New blog address...

So I took the plunge and moved from my Blogspot address to my new location of www.shhhimreading.com. From what Blogger says, the transition for my followers should be automatic. I am working on updating my bookmarks and feeds over the next couple of days, but if you come across a link or feed that isn't working, please let me know.

The Four Month Challenge, Part 2

Just one more for now...

This one is hosted by Virginie Says...The challenge will begin on November 1, 2009 and will end on February 28, 2010. Each book you read can only be used for one category. You can ‘read’ up to ‘2′ audiobooks if you choose, but you don’t have to. You can read books you are also reading for other challenges. Here are the categories:

5 Point Challenges
Read a book with a proper name in the title
Read a book about a queen or king
Read a book by or about/related to a Bronte
Read a book about Vampires
Read a book by V.C. Andrews

10 Point Challenges
Read a book by Canadian author
Read a book by or about/related to Charles Dickens
Read a book set in France
Read a book by Georgette Heyer
Read an ‘art’ themed book.

15 Point Challenges
Read a book with a Civil War theme (any country)
Read a book with characters inspired by King Arthur or about King Arthur/Camelot
Read a biography/autobiography
Read a book related to or something by Shakespeare
Read a book by an author born in November, December, January or February

20 Point Challenges
Read a book with a wintery theme (Christmas, snow, ice, freezing, star, camel, mistletoe, etc.) - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (review coming soon)
Read a book that was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Read a book that begins with A and one that begins with Z
Read a book from The Modern Library Top 100
Read a book and then write a review - The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis (review coming soon)

Review: The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

Book Info:
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Paperback: 672 pages
Publisher: Touchstone; (January 22, 2008)
ISBN-13: 9781416560609

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: My Shelves

Rating: 4/5

Two sisters competing for the greatest prize: the love of a king

When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family?s ambitious plots as the king?s interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.

For some reason, I seem to collect a lot of historical fiction, mostly based on other people's recommendations, but I rarely get around to reading these books. This year I used a couple of my challenges to help get some of these HF books off my shelves. While I may be one of the last people to actually read The Other Boleyn Girl, I am happy to be able to finally mark it off my list.

Anne comes across as devious and self-centered, but as you see her through her sister's eyes it softens her a little. I also found the relationship between the Boleyn siblings very interesting. Their closeness seemed to be a great comfort to them, but that didn't seem to be with out consequence either.

I haven't read any HF from this time period, but can see why so many people get sucked in and read everything they can about these people. Seeing the same events from another perspective can change everything. I can't speak to the historical accuracy of The Other Boleyn Girl, but I was drawn into the story and will be seeking out more books set during this time period. 4 stars

Booking Through Thursday...It's All About Me

Which do you prefer? Biographies written about someone? Or Autobiographies written by the actual person (and/or ghost-writer)?

I read a lot of non-fiction, and I don't think I've ever read a biography. For some reason I tend to think of these as the celebrity tell all books, and I usually try to stay away from that kind of sensationalism.

Autobiographies work the best for me because I'd much prefer to hear the story directly from the source. In this type of story you get the feelings along with the events, and that makes the story much more complete.

Review: Let Me Go by Helga Schneider

Book Info:

Let Me Go by Helga Schneider

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Penguin (August 30, 2005)
ISBN-10: 0143035177

Genre: Nonfiction

Source: Library, Audio

Rating: 4.5/5

In 1941, in Berlin, Helga Schneider’s mother abandoned her along with her father and younger brother. Let Me Go recounts Helga’s final meeting with her ailing mother in a Vienna nursing home some sixty years after World War II, in which Helga confronts a nightmare: her mother’s lack of repentance about her past as a Nazi SS guard at concentration camps, including Auschwitz, where she was responsible for untold acts of torture. With spellbinding detail, Schneider recalls their conversation, evoking her own struggle between a daughter’s sense of obligation and the inescapable horror of her mother’s deeds.

I was recently browsing the library's audio downloads when this one caught my eye. I needed another book for my WWII challenge and I liked that Let Me Go looked like a quick listen at only 5 disks. Since the weather has turned cold and I'm not walking to work my audio listening has suffered and I find shorter books work a little better. What I didn't expect was the emotional impact those 5 disks carried...

Let Me Go is a snapshot of a story. There is a little background included in the form of flashbacks and stories, but the bulk of the story is one conversation. This may seem a little incomplete to some, but I thought the format worked well. Schneider didn't have much knowledge of her mother beyond this conversation and I liked that the reader/listener didn't know more than she did.

The narrator of this book, Barbara Rosenblat, is amazing. She inflects so much emotion into the book that I often found myself with goosebumps. When she reads the mother's words it varies between and old woman's confusion and petulance to unashamed cruelty. While Let Me Go is a fascinating story of an insider's experience in the concentration camps, it is worth listening to for the wonderful narration alone. 4.5 stars

Review: A Dog Year by Jon Katz

Book Info:
A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me by Jon Katz
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Random House (May 6, 2003)
ISBN-13: 9780812966909
Genre: Non-Fiction, Pets
Source: My Shelves
Rating: 4/5

In his popular and widely praised Running to the Mountain, Jon Katz wrote of the strength and support he found in the massive forms of his two yellow Labrador retrievers, Julius and Stanley. When the Labs were six and seven, a breeder who’d read his book contacted Katz to say she had a dog that was meant for him—a two-year-old border collie named Devon, well bred but high-strung and homeless. Katz already had a full canine complement—but, as he writes, “Change loves me. . . . It comes in all forms. . . . Sometimes, change comes on four legs.” Shortly thereafter he brought Devon home. A Dog Year shows how a man discovered much about himself through one dog (and then another), whose temperament seemed as different from his own as day from night. It is a story of trust and understanding, of life and death, of continuity and change. It is by turns insightful, hilarious, and deeply moving.

If you've ever loved a dog this book will speak to you. If you've loved a Border Collie, or another working breed, you will completely understand this book in a way that others may not. It seems most dog owners can tell you stories of their dogs escapades and bad behavior, but Border Collie's can be in a world of their own.

Katz's writing is wonderful. I felt as if we were friends sharing stories about our dogs and the joys and challenges they bring. Katz doesn't hesitate to tell the stories as they happened, which doesn't always put him in the best light, but the stories always ring true.

This is the first book of Katz's that I've read, but it won't be the last. His stories aren't all sunshine and roses, but they are the truth about having and loving a dog. I would recommend his books to dog lovers even if you don't normally read non-fiction. 4 stars

Booking Through Thursday...Blurb

Suggested by Jennysbooks:

Something I’ve been thinking about lately: “What words/phrases in a blurb make a book irresistible? What words/phrases will make you put the book back down immediately?”

I usually don't read book blurbs, and if I do, I skim them just enough to see if anything about the book looks interesting. I prefer to know as little as possible about a book before reading it. This way, I don't have any preconceived ideas or expectations about the book.

So, to actually answer the question, I don't think there is a specific word or phrase that catches my eye. If I am browsing a store for a book, a stunning cover is much more likely to catch my eye.

On the other hand, if a description includes any words hinting at a bodice ripper, it goes back right away. I don't mind a little romance or sex in the books I read, but I don't want that to be the focus. The good thing is, you can usually stay away from these books by the cover alone!