Book Haul~End of Month!

The end of April and I'm so psyched to have these final beautiful books to read.  This has been a month of awesome books.  I'm so grateful to the publishers who have kept me in the loop with new authors and some of the best of the known authors.  I've also been really impressed with little known authors who've shared their debut books with us.

Here are some summaries of the books above.  I have to say that I've started several of them...taken sneak peeks, and these are fabulous!

First of all, my purchase:

From the grand master of the historical novel comes a dazzling, epic portrait of the City of Light

Internationally bestselling author Edward Rutherfurd has enchanted millions of readers with his sweeping, multigenerational dramas that illuminate the great achievements and travails throughout history. In this breathtaking saga of love, war, art, and intrigue, Rutherfurd has set his sights on the most magnificent city in the world: Paris.

Moving back and forth in time across centuries, the story unfolds through intimate and vivid tales of self-discovery, divided loyalties , passion, and long-kept secrets of characters both fictional and real, all set against the backdrop of the glorious city—from the building of Notre Dame to the dangerous machinations of Cardinal Richlieu; from the glittering court of Versailles to the violence of the French Revolution and the Paris Commune; from the hedonism of the Belle Époque, the heyday of the impressionists, to the tragedy of the First World War; from the 1920s when the writers of the Lost Generation could be found drinking at Les Deux Magots to the Nazi occupation, the heroic efforts of the French Resistance, and the 1968 student revolt.

With his unrivaled blend of impeccable research and narrative verve, Rutherfurd weaves an extraordinary narrative tapestry that captures all the glory of Paris. More richly detailed, more thrilling, and more romantic then anything Rutherfurd has written before, Paris: The Novel wonderfully illuminates hundreds of years in the City of Light and Love and brings the sights, scents, and tastes of Paris to sumptuous life.

I had to have this one for my collection.  Paris is my favorite city in Europe, and my favorite setting for most of the books I read.  I've started this novel and love it so far.  Highly recommended!!

A vivid novel of Charles Baudelaire and his lover Jeanne Duval, the Haitian cabaret singer who inspired his most famous and controversial poems, set in nineteenth-century Paris. For readers who have been drawn to The Paris Wife, Black Venus captures the artistic scene in the great French city decades earlier, when the likes of Dumas and Balzac argued literature in the cafes of the Left Bank.

 

More of Paris and the famous poet Baudelaire!  This is a book I can hardly wait to read in the coming months.  Baudelaire is my second favorite poet...next to Keats.   Thanks to St. Martin's Press for this copy.

 

 

 

 

Jane Lambert, the quick-witted and alluring daughter of a silk merchant, is twenty-two and still unmarried. When Jane’s father finally finds her a match, she’s married off to the dull, older silk merchant William Shore. Marriage doesn’t stop Jane from flirtation, however, and when the king’s chamberlain, Will Hastings, comes to her husband’s shop, Will knows King Edward will find her irresistible.

 

Author Anne Easter Smith is one of the top historical fiction authors on today's market. She's the author of "A Rose for the Crown."   I'm looking forward to reading her latest in this volume.  With gratitude to Simon & Schuster!

 

 

 

 

One innocent mistake . . . a lifetime of consequences.

After growing up an only child, Amanda Lisandra wants a big family. But since she and her soldier husband can’t afford to have more children right away, Mandy decides to earn money as a gestational carrier for a childless couple. She loves being pregnant, and while carrying the child, she dreams of having her own son and maybe another daughter. . . .

Just when the nearly perfect pregnancy is about to conclude, unexpected tragedy enters Mandy’s world and leaves her reeling. Devastated by grief, she surrenders the child she was carrying and struggles to regain her emotional equilibrium.

Two years later she studies a photograph of the baby she bore and wonders if the unthinkable has happened—could she have inadvertently given away her own biological child? Over the next few months Mandy struggles to decide between the desires of her grief-stricken heart and what’s best for the little boy she has never known.

 

I just received this book today and had to start reading it.  It's a book that will be toured with LITFUSE GROUP in May.  Here's the link to see all the reviews associated with the book beginning May 5th:  http://www.litfusegroup.com

 

This is an exceptional book which I'm thoroughly enjoying.  Beautifully written and heartwrenching.  Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Litfuse for the copy.

