Tag Archive: bookcrossing



Seven Little Australians (Woolcots, #1)Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay, this took me over half a year to read. (Small font) Only today did I see this is free in Kindle format on Amazon. To think I could have read it in a couple days!

This edition is the hardback and is a BookCrossing treasure. BCID: 813-3620880. It will be traveling back to the friends that sent it to me. It will be back with The Diaries of Ethel Turner by Ethel Turner which I read last year.

If you get the chance to read these books, give them a try. I liked reading the author’s diaries first. I was more aware of how much of this fictional book came from her real life. It also helped me get acquainted with the author’s writing style and historical events in Australia. And it helped me learn the lingo of the time and place.

With so many characters (7+) it is a little hard to keep track of who is who. Especially the younger kids. A list of characters would have been handy. But I managed. In fact, I became quite happy when it was about Judy.

Without spoilers, I wanted to throw the book in the trash and never look at it again on the penultimate chapter. But my curiosity got the better of me and I finished the book. Bittersweet is how I can describe the last two chapters. Overall, I think it was a nice read. I highly recommend others read it to expand horizons. 🙂

[edited] I just read on my BookCrossing page that I had read this in 2007. I do not remember that! Funny that I used the same work “Bittersweet” to describe it back then. Good thing there was a note about it. I guess because my eyes are so much worse and it took me so long I didn’t feel the energy of the book. And now I have the Kindle version so if I forget again I can reread quickly. LOL!

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The Diaries of Ethel TurnerThe Diaries of Ethel Turner by Ethel Turner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don’t know that any book of my entire life has taken me this long to read. But this wasn’t fiction. This was someone’s diary. It was the day by day mind meanderings of a writer who lived in Australia in the 1800s. No protagonist, no antagonist, no plot. Even so, far better than my own diaries in which I would eventually give up and write that I breathed in and out that day. So I doubt anyone will write anything about mine. They have probably begun to degrade into the earth like the trees the paper was made from.

Another reason it was such a slow read for me was the small font. Luckily the entries were kept short so I would only sit and read an entry and let it go.

Writers will find this interesting, seeing Ethel Turner’s passion for writing, especially for children. Those interested in history, this diary takes place before the first world war. She witnessed world happenings from the land down-under. As a young woman, she sees Women’s Suffrage. At first, she sees no sense in it but as she matures her writing reflects the need for social change for men and women for more equality.

I found that interesting in that in the home she grows up in as a teen, they have servants. No wonder she sees no need for equality. She was able to spend her time studying languages, piano, and singing. Her life was full of social amenities, dances, etc. But still, she spends most of her days working on writing. She was and for me is an inspiration.

Seven Little Australians, her book, I will be reading next.

This is worth the effort it took me to read. Maybe you will like it, too.
Oh, this is a BookCrossing book BCID 128-5141612. Not sure who is next for the read but I’ll mark the site accordingly.

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Wild Women: Crusaders, Curmudgeons, and Completely Corsetless Ladies in the Otherwise Virtuous Victorian EraWild Women: Crusaders, Curmudgeons, and Completely Corsetless Ladies in the Otherwise Virtuous Victorian Era by Autumn Stephens

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Whew! I am finally finished reading this book. You wouldn’t think I would have such a bad reaction to a book about strong womyn. And honestly, the knowledge contained within this book is amazing. I did learn a lot about many ladies. I learned a lot about that era of history, also. If it hadn’t taken me SO long to read it, I would have given it lots of stars for the educational feature alone.

So why the low rating? The font was impossible for me to read. It is dark black font against a bright white background and the lines are spaced too close together. So I could only handle one or two pages at a time. Luckily, each bio is a page and a half so even though it hurt my eyes I could read at least that much in a day. And that might have been enough unto itself, but the author’s writing style was SO annoying. Alliterations and other pitiful poetic word choices built into very long complicated sentences, like this one, made me have to go back and reread whole paragraphs. When you already have tracking problems, this cutesy writing becomes very annoying. Often the choice of words makes for a very confusing read.

If you have great eyes this may be a fun read for you. If so, enjoy! My eyes need a vacation. Back to Kindles for me!

