Svetlana's Reads and Views

Fulfilling the requirement: The B letter for the title alphabetically. Summary: Los Angeles, 1941. Violinist Maddie Kern's life seemed destined to unfold with the predictable elegance of a Bach concerto. Then she fell in love with Lane Moritomo. Her brother's best friend, Lane is the handsome, ambitious son of Japanese immigrants. Maddie was prepared for disapproval from their families, but when Pearl Harbor is bombed the day after she and Lane elope, the full force of their decision becomes apparent. In the eyes of a fearful nation, Lane is no longer just an outsider, but an enemy. When her husband is interned at a war relocation camp, Maddie follows, sacrificing her Juilliard ambitions. Behind barbed wire, tension simmers and the line between patriot and traitor blurs. As Maddie strives for the hard-won acceptance of her new family, Lane risks everything to prove his allegiance to America, at tremendous cost. Lesson learned:  In war, everyone loses. Link to re...

Fulfilling the requirement: The K letter for the title of the book, alphabetically. Summary: Kenjiro...the ambitious, handsome samurai, who fought the barriers of race and sin that stood between him and the beautiful white "barbarian" he loved. Elinor...the stunning Englishwoman, caught in a spell of intrigue and violence, enchantment and ecstasy, torn between two ways of life- and love. Ryo...Kenjiro's sister, who traded a traditional future for a forbidden love and an independent life. Felix...the proper Victorian, forever loving women he could not truly possess, from the married woman who broe his child to the young Japanese girl he was forbidden to marry. Lesson learned: Research, research, research!... Oh wait, you mean from the book? It's possible to find Asian men classy, but only if they act European. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The W letter for the author's last name (Weis) alphabetically. Summary: Dragons. Creatures of legend. Stories told to children. But now dragons have returned to Krynn. The darkness of war and destruction threatens to engulf the land. Then hope appears- a blue crystal staff in the hands of of a beautiful barbarian woman. The promise of hope, as fleeting as smoke upon the autumn wind, forces a group of long-time friends into the unlikely roles of heroes. Knight and barbarian, warrior and half-elf, dwarf and kender and dark-souled mage; they begin a perilous quest for- the legendary Dragonlance. Lesson learned: Anything is possible Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The N letter for the beginning title of letter N alphabetically. Summary: The most sprightly and satirical of Austen's novels, Northanger Abbey is both a comedy of manners and a cautionary tale. Written when the author herself was in early twenties, the novel takes for its heroine seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland, a spirited young woman preoccupied with the pleasures of dressing, dancing, and reading sensational novels. When she is on a visit to the fashionable spa town of Bath, Catherine's naive charm makes her prey to the sinister influences of the ambitious Thorpe family. But she is rescued by handsome Henry Tilney for a visit to his ancestral home, Northanger Abbey, where Catherien's choice of reading material comes back to haunt her. The rambling house full of locked doors and the family's mysterious history give rise to dreadful suspicions, and finally only Catherine's sweet nature and good humor can once again rescue he...

Fulfilling the requirement: The M letter of the alphabet, alphabetically. Summary: Antonia Shimerda returns to Black Hawk, Nebraska, to make a fresh start after eloping with a railway conductor following the tragic death of her father. Accustomed to living in a sod house and toiling alongside the men in the fields, she is unprepared for the lecherous reaction her lush sensuality provokes when she moves to the city. Despite betrayal and crushing opposition, Antonia steadfastly pursues her quest for happiness-a moving struggle that mirrors the quiet drama of the American landscape. Lesson learned: Immigrants have very fascinating stories to share. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The U letter for the first letter or title of the book alphabetically Summary: Be sure to read this summer's highly anticipated companion to Angels Watching Over Me and Lifted Up by Angels: Until Angels Close My Eyes When Neil, Leah's warm and loving step-father, reveals that his cancer is no longer in remission, Leah finds comfort in a visit to Amish country to see her true love, Ethan. When Ethan chooses to leave his life on the farm, he moves in with Leah and her family. But once Ethan arrives, they realize that his Amish values are quite different from those of Leah's complex "English" world. Will their love help, or hurt, Leah as she faces the complex hurdles that await her? Lesson learned: Home and family are vital for survival. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The S letter for the beginning of the title alphabetically. Summary: In this celebrated story of a young woman's awakening as an artist, Thea Kronborg struggles to escape the confines of her small Colorado town without losing the strength and courage she derives from her pioneering heritage. Lesson learned: Fame requires a lot of sacrifices. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The A letter of the alphabet for the author's last name alphabetically. Summary: The romantic clash of two opinionated young people provides the sustaining theme of Pride and Prejudice. Vivacious Elizabeth Bennet is fascinated and repelled by the arrogant Mr. Darcy, whose condescending airs and acrid tongue have alienated her entire family. Their spirited courtship is conducted against a background of assembly-ball flirtations and drawing-room intrigues. Jane Austen's famous novel captures the affections of class-conscious 18th century English families with matrimonial aims and rivalries. Her people are universal; they live a truth beyond time, change, or caricature. George Eliot called Jane Austen "the greatest artist that has ever written," and Sir Walter Scott wrote of her work, "There is a truth of painting in her writings which always delights me." Lesson learned: Love can happen unexpectedly. Link to review: c...

