Literally Booked

                                  Urbane and His Friends by Elizabeth Prentiss 314 pages 📕📕📕📕📕    I think I was about thirteen when I first read a Prentiss book. The first time around I read it because it was a book to read. The second was an in-depth perusal of its contents. I loved it. That book was Stepping Heavenward. Then came The Home at Greylock, during which I cried. And now this. If I could ever be half as good a writer as she I would be satisfied. The Plot:    This is a sermon told through several persons' lives and faith. Almost, as it were, a parable. Urbane is a pastor who conducts a weekly Bible study with several of his parishioners. Then you get a glimpse into some of their lives betwixt meetings. What I enjoyed/needed: 1. Hermes giving himself fully to God, thus bringing Stephanas' prayers to fruition. 2. Antiochus' struggling and finally giving up the idols he ...

  The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner 280 Pages 📕📕📕📕     If you're looking for brain candy fantasy is the way to go. Ersatz countries in a fake world where anything  goes and it doesn't have to be historically accurate because it isn't true to begin with (historical inaccuracies are a real killer for me). The Plot:    When a thief by the name of Eugenides boasts too loudly of his accomplishments in lands him under heavy guard in the heart of the Sounis gaol. When Magus to the king of Sounis discovers a map leading to Hamiathes' Gift they need a skilled thief to help them acquire said item. Thus the Magus, a soldier, an apprentice, a duke and the thief make up an unlikely team traveling across Eddis and Attolia in search of the Gift. Once they reach the temple of Aracthus Eugenides is in a race against time to find the Gift before death finds him. What I enjoyed: 1. The humour was exquisite. Though at times I really wished Eugenides would just shut up....

                                                                      Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan 587 pages 📕📕📕📕📕    Oh. My. Gosh. This woman can write! Such a beautiful crescendo of emotion. I can't tell you how lovely it was to read this.    My cousin wanted me to read this, even to the point of sending it with me to Iowa under oath that I return it by the time I next saw him in two weeks. How glad I am that he did.    I began hesitantly enough, noting it's size and the time crunch. Oh, gracious! What a heart wrencher.  The Plot:    Three sisters trapped under a spell. Three children with choices to make. A harmonica as it travels through time, across nations, and touches lives. And each life it touches it inevitably draws to the others. What I loved: 1. I could hear t...