I’ve always been interested in Kleopatra (as she spelled her own name) and I’ve read at least one book about her, but I didn’t remember a daughter, so I was quite excited to get this book. I wasn’t disappointed.

Opening with the end of Kleopatra’s life and ending with Kleopatra’s daughter’s marriage, this book imagines what life would have been like for Kleopatra Selene, called Selene, in the years after her mother and father’s deaths.

Octavian takes Selene and her twin brother, Alexander, to his own court and they are treated as part of his extended family. They go to school, they make friends, they create lives for themselves.

If you’re a fan of historical fiction, you will find a lot to like about Cleopatra’s Daughter. Michelle Moran does a great job of making ancient Rome seem real and modern, while also maintaining its historical perspective.

There are similarities between ancient Rome and modern day United States that she points out in the Historical Note at the end, so you’ll definitely want to read that. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Kleopatra and ancient Roman history, she also includes an Afterword that fills you in on what happened to the rest of the characters after the end of the book.

I don’t rate that many books a 5, but I’d give this one a 5. I am going to get the author’s other books next. I can’t wait to see how she handles the life of Nefertiti.

Like most people who were brought up Christian, I know the story of Adam and Eve, of Cain and Abel. The Bible itself is sketchy on the details so I often wondered what led Cain to kill Abel? Surely not simply the offering? There had to be something that led up to such hatred? What could it have been? What was life like for Adam and Eve, then anyway?

"Eve" answers that question based on meticulous research of life in Mesopotamia. Of course, it's fiction, so the author takes quite a bit of creative license. The story is told in 4 perspectives, that of Eve and her daughters: Naava, Aya and Dara. The story begins at the end and weaves back and forth in time.

What that leaves us with is a story that makes Eve come alive. All the characters are shown fully with sympathetic and non-sympathetic characteristics. They, too, wonder where all these other people came from if Adam and Eve were the first two people on earth.

Elliott's writing is beautifully descriptive. The story captured my attention early and I couldn't wait to finish yet I made myself read slowly to savor every bit and to not miss anything.

If you're a fan of The Red Tent, you'll love this story. If you've ever wondered about who Eve really was, you'll like this story. If you're interested in people who question their faith, you'll enjoy this story. Aya is very New Thought in her approach to spirituality.

I was sorry to see the book end and I was left wanting to know more about what happened to Cain, Naava, to Dara and Aya. Maybe Elliott will write another book!

This story didn’t live up to its press. The blurbs on the cover, even the description here on BookBrowse, were all better than the reality. The characters didn’t seem plausible, the story wound up too tidily to be believable. There were elements that seemed tossed in and didn’t seem to serve any real purpose. Without giving away the plot, there was a character towards the end who was particularly unbelievable. He was demanding answers from a child who had absolutely no way to know the answers. Demanding, as in threatening to kill the child if he didn’t give the answer. Perhaps that was meant to show the man was mentally ill but it just came off as if the writer didn’t have another way to get the story along.

I’m sorry to say that The Good Thief is a book that I neither liked nor disliked. It was just okay.

My mother freely admits that she does not like to "keep house." In fact, dusting is anathema to her. She rarely cooks these days. Is it obvious, then, that she didn't teach me how to care for my home?

Earlier, in my life, I wasn't that interested. Then, in my first real home of my own, I found that though I was interested, I had no idea where to begin.

There are other books that have more realistic and practical guidelines for how to keep up with the daily goings on but I have found "Home Comforts" to be a great reference tool. I have actually read it cover to cover, laughing at some of the suggestions and thinking to myself "as if I had time for THAT") but also making note of some useful bits.

I keep this book on my living room coffee table and I refer to it often. If you aren't one who thinks that they have to follow each and every suggestion to the letter, you'll find a lot of useful information. I found the writing style engaging. I've recommended this book to all sorts of people and I've given it to young friends and family members, all of whom have found it useful.

Once I got past being annoyed that Nannerl's talent was stifled so that she could support her brother, I enjoyed this book. The writing is engaging and this was an "easy" read in that the reader really wanted to continue! I love historical fiction and getting a different perspective on historical figures is fun.