Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Hongo/ Stingray Author: Kim Joo Young (Inrae You Vinciguerra and Louis Vincinguerra are translators) ISBN: 978 1 56478 959 4 Publisher: Dalkey Archive Type of book: 1950s, small farming village, missing father, South Korea, travel, abandonment, survival, rumors, seasons, memories, creations, secrets, growing up, coming of age, moving on Year it was published: 2013 (original 1998) Summary: Hailed by critics, "Stingray" has been described by its author as "a critical biography of my loving mother." With his father having abandoned his family for another woman, Se-young and his mother are forced to subsist on their own in the harsh environment of a small Korean farming village in the 1950s. Determined to wait for her husband's return, Se-young's mother hangs a dried stingray on the kitchen doorjamb; to her, it's a reminder of the fact that she still has a husband, and that she must behave as a married woman would, despite...

A Quaker girl's diary reflects her experiences growing up in the Delaware River Valley of Pennsylvania and her capture by Lenape Indians in 1763. For my take on the book, click here COMING UP 4 out of 5 (0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)

Name of Book: Cry of the Wind Author: Sue Harrison ISBN: 0-380-72604-1 Publisher: Avon Fiction Part of a Series: Storyteller Trilogy Type of book: Alaska, Near River, Cousin River, war, effects, evil, healing, daily life, mysteries, murders, forbidden love. 610 Pre-Modern Era, 6458-6456? PME Year it was published: 1998 Summary: Winter looms in this place of icy splendor near the top of the world-chilling a heart already frozen by hatred and cold dreams of revenge? Experience and adversity have made the storyteller Chakliux a wise and powerful hunter and a man of great respect. But a tender heart is his weakness. In his village lives the beautiful Aqamdax for whom he yearns, though she is mated to a cruel and dangerous tribesman she does not love. It is Chakliux she runs to under a clear, moonlit sky while the village sleeps. But there can be no future for them together until a curse upon their people has been transcended. And then there is K'os, the healing woman...

Name of Book: Until Angels Close My Eyes Author: Lurlene McDaniel ISBN: 0-553-57098-6 Publisher: Laurel Leaf Books Part of a Series: The Angels Trilogy Type of book: Cancer, Amish, 1990s, relationship, choices, belonging, home, family, young adult Year it was published: 1998 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? Characters: The characters felt flat and somehow pr...

Name of Book: White Eagle's Touch Author: Karen Kay ISBN: 978-1-60928-975-1 Publisher: Samhain Publishing Part of a Series: Blackfoot Warriors Type of book: West, inheritance, wars, revenge, coup, White female/Native American male relationship, interracial, promises, Pikuni, Blackfoot 1832-1833, romance, adult, nature Year it was published: 1998 Summary: Katrina Wellington is vexed. She must marry to obtain the rest of her inheritance. But her uncle, who left her in New York with a governess to make his fortune out West, has suddenly decided he must approve of her fiance before he will loosen the purse strings to her dowry. Swallowing her outrage, the socialite treks to the same wilderness that claimed her parents' lives years ago. Some small part of her is crestfallen that her uncle is not waiting with open arms. Only three guides, Indian guides, await her, and one of them is far too handsome for his own good. At first, White Eagle does not like the spo...

Name of Book: The Poisonwood Bible Author: Barbara Kingsolver ISBN: 0060786507 Publisher: Harper Perennial Type of book: Africa, 1959-1990s, Congo, Zaire, American female/African male, interracial relationship, bible, poisonwood, paralyze, reverend, nature,  conversion, faith Year it was published: 1998 Summary: As any reader of The Mosquito Coast knows, men who drag their families to far-off climes in pursuit of an Idea seldom come to any good, while those familiar with At Play in the Fields of the Lord or Kalimantaan understand that the minute a missionary sets foot on the fictional stage, all hell is about to break loose. So when Barbara Kingsolver sends missionary Nathan Price along with his wife and four daughters off to Africa in The Poisonwood Bible, you can be sure that salvation is the one thing they're not likely to find. The year is 1959 and the place is the Belgian Congo. Nathan, a Baptist preacher, has come to spread the Word in a remote village rea...

Name of Book: Remembering the Titanic Author: Diane Hoh ISBN: 0-590-87585-x Publisher: Scholastic Part of a Series: Titanic Duology; prequel, Titanic the long night Type of book: 1913, young adult, post traumatic stress disorder, Titanic, coping with tragedy Year it was published: 1998 Summary: It has been one year since that fateful night on the Titanic. For the survivors, it is a constant struggle with grief and shock, and thoughts of those who didn't survive. Though he refuses to speak about the terrible night on the dark sea, Kati Hanrahan thinks Patrick "Paddy" Kelleher is happy. But Paddy can't stop thinking about what more he could have done to save his brother Brian's life. Max has embraced life as an artist but he's losing patience with Elizabeth, who is having trouble finding her independence. When Elizabeth sees the dark brooding paintings that he's been working on furiously, she knows that he is wrestling with the same p...

Name of Book: Titanic The Long Night Author: Diane Hoh ISBN: 0-590-33123-X Publisher: Scholastic Part of a Series: Titanic Duology: Remembering the Titanic next Type of book: Titanic, first class, third class, April 1912, young adult Year it was published: 1998 Summary: Who will survive the long night? Everyone thought the RMS Titanic could never sink. But when it struck a huge iceberg just before midnight on April 14th, 1912, the helpless passengers found out they were wrong. Beautiful Elizabeth Farr and dashing Max Whittaker in the first class...Brian and Patrick Kelleher and pretty red-haired Kathleen Hanrahan in steerage...Everyone is faced with biting cold and chruning black waters, tilting lifeboats and pathetic screams. Some will live, but more than fifteen hundred will die on that disastrous night. Will Elizabeth, Max, and Kathleen be among the survivors? Characters: The characters are painted vividly and aren't easily forgettable, although I ...

