Books read & Reviewed: Sept. 2008

Books Read in September, 2008

Queen Isabella and the Unification of Spain by Nancy Whitelaw
Non-fiction

All I knew about Isabella before this was a glowing history of her patronage of Christopher Columbus. This book revealed a lot more. Her goal was to convert all non-Catholics, especially Jews and Muslims. And if they didn't want to be Catholic, then exile, torture and death was fine too. Her role in the Spanish Inquisition decimated entire towns and crippled the economy.

She really did seem to be wholly devoted to God, just highly misdirected. She was modest, smart and hard-working.




The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
Fiction
Beautiful children's book. I had heard so much about it I finally sat down to read it myself. A lovely book.
While I loved this book, I don't think it's for young children--the subject might be too upsetting.


Monster by Frank Peretti
Fiction
Great adventure and suspsense from a very skilled writer. Taking that biology class sure helped me with the terminology.





Alexander and the Wonderful, Marvelous, Excellent, Terrific Ninety Days by Judith Viorst.
Non-Fiction
A fun, sweet adventure in family dynamics. Alexander is grown up now and moves back into the family home with his wife and three small children while their home is being renovated. This is the account of those 90 days: the observations, the humor and the tender moments of family life.



Vienna Prelude by Bodie & Brock Thoene
Fiction
This was a book club selection and I tried my very best to get into it. I loved the historical fiction, but do not like the writing style at all. Too many long passages describing her emotional state or how much he loved her.....gak. But some women LOVED it, so it's a matter of taste. There are several books in this series...the Zion Covenant.
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