Book review: When People Were Things, by Lisa Waller Rogers

If I could give six stars to this remarkable text, I would. The author has written an engaging, thorough, and minutely researched chronicle of the fight to grant emancipation to the enslaved population in mid nineteenth century America. Full of quoted primary source material in the form of letters, newspaper articles, diaries, and other authentic pieces of history, yet the writing never wavers, is never disparate, and is always coherent, careful, and logically set down in a chronology that reads like fiction but is underscored with truth straight from the pages written by actual participants in the struggle. Gripping and marvelously detailed, the characters become as alive and vibrant as close friends and neighbors, yet authenticity is woven through every narrative, every description, indeed every detail of the story. In this, we can see the lives of everyday people, politicians, journalists, publishers, writers, and others who were affected by the enforced servitude of millions, both Black and white, and how they either rose to the occasion, or absolutely did not, with sometimes complicated and astonishing results. The voices and faces of the enslaved themselves weave in and out among the text, providing important details that have been buried in old newspapers, court cases, and family records, bringing these forgotten individuals to life. And unfortunately, as the book progresses, those who argued against, and even violently fought against emancipation paint a picture that is eerily similar to racist actions and arguments heard today - proving the systemic problem of our democracy still pervades our politics. It’s all too clear that we still haven’t learned these lessons.

Thanks to NetGalley and Barrel Cactus Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Originally posted at NetGalley

Book Review: Potager, by Georgeanne Brennan

Potager by Georgeanne Brennan


A gloriously lovely book, full of recipes and ideas, illustrated with lush photographs of provincial gardens and simply prepared foods. Will keep it handy in the kitchen for inspiration when not feeling excited about the cooking ;)

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Review: Any Small Thing Can Save You

Any Small Thing Can Save You by Christina Adam

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Engaging, provocative text that calls to mind the language of Gail Godwin: the same solitary incisive viewpoint. It can be taken in small or large bites, as the chapters flow together seamlessly but stand on their own quite well. I will look for more by this author.



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Pre-publication Copies: Lucky Southern Women

Lucky Southern Women, a new novel by Susannah Eanes, will be available for book reviews starting Friday, January 10, 2014. If you are interested in obtaining a free pre-publication copy, please send us a note in the comments or email us at propertiuspress@gmail.com. Pre-publication review copies are available for the next 21 days only. The book is scheduled for release on February 1st.


Coming soon - the new novel of love, suspense, and redemption from Propertius Press!

Synopsis: The rural landscape entwines around the lives and loves of two strong, yet troubled women, a beautiful contrast to the beliefs they absorbed as children. Only in moving beyond the past can they forge a way ahead not only for themselves, but for their loved ones. In so doing, each finds something vital that will give them the power and resilience they need to meet the greatest challenge of all.

Review: Gingham Mountain

Gingham Mountain by Mary Connealy

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



I honestly want to know how drivel like this makes it past an editor.

At the beginning you meet Grant, who is likeable enough, and the premise of a bachelor raising orphans in early 20th century Texas is just odd enough to work. However, that is the best I can say about this book. Even if you can manage to ignore the anachronistic language (I honestly can't), there is nothing else about this story that is plausible or even interesting. Hannah is an idiot and completely ridiculous, and it's really, really hard to ignore her lack of judgment or powers of observation (there aren't any). Even the way Grant and the children interact is completely out of the realm of reality given the time period. There are too many language foibles and awkwardly out-of-place sentences. I made it about 50 pages in and had enough.



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Review: Turtle Moon

Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



About halfway through this book I wrote the following: "One of my gauges for a great read is one that continually sends me back to a work in progress to do an inspired creativity dump that seems to come out of nowhere. It's like the story dials into my subconscious and tells me things I didn't know I knew. This is one of those books. It's quirky, human, and all-too-real. The characters are alternately loveable and maddening, just like most folk I know."

I really didn't want this book to end, but at the same time, it was time to leave the story, and further words might have become maudlin or mundane. That is not to say I understand every character's motivation, or that the book ended happily. You'll have to find that out for yourself. Still, I'd love to read a sequel set maybe twenty or thirty further years in the future, to see if the boy and the baby ever meet again as adults, and what happens then.

And now, it's back to my own writing, because - as I said in so many words - there are things tumbling out of every creative port of my psyche, that must be set down.




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Review: Blue Camellia

Blue Camellia by Frances Parkinson Keyes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazing work, a story so skillfully crafted that its social anachronisms seem charming and quite forgiveable in the context of their time. Powerful and based loosely on historical facts, the story of a woman who found her own way in life and carved a niche for herself that, instead of rejecting family and society, carefully selected the finest yields and stoutest promise, enfolded a heart full of love and wisdom with the best portions of her heritage and fortune to triumph over her personal nightmarish tragedy and make a life well lived.

