The Secret of the Glass by Donna Russo Morin
Historical Romance

Sophia Fiolario is the daughter of renown glass-maker Zeno Fiolario of Murano. This is the early 1600s and it is forbidden for glass-makers to leave Murano under punishment of death. Zeno has taught his daughter the secrets and she is making beautiful glassware during the night. If anyone should find out that a woman is making glass, there would be a huge scandal and Sophia's life could be in danger.

Zeno has started to show signs of dementia which would put his family at risk since there are no male heirs. Galileo commissions the factory to make some very special pieces of glass for his latest invention. With her father unable to comply, Sophia fulfills the order.

Sophia has reluctantly consented to marry Pasquale Da Fuligna , a poor nobleman. Neither of them care for the other and Pasquale only wishes her money and will buy her siblings and mother a place in a convent. Sophia would be banished from the furnaces. Sophia must marry him unless she can find some sort of escape.

As Sophia is taken to balls and musicals she meets another poor nobleman, Teodoro whom she falls madly in love with. Teodoro is however the youngest son and must not marry.

A historical romance in the truest fashion, this book delivers. The history of the famous glass-makers of Murano is intricately woven with the intrigues and frustrations of romance.

First Line: "The scalding heat rose up before her, reaching deep inside her like a selfish lover grasping for her soul."

Rating:
(4.0/5)

Room by Emma Donoghue

Room by Emma Donoghue
Fiction/Literature

Jack is five years old and lives in Room with his ma. Room is all Jack has ever known because Ma was kidnapped when she was 19, taken to Room, and has been molested for seven years. Jack thinks Room is all there is and everything outside is the Universe. They do have a TV, so anything on TV that isn't in Room, is imaginary to Jack and he calls it "TV". Ice cream, for example, is TV.

Ma has tried to keep Jack sheltered from the disturbing part of their existence, but when he turns five, she tells Jack about how they come to be in Room. After he gets over the shock, they hatch a plan to escape from Room.

It takes a while to get used to the way Jack talks. Any item in Room is described as a name, such as Bed and Wardrobe, rather than as a item, which is odd. What I don't understand is why Jack talks like this when his mother doesn't. Since she's the only influence he has, wouldn't he copy her speech pattern?

Once you get past the odd speech, this novel is such a page turner! At first I was wondering how the heck Donoghue was going to make (part of) a novel interesting about two people living in a room. How much can they do differently every day to make things interesting? However, Ma gives her story on how she was kidnapped and slowly tells more about what has happened to her. Then there's the thrilling story of their escape, which has you wondering if they are really going to make it.

The book is uncomfortable, but good uncomfortable. The subject at times pushes boundaries and then questions you as to why you are uncomfortable. Room is my best read so far this year.

First Line: "Today I'm five."

Rating:
(4.5/5)

Dead Until Dark

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Cozy Mystery

Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in a small town in Louisiana. She leads a quiet life because she has a disability, the ability to read minds. Bill, a vampire comes into the bar and Sookie is immediately attracted to him as she can not read his mind and therefore he is very peaceful to her.

Around the same time some young women who like to date vampires (fang-bangers) start being murdered. Sookie's brother has known all these women and is the main suspect. As Sookie's relationship with Bill grows, Sookie's grandmother is murdered and Sookie realizes she was the target and starts to get involved in finding the killer. This takes her deeper into the dark world of vampires.

As a side story, Sookie's boss is interested in her and happens to be a shape-shifter.

This mystery was just a little too easy to figure out. There were times I wanted to slap Sookie as she just didn't seem to care for her own well-being. I really don't know how I feel about the series and will wait for Lauren's reaction on the next in the series.

First Line: "I'd been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately

Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately
Fiction/Literature

Growing up in a poor neighbourhood of Boston with her single mother and a disabled niece, Elsa leafs through a magazine but stops at a picture of starving refugees from Rwanda. She knows that she wants to help these people out when she is old enough. Fate guides her down the path of becoming a nurse and she eventually applies to an organization that does aid work around the world. When Elsa is called to Afghanistan post-9/11, she doesn't hesitate.

