Friday, May 21, 2010

Summer Reading Begins Again!

It's time for the Summer Reading Program at my library which means two months of promoting reading to kids.  Who could ask for a more fun job?  This means that I will be staffing the SRP desk an hour a day, so I'm back to my challenge of reading all the Caldecott books.  So far just this week, I have read about 10, (there are 72 in all) so I think I will be able to complete my challenge by the end of July.  Yeah! 

Other than that, I have a busy couple of weeks of reading ahead of me.  I have three books to read and review for Historical Novels Society by June 15th.  Next week is our staff book discussion on Literary Fiction.  I am going to try and read The Stranger by Albert Camus and Beloved by Toni Morrison for the discussion.  Hopefully I will have time.  I had 14 holds come in for me all at the same time, so I have quite a pile to wade through! 

L is for Loving Frank

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

Loving Frank is the debut novel from former journalist Nancy Horan

This beautifully written piece of historical fiction chronicles the little known love story of architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. Wright and Cheney met when she and her husband hired Wright to design their Oak Park, Illinois residence. Their first meeting rapidly turned into an affair that filled the headlines. Mamah, an intellectual and highly educated woman, struggles with her emotions as she is torn between her relationship with Wright, whom she considers the love of her life, and the children she leaves behind with her husband. The book is full of detail of early twentieth century America and portrays a woman who is ahead of her time, often constrained by early modern American society’s views of women. Readers are sure to remember the climactic ending long after the book is closed.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

K is for Knight of Desire

Knight of Desire by Margaret Mallory

I really enjoyed this first novel in a planned series.  I'll read the others when they become available.  Here is a review I wrote of this novel that appeared in Historical Novels Review:
Knight of Desire, the first novel of a planned series entitled All the King’s Men, is set in England and Wales in 1405. Lady Catherine is left widowed after her traitorous husband, Rayburn, joined the rebel forces against their king, Henry IV. Rayburn’s lands were granted to William FitzAlan, a knight who fought bravely and loyally on the side of the king. When William rides to Ross Castle to claim his reward, which includes Lady Catherine, he is surprised and impressed by her headstrong attitude. Catherine is given the choice to either marry William or go to the Tower. The pair marry within the hour. The rocky beginning to their relationship is caused by the great deal of mistrust that exists between them. William is wary of Catherine because she spied for the king and betrayed her own husband. Catherine cannot fully give her heart to William because of the horrible abuse she met at the hand of Rayburn. Slowly the two learn to trust each other, though each time they move forward in their relationship, an incident happens to set them back again. Knight of Desire is a satisfying love story full of emotion with a bit of danger and plenty of passionate love scenes. An entertaining and satisfying read.