Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan

Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

Fleeing from Ebou Dar with the kidnapped Daughter of the Nine Moons, whom he is fated to marry, Mat Cauthon learns that he can neither keep her nor let her go, not in safety for either of them, for both the Shadow and the might of the Seanchan Empire are in deadly pursuit.

Perrin Aybara seeks to free his wife, Faile, a captive of the Shaido, but his only hope may be an alliance with the enemy.  Can he remain true to his friend Rand and to himself?  For his love of Faile, Perrin is willing to sell his soul.

At Tar Valon, Egwene al'Vere, the young Amyrlin of the rebel Aes Sedai, lays siege to the hear of Aes Sedai power, but she must win quickly, with as little bloodshed as possible, for unless the Aes Sedai are reunited, only the male Asha'man will remain to defend the world against the Dark One, and nothing can hold the Asha'man themselves back from total power except the Aes Sedai and a united White Tower.

In Andor, Elaye Trakand fights for the Lion Throne that is hers by right, but enemies and Darkfriends surround her, plotting her destruction.  If she fails, Andor may fall to the Shadow, and the Dragon Reborn with it.

Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn himself, has cleansed the Dark One's taint from the male half of the True Source, and everything has changed.  Yet nothing has, for only men who can channel believe that saidin is clean again, and a man who can channel are still hated and feared - even one prophesied to save the world.  Now, Rand must gamble again, with himself at stake, and he cannot be sure which of his allies are really enemies.

One of the longer books, thought they are all long, and they only get longer as the series progresses.  It's one that is filled with so many side stories and plots that don't have solutions for a few more books yet, that it's hard to remember everything that is going on.  The synopsis from the dust jacket pretty much summarizes the main points, but there are a few others worth mentioning.

I hate Tuon, can't stand her or her entire race, but she is the most interesting Seanchan there is, and her reaction to discovering that you can be taught to channel is believable of her.  Though how it doesn't change her mind as to what should be done with those that can channel is beyond me.  Maybe we could just drop a nuclear bomb on them and just do away with them all.

Elayne and her relationship with Birgitte is just working my nerves right now.  How two interesting characters were able to be turned into one note, sideshows is beyond me.  I still love Elayne, but I really could care less about Birgitte anymore.  One quick side note, I really could have done without the pregnancy.  I get for what it means after the series is over, but other than that, it's dumb.

I like this Perrin.  He's a little edgier and darker, but he still remains who he is at the core.

Rand, Cadsuane, and all the rest around them, I really am not paying all that much attention to them at this point in time.  They are doing important things, but it's all blah to me.  I still love them, but Perrin steals this book for me.

Other Books In The Series:

The Eye of the World
The Great Hunt
The Dragon Reborn
The Shadow Rising
The Fires of Heaven 
Lord of  Chaos
A Crown of Swords
The Path of Daggers
Winter's Heart

Two Giveaways = Two Winners!

The winner of The Mirrored World by Debra Dean is..... Emma of Words and Peace!

And the winner of Queen of the Air by Dean Jensen is..... Anita Yancey!

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear

Synopsis From Back Cover:

With the country in the grip of economic malaise, Maisie Dobbs is relieved to accept an apparently straightforward assignment to investigate a potential land purchase.  Her inquiries take her to a picturesque village in Kent during the hop-picking season, but beneath is pastoral surface she finds evidence of something amiss.  Mysterious fires erupt in the village with alarming regularity, and a series of petty crimes suggest a darker criminal element at work.  A peculiar secrecy shrouds the village, and ultimately Maisie must draw on her finely hones skills of detection to solve one of her most intriguing cases yet.

So before I sat my happy butt down to do this review, I reread the post I did for the previous book in the series, Messenger of Truth.  Much like that review, I really have nothing new to say.  I'm still loving the series, I still love Maisie Dobbs, and I'm still loving the journey she is taking.