What Elsa finds in Afghanistan are gentle and kind people having their way of life taken away from the Taliban. Elsa starts work in a small clinic and befriends many locals. She becomes enamored with an American soldier and falls in love but must always be aware that the Taliban are closer than she thinks.

This book is an incredibly easy read, in part because it's an interesting story, in part because it's not the best written book in the world. I felt connected to Elsa and the friendships she made. The romance part was a little too soap opera for me and happened a bit too quickly, however the book redeemed itself by the end.

First Line: "It was the hopelessness in their eyes that held sixteen-year-old Elsa's attention."

Rating:
(4/5)

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Fiction/Literature

This is a story of love and misunderstanding in England in the 1800s. Mrs. Bennett is trying to marry off her five daughters as there are no male heirs and the girls will end up without a home or income when their father dies.

When a possible suitor, Mr. Bingley takes up residence nearby, Mrs. Bennett is beside herself trying to push Jane, the eldest forward. At one of the many balls where this romance seems to be progressing Elizabeth, next in line, meets Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth finds him too proud and takes an immediate dislike to him. Mr. Bingley leaves to return to London, devastating Jane and Elizabeth finds out this is due to the insufferable Mr. Darcy.

Mr. Darcy eventually proposes to Elizabeth and she turns him down telling him just what she thinks of him. Only what she thinks is not necessarily true.

I never had to read this classic for school and what a shame that is. I truly enjoyed the story. The humour that Jane Austen writes with is wonderful. I did find it a little hard to get used to the formal language used and more than once had to figure out which character was being spoken about. Miss Bennet is used for the oldest not for all five daughters. I also wonder why in 1800s England there seem to be a lot of very wimpish women and only a few with backbone.

First Line: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

Rating:
(4.5/5)

The Secret of the Glass by Donna Russo Morin

The Secret of the Glass by Donna Russo Morin
Historical Fiction

In 17th century Venice, the Murano glassmakers are celebrated but also on a tight rope. If any glassmaker tries to leave the city, they are killed because Venice lawmakers don't want the secret of the glass to go beyond the city. The Fiolario's own a glass shop where father Zino guides the workers. His eldest daughter Sophia also knows the secret of the glass, but she's a female and her working in the shop is forbidden. When Galileo enters the shop to inquire about making lenses for his new invention of the telescope, Sophia dangerously takes this on herself.

Sophia is soon betrothed to a man she has no feelings for and learns that he plans to take her family's money, send her up north away from her mother, and send her sisters to the convent. She doesn't know what she can do about it though, as women didn't have much power in these times. As her fiance parades her in front of the community of noblemen and women, she makes friends with Teodoro, a poor nobleman, who she falls in love with. Maybe Teodoro can help her cancel her marriage and keep her secret that she knows how to make glass.

There was a lot of interesting history in this story about Venice, the Murano glassmakers, and Galileo. There were some intriguing contradictions in this book as well. Sophia become a glassmaker and innovator in the industry, yet she has absolutely no control or power over her personal life.

The final third of this book was more romance than historical fiction, which detracted a bit from the overall story. I was happy, though, that it wasn't dragged out too long and the ending left things open for interpretation.

First Line: "The scalding heat rose up before her, reaching deep insider her like a selfish lover grasping for her soul."

Rating:
(4/5)

The Alchemist's Daughter

The Alchemist's Daughter by Katherine McMahon
Historical Fiction

Emilie Seldon has been brought up by her father, John. John is a scientist and alchemist and has taught Emilile the scientific procedures and a lot about alchemy. In 1725 in the middle of an alchemy experiment to bring dead roses back to life, Emilie meets two men.

Thomas Shales is a widowed clergyman who has alienated John by his disregard of alchemy. He likes to conduct his own natural flora experiments.

