![]() Traits are inherited, and Boadicea (she prefers Betsy, as one would with a name like Boadicea) knows this because her older brother told her the very same thing about his horses. The second duchess, after all, ran off with a Prussian, and Boadicea’s little sister looks rather like said Prussian. Then, when she actually went to school, she found she’d been tarred with her mother’s brush. ![]() She grew up isolated at the Wilde estate, dreaming of having friends she could play with and talk to. Also, all of the Duke’s biological children are named for warriors.Įnter Lady Boadicea Wilde. The Duke has had three wives, so we’re looking at adult sons of marriageable age at the same time the Duke’s third wife is delivering a baby in the first book of the series. And also some offspring not his own that have been adopted by him. If you are unfamiliar with the Wildes, we are dealing with the numerous offspring of the Duke of Lindow. This fourth book in Eloisa James’s latest series is the first about a daughter of the Wilde family. Overall: A fun read, but not inspiring the post-read glow of older EJ novelsĪh, the Wildes. Plot: Not a great trope, further reading works us out of some of the trope traps ![]() Heat Factor: There is an involved encounter after promises and declarations are made ![]()
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![]() ![]() With all this said, it is not the most compelling book I have ever read. ![]() Antonia was a strong, smart girl who grew up to raise a big family in the best way she knew how. That takes guts, and these were gutsy people. My own great-grandparents left Denmark in the late 1800s, in a similar time frame and reason as the people in this book, and brought their three young sons with them, boys who would never know their native land, or ever see it again. These families left everything they knew, even their native languages, to come to the great unknown, with the promise of a better life. Basically, it is the story of the Great Melting Pot, how foreign born families immigrated to the United States, specifically the Great Plains, and did their best to fit in, make a living, and give their children an opportunity that could not be had anywhere else in the world. (I love doing that!) It is beautifully written by the great Willa Cather, and I understand it is very much autobiographical. Oddly, I ended up with three versions of this book: Physical book, Kindle edition, and audio. "My Antonia" (emphasis on the "i") has been on my "to-read" list for a very long time. ![]() ![]() ![]() The Wasp Factory is solid violence, nastiness, sociopathic tendencies, animal abuse, and cold blooded murder. It’s easy to read, the vocabulary isn’t difficult, and I have no complaints on the pacing. ![]() ![]() Yup, this is definitely a Banks novel!Īt less than two hundred pages, you’d think this book would be a fast read. He throws you in the deep end on page one, leaves you on your own to figure out the local slang terms, populates the book with characters who are as confident in their actions as they are secretive about their motives, and then flips everything inside out for the climactic reveal. The Wasp Factory may not be science fiction (or anything even approaching a Culture novel), but oh is it so very Iain Banks. Without that middle initial, you’re holding a contemporary fiction novel in your hands. Banks then? Some Culture novels? The “.M” means you’re reading his science fiction. ![]() ![]() I know that it’s quite sad that it’s already November and I’m just starting my plans that I was supposed to start last January but as a person who doesn’t DNF books, good timing is always to be considered. When I finally decided to get a book in my classics shelf, there’s always that “other” book tat catches my attention veering my focus away.īut guess what, the winds of change finally came and I suddenly became in the mood for that classics vibe. It’s not that I do not want to read them, it’s just that I was always in no mood to read a book in that genre despite having it all planned. Well, uhmmm let’s just say that I tried to accomplish it but I really can’t put my head into reading one. ![]() On my 2016 Bookish Goals and Resolutions post, one of the things that I decided to accomplish this year is to read at least one classic a month. ![]() ![]() In lieu of flowers, the family requests a contribution to the Susan Hughes Memorial Fund to assist in offsetting unexpected memorial expenses. ![]() ![]() Suzy will be dearly missed by her son David (Leah) Pennington, daughter Sarah (Rich) Coduti, grandson Kane Coduti, brothers Michael (Linda) Gora, Robert (Maureen) Gora and sisters Marilyn Becka, Lisa (Rob) Ilgin, Amy (Mike) Zwierz, and many loving nieces and nephews. She enjoyed cooking, fishing in Michigan, and most of all loved babysitting and spending as much time as possible with her grandson Kane. She was also an amazing artist and designed and created many stained glass pieces. Suzy was an avid gardener and loved sharing her flowers with others. She loved her dogs and met many friends through her love of beagles. She was born Augto Joesph and Virginia Gora in Calumet City, Illinois. ![]() Susan “Suzy” Hughes (née Gora) passed away unexpectedly Friday, December 17, 2021. