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This is the sort of fluffy, cute story to read while winding down before bed.

Set in a unspecified time in British history (possibly in an alternate Victorian world?), this is very loosely based on Cinderella, with a lot of faerie lore baked in. Hester is a commoner (hence the title), and she goes to the ball thrown by the palace because she otherwise doesn’t have enough food. That sounds grim, but the story is so lighthearted that it isn’t–she really just wants the cheese. Instead she meets the princes, Hugh and the crown Prince Lucas. Playboy Hugh immediately takes to her, and all she wants to do is get rid of him (which seems absurd, but again, the story is told so tongue-in-cheek that you just go with it.) Meanwhile, it’s straight-laced Lucas who really catches her eye, and vice versa: he’s charmed by her open manners, and sends her home with all the cheese she can carry. Soon Hester is plagued by one suitor prince she doesn’t want, while the one she really wants remains aloof.

The main characteristic of Hester that annoyed me throughout the story, which seemed like it was just there to drive the plot along, was her unwillingness to accept favors ever, from anybody. It seemed like a weird pride quirk. Later we find out that this isn’t it at all, and the twist in the story hinges upon this… but I still felt like it was rather contrived.

Still, the story ends happily, and there was nothing objectionable in the content, which is always refreshing for a newer release.

My rating: ***

Language: none

Violence: none

Sexual content: none

Political content: none

The post What Comes of Attending the Commoners Ball appeared first on C.A. Gray.

A cute chick-lit story that follows all the tropes, but was still original enough to keep me listening.

This one follows Nora (or Eleanora, which is important later), a therapist who, when she first started to practice, allowed her British friend to talk her into writing an advice column in a British paper called “Ask Eleanora.” For the previous 8 years, her copy editor, J, corresponded with her weekly with comments and edits. Eventually, Nora realizes (when J tells her his relationship recently ended) that she has feelings for him–which is odd, since she’s never met him. She doesn’t even know what he looks like. (You can feel the setup here, and it is a little contrived, but I can suspend my disbelief to go with it.)

Meanwhile, Nora lives in a community in New York consisting mostly of elderly strong characters. But the woman who used to live just below her passed away, and her grandson moved in. He’s British, he’s cantankerous, and he’s hot. Of course he (Eli) and Nora start off on the wrong foot, even though there’s also instant attraction. Eli, it turns out, is a writer, of some non-specific genre that never comes up in conversation, until he and Nora finally sleep together. (And again: does it bother no one that it’s completely normal and expected in our culture that as soon as you’re ready to kiss someone, you’re automatically expected to also have sex with him?! Even if you don’t believe in waiting for marriage, doesn’t anyone find this a *little* concerning? Don’t we think this cultural expectation *might* pressure people to hop into bed just because it’s the thing to do, and not because they necessarily really even want to?)

But I digress. Obviously in the context of this book, they did want to (though it goes into way too much detail and I had to skip both those chapters.) I will say that the slow burn leading up to sex was well done. I also appreciate the fact that the conflict at the end was neither a big misunderstanding, nor a sudden emotional freak-out from the female lead, suddenly drowning in her insecurities. I’ve seen that done one too many times. And the ending was sweet, and uplifting, as books like this are meant to be.

My rating: ***1/2

Language: present but not overwhelming

Violence: none

Sexual content: yes, and too much of it. 

Political content: present but minor

The post Unlikely Story appeared first on C.A. Gray.

This was a page-turner! I’m usually reading about eight books at a time, but when I find a good one, I set all the others aside to finish it–and that’s what I did with this one. It helped that I had both the audio and the kindle version whisper-synced, so I could go back and forth.

The story follows Cat in the post-WWII late 1940s. Cat was on track to follow the typical life trajectory for a woman in those days, but she walked out on her would-be husband on their wedding day when she found out that she’d been recruited to Arlington Hall, to join the team of code-breakers assigned to the Russian unit. One blot on her “record” nearly kept her from joining the team: the existence of an uncle she’d never met, brother of her late mother, who had joined the Communist Party. But they accept her anyway, and she makes great friends with the other women on the team, as well as several of the quirky male characters too. Soon, her path crosses again with a handsome man she knew from her one Harvard co-ed codebreaking class, though: Jonathan, a former rival for the top spot in class.

