The Impossible Quest

 

Wolfhaven Castle has been invaded unexpectedly. Every single resident has been captured and thrown into the dungeons. The takeover was done so stealthily there must have been someone helping them from the inside, but who is the traitor? And what were those monstrous beings that helped in the attack? Only four people managed to escape, but all of them are just children. How can they possibly manage to rescue an entire castle by themselves?  The witch of the castle has given them a secret spell that is said to awaken four sleeping warriors, but in order to cast the spell they need for impossible key ingredients first - the horn of an unicorn, the tooth of a dragon, the feathers from a griffin, and the scale from a giant serpent. The children don't fully believe that such creatures even exist, but one thing is for certain, if they are ever to see their loved ones again, they are going to need help. The future depends upon a pot boy from the kitchens, a witches apprentice, a knight in training, and the lady of the castle.

'The Impossible Quest', by Kate Forsyth, is a thrilling adventure that will capture the hearts of fantasy readers everywhere. These quick paced books are fast reads with many twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end. With so many cliffhangers, you will literally not be able to put these books down, so do yourself a favor and buy them all at once! 

** If you are interested in purchasing these books from me, you can buy them here: 

https://d4538.myubam.com/p/6054/impossible-quest-the-complete-collection-5

The Giver of Stars

 

When Alice married an American man she was sure her life was about to be one big adventure. She was leaving her family, friends, and country behind for a man who was as dreamy as a movie star. However, Alice finds herself in a strange new land where she definitely does not belong. No one seems to like her, she can't seem to do anything right for her new husband, and her father-in-law is downright insufferable. So when news spreads in the small town of Baileyville, Kentucky that a library is opening up and all of the books will be delivered by women on horseback, she quickly volunteers for the job. 

'The Giver of Stars', by Jojo Moyes, is based on the  true stories of the pack-horse libraries that were set up by Eleanor Roosevelt to increase literacy throughout the United States. These women librarians would ride through all kinds of conditions, delivering books to people who lived in the furthest reaches of their communities. They were tough, brave, and strong women who were true literacy warriors. 

Being a huge book nerd, any book about other book nerds is bound to be an immense favorite, and this novel definitely did not disappoint! From the very first page I was hooked into a plot line so intriguing, suspenseful, and heartfelt I never wanted to stop reading and was incredibly sad to reach the end. There are rumors that this one is going to be turned into a movie so fingers crossed for that one! (They better not ruin it!) This story is one that I am sure I will be revisiting again and again. It was an instant favorite for sure!

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes', by Suzanne Collins, is another masterpiece in the Panem world. It is a prequel to 'The Hunger Games', and tells the story of Coriolanus Snow, an ancestor of President Snow.

Coriolanus is in his last year at the academy, an elite high school. He is a top student, is set to graduate with honors, and is on track to enroll into the university next year to complete his education and make a better life for his family. The Snow's have a long history of power, success, and wealth, but the war with the rebels has left them almost destitute.  The Snows are a proud family however, and are trying their hardest to keep up appearances of prosperity. Coriolanus having a good career is their only hope to make it to stay in the high social class in which they belong to.

Fortunately, Coriolanus has landed a spot as a student mentor during the 10'th annual Hunger Games. It is an honor since only 24 are chosen, two mentors for the 12 districts, one boy and one girl. His family status should get him a decent competitor, but when he is stuck with the girl from district 12 he begins to question his own worth and if his dean has a grudge against him for some reason. He absolutely has to receive one of the prizes awarded at the end of the games, so his hope is riding on an eccentric wild card from district 12.

'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' is both captivating and enthralling. I was glued to the pages and could not set it down. With so many cliff hangers, it was practically impossible to put down. My advice, don't read it when you have a lot going on because you will not want to stop reading! By the end of the book I was so invested in the characters I didn't know how I wanted it to end. It left me pondering life, sacrifices, love, and human nature at its core. It is tragic, beautiful, and heart-wrenchingly wonderful.

The Betrothed

I love Kiera Cass! She is funny, intelligent, and she never disappoints me. I was beyond ecstatic to learn that she was working on an all new series and pre-ordered it on Amazon. When it arrived I devoured it! I couldn't read it fast enough and was completely, 100% satisfied! It lives up to the clean, adventurous, fairy-tale romances that we have come to expect from Kiera Cass.

