Shadow of a Quarter Moon by Eileen Clymer Schwab

1839 North Carolina - After her father dies, Jacy's unfeeling mother Claudia calls her a quadroon and reveals to her that her real mother is a slave who is still on the plantation.  Claudia tries to marry Jacy off to a man whom Jacy fears and hates.  Jacy runs away when Claudia threatens to sell her slave mother.  While I mostly enjoyed the story, the dialogue felt stilted to me.  I also thought that Jacy came to understand herself and her place in the world a bit too quickly.  But I did enjoy learning about the role that the Great Dismal Swamp played in the Underground Railroad.  While the book was set before the Civil War, it dealt with the issues of slavery and the Underground Railroad, so I included it as a book read for the Civil War Challenge 2011 (I finished it one day late - January 1st).  I rated it 3 out of 5.

Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie by Lauren Redniss

This was a very unusual book.  When I first heard a review of it, I thought it was a graphic novel but it wasn't; at least not like the few (ok, make that two) graphic novels I've read before.  It looked more like a children's picture book, but it wasn't that either.  It was an artful biography of Marie and Pierre Curie.  I enjoyed the book for the most part, but found the jumps forward and backward in time to be somewhat disorienting.  It was interesting learning about the Curies.  I rated it 3 out of 5.

The Artist on the Road - Impressions of Greece by Richard Sheppard

This is the author's first book, and it is delightful - I hope it's not his last.  It is a travel journal of his two-and-a-half-week journey through Greece, with his thoughts and drawings.  Since I hope to go to Greece someday, it is especially meaningful to me.  Combining this book with a guidebook should help me plan my trip, whenever that may occur.  I rate it 5 out of 5.

Raw Art Journaling by Quinn McDonald

I worked through this book with one of my Yahoo groups, Artists of the Round Table. We did a section each week for ten weeks. It is a different kind of journaling than I normally do, but I enjoyed the process and will probably incorporate a few of the ideas from the book into my journaling practice over time. The author joined the group and led the workshop and she was very generous with her time. I rated the book 4 out of 5.

Keeping a Watercolor Sketchbook by Brenda Swenson

After working on Brenda Swenson's 75 Day Sketch Challenge for a couple of months, I realized that I had this book of hers sitting on my shelf, so I pulled it out to read it.  I really enjoyed all of her artwork in the book.  It has fairly basic information, so I can't say that I learned a lot of new things, but it was still a worthwhile read.  I rated it 4 out of 5.

Very New Orleans by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler

This is an absolutely charming little book - part guide book, part sketchbook, filled with delightful illustrations on every page.  It was a great read in preparation for my trip to New Orleans.  I rate it 5 out of 5.

Dinner at Antoine's by Frances Parkinson Keyes

This is one of the books I read in preparation for my trip to New Orleans last week.  Antoine's is the oldest restaurant in New Orleans, and the opening scene of the novel is set there.  It was originally published in 1948, so the writing style is very different from today, and so are the customs that are described.  It is a murder mystery, and while I don't read many mysteries, I enjoyed this book for the glimpse into life in New Orleans.  I rate it 3 out of 5.

Watercolor Fast and Loose by Ron Ranson

We stopped at a really great used book store in Fayetteville on our way home from Devil's Den State Park (Arkansas) where I bought 4 books; the one in the title, Sketching Your Favorite Subjects in Pen & Ink by Claudia Nice, and 2 calligraphy books.  I was disappointed with this one.  The artist/author has some lovely paintings in the book.  He has a rather unconventional method of painting, with just 3 brushes (a 2" Hake, a 1" flat, and a number 3 Rigger) and 7 colors (Raw Sienna, Ultramarine, Lemon Yellow, Payne Grey, Burnt Umber, Alizarin Crimson and Light Red).  The biggest problem is that he doesn't show how he uses the brushes to achieve his "fast and loose" results.  It's a classic example of telling rather than showing, but an art instruction book really needs to show.  Ranson has written several art books, but I won't be buying any of his others.  I rated it 2 out of 5.

