My Cavalcade of the Week: Books I read this past week #thelabyrinthofspirits #becomingmrslewis #thedreamdaughter #netgalley #library @absltmom

                  

This week has flown by and I was able to read three books that were able to go from totally amazing to a bit disappointing. Some held me within the grip of their pages while another made me wonder why I was not enjoying it more. As always though, I am in awe of those who place words upon a blank page and create illusions in my mind.

So let’s start with my one and only five star book this week.

   I just knew reading the first one hundred pages of this brilliant book that I would be in reader’s nirvana. Reading The Labyrinth of Spirits, not only brought this wonderful series written by Carlos Ruiz Zafron to an end, it also provided me with countless hours of intrigue, suspense, a an overwhelming feeling of the magical, the serious. and the terror of living in a world controlled by a dictator. Going back for the last time to the Cemetery of Lost Books was an experience I was long looking forward to and I was not by the end of this eight hundred page page the least disappointed. From my review:  This book is at times mystical, there is always present that layer of corruption, that mist inspired look into Barcelona that pushes you forward into a complicated, intricate plot that holds one in as the over eight hundred pages are read. The scenes keep coming at you, holding you enthralled and the dialogue so often witty and humorous, propels you into an affinity with the characters. This one is not to be missed. It is the definition of a true masterpiece.

 In Becoming Mrs Lewis, I was able to find out much that I did not know about both C.S. Lewis, whose name was Clive Staples Lewis (something I never knew) as well as the woman he finally fell in love with Joy Davidman, who herself was a poetess. He was also a great friend of J.R.R. Tolkien whose books have been read and made into Hollywood movies a number of times. Besides learning a lot, this book was able to let me see inside a complicated, loving relationship that so hinged on a belief in Christianity from these two former atheists. From my review: In Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Patti Callahan explores the love story between C. S. Lewis, a well known older author living in England, and Joy Davidman, a young poet, mother, who was trapped in a marriage to an alcoholic and philanderer. She writes to C.S. Lewis and over time through their letters finds herself falling deeply in love with Lewis’s words which represent the man he is. Both Joy and Lewis were former atheists, but found religion and god to be a solace.

Unfortunately, my next book did not work for me. In The Dream Daughter, I met my aversion to time travel themes head on. I find it very hard in this particular story vein to suspend my belief patterns. I know it has been a hang up with me for quite some time and of course I was so hoping that this book would break the mold I have myself in. Unfortunately, it was not to be. From my review: Sometimes no matter how hard you try you really can’t like something you thought you would. It’s disappointing as you try to figure out just what it was that went wrong. Such is my feeling with the book The Dream Daughter.

There they are, my books of the week. I am hoping that my dear book friends had lots of moments spent with books that fulfilled their love of reading with a good dose of excellent books.