The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first read this book in 1994, and I've loved it ever since. Initially, I re-read this book every year, but in the last five years, I've only read this book twice.

I've had so many new books to read that I don't need to re-read as much as I used to, but once in a while I would miss Auriane and Marcus, and want to read about them again. This time, I wanted to savor the story and read it slowly, I wanted to study Donna Gillespie's writing and maybe learn something from her.

But as I read, I forgot about the writing and got engrossed in the story. When I remembered, I would try to concentrate on the writing again, but then forget again as the story pulled me in. Eventually, I just gave up trying to study anything and just enjoyed reading the book.

That's how good Gillespie's writing is, that's how good the story is. It makes you forget everything else except the story. Everything else fades away.

The Light Bearer has been a favorite book ever since I was just 11 years old. There are many things I love about it, but among what I love most is that it features a very strong female protagonist, Auriane, who was a huge influence for me as I was growing up. I also love Marcus, and I love how wise they both were. I love how they outsmarted their enemies, how they solved their problems, and I love how exciting the whole thing was.

This is one of the most underrated books I know, and I wish more people would know about this book and read it. It's amazing.

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a Chinese Malaysian, born about a hundred years after the period this story takes place, and even I, jaded as I am about the state Malaysian is in now, find The Ghost Bride fascinating.

It's interesting to remember how people lived back then, before Malaysia was Malaysia, when it was still Malaya and under the British rule, how the various immigrants and cultures intersect.

What I enjoyed most is imagining how this story could have very well been my own family's story. Not the ghost bride part, of course. It is a rare occurrence in itself, but I believe by the time my own grandfather migrated to Malaysia, the practice of marrying a living person to a dead one had all but disappeared. I have heard of a recent case of a marriage between a dead Chinese couple though.

No, what I could imagine was the family intrigue, the head of the house with his many wives and concubines, the many children spawned between the wives and concubines, the family politics as the wives and children all try to win their husband/father's favor. The competition between the wives to produce a male heir, the hatred and jealousy between each wife and their children.

My own grandfather had three wives and a concubine. My father, the youngest son of the Second Wife, had 7 siblings by his own mother. I am not sure of how many children my grandfather had with his First and Third Wives, but there were many. His concubine produced one son.

Although I have heard many stories about my father's childhood, this book really brought to life my imagination of how my grandfather and his family lived, and I assure you, it was a lot more dramatic and quite frankly, uglier, than the family dynamics in the book. My uncle's second wife actually chased my mother around the house with a kitchen knife.

However, let's get back to the book; I loved the whole Ghost Bride theme, Yangsze Choo's depiction of the Chinese's beliefs about the different levels of Hell and burning offerings to the dead ancestors. I love how Choo brought the ghost dimension, the Plains of the Dead, and all the other ghostly denizens to life (no pun intended).

It felt a little bit like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and is written just as well as Neverwhere was, perhaps even better. But I might be biased. However, Neverwhere is one of my favorite Gaiman books, and this is me giving really high praise to The Ghost Bride. I can't recommend this book enough.

It's amazing and I loved it.

Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin

What is the book about?Well, the title kinda says it all, doesn’t it?

What did you like most about it? I loved that Evslin wrote the stories in a way that makes them very easy to read and understand. I got really engrossed in the stories of the Greek myths, and I really like the way he connected the characters from one story to another.

I’ve read about the Greek myths before but a lot of the time I get confused with who’s who. Evslin’s book made the distinction clearer and I felt that I really learnt a lot about the Greek myths from his book.

What did you like least about it? I wasn’t happy that it’s such a small book, only slightly over 200 pages. I wanted more. There were many Greek gods, heroes, and monsters that Evslin didn’t elaborate on. Most notably, Heracles.

I realize that Heracles’ story is very long, adding his and other stories would make the book huge, and apparently that’s not what Evslin was going for. Which is what sucks, because I loved the stories so much, and the way Evslin told them, that I really wanted a lot more.

Who would you recommend it to? If you love learning about the Greek gods and Greek myths, or if you just love great stories, this is a really great book.