 

 

 

 

Achingly tender, yet filled with laughter, The Lake House brings to life the wide range of human emotions and the difficult journey from heartbreak to healing.

 

VICTORIA ROSE. Fifty years before, a group of teenage friends promised each other never to leave their idyllic lakeside town. But the call of Hollywood and a bigger life was too strong for Victoria . . . and she alone broke that pledge. Now she has come home, intent on making peace with her demons, even if her former friends shut her out. Haunted by tragedy, she longs to find solace with her childhood sweetheart, but even this tender man may be unable to forgive and forget.

HEATHER BREGMAN. At twenty-eight, after years as a globe-trotting columnist, she’s abandoned her controlling fiancé and their glamorous city life to build one on her own terms. Lulled by a Victorian house and a gorgeous locale, she’s determined to make the little community her home. But the residents, fearful of change and outsiders, will stop at nothing to sabotage her dreams of lakeside tranquility.

As Victoria and Heather become unlikely friends, their mutual struggle to find acceptance—with their neighbors and in their own hearts—explores the chance events that shape a community and offer the opportunity to start again.

 

Cannot wait to dig into this one!!  What a great summer read!  Many thanks to Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books for this copy.

 

 

The final book is:  "Marilyn's Red Diary" by E. Z. Friedel ~

 

Summary:  Based on shocking new information, MARILYN’S RED DIARY documents Miss Monroe’s roller-coaster final years, culminating in her murder.The star, yearning to become a mother, suffers several miscarriages. Distraught, she becomes infatuated with the Kennedy’s, only to be brought down by their enemies. Through her renowned psychiatrist, Marilyn's medical problems, drug use, and cause of death are explained.

So ends my book haul for April....

I have lots to catch up on in reviews.  Hope you're having fun reading as the month comes to a close. 

Let me know what you're reading!!!

Deb/TheBookishDame

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"Secret Storms" by Julie Mannix von Zerneck and Kathy Hatfield~Adoption Story & Guest Post

SUMMARY :

A pregnant, upper class nineteen-year-old Philadelphia Main Line debutante is confined, against her will, to a state mental hospital. She spends her pregnancy surrounded by the mentally challenged and the criminally insane. On April 19, 1964, she gives birth to a child, whom she is forced to give up for adoption.

A loving middle-class couple adopts a month-old little girl from Catholic Charities. She is adored and cherished from the very beginning. It is as though she is dropped into the first chapter of a fairy tale—but we all know how fairy tales go.

This is the story of a mother and daughter. Of what it is to give up a child and what it is to be given up. Of what it is to belong, what it is to be a family and what it is to yearn deeply, and to never lose hope—because anything is possible.

In this exquisite memoir, Julie Mannix von Zerneck and Kathy Hatfield recount the stories of their lives. Deliciously strange, surprising and sweetly funny, this tenderly written book takes us on a wild and frightening journey. Written in two distinct and deeply expressive voices, their stories seamlessly meld together in a breathtaking ending.
PARTICULARS OF THIS BOOK :

Published by:  Blue Blazer Productions
Pages:  330
Genre:  Non-fiction/Biography/Memoir
Authors:  Julie Mannix von Zerneck and Kathy Hatfield
Learn more:  http://www.secretstorms.com


ABOUT THE AUTHORS and THEIR STORY :

Picture of Julie (left) and Kathy (right) when they were featured guests on the Katie Couric show
recently.

Here's a link to the show!!!    http://www.katiecouric.com/videos/adoption-reunion

 

Julie Mannix von Zerneck was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She traveled with her parents, living in Paris, on the isle of Capri and in several boarding schools around the world, before settling down at Sunny Hill Farm at the age of nine. There, she lived with a menagerie of animals, including a cheetah and eagle and her very own baby spider monkey. After attending the Neighborhood Playhouse in NYC, she became an actress on Broadway, had running roles in three soap operas and guest starred on many TV series. She is married to the TV producer, Frank von Zerneck. They have three children and four grandchildren and reside in Toluca Lake, California, where, for 26 wonderful years, they were the owners of Portrait of a Bookstore. She is a lifelong collector of antiques and antiquarian books.

