While Beauty Slept - Elizabeth Blackwell

Title: While Beauty Slept
Author: Elizabeth Blackwell
Pages: 432
Published: 2014 (first published 2013)
Challenge: I Love Libraries, Historical Fiction, Bloggers Summer Reading
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: The Truth is No Fairy Tale.

I am not the sort of person about whom stories are told. Those of humble birth suffer their heartbreaks and celebrate their triumphs unnoticed by the bards, leaving no trace in the fables of their time....

And so begins Elise Dalriss's story

When she hears her great-granddaughter recount a tale about a beautiful princess awakened by a handsome prince, it pushes open a door to the past, a door Elise has long kept locked. For Elise was the companion to the real princess who slumbered - and she is the only one left who knows the truth of what happened so many years ago.

As the memories start to unfold, Elise is plunged back in to the magnificent world behind the opulent palace walls. Fleeing a hardscrabble existence and personal tragedy, she builds a new life for herself as a servant to the royal family and quickly rises within the castle hierarchy. As Elise proves herself a loyal confidante, she is drawn into the lives of an extraordinary cast of women: a beautiful queen who wakes each morning with tears on her pillow, an elderly spinster who in heartache shuts herself away, a princess who yearns to be free, and the ambitious and frightening sister who cannot accept the fact that she will never rule. Elise has guarded their secrets - and her own - for a lifetime. While Beauty Sleeps is her story.

In this rich and compelling novel of love and terror, friendship and fate, we are introduced to a heroine of extraordinary determination - the true heart of a legend - who reveals what it really takes to reach happily ever after. (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: I quite enjoyed the book, even if I didn't see elements of Sleeping Beauty within the book (after reading some reviews of the book through Goodreads, I do realize that I did miss them, even though some of them were quite clear as day and it probably doesn't help that I am not as familiar with the story of Sleeping Beauty, as I am with Snow White and Cinderella).

I really like Elise's storyline and was drawn into it more than those of the aristocrats, but for some reason I struggled with the book, even though it took me five days to read it from start to finish; clearly there was some sort of pull with the story that allowed me to be drawn into the story and complete it.

Bottom line: If you prefer a different re-telling of a fairy tale, I would recommend that you give the book a try. Recommended.

Rating: 3.25/5

Pages for 2014: 10900

2nd Annual Beat the Heat Readathon Sign-up Post

Beat the Heat readathon is hosted by Novel Heartbeat and Phantasmic Reads. 

I don't know how I heard about it; probably a blog post I read in the last few days.

So here are the rules:

• The Beat the Heat Readathon runs from August 11th to September 1st. What does this readathon entail, you ask? Well, read as much or as little as you want – the main point is to READ! You set your own goal, and for three weeks you read as many books as you can/want to reach your goal!

• There will be mini-challenges throughout the Readathon for participants, along with a grand prize giveaway at the end!

• Sign up here at Phantasmic Reads or Novel Heartbeat. You may join whenever you like, but to be eligible for our grand prize giveaway, you must sign up by August 24th.

• To join, all you have to do is make a sign-up post – even if it’s just a “Let’s do this!” thing – and add your post URL to the linky below! You can put your goals and progress (will be required for the final giveaway) in your sign-up post, or you can make it separate. Totally up to you! (You are welcome to use the template we provide as well.)

• In order to enter for the grand prize, you must have a post to keep track of your progress so we can see that you participated.

Here are the books that I will hopefully work on:

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Cuckoo's Calling
• The Word Exchange

• The Circle

• Bittersweet
• The Lady and the Unicorn
• Mrs. Hemingway
• The Invention of Wings

• a history book that I need to read for a course I am doing online.

I am sorry for starting a little late, but I hope to post updates, in a separate post, either just before I go to bed or when I get up the next day.

Bout of Books 11 Starting Line #boutofbooks

Books I hope to finish:
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Cuckoo's Calling
• The Word Exchange

Books to work on:
• Bittersweet
• The Lady and the Unicorn
• Mrs. Hemingway
• The Invention of Wings

I hope to update sometime either in morning or before I go to sleep, with a separate post.

Maibox Monday (Aug. 11)

Mailbox Monday is a place for readers to share the books that came into their homes during the past week.  After being hosted at a number of blogs over the past few years, it has gone back to its home base, the aptly named, Mailbox Monday.


