The Heart of Christmas (3 Stories, 3 Authors)

I bought this compilation of three Christmas stories by three romance authors because I really love Mary Balogh.  I enjoy her storytelling.  The way she writes about developing relationships between two characters often makes my heart ache.

"A Handful of Gold" may be the exception to my general enjoyment of Balogh.

Not only is Julian Dare dashing and wealthy, but he's the heir to an earldom.  So what do you get a man who has everything?  Innocent and comely Verity Ewing plans on giving Julian her heart - the most precious gift of all.

Verity Ewing seeks to solve her family's financial woes by posing as Blanche Heyward, an opera dancer "ogled by half the fashionable gentlemen in town, many of whom attended the opera for no other purpose."

As Blanche, Verity meets Julian, Viscount Folingsby, after one performance.  She agrees to dine with him.  He's taken with her and invites her to spend a week with him over Christmas for five hundred pounds.  Desperately needing money to pay for her sister's life-saving medication, she agrees.

Of course the Viscount falls in love with Verity and she with him.  Star-crossed indeed, they part ways and meet later in polite society.  What follows... well, it's what always follows when the main characters are in love.  The rules and practices of a society have nothing to with true love - at least in historial romantic fiction.

"The Season for Suitors" by Nicola Cornick is the second short story in the compilation.

Clara Davenport calls on Sebastian Fleet to learn how to avoid the tricks rakes play on innocent maidens. The pair already has a history, one that has left Clara in love with Sebastian.  Although he doesn't yet realize it, he's in love with her too.

After some close encounters with rakes in which she was nearly compromised, heiress Clara Davenport realizes that she needs some expert advice.  And who better for the job than Sebastian Fleet, the most notorious rake in town?  But the tutelage doesn't go quite as planned, as both Sebastian and Clara find it difficult to remain objective when it comes to lessons of the heart!

Luckily, Sebastian's servants recognize his love for Clara and help orchestrate the perfect opportunity for her to appear.  Unable to deny his love in that moment, the lovers unite and prepare for happily ever after.

I hated this short story, but not quite as much as the final story in the compilation.

"This Wicked Gift' by Courtney Milan

Lavinia Spencer has been saving her hard-earned pennies to provide her family with Christmas dinner.  Days before the holiday, her brother is swindled, leaving them owing more than they can ever repay.  Until a mysterious benefactor offers to settle the debt [sic].  Innocent Lavinia is stunned by what the dashing William White wants in return.  Will she exhange a wicked gift for her family's fortune?

Of course she will.  Of course she gives the gift of herself in love and, as later circumstances reveal, without really needing to offer herself.  Of course William White becomes wealthy beyond imagining.  Of course he can then provide for a wife and family.  Of course there is a happily ever after.

Ugh.

Sometimes I think I'm glad my favorite smut always fails at some level.  I'm longing for some excellent literature to remove the bad taste left by my last few reads.

Affair by Amanda Quick

Charlotte Arkendale knew all there was to know about men.  After all, she'd made a career out of steering marriage-minded women away from untrustworthy members of the opposite sex.  Yet nothing could have prepared her for Baxter St. Ives - an arresting stranger too daring, too determined, too dangerous to be her new man-of-affairs.  Still, perhaps he was the perfect person to help Charlotte investigate the recent murder of one of her clients.  So she gave him a chance, never realizing that Baxter, a gifted scientist, would soon conduct a risky exploration into the alchemy of desire, with Charlotte as his subject.  But even as he sets out to seduce Charlotte, a twister killer lies in wait, ready to part the lovers... or see them joined together forever - in death. 

Too.

Amanda Quick creates a world too fantastical for me to willingly enter fully into it.  The historian in me couldn't ignore historical inaccuracies and the pragmatist in me couldn't accept the whole "destiny" subplot. 

The me who loves great smut?

That me was happier than usual.

My 2010 Reading List

I've been reading.  Youbetcha, I've been reading.

The list of books I've finished appears in my 2010 Reading List.  I've read 25 books in seven weeks.  I'm on track!

I have yet to write about them. 

*Sigh*

Witch & Wizard by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

Adam received a new book for Christmas because his aunt and I thought he might enjoy James Patterson' rich and detailed style.  When Adam enjoys a book, I read it too.  He's got great taste in literature, and really detests what he styles "garbage" lit.  Considering that most "chick" lit is probably the equivalent of his "garbage" I will confess he has better literary taste than I do!

Witch & Wizard is not the usual James Patterson, perhaps thanks to the influence of Gabrielle Charbonnet!

The publisher's synopsis reads:

This is the astonishing testimonial of Wisty and Whit Allgood, a sister and brother who were torn from their family in the middle of the night, slammed into prison, and accused of being a witch and a wizard. Thousands of young people have been kidnapped; some have been accused; many others remain missing. Their fate is unknown, and the worst is feared—for the ruling regime will stop at nothing to suppress life and liberty, music and books, art and magic...and the pursuit of being a normal teenager.

