Six Sentence Saturday

Welcome to Six Sentence Saturday.

Where I try to express my thoughts on recent reads using only 6 sentences!!!!.
At the end of each review I will post a
rating scale of 1-5 using the cute and original (lol) Playing Cards.
Rating scale will be as follows:

5 of Hearts- You must read this book NOW!!
4 of Hearts- A great read, put it on your TBR list.
3 of Hearts- Happy that I read it...a good read.
2 of Hearts- Just O.K but nothing to write home about.
Joker Card - Don't bother (why did I?)

Mr. Darcy's Secret by Jane Odiwe

Mr. Darcy has a secret and Elizabeth is torn about wanting to know the truth and pretending that nothing is amiss. This story line captured me from the very first page and kept me turning the pages excited to find out what Darcy was hiding from Lizzy. I felt as if the author had the spirit of Jane Austen residing within her because the language, tempo, flavor, and the actions of the characters so closely resembled Austen's. I also really enjoyed the inclusion of Georgiana's own love story and how it made Darcy really stop and wonder if his pride was something of the past or not. This book felt very cohesive and put me right into the spirit of Pemberley and what "may" have happened after Darcy and Elizabeth married. This book will make any Austen fan happy and I feel that it takes the variations of P&P to a new level.

My Rating:

Published: February 1, 2011

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Pages: 368

Genre: P&P Variation

ISBN:  9781402245275

*Uncorrected Advance Copy

 
Disclaimer:Thank you to Danielle @ Sourcebooks for sending me a review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist.They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel

© 2011, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, 

that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

With The Union Quilters, Chiaverini delivers a powerful story of a remarkable group of women coping with changing roles and the extraordinary experiences of the Civil War.

In 1862 Water's Ford, Pennsylvania, abolitionism is prevalent, even passionate, so the local men rally to answer Mr. Lincoln's call to arms. Thus the women of Elm Creek Valley's quilting bee are propelled into the unknown. Constance Wright, married to Abel, a skilled sharpshooter courageous enough to have ventured south to buy his wife's freedom from a Virginia plantation, knows well her husband's certainty that all people, enslaved and free, North and South, need colored men like him to fight for a greater purpose. Sisters-in-law Dorothea Nelson and Charlotte Granger wish safe passage for their learned husbands. Schoolmaster turned farmer Thomas carries Dorothea's Dove in the Window quilt with him. Charlotte's husband, Dr. Jonathan Granger, takes more than a doctor's bag to his post at a field hospital. Alongside the devotion of his wife, pregnant with their second child, Jonathan brings the promise he made to his unrequited love, Gerda Bergstrom: "My first letter will be to you."

Together with the other members of the circle, the women support one another through loneliness and fear, and devise an ingenious business plan to keep Water's Ford functioning. That plan may forever alter the patchwork of town life in ways that transcend even the ultimate sacrifices of war.

'When We Were Strangers' by Pamela Schoenewaldt- TLC Book Tour Stop

Synopsis (TLC Book Tours):
A tale rich in color, character, and vivid historical detail, it chronicles the tumultuous life journey of a young immigrant seamstress, as she travels from her isolated Italian mountain village through the dark  corners of late nineteenth century America.

My heart goes pitter patter when I think of this book. So I guess it's pretty apt that my review posts on Valentine's Day then...love, hearts, endearment...that sort of stuff. My Valentine is this book. It's a treasure of love and if I could send the author a million Valentine's I would!!!  O.K. so now after that little love fest I will proceed to try to put my thoughts down in a coherent fashion and explain to you why I absolutely adored this book.

