Audiobook Review: Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie (Dear America) by Kristiana Gregory

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847  by Kristiana Gregory
Dear America Series
Unabridged, 3 hr. 30 min.
Scholastic
Barbara Rosenblat and Stina Neilson (Narrators)
August 2009
★★★★½☆

Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult

Source: Downloaded the audio from my local library

“After the death of her two sisters, thirteen-year-old Hattie and her family plan for a fresh start. They sell their farm in Missouri and journey along the Oregon Trail toward Oregon City. At first the adventure is exciting, but as the days, weeks, and months pass, Hattie realizes what a dangerous trip it is. As they cross the prairies, news of the fate of the Donner party reaches them, and death, disease, weather, and the terrain take a terrible toll on their traveling party. The Campbells lose neighbors and friends until they almost cannot bear to continue. Yet Hattie and her family must persevere or risk the same misfortune. Hattie`s diary chronicles the hardships of such a harrowing journey, but also captures the friendships and celebrations of life that keep hope alive.”

I think that this will live on as one of my favorite books in this extensive series. It brought back all of my childhood memories of playing the very first Oregon Trail game! Do you remember fording the Blue River, oxen dying, eating poisonous plants, breaking an axle? I do! All that and much more takes place in the diary of Hattie Campbell.

One of the great strengths of this book is the emotions that are evoked. Westward travel was certainly not easy. There were moments of terror, sadness, happiness, and hope – they were all here. I also thought that they played the in-between world of not quite a child and not quite an adult very well. It felt real when she didn’t fully understand some of the decisions being made and she and she didn’t have that frustrating quality to knowing all even though she is only 13.

I also really liked how historical events were peppered through the diary but not fully explained. It wouldn’t be normal for someone to go on and on about the back story of the Donner party, but that event would certainly have made it into their diaries and affected some of the choices that they made. Rest assured though, there is a lengthy historical note at the end where all of these mentioned historical events are more thoroughly explained.

★★★★★

Another well narrated outing in the series. Again they selected a young sounding voice actress who fit the character role. She also evoked the highly emotional scenes well.

Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be any audio clips I can share.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers: 

• Ana Mardoll’s Ramblings
• Rebecca’s Book Blog

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Other Books in the Dear America Series:

A Journey to the New World


So Far From Home
[My Review]

The Winter of the Red Snow
[My Review]

When Will This Cruel War Be Over?

A Picture of Freedom

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly
[My Review]

West to a Land of Plenty

Dreams in the Golden Country

Standing in the Light

Voyage on the Great Titanic

A Line in the Sand

My Heart is on the Ground

The Great Railroad Race

A Light in the Storm

The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow

A Coal Miner’s Bride

Color Me Dark

One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping

My Secret War
[My Review]

Valley of the Moon

Seeds of Hope

Christmas After All

Early Sunday Morning

My Face to the Wind

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

A Time for Courage

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Survival in the Storm

When Christmas Comes Again

Land of the Buffalo Bones

Love Thy Neighbor

All the Stars in the Sky

Look to the Hills

Hear My Sorrow

I Walk in Dread

The Fences Between Us

Like The Willow Tree

Cannons at Dawn

With the Might of Angels

Behind the Masks

A City Tossed and Broken

Down the Rabbit Hole

Find Dear America series here.

Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court

Popular Culture & Philosophy Series

I was recently made aware of a series of books from Open Court Publishing called Popular Culture & Philosophy.  I found out about the series from Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit; I won a giveaway for Star Wars & Philosophy, which my boyfriend is already enjoying.  They have a massive back list and I wanted to share a few with you that might be interesting to this reading community.

• The Lord of the Rings & Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All
• Harry Potter & Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts
• The Chronicles of Narnia & Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Worldview
• The Wizard of Oz & Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West
• The Golden Compass & Philosophy: God Bites the Dust
• Boardwalk Empire & Philosophy (coming in 2012)

Now I know when I first saw these books were about philosophy I cringed because I was never good at understanding those Aristotelian concepts, but from what I have read and heard thus far from my boyfriend, these are written more for the everyday reader.   To take a snippet from the publishers website:

Since its inception in 2000, Open Court's Popular Culture and Philosophy® series has brought high-quality philosophy to general readers. The volumes present essays by academic philosophers exploring the meanings, concepts, and puzzles within television shows, movies, music and other icons of popular culture.