The novel opens with the heroes, Wisty (15) and Whit (17) Allgood, standing in a theater awaiting their execution.  Just minutes before their scheduled execution, Wisty invites the reader to journey back to her arrest. Wisty and Whit share the remainder of the story, switching voices chapter by chapter, a style a trifle confusing if the reader fails to read the chapter titles.  

A book written for teens is often a fast read and Witch & Wizard is no exception.  Patterson and Charbonnet shape fleshy characters and logical events within the world they've created.  As a reader, I need both. 

The young Allgoods are arrested in the middle of the night by agents of the New Order (N.O.), a political party determined to oppress free thinking, music, books, and - well, teenagers.  The young Allgoods are perplexed though.  Wisty has been something of a rebel in her "normal" world, but hasn't done anything that merits a late-night arrest.  Whit seems to have a small problem with underage drinking, but has only done it in his own home - a punishable behavior, certainly, but probably by his parents rather than a Nazi-esque political regime.  Wisty and Whit have no idea the N.O. has read prophecies suggesting the young Witch and Wizard will destroy the oppressive regime, nor have they any inkling of the power of their magical abilities.

The N.O. believes the Allgoods practice witchcraft and sorcery, obviously illegal activities.  The Order allows the teens a trial, during which there is no preponderance of evidence, yet the young Witch and Wizard are condemned to death.  The N.O. throws them in a prison designed to suppress their powers, and challenges them to frightful ordeals.

Fear, anger, and pain spark strange and increasingly magical phenomena.  The Allgoods quickly learn to harness some of their power, leading them to a brilliantly executed escape followed by a prison-break for other youngsters.  Obviously, as the book opens with the Witch and Wizard standing in the theater with massive crowds awaiting their execution, the N.O. recaptures them and prepares them for execution.

Although there are exceptions, in this novel, bad is really bad and good is very good.  The N.O. combines all the worst traits of all the worst political parties in world history and certain parts of the novel resemble George Orwell's 1984, particularly the characterization of the abject masses.  Still, it's a great read and both Adam and I look forward to the sequel.

I remain convinced Adam will enjoy the other Patterson work, and will encourage him to try one or two novels.

New Year, New Blog

Previously unpublished "why I'm starting a new blog" post, which is probably better than the version I chose as my first post of the year on the new site.  Why waste a good thought?

...

New Year, New Blog

I've been studying blogs and blogs about blogs.  I subscribe to twelve outstanding blogs and read them regularly.  Having recently enjoyed the movie Julie & Julia, I couldn't resist reading the original blog, The Julie/Julia Project blog. 

I felt like I was getting a secret message from all my blog exposure: stop with random blogs.  Find a focus - a theme. 

The only thing I enjoy more than writing is reading.

I read all the time. 

I store books in all the places I might find a minute or two to sneak a word - under my hair dryer, in the door of the car, in my office, next to the bed and the living room couch, in the pantry...

I even own digial books that I read with my Kindle iPhone application while standing in lines, waiting for an appointment, or picking up the kids.  Kindle is a guilty pleasure.  I'm a book snob.

I've always been a reader.  My first favorite was Pounding Hooves by Dorothy Grundbock Johnston.  I read and re-read that book.  I rotated with a book about Sarah Boone, lost forever to the Pinewood library archives, and a startling and lovely romance with the word "lillies" in a title I  no longer recall.  Like many early readers, I also loved The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank.  In secret I read my mother's stash of Barbara Cartland novels too.  Nearly three decades later I can see how that unique collection of romance and realism shaped my world view. 

I mark the great milestones in my life more by what I was reading than by dates.  I was reading Jane Eyre when I got my driver's license and mom sent me to the store for "tomata sauce."  I obediently headed to Maus Foods, torn between the first opportunity for independence and my impatient desire to learn Jane's fate.

The summer before I left home for college, I read Anna Karenina and War and Peace.  Not content with one summer of depressing Russian literature, I followed with The Brothers Karamozov between my first and sophomore years. 

I was sick for the first time without my parents while reading Elie Wiesel's Night.  I thought the Holocaust made me physically ill; turned out I had the stomach flu.

I read Shakespeare's Othello to Adam in his infancy.  Jakob was born during my poetry phase.  Lucky for him we had Adam demanding repeat performances of Dr. Suess.  "Left foot, left foot, right foot right.  Feet in the morning, feet at night..." (aka The Foot Book) was his particular favorite, occasionally trumped by In a People House, ("Come inside, Mr Bird, said the mouse.  I'll show you what there is in a people house..."), the Seven Silly Eaters, or Where the Wild Things Are.  My last flight to Florida began with the opening chapters of Diana Gabaldon's An Echo in the Bone; spotting the book on my lap, one excited flight attendent said she'd just completed the book and couldn't wait for book eight of the series.  With a relieved sigh, I replied, "Thank God it's not the last one!" and we shared that delighted secret sister reader grin two readers share when they connect over a favorite read.

