The Uncommon Reader – Book Review

Jul 312009

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

“The Uncommon Reader” is a sweet little novella about the power of the joy of reading. Bennett has the Queen of England stumble accidently upon a book mobile at the edge of the palace, borrowing a book primarily out of politeness. After doing this a few times, the Queen begins to lose herself in her reading, to the point where those around her begin to think of it as a problem.

This definitely is a sweet book, but I listened to audio and I think it lost something moving from print to spoken word. A book about the love of books just really needs to be read.

Buy this book on Amazon.

The Traitor’s Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II – Book Review

Jul 302009

The Traitor’s Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II by Susan Higginbotham

“The Traitor’s Wife” is first and foremost the story of Eleanor de Clare, niece of King Edward II of England and wife of Hugh Despenser the Younger, a man who would eventually be much reviled in England. Through Eleanor’s eyes we watch unfold the tragic kingship of Edward II, a man who wasn’t really best suited to be king, as he continually alienated his barons and wasn’t much of a military leader.

In comparing “The Traitor’s Wife” to the other book I’ve read about Edward’s reign, “Queen of Shadows,” I was really struck by the spin an historical fiction writer can place on events. While reading “Queen of Shadows” I felt pity for Isabella, she being largely ignored as her husband squandered his position in the country, I felt that she was always trying to do what was right. In Higginbotham’s book, Isabella is a cold-hearted woman who is in the game for her own power – although probably for the same reasons, having watched her husband destroy his power. Hugh was a much more sympathetic character in “The Traitor’s Wife,” yes he wanted power and the best for his family, but he didn’t seem as coldly calculating as in “Queen of Shadows.” I’m sure the truth for both persons was somewhere in between their two depictions, although I did prefer Hugh as slightly less of an evil genius, since his plans didn’t end up working out all that well in the end.

I found “The Traitor’s Wife” to be an overall engaging and comprehensive view of Edward II’s reign. Higginbotham clearly knows her stuff. Every so often a bit of prose would strike me as slightly off and pull me out of the story, but that could just be me as I was never actually able to figure out what my objections were. This was originally a self-published novel (which is the version I read) and want for a better editor might account for the little issues I had, but it is a remarkably robust, well-polished book for something that was self-published. Of course, this is probably evident by the fact that it has now been picked up by Sourcebooks and was released by them on April 1, 2009. I’m not sure if any additional editing was done once Sourcebooks picked it up, but it is a book I would still recommend, overall, to historical fiction buffs even if it is being published exactly as is. I can’t wait to read more of Higginbotham’s work as she has continued to hone her craft.

Buy this book on Amazon.

The Big Steal – Book Review

Jul 292009

The Big Steal by Emyl Jenkins

Sterling Glass, antiques columnist and expert, has been recruited by her handsome insurance adjuster acquaintence Matt to investigate a burglary at a Virgina estate turned museum. Sterling is tasked with creating an appraisal for Matt for the items broken and stolen during the burglary. When Sterling arrives at Wynderly, however, she finds her work cut out for her. There is the musuem curator who is clueless about antiques and is not letting Sterling do her job, the museum’s overbearing yet clueless board of directors, and the fact that many of Wynderly’s antiques look highly suspicious. Not to mention the secret room full of china dogs that Sterling finds hidden in the attic.

“The Big Steal” is an entertaining cozy mystery. Jenkins is herself an antiques appraiser and has done well writing what she knows. Parts of the book struck me as a little too cutesy (such as some of the names – like Sterling Glass!) but overall I enjoyed the book. I think that Jenkins’ expertise really added to the book, making it more than just the same old cozy; of course I don’t read that many cozies, so maybe more of them have these differentiations than I think. Once I got going in “The Big Steal” I became engrossed in the story, enough that I would like to read the Jenkins’ other books in this series, and forgot about any problems I had with names or anything like that.

Overall, an entertaining, lighthearted read.

Thanks to Algonquin Books for sending this to me!

Buy this book from:
Powells.
A local independent bookseller via Indiebound.
Amazon.

Catherine de Medici – The Devil’s Queen and Something I’ve Never Seen Before

Jul 282009

the devils queen 198x300 picture I just received a book I’m REALLY excited about from St. Martin’s Press: The Devil’s Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis.

The publisher’s description:

From Jeanne Kalogridis, the bestselling author of I, Mona Lisa and The Borgia Bride, comes a new novel that tells the passionate story of a queen who loved not wisely . . . but all too well.

Confidante of Nostradamus, scheming mother-in-law to Mary, Queen of Scots, and architect of the bloody St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Catherine de Medici is one of the most maligned monarchs in history. In her latest historical fiction, Jeanne Kalogridis tells Catherine’s story—that of a tender young girl, destined to be a pawn in Machiavellian games.

Born into one of Florence’s most powerful families, Catherine was soon left a fabulously rich heiress by the early deaths of her parents. Violent conflict rent the city state and she found herself imprisoned and threatened by her family’s enemies before finally being released and married off to the handsome Prince Henry of France.

Overshadowed by her husband’s mistress, the gorgeous, conniving Diane de Poitiers, and unable to bear children, Catherine resorted to the dark arts of sorcery to win Henry’s love and enhance her fertility—for which she would pay a price. Against the lavish and decadent backdrop of the French court, and Catherine’s blood-soaked visions of the future, Kalogridis reveals the great love and desire Catherine bore for her husband, Henry, and her stark determination to keep her sons on the throne.

St. Martin’s has created a marketing device I’ve never seen before to promote “The Devil’s Queen.” They actually created a bonus mini-ebook to go along with it called “Book of Black Magic: The Devil Queen’s Grimoire.”

