Saturday, January 03, 2009

These is My Words

It has been a long time - probably since Outlander - that I have been so totally and completely sucked into a book. I found it by browsing around reviews on Amazon - it sounded good so I put it on my wishlist. Mom already had it so she gave it to me, along with the sequel, Sarah's Quilt, for Christmas. I had just finished Three Bags Full, and was ready for a new book so I started it the next day when we went out to the cabin. And I finished it last night.

Might not mean much to all you whip-through-'em speed readers but it took me two months to finish my last book, which was shorter. My housekeeping has gone to crap this last week (no real change there) and I have stayed up past midnight most nights, simply unable to put it down.

Quick summary (you can read more on Amazon): A journal-style novel of a frontier woman, Sarah Prine, that follows her from her teens to 30's, and all the hardship, fear, joy and success that a fiesty and complex woman could experience at that time. It's a time and place of extremes, and the perfect setting for a very personal, very exciting and very moving tale. I feel very close to, and at the same time, totally in awe of Sarah. Her story is based on the journal of the author's great-grandmother.

These is My Words has been compared to Lonesome Dove, which Ed read a year or two ago (I watched the miniseries with him), and I remember he was similarly lost in reading it, and similarly affected by it, as if living a double life on the range. In fact, I've felt for the last week that my life is the dream, and the 1890's Arizona Territory is reality. It has made things around here seem ridiculously easy and trivial, and I'm kind of embarrassed to be sitting at the computer instead of whitewashing my house or digging a well.

No one likes long book reviews, so I leave you with a high recommendation and a warning. If you pick up this book, make sure you've got your spurs on and a handkerchief handy. You're in for a wild and wonderful ride.

This book receives 4.5 disco balls:

4 comments:

The Henrich Family said...

I read this Kari and absolutely LOVED it! Haven't gotten to the sequels yet, but plan to soon. Good book recommendation.

Heather M. said...

Yep, this book is a great one. I read it several years ago, at the recommendation of my mama. Glad to hear you loved it, too. Happy New Year!

Lindsay said...

I read this one in my book club back in Indiana. So, SO good. I really need to read the sequels. Glad you liked it!

By the way, I just read "Prisoner of Trebekistan" on your recommendation (yeah, I realize the recommendation was a super long time ago, but well, better late than never I suppose). So great! Seriously, I loved it. So thanks. :)

Mia said...

That was a good enough endorsement for me... It is on my list.

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