Tag: Books

World War One: History in an Hour ~ a short review for a short book

Book #6 for the War Through the Generations WWI reading challenge, which means I have thoroughly “waded” into the challenge–and feeling quite proud of myself.

World War One: History in an Hour is exactly what it claims to be: a concise overview of World War I that you can read in an hour (or so–I spent about an hour and a half reading). It is also a better book to read at the start of a WWI reading challenge, not closer to its end.

That being said, it’s a great place to start if you don’t have a passing familiarity with WWI, or haven’t done any serious reading on the topic since 11th grade world history. The narrative style is engaging, and the book itself is broken into sections, which makes it easy to set down and pick back up again. The author doesn’t go into any great depth, but again, that’s not this book’s purpose.

The book also includes short biographies of some of the major players in the war along with a timeline.

So, if you’re looking for an introduction, or need a quick read to round out this year’s challenge, you can’t go wrong with this one, especially if it continues to be free on Kindle.

This week in books

What I read/am reading:

New books on the block:

Kiss, Kiss, Bark!A while back, I entered a Twitter contest to win Kiss, Kiss, Bark! from Tanglewood Press–then figured that would be that.

This week, I found out that I won a copy. Kyra was thrilled. So was I.

It looks like a cute and fun read. We both can’t wait to dig in.

This week in books

What I read/am reading:

  • Finished Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle. My take here.
  • Working my way through the big fat book on the Russian Revolution (yes, that’s what it’s called). I’m on page 107. This means I’m 13% the way through the book. (I told you it was big and fat.)
  • Finished The One and Only Ivan, book #70 for the year. Terrific and charming, perfect for animal lovers of all ages. Passing it along to Kyra now. Pretty sure it will make her cry–not that it made me cry or anything.

Out this week:

Fabulous 2009 Deb Kirstin Cronn-Mills has a new release out this past week (October 8th).

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is available in paperback and on Kindle.

WWI Read: Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle

Highclere Castle
Highclere Castle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Book # 5 in the War Through the Generations WWI reading challenge: Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle.

I was on the fence about whether or not I wanted to read this one. I knew it wouldn’t really have anything to do with Downton Abbey. What tipped the balance? This review on Amazon:

 … did not think the book would be 3/4 about war war war and her nursing abilities.

And I was all: Sold! Because that’s exactly what I wanted to read about. This is also why authors shouldn’t sweat the negative reviews. That being said, there’s controversy in some of the other reviews about how sanitized this version of Lady Almina’s life happens to be.

I suspect there might be some truth to this. The narrative is fairly scandal free, the author glossing over the fact Lady Almina remarries in the same year Lord Carnarvon dies and only briefly mentions the court case she becomes involved in (see Wikipedia for more info).

However, I did enjoy learning more about what went into running a private hospital during WWI and the problems encountered. Although in Lady Almina’s case, she solved a great many of these problems by throwing money at them–which seems to have been her SOP. Also fascinating was the time the narrative spent on the Earl’s interest (more like an obsession) in Egyptology. I hadn’t realized he was Howard Carter’s backer, and that together they discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

Was the read worth it? From my point of view, yes. If you already know a bit about WWI, you won’t learn a lot here. And of course, the narrative doesn’t contain swoon-worthy scenes between Matthew and Mary or one liners delivered by Dame Maggie Smith. However, it is an interesting look at a certain strata of British society before, during, and after the war.

And just because the book doesn’t have any Maggie Smith doesn’t mean this blog post will go without. Enjoy.

Unidentified Funny Objects Table of Contents Reveal

Look at this! It’s the Unidentified Funny Objects Table of Contents reveal! Twenty nine stories will make up this 80,000 word anthology.

Even the titles have me cracking up.“The Velveteen Golem” by David Sklar? I can’t wait to read all the other stories in the anthology. It’s not too far away. Click through to pre-order your copy in paperback or e-format.

Sleeping Beauty finds a home

I’m so excited to announce that my short story The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty will be part of the Unidentified Funny Objects anthology, due out this November!

The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty combines cell phones and swords with a really sucky sweet sixteen.

I’m positively thrilled that Sleeping Beauty was considered both funny enough and fantasy enough to be included. It’s a great way to start the week.

Blogging as part of Classics Carnival: Why Pride and Prejudice is not a love story

Pride and Prejudice

My guest blog post is up at Book Angel Booktopia. Go read why Pride and Prejudice is not a love story.

No, really. Go see why. I’m not going to tell you about it here.

Mid-year-ish Reading Recap

I meant to write this one up at the end of June or beginning of July, but it has been a whirlwind of activity around here: horse camp, the Betsy-Tacy convention. I’m almost never this much of a social butterfly. July has been one hot, busy month, but totally worth it. In fact, I almost don’t know what to do with myself this weekend.

On to the reading (and watching) challenges!

Fifty/Fifty Me challenge

The challenge here is to read fifty books and watch fifty movies during 2012. Where I’m at:

  • Books: 52
  • Movies: 12

Yes, try not to laugh at that. All I can say is if I’m awake enough in the evenings to enjoy entertainment of some sort, I’m almost always going to reach for a book rather than fire up a movie. That’s just how I roll.

If you want to see what I’ve been reading, check out my Pinterest board. It has a list (minus the seven I read for the Rita contest and can’t disclose) of what I’ve read so far this year.

If you want to see the (limited) number of movies I’ve watched, look here.

War Through the Generations WWI reading challenge

I’ve made my goal! And by mid-year! However, I do hope to read a few more WWI books (at the very least).

To End All Wars by Adam Hochschild (review here)

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Fantastic middle grade novel that should appeal to adults as well. One of my favorite constructs–the story within a story. This one is on audio as well and would make a good summer road trip book.

The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West

I discovered this one thanks to a Facebook post. Yes! Facebook! Good for something.

A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd

WWI mystery. If you like the Maisie Dobbs series, this is a good choice for historical/WWI mysteries.

That’s it! I hope everyone else is keeping on track with their reading/watching challenges so far this year. Hey, there’s still plenty of time to make your goals.

Even more Betsy, Tacy, Tib … and me!

The flyer pretty much says it all:

You can also find more information on the event here. I’m excited, and nervous, and all wound up in general. With a little luck, I’ll be able to give a report sometime next week. I also hope to share a little bit of news as well. We’ll see.

In the meantime, I’m excited, and nervous, and all wound up in general.

Writing vortex and must-read writing blog

If you’ve ever read Little Women, you’ll know that Jo March falls into writing vortexes. Well, I’m here to tell you that they exist–because that’s where I’ve been for the past few weeks, and in particular, this last week or so. I’m enjoying my time there. It’s been a while since I’ve ended up in a vortex so whirlwind-y with words and characters.

I’ll be back at some point to blog about all our summer adventures. There’s Girl Scout troop horse camp coming up and then the Betsy-Tacy Convention. July looks jammed packed with fun.

In the meantime, for you writers out there, I want to introduce you to a must-read blog:

The Bane of Your Resistance

Not only is the name epic–a play on author and creativity coach Rosanne Bane’s last name–but the website is as well. So many applicable strategies and tactics for whatever writing challenge you happen to be facing.

Even better? Rosanne has written a book on brain science and writing. Some of you know that if it’s a brain book, I’m all over that. Ditto for the writing books. So, brain science and writing? Together at last? It’s going to be Christmas in August.

Around the Writer’s Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer’s Resistance comes out on August 2nd, and yes, I’ve already pre-ordered. I’m also hoping to attend the launch as well.

Enjoy! I’ll be back once this vortex settles a bit.