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manuscripts-dontburn · 4 years

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The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

Author: L. Frank Baum

First published: 1902

Pages: 176

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 2 days

Since I am from a country where Santa Claus is not the one to bring the presents and instead I see him as an intruder who tries desperately to butt into our traditions, I was unsure if I wanted to read this. But thankfully L. Frank Baum managed to fabricate the history of Santa in a way that was utterly charming and actually could be labeled as middle-grade fantasy. I truly enjoyed myself!

Wildwood Dancing

Author: Juliet Marillier

First published: 2006

Pages: 432

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 6 days

Snuggle up in your comfy armchair, and with the snow falling outside and a warm cup of tea beside you just plunge into Wildwood and be swept away. This is a wonderful retelling of several different fairytales, rich in imagery and using the picturesque Romanian countryside as a setting. The characters are endearing (or frustrating when they need to be) and the atmosphere sizzles with magic. The strong bonds between the five sisters, out of whom none is left out of the story, on top of the romantic attachements, succeed in making one emotional and truly invested. Simply wonderful!

With the Fire on High

Author: Elizabeth Acevedo

First published: 2019

Pages: 400

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 3 days

Perhaps this is not the most amazing book ever, but I still decided to give it 5 stars because... 1. it was everything I needed at the moment 2. the characters were strong, easily recognizable from each other and somebody I would love to know 3. it appreciates the difficulties of normal life, without need to go overboard with the drama 4. the author does not waste time and has no patience with useless fillers 5. I tend to hate contemporary stuff, or I get easily bored by it, but this book made me just feel fuzzy and and happy and comfortable

Tichá srdce

Author: Alena Ježková

First published: 2013

Pages: 456

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 13 days

Jedinečná publikace s trochu zavádějícím názvem, jelikož všechna srdce, která jsou v knize představena, nejsou ani trochu tichá, ale hovoří jasně a přesvědčivě. Alena Ježková představuje čtenáři nejen historii řádů, které někdy působily v Čechách (a v jiných částech republiky), nejen osudy klášterů, těch zvláštních míst, kde čas jako by stál navzdory tomu, že historie se jimi prohnala (většinou značně nevybíravě a nemilosrdně), ale především dává možnost získat unikátní perspektivu a náhled prostřednictvím řeholníků a řeholnic. Nejvíce ze všech získaly můj respekt sestry Boromejky. Vše je bohatě ilustrováno černo-bílými fotografiemi a celkově se tak jedná o velmi krásnou knihu, kterou je nejlépe číst pomalu.

Women & Power: A Manifesto

Author: Mary Beard

First published: 2017

Pages: 116

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 1 day

Illuminating and disconcerting.

Papa Panov's Special Christmas

Author: Lev Tolstoy

First published: ?

Pages: 13

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 20 minutes

... and thus Lev Tolstoy made me teary-eyed with less than 15 pages.

A Christmas Carol

Author: Charles Dickens

First published: 1843

Pages: 144

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 2 days

Although I have been familiar (in great detail actually) with the story, it took almost 33 years of my life to actually read the original text. It also happens to be my first taste of Dickens. My, did he know a lot of words! The Christmas Carol, no matter how over-exposed to the public psyche for over a century, breathes a true Christmas spirit (Ha! See what I did there?), warms your heart and will surely withstand all the further tests of time.

Once Upon a River

Author: Diane Setterfield

First published: 2018

Pages: 464

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 10 days

This book is a love song: for the river Thames, for the art of story telling and for everything that makes us good as people. A kaleidoscope of characters, most of whom you grow to love throughout and feel so close to that their plight will eventually move you to tears and make you rejoice whenever they get to be happy. The story had a long, long and slow beginning, resembling, in a way, the river itself, and much like it it grows on strength until it obliterates everything with a flood of beautiful language and shimmering mystery. Love, love, love.

Marie-Thérèse, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter

Author: Susan Nagel

First published: 2006

Pages: 418

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 14 days

There is really nothing I can fault with this biography, except perhaps one needs to keep in mind that a book about Marie Therese will naturally try and present the events of her life as she saw them - and at times that can be problematic. Other than that the books does exactly what it sets out to do: it presents facts and paints a picture of an interesting (if politically largely unimportant) person from before her birth to her death, never really deviating from that goal, and it is quite informative as well as fairly easy to read.

Olga's Egg

Author: Sophie Law

First published: 2018

Pages: 314

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

How long did it take: 8 days

Unfortunatelly this ranks among my most disappointing reads of the year. The premise of the book - searching for a lost Fabergé egg that once belonged to Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, while battling through personal tragedy and multi-generational story - was actually great. However a subject like that needed so much more work and depth and length than it was ever given. This could (and should) have been a 500+ page epic delving into the Russian psyche covering different genres from mystery, doomed romance, historical ficton and a detective story. Instead it merely touches and lets go of all these, does not excell in any and leaves you completely unsatisfied. The search for the egg is completely straightforward with no proper secrets, no dead-ends are encountered, and the main protagonist is given everything on a silver platter on her very first try (the fact that another person, not nearly as involved or knowledgable, comes to the same conclusion as her in no time makes it all even more yawn-worthy). Some of the scenes in the book are absolutely useless. Example: we learn something had happened. Next scene shows you exactly what you have just found out. With no other info added. I was also confused as to why did the author insist on renaming an actual historical character of English tutor to the Tsar´s children Charles Sydney Gibbes, given that no other change to his biography was made. The ending is completely unrealistic, anti-climactic, and the sugary-sweet epilogue unneccessary. The ammount of "non-fiction" information thrown into the book feels forced and pretentious due to its shortness. What a bummer.

The Regalia of the Russian Empire

Author: Irina Polynina

First published: 1994

Pages: 240

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 2 days

Excellent and beautiful volume which combines interesting facts with high-quality photographs and picture reproductions. Absolutely would recommend to anyone with interest in Russia, the Romanovs, jewellery or just history in general.

The Starless Sea

Author: Erin Morgenstern

First published: 2019

Pages: 498

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 5 days

Have you ever finished a book and you realized your hands were shaking and you had tears in your eyes simply because it was too beautiful? Because I have not - until The Starless Sea. More of my emotional breakdown HERE.

#booklr #wrap up #December 2019

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