While We Were Watching Downton Abbey

Sometimes what you need is to gather with some gal pals, break open a bottle of wine (or sparkling grape juice, as would be the case with me), and watch a good British soap opera to bring the bonds of friendship around.   And sometimes it's those friendships that prove to help you become the woman you want - and need - to be.

Thus is the premise for the delightful chick lit, While We Were Watching Downton Abbey.  The plot revolves around three women, all experiencing different crises in their lives, who have moved into a downtown Atlanta apartment building.  The concierge of the building, a British transplant to the American South who runs his own service business,  decides to try to create a sense of community in the building by airing Downton Abbey every Sunday night in the clubroom in anticipation of Season 3's arrival to the United States.  He strongarms several of the women into coming, and as a result, friendships begin to form that change their lives.

Ok, the story is not going to win any literary prizes.  The plot is somewhat predictable and the writing is simple enough.  But the characters are delightful, and the buildup to the big climatic scene where all the storylines come together is nail-bitingly, deliciously anxiety inducing. I think all women can identify with at least one of the female characters in some way, and for sure all women can understand the need for female companionship and bonding over such things as Downton Abbey.  There is a phenomenon among women in which we come together over such stories.  Women need common ground, and they need socializing.  In short, women need each other.  The friendships formed in the book begin to strengthen each woman in a different way and help them realize they are stronger than they think.  By the end of the book, you want to stand up and cheer for each of the three leading ladies for what they have discovered about their lives and about themselves. 

I would have liked to have seen more of the show incorporated into the book's plotline - even though it is sort of the string that holds the book together, it doesn't really play a strong role in the story, and I think the book characters could have spent more time relating to the TV characters.  It would have made it more fun for those of us reading the book that are obsessed with Downton.  However, the story moved along nicely enough on its own, so I suppose all the plot elements served the purpose they were supposed to.

If you like chick lit, and you like Downton Abbey, this is a fun little quick read that would be perfect summer reading while we all anxiously await Series 5! 


Rating: 2 1/2 stars out of 5 (hey, it's not exactly high literature)
Reading now: A Higher Call by Adam Makos and Larry Alexander
TBR:

1. The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman

2. Follow the River by James Alexander

3. Lost in Translation Volume 1 by John Klein and Adam Spears

4. Four Blood Moons by John Hagee

5. The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George

 

Crossed, Reached

I am currently working on an entry solely devoted to the current fascination with dystopian literature, and the Matched series will certainly be a part of that post.  The trilogy, as mentioned in my previous review, takes place in a world where everything is run on data and predicted outcomes.  The Society, which runs civilization as the characters know it, has taken away most choices in life, including the opportunity to be creative and create, in the name of safety and control.  The citizens are all but guaranteed a long, healthy life up to the day they turn eighty - but at what cost to their culture and soul? What is a world with no new poetry, or music, or books?  What kind of place would this be if we had no choices and our lives were dictated entirely by probability and statistics?

And what if there was a resistance movement that rose up in the midst of that society - but it was not all what it seemed?

AND - what if you were caught in the middle of a love triangle while trying to save the people you love from certain death?

These questions give you the basic crux of what the Matched series is all about.  Cassia, the

heroine of the trilogy, learns that the perfect world she has always known is not so perfect, and she has choices to make about what she is going to do about it.  Crossed is centered around her search for the love of her life, Ky.  It's actually told from both Cassia's and Ky's perspectives as they journey separate from each other but moving ever closer to one another.  Reached adds the perspective of Xander, Cassia's perfect society Match, and as the three storytellers unfold the tale together, all questions from the previous books are answered, and you discover that, indeed, nothing is quite a it seems, and sometimes that which we thought was our salvation is really nothing more than another scheme to grab control of our lives.  What choices will Cassia, Ky and Xander make to change their world? 

Overall, this is a good series, and a nice alternative to The Hunger Games and Divergent series.  For one thing, there is so much less violence.  Much less shooting.  For another, I like the approach of examining the loss of a culture.  I can't imagine living in a world where there are only 100 books available, and no one is writing anything further.  Poetry has a huge place of importance in all three novels, and Cassia becomes not only a voice for change but a voice for the resurrection of creating.  While different groups vie for power, the one thing that has been lost entirely is creativity.  Even those that deal with pieces of art from the past are bewildered at the idea of creating new things.  Creativity has become one of the greatest causalities of the war.  The series, in this way, is a commentary on what can happen to society when no one is allowed or encouraged to make anything new - an endless cycle of power struggles and complacency. 

