Mary, Called Magdalene by Margaret George

★★★★

This book wasn't really what I expected, but it was interesting nonetheless (even though it too me forever to get through it!!)  A very different comparison of modern Christianity to Jesus and his teachings and his relationship with those around him.

The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks

★★★★

In The Secret Chord, Geraldine Brooks brings to light the story of King David of the Old Testament as told in the Second Book of Samuel.  King David's life is explored in the present and in flashback by Natan - his prophet whom he met when he was in exile - and through various other characters that focus on his earlier life. 

I have read most of Brooks's books - People of the Book being one of my all-time favorites - and excited to reading this one.  I had heard some mixed reviews, but overall I was very impressed by this book.  There were a few things that didn't wow me as much as I would have liked.  The first part of the book focused on Natan visiting individuals in David's earlier life for a kind of biography.  I was looking forward to hearing David's life from the different characters as the book progressed, but instead only a few were talked to and then the rest of David's past was told through Natan.  This was fine, but not what I had expected and not what the first part of the novel built up to.  There was also a bit too much focus on various battles for my taste.  That being said, I still found myself not wanting to put this book down.  Geraldine Brooks's writing is - and always has been - extremely beautiful filled with vivid imagery and wonderful storytelling.  I could have read another 500 pages - even about not at all interesting battles and military strategies - which just goes to show that great writers and great writers no matter what they are writing about.

I also really appreciated the accuracy of the book - as far as I could tell.  About halfway through the book, I went back and read the parts of the Bible that included King David - something I with I would have done right away.  It's been awhile, so I was expecting there to be some verses of course or maybe a few chapters.  Instead I found that the twenty-four chapters were almost entirely dedicated to King David and his family.  As I read through the verses, I was surprised how accurate Brooks interpretation was.  She of course embellished a lot  - especially the relationship between the different characters - but the basic details were spot on.  Although a great leader, David's life was not glorified in this book, but instead he was shown as a real character - faults and all.

It wasn't perfect - I don't think much could compare to People of the Book - but I very much enjoyed this book and the story that it told.  

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

★★★★★
"Having faith in God did not mean sitting back and doing nothing.  It meant believing you would find success if you did your best honestly and energetically."

"Nevertheless, the book gave Jack a feeling he had never had before, that the past was like a story, in which one thing led to another, and the world was not a boundless mystery, but a finite thing that could be comprehended."

My historical fiction book for LIS 642 - Reading Interests of Adults

The Pillars of the Earth is an historical fiction novel centered around the building of a Gothic cathedral in twelfth-century England.  The epic story spans over five decades and intertwines the lives of several main characters.  The book begins when Tom Builder and his family come across Kingsbridge Priory with Ellen and her son Jack while looking for work as a builder after his wife passes away.  They seek refuge for the night, but when the church burns down, Philip Prior offers Tom the position of master builder to rebuild the cathedral.  Nearby, the son of a lord, William Hamleigh is rejected an offer of marriage by Aliana, the daughter of the Earl of Shiring.  William’s family seeks revenge by proving Aliana’s father is a traitor to the new King Stephen and takes over their land.  Left penniless, Aliana and her brother Richard end up in Kingsbridge trying to rebuild their lives.  As the cathedral is build, the lives of each of the characters become more and more connected and new characters are introduced. Kingbridge begins to grow and prosper each year, but is faced with constant barriers due to the ambition of William against the people of Kingbridge and the Priory.  

This book has been on my “to-read” list for a number of years but, at 974 pages, I haven’t gotten a chance to get around to reading it until now.  Historical fiction has always been my favorite genre to read.  When selecting a book from this genre, I found that I had read all of the “must-reads” listed except The Pillars of the Earth, so I decide to give it a try.  It took me a little while to get into, but once I got through the first couple hundred pages, I became obsessed with the story and couldn’t put it down!  Luckily, the fall semester was ending and I had a lot of time to read.  This book had everything that I look for in a great historical fiction novel - lots of history and description, interesting characters, tons of emotion, and enough conflict to keep the story interesting.  I loved the description of twelfth-century live (which I haven’t read too much about) and liked learning about the details of building a large cathedral and living in a priory.  I very much enjoyed the storyline, but my favorite part of the novel was the characters.  I was intrigued by each individual story, their relationships to one another, and how they each played a unique part in the building of the cathedral.  I couldn’t wait keep reading to find out what would happen to everyone in the story and kept rooting for them to find their own “happy endings.”  The Pillars of the Earth is one of the best books I have read in a long time and one that I will want to come back to again and again - granted that I have the time!

