Nothing Like a NEW Book!

 

Reading is great!  Reading helps me keep my sanity.  Reading takes me to places far away from home.  Reading is so freeing.  So, yay for reading!

The most extraordinary feeling is reading a new book.  You are the first one to open the pages.  You are the first one to breath in the heavenly smell.  You are the first one to finish the book.  You can take your time or read as fast as you want.  

Usually I go to the library or get second-hand books, but earlier this month I ordered a brand new just off the presses book.  I ordered the book on April 29th and it was released for distribution on May 1st.  I had the book in my hands a few days later.  What an amazing feeling to have a book so brand new!

So without further delay. . . . . I read the brand new hot of the presses book Garden of Madness by Tracy  L. Higley.

This book is part of the Seven Wonders of the World series, which I discovered last summer during the summer reading program at the local library.  The Seven Wonder that is featured in this book is the Hanging Garden of Babylon.  The heading on the back cover gives an excellent introduction: "The Untold Story of King Nebuchadnezzar's Daughter."  

This is a very good historical fiction book and I did have trouble putting it down.   The main characters include Tiamat (Nebuchadnezzar's daughter), Pedaiah (Tiamat's brother-in-law), Amytis (Tiamat's mother), and Daniel (Nebuchadnezzar's confidant).

Garden of Madness draws you into the world of Babylonians and their Jewish captives through illustrations of the lives of both groups of people.  The plot of this story deals with a potential overthrow of the Babylonian Kingdom during the seven years of madness of King Nebuchadnezzar with Princess Tiamat thrown into the center of the unfolding events.  The book definitley has suspense until almost the very end.  

Well off to read another book!