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Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, by Abigail Reynolds

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy
The Last Man in the World
by Abigail Reynolds
Sourcebooks
978-1-4022-294-3
256 pages




Pride and Prejudice fans will love and no doubt accept this “what if” plot scenario devised by Abigail Reynolds in Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, The Last Man in the World. The premise of the story is, suppose that Elizabeth accepted Mr. Darcy’s original proposal of marriage and they became husband and wife. Caught in a dilemma, faced with social ruin, Elizabeth does just that in Reynolds short novel. She really loathes him and finds the idea of being his wife abhorrent and distasteful. He on the other hand is madly in love with her and obsesses over her to extreme. When her true feelings are revealed to him, he recoils into his arrogant abyss. There lives are tenuous and as tempestuous as the original Darcy and Elizabeth.

Reynolds creative imagination provides a charming and whimsical fun read with her alternative plot twist. Her interpretation of the characters is a seamless blend. They are true to the memory of the original cast. Mr. Darcy’s speech and demeanor is still abrupt and aristocratically arrogant. At times I would like to shake sense into Elizabeth’s, but then with a sister’s support, cheering on her attempts to win back Darcy.

Reynolds succeeds in delivering a passionate Pride and Prejudice detour that is entertaining and honest.


Disclosure:
This copy was provided by Danielle at Sourcebooks.

Read in 2009.

Alas....My Challenges Recap Revised

Plan ahead, two words my father was often trying to instill in me. He would even have a diagram of the two words that ran close to the edge of a piece of paper so that the words had to abruptly change direction vertically in order to fit it on the page. This image comes to mind today. I had scheduled "Alas...My Challenges Recap" to publish at a specific date and time, hoping to finish the post by then. What you may not realize is that it is incomplete and I had intended on writing a bit as well. So, the post did come out on time, I just did not plan ahead...enough. Ok Dad, I messed up this time.

So, this is a REVISED edition of My Challenges Recap. Sorry for the mix-up.

Challenge according to The New Oxford American Dictionary is

1. a call to take part in a contest or competition, esp. a duel : he accepted the challenge.
• a task or situation that tests someone's abilities : the ridge is a challenge for experienced climbers.

I accepted several challenges this year with high hopes. I had every intention of picking up each gauntlet with equal enthusiasm. I began to tackle the lists of books and diligently made blog entries, captured my reading progress and moved on to the next selection.

I failed miserably with challenges this year. I only read one book for the Austin Challenge, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, by Abigail Reynolds. I still owe a review for this one. I never would have read that book had I not signed up for this challenge. I am intrigued by the many novels published with Pride and Prejudice alternative plot possibilities. This challenge has widened my book snob selection process outside of my so called comfort zone. So for that I am grateful to this challenge.


The second challenge I bombed was the Sookie Stackhouse Challenge. Again, I only read the first book, Dead Until Dark. However, I love this series and plan to continue it through 2010. I have to admit I signed up for the challenge after I read the first book, but I still have enthusiasm and drive to complete this one.

The third challenge that I totally ignored was my own Book Buddy Challenge. I didn't read one book. I am so sorry for that. Pitiful, pathetic and just no excuse. I completed snubbed my poor dog Wizard. I owe you a few treats big guy.

The last challenge I had trouble with was the Romance Challenge. I believe I read a few romance novels, The Wild Heart, by Rosemary Rogers comes to mind. I honestly don't read many romance novels and this would have been a great challenge for me. I just never got to it.



These are the challenges I did complete, along with my 100 Books Read Challenge.


Pub Challenge



1. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, Fiction (Published 2-09)
2. The Scramble for Africa Darfur-Invertention and the USA by Steven Fake and Kevin Funk Non-Fiction (Published 2-09)
3. Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell Fiction (Published 1/20/09)
4. The History of Now by Daniel Klein Fiction (Published 2/09)
5. The Miracles of Prato by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz
6. Seducing the Spirit by Louise Young
7. The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown
8. Every Boat Turns South by Jay White
9. The Secret Keeper by Paul Harris
10.Sweeping Up Glass, by Carolyn D. Wall

Southern Reading Challenge



1.Dead Until Dark, by Chalaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse)
2.Scottsboro, by Ellen Feldmen
3.Sweeping Up Glass, by Carolyn D. Wall
4.Every Boat Turns South, by Jay White
5.All Other Nights by Dara Horn
6.Salvos on Blackwater: A Novel of the Civil War Period, by Erwin Wunderlich



War Through the Generations



1.The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
2.The German Woman, by Paul Griner
3.Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,by Jamie Ford
4.Daddy's Little Spy by Isabella Rosa
5.The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy


Lessons and notes after my first full year of challenges:
1. Challenges cause me stress and worry and can put a person over the edge with anxiety. :(
2. Challenges have encouraged me to expand my reading choices. :)
3. Challenges are a fun way to connect with other bloggers. :)
4. Challenges whether or not you are a participant, lead to reflective reviews posted by fellow bloggers. :)
5. Challenges show other readers what my interests are. :)

As a recap, I came up with 4 out of 5 reasons to continue doing challenges in 2010. The only sad face I gave out was because of the anxiety and stress I put on myself when I don't finish a challenge. I can easily solve this by limiting my challenges this year. Since I still have courses I am taking for my Masters in History, upon reflection, this makes sense. I also need to get better, plan ahead to make sure I track my reading better, so that posting challenges will be less arduous. Sorry it took so long to post this recap but planning ahead as my father would tell you was never my forte. I will be posting my challenges on Sunday. Don't hold me to that. LOL

Wordless Wednesday

I couldn't resist snapping this pic of my friend's cat......

Teaser Tuesdays, January 12, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

"I pitched my tent where Henry David Thoreau, on July 28, 1857, pitched his.

I felt teary doing it." p.72

Summary from the back cover..."From the day Jonathan Cobb and Mary Fury meet on the banks of Maine's Allagash River, they approach life with the same adventurous spirit with which they conquer the river's treacherous rapids. But rivers do not let go so easily. And so for them, the life they love demands equally that they confront the most difficult of choices....."

Mailbox Monday, January 11, 2010

As most of you know Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Thank you once again Marcia for hosting this weekly event. :)

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

This week in my mailbox I received:



I read about this book a short time ago on Musings of a Bookish Kitty's Blog. When I read her fabulous review of Guests of the Ayatollah, I ordered it right away and it just arrived this past week. I can't wait to get started on this one. I recall this dark time in our nation's history and I will be anxious to read how history records the event. Written in 2006, the reviews are spectacular. Mark Bowden is also the author of Black Hawk Down.

Mystery's Looking Better

Mystery is looking so much better tonight after sleeping all day. She is still looking a bit tentative and wobbly, but no seizure today! Thanks to all of you for your energy, healing, prayers and good wishes. I know it helped her and me get through a long 24 hours. This is a photo from just this past hour. She's back on the couch sleeping after she gobbled up her night cookie and snatched her brother's from under his nose. I guess she is feeling better. You just can't keep those Alpha females down for too long. LOL :)

Sunday Salon, January 10, 2010

This has been a stressful week and an even more stressful 24 hours. Mystery, my youngest greyhound has been sick and I had her at the veterinarian this week. She hasn't been herself. Yesterday afternoon I came home to feed my four and let them out. Once settled down, I picked up the book I was reading, Breakfast in Bed, a hot romance. I am trying to finish this one for a review I owe for Sourcebook.

All of a sudden Mystery was clawing the floor and couldn't stand up. She was having a seizure. It was awful and the fear in her eyes was enough to make me panic, but I knew I had to remain focused. Her heart was racing and she couldn't stand up, she didn't know where she was. I'm not so sure she even knew who I was.

After calling my vet, then the emergency hospital in Katonah (one hour away) they needed to see her. I scrambled to get her into the car...by lifting 65lbs of greyhound. I was fortunate to have my two great friends who I just left in the area offer to drive. I don't know what I would have done without them, I was frazzled.

We were at the hospital for 4 hours and after numerous tests and exams, at this moment the cause is still unknown, with any number of possibilities. They wanted to keep her 24hours, but since I have Sunday off, she is by my side right now. She made it through the night, and is still sleeping. She may have a seizure disorder, it may be an isolated incident, it may be something we won't talk about right now. I'm hoping it will go away. The people at Katonah Hospital in New York were amazing and I can't thank them enough. They really treat the patient and owners with respect and dignity with sincere empathetic eagerness to help.

Hoping you can all send some special white light to my girl Mystery to help her get better. She is a little pistol, my alpha of the pack and is normally the spit-fire, 45mph couch potato that rules her brothers and torments the kitties. Even Owen Beanie, her arch nemesis, knew something was really wrong, he began howling a plaintive moan when Mystery was stricken. He just knew.

My reading has been way off this week. I will be finishing this rather uncharacteristic book for me, Breakfast in Bed. Probably, at this point it is better I am not reading anything emotionally draining, so this works.


I will be starting Eternal on the Water,by Joseph Monninger, which is a First Look Book Club selection due up for discussion this week at Barnes and Noble.

Have a great week everyone!

