Book Love: Catching Up!

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, but I did end up getting a bit behind on the Book Love posts, so here's a quick recap to catch you up! I will however still owe you two more book love posts on two recent reads that I truly loved...


You'll also notice that the below images and links to Amazon, if you aren't aware of how amazing Amazon is then allow me to fill you in. Most of the time they ship same-day AND you save a lot of money than if you buy from a bookstore. Also I signed up for an Amazon Associates program, so if you buy from one of the links below, I get a credit (not a bad deal, since I was going to recommend them anyways!) So, read away...

A Reliable Wife (Robert Goolrick)

I love historical fiction, and like any girl I suppose, I'm a sucker for a good ole-fashioned love story, which is why A Reliable Wife was right up my alley! This was Goolrick's first novel, and I hope he has plans to continue to write because I'm already a fan. The plot has a seductive little twist, and picturing the  scenes and the characters is a joy in itself! 

Quotes of Note:

"Catherine Land liked the beginnings of things. The pure white possibility of the empty room, the first kiss, the first swipe at larceny. And endings, she liked endings, too. The drama of the smashing glass, the dead bird, the tearful goodbye, the last awful word which could never be unsaid or unremembered.
It was the middles that gave her pause. This, for all its forward momentum, this was a middle. The beginnings were sweet, the endings usually bitter, but the middles were only the tightrope you walked between the one and the other. No more than that."

"Such things happened."

The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

As a daughter of Jacob, Dinah is only briefly mentioned in the Bible. So I really liked this book because it told Dinah's story, and focuses much on the females of her life-- and it puts a different twist on the story than that which you've heard in Genesis-- a much more romantic story might I add. Again it is definitely historical fiction, but the storytelling in it is divine!

Quote of Note:

"We have been lost to each other for so long.  My name means nothing to you. My memory is dust. This is not your fault, or mine. The chain connecting mother to daughter was broken and the word passed to the keeping of men, who had no way of knowing. That is why I became a footnote, my story a brief detour between the well-known history of my father, Jacob, and the celebrated  chronicle of Joseph, my brother. On those rare occasions when I was remembered, it was as a victim."

The Swan Thieves: A Novel (Elizabeth Kostova)

The Swan Thieves revolves around art, and an intriguing character who is so passionate about art that he becomes completely immersed in the people and the world that he has painted. The character that the story revolves around is a dark and romantic man, who comes to fall in love with a woman from the past, whom he only gets to know through ancient letters. If you are an art lover, and don't mind a good historical fiction (no surprise there!) you'll enjoy it! It is a bit long-winded at points though, I have to warn you, but I wouldn't talk about a book that I wouldn't recommend reading!

More Book Love to come!