Open publication – Free publishing – More spells

If you can’t see it embeded here, you can also click this link.

Teaser Tuesday – The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal

Jul 282009

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

“It would have been easier to accept if we could have shaken the notion that Runner was hiding something. We know it was well within storytellers’ rights to withhold information – it’t not suppsoed to turn them into suspicious characters. You can’t arrest a storyteller for withholding information. Well, maybe in America.”

The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal by Sean Dixon, p. 64

(I know, I cheated, I used 4 sentences. I just couldn’t resist.)

A Secret Alchemy – Book Review

Jul 272009

A Secret Alchemy by Emma Darwin

Una Pryor is an historian planning to write about Edward IV’s Queen Elizabeth and her brother Anthony Woodville and what their libraries said about them. First, however, she has pressing personal business to attend to. Dealing with the loss of her husband, Una returns to England where she finds her uncle and the family business both in a state of disarray. Intertwined with Una’s story is that of the Woodvilles – think War of the Roses, Princes in the Tower – and told from their own perspectives. Sharon Kay Penman has made me somewhat of a fan of Richard III, but I found myself feeling complete sympathy for Anthony and Elizabeth, both of whom seemed to be doing their best in the situations in whih they found themselves.

I enjoyed the part of Una’s storyline about trying to preserve her family business and her past, but my favorite part of the story was definitely that of the Woodvilles. Seeing things from their perspective was definitely unique for me. Typically Elizabeth is a villain in most stories of Edward IV and the War of the Roses, a controlling woman who forces her family into positions of power despite their not being qualified. In “A Secret Alchemy,” though, she is a completely sympathetic character and Anthony is only trying to do what is best for the country and his nephews.

Throughout most of the book I really wasn’t sure how the two stories interconnected. By midway through the book, it was actually starting to bother me a bit. Una kept talking about how she was going to research what Elizabeth and Anthony read, but their storyline had nothing to do with that. Nor did it directly relate to Una’s storyline in any other way. By the end, however, Darwin tied the two storylines together in a satisfying way. Really, though, even when I didn’t know how the stories were connected I was enjoying both of them. The way Darwin tied them together just made the book more cohesive.

Buy this book from:
Powells.
A local independent bookseller via Indiebound.
Amazon.

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

Jul 252009

DSC03485 300x225 picture DSC03461 300x225 picture Daniel 010 225x300 picture IMG 0024 2 225x300 picture IMG00035 300x225 picture IMG 0004 300x225 picture IMG 0001 2 214x300 picture IMG 0015 300x225 picture Daniel is one month old today. It has been a great month. We love you, you little monkey!

Winners – Pope Joan and Smart Mama’s Green Guide

Jul 242009

I have winners to announce! All winners were chosen from the comments with the help of Random.org

First, the winner of “Pope Joan.”

pope joan picture

Those of you who didn’t win, remember that if you buy your own copy, you can enter Donna’s contest to walk the red carpet with her at the “Pope Joan” movie premiere!

The winner is…

#28 – B*Babbler!

Next, the three winners of “Smart Mama’s Green Guide”

smart mamas green guide picture

#2 – Janssen
#5 – Heather J.
#6 – Nancy, aka Bookfool

Emails are going out. I need to hear from you by 11:59 pm Monday, or I’ll choose a new winner to take your place.

Reading Biographies: American Lion – Book Spotlight

Jul 242009

One genre of book that I have a hard time resisting when I see them featured in a bookstore is biography, particularly biographies of our earlier presidents and Founding Fathers.

Here’s the problem: I rarely ever actually getting around to reading any of them. I buy them with all good intentions, but with the exception of Walter Isaacson’s “Benjamin Franklin,” they’re all still just sitting on my bookshelves looking pretty, they have yet to percolate into my brain. Often they’re just not quite captivating enough to pick up instead of something else.

“American Lion” would probably have been relegated to the same fate if I had not received it as part of a blog tour, simply because that’s just what happens to these books now. Boy, am I ever glad I had an obligation to read this one so I couldn’t just stick it on the shelf!

american lion picture “American Lion” is Jon Meacham’s new biography of Andrew Jackson, one of our most interesting presidents, in my opinion. The dude fought 13 duels and lived almost the last 40 years of his life with a bullet in his chest, come on!

I’m only about 1/3 of the way through the book, but it is a fascinating read so far. Meacham tells the story of Jackson’s presidency through the lens of his pre-presidency experiences and interpersonal relationships, which keeps the story flowing. It is much more interesting to read of Jackson’s exploits fighting the Spanish and British to maintain the boundaries of his country and his fears that they were paying Native Americans to wreak havoc against Americans than to simply read about his removal policy without exploring his motivation for wanting Native Americans out of U.S. lands (other than the normal explanation of simple 19th-century racism and paternalism, of course).

The hardcover of “American Lion” was released at the end of last year and won the Pulitzer Prize. At 512 pages, including well over 100 pages of notes and index, that must have been a heavy hardcover! Luckily, the paperback came out at the end of April. It is still heavy, but worth it so far. I’ll give you my final thoughts when I finish it, though.

How do you fare with biographies? Is this a genre you love? One you avoid? Or are you like me, you plan to read them, but usually don’t?

If you don’t want to wait for my final thoughts, you can
Buy this book from:
Powells.
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.
Amazon.

Thank you to Random House and Pump Up Your Book Promotion for sending me “American Lion.”

War on the Margins Released Today

Jul 232009

left.letterhead 193x300 picture Some time ago Libby Cone sent me her then-self-published novel “War on the Margins” about the Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands during WWII. Although I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, Jennifer over at Literate Housewife did in December and recommends it. Cone recently found a publisher for her book and this lovely hardcover is being released today.