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

This was my book club's selection for the month, and I didn't think I was going to like it at first.  But I stuck with it and I liked it pretty well by the end, and it made for a good discussion at our meeting.  It was a very quirky story about Quoyle, a man who flees to Newfoundland with his aunt and two daughters after his wife dies in an auto accident.  Quoyle has been badly treated most of his life and has no self confidence because of it.  But neighbors and friends in his new home help him to gain confidence and reclaim his life.  I enjoyed the story but struggled with the writing style; I rate it 3 out of 5.

Buffalo Land by William D. Berry

When we stopped at the Visitor Center of the National Bison Range after our 19 mile drive, I picked up this book mainly for the pictures.  It is beautifully illustrated with hand drawn pictures of  buffalo, antelope, wolves, and other animals.  I read it too, and there is interesting information about buffalo and the Great Plains, but the pictures are wonderful!  I rate it 4 out of 5.

Two Rivers by T. Greenwood

Harper Montgomery and his 12 year old daughter Shelly are barely surviving in Two Rivers, Vermont, after the loss of Harper's wife 12 years earlier.  When a train derails in Two Rivers, Harper takes in a survivor - a pregnant 15 year old girl named Maggie.  Shelly and Maggie hit it off immediately, but Harper begins to worry about why Maggie is really there.  It was a good story and I rate it 4 out of 5.

Letter to My Daughter by George Bishop

Almost 4 years ago,when I first started posting about the books I'd read, I stated, "I want to start keeping track of the books I read and whether I liked them or not. I won't be writing formal reviews or anything, because I'm not that good at reviews."  I still feel like I'm not that good at reviews, but my posts have somehow evolved into just that.  It's become one more obligation that I sometimes don't have time for.  And because I'm behind in posting reviews just like I'm behind in everything else right now, I'm going to do 3 quick catch up posts about 3 books I've finished recently.

A mother (Laura) writes a letter to her 15 year old daughter (Liz) after Liz runs away from home.  She describes her own adolescence in the hope that it will bring them closer together.  The book is the letter, and it definitely had the feel of a letter written by an anxious mother to a daughter who's just run away.  I enjoyed the book and rated it 4 out of 5.

The Black Flower by Howard Bahr

This was my favorite book about the US Civil War that I've read so far this year.  It is the story of Bushrod Carter, a Confederate soldier from Mississippi who serves in General John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee.  It describes the fear and friendships that occur during wartime.  When Bushrod is wounded in the 1864 battle in Franklin, Tennessee, he is taken to a house that has been commandeered as a hospital, where he meets and is cared for by Anna.  It has that lyrical quality to the writing that I so admire and can't really describe, and it is a really good story as well.  I  rate it 5 out of 5.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

On August 7, 1974, Philippe Petit, a French high-wire artist, walked a tightrope between the twin towers of the not yet completed World Trade Center.  This actually occurred, but the rest of the novel is fiction.  Stories of various observers of the walk are presented.   Sometimes it feels like a series of short stories, but many of the characters relate to each other and come together in surprising and interesting ways.

One of my favorite quotes in the book is a character describing letters she wrote home after she went away to college:

"I told them how much I loved my history classes, which was true.  I told them I loved walking the woods, true too.  I told them that I always had clean linen in my dorm room, true as well.

"I gave them all the truth and none of the honesty."

This was my 7th book for the New Author Challenge 2011.  I thought it was very well written and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I rate it 5 out of 5. 

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

This was my book club's selection for May.  I finished it on the 8th, but put off writing my review, hoping for enlightenment at our meeting on the 20th.  That didn't happen.  Many of the members (including me) found the book disturbing; some didn't finish it.

According to Wikipedia:

Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian. The book is internationally famous for its innovative style and infamous for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, middle-aged Humbert Humbert, who becomes obsessed and sexually involved with a 12-year-old girl named Dolores Haze.

