Katie

Heather R reviewed a book.

“With the life of Abraham Lincoln being one of the most written about presidential biographies, I was surprised to learn about the “Baltimore Plot” to murder the president before he could be inaugurated. In Lincoln by David Herbert Donald there were a few lines of mention about this plot, but that...”

“With the life of Abraham Lincoln being one of the most written about presidential biographies, I was surprised to learn about the “Baltimore Plot” to murder the president before he could be inaugurated. In Lincoln by David Herbert Donald there were a few lines of mention about this plot, but that was it. This book details the whole story, from the lead up, to the plot action, to the resolution.

Besides enlightening the reader to this little known, but very important, aspect of Civil War history we learn about the growth of the railroads and the evolution of the private investigation business. I was fascinated by the story of Allan Pinkerton. I had heard of him with regard to “the Pinkertons” as strike breakers – but interestingly enough, that wasn’t Allan Pinkerton, but relatives after he was deceased. I loved hearing how he came to the United States, built himself up, and created his private detection agency.

This was a fast paced narrative and not boring in the slightest. I appreciated the look at a new angle of Lincoln’s story.

The narration was well done and engaging. The narration kept the plot moving. Otherwise, the audio production was a standard production.
”

Heather R is now reading a book.

Heather R rated a book.

• Rated 4 stars

uplandpoet is now following Laura Jaworski.

Heather R reviewed a book.

“I was drawn to this book the moment I heard it was about Mary Mallon, or Typhoid Mary. I didn’t know much about the woman at all, but from the propaganda I had heard about her, I was sure that she was getting something of a bad rap. I hoped that Keane would bring us a version of what Mallon might...”

“I was drawn to this book the moment I heard it was about Mary Mallon, or Typhoid Mary. I didn’t know much about the woman at all, but from the propaganda I had heard about her, I was sure that she was getting something of a bad rap. I hoped that Keane would bring us a version of what Mallon might have been like as a real person – and that is exactly what we get from this book. Mary Mallon is presented to the reader as a woman who doesn’t understand the medical significance of being a healthy carrier and just wants to be able to live a regular life. She feels persecuted, hunted, treated unfairly, but isn’t the evil, intentional disease spreading devil that she was presented as by the media. She is such a believable character as it is easy to imagine that many people wouldn’t understand how someone could be a healthy carrier who spreads disease in her path.

Mary and her cohorts show us what it was like to be of the working class in New York City around the turn of the century. We see the dirty underbelly of the city and what those conditions led to: disease epidemics, the Triangle Fire, etc. These were some interesting scenes. I really, morosely, appreciated the first-person view of the Triangle Fire disaster. This has always been a topic of interest for me and I would love to know if this is something that Mary Mallon actually witnessed.

Keane does a great job of setting up the scenery for us – whether it is North Brother Island, New York City, or the backwoods of Minnesota. She has a way of showing much more than telling. These are vivid scenes which make the events seem all the more real.

I would have loved to have had a historical note included in the book. As there is so much information about Mary that has been tainted by propaganda and what is actually known about her is somewhat sparse, I would have loved to know what was real and what was the author’s imagination. I had the chance to listen to a book talk with the author last week and will be including some of what I found out in a post later this week.

The narration here was so wonderfully done. The narrator fit well into the role of Mary Mallon as she had an Irish accent that brought her even more to life. She also had a great pace to her reading and kept the plot interesting and moving.”

uplandpoet is now following purpleGrape.

Heather R added a book. (see 3 more books added to shelf)

Heather R rated a book.

• Rated 4 stars

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Heather R added a book.

Heather R reviewed a book.

“This was a difficult read for me despite the shorter format – primarily due to issues I had with the characterization. Honestly, I didn’t like, and couldn’t connect with, any of the characters. They were either the paragon of virtue, just plain evil, or a love sick puppy – seemingly the extremes...”

“This was a difficult read for me despite the shorter format – primarily due to issues I had with the characterization. Honestly, I didn’t like, and couldn’t connect with, any of the characters. They were either the paragon of virtue, just plain evil, or a love sick puppy – seemingly the extremes but nothing in the middle. The only characters we really learned the backstory of were Ilyse and her brother, Maurice. I wanted to know more about the villain, Rakmanovich, and the love interest, Ian. I just couldn’t like them enough to really care what happened in the end. I also couldn’t get into the love story – everything happened in a matter of seconds (or sentences) and was just too quick to develop.

