The Invasion of Canda by Pierre Berton

Books Completed: 71
Completion Date: May 2007
Publication Year: 2001
Pages: 368
Purchased in 2007

To America's leaders in 1812, an invasion of Canada seemed to be "a mere matter of marching," as Thomas Jefferson confidently predicted. How could a nation of 8 million fail to subdue a struggling colony of 300,000? Yet, when the campaign of 1812 ended, the only Americans left on Canadian soil were prisoners of war. Three American armies had been forced to surrender, and the British were in control of all of Michigan Territory and much of Indiana and Ohio.

In this remarkable account of the war's first year and the events that led up to it, Pierre Berton transforms history into an engrossing narrative that reads like a fast-paced novel. Drawing on personal memoirs and diaries as well as official dispatches, the author has been able to get inside the characters of the men who fought the war — the common soldiers as well as the generals, the bureaucrats and the profiteers, the traitors and the loyalists.

Berton believes that if there had been no war, most of Ontario would probably be American today; and if the war had been lost by the British, all of Canada would now be part of the United States. But the War of 1812, or more properly the myth of the war, served to give the new settlers a sense of community and set them on a different course from that of their neighbours.

As many people know, I went to Ontario for my grad present to myself. While there, I found that my Canadian history was not as up to speed as it once was. I was at the memorial to the Battle of Queenston Heights, and I found that I remembered learning about it, but I could not remember what the details of the battle were. The war is referred to the War of 1812, the last time that war was battled on Canadian land, but it actually extended from 1812 to 1814. This book covers the first years of the battle.

I have, of course, heard of Pierre Berton I actually own some of his books already, but this was the first time I read a full book by him. I found it interesting to read. Berton is very readable, but he offers his opinion on the events as they play out. It is helpful to read another author in order to see other opinions on the battle, but Berton writes an interesting account. For those that are unaware of what the War of 1812 was, I will provide a brief overview:

Basically it is a war between the British and the newly formed Americas. Britain was also involved in war with France at the time, so most of the war took place on what would become Canada in about 50 years time. This war decided the borders of the U.S. and Canada, because if Canada had lost, we would have very easily have lost a large amount of our landmass to the Americans. The war plays out interestingly, with some very bad moves by the U.S. and some very amazing victories by the Canadians. The Battle for Queenston Heights was one of the most famous battles because the U.S. crossed near Niagara Falls where no one thought it would be possible, so they almost caught the British off-guard. It is one of the most talked about battles of the entire war.

It was an interesting read with lots of names to keep track of. I plan to read the sequel, Flames Across the Border soon because that is a year that was hardly covered in history in school, so I should learn new things. Anyone interested in reading Pierre Berton should read this book.

4/5

I Was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendelsohn

Books Completed: 51
Completion Date: April 1, 2007
Publication Year: 1996
Pages: 186
Owned Prior to 2007
April Read for the Back to History Challenge

In this brilliantly imagined novel, Amelia Earhart tells us what happened after she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared off the coast of New Guinea one glorious, windy day in 1937. And she tells us about herself.

There is her love affair with flying ("The sky is flesh") . . . .

There are her memories of the past: her childhood desire to become a heroine ("Heroines did what they wanted") . . . her marriage to G.P. Putnam, who promoted her to fame, but was willing to gamble her life so that the book she was writing about her round-the-world flight would sell out before Christmas.

There is the flight itself -- day after magnificent or perilous or exhilarating or terrifying day ("Noonan once said any fool could have seen I was risking my life but not living it").

And there is, miraculously, an island ("We named it Heaven, as a kind of joke").

And, most important, there is Noonan . . .

One of the aspects to history that always interested me is the mystery of what happened to Amelia Earhart 70 years ago. Over the years, there have been lots of theories, but it is still unknown what happened all those years ago. When I read the non-fiction accounts and the articles I always find myself wondering if everything was done back then to assure what happened to her and her co-pilot, or if that is just the gift of hindsight.

In this particular novel, Jane Mendelshohn toys with the idea that they were stranded on a deserted island, and that is the theory that scientists and other professionals are hoping to prove this summer. Is that not scary, though, to find out that her and Noonan might have survived for a great deal of time on an island, and they died before anyone found them. That is the theory that makes me wonder if everything that could have been done at the time was done. There seems to have been a lot of information that they were presented with that they ignored. It is a scary thought, really it is.

Mendelsohn dreams up a great little book. She uses what we do know, the events leading up to the disappearance, but then she goes on to imagine what happened after radio contact was lost. She dreams up their island, what life was like for them on the island, and touches on her imagined reason for why they were never found. She makes them very self-sustaining, though. It would even be possible if they lived anywhere near how she has them live, if they were in fact on an island they stayed alive for quite some time.

