Review: Only Time Will Tell

Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I was surprised by this book. I've always enjoyed Wilbur Smith's generational stories and this story is a similar, but less detailed, writing style. The book was somewhat difficult to read as the various voices confused the storyline. I can't think of another way to reveal the secrets and logic while maintaining the first person feel of the story but I would have enjoyed it more if a consistent narrator's voice told the tale.

This book could have been much more detailed and I would have loved it. So much had to be skipped to get the entire generation's story told in so few words.

I've already requested book 2 and I'm looking forward to learning more about Harry and Emma!



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Review: The Hunt For Atlantis

The Hunt For Atlantis by Andy McDermott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Sometimes you just need a book that will drag you along with it's action-packed story until you realize that you're actually enjoying the trip. I think I really needed something more adventurous and the bullets, explosions and bad guys were everywhere in this book. Was it over the top and completely unbelievable? Yes - but it was also a fun read. I liked this more than other books of it's type because it broke a few of the adventure rules - good guys weren't immortal and the bad guys were sometimes hard to find. Definitely a good book if you are in the mood for a huge body count and a unique setting!



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Review: Land Girls

Land Girls by Angela Huth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This book is like Chick Lit meets World War II. Turns out that it's a nice match!

I've never heard of WLA but I found it fascinating - the Rosie Riveter of England. Hard, manual labor and rural living are huge changes for land girls but they attack every task head on and end up blossoming on the farm. Definitely a feel good book. Now I just need to hit google to find out what birth control was like in 1940's England because curiosity is killing me. The mention it briefly and it made me wonder. Apparently it isn't as modern a notion as I assumed!



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Review: A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32

A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32 by Joan W. Blos

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I'm not sure how I missed this during my "Little House" years but I would have enjoyed this diary.

It's a good book, if a bit dull. The 'author' is a 14 year old New Hampshire farm girl and it touches briefly on farm life, slavery, school, family life, factory workers and other themes of the day but it fails to go in depth in any. I would have enjoyed the book more had there been a focus on any of these topics.

I was surprised to see a recipe from my collection in the book. I originally found it in a cookbook from the 1850s so it was definitely appropriate to the story - just a surprise to see it in print again!

For a tween that enjoys autobiographical accounts of life in other times, this would be a good book. It's easy to read and brings history more to life. For instance, she might know that children worked in dangerous conditions in factories but to 'know' someone that was being sent to do the job to help support her family helps them see how it would feel.



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Review: Dream When You're Feeling Blue

Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I love reading Elizabeth Berg. She has a way with words that make me feel as if I'm in the story. This book was excellent - the timeline, the story of the women left behind during the war, the life of the soldiers, the letters from the war, the slang. Had the book ended one chapter earlier, it would have been a 5 star book. I am so confused by the end, however, as it makes no sense that the story would have (or even could have) ended that way. A 5 star book with a 2 star ending.



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Review: The Killer Angels

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



The idea of the book interested me and I was impressed by the amount of research Shaara must have completed. The book did help bring a battle to life but it was a struggle to finish. The emotions, the health concerns, the lack of ammunition, the troop movements - it all had the potential to be fascinating and insightful. Instead, it was choppy and terse. It read as a bulleted list that someone had tried to convert to paragraphs without adding additional words. That lack of fluidity in the writing made it hard to read.



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