While I didn't finish up Little Women this week - I'm not quite ready to let this one go, I did start and finish Twilight of Avalon and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Twilight of Avalon is the first in a set of 3 that is a retelling of the Tristan and Isolde story. An interesting blending of Arthurian legend and the Tristan and Isolde legend. If you are looking for the love story, it's not really here (possibly it develops in books 2 and 3, but I haven't read those yet). Instead, it's more about the politics of the day with the multiple petty chieftans jostling each other for power, and Isolde's place in that world where she is a healer/herbalist, and is suspected of being a witch as well. The story begins with the death of her husband, and the meeting of the tribal leaders to choose the next king. Filled with a lot of grit and violence (which is a lot closer to the reality than folks drifting around in lovely clean-smelling tunics and declaring unending passion for each other, I'd suspect). Isolde is really not much more than a pawn in this story, although a woman with backbone and inner strength who is willing to sacrifice a great many things for the good of the kingdom as she sees it.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is the story of a murder and the subsequent trial of the new-money Savannahian antiques dealer that was made into a movie with Kevin Spacey and John Cusack a number of years ago. (I haven't seen the movie, FWIW.) The story line is mostly about a drawn-out murder trial, but the interesting and engaging part of the book is how the local personalities and characters are brought to life. I enjoyed it.... might even pick up another of the author's books at some point when I'm in the mood for this sort of thing.
Next up, I think I'll start My Name Is Mary Sutter. That'll leave me with 9 books to finish for the year!
WEEKS & TOPICS
Twilight of Avalon is the first in a set of 3 that is a retelling of the Tristan and Isolde story. An interesting blending of Arthurian legend and the Tristan and Isolde legend. If you are looking for the love story, it's not really here (possibly it develops in books 2 and 3, but I haven't read those yet). Instead, it's more about the politics of the day with the multiple petty chieftans jostling each other for power, and Isolde's place in that world where she is a healer/herbalist, and is suspected of being a witch as well. The story begins with the death of her husband, and the meeting of the tribal leaders to choose the next king. Filled with a lot of grit and violence (which is a lot closer to the reality than folks drifting around in lovely clean-smelling tunics and declaring unending passion for each other, I'd suspect). Isolde is really not much more than a pawn in this story, although a woman with backbone and inner strength who is willing to sacrifice a great many things for the good of the kingdom as she sees it.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is the story of a murder and the subsequent trial of the new-money Savannahian antiques dealer that was made into a movie with Kevin Spacey and John Cusack a number of years ago. (I haven't seen the movie, FWIW.) The story line is mostly about a drawn-out murder trial, but the interesting and engaging part of the book is how the local personalities and characters are brought to life. I enjoyed it.... might even pick up another of the author's books at some point when I'm in the mood for this sort of thing.
Next up, I think I'll start My Name Is Mary Sutter. That'll leave me with 9 books to finish for the year!
WEEKS & TOPICS
1. a book with more than 500 pages: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth. FINISHED.
2. a romance: Katherine by Anya Seton. FINISHED
4. a book published this year: The House of Hawthorne by Erika Robuck. FINISHED.
5. a book with a number in the title: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. FINISHED.
6. a book written by someone under 30: Eragon by Christopher Paolini. FINISHED.
7. a book with nonhuman characters: The Greyfriar by Susan Griffith. FINISHED.
8. a funny book: Bossypants by Tina Fey. FINISHED.
9. a book by a female author: Fever 1793 by Laurie Anderson. FINISHED.
10. a mystery or thriller: Séance in Sepia by Michelle Black. FINISHED.
12. a book of short stories: Tapping the Dream Tree by Charles deLint. FINISHED.
13. a book set in a different country: The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak. FINISHED.
14. a nonfiction book: The Fossil Hunter by Shelley Emling. FINISHED.
15. a popular author's first book: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. FINISHED.
16. a book from your favorite author that you haven't read yet: Forests of the Heart by Charles deLint. FINISHED.
17. a book a friend recommended: Botelo by Alyson Hagy. FINISHED.
18. a Pulitzer-prize winning book: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. FINISHED.
19. a book based on a true story: The Wild Princess by Mary Hart Perry. FINISHED.
20. a book at the bottom of your to read list: Before I Go To Sleep by S.J Watson. FINISHED.
21. a book your mom or dad loves: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. FINISHED.
22. a book that scares you: The Blackhouse by Peter May. FINISHED.
23. a book more than 100 years old: Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. FINISHED.
24. a book based entirely on its cover: Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliot. FINISHED.
25. a book you were supposed to read in school but didn't: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. FINISHED.
26. a memoir: Two Rings by Millie Werber and Eve Keller
27. a book you can finish in a day: India Black by Carol Karr. FINISHED.
28. a book with antonyms in the title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. FINISHED.
29. a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit: Iceland by Betsy Tobin. FINISHED.
30. a book that came out the year you were born: Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser.
31. a book with bad reviews: Moon People?
32. a trilogy (the first): Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clarke. FINISHED.
33. a trilogy (the second) Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clarke. FINISHED.
34. a trilogy (the third) Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clarke. FINISHED.
35. a book from your childhood: Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. FINISHED.
36. a book with a love triangle: Muse by Mary Novak.
37. a book set in the future: Cinder by Marissa Meyer.
38. a book set in high school: The Small Rain by Madeline L’Engle. FINISHED.
39. a book with a color in the title: Scarlet by A.C Gaughen. FINISHED.
40. a book that made/makes you cry: Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott.
41. a book with magic: Grave Witch by Kalayna Price. FINISHED.
42. a graphic novel: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.
43. a book by an author you've never read before: My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira.
44. a book you own but have never read: The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro. FINISHED.
45. a book that takes place in your hometown: Magic America by C.E. Medford. FINISHED.
46. a book that was originally written in another language: Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende. FINISHED.
47. a book set during Christmas (or similar holiday): A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas.
48. a book written by an author with your same initials: Silver Lies by Ann Parker. FINISHED.
49. a play
50. a banned book: Beloved by Toni Morrison.
51. a book based on OR turned into a tv show: Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs. FINISHED.
52. a book you started but never finished: The Tudor Rose by Margaret Campbell Barnes. FINISHED.
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