Any additional comments? Now I have to find out if Evslin wrote any other books (ie. *thicker* books) on the Greek myths, and if he did, I am soooooo gonna check them out. =)

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

This sounded like a promising book. A Jane Austen addict, Courtney Stone, falls asleep reading Pride and Prejudice, and when she wakes up the next morning, finds herself living in Regency England.

She’s in some other woman’s body, living some other woman’s life, and she doesn’t know when or how she’ll ever get back to her own time, or if she’d even want to.

I was intrigued by the storyline and I had high hopes for the book, but while it was quite entertaining, it wasn’t really all that well-written.

Courtney Stone is supposedly a Jane Austen addict, and as such, she would know the acceptable “modes of conduct” for a lady in Regency England, yet she says things like, “We haven’t even slept together yet” when Mr. Edgeworth asks her to marry him, and is surprised with his shocked response. I’d understand if she was going for the shock factor since she knows it’s not acceptable in that era, but it’s just stupid when she doesn’t get things that she should.

That being said, it doesn’t make me hate the book, just exasperated with it. I did feel that the ending was incomplete though, because we never really find out what happens to Courtney Stone.

It was definitely an interesting and fun read, and the journey was quite exciting. It’s only that I’m not sure the destination is worth it.

Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley

 

I believe most people have read or at least know of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind, and I'm sure some know about Alexandra Ripley's wonderful sequel, entitled Scarlett.

 

Now I know that as with most sequels written by someone other than the original author, you'd have people either absolutely loving it, or absolutely hating it.

 

Fortunately for me, I'm one of the former. I love Alexandra Ripley's Scarlett, and in fact, I love Scarlett more than GWTW! (*ducks*)

 

Of course, I fell in love with Scarlett in GWTW, I love her strength of character, her selfishness and how manipulative she was, how she did whatever she could to ensure a better life for herself...

 

I mean, which of us haven't done that or wanted to do that at least once in our lives. The truth is, I would manipulate others in a heartbeat if it meant my own survival. I love that she was so terribly flawed as a human, and don't forget she was so young, only a teen when the war started and she got married and then had to take care of her family.

 

In Ripley's Scarlett, she's still the same strong character, with a terrible temper and still as manipulative as ever. But she grows up. She's not as selfish as she once was, or as childish, and she definitely learns, the hard way, that she can't always get what she wants. But she grows up and learn to let things be. She's still terribly flawed, but what I love about Ripley's Scarlett, is that she allows Scarlett room for improvement.

 

Just as we all grow up and see the folly of our ways in our younger years, Scarlett grows up too. We don't become perfect overnight, and neither does Scarlett, but we all improve, or at least, we try to. And Scarlett really does try.

 

I've read Scarlett probably about five or six times now, but I always enjoy it every time I re-read it. So much so that this time, I finished reading this 884-page book in 2 days! I can't help it, it's one of my 'favoritest' book in the world!

I recently reviewed Linda Berdoll's Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, which was her sequel to Jane Austen's classic, Pride and Prejudice. In the review, I mentioned that Berdoll's sequel was a maturation of Austen's original story, and that Berdoll gives us so much more of everything; drama, complexity, and even sex.

Berdoll's sequel to her sequel, Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley, is a continuation from where we left off in Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, and again, it gives us more of what we loved in the first sequel.

In Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, we read about Elizabeth and Darcy's relationship as a married couple, Darcy's devotion to Elizabeth, Elizabeth's love for Darcy, and even the wild sex they have. And to spice it all up, there's all the trials and tribulations their notorious relations put them through in between, most notably the annoying ninny, Lydia and the despised blackguard, Wickham.

In the first sequel, we end the book with the knowledge that Wickham is in fact Darcy's half brother from one of their father's transgressions with the hired help. John Christie, whose mother had sexual relations with both Wickham and Darcy, turns out to be Wickham's illegitimate son, whom he later murders in cold blood during his desertion from the battlefield.