 

 

Kathy Hatfield was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up surrounded by two brothers, twenty-five cousins, and two sets of grandparents in Indialantic, Florida. She attended Florida Atlantic University, after which she worked as a mortgage broker while running her own small business selling men’s neckties. She now teaches World Literature at a high school in Florida where she serves as English department chairman. She and her husband of 25 years live in a quaint beachside community with their two daughters. She is a freelance writer and moderator of the Adoption Reunion Stories Facebook page, which currently has over 2,800 members. She’s a competitive runner and participates in 5k races when she’s not correcting papers.

 

 

 

A VIDEO ABOUT "SECRET STORMS"

 

Can be seen on their website at:   http://www.secretstorms.com

 

 

 

GUEST POST !!!!

 

A Bookish Libraria is proud to bring you this wonderful guest post from Kathy Hatfield regarding her transition experience.  Thank you, Kathy, for sharing your intimate family life with us here.

 

 

"Cut from the Same Cloth"

           

            I’ll admit it;  I’m vain.  Upon discovering that I had a full-blooded sister, whom I had never met, my very first thought was does she look like me?  As an adopted child, I had spent my entire life wishing I looked like someone in my family, wishing I had my mother’s eyes or my father’s thick hair, wishing that -- for once-- someone would say you look just like your mother (or father, or brother, or cousin...).     Five years ago, that wish came true.   At the age of 44, I reunited with my birth mother, who eventually married my birth father and went on to have two more children:  my brother and my sister.  I had grown up with only brothers, and was completely enthralled with the idea of having a sister, who - quite possibly - would look just like me. 

            As it turns out, I had known my sister for decades.  Watched her on TV in the 1980s.  Scheduled my college classes around the soap opera on which she appeared daily.  For two years, she played the role of Lou Swenson, the love interest of  John Stamos, on the wildly popular General Hospital.   And for two years, I had no idea she was my sister. Now, on this side of the adoption reunion, I can’t believe I didn’t see it:  we don’t just look like one another, we also share the same laugh, the same intonation of voice, the same sideways tilt of the head when we speak in earnest.  And after spending time with her, I have also realized the semblance resonating on a much deeper level.  I saw it when she spoke about politics, about literature, about her daughters;  I saw  a passion, a fire in her belly, a glimpse of what made her tick - and understood it immediately.  We, though strangers, had been cut from the same cloth - and I felt the same thing that other biological siblings must feel - an unspoken connection.

            But is that all it takes to be siblings?  Shared features, shared mannerisms, shared passions? Can a sharing of chromosomes supersede years of playing catch in the backyard and fighting over who gets to ride in the front seat?    I had assumed that our genetic bond was the only requisite to be sisters, but I was wrong;  we will never have the shared memories of childhood, which are the links in the chain that fasten us to our families. Yet, what remains is my greatest hope: that we may come to realize that sisterhood is not a destination, but a journey to be shared and enjoyed.  And maybe someday, we too will come to form our own memories in common and redeem what could have been our past. 

Kathy Hatfield

 Kathy far right, Julie next to her in pink jacket.



THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

Reading this book was a rare experience for me.  I had no idea it would be so engaging.  From the first sentence, I was captivated by the story of Julie and how she was thrown into an asylum for the mad and criminally insane simply because she had become pregnant as a teenager.  This is a book told from the depths of the souls of two amazing women.  One not to be missed!

Julie writes from the heart about her experiences.  I simply could not put her book down.  You can "hear" her voice coming through the pages.  There is not a moment's pretension from this woman, nor is there an ounce of self-pity.  Rare in these circumstances.  Her side of the story of loss and reclamation is pure and true.  I appreciated that honesty from a woman who had suffered the indignities and betrayals she had.

Kathy is buoyant and forgiving.  Her outlook on her adoption, finding her birth family and the fulfilling of her new life is up-lifting.  She sheds a hopeful light on how one can grasp the whole process and build a lasting relationship from what could be the bitter ashes of life.  Kathy is to be admired.  I appreciated her optimism and openness.  Her unconditional love is heartening.

This is a story of love and redemption in the face of some nearly insurmountable odds.  Julie, in particular, faced the cold upbringing of a child passed from links of inconsistent parental love.  It's a wonder she has the well of love she has to draw from given that background! 

I highly recommend this book to readers of all genre.  You'll enjoy the writing style.  It's a fast read because it flows so well.  It's absorbing.  The story may appear to be ordinary in the hearing, but it's extraordinary in the reading.