The series does have its weak points.  I felt strangely unsatisfied at the end of Reached.  While I did appreciate the author answering many questions - and pulling together loose threads from the two previous novels - I felt like the conclusion was not quite the resolution I was looking for.  The big question - who is The Pilot? - sort of gets lost in the confusion, and the original meaning of the poem from which the reference came seems to be lost as well.  I felt like we didn't really get to find out what happens to Cassia and the men in her life.  What do they all go on to do?  What does the new society looks like?  I wanted more than was given.  It seemed to end in a soft thud rather than a resounding clang of conclusion.

If you're into dystopian literature, Matched, Crossed and Reached would be good books to act to your reading list.  They will be a refreshing break from all the bullets and bloodthirstyness of Divergent and The Hunger Games.  It will also spark some thought-provoking questions.  But in the end, it may leave you just wanting more. 


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Reading now: A Higher Call by Adam Makos and Larry Alexander

TBR:

1. The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman

2. Follow the River by James Alexander

3. Lost in Translation Volume 1 by John Klein and Adam Spears

4. Four Blood Moons by John Hagee

5. The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George

 

 

Maggie Hope

Last summer I attended a series of literacy education workshops, which actually was a lot more fun than this sentence makes it sound.  My  favorite workshop was about teaching kids to love reading.  The presenter began her session with just getting us to recommend books.  Everyone shared what books they were reading.  Being a hoarder of recommendations, I wrote them all down and have been working my way through the list for the past year.  One of the books recommended, Mr. Churchill's Secretary, was particularly intriguing to me because it incorporated two of my favorite things: Great Britain and history. 

 About a month or so, I finally got the book started - and finished it in 24 hours flat.  I then immediately went to the library, turned it in, and got the second book in the series, Princess Elizabeth's Spy.  That one took me two or three days simply because I chose to do silly things like feed my children and sleep.  As soon as I inhaled that one, I went back to the library for #3 in the series, His Majesty's Hope.  Locked myself in my room for an entire Sunday afternoon to finish that one.  The next book in the series, The Prime Minister's Secret Agent, comes out in July, and only my training as a Sherlock fan is keeping my afloat until it comes out. 

I have, quite frankly, fallen in literary love with the young, talented and beautiful heroine named Maggie Hope. 

Maggie Hope is a 1940s British citizen who, because of the tragic death of her parents, was raised in American by her aunt.  As was preparing to begin work on her doctorate in mathematics, her English grandmother died and left her an Edwardian house and a whole lot of paperwork to deal with, so off Maggie went to England...where she was swept up in the fervor of pre-war Britain and decided to stay on indefinitely.  As the bombs begin to fall all around her, she secures a job as a secretary at No. 10 Downing Street, and suddenly her life blossoms out into a world of spies and codes and secrecy.  Not only that, but she soon discovers that nothing she has ever believed about her family is precisely the truth, and as she seeks out what really happened to her family, she finds herself in the middle of a web of intrigue that only her brilliant brains can her help her make sense of it all. 

Susan MacNeal has created a wonderful female character that the reader feels like that could sit down and be friends with.  Maggie is smart, funny, doesn't take anything from anyone, and is an entirely likable character.  What's more, MacNeal manages to write a fantastic plot that keeps you guessing clear till the end of the book.  During all three books, there were times I was sure I had it all figured out, only to be completely fooled.  MacNeal also managed to weave in true historical figures without being campy or disrespectful at all, and her research on the time period in question is very well done.  She examines different aspects of war, the culture of 1940s Britain, what was really going on in Germany at the time - all while keeping you enthralled in a mystery thriller that makes it impossible to go to sleep before you finish the book.  Trust me. I tried. 

On a side note, because I like to give my readers the whole picture, I will state for the record that the book is of the PG-13 variety.  There are a few instances of language, violence, and sex scattered throughout the series, and I certainly don't agree with all the life choices of Maggie and her friends.  That being said, the series is still quite enjoyable, and I don't have to agree with everyone in order to enjoy their story. 

Maggie Hope was worth my time checking out.  If you like history, mystery and fast reads, she'll be worth your time as well. 

 

Reading now: A Higher Call by Adam Makos and Larry Alexander

TBR:

1. The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman

2. Follow the River by James Alexander

3. Lost in Translation Volume 1 by John Klein and Adam Spears

4. Four Blood Moons by John Hagee

5. The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George

I'm Making a Comeback

So here is what my past few months included:

- A mother who nearly died of pneumonia and wound up in the ICU on a respirator for a week.
- The dreaded flu working its way through my entire family.  SO. MUCH. VOMIT.
- A husband who lost his job.
- A standardized testing season that was, shall we say...interesting.
- An epidemic of strep that ran through our house...THE ADULTS IN OUR HOUSE.  (Note: having strep throat is like a zillion times worse than having it as a kid.)
- Snow days.  SO. MANY. SNOW DAYS.
- Not one, but TWO puppies joined our household.  (Not just dogs.  PUPPIES.)
- Oh...and I broke my foot.  Ta-da! 