This book was #4 on my top ten list of 2014.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (audio)

★★★★

"Meaning that history is always written by the winners.  When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books - books which glorify their own cause and siparage that conquered foe.  As Napoleon once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?'...The Sangreal documents simply tell the other side of the Christ story.  In the end, which side of the story you believe becomes a matter of faith, and personal exploration, but at least the information has survived."

By looking at the reviews on goodreads and amazon, everyone either seemed to love or hate this book.  I wouldn't say that this was one of the best books I've ever read, but I did enjoy it.  There was a lot going, and some parts got a little confusing, but that might have been because I was listening to it instead of actually reading the book.  I first watched the movie when it came out in 2006 (wow that seems like so long ago!!!) and the book has been sitting on my bookshelf ever since.  Glad I finally got the chance to read...or I guess I should say "listen" to it!

The novel tells the a contemporary story of the famous search for the "Holy Grail."  While lecturing in Paris, the symbologist Robert Langdon becomes involved with the murder of a famous curator at the Louvre.  Shortly before his death, he left a secret message to his grand-dauther, Sophie Neveu.  When Robert is accused of the murder, he and Sophie begin a chase across France to find out the truth about the death of Sophie's grand-father.  They quickly discover that the clues reveal the truth about a two-hundred year old mystery - and about the involvement of Sophie's family.

There were a lot of things that I really liked about this book:

     1.) Historical information - Throughout the story, are all kinds of facts about Western history and religion including Da Vinci's paintings, the legend of the holy grail, the portrayal of women, and Christianity.  I'm not sure how much was fact and how much was Brown's interpretation, but I enjoyed it none the less.

     2.) Paris - The novel was mostly set in Paris and the author used the scenery and well-known places throughout the book.  I spent two weeks in Paris a couple years ago, so it was really neat to remember all of the places the were mentioned in the book.  My aunt and cousins went right after right after the movie came out.  They not only saw it at a theater in Paris, but traced the route that Robert and Sophie took...it turned out to be a really awesome scrapbook page!!

     3.) Information literacy - This is going to sound really dorky, but I LOVED all of the research that was incorporate into the novel.  My favorite part was when Robert and Sophie visit the curator of a religious museum and search for articles in a database that will lead then to a tomb where a key item in solving the mystery of the holy grail is hidden.  I was super excited that they used actual research terminology like keywords, truncations, and proximity searching!!!

Definitely worth reading!

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult (audio)

★★★★

"If you didn't remember something happening, was it because it never had happened?  Or because you wish it didn't?"

I've read a couple of other books by Jodi Picoult - Handle with Care, My Sister's Keeper, and The Pact - and I always enjoy them.  I could deal with a little less of the court-scene drama but, they have all been page-turners and have surprising endings.  This book was no exception.  

The book begins with a 18-year-old Katie - an Amish girl who has just been accused of giving birth in her family's barn and murdering the baby.  When questioned, Katie and her parents claim to have to recollection of Katie giving birth or being pregnant.  Her boyfriend, Samuel, won't even admit to having sex with her.  Ellie Hathaway is a experienced lawyer who arrives in Paradise, Pennsylvania after a trying case and fight with her long-time boyfriend.  She has plans to relax in the Amish town and stay with her aunt, an ex-Amish women herself and Katie's aunt.  When Ellie hears about the accusation, she agrees to help defend Katie and moves into the family's house.

As the truth about Katie and the birth of her child begins to unfold, Ellie and Katie lives become intertwined.  Katie must learn to deal with the truth of what happened to her and Ellie takes a long, hard look at her own life. Both women are forever changed by this experience.  I'm not sure how accurate the Amish lifestyle was portrayed, but I found it really interesting.  It gave me a very different prospective of the Amish.  I'm still not sure how I felt about the ending, but as usual with Picoult's novels, I didn't see it coming!

Adam and Eve by Sena Jeter Naslund (audio)

★★★ 1/2

"For a moment, I burned with the desire to emblazon Thom's name on history.  But this was Eden, and we were all caught in it's web of non-time.  History was not just insignificant but irrelevant.  What mattered was here and now."