By the way, this copy is a BookCrossing book. BCID 142-11420919 Check out where it’s heading and where it’s been on BookCrossing.com

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A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of TearsA Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears by Jules Feiffer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, that’s done.

This is a children’s chapter book with a lot of fun illustrations.

BUT… This fairytale should have been given to kids a couple centuries ago. I can’t imagine reading it to my boys back in the 1970’s without surrounding it with a lot of plays of the video or album of Free to be You and Me. It is male heavy with the females in lowly roles of being rescued and put in their places as wives and mothers. So, I wouldn’t have read it to my daughter in the 1980’s. As adults, I might share this with them to giggle at. But that is all.

Though the font was large enough for my eyes, the pages were long and the spaces between lines not as wide as I’d like.

The humor is what saved the book. Even though it was annoying at the first of the book it does settle into something one can handle later.

This is a bookCrossing book BCID 415-5548271. Thank you to my BC friends for letting me keep it so long and letting me read it. Now I will pass it on to others.

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Thinking in Pictures: My Life with AutismThinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism by Temple Grandin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am so grateful that I finally got around to reading this book. It was eye-opening to be able to see inside the mind of Temple Grandin. It was interesting to learn more about autism and how it affects those who think in that way. With the differences, I was very surprised with how much I felt in common with the author. Oh, I’m not nearly as intelligent as Ms, Grandin, but her sensitivities to touch, and sound and crowds, her visual thinking, well, I saw my own ways of dealing with the same. I almost wanted to see if I would find a hug-machine for myself. But I do enjoy hugs from family and friends. I will find myself having anxiety attacks in a crowd or with too much noise. Even the sound of the fan or the refrigerator will drive me nuts.

Mercy. That was what I felt from Ms. Grandin. I love how much care she gives to the animals doomed to be slaughtered. Outside of wishing everyone could be vegetarians, the next best thing is that we learn to treat our fellow beings on this Earth with humane care.

This copy was the paperback and the print was very hard for me to read. But since it was a BookCrossing copy I wanted to be able to pass it on to others. This is BCID 395-7719867. I will send it on to others in our group.

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Time and Time AgainTime and Time Again by Dennis Danvers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This read took me a long, long time! The font was so small and the lines too close, so I had to take it a couple pages at a time.

Maybe it was the length of time it took me to read it that played into my occasional confusion as to whose head I was supposed to be in. I’ll accept that reason but still, there were other places that I knew I wasn’t confused. For a book that contains news of today, news of a century ago, a journal by Susanna, and a book being written by another woman, main character, Marion Mead… were all written by male author, Dennis Danvers.

Sorry, most of the time I didn’t buy it. I believe Dennis Danvers tried. The writing was good and for the most part I loved the main character. But what was irritating for me were male traits imposed onto the Susanna and Marion.

For the last couple years, I have made it a habit to read books that could fall into the Bechdel test. My own addition, in the case of writing, is that the book be written and star a strong fem. The only reason for this read was this is a BookCrossing hardback that has been in my TBR pile for a too long.

Okay for the nitty-gritty. Susanna’s journal was about the men in her life and how they interact with each other. It even went inside the males heads: this one likes to be plowed hard and fast–or something along those lines. Yeah. Most of the time, we prefer foreplay–please?

I know, this did include the mores of the past where women had no minds of their own as they belong to their fathers or husbands and other than that were old maids or whores. That probably made it easier to write from a woman’s point of view. But even when we were in Marion’s POV there was nothing but male-centric. Sure she had her daughters, and of course she looked like Mary Magdalene. Then finally we had a conversation between Marion and her co-worker, and even that was a conversation about sex with the male.

Oh, off the track a little, one of the reasons I wanted to read this from the beginning was I thought it was about time travel. Nope. Instead, it was more reincarnation. Hope that isn’t a spoiler. But that was part of the well done parts.

Most people wouldn’t notice the picky stuff I I saw. And so I think others will like it better than I did. It certainly was different.

By the way, this is BookCrossing BCID: 046-5591579. I will send it to other people of my group before setting it free.

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