Yeah, these last few months have been a little stressful.  And distracting.  But we are coming out the other side, and God is still on His throne!

So, all that to say, I abandoned the blog world for a while.  I was doing good just to get out of bed in the morning and collapse back into it at night.  But I am BACK, and I have been working on reviews, just for you!  (I may have quit blogging for a while, but you didn't think I quit reading now, did you?)

Starting tomorrow, I hope to get some reviews up on a daily basis.  I have a backlog of books and reviews, so I should be good to go for a while.

See you tomorrow morning - and happy reading!

Matched

I seem to have jumped into the dystopian stream with both feet lately.  I am already formulating a post discussing the current trend in post-apocalyptic literature, but I want to read some more first.  It's very popular among YA readers these days.  THG opened the floodgates, and now all dystopian novels, before Katniss and after, are prominent in libraries.  Personally I enjoy a good journey into the "what-if," so I don't mind reading what my students are reading.  (But no vampire books.  I draw the line at vampires.)

Today's book, Matched, is definitely in the same vein as THG and Divergent, but it has its own refreshing take on the questions of the post-WWIII world.  Instead of being focused on guns, violence, and brute force, it takes a softer, more philosophical approach.  The Society in which Cassia Reyes and her family live is very ordered, very neat, very bright and very clean.  Everything appears to run smoothly.  You almost start to think that this world really wouldn't be so bad after all.  After all, there's no poverty, no violence, everyone gets along and has what they need - really, what is so bad about all that?  What if we had a society where everyone just did what they were supposed to and got along fine without possessions and money?  But just about the time you start to get as comfortable as Cassia is in her cocoon of a world, the underbelly of such a culture starts to be exposed, and as Cassia does, you start to question whether or not things are what they seem, and whether or not any of this is a good idea.  About a third of the way through the novel, an important person in Cassia's life tells her "it's ok to wonder."  From that moment on, Cassia does wonder, about many things she has always accepted without question, and the reader begins to wonder as well. 

One of the things I enjoyed most about this novel is its examination of the importance of creativity.  In the ordered world of the Society, all literature has been boiled down to the Hundreds - the Hundred Songs, the Hundred Poems, the Hundred Stories, etc.  The powers the be decided that their culture was just too cluttered, so they decided what were the most important pieces of art, and they eliminated the rest.  What's more, no one is allowed to add to them.  No one writes songs, or poetry, or books.  In fact, no one knows how to write at all.  Oh, they can type on a touch screen, but no one knows how to pick up a pen and write something longhand.*  It opens up the question of how important such things are.  Is it important to keep imagining?  To keep creating?  What happens to a society when no one creates anything new any longer?  How does that cut off the life of a people?  The storyline about the act of writing intrigued me, because I have had this discussion with other educators.  More and more handwriting is being discarded as a part of the curriculum in favor of typing and technological ways of communication.  Does that matter?  Should people be able to form letters with their hands?  What importance does that have to a person?  To a group?  To a society? 

Interwoven with these themes of wonder and creativity is a lovely little love story that turns Cassia's ordered world upside down.  There is no "team this" or "team that."  You realize fairly early on just who Cassia needs to be with and what that is going to mean for her life and the life of her family.  It's an intense (but clean!) love affair that helps Cassia sees more of who she is and who she could be.  It's a beautiful storyline that promises to carry us into the second and third books. 

Overall, Matched is a nice addition to the dystopian world.  It asks different questions than have been asked before and takes the reader to important places in their minds.  I'm excited to read its sequels and bring more reviews on the series, just as I hope to bring about Insurgent and Allegiant as soon as I track down copies of those and get them read.  In the meantime, I definitely recommend Matched to anyone looking around for a good read and who enjoys this line of fiction.

*OR DO THEY?

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Reading now: A Higher Call by Adam Makos

 TBR:

1. Crossed by Ally Condie
2. Multiply by Francis Chan
3. Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
4. Four Blood Moons by John Hagee
5. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

The Lightning Thief

I'm on a kick lately of reading some of the popular YA fiction out there, as you can tell from my most recent posts.  As a teacher, this is advantageous because I know what the kids are filling their heads with, and I am also able to make good recommendations to kids who can't find anything to read.  However, let's be honest...it's really just an excuse to read more books.  Truth be told, I enjoy YA fiction, and I love that it's part of my job to read it! 

