Review: Across the Endless River by Thad Carhart

In 1805 while making her cross-country journey with Lewis and Clark, Sacagawea gave birth to her son with Toussaint Charbonneau, Baptiste, known affectionately by his family as Pompy. Baptiste made the journey with the group across the country all the way to California, the first of his long travels and adventures.

This is the beginning of Thad Carhart’s historical fiction novel Across the Endless River.

Being of two different cultures, Baptiste moves between the two easily, but never feels fully embraced by either. When he is of school-age, rather than stay with his mother’s tribe, he is sent to St. Louis to attend school, returning to the tribe during the summer months, learning the language and ways of the tribe.

Once he is older and working with the fur traders on the Missouri River, a chance encounter with Duke Paul of Wurttemberg, who is in the U.S. to learn about the tribes, animals and plant-life, changes the course of Baptiste’s life. While Baptiste is leading Duke Paul on the river, the Duke sees the potential of Baptiste given his knowledge of many languages and the Native American culture, and asks Baptiste to accompany him back to Europe and help him catalog his artifacts and explain Native American culture and history as Duke Paul writes his book on the frontier.

Baptiste accepts his offer, and the reader is taken through Europe in the 1820s and beyond, through Baptiste’s eyes as he crossed the Endless River (the Atlantic) and experiences, among many things, life in upper class and aristocratic Europe. Being a young man, Baptiste does not spend all his time exploring his environs and working with Duke Paul – he meets a young woman when he arrives in France, Maura, with a colorful life of her own; and also spend much time with the Duke’s cousin Theresa, who is older than Baptiste and helps to teach him about the world in which he has come to live.

While turning the pages of this book, I felt that I was there on the Missouri, sailing across the Atlantic, walking through the streets of Paris. Carhart’s writing is very descriptive, sometimes almost too much. But even when the descriptions got a little long for me, it never diminished my enjoyment of this story or its characters.

I received this book for review from FSB Associates.

Teaser Tuesday, 9 February – Dead as a Doornail

It’s that time of week again for Should Be Reading’s fun meme Teaser Tuesdays.

So how does this work:

• Grab your current book
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I am teasing you again this week with Ms. Sookie and Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris. But this week, I am teasing you with three sentences.

“Sam grinned, which knocked about ten years off his age. He looked over my shoulder as we heard the sound of gravel crunching under yet another vehicle. ‘Look who’s coming,’ he said.” Pg. 132

QUESTION OF THE DAY
What’s your tease for this Tuesday?

What Are You Reading Monday, 8 February

Thanks to One Persons Journey Through a World of Books for hosting this weekly meme (previously hosted by J Kaye’s Book Blog).

Back to a one book a week week – but still hoping to start up my first chunkster for the Chunkster Reading Challenge later this week, which will also slow down the reading too.

How about you? How is your reading going, and what will you be reading this week?

BOOK I COMPLETED
1. One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (book sent by publisher)

BOOKS TO READ
1. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
2. The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
3. Under the Dome by Stephen King

Review: Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran

As the daughter of the Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra, and Marc Antony, Selene should have led a charmed life with her twin brother Alexander and their younger brother Ptolemy – but if you know even a little ancient history, you probably know how the story ends for Selene’s parents.

Michelle Moran’s novel Cleopatra’s Daughter is a work of historical fiction that follows young Selene, Alexander and Ptolemy as they are taken by Octavian (later to be knows an Augustus) from Egypt to Rome. As if losing your parents, being taken hostage and removed from the only home that you have known and sailing to a foreign land isn’t hard enough, Selene and Alexander must also mourn Ptolemy, who becomes ill and dies on the voyage. Upon arriving in Rome, while they are warmly welcomed into the home of their father’s first wife Octavia (the sister of Octavian), they are paraded through the streets in Octavian’s victory parade as spoils of war.

Eventually Selene and Alexander settle in to their new life, but remain cautious – not knowing what Octavian will do to them once they become older. But from 30 B.C. to 25 B.C. the twins experience Roman life, attending school, games and the theatre. Selene, a gifted artist also begins working with the architect Vitruvius, learning from him and even getting to see some of her ideas realized.

While the story focuses on Selene, and to some extent Alexander, there are so many well developed characters that come in to Selene’s life (in fact Moran includes a list of the characters and a line about who they are, which does help keep the names straight). There is Selene’s friend (and sometimes frenemy) Julia, Octavian’s daughter from his first wife; the fun-loving Marcellus, son of Octavia and her first husband; Juba who works for Octavian and seems to always be around; and so many others.

While I could give the book report version of this story, I don’t want to reveal too much (even if you know your ancient history) so you too can enjoy this story. From the beginning I was fascinated by these characters and this look at ancient Egypt and Rome. And much like other compelling works of historical fiction, I now want to know more about this time and these people.

I won this book in a blog contest.

Teaser Tuesday, 2 February – Dead as a Doornail

It’s that time of week again for Should Be Reading’s fun meme Teaser Tuesdays.

