Title: Mara, Daughter of the Nile.
Author: Eloise Jarvis McGraw.
Gene: Historical Fiction, Suspense, Romance, Action/Adventure, Spy Thriller.
Plot: Mara, the blue-eyed sarcastic heroine of our tale, is a slave in Ancient Egypt during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut. One day Mara is out and about in the marketplace when she ought to be working, and she attracts the attention of two very powerful but very dangerous men who are on opposite sides to one another. When her cruel master finds her, he drags Mara back to his estate with the intention of punishing his sly slave; but a well-to-do man stops him from beating her and buys her. When Mara and her new master are safely out of sight and hearing, he tells her that he works for the queen and wants her to spy for him; he tells her what to do next, what he wants her to look for, and in no uncertain terms lays out what will happen to her if she proves useless or runs away. Mara, rejoicing at her chance of freedom and to achieve all her dreams of becoming free and rich someday, readily agrees and sets sail to meet up with the Canaanite princess the queen has given to her hotheaded step-brother Thutmose {who is actually the rightful ruler of Egypt of course} with instructions to serve as Inanni's {the princess} interpreter. But on board the ship of Nekonkh, Mara meets and befriends a mysterious but intriguing scribe. Nekonkh is already suspicious of the charming fellow and warns Mara to be on her guard around him; unfortunately for her, the scribe proves to be just as witty, if not more so than Mara herself, and she is pressed into his service as a spy for the imprisoned Thutmose, and threatened with death if she runs away or betrays him.
Now, with two dangerous and opposing forces to deal with, juggle, and keep supplied with information without getting herself killed or losing the confidence of either of the powerful men, Mara finds herself stepping very carefully and questioning her every action and word. As she processes, analyzes, and juggles, she also befriends the homesick but friendly Canaanite princess Inanni who, being smarter than she looks, quickly catches on that there's something more to the secret chance meetings in the garden with the scribe {whom Mara is shocked to learn is actually Lord Sheftu, one of the most powerful men in the whole empire and also one of the queen's most trusted advisers and nobleman}, and the brief meetings with Thutmose {who is furious at having to take a foreign bride} in which Mara and the prince communicate in Egyptian while Inanni asks Mara questions in Babylonian to which she gives distracted replies, much to Thutmose's secret amusement. And, against her will and better judgement, Mara begins to predictably fall in love with the dashing Lord Sheftu, building castles in the air without meaning to, and seriously doubting whether the queen's side is where she actually wants to be.
However, when a slip of memory occurs, Mara's life is thrust into grave danger and both men suspect her of being a traitor to either of their causes. By then, Mara has already decided to give her help and her heart to Sheftu, but that doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore, for she will doubtlessly be tortured for information and put to death by Nahereh, her "granite faced" master. Sheftu, however, is much more quick-witted than many believe, and he quickly accesses the entire situation and, realizing his mistake, he rushes straight to the palace ahead of his troops for a final, dramatic showdown with his archenemy and the wicked queen of Egypt.
A fast-paced, exciting and intriguing historical ride, this adventure will take you into the everyday life in Ancient Egypt and give you a glimpse into just one incident in the world's oldest country's troubled and colorful history.
Likes/Dislikes: While Mara is sarcastic, her humor is actually humorous; some of the situations she finds herself in or deliberately puts herself in are a little nerve racking, especially when she sweet-talks the dopey palace guard into letting her slip out the gate every now and then. However, aside from that, several brushes with death, and a beating toward the end of the book, this is a very good story and I recommend it to anyone interested in the above listed genes or in Egypt in general.
Rating: PG-13 and up, for reading level and content that might go over the heads of younger readers.
Date Report Written: December 30th, 2010.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Excerpt: The Silent Governess.
That evening, Edward stood in the doorway, amused by the scene in the drawing room. The carpets had been rolled back and some dancing master's text lay open on the floor. Andrew stood on a straight-back chair, face-to-face with the governess, who stood on the floor before him, hands in his. Audrey stood beside Miss Keene, an impish grin on her face. At Miss Keene's instruction, Andrew lifted one hand high, but before Miss Keene could turn beneath it, Audrey reached up and tickled him under his arm. Andrew doubled over and giggled.
Miss Keene sighed. It was clearly not the first time this had occurred.
Edward could not resist. He crossed the room to them, bowed, and asked formally, "May I cut in?"
With a whoop of relief, Andrew jumped from the chair and - after a running start - slid several yards across the polished floor in his stocking feet.
Shaking his head, Edward returned his gaze to Miss Keene and found her dubiously eyeing his offered hand.