The books sound funny as well as enlightening.  For a more detailed idea as to the individual books, here is the cover blurb from The Chronicles of Narnia & Philosophy:

Here twenty-four philosophers and Narnia fans relate some of the things they have witnessed in the weird world of Narnia and the even weirder world of philosophy. Philosophy, it turns out, can be as addictive as the White Witch’s turkish delight, though hopefully not always so frustrating.

Under what conditions should we believe a story that runs counter to all our experience?  Does might make right or are there objective moral rules? Would Albert Einstein have made any sense of the claim that time can flow at different rates in different worlds? If a boy is turned into a dragon, is the dragon still the same person as the boy? Can salvation be found in many religions or only in one? Do animals—even the ones that don’t talk—have souls?

These puzzles and more are bravely attacked in The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy.

I’m looking forward to the Chronicles of Narnia and Wizard of Oz ones, as well as a few others that are movie or tv show related.  I encourage you to check these out and expand your horizons.  And if you have already read any of these, please leave some feedback!

 

Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court

Audiobook Review: The House I Loved by Tatiana de Rosnay

The House I Loved by Tatiana de Rosnay
Unabridged, 5 hr. 56 min.
Macmillan Audio
Kate Reading (Narrator)
February 14, 2012
★★★☆☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received from publisher as part of Audiobook Jukebox Solid Gold Reviewer Program

“Paris, France: 1860’s. Hundreds of houses are being razed, whole neighborhoods reduced to ashes. By order of Emperor Napoleon III, Baron Haussman has set into motion a series of large-scale renovations that will permanently alter the face of old Paris, moulding it into a “modern city.” The reforms will erase generations of history—but in the midst of the tumult, one woman will take a stand.

Rose Bazelet is determined to fight against the destruction of her family home until the very end; as others flee, she stakes her claim in the basement of the old house on rue Childebert, ignoring the sounds of change that come closer and closer each day. Attempting to overcome the loneliness of her daily life, she begins to write letters to Armand, her beloved late husband. And as she delves into the ritual of remembering, Rose is forced to come to terms with a secret that has been buried deep in her heart for thirty years. The House I Loved is both a poignant story of one woman’s indelible strength, and an ode to Paris, where houses harbor the joys and sorrows of their inhabitants, and secrets endure in the very walls...”

I think that my first comments about this book should be a warning – do not read this book thinking it will be like Sarah’s Key. The two books are written in an entirely different manner from each other and just because you liked one doesn’t mean you will like the other – sort of my situation. The only similarity is their ability to draw the emotions of the reader.

This book is essentially written as a very long letter from the main character, Rose, to her deceased husband in the lead up to their home ultimately being on the destruction list during France’s eminent domain struggle. I would say that this is more of a character study of Rose in particular and is full of emotions and self-revelations. There is not a lot of action occurring in the novel, even when she flashes back to earlier events – the emphasis is put on Rose and her emotions. With that being said, I couldn’t stand Rose. The choices that she makes throughout her life would not be those I would make and it made it very hard for me to respect her. Her whiney-ness grated at my nerves.

The overarching historical thread in this narrative is the fight over eminent domain in the 1860’s. Some of the characters support the revitalization effort of Paris and then there are those that done, such as Rose. It was an interesting aspect of French history that I was not aware of previously.

Overall, this story was just alright for me. The descriptions of the people and settings were vivid and the writing style was beautiful. I think my issue was with the characters – that I couldn’t identify with them that turned me off a little bit.

★★★★☆

The audio presentation was well done. I appreciated the narrator’s French accent and pronunciation of all of the places within Paris. She also had a great pace to her speaking.

You can check out a sample of the audio below (links to Audible):

 

Other reviews of this book by other bloggers: 

• Erika Robuck
• That’s What She Read

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Tatiana de Rosnay:

Sarah’s Key
[My Review]

A Secret Kept

The Other Story

A Paris Affair

Manderley Forever

Find Tatiana de Rosnay: Website | Facebook | Twitter 

Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court