5 stars                                  Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"The Mystery Box" (The Mystery Writers of America Presents)~ Edited by Brad Meltzer

SUMMARY :

There's nothing more mysterious than a locked box. Whether it's a literal strongbox, an empty coffin, the inner workings of a scientist's mind, or an underground prison cell, there are those who will use any means necessary to unlock the secrets of...THE MYSTERY BOX.
 

With this anthology, bestselling author Brad Meltzer introduces twenty-one original stories from today's most prominent mystery writers. In Laura Lippman's "Waco 1982," a young reporter stuck with a seemingly mundane assignment on lost-and-found boxes unwittingly discovers a dark crime. In Joseph Finder's "Heirloom," a scheming neighbor frightens the new couple on the block with an unnerving tale of buried treasure. In R.L. Stine's "High Stakes," a man on his honeymoon gets drawn into a bizarre bet involving a coffin--a bet he may pay for with his life.

From the foothills of Mount Fuji to Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, from a physics laboratory in wartime Leipzig to an unusual fitness club in Boca Raton, these sometimes terrifying, sometimes funny, and always suspenseful tales will keep you riveted to the page.

PARTICULARS OF THIS BOOK :
Published by:  Grand Central Publishers/Hachette Publishing
Pages:  364
Genre:  Short Stories/Suspense/Mystery
Authors:  Multiple
Purchase:  Amazon
Edited by Brad Meltzer:  Find him on Twitter:  @BradMeltzer  or at http://www.BradMeltzer.com

SOME OF THE AUTHORS INVOLVED :

Brad Meltzer:  Brad Meltzer is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Inner Circle, as well as the bestsellers The Tenth Justice, Dead Even, The First Counsel, The Millionaires, The Zero Game, The Book of Fate and The Book of Lies.


Karin Slaughter : 

Karin Slaughter is the #1 internationally bestselling author of several novels, including the Grant County series. A long-time resident of Atlanta, she splits her time between the kitchen and the living room.


Tom Rob Smith :  "I grew up in Norbury, South London. My parents were antique dealers: my dad bought antiques in auctions, house sales and then restored them. My mum sold them in their shop, called Woodstock. It was a business they started without any financial help or formal training. Twenty-five or so years later, when I set out to become a professional writer, they understood far better than me that the early years were going to be difficult. They'd gone through that process of being self-employed, carving out a reputation and finding your fight. When I was feeling despondent, after one of many setbacks, and toying with the idea of finding a less erratic profession, I remember them counseling me to hold my nerve. They'd been in the exact same position. Their advice was, and still is, much appreciated."  Mr. Smith is the award-winning author of "Child 44."


Laura Lippman : 

Laura Lippman was a reporter for twenty years, including twelve years at The (Baltimore) Sun. She began writing novels while working fulltime and published seven books about “accidental PI” Tess Monaghan before leaving daily journalism in 2001. Her work has been awarded the Edgar ®, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Nero Wolfe, Gumshoe and Barry awards. She also has been nominated for other prizes in the crime fiction field, including the Hammett and the Macavity. She was the first-ever recipient of the Mayor’s Prize for Literary Excellence and the first genre writer recognized as Author of the Year by the Maryland Library Association.  She is best known for her "Tess Monaghan" series of books!


Charles Todd : 

Charles Todd Biography

Charles and Caroline Todd are a mother and son writing team who live on the east coast of the United States. Caroline has a BA in English Literature and History, and a Masters in International Relations. Charles has a BA in Communication Studies with an emphasis on Business Management, and a culinary arts degree that means he can boil more than water. Caroline has been married (to the same man) for umpteen years, and Charles is divorced.

Charles and Caroline have a rich storytelling heritage. Both spent many evenings on the porch listening to their fathers and grandfathers reminisce. And a maternal grandmother told marvelous ghost stories. This tradition allows them to write with passion about events before their own time. And an uncle/great uncle who served as a flyer in WWI aroused an early interest in the Great War.

 
THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

Ordinarily, I'm not a fond reader of short story collections.  But, when Grand Central sent me a copy of Brad Meltzer's edited book, and I saw the authors who had written for it, I was pretty excited to find out what they had written.  This was a treat to read!  It in no way disappointed.

