Booktalking: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Trying on a new format for a new genre!

A Walk in the Woods on Amazon: https://goo.gl/8IgPkg

A Walk in the Woods on Goodreads: https://goo.gl/XSSfPL

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Gold is in my blood, in my breath, even in the flecks in my eyes.

Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

The acclaimed Rae Carson begins a sweeping new trilogy set in Gold Rush-era America, about a young woman with a powerful and dangerous gift.

Published September 22nd 2015 by Greenwillow Books
 ISBN13: 97800624)

Review:

I love Rae Carson's other series, Girl of Fire and Thorns. If you are a fantasy fan, GO NOW! READ IT! THERE'S NO TIME, JUST GO!

So I was a bit skeptical when I heard the premise for her new one. A historical novel? A western, at that? And the supernatural powers didn't help. I mean, "gold senses," in the Gold Rush? Convenient. And kinda lame.



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But, I do LOVE western YA lately. (If you haven't read Vengeance Road or One Came Home, again, GO NOW!) And I do LOVE Rae Carson. So...I picked it up.

And guys--I read it in 2 epically long, no-sleep, eating-over-book, no-TV, ignore-husband sittings. It was phenomenal! I'll admit, it took me just a bit to really sink my teeth in. The beginning is heartbreaking, but I wasn't sure about the characters yet, especially the potential love interest.

But by then end of the first few chapters, I was hooked.

You remember playing Oregon Trail in grade school, and bemoaning your poor oxen, your missing leg, the rattlesnake bites and diseases? This book brought those emotional memories right back up to the surface. It's a brutal trek, full of danger, sickness, and trauma. I was constantly on the edge of my seat, especially during the harrowing medical incidents. Lee is always on guard, worried about her secret, but there's so much more happening that her secret becomes a subplot in this much more interesting story. There's little-to-no mushy romance. She spends 90% of the book on horseback or sweating under manual labor. This is first and foremost a survival story. These happen to be right up my alley. Girl vs. Nature, surviving by the sweat of her brow. Go get em, Lee.



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And those magical gold powers? Not goofy or convenient at all. They don't seem like a gimmick, pasted into a Gold Rush story to make it more interesting. It's so natural to Lee that it folds right into the story like it was meant to be there. And it DOES make it more interesting.

The characters were excellently developed. I love Lee's internal struggle about her own femininity, and the choice she comes to in the end feels so natural and mature. I love her as a character. She is tough but kind, resourceful but relatable. I also love the relationships she builds with the other travelers--especially Becky Joyner. I don't wanna give away too much, but I was totally impressed with the subtle growth of their friendship, and the tiny revelations that Becky is actually pretty awesome.

This is an epic journey, filled with tons of action that is sure to make you keep reading, desperately, late into the night. You will love Lee, and love the authentic, wild atmosphere that harkens back to Oregon Trail and Little House. 

5/5