• I loved reading the experience of being an immigrant through Irma's eyes. She's so young and naive, but she knows that there is nothing for her in the small mountain village where she lives. It takes so much strength and courage to pack all of your personal belongings, leave everything you know, and cross the Atlantic Ocean in search of a better future.
• Irma is too trusting and expects the best of people. It's heartbreaking to see how immigrants were taken advantage of when they were fresh off the boats. What I loved the most about her is the way she would pick herself back up, dust off her dress, and continue to live. She is dealt some unfair cards during her life in Chicago and I'm amazed at how resilient she came to be and that she actually allowed her heart to trust people again. 
• The story came across so true and authentic. This was a very well researched piece of work and it shines through in the pages. I actually could envision those first images of America that Irma took and the nights when she was allowed to sit on the deck of the boat, I could hear the waves and taste the salt of the sea in the wind. I also felt that the author captured the melting pot of the various places that Irma lived. I could quite literally hear the accents, smell the people and their strange food cooking, and listen to them as they tried to acclimate and become an "American."
• I'm currently researching my own genealogy and while reading this story would often wonder if any of my relatives ever had the same experiences. It has further pushed me to continue on where I have hit dead ends...I would love to know the rest of their stories!

Recommend: Oh yes!! If you're at all interested in immigrant stories and historical fiction then I truly believe that you will love this little gem. As for me...I'm personally begging the author to give us more of Irma's story....what happens next????

Rating: 5/5- loved it!!!


Please stop by these blogs

Published: February 1, 2011

Publisher: Harper Paperbacks

Pages: 336

Genre: Richly written Historical Fiction

ISBN: 9780062003997

*Uncorrected Advance Copy

 
Disclaimer:Thank you to TLC Book Tours for sending me a review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist.They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel

© 2011, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Mailbox Monday and It's Monday...What are you reading?

Mailbox Monday

is hosted by Library of Clean Reads (February Host)

We share what books that we found 

in our mailboxes last week.

The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter by Mary Ellen Dennis- April review book from Sourcebooks
It Happened One Bite by Lydia Dare- March review book from Sourcebooks

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hosted by Sheila

One Persons Journey Through a World of Books 
 Weekly meme where we discuss the books
you've read and those you plan to read in the coming week.

Read and reviewed last week:

My Love, My Enemy- worthwhile historical fiction 4/5

The Weird Sisters- sister love-hate relationships beautifully written 4.5/5

Reviews for this week:

When We Were Strangers - TLC Tour Book stop on Monday

Mr. Darcy's Secret- Wednesday

On my nightstand:

I'm still working on them..geesh!!

I've been playing on Ancestry.com for the past week and 

not spending as much time reading, so my

stack looks the same as it did two weeks ago!!!!

Show some love to a fellow blogger- Black Diamond's Book Reviews

I just wanted to give a shout-out to my friend Cheryl. She claims I'm the one that nudged her back into reading and maybe that's true, but she's clearly a voracious reader and loves to talk about the books she's had the pleasure to enjoy. Her blog mainly features Black Authors who frankly in my opinion don't get enough attention from the blogging or literary world. So let's help her out and support some authors!! What do you say???

Hop over to Cheryl's blog and read her fantastic interview that she conducted with author- Trice Hickman!!

Trice Hickman

Author of: Unexpected Interruptions

Keeping Secrets & Telling Lies

Playing the Hand You're Dealt

'The Weird Sisters' by Eleanor Brown

Short synopsis from TLC:

The Andreas sisters were raised on books – their family motto might as well be, ‘There’s no problem a library card can’t solve.’  Their father, a renowned, eccentric professor of Shakespearean studies, named them after three of the Bard’s most famous characters: Rose (Rosalind – As You Like It), Bean (Bianca – The Taming of the Shrew), and Cordy (Cordelia – King Lear), but they have inherited those characters’ failures along with their strengths. Now the sisters have returned home to the small college town where they grew up – partly because their mother is ill, but mostly because their lives are falling apart and they don’t know where to go next.

The fox, the ape and the bumble-bee, Were still at odds, being but three.
  Our father once wrote an essay on the importance of the number three in Shakespeare's work. A little bit of nothing, he said, a bagatelle, but it was always our favorite. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. The Billy Goats Gruff, the Three Blind Mice, Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog), King Lear-Goneril, Regan, Cordelia. The Merchant of Venice-Portia, Nerissa, Jessica.
  And us--Rosalind, Bianca, Cordelia.
  The Weird Sisters. [p.24] *

