Themed Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

Finished, hooray! My theme was books about sisters. I have to say, not as interesting as my theme last year, which was vampires. I just didn't seem to have enough books with a cool theme in my to-read list this time. Still, thanks to Wendy for hosting it again, it's a great idea - I just need to pick a better theme next year!

1. Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas
2. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
3. Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle
4. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

Given that I have no siblings, I was probably missing a big chunk of what you need to appreciate books about sisters! But it was still interesting to read about their relationships - some made me wish I had a sister, some made me glad I don't!

The House at Riverton was my favourite, followed by The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox.

Review: Bewitching Season

Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle
3 stars

Reasons for reading: Sounded fun; last Sisters book for the Themed Reading Challenge

Description: "In 1837 London, young daughters of viscounts pined for handsome, titled husbands, not careers. And certainly not careers in magic. At least, most of them didn’t.Shy, studious Persephone Leland would far rather devote herself to her secret magic studies than enter society and look for a suitable husband. But right as the inevitable season for "coming out" is about to begin, Persy and her twin sister discover that their governess in magic has been kidnapped as part of a plot to gain control of the soon-to-be Queen Victoria. Racing through Mayfair ballrooms and royal palaces, the sisters overcome bad millinery, shady royal spinsters, and a mysterious Irish wizard. And along the way, Persy learns that husband hunting isn’t such an odious task after all, if you can find the right quarry."

First line: "My God, Persy, you killed him!"

My thoughts: This book was equal parts cute and adventurous, with a great historical setting. I really liked that it featured Queen Victoria as a young girl, not the portly, austere lady we normally associate with her. The mythical names were fun - Persephone, Penelope, Melusine, Lorelei... There's romance and gorgeous gowns and intrigue and danger - a bit like The Luxe, but much more innocent, and with a magical twist. It was fun that the girls were twins - I was glad to have twin sisters on my list for the Themed Reading Challenge. They weren't sickeningly twinny and they did quarrel, but overall they were still each others' other half and best friend. They were a bit stereotypical - one's bookish, the other's flirty, but they both managed to be more than that, Persy especially, as she gained confidence over the course of the book.

The verdict: A light, fun read for fans of magic and/or historical romances.

Review: The House at Riverton

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
4 stars


Reasons for reading: many bloggers have recommended it; it sounded like my type of book; my third sisters-oriented book for the Themed Reading Challenge


Description: "Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they - and Grace - know the truth. In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight years old and living out her last days in a nursing home, she is visited by a young director who is making a film about the events of that summer. She takes Grace back to Riverton House and reawakens her memories. Told in flashback, this is the story of Grace's youth during the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege shattered by war, of the vibrant twenties, and the changes she witnessed as an entire way of life vanished forever."


First line: "Last November I had a nightmare."


My thoughts: I enjoyed this book. It reminded me in some ways of Water for Elephants - they both centre around an elderly person in a seniors' home who is remembering their past self and the secrets they kept back then. It also reminded me a lot of Upstairs, Downstairs and it turns out the author acknowledges the show at the end, so I guess it was a good thing that it did!

I really liked the premise of Grace being called in to check out the movie set and the memories flowing from that - it really added a contemporary element to a story set largely in the past. I felt Morton painted the house of Riverton very well - it's almost a character by itself and she's clearly done her research. I found myself wishing I could pay it a visit.

I chose this book for the Themed Reading Challenge because it's about sisters. Hannah and Emmeline are an interesting pair of sisters, because they end up (as they themselves note) basically living the life the other wanted - suffragette-wannabe Hannah married to a staid, boring man who wants to use her family heritage to advance his political career and seeming-homebody Emmeline becoming a silent film star and jazz baby. They are very close when they're young, but their different lifestyles move them apart, and then both sisters end up in love with the same man, which brings about a tragedy.

It's also the story of Grace, who observes them all for years - she serves them faithfully, envies them, wants to be like them, and eventually gains a connection with Hannah that turns out to be more than they realized. (I don't want to spoil it!) It was a very interesting look at a domestic servant at the turn of the century - Grace was constantly reminded and honestly felt she was privileged to serve the Hartfords and in fact sacrificed a great deal of her own life and happiness for them (though happily we find that she didn't give up everything and managed to have quite the life herself eventually). This is an alien idea today, but was obviously very much the way things were then, before the Wars came and started to change the fabric of life in England.

The verdict: A great read, especially for anyone interested in the period from the Edwardian era to the two World Wars.

Review: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
4 stars

Reasons for reading: read several good reviews of it; second Sisters-themed book for the Themed Reading Challenge

Description: "In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage-clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend’s attempts at commitment, Iris Lockhart receives a stunning phone call: Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital—where she has been locked away for more than sixty-one years. Iris’s grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esme’s papers prove she is Kitty’s sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme’s face. Esme has been labeled harmless—sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But she's still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit? "

First line: "Let us begin with two girls at a dance."