The romance between them is very well written, and paced perfectly amid the process of unraveling the secret code names of the Soviet spies who sold atomic secrets from the Americans. Eventually this gets very personal, as Cat gets too close to some of the spies on the inside, and they choose to frame her instead, using her Communist uncle as a pretext. She knows the stakes are high, as she’s told from day one at Arlington that if she betrays what she knows, she’ll be executed for treason.

I was a little annoyed at how quickly Cat and Jonathan hopped into bed once the tension reached that point–really? Isn’t that a bit anachronistic? I know it *happened,* but not nearly so casually as all that back then, I wouldn’t have thought. There were a few other modern values sprinkled here and there too which annoyed me more, given the historical setting. But aside from that, it was a great read!

My rating: ****1/2

Language: none

Violence: none

Sexual content: present, but skip-able (and I did)

Political content: present, but minor (even though it felt out of place in an historical novel)

The post The Women of Arlington Hall, Jane Healey appeared first on C.A. Gray.

I’ve gotten to the point where I read pretty much everything Jeff Wheeler puts out, as soon as it’s released! This was no exception… and while all of his books feel quite similar to me, it’s the world-building and the magical details that keep me coming back. They’re atmospheric, and the characters are noble.

There was something very unusual about this one, in that it began with a retelling of the story in Genesis of the Garden of Eden and the fall of man–sort of. There was an apple, and a serpent, a man and a woman, but they weren’t named Adam and Eve. There was no one called “God,” nor anyone who might have been that character. The Queen Mother was there, but I’m unclear what role she played… it seems as if she was neither of them, but rather, Adam’s first wife? I’m waiting for her to be called Judith in a later book, though I can’t quite recall the details of that story either. I feel like it might be from an apocryphal book, though I’m not sure.

The story follows the Angel Sworn, whom I gather are somewhere between angels the way we think of them today, and humans–in this book, humans can choose to take a vow and become, essentially, angels. The Angel Sworn are mostly immortal, and (as Jesus said) they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they can still die. They also have a subtle type of magic that involves identification with a particular animal. If they merge with that animal, they can share its heightened senses, while still indwelling their own bodies.

Cimree is a young girl who is among the Angel Sworn, an apprentice, but she has yet to actually take the oath. She’s recruited by the Queen Mother (who seems like she might turn out to be an evil character, though all the Angel Sworn reverence her) to persuade a fallen Angel Sworn to undertake a quest, in order to help root out a predator invading their lands. The fallen angel, it turns out, was once the angel of death–but he forsook his vows, and took a human woman as a wife (which sounds an awful lot like the Nephilim in Genesis 6)…

I’m really quite amazed that Wheeler managed to take such an incredibly well-known story, central to the faiths of so many, and make something new and creative out of it, without even a hint of irreverence. That takes prodigious skill! Looking forward to the next installment.

My rating: ****1/2

Language: none

Sexual content: none

Violence: present but not gratuitous

Political content: none

The post Queen Mother, Jeff Wheeler appeared first on C.A. Gray.

A terrific practical field guide companion to “Boundaries,” this book goes into great detail on the various types of difficult conversations we might encounter when attempting to set boundaries. These range from what the other person might say in response (and how to stand your ground without getting sucked into the weeds), to the types of relationships that might require confrontation, and how that might change the approach. Another great read!

My rating: *****

Language: none

Sexual content: none

Violence: none

Political content: none

The post How to Have That Difficult Conversation, Henry Cloud appeared first on C.A. Gray.

I didn’t know there was such a thing as systems theory, but this is exactly how I think – about all the feedback systems involved in regulating the body, and the earth’s ecosystem, and the economy, and the climate… Why history unfolded the way that it did (all the factors had to be just so–and if they’d been a bit different, it all might have turned out very differently.) I don’t know that I learned anything precisely brand new, but I did gain a new vocabulary to explain the same process playing out in so many different areas. What makes a system is interconnected feedback loops. This is precisely why sledgehammer interventions directly opposing a problem have unintended and often catastrophic long-term consequences, no matter what the system is. An easy and thought-provoking listen!