However, despite the above, there were things that I did like about the book. There was decent pacing to the plot. The first half focuses on Ilyse and how she came to be where she is at the present time, while the second half focuses on what was going to be done to deal with the antagonist and his dastardly plot. It did pick up the pace and ended with a more satisfying conclusion than I expected.”

Heather R reviewed a book.

“This book might not have originally caught my attention except for the fact that I recognized the horse’s name from my visit to Montpelier last year and the visit left such a lasting impression on me that I immediately had to read this book that was connected to it. I loved horses as a kid, did...”

“This book might not have originally caught my attention except for the fact that I recognized the horse’s name from my visit to Montpelier last year and the visit left such a lasting impression on me that I immediately had to read this book that was connected to it. I loved horses as a kid, did some riding in my teen years, and before my love of historical fiction came my love for horse-themed novels. This book takes the whole horse experience that I loved to read about as a kid and made the people and animals real.

The narrative starts out with three distinct threads – one following Marion DuPont (horse lover, owner, socialite), one following the Hobbs men (the father Reginald and son Bruce who were horse trainers and jockeys respectively), and one following an unknown, Battleship (the horse at the center of the book). Through these threads you can watch the perfect storm come together as these three eventually are brought to each other and reach for the stars. You get a little bit of everything: the life of a wealth socialite in the early 1900’s, a little Hollywood glitz and glamour, and are immersed in everything horse related. Even with my knowledge about horses, I did look up quite a few things.

For the most part I think that the author did a good job of carrying off two very different types of stories – a story of both human and animal lives – and each was just as interesting as the other. I did find some strange elements – for instance, somehow the author brings references to Charles Lindberg into the story but I didn’t find that there was any purpose to it. I also thought that the ending wrapped up much too quickly following the competition at Aintree. It was one of those plot maps with a very long exposition, quick climax, and then even faster resolution. I would have liked to know a little more how they spent their days following the competition.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has a love for horses and also loves the story of an underdog. Stay tuned for some Battleship related posts later this week, including a story relating my personal connection to this book and a particular passage from it that grabbed me.”

Heather R reviewed a book.

“Being someone that isn’t very religious, I find I am still drawn to the stories from the Bible. That being said, I typically prefer my stories to be from the Old Testament. However, this story of Judas – the perpetual antagonist in any New Testament story of Jesus gets a new treatment by Tosca...”

“Being someone that isn’t very religious, I find I am still drawn to the stories from the Bible. That being said, I typically prefer my stories to be from the Old Testament. However, this story of Judas – the perpetual antagonist in any New Testament story of Jesus gets a new treatment by Tosca Lee and that drew me into this novel.

Iscariot follows Judas from his youth to his death and fills in many of the gaps in his life left by the Bible. We learn about what his life might have been like leading up to meeting Jesus and get some insight into why he might have made some of the choices he did throughout his life. Lee’s Judas isn’t a perfect character – he is still flawed but you get into his mind and soul and see how he might have viewed the events that were transpiring around him. While reading the novel I found myself discussing it with my fiancé who knows more of the Biblical stories than I do, and it appears that Lee did follow many of the events of the Bible while enhancing the background.

One of the aspects that I really appreciated about this book was the fact that the author was able to bring the belief of Jesus as the savior into a real world setting. For me, the events of the Bible always seem sort of suspended above reality and I felt very connected with the world that Lee created and could more easily believe all of the drama that ensued. The story really sucked me in and there was something interesting and engaging at every turn.

I think that this is a book that any historical or Biblical fiction fan would enjoy. There is enough consistency with the Biblical stories but also enough fiction to create an interesting yarn. The ending certainly surprised me, but that was because I didn’t know the Biblical story.

The narration for this book was excellent. I enjoyed the voice of the narrator and it was easy to listen to and not at all dry or monotonous. I could actually believe that he was voicing Judas.”

Heather R rated a book.

• Rated 3 stars

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Heather R now owns a book. (see 4 more books added to shelf)

Heather R rated a book.

• Rated 3 stars

Heather R rated a book.

• Rated 4 stars