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Good story

📘The Japanese Lover
🖊️Paulette Jiles
📽️Jerry Maguire
🎤Juanes
🎶Jungleland (Bruce Springsteen)
#manicmonday #letterJ

So-so (3/5)

I enjoyed some of the writing about nature and music, as well as some of the plot, but I must admit having had difficulty entering into the story and connecting with the characters... Quite on the fence on this one.

This was an alright story…. Nowhere near as good as News of the World (tho Capt Kidd makes a quick appearance). Very atmospheric and slow paced…. Excellent narrator on the audio, but my mind drifted at times. Not bad, but not great either.

Slow moving, but in a good way. I listened on a road trip and the pace was right. The author can bring the mood and atmosphere to life. Dating was certainly different in the 1800s - meeting to marriage in 6 letters! Simon was focused and determined, an “all eggs in one basket” kind of guy. I liked him, and the story. 3/5💌s

Terrific story. I really like this author and her stories about people in the aftermath of the Civil War. This one about a young man from Kentucky, forcibly conscripted, who is intent on marrying an Irish girl who works for a malevolent Captain.

7.12.21 “Simon the Fiddler had managed to evade the Confederate conscription men because he looked much younger than he was and he did everything he could to further that impression.”

I wanted to love this book as much as I loved News of the World. Unfortunately, although the early scenes are interesting, there‘s just not much of a story here.

The premise: the fiddler Simon Boudlin forms a motley crew of musicians who attempt to survive in post civil war Texas. After a single meeting, Simon is obsessed with an Irish governess, Doris, and sets out to become her worthy man of property. Wish there was more “there, there”

The civil war is almost ended and Simon finds himself in the mix during one of the last battles in Texas. Texas history mixed in with love and survival. The US was a mess after the civil war and in Texas the new state was just getting started. Great storytelling!

Couldn‘t finish it. Too slow and didn‘t care about the characters.

An ok story of westward expansion set in Texas at the end of the Civil War. Simon Boudlin is a fiddle player with dreams of owning land and marrying the Irish indentured servant Doris. His modest means and authority provide obstacles but do not deter him. https://cannonballread.com/2021/01/simon-the-fiddler-a-novel-elcicco/

From the author of News of the World, ebook on sale. I have this book but haven‘t read it yet.

Our latest episode of Books On The Go is up now! Amanda and I discuss this book ... and how much we loved News of the World. 😉 Tune I‘m wherever you get your podcasts. 🎧

Daughter and I visited another bookstore, the Twig, this morning a little further up the road from Nowhere Bookshop and I was able to pick this one up. Signed too!

I loved News of the World but didn‘t connect with this one unfortunately. Simon is a fiddler who decides after seeing Doris (demure, beautiful) at a show that he‘s in love & chases after her. Nothing about that excited me (especially the cliched male point of view), there was no tension as he doesn‘t know Doris, much less have a relationship with her, & the prose which I loved in News was blousy in this one. Fine but not worth finishing.

#ReadYourSign #virgo

Prompt 10: Read 75% of book in the early hours. (Apparently fellow virgos are morning people...I am so very not.)

5th of 6 books pledged for #ReadYourSign

ModernMrsDarcy.com 2020 Summer Reading Guide

At the end of the Civil War, a ragtag team of musicians travel throughout east Texas playing their music to adoring crowds. The group is led by Simon, a Irish fiddle player. Simon catches the eye of an Irish governess who, after the war, leaves the area. Simon vows to find her again. This is a very touching tale and Paulette Jiles is among my favorite historical fiction writers.

Reviewed on my blog yesterday for a book tour. While I loved News of the World a bit more, there was plenty to love about Simon, a talented fiddler & Civil War avoider until he is conscripted to the Confederate Army. Most of the story takes place after the war as Simon & his bandmates travel Texas & he tries to better himself for a Irish indentured servant he falls for. I paired it with a nod to soldier‘s rations with Hominy & Cornbread. Link👇🏻

This is a wonderfully descriptive tale of love, war, and music in post Civil War Texas. I was not quite as invested in the characters here as I was in News of the World. Still I found it enjoyable. I hope there is a sequel sometime. I'm sure Simon and Doris have more stories to tell

This was not my favorite, but it may be for someone. This is based on a romance set at the end of the Civil War.

