Books I've Read

I wanted to share what I've been reading at home. 

Other than books about duck care, because we now own six ducks. 

I'll write a post about the ducks soon. 

I've been busy with them and seem to have neglected this blog. 

Anyway, I've discovered the author Alice Hoffman. 

I'm sure some of you are saying "have you been living under a rock?!"

Well, maybe I have. 

But I've dug my way out and "Hey look!  Alice Hoffman novels!  They are really good!"

It started with this novel. 

I saw it at the library in their new fiction section. 

I'm drawn to covers. 

And there was something about the woman on the cover that drew me towards her. 

When I read the synopsis on the inside cover I was hooked when I read "island life, Paris, painters, love"

I'm a HUGE fan of historical fiction. 

I've read all of Philippa Gregory's historical fiction novels about the Tudors. 

Historical fiction takes a moment out of real history (as in Gregory's books about British royalty from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries) and fictionalizes conversations between these real historical figures. 

In The Marriage of Opposites, Alice Hoffman focuses her story on the parents of the Danish-French Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro in the 1800s. 

That's the history part. 

They all live on the island of St Thomas and you follow his parents love story and their interactions with others on this hot, fragrant, colorful, and tantalizing isle. 

The story eventually turns to Paris, France and it's just as tantalizing and colorful in Paris as it was back on St Thomas. 

It was a great read. 

So, I went to the library and found another Alice Hoffman novel. 

This peeked my interest. 

Again, it was the cover. 

And the synopsis told me I would be reading about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in NYC in 1911, Coney Island freak shows, photography, and love. 

History and fiction melded together quite well in this book. 

I was as hooked while reading this story as I was in The Marriage of Opposites. 

So, I went to the library again and found my way to the HOF adult fiction section and perused the Alice Hoffman section once more. 

I saw Practical Magic.

Was this made into a movie?

I couldn't quite remember, but the story sounded interesting to me. 

Two sisters, witches, love. 

Hmmm, no historical fiction. 

But, I gave it a go. 

I didn't care for it as much as the others. 

It seemed too fluffy to me.

I missed the historical aspect of the other novels. 

This book focused on instant sexual attraction, the need to have a man more than needing yourself, and like I said...fluff. 

I did finish it and took it back to the library yesterday. 

I saw this on the shelf of books that needed to be reshelved (have you found that shelf at your library yet?!)

Judy Blume, the author who wrote all of those teen novels that were so taboo when they were written in the 1970s because she spoken about *gasp* sex. 

I've seen Judy Blume talking about this newest novel on TV recently and it's about history so I snatched it up. 

Three airplanes fell from the sky in New Jersey in the early 1950s. 

This is Judy Blume's historical aspect of her new novel. 

She lived in New Jersey when these planes fell from the sky, so she's also fictionalizing her own history a bit. 

So far, so good.