Wickham is believed to be dead by all, including his wife, Lydia, but we find out that he's well and alive before the book ends. At the same time, we also see that Georgiana, Darcy's sister, is in love with Fitzwilliam and has gone in pursuit of him to war, and Elizabeth faces her pregnancy alone and later gives birth to twins, while Darcy in turn, has gone in pursuit of Georgiana.

In Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley, the sequel to Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, we see how Elizabeth and Darcy adjust to life with their newborn twins, Georgiana and Fitzwilliam gets married, and Wickham returns from the dead. But what really makes this sequel exciting, is that Lydia, believing the reports of Wickham's death in battle, has already remarried, and John Christie's half sister, Sally Frances, is determined to find her brother's murderer and mete out her own brand of justice.

There is remarkable connectivity between the characters and how each one relates to another. What I like most about Berdoll's sequels are that every character, even the lowliest ones, play very important roles in the plot. Sometimes there might be a passing mention of a particular character we deem unimportant, and later we see the same character again, playing a larger role.

I am amazed by Berdoll's ability to flesh out complex and interesting characters and plot lines. There isn't a single boring passage in the book, even when the characters are only talking about mundane matters. Berdoll has an amazing grasp on understanding human nature and how to make the characters seem larger than life with their thoughts and motivations.

I really enjoyed the journey with Elizabeth and Darcy and all the Pride and Prejudice characters, and also with the new and very interesting characters, that Berdoll has taken me on. While I thought that Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley ended perfectly, with every character getting just what they deserved(especially Wickham), I can't help but be a little sad that it ever had to end. If Berdoll ever decides to write a sequel to Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley, you can be sure I'll be one of the first to acquire it.

Laurie Brown has written exactly the kind of romance novel I enjoy most in Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake. It has humor, mystery, ghosts, history and romance all packaged up nicely into an enjoyable paranormal love story. What can I say? I'm a sucker for paranormal romance, and judging from the fact that paranormal romance is one of the bestselling romance subgenres, I'm not the only one.

Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake tells the story of Josie Drummond, who is a modern career woman. In fact, she is a professional paranormal investigator, and she has been hired by the ghost of Deverell Thornton, the ninth Earl of Waite, to go back in time to when the earl was still living during the Regency period. She is to prove that Madame X, the medium Deverell's mother hired to contact her dead husband, is a dangerous charlatan who wants to swindle his mother out of the family fortune. Sounds intriguing already, doesn't it? Wait until you hear the rest of it.

Josie meets the living Earl of Waite, who of course has no idea who she really is, much less that it was his own ghost who brought her from the future, and predictably, they make each other's hormones rage. So amidst all the trials that Josie has to face, trying to unmask Madame X while at the same time pretending to fit in as a proper, respectable lady in the complicated scene of the Regency period, she and Deverell fall in love. Unfortunately, time is running out for the lovers, because the longer Josie stays in the past, the more she forgets about her future, and in the end she has to choose between her modern comfortable life as a professional, and life in the Regency period with Deverell. We all know how that's going to end, but the journey is so much fun.

As with most romance novels, and especially romances with paranormal elements, many things don't make perfect sense, I mean, Deverell's ghost has abilities that are way too out there for us to even try to believe. But then again, sense is never the point with romance novels. It's all about the romance; boy meets girl, girl meets boy, they fall in love and live happily ever after. The fun is in the telling of it, and Laurie Brown has done such a great job with Josie and Deverell's love story. Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake is pure fun, great for a late weekend night read, or a rainy Sunday afternoon, or anytime you just feel like having a dose of romance. If you enjoy paranormal romance as much as I do, you'll enjoy Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake.

I have read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice only once quite recently, and I have seen the movie starring Keira Knightley twice. So I'm not a die-hard fan, but I did love both book and movie. How can anyone not fall in love with the charming, bold Elizabeth Bennet and the mysterious and sexy Mr. Darcy? Their love story is so romantic and entertaining, and the rest of the cast of characters and their antics are hilarious. I, like every other person who loved the story of Elizabeth and Darcy, was glad that they ended up together, but sad that the story ended there. If you're like me, you'd be hungry for a sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice because you'd just want to know what happens next.

Luckily for me, Linda Berdoll has written a beautiful sequel to Elizabeth and Darcy's romance with her book, Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife. In Pride and Prejudice, we see Elizabeth as a girl flowering into a young woman under Darcy's romantic pursuit of her. In Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, we see Elizabeth's flower positively blooming when she becomes Mr. Darcy's wife.

Berdoll's sequel is a maturation of Austen's Pride and Prejudice in every sense of the word. It isn't just that the characters mature and evolve in this book (there are some exceptions, I fear Lydia will never mature), although I positively love Berdoll's portrayal of all the notable characters. Berdoll stays true to Austen's characterization, but she brings so much more. Pride and Prejudice is a flowering book, just as Elizabeth was a flowering girl in it, but Berdoll's sequel has bloomed into a beautiful epic.

Everything is more mature, more serious, more dramatic, more adult, more, more, more. Berdoll's sequel is just so much more of Austen's Pride and Prejudice. If you're an Austen purist and you're reading this, you're probably throwing rotten tomatoes at me in your head right now, but it's true, Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife is more! In fact, I'd say it's almost in the same league as Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind. I wouldn't be exaggerating at all, and I would be covered in rotten tomatoes.

I guess this is one book where you will either love it or hate it. In my case, I loved it, which I think is great because it's so much better when you love books than when you hate them, don't you think? There were a few things which bothered me, like Berdoll's use of the language which sometimes didn't seem right to me, but it's not enough to take away from my enjoyment of the book. I loved Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, and I want more! And being the lucky girl I am, there's more, because Berdoll has written a sequel to this sequel. I will be continuing the exciting story of Darcy and Elizabeth in Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley. I can't wait!

Taj: The Woman and the Wonder is the fictional account of the very true story behind the building of one of the Seven Wonders, the Taj Mahal. Although it's fiction, Sandra Wilson keeps the facts real, and all I can say is, if all my history textbooks read like this, I would've aced all my exams.

We all know about the Taj Mahal as one of the most famous monuments in history. It is beautiful, enchanting, and ever changing. Just like a woman. I've never had the opportunity to see the Taj Mahal in person, but those who are lucky enough to have seen it and be enchanted by it, will be just as enchanted by Wilson's Taj.

Wilson brings history to life with her book Taj. The descriptions are so vivid and colourful, I felt as if I traveled back in time and was actually there. When Shah Jahan was betrayed by his scheming stepmother and lost his father's favour, I was so frustrated I wished I could've beheaded his stepmother or at least tell his father that it was all a misunderstanding so that he would behead her. When Shah Jahan's beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, passed away and he was so heartbroken and distraught, I felt my heart break too for the loss of such a wonderful woman. Wilson's portrayal of Shah Jahan and his wife were brilliantly written, and it showed how true the saying was, that 'behind every great man there is a great woman.'

Mumtaz Mahal stood by her husband through everything, even when he was forced to go to war with his father, because her aunt, Shah Jahan's stepmother, was power-hungry and wanted to rule the empire. Her devotion to her husband never wavered, although she was forced to be on opposing sides with her own father, who was brother to Shah Jahan's stepmother.

There is so much to the story behind the Taj Mahal. Before I read Taj, all I knew about the Taj Mahal is that it is one of the Seven Wonders, and that it was built by an emperor for his wife whom he loved very much. A touching story in itself.

Now that I've read the book, I see that there's so much more to it than that. The Taj Mahal is a testament of an emperor's love for his wife, yes, but it is also the testament of her devotion to him, his struggle to regain what was rightfully his against all odds, and the power of a love that transcends time and death. I understand more clearly now this love between an ordinary man who was emperor, and his exceptional wife who was completely devoted to him and stood by him through all the best and the worst of times, that led to the building of one of the Seven Wonders of the world.

Kudos to Sandra Wilson, for writing such a compelling story about Taj; the woman, and the wonder.