North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Genre: classic, historical fiction, Victorian England
FTC Disclosure: bought from Barnes and Noble
Published: 1854
Pages: 422
Content: PG

Gaskell gives a beautiful and poignant look at the merchant sector of the time in England. Margaret is from the South and a lady and is forced to move to Milton with her parents due to his loss of faith as a clergyman.

Margaret soon learns to see things from a different perspective as she lives among those who aren't of her "class."

There also is a bit of romance in here between her and the local cotton mill owner Mr. Thornton...!

The characters are engrossing. The story moves along at a steady pace. The only thing that was irksome were all the literary references that I have no clue about! It's only due to my own ignorance, though. Luckily, my copy had a few endnotes to help me out!

I can see why this is a classic! Oh, and the movie is superb as well, if anyone desires to see it.

Rating: 4/5 stars

I also recommend watching the newest version of North and South by BBC. It's brilliant!

The Affinity Bridge by George Mann

Genre: steam punk, zombies, Victorian England, mystery
FTC Disclosure: library
Published: 2008
Pages: 330
Content: PG-13 for violence and adult themes

I was really excited about this book. I'm a big steam punk fan and was looking forward to this new novel...what a disappointment. The characters Hobbes and Newbury were flat and not that entertaining. The plot felt very cliche and I knew the outcome before the halfway mark. Also, much of the dialogue was just mediocre, oh and did I mention cliche?

There was one fight scene with the zombies that was fun...I was really hoping they would get to eat one of the characters!

This one just didn't stand out for me and I wouldn't recommend it.  But I will say, if you are just looking for a really quick, mind numbing read then maybe you can enjoy it.