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() These nations coped, to varying degrees, through mechanisms such as acknowledgment of responsibility, painfully honest self-appraisal, and learning from models of other nations. ![]() Because Diamond has lived and spoken the language in five of these six countries, he can present gut-wrenching histories experienced firsthand. Commodore Perry's fleet, to the Soviet Union's attack on Finland, to a murderous coup or countercoup in Chile and Indonesia, to the transformations of Germany and Australia after World War Two. Now, in his third book in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crises while adopting selective changes - a coping mechanism more commonly associated with individuals recovering from personal crises.ĭiamond compares how six countries have survived recent upheavals - ranging from the forced opening of Japan by U.S. In his international bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. ![]() ![]() But with fierce predators stalking the forests, how long can these unarmed human outcasts hope to survive?Īnd, of course, Kerrick cannot forget Vainte, his implacable Yilane enemy. After Kerrick rescues his people from the warlike Yilane, they find a safe haven on an island and there begin to rebuild their shattered lives. Now, in RETURN TO EDEN, Harrison brings the epic trilogy to a stunning conclusion. He brought to vivid life the world as it might have been, where dinosaurs survived, where their intelligent descendants, the Yilane, challenged humans for mastery of the Earth, and where the human Kerrick, a young hunter of the Tanu tribe, grew among the dinosaurs and rose to become their most feared enemy. ![]() ![]() In WEST OF EDEN and WINTER IN EDEN, master novelist Harry Harrison broke new ground with his most ambitious project ever. ![]() ![]() There’s a saying that money can’t buy happiness, but money bought me that bike. ![]() This was my bike.Īn hour or so later (my husband had to find one and test ride his too) it was. As I zoomed past the dumpsters and the overgrown vines behind the pizza joint - past an evangelical church renting space in the strip mall - that exhilarating sense of freedom was back. I picked out one of REI’s private label bikes and took it for a test spin around the parking lot. I went on a trip to Israel in college, and biked along the Egyptian border at night through the desert and felt so ecstatic about the sand and wind and moon - the starkness only heightened by the electric fence - that I honestly wondered how life could ever deliver a bigger high. We’ve rented bikes and a Burley (2-kid buggy) numerous times near the Lehigh Gorge State Park and at the Valley Forge National Park a few miles from our house. We’d been thinking about buying bikes for a while. The biggest expenditure was a Friday night trip to REI. But all in all, I think it was money well spent. This was an expensive Memorial Day weekend, given that we stayed in town. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Washington after a cat raced up his shoulder mid-session. Cullen has seized on the intriguing fact that Stuart had 12 children and painted in his home, imagining that a daughter named Charlotte began a correspondence with Mr. The making of one of Gilbert Stuart’s famous portraits of George Washington provides the backdrop for this charming take on the ever-mysterious personality of our first president. ![]() If these whippersnappers want any dessert, they are going to have to learn some manners-and fast! What results is a hilarious chain of events, a giant mess…and a painting that will be remembered for centuries to come. But, it seems like every time George Washington comes to visit, Charlotte has to write another apology letter, even when they try to follow George Washington’s Rules of Good Behavior. ![]() Washingtonīased on the true story behind Gilbert Stuart’s famous portraits of Washington, this funny historical read will leave rascals, ruffians, and troublemakers of all ages laughing.Ĭharlotte, James, and baby John have promised to be on their very best behavior for when George Washington comes to have his portrait painted by their father, Gilbert Stuart. ![]() ![]() Reyan's promotional Twitter account (linked below) is full of incredible memorabilia and history, and that's no coincidence-in the process of writing NBA Jam, he's amassed nearly 70 interviews with the developers, motion capture actors, celebrities appearing in the game, and a woman with a less-than-timely (though damn respectable) tattoo. Since that time, I've followed with great interest as we inch ever closer to the release of his definitive telling of the game's incredible story, which will be published by Boss Fight Books. I tweeted out the presentation with great entusiasm once it hit YouTube, and Reyan and I became fast friends, vowing to do a podcast segment together before the launch of his book. I'd just partnered with Microsoft to do a series of podcasts at GDC which was a total blast, but it caused me to miss the Classic Game Postmortem on the legendary NBA Jam. ![]() ![]() ![]() I first interacted with Reyan Ali over Twitter just about a year ago. ![]() |