She said, "I was only trying to demonstrate the nine positions of the German and French waltz."
"So I saw. Shall we continue?"
"You need not . . . That is, I am sure my lord is much too busy to -"
"Not at all. It is for the children's benefit, is it not? Their education?"
She opened her mouth to protest further, but before she could, Audrey said, "Show us position four, cousin Edward. For neither Andrew nor I can master it."
Edward wondered if Audrey Howe fostered as many romantic fancies as did her stepmother. But he did not complain.
"You were doing fine, Audrey," Miss Keene said. "It was difficult without a proper partner. I am not very good at being the man."
Edward felt his brows rise.
"Please?" Audrey begged her governess.
Miss Keene sighed once more. "Very well. I shall be you, Audrey." She turned to Edward. "And you shall be the man."
He said dryly, "I can but try."
~ Excerpt from The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen.
Miss Keene sighed. It was clearly not the first time this had occurred.
Edward could not resist. He crossed the room to them, bowed, and asked formally, "May I cut in?"
With a whoop of relief, Andrew jumped from the chair and - after a running start - slid several yards across the polished floor in his stocking feet.
Shaking his head, Edward returned his gaze to Miss Keene and found her dubiously eyeing his offered hand.
She said, "I was only trying to demonstrate the nine positions of the German and French waltz."
"So I saw. Shall we continue?"
"You need not . . . That is, I am sure my lord is much too busy to -"
"Not at all. It is for the children's benefit, is it not? Their education?"
She opened her mouth to protest further, but before she could, Audrey said, "Show us position four, cousin Edward. For neither Andrew nor I can master it."
Edward wondered if Audrey Howe fostered as many romantic fancies as did her stepmother. But he did not complain.
"You were doing fine, Audrey," Miss Keene said. "It was difficult without a proper partner. I am not very good at being the man."
Edward felt his brows rise.
"Please?" Audrey begged her governess.
Miss Keene sighed once more. "Very well. I shall be you, Audrey." She turned to Edward. "And you shall be the man."
He said dryly, "I can but try."
~ Excerpt from The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Celebrational Post.
LET'S CELEBRATE!!!!!!!!
As of December 26th, this blog is officially one year old!! Granted, I didn't start posting till sometime in January earlier this year but I still created the blog in December 2009 the day after Christmas {it must have been an uneventful Christmas, or perhaps I was bored ;)}. I'd been interested for some time prior to creating the blog about doing said action and after doing a bit of research {no, I will not tell you what my definition of research is, you wouldn't understand it unless you're a homeschooler ;)} I unhesitatingly created a blog {E.J.'s Library} with a few clicks of the mouse, and then logged off my mom's computer because after a day of checking emails my poor eyes were killing me! Have I ever mentioned that I'm farsighted and have a need {sometimes more desperate than at other times} for new glasses? And driving lessons, and other essentials. ;)
Anyway, back to the celebration! My plans for this blog have changed somewhat since my first post {entitled unimaginatively as Introduction I think} but nevertheless, this blog is still centered around books. I'm a writer you see, and my instructors, my mentors even, are all the classic authors: Jane Austen {she's actually my role model}, G.A. Henty, Louisa May Alcott, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, H. Rider Haggard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, even H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Zane Grey play a role in developing my writing skills though I have read fewer of their books than of the listed others. I've encountered many, many other authors {some good, some bad, some simply horrible at the beautiful occupation of a writer skilled with words}, the names of whom elude me at the moment. I've read a vast number of books, many of which were enjoyable, several were downright trash, and a select few were quite simply delightful and have remained my steadfast favorites, even when several years have passed since first reading them. I have not always been a good judge of books, but through trial and error, I have figured out more or less how to avoid the bad books and resist the urge to read them anyway. That was why I originally chose the verse from Philippians as my blog's motto, for if I can't be terribly wise in what I read and watch now that I've exposed myself too much, I can at least chose to review the suitable books and hopefully provide what others did not for me and spare some innocent young reader out there from encountering the same bad books as I. So, if perhaps you don't see in the archives a book you're interested in, that is because either I haven't read it, or I have and haven't reviewed it yet, or I have read it and found it wanting or worse.
Anyway, I want to assure you that I have no plans at all for discontinuing this blog ever and shall simply strive to post more reviews, more verses, more recipes, and whatnot, both for my enjoyment and yours.
