Begin the a Week with Words

Because I learned something of this, this week...

"Every trip you make with someone teaches you something important about the person you travel with—and about yourself." Loving Eleanor, Susan Wittig Albert

At the Water's Edge

Source: NetGalley.com

At the Water's Edge, by Sara Gruen

Publisher: Random House

Publication date: March 31, 2015

Category: Fiction

Source: I received this galley from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

When you read an enjoyable book, the author tends to stick in your mind. So when I saw Sara Gruen had a title available on NetGalley, I jumped on board with only a quick glance at the summary. If Gruen's name isn't ringing a bell, think Water for Elephants, which was a hit novel in 2006, followed by the movie in 2011. I enjoyed both the book and movie for the unique setting of a 1930s traveling circus. Likewise, At the Water's Edge has a WWII setting with which I was not as familiar. Usually WWII books I've read are set in America, London, or a German concentration camp. I couldn't pass up a different setting in one of the most written about pieces of history. 

Set in the Scottish Highlands during WWII, At the Water's Edge focuses on Maddie Hyde, her high society husband Ellis, and their mutual friend Hank. Unable to serve due to minor physical impairments (flat feet and colorblindness), the men take up the idea of finding the Loch Ness Monster to escape their self-disgracing behaviors and replace the honor fighting on the front would have provided.

As Maddie travels from America to the Scottish Highlands, her life changes every step of the way. Living in a small country inn of a war torn area, Maddie is faced with hardships she is not used to. Her own little world broadens a little at a time until she is left with revelations of secrets and lies, showcasing the obvious wreck her life is and will become; opening her to the beauty of what life can be if she has the courage to go for it.

There is also a romantic element to At the Water's Edge, but I liked it. I found myself cheering on the various characters who found themselves in love or looking for it...hoping all would turn out in the end.

So thumbs up Sara Gruen, I enjoyed your new novel! And readers, which authors draw you to their new books just because of who they are?

Girl Runner

Source: goodreads.com

Girl Runner, by Carrie Snyder
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: February 3, 2015
Category: Fiction
Source: I received this free ARC from Harper Collins Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

At first, I couldn't really say what attracted me to Girl Runner. Unlike others, it wasn't the retro cover. And I'm a little ashamed to say it wasn't necessarily the topic (the fictional main character Aganetha is among the first females to participate in the 1928 Olympics for the Canadian team). I think it was this small portion of the summary, which I've copied here from Amazon, that made me request it:

"Her remarkable story is colored by tragedy as well as joy, and in Girl Runner Carrie Snyder pulls back the layers of time to reveal how Aganetha’s amazing athleticism helped her escape from a family burdened by secrets and sorrow. However, as much as Aganetha tries, she cannot outrun her past or the social conventions of her time."

It's the life lived behind the scenes, so to speak, that draws me in. Famous this, famous that, I don't care so much about. I want to know who a person is, where do they come from, how has life shaped him/her? This is what makes a story because this makes humanity what it is.

And this is what Girl Runner delivers. Told as a flashback from the elderly Aganetha, the reader slowly pieces together the parts of Aggie's life, sorrows that led to victories, which in turn led to some of her lowest times. A complex mix of joy and sorrow that I felt, in the end, I had to decide which ruled her life.

There are other aspects to the story, such as the people who take her on the adventure that sparks her past to play before her eyes. Their intentions are not what they claim upon meeting Aggie and this adds some mystery, especially as the past and present begin to meet. While this is the catalyst for the entire past story to play out, the story being played out is what kept my attention the most...but like I said, it all connects eventually.

I don't usually rate books by "stars," but it seems easiest to give my stance that way this time. I give Girl Runner a solid three star rating. It was a good story.

What plot idea draws you to a story the most?

Orphan Train

Orphan Train has been on my radar since January 2014, when I made plans to attend ALA in Philly, where I would meet author Christina Baker Kline. Due to crazy snow, I missed the trip, and Orphan Train didn't make it to my reading pile for another eleven months. I picked it up Christmas Eve 2014 as I waited for my kids to settle into bed so the hubby and I could wrap and set out presents. Honestly, I picked it up because I was two books shy of my Goodreads goal for 2014 and at 273 pages, Orphan Train was completely doable. Of course, I'd also heard it was good, which helps!

It was good. I started it Christmas Eve night and finished it Christmas night. As an easy to read book with an easy to follow narrative, Orphan Train follows a little discussed piece of history. From 1854 - 1929, orphans from East Coast cities were sent to the Midwest by train, in search of families. Some found families who raised them as their own, while others were taken in as free labor, sometimes neglected and abused.

Source: twincities.com

This fictional account follows an Irish girl, Niamh, who finds herself an orphan on a train headed from New York City to Minnesota. Without giving away any details, let's suffice it to say that Niamh endures hardships akin to children in today's foster care system. Cheering for her all the way, it's sad to think life could seem to really work against a person so much.

I would not rate the book as absolutely amazing, but a good read and perfect addition to my end-of-the-year reading. I hope to find other books on this topic as well.

Anyone find other works, fiction or nonfiction, on this topic?

The Ship of Brides

Source: NetGalley.com

The Ship of Brides, by Jojo Moyes
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication date: October 28, 2014
Category: Historical fiction
Source: I received this e-galley from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I read my first Jojo Moyes, Me Before You, this past summer (my review). I enjoyed it and knew I'd read another of Moyes's books when one came across my path. Sure enough, I soon found The Ship of Brides on NetGalley and here we are.

