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Books IV (or is it V, VI?)
Jun. 7th, 2007 09:00 pmI recently finished A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson. It is about a young countess, Anna, who has fled revolutionary torn Russia with her family. In need of money, she works as a maid for a wealthy English family, hoping to keep her aristocracy a secret. She is nearly overwhelmed not only by her new duties, but also by her attraction for the handsome -- and engaged -- Earl of Westerholme.
While the premise of the story is a bit predictable, I was soon drawn into the story. The second half of the book was very good and I was nervously wondering how things would work out up to the last chapter. Ms. Ibbotson is a great storyteller, with wonderful drawn characters. Her writing of the time period was very good as well as her descriptions and dialogue.
Both emotional and funny, I highly recommend this. It is a real treat.
I just finished At the Altar of Speed, a biography on Dale Earnhardt by Leigh Montville. My brother is into NASCAR and I randomly decided to find a book about Earnhardt since I knew hardly anything about him. The book opened and closed focusing on the crash that Earnhardt died in. I guess I'm used to reading more detailed bios that give a lot of information about different periods of a person's life. At the Altar of Speed was very general in certain areas, giving more of a brief overview of Earnhardt's life than a real detailed account, IMO.
But this was in the end an interesting read about one of NASCAR's most famous race car drivers.
P.S. My grandmom got me the new Jane Eyre on DVD. I probably won't see it until August. Tomorrow and Saturday I'll be busy getting ready to leave for camp Sunday afternoon.
While the premise of the story is a bit predictable, I was soon drawn into the story. The second half of the book was very good and I was nervously wondering how things would work out up to the last chapter. Ms. Ibbotson is a great storyteller, with wonderful drawn characters. Her writing of the time period was very good as well as her descriptions and dialogue.
Both emotional and funny, I highly recommend this. It is a real treat.
I just finished At the Altar of Speed, a biography on Dale Earnhardt by Leigh Montville. My brother is into NASCAR and I randomly decided to find a book about Earnhardt since I knew hardly anything about him. The book opened and closed focusing on the crash that Earnhardt died in. I guess I'm used to reading more detailed bios that give a lot of information about different periods of a person's life. At the Altar of Speed was very general in certain areas, giving more of a brief overview of Earnhardt's life than a real detailed account, IMO.
But this was in the end an interesting read about one of NASCAR's most famous race car drivers.
P.S. My grandmom got me the new Jane Eyre on DVD. I probably won't see it until August. Tomorrow and Saturday I'll be busy getting ready to leave for camp Sunday afternoon.
