's when things go sorta...bad.

I mean, really bad.

It's a horror novel, to be sure, but I think it's a lot more than that. It feels like a character study, too, and the novel is set up in such an intriguing way - as a story within a story. And we even get another story within that one! We watch Frankenstein and his creature deal with the consequences of his creation, and the creature does actually become sympathetic, it's incredibly intriguing how my feelings swayed back and forth about him. Sometimes he was terrifying and sometimes I feel real pity. I loved the way that my edition of the book put this story within the context of Mary Shelley's time, about what was changing in the philosophies of men and how they viewed nature, which is a big part of the book.

I really liked it, it was surprisingly engaging. I did NOT like all the foreshadowing (I like surprises in my books and overt foreshadowing gives too much away and spoils the action of the story, in my opinion) and sometimes poor Victor does just go ON and ON about his guilt over creating such a monster. I'm going to chalk that up to me not understanding how you talked about things in 1818. For such an old story, it really gave me a lot to ponder about.

My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme

genre: memoir, food

read for the Great Book Blogger Swap - THANKS MELISSA!

Can I gush?

This book is fantastic. A gem. As a person who knew nothing about Julia Child, this book was a revelation, her voice and mannerisms shine through so clearly in this story about Julia's journey from girlhood into her full and robust life. The focus of the book, of course, is her time spent in France, where she fell in love with the people, the culture and most importantly, the food. But it's not just the food with Julia. It's the preparation of the food, the time spent buying the ingredients, the care with which you make it and the friends that you eat it with - the whole package, THAT is what Julia loved.

I am inspired by Julia's guts, her can-do attitude and her willingness to work hard at something because she loved it. She's honest, too. Sometimes things were frustrating - she does not gloss over the effort of creating her famous cookbook or pretend that life wasn't really challenging sometimes - and it's that honesty that makes this such a compelling read. I felt like I was IN France half the time, walking through the markets or sitting in a restaurant - the style of writing is very present and realistic. And since her most formative years as a cook happened just post World War II, we also get a lovely picture of what life was like in France during that time, when having heat in your flat was still iffy in Paris and no one owned a television.

Rarely do I finish a non-fiction book and feel sad that there wasn't more, but I did. I had to go to youtube and watch her make an omelette and check out a cookbook from my library, just to keep the experience going. Not that I think I'll be making roasted lamb or bouillabaisse any time soon, but I can see why she had fans all over the world - she's just so human that she makes you believe you can do anything.

Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper

genre: young adult

Victorian England, it brings to mind horse-drawn coaches, giant hoop skirts and Charles Dickens-esque romantic adventures. In Fallen Grace, we are introduced to another facet of Victorian life, two facets, really. The life of the absolutely downtrodden poor and the culture and customs of mourning and funerals.

When we meet Grace, she is on a miserable errand. She and her older (but clearly disabled) sister Lily are orphaned and very much on their own. Selling whatever they can manage on the streets is barely enough to feed themselves and soon they find themselves desperate enough to do anything to stay out of the workhouse.

Intriguing, huh?

Grace is such a humble character, so clearly worn down by life for a fifteen year old - but gracious and protective of her sister. The time period is absolutely dripping from the pages, I felt like I was there and I really liked seeing both sides of the social ladder. Your heart just aches for all these poor people who are willing to work so hard if only there was work for them to do. The whole "mourning" enterprise and the economics of funerals, the show of it all, that was fascinating. I also liked that each chapter began with a little snippet of newsprint or an advertisement from the era.

I guess I'm gushing. I just felt like this was a really interesting read from a different perspective than other young adult historical fiction I've picked up. Even without any kind of heady romantic storyline, this was a great read.

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson

genre: adult fiction

What if our imaginary friends are more than just imaginary friends? What if once they leave us, they still exist, traveling on to help the next lonely child who needs them? That's the premise of this story. Jane's life as the daughter of a big-time Broadway producer is so loveless that her imaginary friend Michael is the only thing that shines with any warmth or kindness. And when it's time for Michael to leave her (like imaginary friends must), eventually she's supposed to forget all about him.

But she doesn't.

And when years later Jane is STILL lonely and STILL thinking about Michael who made life happy, the unexpected happens: she sees him again.

Since I've never read any Patterson, I didn't know quite what to expect. Honestly? This was too much for me. Too much cheese, too many caricatured characters, even the magical realism of this imaginary friend/angel/lover was just too much for me. It never felt real enough to be believed, like I'd be a sucker if I suspended my disbelief this much. Maybe I've just read enough romantic stories with more depth that this one only skimmed the surface. But at least now I can talk about it at book club, right?

Basilisk by N.M. Browne

genre: young adult

For Rej and Donna, life couldn't be more different. Rej is a comber, living a precarious life under the streets in semi-darkness. Donna is a scribe and an "oppidan," sworn to a life of humility and deprivation in the land Above. But they have one critical thing in common and when a murder in the combes brings Rej into the light, these two teens will soon be deep in a plot where dragons and poisons are real weapons and it will be up to them to discover the secret of the Basilisk.