I bought a book for TuesBookTalk, a group I belong to on Goodreads for a discussion that we are doing there for this particular book. I had borrowed the book from the library this past spring, but hadn't gotten around to reading it and because there wasn't a lot of e-copies of the book from the library, I purchased the book.  I have heard a lot of mixed reviews for the book from reviewers, but having heard the story prior to reading the book and having heard of Sarah Grimke prior to this (heard about her on The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, which aired during the fall of 2012 on PBS), I know that what I am reading is a fictionalized account and realize to take the book with a grain of salt.

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Pages: 318
Published: 2014 (first published 2012)
Challenges: I Love Libraries, Blogger Summer Reading
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Romance
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten. (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: I will admit from the outset that I read this book because a lot of people were reading the book and because there was a lot of praise for the book.  While the book was good in spots and that probably was fairly realistic (I have never battled cancer, although my dad did when I was much younger, but it was never as bad as Hazel's nor Augustus') to what some teens go through while battling cancer, there were times I wanted it to be better.  Maybe it was due to the fact that a lot of people were saying good things about the book and I was hoping that it would be as good for me as it was for them and maybe I was trying to compare it to Eleanor & Park or maybe it was a combination of the two, but for some reason it just didn't click with me.  I found the story to be a bit simplistic at times and found that maybe the two characters could have been written up a bit better.   

Although I would wonder what I would do if an author would just abruptly end a book...

Bottom line: If you are a fan of YA romance books, it would be a book that I would recommend for you to read, if you haven't already read it.  Recommended.

Rating: 3.25/5

Pages for 2014: 10468

If you have read the book, what did you think of it?

A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

Title: A Tale of Two Cities
Author: Charles Dickens
Pages: 489
Published: 2003 (first published 1859)
Challenges: The Classics Club, Chunkster, Historical Fiction, Blogger Summer Reading
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Literature
Edition: Paperback
Source: Personal Library

Description: After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine. (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: I don't know why but this has become one of my favourite novels; I think it has partly to do with the historical detail, but it probably it is more likely due to the fact that Dickens uses language so well and allows the reader to be drawn into the story as much as possible.  So when a readalong was organized by a blogger that I follow, I had to definitely do it. 

One thing that I liked about the book is how Dickens draws the reader into the world that he creates in the days leading up to the French Revolution and even the one during; it also doesn't hurt that the book is a really good example of how detail can add to the overall story and how it has the ability to make the experience of reading that more enjoyable.

While the vast majority of the book is well done, I did find that the last little bit of the book a bit rushed, but I will give Dickens the benefit of the doubt on that one, as there is too much of the book is too well done that it would be nitpicking on a book that in all respects is well-written and has a lot of amazing detail in it.

Bottom line: Dickens does a really good job of describing London and Paris during the French Revolution, but also builds up the story so that one gets a pretty good build up to the events of the story.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 5/5

Pages for 2014: 10150

The Bear - Claire Cameron

Title: The Bear
Author: Claire Cameron
Pages: 221
Published: 2014
Challenges: I Love Libraries, Blogger Summer Reading
Genre: Fiction, Canadian Fiction, Contemporary, Literary, Suspense/Thriller
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description: While camping with her family on a remote island, five-year-old Anna awakes in the night to the sound of her mother screaming. A rogue black bear, three hundred pounds of fury, is attacking the family's campsite -- and pouncing on her parents as prey.

At her dying mother's faint urging, Anna manages to get her brother into the family's canoe and paddle away. But when the canoe runs aground on the edge of the woods, the sister and brother must battle hunger, the elements, and a wilderness alive with danger. Lost and completely alone, they find that their only hope resides in Anna's heartbreaking love for her family, and her struggle to be brave when nothing in her world seems safe anymore. (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: Prior to reading this book, I had seen a review or two, which piqued my interest in the book.  And when I was able to sit down with the book and read it, I basically ripped through the book and could really feel the intensity of the kids trying to get help.  It took me a couple times to read the beginning to understand what exactly happened.  But once I had gotten through the first pages of the book (basically got myself launched into the book), I was able to get swept into the rhythm of the book and felt like I was right there with the two kids.

Bottom line: If you were a fan of Room by Emma Donoghue, you will probably enjoy this read, as it had that same sort of frenetic pace that Room had.  Highly Recommended.

Rating: 4.25/5

Pages for 2014: 9661