Each of the authors wrote stories you'd love to hear around a fireplace after a wonderful dinner party with friends.  Entertaining and thoroughly attention-grabbing.  I loved the slam-dunks at the endings in particular, and the surprises that these capable authors were able to deliver.

Characters were so well drawn in each of the cases, and in such bare-bones formats.  This is the sign of perfection in writing.  These authors are seasoned.  The stories are rich in detail.  Captivating!  I particularly liked Laura Lippman's tale of the young journalist from New England who finds herself in Waco, Texas...a fish out of water.

This is a collection of suspense/mystery stories from the most worthy of writers.  The best of authors putting pen to some bright and brilliant twisters offers stories that will rattle through your mind days after they're read.  You'll thoroughly enjoy an evening or two of them.  I recommend this book hands down!

5 stars                  Deborah/TheBookishDame


 

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"A Murder At Rosamund's Gate" by Susanna Calkins~New Historical Fiction!

SUMMARY :

In Susanna Calkins's atmospheric debut novel, a chambermaid must uncover a murderer in seventeenth-century plague-ridden London.

 

For Lucy Campion, a seventeenth-century English chambermaid serving in the household of the local magistrate, life is an endless repetition of polishing pewter, emptying chamber pots, and dealing with other household chores until a fellow servant is ruthlessly killed, and someone she loves is wrongly arrested for the crime. In a time where the accused are presumed guilty until proven innocent, lawyers aren't permitted to defend their clients, and--if the plague doesn't kill them first--public executions draw a large crowd of spectators, Lucy knows she may never see this person alive again. Unless, that is, she can identify the true murderer.

Determined to do just that, Lucy finds herself venturing out of her expected station and into raucous printers' shops, secretive gypsy camps, the foul streets of London, and even the bowels of Newgate prison on a trail that might lead her straight into the arms of the killer.

In her debut novel, Susanna Calkins seamlessly blends historical detail, romance, and mystery into a moving and highly entertaining tale.

 

 

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

 

Published by:  Minotaur Books/St. Martins Press

Pages:  338

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Author:  Susanna Calkins

You may purchase here:  Amazon

Find the author's website here:

Show more

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http://www.susannacalkins.com



ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

 

Educator, historian, faculty developer by day... writer by night...I've had a morbid curiosity about murder in seventeenth-century England ever since grad school, in those days before I earned my Ph.D. in history. The ephemera from the archives--tantalizing true accounts of the fantastic and the strange--inspired my historical mysteries.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, I live outside Chicago now, with my husband and two sons. Represented by David Hale Smith of Inkwell Management, my first novel, A Murder at Rosamund's Gate (Minotaur/ St.Martin's Press), will be published April 23, 2013.

INTERVIEW !!!!

I'm so thrilled to bring you this very upbeat and exciting interview of Susanna Calkins to kick off her debut novel.  Obviously, can't wait for you to meet  her!!

Thank you so much for allowing me to join you today.  These questions were a lot of fun to answer.

1)       Tell us something about yourself, please.  How do most people describe you? 

According to my husband: Motivated, friendly, energetic…open to possibilities and change.

 

2)      Where is your favorite place to write?  Any special gimmicks, writing tools or keepsakes that you keep near you when you write…I hear authors can be superstitious!

When I’m working on my novel, there are a few coffee shops near my house where I like to write. I don’t need any special keepsakes, but I like to have a coffee on hand, and a smooth flowing pen for when I write long-hand. But now that you mention it, maybe I should get a troll…

3)      Who first told you you could write well, and how did it affect you?

 

Great question! In sixth grade we had to create stories that incorporated a list of spelling words. I had so much fun writing these stories!  I’d make them as scary and mysterious as possible (strewn of course with ridiculous spelling words like “alleviate”). We had to read them out loud each week to the class. Over the weeks, my teacher began to have me read last, and the class would get really excited when it was my turn. They made me feel I could tell a fun story that others would enjoy.

 

4)      Which contemporary authors do you most admire?

I love a lot of current mystery authors—Anne Perry, Rhys Bowen, Elizabeth George all come to mind—although I also appreciate some YA authors like Suzanne Collins, Tamora Pierce and Shannon Hale.

5)      Which are your favorite classical authors? 

Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Lloyd Alexander and Lucy Maud Montgomery.  I’ve read every one of their books multiple times.

 

6)     Jump into any book~which character would you be?

