Love Finds You in Wildrose, North Dakota

Title: Love Finds You in Wildrose, North Dakota
Author: Tracey Bateman

Love Finds You in Wildrose, North Dakota is a good, clean, christian romance novel. It is/was also a freebie for the Nook which is why I picked it up. I am kind of in a mood for stories set in the Midwest/American Frontier right now. Normally I wouldn't post a review for a romance book in this blog but since this is a clean romance (no naughty parts~) I'm fine posting this review here.

The book starts off with Rosemary traveling to North Dakota to move in with her twin sister and her twin sister's husband. Their father had just passed away and Rosemary had no where else to go.

This started off fine but then just went downhill as the story continued. Rosemary became a complete Mary Sue.

Also, the love between her and Finn seemed a little rushed at the end. They get married because of some legal issues over the land Rosemary brought but I never felt like the issues between them were resolved before or after the marriage. Rosemary didn't want to marry Finn because she did not want to be a replacement for her dead sister and we are told that Finn doesn't think of Rosemary in that way but he never really convinced Rosemary of it. I also found it weird that the whole town right away wanted Finn and Rosemary to get married. His wife and her sister just died but omg they need to get married right now! Because it is like the proper thing to do!!!

One thing I liked about this book is that it made me want to move out west and  herd sheep! Wait... that's not right.

The setting of the story was very nice. I feel like the author did a good amount of research before writing the story. At the end of the book she does mention that she took some liberties with the setting and time period and gives her reasons why.

This book was not really for me though.I don't like the whole sibling marrying her dead sibling's husband. At least the two main characters had reservations about getting married too but I feel like it still was not resolved. I never really felt that Finn had moved pass just seeing Rosemary as a separate person and Rosemary never got over the fear that she was just a replacement.

Rating: 2 1/2 Cafe Lattes out of 5

At the Foot of the Lighthouse Review

At the Foot of the Lighthouse is a short story that can be found for free at Tor.com. Even though it is free it is defiantly a story worth reading.

The story takes place during World War II at a time when the United States was at war with Japan which lead to internment camps in the USA to be made. The main character in At the Foot of the Lighthouse, Amy (also called Aki-san by her grandmother), is a young Japanese girl living in an internment camp during this time.

At the Foot of the Lighthouse takes a sensitive subject and, using rich descriptions, gives the reader a new take on what it meant to be an American and a patriot at that time. Some comparisons about patriotism today in the United States can also be made to how Amy was treated. This story has the ability to make one stop and think about these subjects.

The element that makes this short story pretty unique is the twist at the end. I won't say too much because I do not want to give away the ending but it speaks about sacrifice and makes you stop to think.

Rating: 4/5 Caffe Lattes

Tolkien Week

Thanks to She is too Fond of Books, I just learned that September 16 to September 22 is Tolkien week! And the 22nd of September is national Hobbits Day. I wanted to re-read The Hobbit before December when the new movie comes out and Tolkien Week seems like the perfect tiem to do it! I am going to try ot read the whole Lord of The Rings trilogy and then end it with The Hobbit on September 22. Even if I don't finish the LOTR books by the 22nd I am just going to start on The Hobbit. Oh! I should watch the movies too after I finish each book. Hello Orlando Bloom~

I read The Hobbit back in sixth grade but I don't remember a lot of what happened in the book. I do remember enjoying it for the most part though.

If anyone else is doing something like this for Tolkien Week please leave a comment with your blog! I would like to read it.

October Read-a-Thons

Fright Fall Read-A-Thon!
October 1st - October 7th

One whole week of reading scary/horror books. More in formation can be found here. This is perfect for getting ready for Halloween. Speaking of Halloween, is anyone dressing up this year? I know it is still more than a month away, but does anyone already have plans? I will probably be passing out candy this year. At the moment I don't have a costume though.

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon!
October 13th

You can read more about this read-a-thon here. This sounds like such a fun challenge. I don't know if I can read for 24 hours straight though! I am going to try to participate in this one but it will depend on how much work I have at the time.

The Fairy Tale Read-A-Thon!
October 17th - October 22nd
Please check out Debz Bookshelf for more information about the Fairy Tale Read-A-Thon!

I'm pretty excited for this! I loved reading fairy tales when I was a child so this is going to be fun.

BBAW Day 4

One of the best parts about book blogging is the exposure to books and authors you might never have heard of before. Pimp the book you think needs more recognition on this day. Get creative! Maybe share snippets from other bloggers who have reviewed it or make some fun art to get your message across.

I'm going to share with everyone two of my favorite books that I feel are less known and under appreciated.

A Life Less Ordinary: A Memoir by Baby Halder is a personal memoir about a woman growing up poor in India. She gets married off to a man that does not love or appreciate her. Eventually she is able to leave her husband and finds work as a maid in Delhi but that does not end the hardships for Baby. Now she has to work a demanding job and take care of her own children on her own. Even though she faces a lot of challenges in life, Baby does not pity herself.

Mian Mian's Candy is another absolute favorite of mine. She could easily be one of my favorite authors if they would just translate more of her books! I even used her for one of my art projects, that's how much I liked this book. Well, I guess I'm just going to have to learn Chinese in order to read her other books.

Candy is somewhat based on the author's real life and experiences growing up in China in the eighties. In this book, the main character, Hong, drops out of school at 17 and runs away to Shenzen, China. There she falls in love with a musician. They live together and Hong starts drinking and doing drugs. However, Hong is still not happy with life.

This book ended up getting banned in China too. China during the eighties was an important time for China because things like art and music were beginning to break free again after being under government control for such a long time. I guess China does not want books portraying the country in a negative way out there. I might end up doing a full review of this book later but that's the gist of things.

The Glass Case: A Short Story Review

 
Title: The Glass Case: A Short Story
Author: Kristin Hannah



This short story is about April, a woman who got pregnant as a teen, married her High School sweetheart at 17 and now lives in the small town she grew up in with two more children. Her mom had always wanted better for her which April always took to mean that her mom wanted her to get out of this town and have a better life. Throughout the short story April reflects on her, now deceased, mother's words and wonders if her mother would be disappointed in her and if she could have had a better life if things were different.





The conflict in this short story comes when April realizes that one of her sons did not get off the school bus. She starts to worry and is afraid that something horrible has happened to him.
 
I have never read anything by Kristin Hannah before. I normally wouldn't pick this kind of a book up, but it was a free short story for the nook so I decided to give it a try. The author has a very nice style of writing that keeps the story flowing together. There are no awkward moments when the sense shifts back and forth between April's thoughts about her mother and her worries over her son.

The reason that I don't normally pick up these types of stories is because I can't completely relate to the main character. I, and probably many people in this world, can relate to feeling like you've disappointed your parents. Those who have children as a teen will probably be able to relate more to April and her feelings not just of disappointing her mother but also when it comes to settling down in a small town at a young age and wondering if this was the right choice.

I liked this book all the way up until the end. I know that the ending was met to be very touching and sentimental, but I just don't like how things were tied together at the end.

The Glass Case is a good short story for anyone who can relate to April's life as a young mother. 

Rating: 4/5 Caffè Lattes