Fulfilling the requirement: The R letter for the author's last name alphabetically. Summary: Emilio Diate has vowed vengeance on the Kingdom for the government's merciless execution of his entire family. Now forced to start over on the merchant island of Golga, where he knew his dancing Talent would be forbidden, the handsome fugitive joins the secret police with only one dark intention- to stlak his family's killers and serve his own brand of justice. But when love intercedes, Diate may become the victim of his own revenge. For Sheba, the woman who has stolen his heart, also wears the crown of queen in the Kingdom, and is the very person Diate has schemed to have assassinated. A treacherous scheme that may end his one true chance at happiness- and spell the end of the universe. Lesson learned: You can't escape no matter how hard you try. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The V letter for the title alphabetically. Summary: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR --- THE DARK POWERS OF RAVENLOFT MIGHT HEAR YOU. Jander Sunstar is a gold elf, a native of magical Evermeet in the Forgotten Realms. He is also a five-hundred-year-old vampire. Torn by rage and grief, Jander is transported into the nightmare realm of Ravenloft, where he gains the attention of the demiplane's master, Count Strand Von Zarovich. But can Jander trust this elegant fellow vampire once he discovers that his own quest for revenge is linked to the dark heritage of the count's domain? Lesson learned: Not all evil is pure evil. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The X letter for the title alphabetically. Summary: When Anna travels to Shanghai to study traditional Chinese painting, she's determined to immerse herself in the local culture- unlike her businessman father, who sticks to a community of Westerners. As an innocent new arrival, Anna spends time with Chenxi, the good-looking and aloof classmate who is her student guide, and is soon forced to recognize that it's much harder to escape being a wai guo ren- a foreigner- than she expected. WHen she unwittingly draws the attention of officials to Chenxi and his radical artist friends, she must face the terrible price of her actions. A deeply felt love story filled with raw emotion, cultural collisions, and memorable characters, Chenxi and the Foreigner offers an unrestrained look at hte limits on freedom in the repressive atmosphere of 1980s China. Lesson learned: Its possible to be independent. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The K letter for the author's last name alphabetically. Summary: Reared by wolves in the jungle, Mowgli sometimes hunts with the animals and sometimes is hunted by them! He must face unfriendly ones on his own- like the chattering army of monkeys who kidnap him to their tree-top home; the ever-hungry tiger, Shere Khan; even his own kind, Man- and learn to live by the law of the jungle. These wonderful stories, each one more exciting than the last, can be read time and again for thrills, adventure, and endless insight into people and animals and their relationship. Lesson learned: There's laws everywhere, even in jungle. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The letter Q for the title, alphabetically. Summary: If you have ever asked yourself where the Golden Snitch came from, how the Bludgers came into existence, or why the Wigtown Wanderers have pictures of meat cleavers on their robes, you need Quidditch Through the Ages. This limited edition is a copy of the volume in Hogwarts School Library, where it is consulted by young Quidditch fans on an almost daily basis. Proceeds from the sale of this book will go to improving and saving the lives of children around the world- work that is even more important and astonishing than the three-and-a-half-second capture of the Golden Snitch by Roderick Plumpton in 1921. Albus Dumbledore Lesson learned: To make something modern, make use of many incidents. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The T letter for the title alphabetically. Summary: Violated by one man, forsaken by another, Tess Durbeyfield is the magnificent and spirited heroine of Thomas Hardy’s immortal work. Of all the great English novelists, no one writes more eloquently of tragic destiny than Hardy. With the innocent and powerless victim Tess, he creates profound sympathy for human frailty while passionately indicting the injustices of Victorian society. Scorned by outraged readers upon its publication in 1891, Tess of the d’Urbervilles is today one of the enduring classics of nineteenth-century literature. Lesson learned: There are double standards for men and women. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The R Letter for the title alphabetically. Summary: Handsome and ambitious, Julien Sorel is determined to rise above his humble peasant origins and make something of his life-by adopting the code of hypocrisy by which his society operates. Julien ultimately commits a crime-out of passion, principle, or insanity-that will bring about his downfall. The Red and the Black is a lively, satirical picture of French Restoration society after Waterloo, riddled with corruption, greed, and ennui. The complex, sympathetic portrayal of Julien, the cold exploiter whose Machiavellian campaign is undercut by his own emotions, makes him Stendhal's most brilliant and human creation-and one of the greatest characters in European literature. Lesson learned: If you're on top, you're more likely to have enemies. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The T letter for the author's last name alphabetically. Summary: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort." The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure," Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortu...