Who doesn’t dream of being Elizabeth Bennett?  However, I would also love to be Eilonwy from Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain, because she was the original tough tomboy princess.

 

7)     If you could have 5 historical people to dinner, who would they be?  What would you have to eat?

For pure crazy entertainment, I’d go with Nell Gwyn (17^thcentury actress), Ben Franklin (although I’d have to keep him from Nell), Malcolm X, Houdini and maybe Dorothy Parker!  I’m confident they’d like to eat Indian food and Kingfisher beer. What do you think? J  Love it!

 

8)     Ocean or Lake? 

Growing up in Philly, going down the shore was the highlight of the summer. Although I live on beautiful Lake Michigan now, my heart is still with the Jersey shore.

 

9)      Favorite two tv shows:

Ah so tough!   Currently, Bones and Nikita, but Battlestar Galactica and Alias are all-time favorites.

 

10)   Favorite movie of all time:

I’ll give you three: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Pride and Prejudice (A&E with Colin Firth) and to be honest, The Deathly Hallows Part II (a pretty perfect culmination of an epic series).

 

11)   Are you working on a new book?

I am working on TWO new books. One is the second Lucy Campion novel, tentatively called From the Charred Remains.  (I really don’t think that title will stay though); I am waiting for feedback from my editor.  I am also nearly finished a YA novel, which I hope to submit soon.

 

12)   Anything else I forgot to ask you?

Thank you so much for having me! I would love to know which 5 characters YOU  would invite to dinner! And what your readers would say too!

 

I just knew you had an Austen character in you, Susanna!!  LOL  I could tell from reading your novel!   Okay, you have me... The 5 characters I would invite to dinner are:  Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, Poe, and Joyce Carol Oates.  I'd have my husband make them a wonderful Sicilian dinner:  Fra Diablo with fresh olive bread and a dark red wine to stimulate them all.  I'd want a raucous conversation...  I think those Bronte sisters were dark and much more firey than they get credit for being!  I'd just sit back and enjoy...

 

 

HERE'S MY REVIEW OF THE BOOK :

"A Murder At Rosamund's Gate" is a most refreshing historical novel replete with its mystery and mayhem.  While the beautiful cover suggests it is more centered around a ladies maid, the novel itself is broader in perspective, making it the perfect introduction for more books in a series.  I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters.  Susanna Calkins is a wonderful author of this time period!

 

Ms Calkins peppers her writing with knowledge of the Reformation and the idiosyncracies of the people and times.  For instance, I loved the small peculararities of women's clothing and customs she brings out...some of which I hadn't heard of even after all my reading of historical fiction!  Also, there were rhymes and notes of interest throughout the book that made my eyes and ears perk up with new knowledge.  I really appreciated the reference to Anne Bolyen and London Bridge, as an example.  You'll have to read to see this one!

 

The characters of this book are beautifully drawn and ring true.  There is enough depth in them that they will be more than worthy of a series.  I'm particularly attached to Lucy and her loyal ways.  She's a thinker and a true heroine in the broadest sense.  I think she'll find a fast following with those who love a mystery series in historical timeframes.

 

Susanna Calkins is a writer who carries you gently through her novel of mystery and suspense.  She builds her story carefully and creates an atmosphere in which you learn her characters' strengths and weaknesses.  You learn to love them and to know them before she sets them in real jeopardy.  I like this sort of suspense-building in a book.

 

I think the historical fiction mystery genre has a new player to contend with!  This is a novel to sit back and enjoy.  I look forward to the next one in the series.

 

5 stars                     Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

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Book Haul~Week!

This was a week that was...I was in a slow readers mode but had a very eclectic delivery of books that kept me going.  It's rainy and dreary here in Naples, FL, today, so I thought I would share with you my Weekly Haul to cheer us both up a little.

First, a sweet book on CD sent from my favorite place:  Macmillan Audio!!

Summary:

New York Times bestseller Jane Green delivers a riveting novel about two women whose lives intersect when a shocking secret is revealed From the author of Another Piece of My Heart comes Family Pictures, the gripping story of two women who live on opposite coasts but whose lives are connected in ways they never could have imagined. Both women are wives and mothers to children who are about to leave the nest for school. They're both in their forties and have husbands who travel more than either of them would like. They are both feeling an emptiness neither had expected. But when a shocking secret is exposed, their lives are blown apart. As dark truths from the past reveal themselves, will these two women be able to learn to forgive, for the sake of their children, if not for themselves?