All in all, an interesting look at what happened to Amelia Earhart.

4/5

Book Four in the Back to History Challenge.

Wideacre by Philippa Gregory

Books Read: 37
Completion Date: March 2007
Publication Year: 2003
Pages: 656
Owned Prior to 2007
Book 1 in the Wideacre Trilogy

Beatrice Lacey, as strong-minded as she is beautiful, refuses to conform to the social customs of her time. Destined to lose her family name and beloved Wideacre estate once she is wed, Beatrice will use any means necessary to protect her ancestral heritage. Seduction, betrayal, even murder — Beatrice's passion is without apology or conscience. "She is a Lacey of Wideacre," her father warns, "and whatever she does, however she behaves, will always be fitting." Yet even as Beatrice's scheming seems about to yield her dream, she is haunted by the one living person who knows the extent of her plans...and her capacity for evil.

Sumptuously set in Georgian England, Wideacre is intensely gripping, rich in texture, and full of color and authenticity. It is a saga as irresistible in its singular magic as its heroine.

I know that Phillippa Gregory is a lot of people's favourite historical fiction novelist, but I keep trying and I keep wondering what I am missing. It took me forever to read this book. I started it last year, actually, and am only just finishing it now! I kept hoping that it would get better, but it just did nothing for me.

I am left trying to explain why I did not like this book. I am pretty easy-going. Romance may not be my normal genre, but I will read it, so the fact that this book could easily be classified as a romantic historical fiction novel is not a turn off for me. I am also pretty open-minded when it comes to different styles of relationships in books. This book, though, is really just a book full of incest. It just got to be too much, I have to admit. Romance is one thinking, reading 500 pages of a girl bonking her brother started to get just a bit too much. If it was a small part or even a moderate part, I would not have minded it, but it just got out of hand.

I understand why the heroine is the way that she is. Women during her time period had very few chances to have a life for themselves, so she found herself trying to find a way to get the power she needed in order to have land. Controlling her brother would give her a better chance than any other plan, but it just was not my cup of tea. I have read better historical fiction books, that's for sure. I have no plans to read the rest of this trilogy, it might get better, but there are too many good books out there that I would rather read.

1/5

To read other reviews of Gregory's books I have read, just click the titles:
The Constant Princess
The Other Boelyn Girl
Bread and Chocolate
The Queen's Fool

First Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

Books Completed: 20
Completion Date: February 4, 2007
Publication Year: 1995
Pages: 281
Owned Prior to 2007

All the colorful characters and events of fabled Camelot come vividly together in this unique new account of the legendary King Arthur, Lancelot du Lac, and Guinevere, Lady of Leonesse. Here is a Lancelot never before revealed--a fearless drifter who sold his sword for money until he found something truly worth the battle. Here, too, is a different Guinevere, a warrior queen...and wise King Arthur Pendragon, who would go to any length in order to save his people. Lancelot was First Knight--until his love for Guinevere tested his loyalty for his king. Thrill as this chivalrous trio defends the Round Table from the muderous rogue Malagant in a fantastic rendition of an enduring tale, written with all the fire and passion of the period by Elizabeth Chadwick, winner of the Betty Trask Award for her first novel, The Wild Hunt.

Everyone has been telling me that I should read Elizabeth Chadwick, so when I spotted this at the second hand bookstore one day, I decided to pick it up and give it a try. I am big fan of Arthurian-type works, so I thought this might be interesting because I have never seen the movie before. I am glad that I know that the movie came first, not the book, because I am not sure if I would read Elizabeth Chadwick again based on this book.

It is so bad that I got tied up with school, my reviews are going to suffer a bit because so much time has gone by since I read the books. What I did not like about this book was how fast it moved. I mean, Guinevere comes to Camelot and the next thing you know, Camelot is crashing down. I know that it is going to happen, but it was so fast! The speed is explained, and I suppose that it works, but I found that Guinevere and Lancelot brought the kingdom down too quickly. Everything seems to happen in the space of like a month, there is no time to get over one thing before another thing happens.

I will say that this is one of the better portrayals of Guinvere that I have read. She is a very strong and vibrant character, not as constrained as she is in other novels that I have read about her. It's unfortunate that the time that I like Guinevere has to be a time when I was only slightly impressed with the book. Chadwick, or I suppose the screenwriter, does a very good job of portraying Guinevere as able to take care of herself and even her affair with Lancelot is explained in such a way that you do not feel total hatred for what she does. In other books, Guinevere gets a lot of the blame.

