Mary Lincoln, Wife and Widow by Carl Sandburg. In honor of Lincoln's 200th birthday I thought I would research his life a little. I started with this short book about his wife. Well, who knew. She was a hard woman to live with! Her mom died and she was raised by a step-mom. Her mom had six children, I believe, and her step mom had nine children! Only a couple died as babies. I can't imagine. So, Mary Todd made it through that, was well educated, enjoyed parties and teas... fell in love with Abraham Lincoln. They got engaged, then he freaked out a little and so she let him off the hook. A few years later they got back together and got married. I guess it was true love. She would throw fits and they got worse with age, screaming, yelling, throwing hot water out of the window and locking her husband out of the house. But, they loved each other dearly.

As first lady she caused a big scandal because it was war time and she spent huge amounts of money on her clothes (at one point she was $27,000 in debt from clothes and her husband didn't know!) and her home. Apparenty she also was determined that her husband would appoint who she wanted to the cabinet, that also caused quite a bit of fighting. Imagine all of the good Abraham Lincoln did and how he changed our country and the world, even with a crazy wife. That gave me a lot of hope for my poor husband. : ) When her husband was killed she couldn't leave bed for five weeks, during that time many people came through and ransacked the Whitehouse. They stole silver and other items, ripped curtains, destroyed funiture etc. Can you imagine? When she finally left the Whitehouse she removed so many boxes that she was also accused of stealing.

She traveled in Europe with her son then brought him home sick. Soon after he died, the third out of her four sons to die. Then she only went downhill, she wouldn't live with her only son Robert yet she wouldn't let him out of her sight. She was sure that everyone wanted to kill her and she told crazy stories of people torturing her. She also begged for money and asked Congress to pay her what they would have paid Lincoln if he would have lived. Anywho, her own son had to get her declared insane. She spent a couple of years in a mental institution then was able to stay with her sister. After being declared competent again... she actually ended her days sitting in a room of only candlelight. All of the windows darkened, no contact with the outside world. She died at the age of sixty-four. Her doctor was certain she had a cerebral disease and said the post-mortem examination comfirmed it.

So, quite a sad story... and I had no idea.

Inkspell, Cornelia Funke. Besides having such a great last name I also enjoy the way she rights. Things don't always work out perfectly... or the way I thought they would, it kept things exciting and the reader, o sea, me, on the edge of my seat. Although, I often read laying down. Anywho, I would never have the guts to be Meggie, tell you what. But she is a fun character... and you need to know that when you go messing around with other people's stories, or even your own, things are bound to twist and turn in unexpected ways. I was also able to read Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke. I loved the whole series... but I am perfectly happy to stay right here in my own story and never introduce non-native species from another world!

Inkheart, Cornelia Funke. I read this book about three years ago, loved it. It was such a new idea to travel in or out of books, loved ones being trapped in the wrong story. It was fun. Months ago I bought Inkspell, the second book in the trilogy; in December I bought Inkdeath, the final book of the trilogy. I had been trying to reread Inkheart since last August. Craziness. Finally I dug in and re-read the book. Enjoyed it the second time as well. I also love the cover art. The only thing that really bothered me about the book was the introduction of non-native species into our world. Sometimes a lizard or a bird would be read into this world from a book. I found the idea very upsetting. You can't just go around introducing non native species into local environments! Other than that, the book was great.