It's hard to believe tomorrow is April already! I'm desperately hoping for warmer weather and the emergence of some green things very soon!

The Skin Map by Stephen Lawhead - Review
Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge Sign-Up
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (for the Reading to Know Book Club)

Spilling Clarence by Anne Ursu (It took me a long time to get hooked by this book, but it did eventually happen!)

The Constantine Codex by Paul Maier (I read this book when it first came out, and the ending totally threw me. I figured it's about time for a reread and a second chance.)

Travels in the Greater Yellowstone by Jack Turner (Most of the travel books I read involve European travel. I figure it's about time I read about my own country.)

Confession right up front: I had never heard of this book before seeing it on the Reading to Know Book Club list. It took some tracking down to find a copy of it - my two local libraries didn't have it. I ended up having to request from the neighboring county's library system. I figured this was not a very well-known book.

Then I did a little poking around online about it. And do you know what comes up an awful lot when you search The Little White Horse? That J.K. Rowling said it was her favorite book as a child. I guess it's not that obscure after all.

Secondary Confession: I am incredibly sad that I didn't read this book as a child. This would have fit perfectly right between Anne of Green Gables and the Chronicles of Narnia. It's a book I would have loved at first reading, and subsequently reread repeatedly. I would have gladly retreated to Moonacre Manor whenever I could. Unfortunately, I had to wait until I was nearly 30 to have my first experience with this book.

And yet, the result is the same. I absolutely loved it. I will gladly reread it anytime, and I plan on getting ahold of a copy of my own as soon as I can. So what is it about this book that is as magical at age 29 as it would have been at age 9?

The characters - I would like a Robin of my own. And a Marmaduke Scarlet to cook me my meals, while we're at it.
The animals - Animals that are more than just animals. They are protectors and friends who will never lead your side. And they're just as intelligent as you always suspected they were.
The heroism - When Maria knows she is right, nothing will get in her way. Not scary heights or stubborn Black Men.
The romance - Who doesn't love a happy ending? And everyone gets one in this book by being united with the person they were always meant to be with.
The message - As an adult, I appreciate the balance between fantasy and God. Magic and fantasy don't preclude God. He is in everything, and it is only in putting Him first that we can truly find peace.

I am so glad to have been introduced to The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. And I am glad that one day, I will get to introduce it to my future children and watch them experience it for the first time. It's sure to be just as magical as my first read.

I think (although I make no promises) that this is the last reading challenge I'm signing up for in 2014. I've been saving this one for last because I love participating in this one. It's hosted by Escape with Dollycas, and it requires you to read one book title for each letter of the alphabet. Last year, I completed this A-Z challenge for both book titles and author's last names. This year, I thought I wouldn't commit to quite so much since I'm also participating in a lot of other reading challenges.

I'm always excited to see how my book titles fall in the alphabet. So far this year, I have eleven letters covered - although I've read about five books that start with the letter S. Too bad I can't get bonus points for duplicates! You can check out my Reading Challenges page to see what letters I've completed and what I still have left to go.

“It is the ultimate quest for the ultimate treasure. Chasing a map tattooed on human skin, across an omniverse of intersecting realities, to unravel the future of the future.”

I’ve never read a back cover blurb quite like that one before. It’s intriguing, isn’t it? And confusing, wouldn’t you agree? That seems to be the point.

The story begins with Kit, who happens to run into his great-grandfather Cosimo, who should have been dead years ago, in a back alley in London. He soon discovers he has a gift for travelling between dimensions, realities, whatever you want to call them, using ley lines. Cosimo gives him little enough explanation before sending him home to process this information. Kit returns to his girlfriend, eager to prove he did not make up what just happened to him. He decides to prove it by showing Wilhelmina – and consequently loses her somewhere in space, time, or both.

Stephen Lawhead jumps between storylines like his characters jump between realities. We follow Kit with Cosimo and Kit without Cosimo. We spend time with Wilhelmina in her new reality. We are introduced to Arthur Flinders-Petrie, who mapped skin provides the title of this book. It is rather difficult to keep track of the when of each character’s reality, but it’s surprisingly not difficult to keep track of each character’s story.

The premise of this book really is intriguing, and Lawhead really writes a good book. My only complaint is that this book, the first in the Bright Empires series, seems to be entirely exposition. It’s just the backstory, which could be elaborated in a chapter or two, but instead is filler for an entire novel. There was plenty of action to keep the story going; it just seemed almost superfluous to the real meat of this plot. This novel doesn’t get to the real meat at all. That is saved for future books in the series.

I’m looking forward greatly to reading the remainder of this series, where I hope Lawhead finally lives up to the potential of his premise – omniverse, ley lines, and all.

Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household by Kate Hubbard - Review
Chunkster Challenge Sign-Up (I'm almost done signing up for reading challenges, I promise!)
Lady Vernon and Her Daughter by Jane Rubino - Review

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (How did I miss this book as a child? I'm so glad I finally discovered it!)
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Spilling Clarence by Anne Ursu (I loved Ursu's Breadcrumbs, so I'm hoping I'll enjoy an adult novel by her.)

Good question! I'm not sure, but it'll be something I own that's been gathering dust on my shelves. Isn't that a lovely feeling? To enter a roomful of books with no obligation or list. Just to pick whatever I feel like reading next!

Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway had an uphill battle to create a lovable heroine out of Lady Susan Vernon. In Jane Austen’s original novel, which was written in letter format, Lady Susan is a beautiful widow who does not scruple to use flirtation and manipulation to get what she wants. Her priority is herself, first and foremost. She does not hesitate to do what she wants to do, even if that is holding a long-standing flirtation with a married man. Lady Susan professes no real affection for her daughter, Frederica. She varies between annoyance with any disobedience and frustration with Frederica’s refusal to marry the rich man her mother has picked out for her. She is hardly an endearing character.

The authors of Lady Vernon and Her Daughter do their best to change all of that, and they clearly succeed. Acceptable motives are presented for Lady Vernon’s behavior. Her relationship with her daughter is positive and strong. The tables have been turned entirely from Jane Austen’s original manuscript. Lady Vernon and Frederica are the heroines, and Charles Vernon and his wife have become the self-absorbed villains of the piece. This novel is a very creative retelling of Lady Susan, full of twists and turns that Jane Austen herself would have applauded.

I confess that I am a huge Jane Austen fan. I have read each of her six novels many times, starting with Pride & Prejudice the summer before my junior year of high school. I enjoy the time period and the characters, but most of all, I enjoy Austen’s style of writing. A turn of phrase has often caused me to laugh out loud. While Rubino and Rubino-Bradway do an admirable job of imitating Austen’s style, they do miss out on the sparkle – the satiric wit that makes Austen such a pleasure to read. There are places where satire shows through, especially all the mentions of how the London gossips so continually misread the situation. But there was never a sentence that caused me to smile or laugh at the ludicrousness of a situation or character. Alas, no one can imitate the master exactly.

Lady Vernon and Her Daughter is not a seventh Jane Austen novel. But it is an impressively fleshed-out version of one of Austen’s early manuscripts. And it certainly makes for a wonderful read and an enjoyable story.

One of these weeks, I'll be done signing up for new reading challenges. This is not that week. The Chunkster Challenge is a spur-of-the-moment sign up for me. I've got a spreadsheet where I keep track of all the reading challenges I'm planning to sign up for. Most of those challenges have been on that list since they started appearing in the blogosphere, around November or December of last year. This challenge was added to my spreadsheet yesterday.

I love long books, and I don't read enough of them. Partly, that's because it takes me longer to read books during the school year. Long books stretch out too long. I'm impatient to be onto the next book. But I don't have that excuse during the summer. So a commitment to long books it is!

There are no levels for this challenge this year. You can pick any number you'd like to aim for. I'm officially picking 8 chunksters (my plan to reread all of Harry Potter this summer is helping with this goal). Eight books is doable without being stressful. However, I am unofficially challenging myself to 10 books. We'll see if I can stretch myself just that much more! You can check out my progress on my Reading Challenges page.

Kate Hubbard does a remarkable job of making Serving Victoria an extremely interesting book to read. After all, it is essentially a book about being bored. Ladies-in-waiting were called that for a reason. They waited until the queen needed them. And then they waited until she was done needing them. It sounds like a glamorous life, but it really isn’t. It sounds like a book about such a life would be deathly dull, but it really isn’t. In fact, it’s a fascinating look at life in Queen Victoria’s household.

Serving Victoria introduces us to six people who served Queen Victoria – from ladies-in-waiting to her private secretary to her doctor. Using information culled from diaries and letters, this book paints a picture of a life of service to the whims of a monarch. It shows us Victoria as a young bride, full of excitement, as well as a Victoria brought down by grief, obsessing over details and remembrances. It doesn’t always paint a flattering picture of this beloved queen, but I have no doubt it’s a realistic one.

The bottom line is that Victoria was a person just like anyone else. She had the same cares and concerns for her family as any of her subjects. She felt the same emotions when life was good or bad. She, too, worried about people’s opinions of her. This intimate portrait of Queen Victoria stands side-by-side with the portraits of those who served her. Both are painted with a sympathetic brush. Hubbard has made Queen Victoria and her household come to life in a way that shows both sides of the story.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Normally, I would be teaching school right now instead of posting this. However, due to a water main break, we have no school today. That makes Day #12 that we've had off this school year. There's been no word yet as to how all of these days will affect our end date in June. So for now, Pevensie and I are just going to enjoy the day!

3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares - Review
My sign-up post for the You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
Saturday Snapshot (Prague!)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (I finished it with plenty of time to spare before our second book club meeting - this Friday. I loved this book, and I can't wait to discuss it!)

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (Not exactly what I expected, but I'm definitely enjoying it.)

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (for the Reading to Know Book Club)

After that, it's back to selecting books off my own shelves. I'm falling way behind in my goal for my Mount TBR Challenge!

It's been awhile since I've done a Saturday Snapshot post. But as the winter stretches on and on, I'm beginning to dream of summer and travelling. I put the pictures from our trip in 2011 as a slideshow on the background of my laptop. I thought I'd share three of my favorites from one of my favorite cities in the whole world - Prague!

This is actually the view from our hotel room. We were right up by the castle. I don't know how we got lucky enough to get this view, but I could have stared out the window for hours.

This is the effect of the stained glass in St. Vitus' Cathedral. I've never seen any other stained glass windows as vibrantly colored as these. They are absolutely beautiful!

This is a picture of the city, castle, and cathedral taken from Vysehrad, a fort down the river from the city center. Prague is one of those cities you could wander around in forever. I hope I'm blessed enough to be able to go back someday!