So how does this work:

• Grab your current book
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Today’s teaser comes from the Sookie Stackhouse book Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris.

“He hunched inside his bulky camo jacket, looking straight ahead. His face was tense with the need to control his fear and his excitement.” Pg. 1

QUESTION OF THE DAY
What’s your tease for this Tuesday?

January 2010 in Review

Happy February! I have no idea where January went, but here we are. Among other things this February, I am hoping for a shadow-free Groundhog Day that heralds in an early spring.

I am pretty happy with my reading for January. While I was hoping to read two books a week, I did about half the time. So that sets me up to try and make two a week more consistent in February. My challenges are going well, and I didn’t even sign-up for any new ones during the month.

That’s about it for me. Below is my overview of January.

How about you – how was your month?

A Look Back:

Books Read
1. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
2. Everything Sucks by Hannah Friedman (book sent from author)
3. Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran (blog site win)
4. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
5. Across the Endless River by Thad Carhart (book sent from publicist)
6. True Colors by Kristin Hannah

Reviews
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Fallen (book sent from publisher)
Dead to the World
The Age of Innocence
Everything Sucks (book sent from author)

Challenges
Harry Potter Reading Challenge
Challenge Time: August 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010
Books Completed: 4 (of 7)

Sookie Stackhouse Challenge
Challenge Time: July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010
Books Completed: 4 (of 9)

J. Kaye’s 100+ Reading Challenge
Challenge Time: January 1 – December 31, 2010
Books Completed: 6 (of 100)

The 2010 TBR Challenge
Challenge Time: January 1 – December 31, 2010
Books Completed: 2 (of 12)

The South Asian Author Challenge
Challenge Time: January 1 – December 31, 2010
Books Completed: 0 (of 5)

What Are You Reading Monday, 1 February

Thanks to J Kaye’s Book Blog for hosting this weekly meme.

So last week was a good reading week. I didn’t finish up three books as I had hoped (dreamed), but I did finish two – and I’m pleased with that. I would like to keep up with reading at least two a week, although with the Chunkster Reading Challenge starting today (I plan to read six through the year), that may slow me down – I hope to start my first Chunkster next week.

How about you? How is your reading going, and what will you be reading this week?

BOOKS I COMPLETED
1. Across the Endless River by Thad Carhart (book sent by publicist)
2. True Colors by Kristin Hannah

BOOKS TO READ
1. The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
2. One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (book sent by publisher)
3. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

Review: Everything Sucks by Hannah Friedman

In her memoir Everything Sucks, Hannah Friedman takes the reader through her life from childhood to high school. And what a life it is.

Before Hannah even gets to high school, she has collected a world of experience, from living with a rescued monkey (and having quite a few run-ins with her) to living on the road in a tour bus for a year with her family while her musician dad performs across England. But Hannah just wants to fit in and be cool, and just doesn’t seem to be able to connect with her classmates – to them she is “that monkey girl.”

Her opportunity comes when she earns a scholarship to attend a private high school. The students there don’t know her – so it can be a fresh start. In the rest of the book, Hannah’s stories take the reader through the next four years and all that she did to fit it, be cool, be liked. She writes about her mean girl-like friends, drug use, falling in love, fights with her parents and the all important college application process.

Her stories are interesting on their own, but what makes this book is Hannah’s writing – engaging and humorous. One of my favorite lines in the book comes as Hannah is about to experience Christmas dinner at her boyfriend’s house – with his Mormon family:
“In the Cole mansion, I stick out like a gooey slab of gefilte fish on a platter of angel-shaped Christmas cookies.” (Pg. 151)

I definitely enjoyed this book and would like to read more of Hannah’s stories from college and beyond.

This book was sent to me by the author to review.

Tuesday Teaser, 26 January – Across the Endless River

It’s that time of week again for Should Be Reading’s fun meme Teaser Tuesdays.

So how does this work:

• Grab your current book
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Today’s teaser comes from Across the Endless River by Thad Carhart, which I received for review from FSB Associates.

“It must have taken armies of laborers, kneeling in the dirt and mud, countless years to place, replace, and repair each chiseled block of granite so that they formed the fanlike patterns over which they now rode. It amazed him: solid, extensive, and perfectly measured, the stone streets of Paris seemed as if they had always been there and would long outlast all those who trod on them.” Pg. 112

QUESTION OF THE DAY
What’s your tease for this Tuesday?

What Are You Reading Monday, 25 January

Thanks to J Kaye’s Book Blog for hosting this weekly meme.

Wow – the last week of January. How did this happen?

My reading for January is going well, but I am still only reading one to two books per week (lately, it’s only one). I have three books on the To Read list this week, let’s see if I can at least finish up two.

How about you? How is your reading going, and what will you be reading this week?

BOOK I COMPLETED
1. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

BOOKS TO READ
1. Across the Endless River by Thad Carhart (book sent by publicist)
2. True Colors by Kristin Hannah
3. The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan