The Woman Who Rides Like A Man - Tamora Pierce

Title: The Woman Who Rides Like A Man Author: Tamora Pierce Genre: Fantasy Rating: 9/10 # pages: 216 Date read: August 2007, October 2011, April 2020, July 2024

A knight at last, Alanna of Trebond heads out to seek adventure in the desert of Tortall. Captured by desert tribesmen, she is forced to prove herself in a magical duel to the death. But her real challenge doesn't come until after she wins. As the first female shaman, Alanna must fight to change the ancient traditions of the stubborn desert tribes -- for their own sake and for the sake of all Tortall.


When I first read this quartet, I stopped after the two first books, because it just seemed wrong to me to read about Alanna when she wasn't still at the palace. I didn't realize that her adventures other places could be just as interesting to read. Fortunately I got over it, and now enjoy this book just as much as the rest of the series.

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Lioness Rampant - Tamora Pierce

Title: Lioness Rampant Author: Tamora Pierce Genre: Fantasy Rating: 4.5/5 # pages: 308 Date read: August 2007, October 2011, April 2020, July 2024

Having achieved her dream of becoming the first female knight errant, Alanna of Trebond is not sure what to do next. Perhaps being a knight errant is not all that Alanna needs....But Alanna must push her uncertainty aside when a new challenge arises. She must recover the Dominion Jewel, a legendary gem with enormous power for good -- but only in the right hands. And she must work quickly. Tortall is in great danger, and Alanna's archenemy, Duke Roger, is back -- and more powerful than ever. In this final book of the Song of the Lioness quartet, Alanna discovers that she indeed has a future worthy of her mythic past -- both as a warrior and as a woman.


I'd never noticed it before, but on this reread of the quartet, I realized that this is actually the weakest of the lot. Tamora Pierce tries too much in this book, with 4 different plotlines being twisted together. Because of this, it's by far the longest of the four. It doesn't make it bad though, just means it's not as tightly spun as the other three.

Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult

Title: Nineteen Minutes Author: Jodi Picoult Genre: Fiction Rating: 9/10 # pages: 503 Date read: August, 2007

Summary: In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it.

In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.

Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens -- until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermath, the town's residents must not only seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in the tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. And as the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show, destroying the closest of friendships and families.

Review: Jodi Picoult at her best. I've enjoyed almost all books I've ever read by her (with the noticable exception of "The Pact") and this is one of her most powerful books. She put me into the mind of a school shooter and managed to make me understand why he acted the way he did.

A powerful, heartbreaking novel. I couldn't put it down and devoured it in less than 24 hours.

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