My thoughts: This is a really well-written book, told from three very different points of view. Iris is a typical modern girl who receives some astonishing news. Esme seems fairly sane, but she's been locked up for 6 decades - her mind slips into the past frequently, but she seems to have a grip on the present. And Kitty is mired in dementia - her thoughts flit between events that happened 60 years ago and how she's feeling about biscuits at this very second.

The premise of Iris discovering she has a relative she never knew existed is enough of a story, but between Esme and Kitty, we learn about 60 years of lies that have brought us to this point - Iris living in an apartment that used to be the Lennox family home in Edinburgh, Kitty in a nursing home, and Esme in the asylum.

I love Scotland and really enjoyed the Edinburgh setting - I could picture quite a lot of the scenery. It was interesting to see it from Esme's point of view after 60 years - she recognized a lot of the buildings, for example, but the road network was very different.

I shared Iris' fascination with the fact that in Esme's day, a woman could basically be committed if her father or other man in her life wished it. This theme reminded me of another book I really enjoyed, An Inconvenient Wife by Megan Chance, which took place about 50 years earlier, but was largely about women being called mad by men because they were embarrassing. Esme definitely was unconventional, but it overall it was hard to tell if she was actually mad.

The verdict: A haunting tale of how lies and betrayal can turn loving sisters into enemies, as well as the story of how a family changes over time, but genetics are always there to bind them together.

Review: Sugar Daddy

Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas
3 stars


Reasons for reading: I read a very positive review of it on someone's blog; first Sister novel for the Themed Reading Challenge

First line: "When I was four, my father died in an oil-rig accident."

From the back cover: "... Liberty Jones has dreams and determination that will take her far away from Welcome, Texas—if she can keep her wild heart from ruling her mind. Hardy Cates sees Liberty as completely off-limits. His own ambitions are bigger than Welcome, and Liberty is a complication he doesn’t need. But something magical and potent draws them to each other, in a dangerous attraction that is stronger than both of them... When Hardy leaves town to pursue his plans, Liberty finds herself alone with a young sister to raise. Soon Liberty is under the spell of a billionaire tycoon—a Sugar Daddy, one might say. But the relationship goes deeper than people think, and Liberty begins to discover secrets about her own family’s past."

My thoughts: This was a good, rather soapy book (appropriate, since young Liberty and her mother watch them and her sister's name comes from one). From the day she was born, Liberty was more like Carrington's mother than their own mom, and 18-year-old Liberty finds herself fully in that role when their mother dies suddenly when Carrington is a toddler. Liberty is an amazingly strong young woman who refuses to allow Carrington to be taken away from her and even manages to move them out of the trailer park by becoming a hairdresser.

I have to say, the title is rather misleading, because Liberty works very hard not to become a "sugar baby," though her hairdressing pals all think she should. That doesn't mean she doesn't get involved with the mega-rich Travis family, when their patriarch, Churchill, starts asking for her, a humble manicure girl, when he comes into the swanky salon where she works. She eventually moves into their home as Churchill's personal assistant.

I don't want to give too much away, but Churchill has a gorgeous son named Gage and, as in any good romance novel, the initial dislike between Liberty and Gage soon gives way to passion. There are quite a few nicely steamy scenes in the book, without getting too far into bodice-ripping territory.

Of course, Hardy comes back (you knew he would!) and Liberty has to choose between her past and current loves. And there are secrets!

I enjoyed the sisters' relationship in this book. Liberty manages to act as both mother and sister to Carrington and the two are bonded from the moment Liberty finds out her mom is pregnant, which is really lovely. I did find that Carrington seemed a bit too old at 3 and a bit too young at 8, but she was still a pretty well-written child character.

The verdict: Liberty and Carrington are a great sister act! (And the two hunky guys don't hurt, either.)

Themed Reading Challenge

Okay, I just said I wasn't going to join any more challenges, but I did this one this year and it was fun, so I want to do it again! :)

Here's how it works:

Books should be chosen from the reader’s TBR pile (this may be an actual physical pile or a virtual pile).
The goal is to read 4 to 6 books linked by theme.
Overlaps with other challenges are allowed.
Readers may change their list of books at any time.
Readers may choose three different levels of participation:
- Read at least 4 books with the same theme.
- Read at least 5 books that share at least TWO themes.
- Read at least 6 books that share MORE than two themes.

Caribousmom is hosting it again. Sign-up and more details are here.

My theme is Sisters. It's pretty generic, but I have quite a few with that tag on my LibraryThing TBR list, so sisters it is.

1. Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas
2. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
3. Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle
4. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

Alternates/extras
Three Girls and Their Brother by Theresa Lebeck
Glitz by Louise Bagshawe (overlap with Celebrate the Author Challenge)
Jars of Glass by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler (overlap with YA Challenge)
Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle