The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert - After reading Eat, Pray, Love (which I hated), I wasn't expecting much from Elizabeth Gilbert, so I was rather surprised by The Signature of All Things. Yes, it was long (501 pages), and often tedious, but Henry and Alma Whittaker were interesting characters. Although it reads like historical fiction (mostly because Alma is born in 1800, and the book flashes back to her father Henry's youth), it really isn't (this review expresses why well). Not sure how this book ended up on my TBR shelves, but I finally decided to read it because it was the fattest book there and I needed the space for something else.
The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See - historical fiction set on the Korean island of Jeju from the 1930s through the Korean War and its aftermath, alternating with the present day, e-book - depressing
Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee, read by Emily Woo Zeller - audio - Western YA romance - Unrealistic Western young adult romance, set in 1849 on the Oregon Trail during the California Gold Rush. Emily Woo Zeller puts a lot of heart in her voicing of narrator Samantha, a 15-year-old Chinese immigrant orphan who disguises herself as a man along with 16-year-old runaway slave Annamae.
Circle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen - early reviewers, picture book. I didn't get this book. Perhaps one needs to have read the other two books in Mac Barnett's and Jon Klassen's trilogy, Triangle and Square, for this one to make sense. I thought the book was going to be something that might teach a little about shapes and their characteristics. Klassen's illustrations were created digitally and with watercolor (the lovely waterfall) and graphite. The covers are thick board, with high quality paper pages stitched together rather than glued.
The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman, read by Fiona Hardingham (Ruth Webber), Justine Eyre (Charlotte Sinclair Dryer), and Steve West (George Bowden) - historical fiction, audiobook. Much better than I thought it would be, particularly since I don't care for boxing. The audiobook readers really made the story, and sustained my interest through its length.
Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy - early reviewers, historical fiction - Author Sarah McCoy took a passage from Anne of Green Gables (chapter 37), where Marilla Cuthbert speaks about John Blythe and says, "People called him my beau," and used that as the basis for this prequel, if you will, to the Anne series. Having never read nor watched the latter (I was - and am - a huge Little Women fanatic), I can't tell you if her portrait of Marilla (the woman who adopts Anne Shirley) is accurate or not. However, the book stands alone and is a wonderful depiction of life on Prince Edward Island in the period from 1837 (when Marilla is 13) to 1876 (just before Anne's arrival). The author's note at the end makes it clear this book is well-researched, and the story includes aspects of Canadian history and the Underground Railroad that are enlightening. Marilla of Green Gables, along with Maud by Melanie Fishbane (a biographical novel about Anne author L. M. Montgomery), have inspired me to finally read the Anne series.
© Amanda Pape - 2019