Hollis Brite is a noble young lady living in the palace. She has watched King Jameson flit from one girl to the next, always getting bored with them in the end. When the king turns his attention on Hollis she knows that the courtship won't last long, but is determined to make the most of his attention while it lasts. That is why she is so surprised when the king keeps dropping marriage hints around her, and her relationship quickly changes from casual to serious practically overnight. This is everything she has ever dreamed of obtaining, especially since she hopes that this future will finally appease her parents, who have always been rather disappointed that she was not a boy. The closer she gets to the crown however, the more she wonders if her dreams at royalty were actually misplaced? Being queen, it turns out, comes with some side effects that she never imagined.

This is a wonderfully written novel that takes you on some very unexpected twists and turns right to the very end! You are just as caught between choices as Hollis is, and find it hard to decide what you want for her. I can not wait to continue Hollis's story in the next book, I hope Kiera is a fast writer!

Small Great Things

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”

I began reading 'Small Great Things' by Jodi Picoult in December of 2019. Life got busy, as it so often does that time of year, and my reading rut began. Every once in a while I would try to pick this book back up, it captured my interest from chapter one, but for some reason I just didn't give "reading time" a priority for the first few months of this year. I do not believe that it is an accident that I read THIS book at THIS time. 

This book feels like one of the  most important books that I have ever read. It awoken my sleeping, ignorant, blind, naive little mind to the suffering of my black brothers and sisters in no way anything else ever could. I had no idea. I had NO idea. 

This should be a mandatory read for everyone. If you haven't read it, please do. 

Ruth Jefferson has worked as a labor and delivery nurse at the same hospital for over 20 years. She graduated with her nursing degree from Yale University. She is a widow of a marine who was killed in the line of duty. Her son is an honor role student who is applying to some of the most elite colleges in the country. 

Ruth is also black.

Turk is married to the love of his life, Brit. They just welcomed their first child into the world and named him Davis. They are elated with their new budding family and feel like they are on top of the world. What could possibly go wrong? 

Turk is a white supremacist leader in the KKK.

When Ruth becomes the nurse to Davis, Turk is infuriated and demands to see her supervisor. A sticky note is placed into Davis's folder that states that no person of color is permitted to touch this patient. On a busy Saturday morning two of the nurses working with Ruth have to rush into an emergency C-section, leaving Ruth alone with Davis in the nursery, who just had a circumcision and needs to be closely watched for the next 90 minutes. When complications occur, Ruth is handed a dilemma. Does she save this baby even though she is strictly forbidden from doing so, putting her own career on the line? Or does she do nothing, follow the rules, and potentially cause the infant harm? 

It's an impossible, lose-lose, choice. 

This book will keep you on your toes. It will open a world to you you may have never seen before. It will slam you with the hard questions of racism and prejudice. It will ask you to choose a side. It will change you for the better. 

  

Little Women

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are four sisters growing up in America after the Civil War. The novel, 'Little Women', by Louisa May Alcott, is the story of the sisters growing from adolescence into adulthood. Meg is the oldest. She is proper, somewhat vain, a wonderful actress, and dreams of marrying for love and becoming a mother. Jo, the second oldest, is the outspoken tomboy. Jo is unconventional, wild, a dreamer and a writer. Her ambitions are ahead of her time, especially for women. Beth is the third daughter. She is quiet, shy, pensive, and the mediator of the sisters. Everyone she meets feel drawn to her quiet temperament and can't help but love her. She is an animal lover and an exceptional musician. Amy is the youngest. Her dream is to become a famous artist and to travel the world. She has set her sights on marrying for money and leaving her poverty-stricken world behind. Each sister carries with them very different views of the world they live in, but their love for one another is a bond that cannot be broken. 

'Little Women' is a charming, lovely novel. It makes you a part of the story from the beginning and you can't help but feel invested in the lives of these remarkable women. It is beautiful in its simplicity, its morals, and its heart warming tales and adventures of four very different sisters. I started this novel a few years back but never finished it. I am so glad I picked it up again when I had more time to really devout to it. It is an intriguing book and a classic for a reason. 

