Blogging for Books: The Mapmaker's Children

Blogging for books is such a fun collaboration!!  If I could get through books as quickly as I would like (jobs and life just ruin everything! ;) ), I would have read and written WAY more reviews than I have.

In case you missed them, thanks to my sporadic blogging habits, here are the first two books that I've reviewed:

The Thirteenth Gift by Joanne Huist Smith

Flipped by Doug Pagitt

I just finished reading The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy, and I wanted to get my post about it done right way!  I'm happy to report that after an, "eh" experience with The Thirteenth Gift and not enjoying Flipped, I LOVED this book!

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First of all, if you've been around here for any length of time, I think you probably know that I am in love with historical fiction.  While my obsession has mostly centered around the English courts in Philippa Gregory's novels, I'm pretty much a sucker for all things historical fiction.  

The Mapmaker's Children weaves together the tales of Sarah Brown, daughter of abolitionist, John Brown, and Eden Anderson.  Sarah's story takes place in the late 1850's and early 1860's, and Eden's story occurs in 2014.  I was immediately taken with Sarah, and was disappointed when I had to leave the past and return to the present.  Eden was very unlikable to me, at first.  She was grouchy, mean, and kind of whiny.  One of the best parts of reading this book was following Eden as she grew and changed throughout the story.  I loved how McCoy connected the past and the present.  As details of the past unfolded, many things became clear in the present.  I ended up giving this book 5 stars on Goodreads.com because it moved me to tears.  That's an automatic 5 star rating to me!

After struggling to like Eden's character at the beginning, I was disappointed that her story seemed to end abruptly.  I wasn't completely satisfied with the resolution and conclusion for her.

Overall, I highly recommend this book!  I was left feeling mostly satisfied with its conclusion, and I am actually very curious to learn more about the real life of Sarah Brown!

What have you been reading lately?

Stuff & Things 7/9

• Clearly, I have not been around here much lately.  With an uneventful summer taking place, it has occurred to me that blogging is just no longer one of my priorities.  But every now and then, I feel like sharing something.  So I'll pop up from time to time....especially to share the books I'm reading. #booknerd
• I have decided that I hate cooking.  This is kind of sad because I really like food.  The problem is that in order to eat food, I have to cook it.  I find this to be an interesting turn of events because I used to like sharing my experiences with cooking here in this space.  You can still see the recipes I've tried in my ABC order Recipe Index or the Category Index.  

• It will  not quit raining here in Pennsylvania.  I think I should build an ark.... 

• I have decided that I will be teaching a reading unit on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone this year.  I know so many kids love it, and even if they've read it/heard it/seen the movie before, studying it will be different and fun!  One of the things I plan to do is have a Class Cup competition during the unit!  Students will earn points for getting 100% on tests and quizzes, turning in assignments on time, being prepared for class, etc.  

What kinds of stuff and things are happening with you lately?