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Review: The Color of Lightning

The Color of Lightning by Paulette Jiles

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



THIS BOOK SHOULD COME WITH A HUGE TRIGGER WARNING. Truth to tell, I didn't make it very far into this book. Much as I adore Ms Jiles' work, I felt shocked and dismayed at how little prepared I was for the sickening violence that began only a few pages into the story. If I had wanted to read an accurate portrayal of the horrors faced by some early settlers, I would have picked up a clearly-marked non-fiction historical narrative. That the story wheels so suddenly from the interpersonal struggles of the characters as they adjust to a new life to a terrifyingly descriptive, jaw-dropping scene that sadly is all too real without warning is just too triggering for a reader with PTSD, or for those who simply do not have the stomach for this kind of violence. It may be exactly what some readers like, but not me, thanks.



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Review: The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti

The Secret Papers of Madame Olivetti by Annie Vanderbilt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I loved, loved, loved this book. Superbly written, with an authentic voice and the twists and turns that are the hallmark of a life truly lived. Looking for more by this fantastic author.



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Review: Garden Styles by Kathleen S Dickason

Garden Styles by Kathleen S Dickason
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Beautifully illustrated book with many creative ideas, this is more than just a book with which to relax and dream about your next garden project. It's a definitive guide to choosing plants and arranging them for viability in your landscape. Contains reference tables on hundreds of landscape plants with complete descriptions and suggestions for using them to their best advantage. Profuse colorful illustrations of many types of gardens show the range of selected plants during all stages of growth, from young gardens through established mature ones. One of my favorite garden reference and inspiration books.

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Review: The Gift of a Home

The Gift of a Home by Beverley Nichols

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I loved this book, and will go searching for more by this author. It's like a neighborly walk with a favorite uncle, except said uncle has an aversion to neighbors. A perfectly charming read, with interesting characters and gardening anecdotes that will have you giggling into your cup of Earl Grey. Highly recommended.



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Review: If Wishes Were Horses

If Wishes Were Horses by Robert Barclay

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



The theme of this book interested me because it was a romance primarily told from the point of view of the male character, and the first chapter set up some possibility of good storytelling. However, the language and plot overall were just too trite and formulaic to hold my interest. I could not like the female character, and the way she was characterised by the author resulted in neither a sympathetic nor sophisticated protagonist. Two stars for effort, and that is just barely merited IMHO.



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Review: A Lost Lady

A Lost Lady by Willa Cather

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



In this short novel, Willa Cather paints a disturbing portrait of a woman caught in the social grip of her times. At once a fiercely independent, charming free spirit and an obedient member of the quietly patriarchal backbone of Victorian society, Marian "Maidie" Forrester elicits both derision and sympathy from today's readers, as she did from the young male narrator of her story. We wonder if we could have performed any better on the stage where Mrs. Forrester found herself. I would be willing to bet that few would.

This story is an insider's view, told in the language and attitudes of the late nineteenth century, and is highly recommended for students of Women's Studies and Social History.



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Review: Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House: Bringing Your Home into Harmony with Nature

Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House: Bringing Your Home into Harmony with Nature by Carol Venolia

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Great book with some excellent ideas that are transportable across house styles and geographic areas, but I wish it had more real life examples from places other than California, with homes other than midwest-modern styles. There were only two homes out of dozens that I could directly relate to, and only one was a pre-20th century home. Still, the general information is well-written, concise, and applicable to many types of homes. Excellent information about microclimates and making your home more in tune with its location and the surrounding ecosystems. I would recommend it to anyone interested in making changes that will lower your energy footprint while preserving the personality of your home, and improving the livability of your own personal space.



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Review: Reviving Ophelia

Reviving Ophelia by Mary Bray Pipher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Thought-provoking, careful, cogent observations designed to open our eyes and help us to see the difficulties our current reality is causing in young women. I don't think we can open this book and not be gripped by the truth Dr. Pipher is pointing out. She's like the child who observed the Emperor has nothing on - she may not be saying what we want to hear, but we cannot deny it needed to be said.

Re-reading this now because it's good to remember what I learned before now that my youngest is Ophelia-ing her way through her teens. And also that, our children come here pretty much perfect, "fresh from God," as Fr. Ernie used to say. It's up to us not to ruin them or allow the world to do so either.



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Review: Skinny Dip

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Just when I needed an amusing and satisfying bit of reading, my cousin dropped off this book at my Mom's. I picked it up and within the first three pages was hooked. There are all kinds of reasons to recommend this book, and you owe it to the Everglades to read it. Truly enjoyable, well-written, and the characters sing with comedic absurdity and rapture by turns.