Saturday I opened a new book, The Queen's Lady by Barbara Kyle.  Worried it would be too similar to Phillipa Gregory's novels, I wasn't sure I'd like the book.  Hooked by the end of the first paragraph, I'm doing my best to make this one last, so I'm only reading it while drying my hair.  I predict I will be able to wait until the weekend to finish the book.  Maybe.  Either that or my hair's going to be extra clean this week.

I love books.  I love blogging.  I love historical records.  I'm combining those three loves this year with this new blog.  I plan to chronicle what I read and what I think about what I read here.  I consider it my own nod of acknowledgement to my early desire to be a literary critic.  I never would have succeeded as a critic; I find myself liking everything I read for one reason or another. 

On my current reading list:

The Queen's Lady by Barbara Kyle
The Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
Touching Wonder by John Blase
A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
Joshua, Old Testament

The Queen's Lady by Barbara Kyle

If the rest of my reading year goes like the first part of it, I don't hold much hope of completing this year's reading list before the end of the year.  2010 already has its fair share of distractions!

I finished The Queen's Lady by Barbara Kyle.  The author's website describes the plot thusly:

Set in the nerve-jangled court of King Henry VIII during his battle with the Catholic church for a divorce, The Queen's Lady is the story of Honor Larke, a ward of King Henry’s chancellor, Sir Thomas More, and lady-in-waiting to Henry’s first wife, Queen Catherine of Aragon. Forced to take sides in the religious extremism of the day, Honor fights to save the church’s victims from death at the stake, enlisting Richard Thornleigh, a rogue sea captain, in her missions of mercy, and finally risking her life to try to save Sir Thomas from the wrath of the king.

The book is well-written and well-researched. 

I don't like it.  Not even a little bit.

First, the sad plight of Queen Catherine is worsened by those closest to her, not the least of whom is Honor Larke, the main character.  Honor betrays the Queen's trust with the help of Thomas Cromwell.  The Queen, a secondary character anyway, never realizes Honor's betrayal, but lack of realization does not lessen the effects of Honor's deed.  For the remainder of her service to the Queen, Honor continuously lies to the Queen while using her status to her own advantage.  Nor do Honor's betrayals end with the Queen.  She also betrays her King, her mentor, and her husband. 

Second, while Kyle's descriptive and colorful painting of Henry's court invites the reader into a different era in the opening chapters, the novel becomes less than authentic as Honor nearly single-handedly rescues hundreds of heretics, her dead husband is discovered not dead, and she miraculously escapes her own death-by-fire for her heresy.  Honor achieved a great deal of independence in a time when a non-noble woman would have had little independence.  She even marries without the approval of her ward and secretly uses her money to fund the rescues she attempts.

Finally, the questions raised about religion, theology, and nobility is less than captivating.  Honor finds her own peace as an aetheist, even in the face of devotion by those close to her.  Scarred and weakend by horrific images from her past, she justifies turning away from the poxed religion of her time because it was so evil and managed by such flawed characters.  She forgets, as do so many others, that the human manifestation of religion or theology is not what God hoped His people would have.  She, in essence, throws out the baby with the bathwater.

I was left with the sense that Honor, shorn of her family and her faith, lost her honor, and she never regained it or mourned its loss by the time her story ended. 

I shelve the book with a lingering curiosity about the person of Sir Thomas More, a man the Roman Catholic Church declared a saint in 1935.

Next I finish the book of Joshua from the Old Testament.

The Year of 198 Books

I read 198 novels, a little non-fiction, and nearly 1,000 recipes in 2009.  If I skip the nonfiction, I may top 200 books in 2010.

The good stories I've read live in my memory, but I have nothing tangible from all that reading.  I don't even keep the books, sharing them with reader friends.  The books I keep are the ones I wouldn't mind people finding on my shelves when packing up the remains of my life.

While cleaning out some boxes of junk from the basement, I found my old college binders.  I kept every paper and every course notebook.  Reading them was like a journey down memory lane.  I remember the day I read Elie Wiesel's Night, and thought the Holocaust made me physically ill; turned out I had the stomach flu.  I remember the first married fight Joe and I ever had; I wrote about it and the film "Casablanca" in an Ethics paper.  I remember the heated abortion debate in my Feminist Philosophy course while deep in my body I felt the flutters of my first child. 

I want tangible records of what I've been reading and thinking and living.  Perhaps one day my sons or my grandchildren will come to know me a little better from my recorded thoughts.

And how much more convenient is a blog than dusty boxes stashed in a basement?