The Little Paris Bookshop

"The Little Paris Bookshop", by Nina George, was a book of the month from my book club. It is about a Frenchman, Jean, who re-purposed a boat and turned it into a book store. Jean is a "pharmacist" of the literary world. He listens to people's problems and then prescribes a book that he thinks will help them through it. Jean is also a hypocrite of sorts. He is still mourning over a long lost love, the one that got away, and instead of dealing with his pain, he shoves it into the back of his heart and mind and continues on as an empty shell of a human being. For over twenty years he has become an expert at feeling nothing. His life is routine, he does not let anyone get close to him, he doesn't even really have friends. In his mind, that is the only way to keep his heart safe from being pulverized again. One day, an unexpected letter appears and Jean is forced to confront his past and set out on a journey of self discovery.
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I was really excited to read a book about "book love". Connecting with a character through the shared love of the written word is one of  the ultimate "nerding out" euphoric experiences for me. It is why I love Hermione and Belle so much. While I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the book, the plot fell a little flat for me. Maybe I just have not met these kind of men in the novel, but I personally have never experienced a man who cries so much. And it wasn't just the protagonist either. The emotions felt by all the men in this novel were just not realistic to me. I suppose I could have believed one "sobbing" melt down, but the continuous, raging emotions felt by all were over reaching. After so many crying sessions you really just wanted to scream, "suck it up buttercup!". It did have its moments of delight however, and I am glad that I read it at least once. If nothing else, it gave me some wonderful book recommendations and definitely lengthened my "To Read" list.
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"Often it's not we who shape words, but the words we use that shape us"
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"A bookseller never forgets that books are a very recent means of expression in the broad sweep of history, capable of changing the world and toppling tyrants"

The Lost Wife

Before WWII breaks out, Lenka is an art student living in Prague. She falls in love with a man named Josef, and they quickly marry. Then, just as the war tears the world apart, it also separates these two lovers. Lenka is lead to believe that Josef has died on a ship. Josef believes that Lenka died in the concentration camp that she was sent to. Each one carries on with life after the war with a broken heart. Then, decades later, they unexpectedly meet one another again. 'The Lost Wife' by Alyson Richman, is a novel about first love, human endurance, and the tragedies that wars leave in their wake. 

This novel is a beautiful, tragic love story. You find yourself mourning the lives that could have been lived if only a few moments in time had happened differently. You can feel the characters heartache, their resilience, and their undying hope for a better future. And once again, like so many novels I have read before, you experience the dreadful events that took place within the awful concentration camps of WWII. This book brought forth so many emotions within me, and any book that can do that, is definitely worth reading again and again. 

The Lady of the Lakes

Walter Scott is a passionate writer who loves his homeland of Scotland almost as much as he loves literature. He is also madly in love with a girl by the name of Mina Stuart, whom he has written love letters to for quite some time. Mina loves literature as well but she is not fully convinced in her love for Walter. While his letters are flattering and exciting, she worries that he is a class below hers and wonders if she can live a life out of the lap of luxury. When the dashing William Forbes moves into town, Mina feels drawn to him but worries that she will make the wrong choice in who to choose.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Carpenter is trying to find joy in her solitary life. As a French Catholic living in London, suiters are hard to come by, especially because her family history is shaded by scandal. Charlotte secretly wishes someone could love her, but at age 26, it is highly unlikely of that ever happening.

Josi Kilpack delivers another riveting proper romance novel in 'The Lady of the Lakes'.  It is a love story with love triangles, scandal, passion, and misplaced hope. It also happens to be a true love story based off of Sir Walter Scott's humble beginnings and his thorny pathway to finding his one true love, other then writing and Scotland that is. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and it will definitely be a story that I can read again and again and never grow tired of it. 

Two Girls of Gettysburg

Lizzie and Rosanna are cousins, and even though they are polar opposite in personality, they are best friends as well. However their friendship is challenged when the Civil War breaks out. Rosanna is from a southern state and thinks she is madly in love with a rebel soldier. Lizzie is much more of a conservative mind and is sometimes shocked by Rosanna's wild spirit. When her own father and brother head off to war, Lizzie becomes very agitated that Rosanna won't choose a side to be on, and secretly fears that Rosanna believes in the south's cause. Not only has the Civil War ripped these cousin's country apart, it is tearing their family apart as well.

'Two Girls of Gettysburg' is the first book I have ever read that takes place during the Civil War. It was fascinating to me to get to peak into the lives of the people of this time period. I can't imagine what it would be like to literally have a war going on in your front yard. This must have been such a terrible time for our country, because every death, every drop of blood shed, was an American. The "enemy" of today may have been the friend of yesterday. You simply can't learn the emotion of history from a history book that's full of dates and facts. That's why I love historical fiction. It's the only way for me to really connect with the people. If you love American history then you will love this book!