....Normally, Shakespeare and I don't mix, but I have to say that the references to Shakespeare were easy for me to understand and after my first few encounters with snippets from his work, I relaxed and allowed myself to ease into the story. I really enjoyed the way the author weaved the love of books and reading into her story. For those of us that are confirmed bibliophiles this book has the ability to tug at your heart strings. This was a family that I could live with..easily!!! Just the fact that books were left around the house in various stages of reading reminded me so much of myself. I have books everywhere with all sorts of things marking my spots!! I loved the family dynamics and the quiet reassurance and steady love of the girls' mother. Even though she's battling cancer, she is the strength and the backbone of this family. I found myself very engaged with the dynamics of the sister's relationship and how each one judged themselves by what the other two sisters thought of them. At times I wasn't overly fond of one of the sister's but I felt she redeemed herself by the end of the book. In the end, this book made me appreciate my small town roots and how sometimes change is good. It also confirmed the fact that my parents should have tried one more time so that I could have had a sister!! The best aspect of this book is the relationship between Rosalind, Bianca, and Cordelia. She captured that love-hate relationship that so many sisters have...beautifully!

Recommend? Yes...this is a worthwhile read that left me satisfied as I turned the last page. I think the author has a gift for language. Her story was vivid and captured my attention immediately and left me with great affection for her characters.

Rating: 4.5/5

About Eleanor Brown

Born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area, Eleanor has lived in St. Paul, San Francisco, Philadelphia, South Florida, and Oxford, London, and Brighton, England.  She works in educational technology and lives in Colorado with her partner, writer and new media superstar, J.C. Hutchins.
Eleanor’s writing has appeared in anthologies, journals, magazines, and newspapers.  The Weird Sisters, her first novel, will be published by Amy Einhorn Books on January 20, 2011.
Connect with Eleanor:
On her website, blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Please take a moment and check out the other blog tour stops for "The Weird Sisters."

Disclaimer:Thank you to TLC Book Tours for sending me a review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist.They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel

Published: January 20, 2011

Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books

Pages: 318

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

ISBN: 9780399157226

*uncorrected ARC was provided

 

© 2011, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

'My Love, My Enemy' by Jan Cox Speas

Synopsis (from back cover):
A passion for adventure...beautiful, naive, and impulsive, Page Bradley inadvertently rescues English spy Lord Hazard in Baltimore during the tumultuous War of 1812. Now she must put herself at the mercy of her country's enemy.
An aptitude for deception...Lord Hazard is no stranger to the atrocities of war, but he never imagined the beauty that could come of it until he meets the fiery and irresistible Page. Now he finds himself questioning every loyalty he's ever felt for the King and Country.


My Thoughts:
First off, I want to say Do Not Judge a Book By Its Cover!! This one screams bodice ripper and a mindless plot line, but it couldn't be further from the truth. I wasn't sure what to expect when I was offered this title for review, but I'm always willing to try anything once and figured I had nothing to lose by reading My Love, My Enemy. Can I just say that I was really pleased with the entire story. This was a fun way to spend an afternoon. I really loved the characters that the author brought to life and she captured the time period wonderfully. Her descriptions of the dress, countries, ships, war, and scenery were fantastic and brought this story alive before my eyes. What I found to be the most refreshing part was the fact that there was very little physical romance! I loved that. The author created a relationship (gasp! can you believe that the characters actually got to know each other and they didn't have to have sex to accomplish this goal???) that was exciting to watch unfold.  In fact, the author did a splendid job with all of the relationships in this book and that is why I enjoyed this story so much.

Recommend? Absolutely, especially to readers who enjoy Historical fiction with slight romance involved. This was more of an adventure story that takes the reader from the banks of the Chesapeake Bay, to the glorious beaches of  Bermuda,  the oppressed people and foggy shore lines of France, and finally to the ton of the town in jolly London. 

Rating: 4/5


Disclaimer:Thank you to Danielle @ Sourcebooks for sending me a review copy. I was not compensated for my review. My thoughts on this book were in no way influenced by the author or publicist.They are my personal reflections based solely on MY experience while reading this novel

Published: February, 2011

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Pages:249

Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance

ISBN: 9781402255779

*Uncorrected Advance Copy

 

© 2011, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.