My rating: *****

Language: none

Sexual content: none

Violence: none

Political content: none

The post Thinking in Systems, Donella Meadows appeared first on C.A. Gray.

My husband and I read this one aloud to one another–ironically, we discovered it on the shelf of a hotel we were staying at in Jamaica, called Jamaica Inn, though this book is set in England. (I never was entirely clear on why the eponymous inn was called that in the book.) This is the second book I’ve read by du Maurier — the first of course was “Rebecca,” which was wonderful. This was also very good, but the pacing was incredibly slow. Somehow I don’t mind that when reading anything by du Maurier though, because her prose is so gorgeous and atmospheric. Very little needs to happen, and yet I’m still wrapped up in the story.

I can’t now recall the exact date of the story’s setting, but it was about a century or more ago, perhaps in the Victorian era English countryside. Mary’s mother recently died, and to care for her, her mother told her she must go to her aunt, who has married the owner of Jamaica Inn. Mary remembers her aunt Patience as a vivacious and lovely woman, but she finds her a shell of a creature, cowering under the tyranny of her drunken and (apparently) abusive husband, Joss Merlyn. A good half the book or more is just Mary figuring out the exact nature of Joss’s villainy. It turns out that he runs a smuggling operation, but he’s not above murder to get his hands on his wares, either. Mary would just run away, if not for her concern for her aunt, whom she know isn’t strong enough to flee with her or stand up to Joss in any way.

Meanwhile, Joss has a brother, Jem, who’s basically also a scoundrel to a lesser degree. Mary strangely falls in love with him. Then there’s the albino vicar with whom she has a chance meeting, and she begins to form a plan that the vicar will eventually be her ticket out… or will he?

This is the sort of book to read on a wild and stormy night.

My rating: ****

Language: none

Violence: present but not gratuitous

Sexual content: none

Political content: none

The post Jamaica Inn, Daphne du Maurier appeared first on C.A. Gray.

This is a terrific overview of techniques we can employ consciously in order to manage our own emotions. It also gives I think a much-needed counterbalance to the idea that all repression is bad, and therefore we should never avoid our emotions, by exploring well-adjusted individuals who had suffered severe trauma, and who selectively processed, as the author describes, according to the people they were with and the situation.

I think the author mentions somewhere in there that this should be taught in schools. Absolutely!!

My rating: *****

Language: none

Sexual content: none

Violence: none

Political content: none

The post Shift, Ethan Kross appeared first on C.A. Gray.

I heard a guest sermon from Strobel in which he discussed this book, and picked it up, curious to see how an investigative journalist would be able to especially parse through various near-death experience tales with an objective eye. I’ve always been kind of confused by anecdotal tales I’ve heard second or third-hand that seemed to contradict what I think the Bible teaches.

Strobel did a great job dealing with these, once I got to that section; I hadn’t realized that so much objective research had actually already gone into this. He also discusses both what scripture says about ghosts, and treats the spiritualist movement and its modern iterations with a similarly objective eye, which I likewise found refreshing.

My rating: ****

Language: none

Violence: none

Sexual content: none

Political content: none

The post Seeing the Supernatural, Lee Strobel appeared first on C.A. Gray.

I listened to the audio version of this with a full cast. The concept and the framing was the best part, by far: in the multiverse, a company gets the rights to “sell” a particular universe to an individual wizard, where they can go in and change history in whatever way they please. Since they’re also time-traveling, they can, god-like, cure diseases, or introduce technology, become king, etc. Periodically the story was interrupted by commentary from “the handbook,” describing the rules of the company and what is and isn’t possible–which was hilarious.

The story itself opens with the amnesia trope, though that too was very uniquely done — the traveler doesn’t recall who he is, or where he is, which is part of why the commentary from the handbook is so helpful. As he interacts in the world, and sees what his own instincts are, he learns who he is, and why he’s there. I actually found all the details who the bad guys were in this world, what they want, and why it’s important to stop them far less interesting than the handbook commentary itself, though the commentary kind of did require a story as a vehicle.

My rating: ***

Language: I think there was some? Can’t recall

Sexual content: none 

Violence: some, but not over the top

Political content: none

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