I am back and I have finished reading my book club recommendations for this summer. I know it’s early. So here is the discussion for what I have read.
Where the Crawdads Sing By Delia Owens. This is a sweet tale of a girl named Kya who is abandoned and lives in the Marsh. She has her first love with a boy named Tate. It really is a sweet tale of who really sticks to your side when all have abandoned you.
The story starts off with the death of Chase Andrews. He was found dead at the light tower near the coast. No one knows who killed him. But Kya was suspect. As she was Chase Andrews lover for several years. Only he married someone else. She was accused of being jealous of Chase’s wife. So they accused her of murdering him.
This story jumps time periods in events and it builds up to end. Tate was Kya’s first love. But he leaves to go to college. And he doesn’t come back until he was professor and lead scientist of the Marsh.
Kya researched bird feathers, shells, and sea life. He encouraged her to publish her crafts. And she let him send them to a publisher. And she became a well known author. Her book flew off the shelves. And the Marsh became a tourist spot. New developments were being built. And many new homes were being built.
But as we know she is also the laughing stalk of the town. Because she was abandoned by her mom, brother, sisters, and father. So she lives by herself from childhood to adulthood. She never went to school. And Tate taught her how to read. He became Kya’s first love. But leaves for college. Only to come back seven years later. Without a word or trace from him. So she begins a relationship with Chase Andrews.
It really was a story of twists and unsuspecting ending. But I will let you read it to find out what happens in the end.
A Court of Thorns and Roses By Sarah J. Maas. I was drawn to the cover of this book. I have no idea what it is about. But I’m sure it will be a pleasure to read.
Fayra is the main heroine in this story. She starts her journey hunting. She kills what happens to be a big wolf and a deer. She kills them for food for her family. Her family was living poorly. And the only way to eat was for her to hunt in the forest near her village. They were really poor. And her mom died when she was young.
After she got home from selling the wolf hide and returns to her shack. She is shocked that an fairie found her and said that she killed his friend. Which happened to be disguised as the wolf she killed. She is ordered to go with the fairie to pardon her debt of killing his friend. So she leaves with him to live in his cottage in Prythion.
Long story short she falls in love with the fairie named Tamilin. All the fairies have to wear masks all times. As they are cursed their true identity to humans. As the story evolves they fall madly in love. It kind of reminds me of Beauty and the Beast. Only a little different plot twist at the end. Some more characters were Lucien who was Tamilin’s friend. And Alis the servent.
Fayra has to defeat the Queen of the Spring Court. An evil queen that hates humans and plans to kill all of the humans. So Fayra has to complete three quests. and answer a riddle. And Tamilin will be released from the queen Amarantha. And reverse the curse that was on all fairies.
She was mocked, embarrassed and laughed at. But she defeats all the quests. And at the very end the spell was lifted. and she guessed the riddle. She had to kill three innocent fairies at the end. But later is the heroine at he end. And the curse was lifted. And she lived with Tamilin as her love. And they end up together.
The Girl in the Tower By Katherin Arden. This is the sequel to The Bear and the Nightingale. And I read the first book. This is the second book in the trilogy. Vasalisa is the main character and it picks up right after the first book. Where her father dies while trying to help save her. She runs away and finds herself with the frost demon. She travels with her horse Solovey. She is always riding throughout the book.
The story starts in a kingdom southbound. Her sister Olga is married to Dimitri. Who is the Prince of the kingdom. Sasha is her brother and discovers Vasilisa when he was traveling to the different towns of the kingdom. There was rumor to have terrorists and they burned and stole from the towns. So he and the prince were on a mission to capture the bandits and bring justice to the kingdom. Only to find that Sasha finds Vasilisa. He thought she was dead and was surprised that she was alive. Only they tell the prince that she was Sasha’s long lost brother. So she was pretending to be a boy.
So Vasilisa helps fight the bandits and was claimed a hero throughout the kingdom. They both lie to everyone that she was a boy. But only for her heroic reputation. They did not want to claim her as a witch. So they go back to the kingdom where they celebrate the last meal of winter.
Vasilisa gets discovered by one of the prince’s prime ministers and knew who she was and that she was not a boy. He tries to trick her into marrying him. She refused the proposal and later he takes Olga’s daughter captive. The ending was very suspensful. But was a good read. I don’t want to spoil the ending. Read and find out what happens.
Wicca Wheel of the Year Magic By Lisa Chamberlain. Exploring Wicca has been a spiritual awakening for me. And this book will be a resourceful treasure to read and have. This book talks about all eight of the sabbats that Wiccans and pagans celebrate. It is the complete cycle of the Wheel of the Year. Here we learn about the God and Goddess. It explains each season with a brief history of all the Sabbats. Starting with Yule and making its way to Samhain in the course of a full year. Here we learn the Celtic and Norse celebrations. How each Sabbat is honored and what others do to celebrate. It contains spells rituals and traditions. It really was a good read.
I hope you enjoyed the discussions of these stories. I really enjoyed them. And finished my summer readings earlier than expected. But I hope you all enjoyed my comments about these books.