Book 8 of 2015- "Elegy for Eddie" by Jacqueline Winspear

Sad, only one book left in the series for me. I've been meaning to start it, but just haven't. Maybe it's because I've liked this series of books and I don't want to have it end.

Maisie is approached by some childhood friends, and she learns of someone else that she grew up with who passed away in a freak accident. They didn't think it was an accident, and wanted her to investigate.

This investigation took her into the most upper class of England, including interacting with the "fallen" politician, Winston Churchill. This made me think that I need to learn more about him from before WWII, because the characters do not have a high opinion for him at this point. Since that is the opposite of what I hear now, I want to know how that changed.

At the same time, they are learning more about the changes that are going through Germany. Hitler has taken over power, and he is starting to make some changes. It makes me so grateful to not grow up in a time like this. Everyone in England is terrified of the idea of another war, because so many of their fellow men had just died not even 20 years prior in the first world war.

Book 7 of 2015- "A Lesson in Secrets" by Jacqueline Winspear

I think this book was my favorite of the series so far. Maisie was asked to work for the British Secret Service, and go teach philosophy at a college. During that time, the founder of the college was murdered and she took the responsibility on to find out who did it as well.

It is obvious from the getgo that everyone in the college has their secrets. In addition, there are many other secrets going on in Maisie's life. The man she had been dating seemed to not be faithful to her, and she took in a former maid at the house she worked at after her husband was killed in an accident. However, the accident seemed to be suspicious, so Maisie was dealing with the fallout of that.

I'm hoping to read another book or 2 soon so that I can stay on track with my goal of reading 50 by the end of the year. I have more on hold at the library, and keep getting suggestions from other people that I'm looking into.

Book 6 of 2015- "In the Heart of the Sea" by Nathaniel Philbrick

I had seen this book on an article on Buzzfeed titled "Books you should read in 2015 before they become movies". It is the true story of the ship that was attacked by a sperm whale, which inspired Herman Melville's "Moby Dick". Plus, Chris Hemsworth is going to star in the movie. What could go wrong?

IT WAS SO BORING.

I thought it would have been written at least a little in the style of a novel. The first 50 pages or so (the first quarter of the book) were about the history of Nantucket. Which was like reading paint drying.

They already gave away the most harrowing part of the story in the foreword, so I was just trying to get to the part where the men were shipwrecked and started eating each other. That, horrifyingly enough, was the only interesting part of the book.

They referenced other incidences where severe starvation has led to desperate measures in this book, such as the Donner party. Brandon and I listened to a podcast about this one time driving through the Donner pass, and it made us both realize what a sad situation it was. These people were misled by a few people who deliberately left out crucial parts of the journey while describing it to the Donner party, and that led to their downfall. It was also the mistakes of the leaders of the ship Essex that led to so many people dying. Out of 20 people who survived the shipwreck, only 8 were accounted for at the end.

So, while it will make a good movie, since I'm assuming they will leave out the super boring parts at the beginning and end, it was painful to get through. But if you like historical books, by all means check it out!

Book 5 of 2015- "Inferno" by Dan Brown

I took a break from Maisie Dobbs. I promised Brandon I would read this as soon as possible since he did over Christmas break... then I kept letting the other books I had checked out get in the way. I'll go back to library books next, but I knew Dan Brown would be a quick read. I read it in about 3 days, which is quick considering it is 600+ pages. But it helped that I didn't do ANYTHING yesterday, with Brandon out of town. I had to schedule myself to go to the temple, because I wanted to but I was so hooked on the book.

These books always make me want to visit Italy. It is such a fascinating place, with so much history. This time, I want to go to Florence.
Dan Brown's books make me think of the "National Treasure" movies... without Nic Cage in them, that is. It makes me wonder if there ARE secret passageways through these famous buildings? And how the heck does Robert Langdon not get arrested through all these books?
The plot twist in this book is SO good. I actually kind of agree with the antagonist's point of view... kind of. But I don't agree with how he went about what he did. It's so hard to explain without giving everything away. But I highly recommend this!

Book 4 of 2015- "The Mapping of Love and Death" by Jacqueline Winspear

Yes, another one of these books. I love them, and I only have 3 more until the series ends! Darn it. I'm still hoping she writes more, but I have no idea what is going to happen by the end. Maybe it wraps up.

She didn't seem to spend much time with this case, she was more concerned with her personal life. Her mentor, who has been a main character throughout all the books, was dying of some illness and she spent a lot of time with him. Not to mention, she started dating again FINALLY. I get way too invested in people's personal lives in stories. I forget if I had mentioned this, but she was dating a doctor during World War 1, and they were both hit by shells during an air raid. He lost his mind, and spent the rest of his life in a hospital for men with shell shock. He just passed away in the last book (not the one I read last, the 6th book), and I think it was only then that she was able to start opening up to people again.

Still a great series, and I can't wait to go pick up the 8th book in just a minute. I have the 9th and 10th coming from another library as well.