The Cottage at Glass Beach

Finished December 25
The Cottage at Glass Beach by Heather Barbieri

This novel is set on an island, Burke's Island, off the coast of Maine one summer. Nora Keane was born on the island, but left when she was a young child after her mother disappeared. Now the wife of the youngest attorney general in Massachusetts history, she is back to the island for the summer with her two daughters, taking refuge from the media onslaught back home after her husband's infidelity is uncovered.
Annie is seven, full of imagination and daring. Ella is twelve, sassy and already showing signs of coming teen rebellion. Nora finds herself full of grief, for her marriage, for her renewed sense of loss of her mother, and for all the time she missed with her aunt, who wrote the letter that brought her back home.
Nora's aunt Maire is the island midwife, a family tradition, and while living alone, tied tightly into island life. This is a life with a sense of the unknown, a life where generations have been tied to the sea for their livelihood. A community where legends aren't dismissed out of hand.
So, when a quiet fisherman washes ashore in an apparent shipwreck and Nora finds him, her aunt's suggestion that he is a selkie summoned by her tears doesn't seem that farfetched a possibility. And what did really happen to Nora's mother, did she leave of her own accord, or did something happen to her. As Nora gradually begins to figure out her own future, her daughters go on a dangerous adventure that will draw Nora's courage beyond what she imagined.
The selkie legend surfaces several times in this book, but never really releases its mystery. An interesting novel, but it didn't capture me entirely.

Call Me Mrs. Miracle

Finished December 24
Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber

This short novel is set in New York City near Christmas.
J.R. Finley runs a large department store and his son Jake is currently managing the toy department. Despite the advice from others, Jake has bought a large quantity of a toy that he believes will be the toy to have this Christmas. The toy is called Intellytron and is a programmable robot. J.R. is unhappy with Jake about this and makes is clear that this will be a test of Jake's skills.
The two men haven't celebrated Christmas personally in years, since the death of Jake's mother and younger sister in a car accident on Christmas Eve.
Jake finds a new seasonal salesperson in his department and isn't sure of her suitability. She is an older woman and her name tag reads Mrs. Miracle, although she says that that is a mistake and her name is really Emily Merkle. But Jake finds that she may be more helpful to sales than he expected.
Meanwhile Holly Larson is struggling as she tries to fulfill her work obligations to fashion designer Lindy Lee, and serve as temporary caregiver to her 8-year-old nephew Gabe. Gabe's mother died when he was a baby and his father Mickey is in the National Guard, called to serve in Afghanistan for the next 15 months, on leave from his normal job as a manager of a large grocery store.
Holly wants to make Gabe feel happy with her, and is determined to make this a good Christmas for him.
When Holly and Jake meet in a Starbucks line-up, a connection is made and Mrs. Miracle helps things along.
A feel good novel with real Christmas spirit.

Lona

Finished December 23
Lona: a fairy tale by Dare Wright

This book is a fairy tale told in photographs. The author is a model and photographer and she poses herself as the Princess Lona of the book's title.
In the story there are 3 kingdoms living in peace: Muirlan "of the green fields and quiet villages", Lasair "with its deep forests and clear streams", and Yarmailt "where the sun was never too hot and all the rains were gentle". On the edge of these kingdoms is a tower where the evil wizard Druth lives. Druth is always casting spells on the people of the kingdoms turning them into other creatures and such. But something happened when he was casting a spell in his youth and he cannot turn princesses into other creatures. This is something that he is enraged and obsessed about.
As the story begins, he has tried again to change two princesses and failed and irritated cast the three kingdoms under terrible spells, and taken one young princess to try on when she gets older, Lona. One young prince of the kingdoms, Rogan, has been exploring the world beyond and he tries to stop the wizard only to be changed into a creature himself. Despite this, Rogan goes to the princess and offers help, making treks to powers beyond to learn what he can about the wizard and how to defeat him.
The princess Lona is a determined young woman and puts the welfare of the kingdoms before her own life, doing whatever is necessary to achieve their release from the spells they are under.
I really enjoyed this story, and loved the photography illustrating the story.

European Reading Challenge 2014

I'm glad to see this challenge offered again, and will definitely be jumping in for 2014.

The gist: The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour. (See note about the UK, below)

What counts as "Europe"? For this challenge, we will use the list of 50 sovereign states that fall (at least partially) within the geographic territory of the continent of Europe and/or enjoy membership in international European organizations such as the Council of Europe. This list includes the obvious (the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy), the really huge Russia, the tiny Vatican City, and the mixed bag of Baltic, Balkan, and former Soviet states.