This book was...different.  I have read two of Naslund's other novels: Ahab's Wife and Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette, both of which I loved.  It's not that I didn't like this this.  I guess it just wasn't what I was expecting.  I thought that there would more historical fiction, but instead, it was set in the near future, 2017.  

Shortly before her husband Thom's mysterious death, Lucy learns that he has discovered evidence of extraterrestrial life on other planets.  Three years later, Lucy is approached by Thom's astrophysicist friend, Pierre Saad.  He wants Lucy to smuggle a recently discovered codex out of Egypt that reveals new details on the book of Genesis and the story of Adam and Eve.  This is a dangerous mission, as many Christian, Jewish, and Muslim activists are convinced that this document will threaten the foundation of each of their religions.  While traveling with the document, Lucy's plane crashes and she lands on a secluded piece of land in the Middle East.  Here she meets an American soldier named Adam who is convinced that they are in Eden and that Lucy is the "Eve" that he has been waiting for.  Together, they must help each other heal, learn to live of the land, and eventually return to civilization with the codex.

I really liked the idea of this book, but it felt a little too random at times.  There was a lot going on: discovery of extraterrestrial live, war in the Middle East, an old codex of Genesis, a modern-day Eden, a mysterious monkey-like boy, old cave paintings, religious conflicts...it all fit together in someway or another, but it was a stretch at times.  I would have enjoyed more focus on the codex and the story of Adam and Eve and a little less of the "extra stuff."  My favorite parts of the books we the descriptions of the Eden-like paradise that Lucy and Adam found themselves in.  I loved the idea of being surrounded by a beautiful place that provides everything one would ever want or need.  It really put things in prospective!

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

★★★★★

"We realized that we were the only ones, and that we alone had the story to tell."

"We had a reason to go forward and much to protect.  We were still in this world, the one we knew, the one we clung to though it was filled with sorrow, the world our fathers had created."

Alice Hoffman Video - The author discusses her latest novel.

Author Website - Includes a reader's guide, glossary, and gallery of the fortress at Masada.

This book was #2 on my top ten list of 2013.

Lamb by Christopher Moore

★★★★

"This story is not and never was meant to challenge anyone's faith; however, if one's faith can be shaken by stories in a humorous novel one may have a bit more praying to do."

The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis

★★★★

"And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them.  And for us this the end of all the stories, and we can most truly that they all lived happily ever after.  But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.  All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis

★★★★

"I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it.  I'm going to live as like a narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia."

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis

★★★★

"Most of us, I suppose, have a secret country but for most of us it is only an imaginary country.  Edmund and Lucy were luckier than other people in that respect."

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis

★★★★

"Things never happen the same way twice."

The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis

★★★★

" 'Child,' said the Lion, 'I am telling you your story, not hers.  No one is told any story but their own."

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

★★★★

"I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books.  As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still.  But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.  You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it.  I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be your affectionate Godfather, C. S. Lewis."

Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis

★★★★

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.  It also depends on what sort of person you are."

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

★★★

"It is because good is always stronger than evil.  Always remember that, Antonio.  The smallest bit of good can stand against all the powers of evil in the world and it will emerge triumphant."

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

★★★★★

"Everything you're sure is right can be wrong in another place."

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

★★★★★

"I wanted this one to be different.  I wanted to give a sense of the people of the book, the different hands that made it, used it, protected it."

The Shake by William P. Young

★★★★★

"Forgiveness if not about forgetting.  It is about letting go of another person's throat...Forgiveness does not create a relationship.  Unless people speak the truth about what they have done and change their mind and behavior, a relationship of trust is not possible.  When you forgive someone you certainly release them from judgement, but without true change, no real relationship can be established...Forgiveness in no way requires that you trust the one you forgive.  But should they finally confess and repent, you will discover a miracle in your own heart that allows you to reach out and begin to build between you a bridge of reconciliation...Forgiveness does not excuse anything...You may have to declare your forgiveness a hundred times the first day and the second day, but the third day will be less and each day after, until one day you will realize that you have forgiven completely.  And then one day you will pray for his wholeness."

Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas

★★★★

"When it's raining puddling, hold up your bowl."