The Ship of Brides is historical fiction about a topic on which I've read very little: women who married soldiers during WWII and later left their homes to join their husbands on foreign soil. Goodreads has a concise summary: The year is 1946, and all over the world, young women are crossing the seas in the thousands en route to the men they married in wartime - and an unknown future. In Sydney, Australia, four women join 650 other brides on an extraordinary voyage to England, aboard the HMS Victoria, which also carries not just arms and aircraft but 1,000 naval officers and men. Rules of honor, duty, and separation are strictly enforced, from the aircraft carrier's captain down to the lowliest young stoker. But the men and the brides will find their lives intertwined in ways the Navy could never have imagined.

The story follows four women making this journey to their husbands. They come from different walks of life - the farmer girl, the socialite, the unruly sixteen-year-old, and mysterious war nurse - and don't always mesh well. I cannot imagine traveling six+ weeks in such living conditions as the aircraft carrier Moyes describes! I would be freaking out the first day on board. Besides the confines of the ship, there are so many issues that arise to knock the brides' lives off course. Husbands who change their minds, rival brides, and checkered pasts all make an already challenging situation nearly impossible.

I have to say, I found the two books surprisingly different. Me Before You was a good story that seemed like just that, a good story with a touch of romance, which I had no problem with. The Ship of Brides seems more literary. I'm sure the true-to-life setting impacts the tone and mood greatly. As different as I felt they were, I enjoyed both books. If I had to pick a favorite of the two, I'd say The Ship of Brides; however, be aware that the literary feel (historical fiction genre) sways me.

Do you have a preference when it comes to "the feel" a book gives you (such as literary, etc.)?

Gutenberg's Apprentice

Source: goodreads.com

Gutenberg's Apprentice, by Alix Christie
Publisher: Harper
Publication date: September 23, 2014
Category: Historical fiction
Source: I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

For some reason I had this book written down with a publication date of October 28th, thinking I'm only a week later with my review. Then find out as I go to write this it was September 23rd. Now how did I mess that up?

Anyway...here's a quick review of the plot from Amazon: Peter Schoeffer is on the verge of professional success as a scribe in Paris when his foster father, wealthy merchant Johann Fust, summons him home to corrupt Mainz to meet “a most amazing man.” Johann Gutenberg has devised a revolutionary method of bookmaking: a machine he calls a printing press. Fust is financing Gutenberg’s workshop and he orders Peter, his adopted son, to become Gutenberg’s apprentice. 

As Peter's skill grows, so, too, does his admiration for Gutenberg and his dedication to their daring venture: copies of the Holy Bible. But mechanical difficulties and the crushing power of the Catholic Church threaten their work. Peter finds himself torn between these two father figures. Caught between the genius and the merchant, the old ways and the new, Peter and the men he admires must work together to prevail against overwhelming obstacles—a battle that will change history . . . and irrevocably transform them.

My thoughts? Overall I liked Gutenberg's Apprentice. The one complaint I might see people making is that it is slow paced at times. I thought so off and on as I read it, but looking back it didn't make me want to DNF it. I was extremely interested in knowing the side of the story we never hear about. Also, the technical talk about the printing process really makes the reader understand that this was not an easy process. Gutenberg didn't just invent the press and voilà, we have books by the hundreds. It was back breaking, all consuming work that so many others would've given up on. Lucky for us, Gutenberg, Peter, and Fust were most determined.

The time period, mid-1400s, is not familiar to many people, I'd guess. It was very interesting to see how life was lived. Expectations for work, marriage, religion, etc. A few characters' reaction to the press being blasphemous amused me. The idea that the Bible could only be meaningful if carefully written by hand seems absolutely ludicrous. They are likely rolling in their graves over our Bible apps and such online now! But it made me keep in mind that all great things are misunderstood and challenged. They bring change, which people generally fear. Yet, look what this has brought us! I wouldn't be writing this and you wouldn't be reading it without Gutenberg, Peter, and Fust's work.

I love the idea of more to the story than meets the eye. Can you think of any other amazing inventions you would like to see stories about?

The Killer Angels

Source: Amazon.com

I'm teaching ninth grade again this year, for the first time in about five years. A new book was purchased for them since then, The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, which I've never read before. It turns out to be a challenging book for my ninth grade Honors classes. (And I'll admit, kind of a challenge for me.)

A historical topic like the Civil War has a tendency to become a larger than life topic. Don't get me wrong, it is definitely a topic deserving of so much attention, however I've always seen it as a whole...one war that changed the course of a nation. I've never taken the time to break it down and notice how the Civil War changed the course of individual lives, and therefore the lives of their family for generations to come.

That's where The Killer Angels focused my attention...at the individuals who fought. Switching between individual viewpoints from chapter to chapter, the reader gains insight to both sides of the war. It is historical fiction, so the thoughts, words, and actions written are not absolute truth. These men were actual soldiers in the Civil War though, so the research exists to support the filling. This look at individuals threw me off at first. I was expecting battles, death, and victory for the Union - the bigger than life side; but, the first battle we view doesn't take place until the second half of the book. The entire book until then, and even during the battle, provides introspection. Each man's emotions and thoughts on family, war, humanity, life, etc. comes through. Sometimes it's through memories and other times through interactions with those around them, but with every chapter a new puzzle piece falls in place to create an overall picture of each man in turn.

I would say it was slow moving at first, but I can see already that a second read will tie more of it together for me. Overall, not something I would've read on my own, but a good book for an honors level class to study: challenging and made better with discussion.

Have you ever read historical fiction that didn't read as easily as you expected?