The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Interested in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692? You will love this novel!
~One of USA Today's Top Ten books of 2009~
Connie is a Harvard graduate working towards her doctorate on early colonial life. However, first she must go through her grandmother's old house to get it ready to sell. While there, she discovers a Bible with an ancient key hidden deep within. The key has a piece of paper in it with one name - Deliverance Dane. Connie is determined to find out who this woman is and why her name is written in the key. In the meantime, Connie falls in love with a church curator, who mysteriously falls ill. It turns out her only hope of saving him is linked to Deliverance Dane.
I loved every minute of this novel and could not set it down! I am a huge fan of historical fiction, obviously, so this was right up my alley! Even better, I found it in the Wal-Mart clearence section for $5! It is a $28 book - score! I would suggest this novel to anyone interested in history or suspense novels, there is even a love story built-in. :) I give this novel a score of 4.5~!

http://physickbook.com/

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

This novel is absolutely amazing. A professor of mine gave it to me, so it was a freebie! The novel follows the life of a young girl in 19th century China when girls still have their feet bound in order to be desirable wives. This girl becomes lifelong friends with another young girl through the secret language of Chinese women, nu shu. Point of view is first person, the young girl is now a very old woman who believes that everyone she has known in her life has passed on, so now she can finally tell her true story. Overall, it is a wonderful book and I truly have nothing negative to say about it. If one enjoys Memoirs of a Geisha, she will undoubtedly enjoy this novel. I would recommend it to women and girls over fourteen who are interested in historical fiction. I give this novel a 4! I am actually lending this to my best friend who also has a reading blog http://www.livinglaughingreading.blogspot.com.
Check it out and see if she enjoys the novel as much as I did! :)

 http://www.lisasee.com/snowflower.htm

For Time and Eternity by Allison Pittman

This novel is another Kindle Freebie, but it is actually really good. I imagine it is only free because it is the first novel in the series and the following novels are $10 a piece. I am sorry, but I am not going to pay $10 for a book that is downloaded. If I pay more than $4, I want a tangible object that can sit on my bookshelf! :)
Anyhow, this novel is about a woman who joins the Mormons on their trail to Zion in the 1800's. She leaves her mother and father, who are very overbearing in their Christian faith, for a religion that she believes is more loving. She converts and loves her life for about 5 years. Then, the 'prophet' begins creating new rules and ideas. Finally, she discovers that she no longer believes in the religion around the time her child dies and her husband takes another wife. Remember, this is back at the beginning of the Mormon faith, before the mainstream church denounced plural marriages and such.
While I enjoy the plot of a young woman coming into her own and standing up for her beliefs, the plot line is a little shallow at the time she changes her mind about the Mormons. For awhile, she is a young mother and wife who attends service regularly and follows her husband, blindly. Then, she has a baby that passes away and she immediately denounces the Mormon faith for Christianity. However, regardless of how it comes about, the rest of the novel becomes more intriguing.
I would suggest this novel to women who enjoy historical fiction. While this novel may not be the most historically researched, such as The 19th Wife, it is still a good read the follows the basic history of the early Mormon church. I will give it a 3.5 because it did keep me entertained.

 http://www.allisonpittman.com/

Daughter of Joy by Kathleen Morgan

I finally finished a book! I have definitely been going through a dry spell lately because I have been busy around the house. Anyhow, this book is really pretty good. It is definitely not the next #1 best-seller, but it is a sweet story full of inspiration. Categorically, it is an inspirational, historical romance. The novel follows a young woman, who has lost both her husband and son, to the Culdee Creek Ranch where she meets a man named Conor Mackay and his daughter, Beth. She eventually ends up falling for Conor, but encounters many trials and tribulations. It is a quick read and doesn't require too much concentration, so I was able to read it when students were reading while I subbed. I really like that at the beginning of each chapter, is a quote from the bible which suits the events in the story. I give this novel a 3 and I recommend it for women who enjoy books about the strenght of faith in God.

http://www.kathleenmorgan.com/index.html

Dusty Britches by Marcia Lynn McClure

Yet another Kindle freebie; however, this was a pretty good one! Dusty Britches is a historical romance based in the lated 1800's. It follows three couples who are on a ranch in Texas. The characters are realistic, for the most part, but the author can get carried away with the plot at times and the characters suffer for it. It is a lengthier Kindle book, but a quick read. It probably took around 5 hours to read it. I would suggest this novel for women who like romance and westerns, combined. The nice thing about this book is that the romance is kept tasteful and doesn't overwhelm the rest of the plot. I would have liked to see a bit more adventure and 'shoot-em-out' fights, but it still had a nice western flare. One thing that completely drove me CRAZY, was that the author kept referring to men's blue jeans - well, in the 1800's men did not wear blue jeans, they usually wore cotton or wool pants of a brown or grey color. Details, details, I am such a stickler for historic accuracy. Regardless, I managed to still enjoy the novel, so I will give it a 3.5. Definitely an enjoyable read!