Overall, not the best Arthurian book I have ever read, but it has its good points. I might watch the movie, have to wait and see. I intend to try Chadwick again, just I will pick a book that she wrote without a movie as her guiding post.

3.5/5
Authors Gender:
Female: 19
Male: 1

This is the first time I have ever read this author.

The Silver Rose by Susan Carroll

Books Completed: 8
Completion Date: January 20, 2007
Publication Year: 2006
Pages: 515
Owned Prior to 2007
Book Three in Cheney Sisters Trilogy

From Brittany's fog-shrouded forests to the elegant dark heart of Paris's royal court, one woman must challenge a country's destiny-and her own dangerous fate.

France, 1585. She is the youngest and most powerful of the "Sisters of Faire Isle," women known far and wide for their extraordinary mystical abilities. Skilled in healing and able to forecast the future of those around her, Miri Cheney has returned to her ancestral home to take refuge from a land devastated by civil war-and to grieve for her family, driven to exile. But she cannot hide from the formidable new power threatening to seize control of France from the dread "Dark Queen," Catherine de Medici-a diabolical woman known only as the Silver Rose. Miri has no choice but to turn to the one man she distrusts as much as she desires: Simon Aristide, the charismatic witch-finder who is now himself the hunted, and who has reluctantly made an unholy pact with Catherine. Miri must defy throne and family to save all that she loves most-and command a future greater than she could ever imagine.

Vibrant with stunning historical detail, alive with characters as richly passionate as they are compelling, The Silver Rose is a sweeping, exquisitely wrought tale from a mesmerizing storyteller.

I was supposed to read this book back in October of last year, and as you can see, I am a bit late, but since I was supposed to buddy review it with Marg, I resurrected her old post and I am going to add my thoughts to it. I am in blue, with her comments in black.

When the legendary witch hunter Simon Aristide, is becoming the hunted rather than the hunter, he turns to the one person who he would prefer not to - Miri Cheney. Miri was just a young girl living on the Faire Isle when he first met her, but he betrayed her and nearly caused her to be tried as a witch. Some years later he met her as a young lady in Paris, but he was well and truly entrenched in his role as witch hunter, and she was once again betrayed. It is hard to believe sometimes how these two find themselves coming together. Simon is like two different people, one moment he is nice, while other times you cannot seem to find a nice trait in him. The events in this latest book in the trilogy take place ten years after The Courtesan, so Miri and Simon are both older and wiser (we think) than they were in the previous books.

After many years of living in exile, Miri has returned to live on the Faire Isle, looking to recapture her lost happiness. For Miri, Simon was a young boy that she first came to love during an idyllic summer that nearly ended in tragedy. When he reappears asking for her assistance Miri is reluctant, especially once she understood that he was asking for her assistance in tracking down a witch. Miri is still the same character that we have watched grow up in the two previous novels about her sisters. She is a lover of animals, understanding them better than people. She looks for the good in people at great cost, and she never seems to know what she risks by refusing to see the negative in people. It does not seem to matter how many times Simon betrayed her, she is still totally on his side and believes that there is a good person in him. At the beginning of the novel, though, when he reappears, she finds that she attempts to look at him as others have.

Miri has always thought of herself, and others like her, as a wise woman, as opposed to a witch, and getting Simon to understand the difference was a big part of their journey, but in a way another part was having Simon find the man behind the witch hunter. The young boy with a happy family life, who survived in the face of tragedy, and who was taken in and taught to hate and fear. Ah...Simon. He would have to be right up there with the most tortured heroes every written..surely. Not only is the man terribly scarred, and missing an eye, but he really is a good man as well struggling to live with the way he had previously lived his life and the actual and emotional consequences of that life. One of the things I enjoyed about this book was how Miri seemed to bring out Simon's past. We know the three Cheney sisters, and have seen what they have gone through in the course of their life. Simon's past has been hinted about in the two previous novels, but in this one he really goes back and enlightens Miri on who he is (or was) and how he became to be the person that we see in the course of the book. I really was looking forward to seeing how Simon would play a part in this book. I wanted to know if Miri ever found the good in him, and what would happen if she did.

Miri was practically engaged to Wolf, a man who had been her loyal friend, for many years, but she had always held back from committing to him, and from allowing any kind of hanky panky. In a way I felt sorry for Wolf even though he was a bit of a womaniser. I liked him from the time we first met him in the second book in the trilogy, and I was really scared that something horrible was going to happen to him. It was certainly an interesting twist in the story for him during this book. The other really interesting twist was the identity of The Silver Rose! I really was curious which man that Miri would choose. It really could have been either of them, and I was waiting to see if it would be predictable or if it would surprise me. As the novel went along, though, and I started to understand the outside characters, I found that Carroll wrote the best ending possible for the trilogy. I feel bad for Wolf, he loved a girl that was not sure what she wanted, and he tried so hard. When the identity of the Silver Rose was revealed, it made sense to me, and yet did not.