This is a CD Audio in 8 CDs.  I'm very much looking forward to listening to it!!

Summary:

 THE TITANIC HAS OFTEN BEEN CALLED "AN EXQUISITE MICROCOSM OF THE Edwardian era,” but until now, her story has not been presented as such. In Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage, historian Hugh Brewster seamlessly interweaves personal narratives of the lost liner’s most fascinating people with a haunting account of the fateful maiden crossing. Employing scrupulous research and featuring 100 rarely seen photographs, he accurately depicts the ship’s brief life and tragic denouement and presents compelling, memorable portraits of her most notable passengers: millionaires John Jacob Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim; President Taft's closest aide, Major Archibald Butt; writer Helen Churchill Candee; the artist Frank Millet; movie actress Dorothy Gibson; the celebrated couturiere Lady Duff Gordon; aristocrat Noelle, the Countess of Rothes; and a host of other travelers. Through them, we gain insight into the arts, politics, culture, and sexual mores of a world both distant and near to our own. And with them, we gather on the Titanic’s sloping deck on that cold, starlit night and observe their all-too-human reactions as the disaster unfolds. More than ever, we ask ourselves, “What would we have done?”

This one was sent by Broadway Paperbacks of New York.  It's about the Titanic's First-Class passengers and their worlds.  Should be very interesting...

Summary:

An award-winning writer re-imagines the life of Jesus, from the points of view of four people closest to him before his death.

This is the story of Yehoshuah, who wandered Roman-occupied Judea giving sermons and healing the sick. Now, a year after his death, four people tell their stories. His mother grieves, his friend Iehuda loses his faith, the High Priest of the Temple tries to keep the peace, and a rebel named Bar-Avo strives to bring that peace tumbling down.

It was a time of political power-play and brutal tyranny. Men and women took to the streets to protest. Dictators put them down with iron force. In the midst of it all, one inconsequential preacher died. And either something miraculous happened, or someone lied.

Viscerally powerful in its depictions of the period - massacres and riots, animal sacrifice and human betrayal - The Liars' Gospel makes the oldest story entirely new.

This is like no other book I've ever read, and I'm not sure about it... Sent by Little, Brown & Co., a publisher I really trust, I have to take a chance on it for that reason.  We'll see what I think once I get into it.

Summary:

CSI meets The Sixth Sense in this compelling horror/thriller that has already been optioned by the producers of The Dark Knight Returns!

Jonah Miller is a Reviver, able to temporarily revive the dead so they can say goodbye to their loved ones—or tell the police who killed them.

Jonah works in a department of forensics created specifically for Revivers, and he’s the best in the business. For every high-profile corpse pushing daisies, it’s Jonah’s job to find justice for them. But while reviving the victim of a brutal murder, he encounters a terrifying presence. Something is on the other side watching. Waiting. His superiors tell him it's only in his mind, a product of stress. Jonah isn't so certain.

Then Daniel Harker, the first journalist to bring revival to public attention, is murdered. Jonah finds himself getting dragged into the hunt for answers. Working with Harker's daughter Annabel, he becomes determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Soon they uncover long-hidden truths that call into doubt everything Jonah stands for, and reveal a sinister force that threatens us all.

Putting the paranormal in the police department, first-time author Seth Patrick blends genre lines with this edgy crime thriller. The first novel in the Reviver trilogy, Reviver is sure to appeal to fans of Dean Koontz and Justin Cronin.

All I can saw is "wow" to this one which I can't wait to start reading!!!  It's sent by St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books.  Doesn't it sound fabulous!?  I think this one will be a scorcher.


And finally,

Confessions of Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey:

Summary:

A novel for fans of Philippa Gregory and Michelle Moran, Confessions of Marie Antoinette blends rich historical detail with searing drama, bringing to life the first years of the French Revolution and the final days of the legendary French queen.

Versailles, 1789. As the burgeoning rebellion reaches the palace gates, Marie Antoinette finds her privileged and peaceful life swiftly upended by violence. Once her loyal subjects, the people of France now seek to overthrow the crown, placing the heirs of the Bourbon dynasty in mortal peril.