This week I finished a book I've been wanting to read for a while, Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book One: The Lightning Thief.  Percy is pretty popular with my students these days, and I have seen the movie, so I have been anxious to read the stories and find out what all the hype is about.  What I found was a really interesting take on ancient stories and way to make kids interested in classic literature. 

The Lightning Thief centers around Percy Jackson, a troubled kid from new York that never quite fits in anywhere.  He has ADHD and is dyslexic, and for some reason, disaster just seems to follow him wherever he goes.  One minute he's minding his own business, and the next minute he's being attacked by a giant monster in the middle of a museum.  What's a boy to do?  As it turns out, there's much for him to do, for Percy is none other than Perseus, son of Poseidon the ancient Greek god of the sea, a half-blood of both mortal and immortal stock.  The revelation in Percy's life brings him to Half-Blood Hill where there is a camp for others like him, children of the gods who have hooked up with mortals.  At camp Percy learns that he is actually the center of attention of a war brewing between his father and uncles, and he must go on a quest in an effort to save civilization from mass destruction.  Oh, and maybe save his mom along the way.

Rick Riordan started writing this book based off of stories he told his second-grade son, another student who struggled in school due to ADHD and dyslexia.  As middle school literature teacher, he knew the stories of the Greek myths, and he started creating stories about a boy named Percy who turns out to be the modern-day son of Poseidon.  His son asked him to write down his stories about Percy traveling across America to find Zeus's lightning bolt, and the Percy Jackson series was born.  

Riordan obviously knows his Greek mythology in and out, and he does a masterful job of weaving the old tales into new adventures for today's audience.  It was fun to read the stories and make the connections between the modern-day versions of the monsters and the ancient stories I have heard throughout my schooling. Greek mythology is a huge part of our culture whether we realize it or not.  So many modern-day books and movies make references to these ancient myths, and yet it can be so difficult to make students care about learning them - you get a lot of "this is stupid, why do we need to learn this?"  Riordan has found a way to show modern audiences the impact of these stories and hook them in to want to learn more.

The book is well-written and fast-paced with plenty of action to keep the average middle school reader enthralled...or the average 30-something reader.  Percy is a great character, a not-so-perfect teenage boy who is trying to find his place in the world.  Many readers can identify with that.  Most of these readers will NOT find out they are a half-blood son of an ancient god, but that's where fact and fantasy meet.  The themes of heroism, perseverance, and loyalty will also capture the heart of many readers.  We all have a desire in us to do something heroic.  Watching Percy learn how to be a hero strikes a chord in all of us as we look for our own opportunities for heroism. 

I will say this.  It should be pretty obvious to anyone who has read this blog that I am a Christian and that my spiritual beliefs are very important to me.  Reading about "gods and goddesses", then, did bother me, even as a fantasy idea.   They do mention God at one point and acknowledge His existence with the hint that He is something more than Zeus and his family, and that made me feel better.  I don't regret reading the book, and I plan to read the rest of the series.  I do believe it presents the opportunity to have discussions about real and not real.  I don't think we have to avoid everything that is fantasy because it contradicts what I know to be True.  Reading books like this solidifies my own beliefs even further and can lead to discussions about beliefs and truths.  No one believes in these myths any more, but they did once, and I want to acknowledge the importance of teaching at least my own children that while these are myths and not true, there are powerful spiritual forces in the world that are absolutely real and that do have control in our lives.  Thankfully, however, the real God of the universe is not selfish, petty or paranoid, and He does not use us as pawns in power games.  He doesn't have to.  If you have real power, then you don't have to be in constant fear of losing it.  These are the discussions I would like to have with readers of the book series.  Jesus walked the earth in the time when people believed these tales - what was the good news that He brought that broke the chains of belief about these mythological creatures?  What freedom that must have brought to the early Gentiles! 

So.  Anyway.  This was a good read, and I am glad to be more up on what the cool kids are reading these days.  Gotta stay hip, ya know!

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Next up: Matched by Ally Condie

TBR:

1. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

2. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

3. A Higher Call by Adam Makos

4. Multiply by Francis Chan

5. Four Blood Moons by John Hagee

I'M BACK, BABY!

Sooo...crazy month around here.  Super crazy.  Like, what-happened-to-the-last-four-weeks-of-my-life crazy.

First we bought a house.  Then we prepped a house for move-in. 
And then...we didn't get to move in due to the weather.

Then, we moved in, and promptly didn't have Internet for three weeks. 

Somewhere in there we celebrated Jesus' birthday at least five times. 

At last, we came home.  Time to get back to real life! 

Then we had a snow/ice/cold storm - the "polar vortex."  Have you ever tried to write a blog when three house-bound children are on their 17TH DAY OF WINTER VACATION?! 

Yeah...that wasn't going to work.

So then we all went back to school and work.  Routine was coming back.  All was well.

And then my mother landed herself in the ICU for a week with a walloping case of pneumonia.

See what I mean?  CRAZY!

However, life around here has settled to a dull roar, and I am anxious to re-enter the world of reading and blogging.  So fear not friends - for I am back!

I will be kicking of 2014 with the book I read while my mother was in the hospital.  If you're going to be spending a week sitting around an ICU hospital room, it is imperative to have a new book to read.  Something that can grab your attention and give you some needed distraction from the ventilator through which your mother is trying to breathe.  These books are often best chosen either 1) in the hospital gift shop or 2) on a 10pm trip to Wal-Mart.  (Target is also acceptable, but they closed at 10!)  Today's review comes from one of those 10pm trips to Wally-World.  Sometimes the best books are found that way.  

So without further adieu, I bring you...Divergent.

Post-apocalyptic books are very in right now.  Call it The Hunger Games effect or whatever.  I'm not knocking The Hunger Games - they were pretty good books.  I almost said excellent but...I downgraded it to pretty good.  They are good, fun, fast reads that give you lots to think about and foster enjoyment of reading in young readers.  That's a win-win-win. 

A whole genre of what-if dystopian novels have sprung up since then, and like all genres, some of them are great, and some of them are not so great.  I am happy to say that Divergent falls firmly into the great category.  To be honest, I thought it was a better book than THG!

Divergent tells the story of Beatrice, a sixteen-year old girl living in what used to be the city of Chicago in a society that had decided to eliminate conflict by dividing everyone into five factions according to their natural aptitude and inclinations.  Beatrice soon finds out that she is Divergent, meaning she doesn't fall into any specific category.  She is warned several times to keep this a secret because her society views divergence as a dangerous anomaly that must be eliminated.  She hides her true self and joins Dauntless, a faction devoted to being brave and, quite often, brazenly risky.  From there Beatrice, or Tris as she becomes known, begins to learn what it means to be Divergent, and she discovers that behind her seemingly smooth-running society lies a myriad of secrets and plots that she and others like her must uncover and fight back if they are  going to survive. 

Like THG, the plot is written in present-tense, which gives the novel a breathless, up-to-the minute feel.  These are not Beatrice's memoirs.  You experience her life as she experiences, one death-defying moment at a time.  It's well written and moves right along, and at some point comes that all-night stride when you stay up till 1am because you just HAVE TO FINISH THIS BOOK AND FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS RIGHT NOW.

I love those moments.

Beatrice is a great heroine.  It is wonderful to read a novel with such a strong female lead.  She is uncertain and vulnerable, and yet there is a steel and a hardness to her that tells the reader that she's not going to be beaten down.  It's quite easy to root for Beatrice - as a woman, it's easy to identify with her, and she will appeal to young teenage girls who are also looking for their place in the world, even if it's not so starkly defined as in Beatrice's world. 

The book also raises good thought-provoking questions.  Would a world like this work?  What are the pros and cons of each faction?  What does it really mean to be brave?  Is bravery the absence of fear or simply the overcoming of it?  Can anyone be truly and completely selfless?  And ultimately - don't we divide ourselves into similar groups today?  We might not define it by law, but how do we treat people that are "divergent" from our own norms? 

As a teacher, I can see a plethora of ways to use this book in a reading class to start open-ended discussions and trigger new ways of thinking in students.  As a sci-fi fan, I enjoyed the story.  As a reader, it's intriguing to stay in the story and find out what happens to the characters.  As a woman, it's fun to cheer for Beatrice as she takes on the world.  As a member of the human race, it's interesting to read and consider what could be, what might be, and what is. 

And finally...there's a love interest.  A really, really good love interest.  None of this "team whoever" crap.  Love triangles are annoying.  Beatrice and her guy are not perfect...but they are a lovely addition to the storyline.

Overall, Divergent is a fun ride.  Head to Wal-Mart for a 10pm trip and pick yourself up a copy - quick, before the movie comes out!

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
What I'm Reading Now:
1. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
2. Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples by Francis Chan
3. A Higher Call by Adam Makos and and Larry Alexander
4. Four Blood Moons by John Hagee
5. Insurgent by Veronica Roth...oh yeah, did I mention it's a trilogy?!