I am wishing I had read the entire series in order, instead of reading some of the later books before these middle few.  I think I would have understood Maisie and some of the, well I don't want to say mood swings, but I'm not sure what else to call them, that she experiences later on in the series.  It was nice to see James Compton, and the beginning of the relationship he has with Maisie later on.  Though it's still business at this point in time.  I'm actually hoping against hope that when I catch the books on the other sides of those I've already read, that they are still together.  If not, I'm going to be heart broken.

I know, especially when I started the series, that I would comment on the gentleness of the tone, that it's not a hard hitting mystery series.  I'm starting to think that I was using the wrong term, but again, I'm not sure what else to call it.  Despite the horrors of what happen to the victims in these books, I'm never tense or on edge.  There is something about the author's style, Maisie Dobbs herself, and I think the pastoral settings that so many of these books are set in, that I find myself relaxed the entire time I'm reading them.  Even when I'm reading about the real physical violence done out of ethnic hatred, I'm enjoying the story for what it is.  I'm not stressing out or having any sort of negative reaction to what I'm reading.  Honestly, I'm still not sure I'm explaining myself all the well, so I'm going to stop rambling on this point.

As for the mystery itself, it's heartbreaking in it's simplicity, and shocking in it's cause.  I know, that the crimes in this book, have actually taken place.  But it's always painful to be reminded of how far we can be driven by fear and hatred, how ordinary people can be scared into doing something so violent and so horrible, that they live with the shame and guilt the rest of their lives.  It's a sad testimony to human frailty, I just wish it didn't exist in real life.

Miss Silver Comes to Stay by Patricia Wentworth

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Everyone in the tiny English village of Melling was terribly interested in what would happen now that James Lessiter had returned at last to his ancestral home.  A few nosey parkers whispered that even after twenty years Rietta Cray would still want to marry him.  Nobody guess he might murder him.  At least not until the butler found him dead at this writing desk, his head bashed in with a poker and Rietta's raincoat soaked quite red with his blood.  But did she really do it?  Only Miss Silver knew for sure.

Just when I think I've really delved into the Golden Age of mystery writing, that I've read a wide array of authors, and met the most important characters in the genre; I realize something very important, I'm only getting started.  Patricia Wentworth and her knitting detective, Miss Silver, have popped up on my radar before.  I'm sure that both Yvette of in so many words... and Bev of My Reader's Block have reviewed her books before.  My first experience with Miss Silver, was a parodied version of her that appeared in Marion Mainwaring's Murder in Pastiche.  It wasn't my favorite book, I normally don't like parodies, but it pushed me in the direction of finally getting to meet the real Miss Silver for myself.

Now that I've met her, I'm feeling a little let down.  I'm not sure if it's the author's writing style, the character herself, or maybe just this book.  I'm pretty sure it's not the style, because it's similar in tone to Agatha Christie and Mary Roberts Rinehart, both of whom I adore.  Nor do I think it's the character of Miss Silver.  In many ways she reminds me of Jane Marple and others of her ilk.  And who doesn't love Jane Marple.  So that leaves me with the book itself leaving me a bit cold, but I'm not really sure that's all that fair either.

The mystery was a pretty standard English murder mystery.  The local lord is found dead in his study, bludgeoned to death with a fireplace poker.  The cast of suspects includes a local woman he was engaged to, a young man who's wife he stole away, and a woman accused of stealing from his family.  The murder victim himself was a jerk to the nth degree,and deserved his fate.  What of Miss Silver, I'm really not sure actually, she was barely in the story.  And there lies my problem with the book.  I'm not really sure who Miss Silver is as a character.  Much like Hercule Poirot in The Mystery of the Blue Train, the main character is rarely on the scene.  Miss Silver does solve the case, I just wish I had got to know her better.

I have one more Miss Silver book waiting to be read, so I'm hoping I have another chance to get to know her.  If not, I'm not sure this will be a series I revisit very much.  Part of what I love about this era in mystery writing are the detectives, they are all strange and eccentric, so I want more character.  If I can't get it from Patricia Wentworth, it's time to move on to those I can get satisfaction from.

Challenges:  VM (Jolly Old England)

Do I Have to Turn 37?