Note: Technically, the United Kingdom is one country that includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.  So one book from any one of these four should count as your one book for that one country. I'm not going to be a stickler about it because challenges should be about fun not about rules. However, when it comes to winning the Jet Setter prize, only one book from one of the UK countries will count.

Here is the list, in alphabetical order: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vatican City. 

LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION

Five Star (Deluxe Entourage): Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.

Four Star (Honeymooner): Read four qualifying books.

Three Star (Business Traveler): Read three qualifying books.

Two Star (Adventurer): Read two qualifying books.

One Star (Pensione Weekender): Read just one qualifying book.

JET SETTER PRIZE

The participant who reads and reviews the greatest number of qualifying books (more than five) will get a $25 gift card to Powell's Books (can be used in store or on line).  Participants living in Europe will get a $25-equivalent gift card to the Amazon store in your country, if possible. If you live in a country where neither Powell's nor Amazon will work, then sorry, you are out of luck.

Each book must be by a different author and set in a different country. This means that only one book from one of the four UK countries will count.  Only books reviewed count towards the prize.

OFFICIAL RULES

• Read all books between January 1, 2014 and January 31, 2015.  I like having 13 months so there is extra time to finish after the holidays.  However, if you participated in the 2013 European Reading Challenge, you can only count books read in January 2014 for one year -- either the end of the 2013 challenge or the start of the 2014 challenge -- you don't get to count one book for both challenges. 

I will be going for the Five Star level this year again, and trying to get some of those countries I haven't got before.

War Through The Generations 2014 Challenge

2014 War Challenge With a Twist

2014 is fast approaching. At War Through the Generations, they decided to mix things up a bit.

They will focus on 1 war for 2 months rather than a full or half year.

Every two months, they’ll post a new linky for a new war so everyone can share their review links.

In other words, read books from any of the listed wars during the entire year, then come back and post your reviews in the linky for the designated month.

Here’s the schedule:

• Jan./Feb.: Gulf Wars (Gulf War/Operation Desert Storm and Iraq War/Operation Iraqi Freedom)
• March/April: French and Indian War
• May/June: Korean War
• July/August: WWI (100th Anniversary)
• Sept./Oct.: WWII
• Nov./Dec.: Vietnam War

Level of Participation:

• Dip Your Toes: Read 1 book for any war
  
• Novice: Read 1 book per war throughout the year for a total of 6 books on 6 different wars
• Intermediate: Read 2+ books for 1 war, and 1 book for each of the others for a total of 7 books
• Expert: Read 2+ books for each war for a total of 12 books

I will be doing at least the Novice level for the year, but may do more for some of the wars. My plan for Jan/Feb will be for the Novice for sure as I will have to go searching for books for this group of wars. 

What's In a Name Challenge Wrap-Up Post

This one took me longer to finish that I expected. I had trouble with the "party or celebration" themed title, and nothing that fit came up in the normal course of my reading, so I finally had to go out looking for something.

What's In a Name Challenge (6th) for 2013

Challenge Home Page
My Signup Page Between January 1 and December 31, 2013, read one book in each of the following categories (The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category.):

1. A book with up or down (or equivalent) in the title: Deep down True, The Girl Below, The Diva Digs up the Dirt
   Book Read:  The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud
2. A book with something you'd find in your kitchen in the title: Loose Lips Sink Ships, The Knife of Never Letting Go, Breadcrumbs
   Book Read: A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova
3. A book with a party or celebration in the title: A Feast for Crows, A Wedding in Haiti, Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness
   Book Read: An Irish Country Wedding by Patrick Taylor
   
4. A book with fire (or equivalent) in the title: Burning for Revenge, Fireworks over Toccoa, Catching Fire
   Book Read: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wien
5. A book with an emotion in the title: Baltimore Blues, Say You're Sorry, Dreams of Joy
   Book Read: Love Saves the Day by Gwen Cooper
6. A book with lost or found (or equivalent) in the title: The Book of Lost Fragrances, The World We Found, A Discovery of Witches
   Book Read: Letters from the Lost: a memoir of discovery by Helen Waldstein Wilkes

This challenge usually gets spread out over the year as I identify books that fit. Other rules they have are:

• Books may be any form (audio, print, e-book).
• Books may overlap other challenges.
• Books may not overlap categories; you need a different book for each category.
• Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed but encouraged.
• You do not have to make a list of books before hand.
• You do not have to read through the categories in any particular order.

