My first love is science fiction, so reading The Steerswoman was a bit of a departure for me as the story seems to be about wizards and magic. Yet, as Rowan, one of the society of Steerswomen, uses deduction to unravel one mystery, I found myself caught up in the mystery of the world itself.
Was it just a coincidence that some of the examples of ‘magic’ seemed more like...technology?Yet even as that suspicion began to grow, the story brought Rowan into conflict with a swarm of dragons. What could be more fantasy than that?
There are currently four books in the Steerswoman series, and I’ve loved each one, but the tantalizing hints woven through the first book created a sense of adventure and discovery that I absolutely adore.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION If you ask, she must answer. A steerswoman's knowledge is shared with any who request it; no steerswoman may refuse a question, and no steerswoman may answer with anything but the truth.And if she asks, you must answer. It is the other side of tradition's contract -- and if you refuse the question, or lie, no steerswoman will ever again answer even your most casual question.And so, the steerswomen — always seeking, always investigating — have gathered more and more knowledge about the world they travel, and they share that knowledge freelyUntil the day that the steerswoman…
I loved Anne of Green Gables as a child, but as an adult, I fell in love with the last book of the series, Rilla of Ingleside.
Rilla is the youngest of Anne’s six children, and she can do nothing but wait as, one by one, her three brothers go off to fight in World War I. The middle brother, Walter, is a poet and does not want to fight anyone, yet as the war drags on, he finds himself pressured into enlisting.
I was a young woman during the Vietnam War, so I’ve always been proud of conscientious objectors, but it’s thanks to Rilla of Ingleside that I’ve realised how much courage it takes to be one. That’s why it’s my second favorite book for the year.
It's 1914 and the world is on the brink of war. But at almost fifteen, Anne and Gilbert's youngest daughter, Rilla, dreams only of her first dance and getting her first kiss from the dashing Kenneth Ford. Soon, however, even far-off Ingleside is engulfed by Europe's raging conflict, as Rilla's brothers Jem and Walter both enlist, and Rilla finds herself caring for an orphaned newborn. As the conflict spreads, the Blythes wait anxiously for word of their absent sons, and a bad omen leads them to conclude that something terrible has happened overseas. Have Jem and Walter been lost, like…
I have a special place in my heart for books set in Australia, and Her Buried Bones instantly transported me to the heat, the wide open spaces, and the vernacular of the Outback.
Once there, the author, Fiona Tarr, took me on a thrilling ride as young police constable Jennifer Williams solves a baffling murder... and earns the grudging respect of her male colleagues in the process.
I’m not usually into police procedurals, but this story has it all – great characters, great plot, fast pace, and a wonderful sense of place.