I picked this one up because I was interested in the idea of people living underground, and I think she did create an intriguing culture. The world itself is fairly well thought out and I even like the general plot. But for some reason, this one just never grabbed me. I was never gripped enough to be dying to pick it up and it took me way longer to read than it should have. I think sometimes I was annoyed by the formality of the dialogue and narration as well as the constant use of invented cuss-words. I appreciated that things wrapped themselves up without needing a sequel (although I would've liked more) and the violence in the story made the tension more real, but I just wasn't completely along for the ride this time. Maybe I wanted the relationship between Rej and Donna to be fleshed out more, that might be it, because the fantastical ideas of the plot really were inventive.

You can't win them all, I guess.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

genre: young adult

Sam's finally a senior. She's got three best friends and a spot at the top of the popularity charts. She's got the boyfriend she's crushed on since forever. Honestly, what else could she want? Until a party one night goes completely wrong, Sam's life is just about perfect. After the party? She just keeps waking up on the day of the party, a la Groundhog Day. She quickly learns how each tiny choice we make scooches us and everyone we interact with on a different path. Turn one corner, one thing happens - turn another, BAM, something else. Despite feeling complete panic about this turn of events, Sam knows that there is something she has to figure out before she can move on to...whatever comes next.

This book is pretty stinking amazing. While it's got its predictability, just based on the concept alone, I have to admit that I could not put it down. As Sam goes through her days and slowly figures out the consequences of her seemingly innocuous actions, she goes through a powerful transformation. I would imagine a lot of teens could find someone they really resonate with, there are so many mean girls and so many victims. I like this look at bullying, that it takes us slowly from what we do without thinking about it to how we can start to make things right - and that we DO have to make things right.

Despite the foul language and all the raunchy choices that people make, I think I would hand this one to my daughter in a few years so we can have a conversation (another one) about what bullying can do to us.

fingertips of Annie by Margaret Melton Taylor

genre: biography/autobiography

Annie was born in 1915. She spent her entire life in farm country of North Carolina and this book is a collection of stories and thoughts that were told to her daughter, Margaret.

Was Annie's life exemplary in any sort of huge and radical way? Not particularly. Her life was incredibly hard, getting married during the depression, farming and working her fingers to the bone so she could put food on the table for her children. But she did these things with faith and with a sure knowledge that with hard work, anything could be worked out. I actually really enjoyed reading about what life was like back then and how things changed and modernized.

The thing is, this book was self-published so it wasn't really edited, which can be very distracting. Spelling and punctuation errors are all over the place, but if you know that going into it, you can just let it go. What this book is, besides just being a treasure to her family members, is an account of a life. A life like Annie's can't happen anymore - we've come so far from her feed-sack dresses and cotton-filled mattresses. But I love that this life is recorded so we don't forget how far we've come and how we can be grateful for all the things we do have. Especially since my husband's grandmother grew up under very similar circumstances in a very similar place, I appreciated learning more about the Depression/War Years in a real way.

I'd love to read a book like this about my own grandmother's or mother's life. It makes me want to write one.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

genre: young adult

When Lithuania became a part of Stalin’s reign of terror, at the beginning of World War II, Lina’s world began to slowly unravel. When she is thrown into a truck with her mother and brother, she has no idea of where they are being taken or why they have to leave home at all. Her fifteen years of life didn’t prepare her for the horror of life under the thumb of Russian soldiers.

I’ve read a lot of stories about young adults during the Second World War, many stories of Jewish youth who had to survive concentration camps or work camps and stories of those who helped. Like all other victims of the atrocities of this period of time, Lina and her family were just citizens. Just people. Stalin decided they were a threat and so he had them put in train cars at gunpoint and sent them away.

This is a heartbreaking story. It’s carefully crafted, with flashbacks that flesh out Lina’s life in Lithuania and help us understand how much she’s lost. It’s a story of survival and keeping hope even during the darkest hours of oppression. Her mother is an exemplary character; I hope I would have as much strength and empathy in that situation. It’s not an easy tale to read, but I can't think of anything I'd really change. I'd have liked the "love" storyline to be developed a tiny bit more, but honestly, Sepetys tells a really realistic story. It would be awesome if we could all fall in love and have everything work out awesome but sometimes, life just did not work out that way. I appreciated how true her young adult voice was - I believed in Lina. Her thoughts felt very real.

Make sure to read the author’s note when you're finished with this moving story, it made me appreciate the ending even more.

Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe

genre: children's literature

I remember hearing about this little "vampire" bunny when I was a kid, but the story never interested me. Shame on me, because I read it outloud to my two little boys this past week and had a ball. Our narrator is the loyal, if not slightly blustering, dog Harold. When their family discovers a WHITE tomato, Harold's scheming cat-friend Chester is convinced that the family's new bunny is the culprit. A juice sucking BUNNY? That is just funny, in fact, my boys were in hysterics more than once, thanks to Chester's hair-brained plans to rescue the family from their fang-toothed pet.

I can see why this one is a classic, my boys were always begging for more. I think we'll search out more books in this charming and clever series.