2010 Books Read List

January 2010

The Day the Falls Stood Still, by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Breakfast in Bed, by Robin Kaye
Jantsen's Gift, by Pam Cope

February 2010

Black Hills, by Dan Simmons
Daughters of the Witching Hill, by Mary Sharratt
Mark Twain's Other Woman, by Laura Trombley
Etta, by Gerald Kolpan
Making Rounds with Oscar, by David Dosa, M.D.
Bloodroot, by Amy Greene
Mistress of the Revolution, by Catherine Delors

March 2010

The Ninth, by Harvey Sachs
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, by Kelly O'Connor McNees
The Lotus Eaters, by Tatjani Soli
Pieces of Sky, by Kaki Warner
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, by C.W.Gortner

April 2010
The Captive Queen, by Alison Weir
The Heretic Queen, by Michelle Moran
The Language of Secrets, by Dianne Dixon

May 2010
the map of true places, by Brunonia Barry
The Postmistress, by Sarah Blake
The Go Between, A Novel of the Kennedy Years, by Frederick Turner
Original Sins, by Peg Kingman
A Cottage by the Sea, Ciji Ware

June 2010
Diamond Ruby, by Joseph Wallace
The Sundance Kid, by Donna B. Ernst
The Alchemy and Meggy Swan, by Karen Cushman
A Fierce Radiance, by Lauren Belfer
The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende
An Eagle Named Freedom, by Jeff Guidry

July 2010
Days of Grace, Catherine Hall
The King's Mistress, Emma Campion
The Prince of Mist, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Lady of the Butterflies, by Fiona Mountain

The Day the Falls Stood Still, by Cathy Marie Buchanan

The Day the Falls Stood Still
Cathy Marie Buchanan
Voice-Hyperion Books
September 2009
978-1-4013-4097-1
320 pp.
$24.99





Bess Heath is leaving for the summer, after finishing her Junior year as a student at Loretto Academy in Niagra Falls. At the commencement ceremonies for the graduating seniors, she learns her father has lost his job as the director of the Niagra Power Company. This will surely negate her return to Loretto in the fall as the family’s lifestyle suddenly plummets to a tenuous existence. In order to make ends meet her mother takes in sewing, her father drinks. Oddly, her sister, is also abandoned by her fiancee, the son of her father’s former boss.

When her sister is found dead by Tom Cole, the riverman, she goes with him to see her. Only then does she learn the secret her sister held close. With Tom as an ally she is able to silence the truth to protect her sister’s memory. She is drawn to Tom, an attractive, strong, sensitive man, with a calm demeanor, who loves the outdoors.

He is the grandson of the infamous Fergus Cole who knew the river better than anyone. Tom has grown up along side the river. It in his blood. He knows the river, he can feel it. “He just knows.” Like his grandfather, he becomes a hero, saving the people who try to challenge the river. He loves the natural world and he worries about the power company and the drain on the river. His integrity and marriage are on the line when he must compromise his position and beliefs in order to provide for his family.

After her sister’s death, Bess struggles with grief and her belief in God. She has difficulty finding meaning in life and Tom tells her,

“But there is meaning in everything. In dew. And wind. Even in the birds squawking at dawn.” (151)

This is a historical fiction novel, based on the history of Niagra Falls and some of the unusual events that took place as well as the development of the Niagra Power Company, and the treaties that were enacted. The Niagra Parks website has further information.

One of the most moving and inspiring books I have read in a long time. I sobbed for pages to the end stopping only for tissues. During the final scene I realized I was holding my breath with anticipation. This has heart tugging drama that rips through to your core and will make you think as Bess will say, “Faith is believing without proof.”

Cathy Marie Buchanan has gifted us a beautiful story of faith and love, a stellar debut that should be on everyone's TBR list.

Wordless Wednesday, January 6th 2009

Wordless Wednesday

Still inspired by the phenomenal novel The Day the Falls Still Stood, by Cathy Marie Buchanan....ahhhhh

(From the Library of Congress American Memory, Detroit Publishing Company)
Item Title

American Falls from Goat Island, Niagara.
Created/Published

c1908.
Notes

"G 5600" on negative.
Detroit Publishing Co. no. 071124.
Gift; State Historical Society of Colorado; 1949.


It's been five years this week since my father passed away. Today, his birthday, this post is in his honor. He was a brilliant electrical engineer, dedicated to a career in all aspects of electrical and nuclear energy. Niagra was a special place for both my parents and I wish I could talk to him about this story. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Tuesday Teaser-January 5, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:








The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
From the back cover..."The year is 1915, the dawn of the hydroelectric era in Niagra Falls, Seventeen-year-old Bess Heath has led a life of comfort and ease as the younger daughter of the director of the Niagra Power Company. But when a tragedy leaves her beautiful sister dead and her family disgraced, Bess's life is transformed beyond imagination."



From Page..28

"Last week I told him I could smell the whiskey on him," Isabel says, "He said I sounded like a prohibitionist, and I said if prohibition meant keeping fathers sober, then, war or no war, maybe I was."