The novel is a tragicomedy narrated by Humbert, who riddles the narrative with word play and his wry observations of American culture. His humor provides an effective counterpoint to the pathos of the tragic plot. The novel's flamboyant style is characterized by double entendres, multilingual puns, anagrams, and coinages such as nymphet, a word that has since had a life of its own and can be found in most dictionaries, and the lesser used "faunlet." One of the novel's characters, "Vivian Darkbloom", is an anagram of the author's name.

As mentioned above, while I was disturbed by the book, I also recognized that it was well written.  Although I often didn't "get" the word play, and I was very annoyed by the fact that there were whole passages in French with no translation.  So I can't really say that I liked the book or that I would recommend it.  I rate it 2 out of 5.

The Fiction Class by Susan Breen

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by mark haddon

Christopher, a 15-year old autistic boy, discovers that his neighbor's dog Wellington has been killed.  He is very sad about that because he loves dogs, so he decides to try to discover who killed Wellington.  The book is narrated by Christopher, who is very intelligent but can't stand to be touched and finds people confusing.  Christopher is really good at math, so when he gets overwhelmed, he works out math problems in his head.  When I first read about this book, I didn't think I wanted to read it, but I really liked it.  It was my book club's current month's selection and my 4th book for the New Author Challenge 2011.  I rate it 4 out of 5.

Coventry by Helen Humphreys

Harriet Marsh is standing on top of Coventry Cathedral, filling in for a neighbor in the nightly fire watch on November 14, 1940, when the town is attacked by German planes.  During the chaos that follows the bombing, Harriet befriends Jeremy, a young man who reminds Harriet of her late husband, Owen, who was killed in World War I.  Jeremy turns out to be the son of Maeve, a woman Harriet met on the day Owen left for the war in 1914.  It is a short novel (177 pages), and while it portrays the terrible night that Coventry was destroyed, the character development was a bit weak.  It was good, but not great.  I rate it 3 out of 5.  It was my 3rd book for the New Author Challenge and my 4th for the Off the Shelf Challenge.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

This was my book club's current month's selection.  I've also had the book on my shelf awhile, waiting to be read.  I really enjoyed it, and I think it will generate good discussion at our meeting.

During an unusual blizzard in Lexington Kentucky in 1964, Norah Henry goes into labor a bit early.  Her husband David, an orthopedic doctor, drives her to the clinic he shares with an obstetrician, who has unfortunately driven his car off the road and doesn't make it to the clinic.  This leaves David to attend his wife with the help of his nurse, Caroline Gill.  He delivers a healthy baby boy, and is then surprised to deliver a second baby, a girl with Down's Syndrome.  He asks Caroline to take the baby girl to an institution (a common practice in 1964).  Caroline agrees, but when she sees the institution, she can't leave the baby there; instead she takes the baby, leaves town, and raises her as her own child.  Meanwhile, when Norah wakes up from anesthesia (another common practice of the time), David tells her that she had a second baby who died at birth.  He believes he will spare Norah grief and heartache, but this lie haunts him the rest of his life and creates a wall between him and his family.  It was well written and I rate it 4 out of 5.  It was my second book for the New Author Challenge 2011 and my third book for the Off the Shelf Reading Challenge 2011.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Skeeter has just returned home to Jackson, Mississippi after graduating from Ole Miss in 1962.  She wants to be a writer and gets a job with the local newspaper, writing the weekly cleaning advice column.  The only problem is, she doesn't know anything about cleaning.  She asks her friend Elizabeth's black maid, Aibileen, for help.  Skeeter convinces Aibileen to tell her what it has been like to work as a maid for white families and begins writing a book, which has many repercussions for Skeeter and Aibileen, as well as other maids who also agree to tell Skeeter their stories.  It is a very well written book and a look into a shameful part of our very recent history.  It is my first book for the New Author Challenge 2011, and I rate it 5 out of 5.