Call the Midwife
By Jennifer Worth
Genre: Nonfiction
Personal Rating: 10/10

It has been a long time since I've enjoyed a book this much. I am a big fan of the BBC series Call the Midwife, and when my neighbor offered to lend me her copies of the books that this fascinating show was based off, I couldn't refuse. I have just finished the second book in this series and have not been disappointed in the stories, the writing, and the overall heart of these books.

What makes these books so fascinating is that they are filled with absolute true stories of life in the East End of London in the 1950's. Jennifer Worth trained in nursing, not writing, and yet she has such marvelous descriptions and she gives such life to the characters. Her writing is so engaging that I felt like I was truly living the life of a Midwife in the 1950's. Few professional writers have the story telling skills that this retired midwife has.

As far as appropriateness, I will say that this book gets a bit graphic in its descriptions of child birth and the horrible circumstances the author has encountered. Nothing I read was overly disturbing to me, however, and since it is all historical it didn't bother me or feel unnecessary. The author is respectful and tells her stories as accurately as she can. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone younger than 16, however.

I love these books. I would say that anyone with a love of history--particularly English history--needs to read these books.

Blood Rose Rebellion
By Rosalyn Eves
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Personal Rating: 6/10

Anna has been a social outcast almost her whole life for her lack of magic. Things only get worse, however, when she accidentally breaks her sisters debutante spell. To protect her from the scrutiny of society, her family sends her to Hungary, where she meets a band of magic wielding Gypsies. As Anna gets caught up in a rebellion against the magic system, her entire word changes and her true potential is revealed.

This book was interesting enough, but in the end I couldn't find anything really unique or captivating about the story, characters, fantasy elements, or much else. I did like how the book was set in Hungary, that was different. I was very excited to read a book set in Hungary, excited to learn about the culture, however the book did little with the unique setting, I didn't feel like I actually learned anything about Hungary, which was the main reason I chose to read this book.

There wasn't anything necessarily bad about this book, but nothing extremely good either. I'm not a big fantasy fan, and this book didn't really change that, unfortunately. There isn't any usage of major swears or explicit content. It was a clean book, but sort of boring.

By Your Side
By Kaise West
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Rating: 9/10

Over a long weekend Autumn, anxiety prone good girl, and Dax, reclusive loner, accidentally get locked in a library together. Autumn isn't thrilled about being locked in a spooky building with Dax for three days, knowing that her friends would soon realize that she was missing and would come back to rescue her. Except, no one comes. When it becomes clear that they are stuck together, a reluctant bound forms between the two, but can it survive outside of the library?

Everything about this book is just my favorite. Being locked in a library for a weekend? Yes please! And of course I love Kasie West's work, so it's safe to say that I was extremely excited to read this book. It definitely lived up to my expectations! It was cute, romantic, and addictive, just like all of her books. One aspect of this book that I wasn't expecting but really appreciated, is the focus on anxiety and mental illness. I felt like a normal level of anxiety that a lot of people live with everyday was perfectly represented in this book. I liked it so much better than Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella, where the anxiety disorder was handled with too much humor and the anxiety wasn't very realistic. I really enjoyed it.

Overall, I really loved this book! I read it really fast and never wanted to put it down. Kasie West is my favorite contemporary writer.

My Top Ten Books of 2016

10.Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
9.The Walled City by Ryan Graudin
8.The Painter's Apprentice by Charlotte Betts
7.The House at Quill Court by Charlotte Betts
6.P.S. I Like You by Kasie West
5.Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatric
4.All the Truth That's in Me byJulie Berry
3.Lunar Chronicals by Marissa Meyer
2.Wonder by R.J. Palacio
1. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

The Apothecary's Daughter and The Painters Apprentice
By Charlotte Betts
Genre: Historical Fiction
Personal Rating: 9/10

These were the first two books I listened to from an audio book that I actually enjo
yed. I used to be very much against audio books,but since I've had to take some very long car drives recently I started getting into them. These two books were ones my mom picked out for me--based on our mutual love for English history. The events in the first book cover the plaque and the great fire of London, while the second novel is based on an event I didn't know about called The Glorious Revolution of 1688.

 These were very intriguing events to learn about and it's very obvious that the author did an enormous amount of research for each book. I particularly appreciated her attention to detail in The Apothecary's Daughter, describing all the different herbs and remedies they used back then to fight the plague. Everything form the language to the descriptions felt genuine for the era she wrote about.

I also adored the characters created for these novels. Each had their own unique personality that brought something to the story, and I really grew attached to them by the end. These first two books go together and have many of the same characters, so if you choose to read these make sure you read The Apothecary's Daughter first,

As afar as adult books go these are actually pretty appropriate. There is one love scene in the first book that was a little too descriptive, but over all I thought the books were wholesome. I really enjoyed these books and would recommend
them to any fan of British history.

My Story
By Elizabeth Smart and Chris Stewart
Genre: Memoir
Personal Rating: 10/10

Ten years after she was kidnapped from her Salt Late City bedroom, Elizabeth tells her story of brutal cruelty, and recovery. On June 5, 2002 a fourteen-year-old Elizabeth was stolen from her own bedroom by a heavily bearded man and help captive by him and his wife for nine months. During her captivity she was mentally tortured, starved, and raped daily. In this memoir she tells how she survived her nine month of hell and discovered happiness after her rescue.

This was an amazing and inspirational book. I had been putting off reading it for several years, because I was nervous that the content would be too graphic, but after hearing so many good things about it, I finally picked it up. While Elizabeth's story is heart-wrenching and terrible, Elizabeth tells it in a way that isn't graphic or disturbing. She doesn't spare the details about what happened to her, but she doesn't go into so much detail that it was hard to read.

Elizabeth's story is very dear to me, since she was kidnapped so close to were my hometown is. I remember when the news first came that she was missing, and I remember when she was found. I remember being so shocked and sick that she was being kept so close to her home, and was often brought into the city, and still no one found her for so long.

My favorite part about this book was Elizabeth talking about how she recovered after she was rescued. She has such a positive attitude about what had happened to her, counting her blessings instead of turning bitter and depressed. She gives such strong and important advise for all of those affected by abuse. I am also amazed and impressed at how she was able to hold onto her faith throughout the whole ordeal.

The Midwife's Apprentice
By Karen Cushman
Genre: Middle Grade Historical Fiction
Personal Rating: 10/10

A young girl with no home and no family finds purpose as an apprentice to the village midwife. Known as only Brat or Dungbeetle, this girl eventually finds her place in the world and discovers her own worth. A medieval historical fiction for children and a Newbery medal winner.

I started reading this book with some children I babysat, but I ended up reading ahead because I enjoyed it so much. I love historical fiction and even though this is a children's book I felt like I gained something by reading it. It was very well researched and the language of the writing felt genuine for the medieval era. This book teaches that every life has purpose, and that you can achieve more than you think you can.

The only reservation I have with this book is that I don't know how appropriate some parts are for small children. This book is about midwifery, so there is a lot of discussion about giving birth. While there wasn't any graphic description, but I still wouldn't feel great about reading this to a classroom of students. There are also a few uses of mild swears like hell and damn. The girls I read it to really enjoyed the story, but I did have to edit a bit as I read out loud.

Overall I was very impressed with this book and I plan and reading the rest of Karen Cushman's historical works.