Book Reviews

Well, I have read two other books in the last couple months, but I haven't had a chance to review them here, so here goes. They both were from the author of The Princess Academy, Shannon Hale. The first one was Austenland. It wasn't a fantasy, which I normally have been drawn to lately, but it was pretty good. It's about a woman in her early 30's who is obsessed with Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. She has had numerous relationships that never lasted because she kept comparing the guys to Mr. Darcy, and they never measured up. Her great aunt leaves her a "vacation" in her will to a place called Austenland, in England, where they role play the era of the writings of Jane Austen (1800's). Anyway, I don't really understand why she wanted to go and how she thought it would help her obsession, but the more I got into it the more I enjoyed it. It got progressively more entertaining, so I would give it a 7.

The next book, A Book of A Thousand Days, I liked a lot more. It was definitely a fantasy. It took a while to get into it also, but it was intriguing. It's about a girl who becomes the maid of a daughter of one of the leaders of a "Realm". It takes place in a make-believe land with 7 (I think) Realms, but inspired by the Asian steppes. The girl refuses to marry a guy from a different realm, and her father is furious, so he shuts her up in this tower to stay there 7 years, or until she decides to marry this prince guy. Anyway, her maid keeps a journal of what happens to them. It's a little boring at first, but really picks up after a few "months" of being there. She writes the book as journal entries, not chapters, so it was hard to find a stopping point because I wanted to keep seeing what was going to happen. Once a certain thing happened I kind of figured out what the ending was going to be like, but it was still entertaining up until the end. I would give it a 9 1/2.

I liked both of them, but definitely the second one better. I am now onto reading the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I've read the first one and am on the second one. They are good, but the main girl seems a little obsessed.

Book Review . . .Princess Academy

I've been on the hunt for a good book to read, so I got a suggestion from my friend Hilary who has a Book List on her blog. It's called Princess Academy. I started it last Saturday and just finished it today. I REALLY liked it! It takes place in a kingdom called Danland and is a story about a 14-yr-old girl who lives on Mt. Eskel where her village earns its living as linder, a type of white stone with streaks of different colors in it, miners. It is custom for the priests of the king to receive divine "revelation" as to where in the kingdom the next princess would come from. This time the area was Mt. Eskel. Everyone in the "lowland" was in an uproar b/c the mountain village was not considered a province of the kingdom, only a territory with only uneducated common folk living there. It is a tradition to set up a princess academy to get the teenage girls prepared and presentable enough for a ball where the prince would then choose his princess. Most of the time it only takes a few weeks to brush up the skills of the girls from wealthy families, but this time it was to go a whole year because the mountain girls were so backward and uneducated according to the king and his court's standards. Miri, the main character, has a great personality - very straight-forward and courageous. The author keeps you guessing up until the very end of the book. I enjoyed the story line and the fact that I could escape from reality and throw myself into a whole different world than the one I experience everyday. I guess I really enjoy fantasies, although this one didn't have dragons, wizards, and such. It DID have princes and princesses and a touch of "magic" that was intriguing. I did some research online about the author, and although it didn't come right out and SAY she was LDS (Latter-day Saint) it was pretty easy to pick up that fact. I called Kent and told him to check out another book from her for me since he is going to run past the library before coming home from work. If anyone thinks this sounds good, give it a try! I think I will start doing reviews on the books I enjoy. I know I am always looking for good books to read, so maybe others are too and this will help! :) Thanks Hil for the great recommendation!