It's Monday,what are you reading? Sanctuary Line

Book Description from Amazon.ca

Release Date: May 1 2012

A highly acclaimed national bestseller, Sanctuary Line is a riveting story of family legacies, love, betrayal and loss by award-winning author, Jane Urquhart.

Set in the present day on a farm at the shores of Lake Erie, Jane Urquhart's stunning new novel weaves elements from the nineteenth-century past, in Ireland and Ontario, into a gradually unfolding contemporary story of events in the lives of the members of one family that come to alter their futures irrevocably. There are ancestral lighthouse-keepers, seasonal Mexican workers; the migratory patterns and survival techniques of the Monarch butterfly; the tragedy of a young woman's death during a tour of duty in Afghanistan; three very different but equally powerful love stories. Jane Urquhart brings to vivid life the things of the past that make us who we are, and reveals the sometimes difficult path to understanding and forgiveness.

my thoughts:

Why I read this book? as   many of you may have presumed, I enjoy historical fiction.  In my effort to read at least 10% Canadian authors, I chose to read this book based on the conversations by the author and our news anchor on November 11, 2013 during the Rememberance Day celebration.

They went on and on, on the topic of repatriation of our fallen soldiers from Afghanistan and the Highway of Heroes, since I've always felt interested in this spontaneous phenomenon, I thought I'd give this novel a try, thinking I'd gain some special insight.  FORGET IT! it wasn't until page 165 this was briefly mentioned and I got NOTHIN' out of that.  This was singularly the most boring book I have ever read, the ending was predictable, the story line not exciting at all, yet there were elements that could have been.  I want to march in protest, on the over pass of the Highway of Heroes, she did not do it justice at all. 

I'm ever so glad I didn't buy this book. I loaned it from our library.  It will be some time if ever  that I read this author at again. 

  This is a weekly meme run by Book Journey!

It's Monday what are you reading...

Sheila at Book Journey hosts this weekly event where we celebrate what we are reading for the week as well as books completed the previous week.

Although I got a nice little delivery last week, I didn't receive any books this week.  I'm trying to clear up my stack of books from the library.

Up next is The Welsh Girl:

Summary

Set in the stunning landscape of North Wales just after D-Day, Peter Ho Davies's profoundly moving first novel traces the intersection of disparate lives in wartime. When a POW camp is established near her village, seventeen-year-old barmaid Esther Evans finds herself strangely drawn to the camp and its forlorn captives. She is exploring the camp boundary when the astonishing occurs: Karsten, a young German corporal, calls out to her from behind the fence. From that moment on, the two foster a secret relationship that will ultimately put them both at risk. Meanwhile, another foreigner, the German-Jewish interrogator Rotherham, travels to Wales to investigate Britain's most notorious Nazi prisoner, Rudolf Hess. In this richly drawn and thought-provoking work, all will come to question where they belong and where their loyalties lie. (from library description)

I just finished reading Once, Morris Gleitzman.  This is a short YA novel, written from the point of view of a young boy, who apparently has no clue that there is a war on.  His parents have placed him in a Catholic orphanage to hide him from the Nazi's.  One day he gets a whole carrot in his soup, this is very unusual, and he takes this as a sign that he is to search out and find his parents.  As he sets out to do so, he encounters the war elements and is soon engaged in survival tactics.

my thoughts:  I enjoyed this short novel.  Perhaps enjoyed is the wrong word, but I suppose we never think of how young children view the horrors they witnessed and how did this affect them.  I am always amazed at the strength that comes forth in these difficult times.  I'm also always amazed at how uncivilized some behavior becomes in difficult times.  Fighting for survival is ugly, no two ways about it. I saw the review for this book on one of the book blogs, and thought I'd give it a try.  When my mom and I visited Poland we walked through the area known as the Warsaw Ghetto, it's hard to believe such things existed, but they did. 

Sunday Salon...

Sunday Salon finds me feeling like crap.  I've gotten this cold back again, and can't seem to shake it.  I ache, and blow my nose most of the day and night. I sound like I'm going to cough up a lung. 

It's a beautiful day here in Ontario, and I'm going to catch my breath and get out there.  I'd love to cut my hydrangeas for a door wreath, but last time I did that my plant didn't bloom for several years.  We are at the end of September, when did that happen?  

The books I enjoyed this week were Chains, and I'm presently reading Once.  Once is a short little book, written from the perspective of a Jewish child in Poland.  I'm about half way through and with coughing and such, am having a difficult time reading, but maybe today.  