So I'm trying to figure out if I want to turn 37, but then I realized I really don't have a choice.

A Flooded Arkansas River

Now I know our flooding isn't as bad as other parts of the Midwest, but we have been having nonstop rains for weeks now and it's been causing some issues in my neighborhood.  We have had street flooding as the rain is pouring down, but all that rain is also filling up the Arkansas River.  I live across the street from the river, but I haven't had the time to get down there until the other day to take pictures.  I have posted a few pics on Facebook, but I thought I would show you guys a few others as well as those I already shared.  By the way, the last two pictures are of the troll that I finally found.

The Mirrored World by Debra Dean (Giveaway Included)

Synopsis From Dust Jacket: 

Born to a Russian family of lower nobility, Xenia, an eccentric dreamer who cares little for social conventions, falls in love with Andrei, a charismatic soldier and singer in the Empress's Imperial choir.  Though husband and wife adore each other, their happiness is overshadowed by the absurd demands of life at the royal court and by Xenia's growing obsession with having a child - a desperate need that is at last fulfilled with the birth of her daughter.  But then a tragic vision comes true, and a shattered Xenia descends into grief, undergoing a profound transformation that alters the course of her life.  Turning away from family and friends, she begins giving all her money and possessions to the poor.  Then, one day, she mysteriously vanishes.

Years later, dressed in the tatters of her husband's military uniform and answering only to his name, Xenia is discovered tending the paupers of St. Petersburg's slums.  Revered as a soothsayer and a blessed healer to the downtrodden, she is feared by the royal court and its new Empress, Catherine, who perceives her deeds as a rebuke to their lavish excesses.

Most of you already know that I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, with few exceptions, I normally can't connect with the approach the author chooses to take with the subject.  So you may be surprised to see that I agreed to review The Mirrored World by Debra Dean.  If I don't like historical fiction, why choose a historical fiction book to review.  My friends, that's a good question.  So let me try to explain it to you.

Since I was a kid, I've been fascinated by the men and women who have been so revered, that they are called saints.  I was intrigued by the happenstances and situations that could place someone in a position to be considered a actual saint, anointed by God to do good works on Earth.  Whether they came from the Roman Catholic tradition or not, saints have always fascinated me.  St. Xenia is from the Russian Orthodox tradition, and while I had never heard of her before this, I was hooked on the synopsis.  I was ready to delve into her life and find out, even if it's only a fictional account, what happened in her life to lead her down the road to sainthood.

So now, I get to explain why this book was no different than almost every other historical fiction book I've read.  I was wanting to learn about St. Xenia, her life and her beliefs.  Instead I got a puff piece told from the viewpoint of a cousin who shared Xenia's life from childhood to old age.  And when I say share, I really mean they were around each other all the time until Xenia went out on her own.  After that we only glimpse Xenia when the two come together again, often times years go between those meetings.  I didn't get to see Xenia at work in the slums, except through the cousin's eyes, and that was just a little glimpse.  I didn't get, from Xenia's viewpoint, why she took this path or what she was personally feeling at the time.  Everything I learned about Xenia is secondhand knowledge.

Now I know The Mirrored World is historical fiction, not a history book.  I get it.  If I really want to learn about St. Xenia, I should read nonfiction books about her life.  I shouldn't rely on a fiction book to sate my curiosity.  But is it wrong to expect more from a fictional account of a real person's life?  Shouldn't the subject of such a book get to tell her own story, instead of it being told from the viewpoint of someone else, someone who isn't around for much of her life?  I get that an author has the prerogative to tell a story from any viewpoint they want, and honestly, the writing was quite good.  It was a well crafted exploration, and I'm glad I read it.  I just wish, like I do so many times when I read historical fiction, that there was more meat on the bones.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews.

The wonderful group at TLC Book Tours have generously offered my readers the chance to win a copy of this book for themselves.  The giveaway will last until 11:59 pm, CST, on 8/19/13.  You must be a resident of the United States to enter, and all you have to do is leave me a comment with your email address.