Book Review

The First 30 days was a book that I downloaded quite a while ago. It was one that I curious about for many reasons. I am glad I read it but wish that I owned the hard copy on this one because it is a workbook and there are things that I would go back and reference. That is a little hard to do on the Kindle. It has to be one of the better self-help books that I have read.

I also read "Miss Theodosia's Heartstrings". There is not a picture of the cover for this one. It is out of print and probably should stay that way. It was a sweet story but after I read it I was actually having nightmares. Miss Theodosia had just returned from a trip in Europe and found a little 8 year old girl sitting on her porch with a baby in her arms. Miss Theodosia found herself suddenly in the whirl of the children next door. Their mother had gone to be with their aunt because the aunt had broken her leg. You do get caught up in the story and it is not until the very end that you realize that the mother has been gone all summer long! She left a 12 year old daughter, and 8 year old daughter, a 5 year old son and an infant son - all to their own devices while she spent time with her sister (the father had died just before the infant son had been born). I was telling a friend of mine the plot and she she said the mother probably had post-partum depression and had to get away for a while. I am not sure why this affected me so negatively. It wouldn't have even a couple of years ago - but suddenly it just devastated me. So, even though the book ends all happy and wonderful (the mother is returning the next day at the end of the book) it still really rubbed me the wrong way.

The English Governess at the Siamese Court was wordy and sometimes very hard to follow. I had read "Anna and the King of Siam" years ago and I think what they did was condense her rambling in to an actual story. I wanted to throw myself a party when I finished this book!

I finally uploaded a book that was not on the 'free' list today because I decided I had had enough of the rambling prose of the turn of the 20th century for a while. I will go back to the books I plan on reading from the 19th and early 20 century in a week or two but I need a break for a while and read something fast paced and fun.