Fulfilling the requirement: The C letter for the author's last name alphabetically. Summary: Highly acclaimed by critics, The Foreign Student is the story of a young Korean man, scarred by war, and the deeply troubled daughter of a wealthy Southern American family. In 1955, a new student arrives at a small college in the Tennessee mountains. Chuck is shy, speaks English haltingly, and on the subject of his earlier life in Korea he will not speak at all. Then he meets Katherine, a beautiful and solitary young woman who, like Chuck, is haunted by some dark episode in her past. Without quite knowing why, these two outsiders are drawn together, each sensing in the other the possibility of salvation. Moving between the American South and South Korea, between an adolescent girl's sexual awakening and a young man’s nightmarish memories of war, The Foreign Student is a powerful and emotionally gripping work of fiction. Lesson learned: The road to love is fraught with multiple...

Fulfilling the requirement: The O letter for the author's last name alphabetically. Summary: In the Pacific there is an island that looks like a big fish sunning itself in the sea. Around it blue dolphins swim, otters play, and sea birds abound. Once, Indians also loved on the island. And when they left and sailed to the east, one young girl was left behind. Karana is the Indian girl who lived alone for years on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Year after year she waited for a ship to rescue her. But while she waited, she kept herself alive by building shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs. Hers is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery. Lesson learned: Being on a deserted island is a lonely life. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The U letter for the author's last name alphabetically. Summary: World War II is raging. Yuki and her Japanese-American family are forced from their home in California and imprisoned in a US concentration camp called Topaz. After months of unbearable life in Topaz, Yuki and her family are finally released. They are free, but are left with nothing. WIth nowhere to go, and no money to get there, the road to rebuilding their lives seems endless. But in the end, it is their unyielding faith and courage that guide them home, reunited and hopeful. Journey Home is an extraordinary story of one's family struggle to survive one of the most tragic episodes in US history. Lesson learned: the world never stays the same. Link to review: click here

Fulfilling the requirement: The letter J for the title alphabetically. Summary: "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated..." With her grandmother's taunt, Louise knew that she, like the biblical Esau, was the despised elder twin. Caroline, her selfish younger sister, was the one everyone loved. Growing on a tiny Chesapeake Bay island, Louise reveals how Caroline robbed her of everything: her hopes for schooling, her friends, her mother, even her name. While everyone pampered Caroline, Louise began to learn the ways of the watermen and the secrets of the island where they lived. SHe dreamed of working as a waterman alongside her father, but she found that her dream did not satisfy the woman she was becoming. Alone and unsure, Louise began to fight her way to a place where Caroline could not reach. Lesson learned: If you're unhappy about something, please speak up instead of keeping silent. Link to review: click here