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Review: The Floatplane Notebooks

The Floatplane Notebooks by Clyde Edgerton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This story was probably not supposed to make me cry, but it did. Rich language interwoven with humor, The Floatplane Notebooks ebbs and flows with the human foibles of a southern family, and it's as real and poignant as the best of its genre. Recommended.



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Review: Kino

Kino by Jürgen Fauth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Amazing, amazing book. Move over, Palahniuk - and I don't say this lightly - Jurgen Fauth is here.

I need to process this book for just a bit before I write a real review, but just wanted to say: read it. It's one of those books, the ones that make you think and gasp in awe at what the writer has actually done, and I look forward to reading more of this talented author's work.


Recommended for those who enjoyed Inglourious Basterds.

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Review: Carpenters Lady the New Edition

Carpenters Lady the New Edition by Barbara Delinsky

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Yeah, no.

This book is a re-issue of an edition that was first published in the early 1990s, but originally the story itself was written and published in 1983. It seems rather sad to look back through the window of time and wonder, is this what passed for acceptable romance twenty to thirty years ago? Really? If so, no wonder this genre has the reputation it does. This book is really, really horrible. I couldn't finish it - and that's saying something. I feel compelled to warn readers about certain issues that may make it as disturbing for them as it was for me.

The premise is that of a recently divorced woman who just passed her 30th birthday and is still coping with the changes and disappointments of losing her husband to a dalliance he felt compelled to explore with a mutual co-worker (both the heroine - and I use that term loosely - and her ex-husband work in the same office as scriptwriters for a daytime soap opera). As premises go, it's a bit awkward but could work given some creative effort. The hero seems guarded and interesting at first - tall, sculpted, brooding, a carpenter who renovates homes. They meet, she hires him, and at first he hesitates, because he's attracted to her and he's not up for a relationship just now - but then he gives in (we're really not sure why), and makes her agree on a condition I found a bit troubling but managed to get over for the sake of the story: that he's not going to control his urges to consummate his attraction if he takes the job.

I have a special affinity for men who work with their hands. Carpenters are top of the list for me, in fact. It's why I picked up the book in the first place - a carpenter and a writer? I'm so there.

I also like a man who knows what he wants, and tells you up front. Honesty is usually a very good trait. So I was intrigued at first, and dove in.

As the story progresses, it soon becomes obvious that what could be interesting tension between the two was just a set-up. The trite handling of circumstances and obvious plot twists designed to get these two to the brink of sexual encounters in the quickest, most ridiculously cheesy fashion possible started to make my eyes bleed. The guy is a total oaf - and not in a cute, endearing way. He's a misogynistic cad who practically rapes the woman while she's struggling to fight off his grabby hands and forced kisses while simultaneously trying to control her own rising passions brought on solely by his physical "charms."

Puh-leeze. Okay, so this may be dated - but really? Did we totally buy that crap in the eighties and nineties? I'm looking at much more recent reviews and wondering how in the world grown women can actually find this palatable - much less acceptable and even "delightful" as one reviewer wrote? Seriously? Um, no.

The female protagonist is a dolt and an airhead. Brief glimpses of what could possibly be evidence that she's not are quickly doused whenever the guy walks in the room. I wish she were smarter. I wish she'd fire his ass, and file a police report. But she doesn't.

By the third time the two of them almost get together my stomach couldn't take any more. Put this one back on the shelf and buy a book on how to fight off selfish, chauvinistic jerks or possible rapists instead, because if this stuff titillates you, you're going to want to know what to do if it happens in real life. If you're one of those women who confuses the lack of mutual respect coupled with a severe lack of self-control for honest attraction, then a class in self-defense would probably save your life one day.





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Review: A Place to Call Home

A Place to Call Home by Deborah Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This book was a lovely, complex read. It is hard for me to find romance stories that I can actually get past the first couple of pages; for every one I pick up, I've put down ten others. Nevertheless, I really enjoy the good ones so I keep looking for those jewels among the dross. Deborah Smith's novel "A Place To Call Home" was everything I look for in this type of book: a rich, intelligently developed plot peopled with characters who are not only interesting but don't do ridiculous things merely for the sake of the dramatic outcome, as well as realistic and well-written dialogue, sub-plots, and side characters who are just as interesting as the main ones. Oh, and a believable connection between the romantic partners - you can easily understand and support why they are who they are and do what they do, without having to make that leap of faith so often necessary for most romantic reads just to be able to get to "the good parts."

It's just really wonderful to see who Roan and Claire became, and how they each brought the best in each other to the surface. Forgiveness and human connection are adeptly woven into the story which makes it all the more satisfying. I highly recommend this book.



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