BOOOOOOOOOOOKS.

Books are amazing Beautiful. Wonderful. We loves them, precious. Last year I read 73 books! This year, I set a goal to read 50 books. I use Goodreads, and it's great. I love being able to keep track of the books I've read, set reading goals, read book reviews other readers have submitted, and look for new books to read! I have a HUGE list on my "to-read" shelf, and it's nice to have it as a reference whenever I visit the library to find more to read.

I plan to start reviewing the books I read here on my blog. I've long begun to sort of "write" reviews in my head after I finish a book, but have never actually written them down. I hope that this blog will help someone find their next great book to read!

So, on to business: the first book I read this year was The Widow's War, by Sally Gunning.

(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8378248-the-widow-s-war)


SYNOPSIS: It's the story of Lydia Berry, a woman in her late 30's who becomes widowed when her husband dies at sea. The book mostly covers her fight to regain a measure of independence in her life. The story takes place in mid-1700's colonial New England.

As she recovers from the loss of her husband, Lydia goes through much mental and personal growth. She is an independent person and better educated than many women of the time, and comes to realize how this sets her apart. She realizes more clearly who she is and what she wants in life; unfortunately, that does not fit in well with the society she lives in. Her son-in-law legally inherited 2/3 of her husband's property upon his death, as well as the "care and keeping" of Lydia. Unfortunately, her son-in-law is also a jerk, and her own daughter makes no effort to comfort or welcome her mother into their home. Quite understandably, Lydia longs to go back and live in her husband's house and live on her own terms. Legally, she is entitled to 1/3 of the house, so eventually she moves back into the house and uses exactly 1/3 of it. This creates all sorts of upheaval in her family and town.

GOOD STUFF: On Goodreads, I rated this book as 3 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed reading it, especially as a historical piece. It was interesting to learn about the culture, lifestyle, and some of the legalities of the time and place. The author does a great job of invoking the atmosphere of the time and place. It was fun to immerse myself in the setting and imagine what life was like then.Lydia was a good, strong, character, though, and I enjoyed reading about her. The book did a great job of portraying the fact that life as a woman back then was completely unfair , and really kind of sucked. I wanted to smack the son-in-law so bad several times. I HATE the hypocritical attitude held back then on morals: men can indulge in certain bad behaviors, and it's totally okay, but if a woman dares to do so, she's outcast. Women were pretty much thought of as livestock (there is a scene that points this out beautifully in the book- that was well-written!)

NOT-SO-GOOD STUFF:  I don't know that I'll ever pick it up and read it again. The story was good, but didn't blow me away. I was left slightly disappointed, though I can't quite put a finger on why. Most of the characters annoyed me: the son-in-law was a total jerk, the daughter was a weak, ungrateful person, and the lawyer was horribly disappointing.  I was also disappointed by a few of the decisions Lydia makes.

TO SUM UP: If you like historical fiction, you will probably find this book to be an enjoyable, quick read. Pretty good, but not my favorite book ever.