Homespun Bride by Jillian Hart

Kindle Freebie! I downloaded this book on my Kindle for free, through Amazon.com. It is about what one would expect from a free e-book. It is cute, but I must admit that I couldn't finish it. I made it half way through before I finally threw in the towel. It was rather dull and had a predictable plot line. It is a good book to read, if you are looking for something calming and mushy, but that's about it. Not a fabulous read, but I will give it a 2 for effort and the fact that it's free......

The Most Unsuitable Wife by Caroline Clemmons

This was a Kindle Special and I think I paid 99 cents for it. I was expecting it to be very cliche or boring. However, I was pleasantly surprised as it was a well-thought out novel and had a great ending. I would definitely suggest this as a Kindle download and I believe it is still very cheap. It is about a Texan who must marry or he will lose his ranch according to the will left by his parents. On a cross-country trip, he finds and falls in love with a woman. She is being chased by a mysterious man who wished her dead. A cute novel, mainly for women, that I would recommend.
I give this book a 3.

The Chili Queen by Sandra Dallas

My reading has slowed in the last week as a result of finishing my KPTP project for student teaching. However, I managed to finish one book, at least. The Chili Queen is yet another marvelous novel by Sandra Dallas. It is about a brothel madame, an outlaw, and a mail order bride in the late 1800's. It is full of hilarity, drama, and suspense. I really enjoyed it, even though I felt the ending was a little weak. There is a twist at the end, which I love, but I feel that the conclusion is just not what it should be. I think Dallas could have changed it to suit the rest of the book a little better. Not my favorite by Sandra Dallas, but it is definitely worth the read. I will give this novel a 3.5.

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

This book was a recommendation from another reading blog so I thought that I would give it a try. I am so glad that I did because it is a very well-written book and much different from anything that I usually read. It is a work of fiction, but it is based on true people and events. While reading it, you can almost imagine that it is completely true as the author does a marvelous job in creating historic documents and different versions of events.
The novel is about Ann Eliza Young, the 19th wife of Brigham Young. It follows the hostory of how the Firsts split from the Mormons in order to maintain their belief in celestial marriage, or polygamy. While the history is unfolding, aother story is being told at the same time about modern day polygamy among the Firsts in Utah. There is the mysterty over the murder of a well-know First who has 20+ wives and his 19th is arrested as a suspect. Her son, who was kicked out at a young age, comes back to Utah to help free her.
It is a really great novel and I learned a lot about Mormons, both FLDS and LDS, and how the two churches are utterly different. I suggest this book to anyone interested in history or biograpies, or just a well-written novel.
I will give this book a 4.5 because it kept my attention throughout the entire novel. If I changed anything it would be to edit out aome repetition, otherwise it is perfect!
Happy Reading! :)

http://www.ebershoff.com/

Ride a Shadowed Trail by Eunice Boeve

A Western! :) I am a huge western junkie, but I hadn't read a good one for a while. I picked up this book by chance and I am very glad that I did! This novel is this author's first attempt at an adult novel - she was written many Young Adult novels and it does show a bit in this one. However, I think it adds to the book rather than detracts. Young Adult novelists tend to focus more on characters and less on details, which is a good thing. Many westerns tend to get detail-heavy and this one definitely was not. In my opinion, it could have used a few more descriptions, but it is fine how it is.
The novel is about Joshua Ryder, who is a young boy that is oprhaned after his mother's muder. He goes to live with an old cowboy, Pete, until he is eighteen years old. He heads out on a cattle drive and to find his mother's murderer.It is a great Western, complete with a lovable horse! :)

I am going to give this novel a 4. It is a great story, but the writing style is a little to basic, for me.

The Diary of Mattie Spenser by Sandra Dallas

This is the best book that I have read in quite a while! It is a must-read for women. The ending is marvelous and ever-so-perfect. I cannot say enough good things about this novel, as Sandra Dallas has Wow-ed me once more. :)
This novel follows Mattie and her new husband from Iowa to Colorado in the late 1860's. they homestead on the Colorado prairie and encounter heartbreak and small victories all wrapped together. It is told from first-person in the form of diaries and letters by Mattie.
This was a fast read and I could not set it down! I must say that it will most likely only appeal to women as it is a typical feel-good, historical romance novel.
I am going to give it a 4.5

Happy Reading!