Now, to the archives!!!! I have posted in the last year eighteen reviews on books {I promise I will double that in the next year, if not triple it!!} and the varied titles of those eighteen reviews are: The Honorable Impostor, A Knight of the White Cross, Pride and Prejudice, Out on the Pampas, The Last Battle, Prince Caspian, Persuasion, The Lost World, Do Hard things, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Beauty, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, Colonel Thorndyke's Secret, Sense and Sensibility, Riders of the Purple Sage, and Northanger Abbey. I posted a grand total of eight reviews on movies {yes, I love movies, no, I didn't originally want to totally devote this blog to them, yes, I will doubtlessly be posting more movie reviews in the upcoming year so you can see what I like to watch and blah, blah, blah ;)} and the titles are: Jurassic Park 3, Star Trek, Prince of Egypt, Prince of Persia, How to Train Your Dragon, Newsies, The Christmas Card, and The Ultimate Gift. I posted five favorite family recipes {okay, they're not hand-me-downs from grandma or great-grandma but they're still good!}: Chocolate Revel Bars, Chocolate Buttermilk Brownies, Coconut Macaroons, several small handy recipes like chocolate covered raisins, and Pumpkin Bars. Of Scripture I posted a grand total of six chapters: 1 Corinthians 13, Psalm 1, Proverbs 31, Psalm 117, Psalm 114, and Genesis 45. Of my own personal writing I posted four poems and two short stories: Dear Teenage Girl, Home is Where I Want to Be, In the Pages of a Book, Travel to Distant Lands, My Notebook, A Humble Fairytale, and Daily Routine. The last listed hasn't a single thing to do with my personal routine. I posted one link to a poem I liked, one post with some snow pictures back in November, and three posts containing excerpts from Pilgrim's Progress, Ivanhoe, and the eighth Ranger's Apprentice book. All in all, plus a few I'm-outta-time posts, total to over fifty posts. Lame, I know, but now that I've my own computer and can get on more often than on Saturdays, I fully mean to double that number.
So, all the numbers tallied, my promises and reassurances made, I leave you to enjoy yourself, browse the archives, request reviews, and post lots of comments. God bless and have a happy New Year!!
As of December 26th, this blog is officially one year old!! Granted, I didn't start posting till sometime in January earlier this year but I still created the blog in December 2009 the day after Christmas {it must have been an uneventful Christmas, or perhaps I was bored ;)}. I'd been interested for some time prior to creating the blog about doing said action and after doing a bit of research {no, I will not tell you what my definition of research is, you wouldn't understand it unless you're a homeschooler ;)} I unhesitatingly created a blog {E.J.'s Library} with a few clicks of the mouse, and then logged off my mom's computer because after a day of checking emails my poor eyes were killing me! Have I ever mentioned that I'm farsighted and have a need {sometimes more desperate than at other times} for new glasses? And driving lessons, and other essentials. ;)
Anyway, back to the celebration! My plans for this blog have changed somewhat since my first post {entitled unimaginatively as Introduction I think} but nevertheless, this blog is still centered around books. I'm a writer you see, and my instructors, my mentors even, are all the classic authors: Jane Austen {she's actually my role model}, G.A. Henty, Louisa May Alcott, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, H. Rider Haggard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, even H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Zane Grey play a role in developing my writing skills though I have read fewer of their books than of the listed others. I've encountered many, many other authors {some good, some bad, some simply horrible at the beautiful occupation of a writer skilled with words}, the names of whom elude me at the moment. I've read a vast number of books, many of which were enjoyable, several were downright trash, and a select few were quite simply delightful and have remained my steadfast favorites, even when several years have passed since first reading them. I have not always been a good judge of books, but through trial and error, I have figured out more or less how to avoid the bad books and resist the urge to read them anyway. That was why I originally chose the verse from Philippians as my blog's motto, for if I can't be terribly wise in what I read and watch now that I've exposed myself too much, I can at least chose to review the suitable books and hopefully provide what others did not for me and spare some innocent young reader out there from encountering the same bad books as I. So, if perhaps you don't see in the archives a book you're interested in, that is because either I haven't read it, or I have and haven't reviewed it yet, or I have read it and found it wanting or worse.
Anyway, I want to assure you that I have no plans at all for discontinuing this blog ever and shall simply strive to post more reviews, more verses, more recipes, and whatnot, both for my enjoyment and yours.