Robert Aislabie is a merchant and adventurer who has come to Seldon manor to inquire about fire and how to protect his ships. John mistrusts him from the start and tells Emilie to have nothing to do with the man. She, of course, falls in lust and ignoring her father eventually winds up pregnant. Her father completely cuts her off and Emilie is married to Aislabie and goes to London to live.

Emilie has never been outside of her country manor and its environs. All of a sudden she is set down in the midst of chaotic London and expected to order around her servants. She is unsure and homesick. She has an insolent maid and an increasing distant husband. She has had to give up her experiments and misses her relationship with her father.

The historical aspects of the novel were fascinating and the alchemy part intriguing but Emilie's growing up and enlightment is what brings this novel life.

First Line: "In one of my earliest memories I walk behind my father to the furnace shed"

Rating:
(4.0/5)

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean

The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
Fiction/Literature

During the fall and winter months of 1941, Marina, a tour guide at the Hermitage Museum, is packing the museums artwork and precious artifacts to make sure they aren't destroyed during the war. As each piece is packed away, she memorizes its location and the way it looks, making sure that someone remembers the museum as it was before the war in case it never returns to that way. Then she suffers through incredibly tough times, hiding during raids, staying in the cold on watch, and eating and sleeping very little.

Marina's past is interwoven with her present, a grandmother with Alzheimers who is losing threads with the present and keeps remembering the past. There are some similarities between past and present that keep the story moving along.

While I really enjoyed the concept of this book, and most of the execution, there were some things that nagged at me by the time I had finished. The first was I felt like the book wasn't developed completely. Characters floated in and out of the novel without much explanation even though some of them did have impact. The other thing that really bothered me was that the book just ended. What happened after the war? What happened after the wedding for Marina?

I wish these bits had been developed a bit more because that would have made the book just that much better.

First Line: "This way, please."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Paranormal

Sookie Stackhouse is a waitress in small-town Louisiana with the unique ability of being able to read people's minds. Infact, she has trouble blocking out other's thoughts. When a vampire walks in to the bar, she knows right away and saves him from a couple trying to drain his blood to sell, putting him in her debt. Bill introduces himself and all Sookie hears is silence, she can't read his mind, which is a relief.

Sookie very quickly get sucked in (no pun intended) to the vampire world as she gets closer to Bill. However there's a murderer on the loose, killing women that have relationships with vampires and Sookie knows she could be on the hit list. Can the police catch the murderer before he gets to Sookie?

I actually picked this book up last year to read it but for some reason couldn't get in to it. This time I didn't have any problems, and found the book to be quite fun, though not as enjoyable as the Undead series by Mary Janice Davidson. About 75% of the way through the book I started getting a little tired of it and wished the story would move along a bit quicker. I'm going to try the next book in the series to see if I want to continue reading the entire series.

First Line: "I'd been waiting for a vampire for years when he walked into the bar."

Rating:
(4/5)

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Fiction/Literature

In 1974, New York City stops for a few minutes to watch a man cross between the World Trade Centre buildings on a tightrope. This novel picks up the threads of different characters that saw the man walk his tightrope and interweaves them all together in ways you wouldn't expect.

We meet Corrigan, an immigrant from Ireland who studies his religion closely, but is struggling between his religion and the woman he loves. Corrigan helps prostitutes that work near his home in the projects, including mother and daughter team Tillie and Jazzlyn. McCann also introduces us to the artist Lara and the grieving mother Claire who lost her son in the war. These characters all heard of or saw the man walking across the tightrope and after this, their lives start to weave together.

I hadn't read what this book was about before I started it because I was reading it for a book club. Because of this, it took me a while to figure out what the point of the novel was. Was it about the tightrope walker or about the characters McCann was narrating. Once I figured it out and settled in, I found parts of this book really interesting. I enjoyed reading about Corrigan and Tillie's stories. When it got to Claire and her husband though, I found them monotonous and had trouble getting through those parts. Due to this, I don't think I would recommend this book to others.

First Line: "Those who saw him hushed."

Rating:
(3.5/5)