I'm getting old.  On Tuesday I returned to my furniture refinishing class and I have a locker there, can't remember the combination, isn't that silly.  I had it written down someplace if I could only remember where?  I'll be chopping off that lock, and getting another. 

My companion in the "sick room" is looking out and keeping the birds in check.  He's such a sissy, the birds could have their way with him any day of the week.
Have a good week, I'm going to try.

P.S. I've been down and out for about 3 days now, and never in my married life have I sat/layed around not worrying about "stuff", it's a wonderful feeling.

Chains, a readalong,... week one

Today is week 1 of our group read-a-long of Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson.  This week we read chapters 1-10, Here are a few questions to get us talkin'.  Thanks to War Through the Generations for hosting.

1.  What are your first impressions of the book so far?
 I don't know why, but when a book opens with a death, it always piques my interest, I'm morbid that way.  I like Isabel, and I'm curious about Ruth.  I do however think that their situation is all too common in that day and time. I'm not sure Curzon would have approached Isabel so soon, wouldn't they be a little more cautious, although,  since they , slaves are not considered people/?  I like the feeling that the battle is about to begin, I'm morbid that way.

2.  When we meet Isabel after the death of her owner, why do you think she turns to the tales of ghosts to guide her?

I think ghost stories were very much the norm, I can remember my mom telling us stuff like that, so I do think Isabel turning to her ghost mom for guidance is very typical of the time.  Superstition is a big thing in some cultures,  not to mention that the girl is in desperate need of an adult to help her.  She's grasping at the only thing she knows how to do.

3. Once under the control of the Locktons, do you think Isabel has the ability to protect herself and her sister? Just herself? Just her sister? or Neither?
Quite the contrary, I think Isabel has no hope of protecting herself and her sister.  She is literally at their mercy.

4. Do you think Isabel does the right thing by seeking out Curzon with information about the Locktons, or do you think it makes more sense for her to take Becky’s approach and stay loyal to the Locktons, no matter her opinion on the war, in order to keep her and Ruth safe?

I have to admit, I admire her bravery, but think it's a dangerous thing for a slave to defy their masters, they could beat her, kill her and Ruth without even having to explain themselves, should they find out.I'm for a safe existence, much like Becky. I'm enjoying this book so far, and I'm not sure I can drag out reading it for a month. 

It's not too late to join in, the chapters are short. 

Here is the Reading Schedule, Discussion on Fridays:
Sept. 1-6: Chapters 1-10
Sept. 7-13: Chapters 11-24 (end Part 1)
Sept. 14-20: Chapters 25-36
Sept. 21-27: Chapters 37-45 (the end)

It's Monday What are You Reading?

It's Monday What Are You Reading?

It is Monday indeed, I've just finished reading Finding Nouf

I enjoyed this book, maybe not so much for the mystery, but for all the stuff I learned about Muslim women.  The story takes place in Saudi, in the midst of a wealthy family.  A young woman is gone missing, and later found dead.  The informal investigation that ensues is the storyline, but, in the process we are plunged into a world that is certainly unknown to me. I had to laugh a bit, since my one sister is reading a series set in Amish country, and I'm in Saudi.  Interesting and informative for certain.  I like a murder mystery that teaches me something.  Not a very long read, and certainly entertaining, if murder can be entertaining. 

Up Next:  The First Grave on the Right,  Darynda Jones.


Nothing in my mailbox this week.

Happy Reading. It's Monday... is hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. 

Sunday Salon... a daffy kind of week

Sunday Salon finds me still fighting this bug, I'm very tired, I don't have time to be tired.  However... All those bulbs I planted and only two daffys to show for my trouble, the tulips are still struggling to push through the snow, yes snow.  It's been cold and hot and wet and cold again this past few days, and yesterday snow flurries. I only ventured outside to take this picture because it was so windy, I figured they'd blow away. 

I spent way too much time in front of CNN this week, as I imagine most of us did, such sadness and senseless violence, so many lives changed forever.  No books in my mailbox this week, so I'll be hitting my own shelves.  Presently I'm reading "the best man".  It's o.k. so far.  I think I needed something like this right now.  Reading has not been easy this week, I don't know what it is but, when I'm not feeling well, reading just doesn't happen.  So I sorted buttons, and embroidery ribbon.  Of course now I'm itching to do some embroidery.  I've got a wack of laundry to catch up on and my painting schedule is way out of order, but this too shall pass.  Hope this Sunday Salon finds you well and enjoying whatever weather your part of the world is offering.