TV Show: Downton Abbey Season 2

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5

Genre: Period drama, life, family

Series or set: Downton Abbey

Number in series: 2^nd

Primary actors: Michelle Dockery, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith

Length: I think it’s seven episodes (the first one being extra long) plus the Christmas special (also about two hours)

Based on: I hear it’s based on a real family?

Time period: World War I, early 1900s

Rating: TV-PG, I’m guessing?

Year it came out: 2011

My overall opinion: I enjoyed this season, and finally – a happy ending! Since I have watched many things (including Season 3) since this season, I’m not going to try to ramble on about it more than to say that it was good, I liked the ending, enjoyed getting to know everyone better, and all-in-all, liked it probably even a bit better than Season 1. It helps that I know everyone now. Nothing stood out to me as objectionable! A little about characters…Matthew is mostly annoying, but occasionally quite nice. Lavinia is a sweet girl in a hard position. I still love Cora, and Isobel is more annoying than ever. Cousin Violet is a delight through and through, makes me laugh often. Thomas is horrid, Sybil is a sweetheart…I really like her. Carlisle is despicable, and also recognizable as a bad guy in Wives and Daughers as well. Mary is interesting, tolerable, and not my favorite character. There!

Blog Tour: Ashton Park

Author: Murray Pura

Genre: Life, family

Series: The Danforths of Lancashire

Number in series: 1^st

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Type: Historical fiction

Number of pages: 373

Time period: 1916-1923, World War I

Publisher and price: Harvest House Publishers, $13.99

My overall opinion: What a delightful book this turned out to be! I enjoyed getting to know the entire Danforth family so much. If you’ve heard anything about this book, you’ve probably heard that any fans of Downton Abbey will enjoy it. Having not yet seen Downton Abbey myself, I can’t speak to the truth of that statement – but from what I’ve read, I think it’s probably true. Certainly, anyone with an interest in World War I fiction will find this an interesting book! There were a lot of characters, and especially at the beginning, I had a bit of trouble keeping them apart. However, there was also at the beginning a Cast of Characters sheet – which I ignored, as I hate flipping back and forth to that kind of thing. So it’s at least somewhat my own fault that I had any confusion. As the book continued, however, I grew quite familiar with all of them, and attached to many. There was plenty of excitement and unexpected plot turns. This book will keep you guessing! Ashton Park – overall, a good book that I’ll keep in my library. Definitely anticipating the next one! Recommending for any fans of World War I fiction, period dramas.

**The author sent me a copy of this book for review purposes. I was not recompensed in any other way for this review, and wasn’t required to be positive.**

Movie: Sergeant York

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Main characters: Alvin York, Gracie, his mother

Genre: Adventure, war 

Primary actors: Gary Cooper

Based on: Real-life Sergeant York, the person who got the most medals (I think) of anyone in the US after World War I)

Time period: World War I

Exciting events: War

Year it came out: 1941

My overall opinion: A fun movie. Black and white, but pretty cool!

Angel on the Square

Author: Gloria Whelan

Genre: Adventure, historical fiction

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Historical fiction

Number of pages: 288

Time period: World War I

Main characters: Katya, Misha, Anastasia, the Tsar

Exciting events: Revolts, escapes

My overall opinion: A good book, about the years preceding Tsar Nicholas and Empress Alexandra's deaths, with their four girls and son. Very interesting.