Miss Kate’s CBRV Review #3: Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent

 

Set in 1820s Iceland, Burial Rites is a novel based on the true story of Agnes Magnusdottir. In 1829, she was executed for a double homicide, the last person to be so sentenced in that country.c

At this time, Iceland is a backwater, provincial outpost whose officials have to answer to Copenhagen. There is no prison, so Agnes is sent to a farm to wait out her sentence. It’s a lonely place, and the family with whom she is staying (understandably) distrust her. She becomes close with the young clergyman sent to prepare her soul for the afterlife, and eventually, heartbreakingly, her full story comes out. As we hear of Agnes’ life, you get the sense that in this time and place, a woman like her never had a chance and that her fate was probably inevitable.

Burial Rites is not just the story of Agnes, though. It is rich with a sense of time and place, the descriptions of the stark Icelandic landscape vivid. We witness the effect Agnes has on those around her. As we near her execution time, the sense of dread is palpable. It’s a sad but beautifully written story.

It’s a sad, yet beautifully written story. 

http://misskatesays.com/2014/01/03/miss-kates-cbrv-review-3-burial-rites-by-hannah-kent/

 

Katie′s #CBR5 Review #29: Frozen In Time by Mitchell Zuckoff

Title: Frozen In Time
Author: Mitchell Zuckoff
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: 
Fun Fact: The Greenland coastline is longer than the distance around the equator.
Review Summary: Another awesome example of narrative non-fiction from Zuckoff, packed with adventure, drama, and a personal touch that makes the reader feel like the know the people involved.

During WWII, planes routinely used Greenland as a staging point to get from the US to Europe. From this story, it seems as though planes almost as routinely ended up crashing due to the wind and poor visibility! In Frozen In Time,  a B-17 participating in a search and rescue mission crash lands with all men on board miraculously surviving the crash. A Gruman Duck amphibious plane which is part of a daring rescue mission crashes as well and since none of the men on board survived, the plane is never retrieved. Frozen In Time tells both the story of the many daring rescue attempts necessary to retrieve the men aboard the B-17 and the modern day story of the hunt for the lost Duck.

Read more at Doing Dewey…

Teresaelectro’s CBR5 Review #1: Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning

 

Ok let’s get this Cannonball 2013 going, shall we?

Dreamfever is the fourth book in the MacLayla Lane series from Karen Marie Moning.  Mac, our darling protagonist, is a sidhe-seer. This is a fancy celtic-y way of saying she can see the Fae (fairies!) in their true form. Over the course of four books, Mac discovers even more supernatural powers as she seeks revenge on those magical beings who killed her sister, Alina, in the first book.

At the beginning of this installment, Ms. Lane is certifiably down for the count. The walls between the Fae world and our reality have come down. All hell has literally broken loose, y’all. The big bad who likes to be called the Lord Master (how cliche’) has enslaved Mac with the help of 3 (or maybe 4) evil fairy princes. They obliterate her mind with sex and made her Pri-ya, a fate worst than death which has no cure.

Read the rest of the review on my blog.