An Irish Country Wedding

Finished December 23
An Irish Country Wedding by Patrick Taylor

This book continues the series set around the Northern Ireland village of Ballybucklebo in County Down. As the book begins Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly is looking six weeks ahead to his wedding to Kitty O'Hallorhan. Dr. Barry Laverty gets reaquainted with a politically active schoolteacher. Their housekeeper, Kinky gets hospitalized by a sudden illness, and that makes her even more worried about her future. Young patient Colin survives broken bones and the necessary loss of a loved pet.
We get updates on several other of the village characters due to illnesses, recoveries, and other activities that the doctors get involved in for the sake of the patients they care for.
We also get to see Fingal's brother Lars and updated on his life.
And the book culminates with the wedding and a change to Barry's circumstances.
A feel-good book about village life, and the lives of the people who live there.

Longbourn

Finished December 22
Longbourn by Jo Baker

This novel retells the story of Pride and Prejudice from the servants viewpoint. In this case, the Longbourn servants include Sarah, a housemaid, who came to the family as an orphan from the poorhouse; Mr. and Mrs. Hill, the manservant and housekeeper, both of whom have been employed at the house since their youth; and Polly the younger housemaid. Polly's real name is Mary, but because one of the young Bennett daughters is Mary, she has to go by a different name, something she is much put out about. As the story begins, another man joins the household as a servant, taking on some of the more strenuous tasks from Mr. Hill who is aging. His name is James Smith, and his arrival causes Mrs. Hill some anxiety and Sarah some confused feelings. At nearly the same time, the Bingleys arrive bringing their servants, and the footman entrusted with many messages between the houses, Ptolemy, takes a shine to Sarah.
One certainly gets a different sense of the struggles in life from this viewpoint and it is interesting to see how the servants feel about the different members of the household. The Hills have been at the house since before Mr. Bennett married, and have seen the entire lives of all the Bennett daughters, with Mrs. Hill caring deeply for them. They receive handed-down clothing from the family, and are expected to work doing errands on whatever whim the family takes, despite the time of day or weather conditions.
This story also brings in the outside world more than the original novel, showing us a different take on living during the Napoleonic wars.
It was a very interesting and enjoyable read.

2014 Chunkster Challenge

Will try to do better on this one this year.

Wondering what’s a chunkster? A chunkster is an adult or YA book, non-fiction or fiction, that’s 450 pages or more. 

Rules for this challenge:

• Audio books and e-books are now allowed. You want to listen to a chunkster on audio? Be my guest. 
• Essay, short story, and poetry collections are allowed but they have to be read in their entirety to count.
• Books may crossover with other challenges.
• Anyone can join.
• You don’t have to list your book ahead of time.
• Graphic novels don’t count. Sorry guys but reading a chunkster graphic novel isn’t the same as reading a non-graphic chunkster.

There are no levels this year, but ebooks and audiobooks are allowed so I will try for 15 chunksters with at least 4 over 750 pages. 

What's in a Name Challenge 2014

Glad to see this one back again. Only 5 categories instead of six this year, so that will make it a bit easier. I'm already looking through my shelves for possibilities

The challenge runs from January to December. During this time you choose a book to read from each of the following categories (examples of books you could choose are in brackets):

• A reference to time (Eleven Minutes, Before Ever After)
• A position of royalty (The People’s Queen, The Last Empress, The Curse Of The Pharaoh)
• A number written in letters (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, A Tale Of Two Cities)
• A forename or names (Rebecca, Eleanor & Park, The Unfinished Work Of Elizabeth D.)
• A type or element of weather (Gone With The Wind, Red Earth Pouring Rain)

Remember the titles I’ve given here are only examples, you can by all means use them if you want to – some are classics after all – but it’s not necessary. There are plenty of other books that will fit the categories and you may have some in mind already or even some on your shelves you can read. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about whether there will be a sixth category – not this year. I realised too late after publishing the post that I hadn’t included a sixth, so as not to confuse everyone we’ll be sticking with five this time around.

Extra information

• Books can be any format (print, audio, ebook).
• It’s preferred that the books don’t overlap with other challenges, but not a requirement at all.
• Books cannot overlap categories (for instance my first example, Eleven Minutes, could be used for category 1 or 3 but not both).
• Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed, it’s encouraged!
• You don’t have to make your list of books beforehand, you can choose them as you go.
• You don’t have to read your chosen books in any particular order.