Now, to the archives!!!! I have posted in the last year eighteen reviews on books {I promise I will double that in the next year, if not triple it!!} and the varied titles of those eighteen reviews are: The Honorable Impostor, A Knight of the White Cross, Pride and Prejudice, Out on the Pampas, The Last Battle, Prince Caspian, Persuasion, The Lost World, Do Hard things, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Beauty, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, Colonel Thorndyke's Secret, Sense and Sensibility, Riders of the Purple Sage, and Northanger Abbey. I posted a grand total of eight reviews on movies {yes, I love movies, no, I didn't originally want to totally devote this blog to them, yes, I will doubtlessly be posting more movie reviews in the upcoming year so you can see what I like to watch and blah, blah, blah ;)} and the titles are: Jurassic Park 3, Star Trek, Prince of Egypt, Prince of Persia, How to Train Your Dragon, Newsies, The Christmas Card, and The Ultimate Gift. I posted five favorite family recipes {okay, they're not hand-me-downs from grandma or great-grandma but they're still good!}: Chocolate Revel Bars, Chocolate Buttermilk Brownies, Coconut Macaroons, several small handy recipes like chocolate covered raisins, and Pumpkin Bars. Of Scripture I posted a grand total of six chapters: 1 Corinthians 13, Psalm 1, Proverbs 31, Psalm 117, Psalm 114, and Genesis 45. Of my own personal writing I posted four poems and two short stories: Dear Teenage Girl, Home is Where I Want to Be, In the Pages of a Book, Travel to Distant Lands, My Notebook, A Humble Fairytale, and Daily Routine. The last listed hasn't a single thing to do with my personal routine. I posted one link to a poem I liked, one post with some snow pictures back in November, and three posts containing excerpts from Pilgrim's Progress, Ivanhoe, and the eighth Ranger's Apprentice book. All in all, plus a few I'm-outta-time posts, total to over fifty posts. Lame, I know, but now that I've my own computer and can get on more often than on Saturdays, I fully mean to double that number.
So, all the numbers tallied, my promises and reassurances made, I leave you to enjoy yourself, browse the archives, request reviews, and post lots of comments. God bless and have a happy New Year!!
Friday, December 24, 2010
The Ultimate Gift Movie Review.
Title: The Ultimate Gift.
Starring: Drew Fuller {Jason Stevens}, James Garner {Howard "Red" Stevens}, Abigail Breslin {Emily Rose}, Ali Hillis {Alexia}, Bill Cobbs {Thesphilus Hamilton}, Lee Meriwether {Miss Hastings}.
Year of Release: 2006.
Gene: Drama.
Plot: When his grandfather dies, a "disillusioned" young man gets the reality check of his life: Jason Stevens has grown up hating his wealthy grandfather, blaming him for his father's tragic death in a plane-crash. When the will is read and the inheritance divvied up among Jason's colorful family members, he thinks he's being cheated when he isn't handed a big check and sent on his way. Apparently, his grandfather isn't finished with him yet and has one more surprise up his sleeve for his angry descendant. The deal: Jason must agree to undertake a series of monthly challenges or gifts, as his grandfather called them, in order to prove himself worthy to receive his inheritance.
Of course, Jason is none too thrilled with that arrangement. For the first gift, the wealthy hothead is shipped off to a ranch in the middle of nowhere in Texas, handed a pair of gloves, and told to drive posts and string up a fence. Still feeling very frustrated and having absolutely no clue what he's doing, Jason does a sloppy job at first, then he begins to get the hang of it and does a splendid job. Still confused over what's going on with the whole gift thing, Jason is sent back to the big city after a month's time where he must undergo the gift of friends. Everything he possesses is taken away from him and Jason is told to go find at least one good friend by the end of the month. Jason meets a young woman and her opinionated daughter Emily at the park one day, when he's despairing of finding any loyal friends. He befriends the duo and inadvertently walks into a heart-wrenching and hopeless situation with two girls on his hands to comfort, cheer, and fall in love with.
Progressing through his monthly challenges, Jason begins to display a change of attitude and character to those around him and those who knew him before are astonished and somewhat confused that the bad-boy of the family is suddenly humble and kind, even thoughtful and genuinely cheerful. But he still has one more gift to get through, and this will be the hardest of them all as he sets out to learn the truth of his father's death.
Likes/Dislikes: Aside from bad attitudes on Jason and Emily's part when first introduced, a scene in which a man is beaten off camera by South American bad guys, and a tragedy near the end, this is a very good, clean movie. Emily and her mother are Christians and in one scene Emily talks with Jason about God and asks if he knows Him {which astounds Jason of course}. All in all, I highly recommend this for family viewing; it's well on it's way to becoming a classic.
Rating: I don't remember the actual rating but my personal rating is PG-10 and up. Enjoy! ;)
Sunday, December 12, 2010
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