Name of book: Circle of Fire Author Name: R.L Stine ISBN: 0-307-24800-3 Publisher: Parachute Press Part of a Series: Fear Street Sagas: prequels: A New Fear, House of Whispers, Forbidden Secrets, The Sign of Fear, sequels: Daughters of Silence, Children of Fear, Dance of Death...all the way to The Hand of Power Type of book: Young adult, 1745, 1845, horror, Fier Saga Year it was published: February 1998 Summary: Mia Saxton hates Miss Pemberthy's School for Young Ladies. She has no friends there, no one to talk to. Then Mia stumbles across a secret group-a group of girls who practice the dark arts. As she is drawn into their circle, the spells become darker and more dangerous. Mia's worst enemy ends up dead. Will she be next? Or can she escape the evil that has been unleashed? Characters: The characters have a little more depth than in previous books but still very little is explored about them. It also gives an interesting view into the girl clique...

Name of book: Chamber of Fear Author Name: R.L Stine ISBN: 0-307-24801-1 Publisher: Parachute Press Part of a Series: Fear Street Sagas: prequels: A New Fear...Daughters of Silence...The Awakening Evil, Circle of Fire, sequels: Faces of Terror, One Last Kiss, Door of Death, The Hand of Power Type of book: Young adult, 1845, horror, Fier Saga Year it was published: May 1998 Summary: Carolyn takes a job as assistant to a famous magician. Carolyn knows her mother died trying to unlock the secrets of the Chamber of Fear, the magician's most dangerous prop. No one has ever entered the Chamber and lived. The spirits of those wo have tried are trapped in the Chamber forever. But Carolyn is determined to take a job with the magician and master the Chamber to free her mother's spirit. Even if it costs her own life! Characters: The characters are slightly more fleshed out and believable instead of using the "twist" so to speak. Still, some thing...

Name of book: Door of Death Author Name: R.L Stine ISBN: 0-307-24804-6 Publisher: Parachute Press Part of a Series: Fear Street Sagas: Hand of Power afterwards. Before: One Last kiss , Faces of Terror, Chamber of Fear, Circle of Fire, etc, all the way to A New Fear Type of book: Young adult, 1853-1854, horror, Fier Saga Year it was published: November 1998 Summary: No one belives the Halloween legend about old Jake Fear. But Amy Burke does. In terrifying visions, she saw Jake Fear rise from the grave and kill her two best friends. She know sthis is no tall tale. Jake Fear is coming tomorrow night. But Amy doesn't know that he plans to take her back to his grave...as his ghost bride. Characters: The characters seemed a bit interesting but again not memorable and at least for me, not people I easily sympathized or liked. Theme: As it is repeated, cheaters never prosper. Plot: I think some parts of it were ripped from Christopher Pike's Whisper of...

Name of book: Faces of terror Author Name: R.L Stine ISBN: 0-307-24802-x Publisher: Parachute Press Part of a Series: Fear Street Sagas: One Last kiss, Door of Death, Hand of Power afterwards. Before: Chamber of Fear, Circle of Fire, etc, all the way to A New Fear Type of book: Young adult, 1867, horror, Fier Saga Year it was published: July 1998 Summary: A nightmare convinces Elizabeth Nelson that something terrible has happened to her brother Thomas. So she travels to Cliff House, the home of Thomas's mysterious employer, Peter Gustavson. But there's something strange about Gustavson. He spends his days creating grotesque wax figures, their faces frozen in terror. Now Elizabeth wonders, is Gustavson evil? Evil enough to lie to her? Evil enough to murder her brother? Characters: The characters are a bit interesting but to me they aren't very memorable unfortunately. They are one dimensional and simplistic, not complex personalities. One can read i...

Name of book: One Last Kiss Author Name: R.L Stine ISBN: 0-307-24803-8 Publisher: Parachute Press Part of a Series: Fear Street Sagas: Door of Death, Hand of Power afterwards. Before: Faces of Terror, Chamber of Fear, Circle of Fire, etc, all the way to A New Fear Type of book: Young adult, 1730, vampires, Fier Year it was published: September 1998 Summary:  Eleanor Rawlins's mother was killed by vampires-now her father is obsessed with killing them. Eleanor jsut wants a normal life-but that's not possible. Even her handsome neighbor Trevor Fier can't protect her from the creatures of the night and their kiss of death... Characters: I think that the characters here are much more on a deeper scale rather than in previous novels. But because the book was not longer, it is impossible to go deeply into their psyches to understand them. Theme: I'm honestly uncertain of what the message is. I think that more than anything, this was written purel...

Name of book: The Fires of Spring Author Name: Mary Mackey ISBN: 0-451-19589-2 Publisher: Onyx Type of book: young adult-adult, Pre-historical Europe Year it was published: 1998 Part of a Series: The Year the Horses Came, The Horses at the Gate, previously Summary: The year is 4300 BC. The place is Europe, where Eastern nomads have invaded Shara, a civilized city that worships the great Goddess...and where a bold and passionate young woman named Keshna comes of age as a female warrior and a daring avenger. The nomad diviner Changar has kidnapped Queen Marrah's son Keru-and Keshna has vowed to hunt Changar down. But the barbaric Changar is a force to fear. He has taken possession of Keru's spirit and turned him against his own people. Across a land of warring tribes, primitive rituals, and savage terrors of nature, Keshna begins an epic struggle for survival as she battles a dangerous, seductive enemy with the power to destroy her people and the proud young ...