This third book is definitely one that you will appreciate more if you have read the two books proceeding it in the series. I am not sure if there is going to be more books related to this one, but there certainly seems to be scope for it particularly in relation to Wolf who you may notice I have a certain tenderness for! I for one would certainly read any future books. I know that this is supposed to be a trilogy, but I would love to see spin off books. This really was one of the better trilogies I have read, overall. I am very sad to see it end, and I think that is partly why it took me so long to read this book. I did not want to see it end! Sometimes with trilogies, the first book is very strong and the rest fades in comparision. I believe that all three of these books are well-written and they stand up well.

One small note to the author though...please, please get a website so that your fans have some idea about what is coming up next! Having read and enjoyed this trilogy, I will definitely be trying to find whatever books I can of Susan Carroll's backlist. Anyone have any idea what she is working on now?

Marg's Rating 4.5/5
Kailana's Rating 4.5/5

I also need to take the oppurtunity to thank Random House for this book! Everyone should read this trilogy, and all three books are available through them, although I owned the other two from other sources.

Author Genders:
Female: 7
Male: 1

I have previously read this author before. You can see my reviews of the two previous books in this trilogy by clicking here and here.

Challenge Organization

As I posted in December, it is my goal to try and read more books that have been sitting on my to be read pile, so I divided all my books up. Today I chose what I would like to read off those piles for January. These are not set in stone, because I am bad about not reading what I am supposed to read, but here are my proposed books:

For the Classics Challenge, the five books I would like to read in January and February are:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton or Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott (meant to read them last year, but did not, so they are not on my original list.)

TBR Challenge
White Teeth by Zadie Smith

12 Months of Fantasy Challenge
The Grand Ellipse by Paula Volsky

O'Canada Challenge
The Time in Between by David Bergen

Back to History Challenge
The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Chunkster Challenge
I have three chunksters that I started, so I suppose it could be one of the three, or in a dream world, all three of them:
Tatiana and Alexander by Paullina Simons
The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Then, I want to read a teen novel. I am reading Inkheart right now, but it did not come off my to be read pile. I have too many good ones to pick from, but I will read something! I also want to read a Jean Plaidy novel, the next Robb.... and about 500 other books!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Well, the weather outside today is frightful. I ended up with the night off work, there have been accidents everywhere! You would think that people had never seen snow before the way this week has been playing out. I mean, the newspapers were saying that people were surprised by the snow that fell on Tuesday, and as a result, there were a record amount of car accidents. I ask you, it's December, we live in Canada, who is surprised by snow? I think people thought we had moved to Florida or something. Today was not much better. My boss had to pick up her son from day care and she said that their were four accidents just on the main road. So, I will be sticking close to my nice warm house where I have all ready spent the afternoon reading, so why not the night.

I am so excited to share this cute mini movie for the holiday season! I never think to check YouTube for things like this, but someone posted it on a message board I visit and I just HAD to share. It is one of my most fondest Christmas memories. We used to watch it every year. Click here to have a view of your own, it might bring back your own Christmas memories. Just a warning, though, someone flagged it, so you have to have an account to view it. When you do, though, it is rated general, so even your kids can watch it.

And, another challenge:

Mass-Market Paperbacks:
1. The Wind from Hastings by Morgan Llwelyn
2. Ireland by Frank Delaney
3. A Woman of Cairo by Noel Barber
4. First Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick
5. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
6. Monsoon by Wilbur Smith
7. Druids by Morgan Llwelyn
8. Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell
9.The Song of Troy by Colleen McCullough
10. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
11.I Was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendelsohn


Trade/Hardcover
1. The Secret River by Kate Grenville
2. The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman Vantrease
3. The Silver Rose by Susan Carroll
4. The Invasion of Canada by Pierre Berton
5. The Sultan's Harem by Colin Falconer
6. The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
7. The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
8. Shields of Pride by Elizabeth Chadwick
9. The Josephine B. Trilogy by Sandra Gulland
10.Wideacre by Philippa Gregory

Two more things, don't forget to sign up for the Advent Calendar Tour! There are still spots available! And, booklogged pointed out to me that I did not link my post yesterday for Twisted Kingdom. Just click here. I meant to put a button my side bar but just forgot about it. I will fix that once I figure out what other changes I want to make.