Spring Reading Thing 2011...Done

It is done.  Finished.  Ended.  Spring Reading Thing 2011 is over.  With the first day of summer upon us, it is time to wrap up and see how we did on our spring reading goals this year.

This was a great spring read for me this year.  Between some really great books and a wetter spring allowing lots of evening reading time, I actually accomplished my Spring Reading Thing List and even went beyond adding a couple of review books and a book on my library list.  The biggest surprise was that I finished a total of 5, count them, 5, non-fiction books on my list plus added 1 for review for a total of 6 non-fictions and they were all read cover to cover.  That is definitely one for the record books.  That is, if anyone is keeping track of such things.

 As a review, here is my Spring Reading Thing list.
 The extra's were "To Be Perfectly Honest" by Phil Callaway, "The Bride's House" by Sandra Dallas,  and "When Sparrows Fall" by Meg Moseley.  Your can go here for reviews on all the books from my Spring Reading.  Just scroll down to #6 - 19.  (If you choose to comment on that site please mention the name(s) of the book you are commenting on within your comment.)

Did I have a favorite from my reads this spring?   The one that stuck out the most to me was definitely "The Kitchen Boy - A Novel of the Last Tsar" by Robert Alexander.   It was interesting and gripped me from beginning to end, was well researched to historical facts, had a believable fiction storyline, and had the surprise twist at the end that I love.  It was the perfect historical fiction novel.

So did I learn anything new this time around from the Spring Reading Thing?  Well I learned that branching out of my usual authors was quite fun.  I found quite a few new ones this time around.  And I also learned I am quite capable of finishing non-fiction from cover to cover and of finishing more than one a year.  And as usual one of my favorite parts about this challenge was reading everyone else's lists and finding new titles to add to want to read list.  Thanks again Katrina for hosting.

How did you do on your spring reading goals if you made them?

Book Review ~ Standing in the Rainbow

I can't believe it but it is true.  With just over two weeks left on the Spring Reading Thing challenge, I am done.  Every book on my list was read and not left off and there was even an extra one in there.  Non-fiction to boot.  Yay me.

 I finished up on a wonderful note with Fannie Flagg's "Standing in the Rainbow".  This was my first book by this author and I have to say I really enjoyed it.  Though I left it to the end because it seemed a bit daunting with it's number of pages, 496 to be exact, I seemed to fly right through it once I started.

Standing in the Rainbow is a story of the life stories of the folks in a small town in Missouri.  It starts in the 1940's and wraps up in the '90's.  The characters are richly written and varied.  From Dorothy who broadcasts a radio show from her own livingroom that touches people all the way into other states, to the gospel singing Oatman family, to Hamm Sparks the tractor salesman turned Governor to his wife Betty Raye who was an Oatman and just wanted a quiet settled life, to Tot, the hairdresser who turned people's hair purple and just couldn't get a break in life.

It's a very heartwarming read with moments touching every emotion.  You are drawn right into the members of this little town and become invested with their lives.  You rejoice with them, are sad for them, get angry with some of their circumstances and want to have a good chat with them when they make bad decisions.

In spite of all the varied lives and the details thereof, I never felt the book bogged down or got confusing, it moved at a really good pace, slowed down when needed and clipping right along when it had to.  Though there were parts in the story of certain characters that were decidedly not in keeping my own values, they were a part of the story and happens all the time in "real" life and the author did not gratuitously spend time getting into the physical details of it but rather the emotional aspect of it.  All in all, I loved the story and will read another Fannie Flagg book soon.

For all the reviews from my spring reading thing challenge you can go here and scroll through numbers 6 -16.

Book Review ~ Secrets

I cannot believe I only have one book left to finish on my Spring into Reading list.  This last weekend being very wet and rainy allowed lots of time for reading and I finished #10  out of my pile.

"Secrets" by Robin Jones Gunn  is book 1 in the Glenbrooke Series.   Jessica Morgan arrives in Glenbrooke, a small town to start her life over as a teacher in the high school.  But not only does she want to start fresh but she wants to run away from her old life and forget about it. Changing her identity had seemed like such a good idea but things start to catch up with her as she starts having to cover her tracks.  It seemed so simple when she didn't know the people of Glenbrooke, but as she gets to know them, she finds it harder and harder to be decietful especially when she catches the eye of the local paramedic who has secrets of his own.

This is my first book by this author and in most respects I really enjoyed it.  It was an easy read romance that was clean and heart warming.  The "secrets" intrigued me but when revealed weren't as huge as it was built up to be.  This was the author's first adult novel as she usually writes for a teen audience and in a few details I could sort of tell that, especially in the last sentence that ended the story.  The character of the new principle really mystified me as I felt her negative reactions to the main character, a new teacher in her school, very over the top and vicious.  I couldn't quite believe a new principle would be that unprofessional as laid out in the story and would direct vendettas at a member of their staff almost immediately upon meeting them when in my experience principles try very hard to build unity in their staff.  I thought her actions very immature, quite high school-ish,  and unworthy of her position.  Some of the reactions of the main character also surprised me considering her age was 25 in the story.  That said it was a good story line and a sweet romance.

Book Review ~ The Midwife of St. Petersburg

 Karena Peshkova is a young Russian landowner's daughter who dreams of following in her mother's footsteps and becoming a midwife and nurse.  Unfortunately, her admittance to medical school is being hindered by the fact that her family has Jewish roots.  

While visiting her cousin who moves in high society Russia, Karena meets a Colonel in the Russian army, who it is said might be her cousin's fiance in the near future.  But sparks fly, good and bad, between Karena and the Aleksnadr Kronstadt.  Leaving Kazan, Karena thinks she will never see the Colonel again, but as Russia moves into turbulent times, her family comes under investigation when her brother becomes involved with the Bolshevik uprising and Karena and her mother must flee the family farm.  As Alex faces his feelings for Karena he must risk his own military career in order to keep her safe and hopefully have a future with her.

This book started off a bit slow for me but really started to pick up once past the first chapter or so.  It was interesting that I picked this up soon after I read "The Kitchen Boy" (review #11) as it is written about the same time period.  This book was also rich in historical detail and while the Kitchen Boy dealt mostly with the Romanov families last days, this story filled in a few details of the uprising and turbulent time that brought the Tsar down.  

The fictional story was very interesting and the growing attraction between the main characters was sweet.  The tension from the events surrounding the uprising and how the family was dragged into it really kept this book a page turner for me.  However, there was many loose ends left at the end of the story.  It's like it was written with a part 2 in mind but no part 2 is there that I can find.  It's unfortunate, because I would have loved to have found out what happened to each character.  The author wrote the characters so well and I really became invested in them as the story went on.  In the end, I felt like I was left hanging with so many things left unresolved.  Still I really enjoyed the story though to me it was not a stand alone story left as it was.

For more of my reviews on The Spring Reading Thing and books I've read this year go here.