In April I wasn‘t as productive as I would have liked. I want to charge through books like Snoopy with bones, but lately I feel more like Charlie Brown with the football. May will be better! I put the tagged book on hold and got it yesterday, much sooner than Libby said I would. I started it last night.
Anyway...
-Hope Never Dies
-The Beautiful Mystery
-Evvie Drake Starts Over
-The Cold Dish
-The Blood Card
-Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
#wrapup

Alas, I am just not a Paulette Jiles fan. I know I am not the norm here, but her stories do not excite me at all. Also, if she talks about the same Texas Landscape again, I am going to pull my hair out. We get it, all the Oaks and other Texas Foliage. I live in Texas and enough is enough.

I highly recommend both this book and News of the World as they are set in the same time and many of the same places. Simon, a reluctant Confederate vet, falls for a young woman serving her indenture out in a Union officer‘s house after the war and determines to buy land and marry her, giving himself a quest to fulfill over the course of the story. Full review at https://booknaround.blogspot.com/2020/04/review-simon-fiddler-by-paulette-jiles....

https://bookmarks.reviews/paulette-jiles-on-little-women-all-the-pretty-horses-a...

Now I have some books to look up from her recommendations. I ❤️❤️❤️ News of the World and looking forward to the tagged book.

The finished Hungarian Mushroom Soup was delicious. I made a few changes to the Food Network copycat recipe from Old Wives‘s Tales—a now closed Portland, OR. Restaurant. This soup was my favorite menu item. I posted it to my food blog before but it was in 2008, my 1st year of blogging & this month makes my 12th blogaversary! 🤗Anyway, the recipe link is👇🏻The tagged book is one of my current reads, I have a book tour for it the week after next.

In March 1865, the long and bitter War between the States is winding down. Till now, twenty-three-year-old Simon Boudlin has evaded military duty thanks to his slight stature, youthful appearance, and utter lack of compunction about bending the truth. But following a barroom brawl in Victoria, Texas, Simon finds himself conscripted, however belatedly, into the Confederate Army.

Having never read anything by the author before, I wasn‘t sure what to expect.

I was invested in Simon‘s story from the first few pages.

This isn‘t a fast paced book until the last few chapters, but the writing is lovely, and I liked Simon‘s determination and spirit. I would absolutely read more by Paulette Jiles!

When your book kind of matches your dog 😁🐕. #Sietje

Here we have handsome Ozzie modeling mama‘s book. I really liked News of the World so I have high hopes for this one.

I‘m about 1/3 through this ARC, and I just realized today is it‘s publication day. I‘m really enjoying it! I haven‘t read anything else by the author, but I have a feeling I‘ll be looking for News of the World after I finish this.

There isn‘t enough space here to adequately describe my feelings. I wrote a full review on Goodreads and my blog. BUT! Did you guys realize Simon was also in News of the World? 🙌🏻

Simon the Fiddler is set in the same world as News: post Civil War Texas. I love that the setting has a wonderful hot, sandy feeling to it. Most of all, I loved the mixed-up feeling the Texans felt immediately after the Civil War ended. Such a hard time. I felt THERE.

Simon was able to avoid being conscripted during the war between the states, but on one of his events he was caught.

When the war ended, he snuck out of the camp without discharge papers, and Simon and three fellow musicians made their way in a boat to San Antonio.

SIMON THE FIDDLER has Ms. Jiles' excellent writing and beautiful detail, but it was a very slow read.

FULL REVIEW: https://tinyurl.com/sm67ys2

#paulettejiles
@williammorrowbooks

I‘m a winner! News of the World was magnificent, so I‘ve been waiting for another book from Jiles. Lucky me! Thanks, #goodreads

It was nice to find this ARC from LibraryThing‘s Early Reviewers program in my mailbox!

I LOOOVED this author‘s News of the World. This had a similar feel, but just didn‘t quite hit on all cylinders for me. #arc #Edelweiss

Jiles is a great writer, but there isn't enough of a story here and I struggled to finish. Simon's a fiddler who wants a girl and a piece of land. He gets in trouble with the authorities. He's blah and the girl is blah. “News of the World“ was far better. #arc #Netgalley #western

Full review at https://www.librarything.com/work/23741723/reviews/175683274

TFW your cats match your current read. 🐈🧡🐈 #readathon

Less than 7 hours to go! Farrokh and Zevon are keeping me company as I start my next read. 🐈🐈 - @Liberty #readathon