Displaced to the Tuileries Palace in Paris, the royal family is propelled into the heart of the Revolution. There, despite a few staunch allies, they are surrounded by cunning spies and vicious enemies. Yet despite the political and personal threats against her, Marie Antoinette remains, above all, a devoted wife and mother, standing steadfastly by her husband, Louis XVI, and protecting their young son and daughter. And though the queen secretly attempts to arrange her family’s rescue from the clutches of the rebels, she finds that they can neither outrun the dangers encircling them nor escape their shocking fate.

I'm not one to resist a novel about Marie Antoinette.  Published by Ballantine Books, this one will be reviewed in the summer...



So, what was in your mailbox in the last couple of weeks?  Did you go shopping for books?  Let us know in the comments below if you've read any new books you loved!!

I'm still hoping someone (my daughter...:] ) will send me a copy of Jodi Picoult's newest book.  Where is it, Jessica!!???

Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"Roses Have Thorns" by Sandra Byrd~Historical Fiction Gilded

SUMMARY :

From the acclaimed author of To Die For comes a stirring novel told that sheds new light on Elizabeth I and her court.Like Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir, Sandra Byrd has attracted countless fans for evoking the complexity, grandeur, and brutality of the Tudor period. In her latest tour de force, she poses the question: What happens when serving a queen may cost you your marriage--or your life?

In 1565, seventeen-year-old Elin von Snakenborg leaves Sweden on a treacherous journey to England. Her fiance has fallen in love with her sister and her dowry money has been gambled away, but ahead of her lies an adventure that will take her to the dizzying heights of Tudor power. Transformed through marriage into Helena, the Marchioness of Northampton, she becomes the highest-ranking woman in Elizabeth's circle. But in a court that is surrounded by Catholic enemies who plot the queen's downfall, Helena is forced to choose between her unyielding monarch and the husband she's not sure she can trust--a choice that will provoke catastrophic consequences.

Vividly conjuring the years leading up to the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots, Roses Have Thorns is a brilliant exploration of treason, both to the realm and to the heart.

Praise for Roses Have Thorns

"In Roses Have Thorns Sandra Byrd has given the reader another amazing heroine to tell the intimate story of England's greatest queen, Elizabeth I. What a unique point of view and deeply moving story Helena von Snakenborg provides. Byrd is especially adept at blending political and private lives. This is a timeless women's friendship novel as well as a poignant love story to cherish--both the roses and the thorns." (Karen Harper, New York Times bestselling author of Mistress of Mourning )

"There is something golden about this tale of Elin, an eager young woman in a strange land, diligent in her duty but alive to love. A tale gracefully told, even as it renders the terrors of treachery that form the crucible of Elin's hard-won wisdom. A heartfelt story of loyalty, longing, life-long friendship, and the many seasons of the heart." (Barbara Kyle, author of The Queen's Gamble and Blood Between Queens)

"Beautiful prose and masterful research combine to bring this fascinating tale to life, treating the reader to fully realized characters and providing an original window through which we can view Elizabeth's court. Ms. Byrd's work will stand as an unforgettable contribution to Tudor fiction." (D.L. Bogdan, author of The Forgotten Queen)


PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Publication Date: April 9, 2013
Simon & Schuster/Howard Books
Paperback; 336p

ISBN-10: 1439183163

About the Author

Sandra Byrd has published more than three dozen books in the fiction and nonfiction markets, including the first book in her Tudor series, To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn. Her second book, The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Kateryn Parr, illuminates the mysteries in the life of Henry's last wife.

For more than a decade Sandra has shared her secrets with the many new writers she edits, mentors, and coaches. She lives in the Seattle, Washington, area with her husband and two children. For more Tudor tidbits, please visit www.sandrabyrd.com. Follow Sandra Byrd on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.



GUEST POST !!!!

We are delighted to bring this informative guest post from Sandra today!  Thank you, Sandra... Feeling so special to have you stop by with this.

                   Sleeve Puffs, Lace Ruffs, and The Queen's Wardrobe 

"Queen Elizabeth was so fond of her clothes that she would never part with any of them, and it is said that at her death there were three thousand dresses and 'head attires' in her wardrobe." So claims Herbert Norris in his tome, Tudor Costume and Fashion.  Elizabeth actually was known to give away some of her clothing—to her ladies, to maids of honor, and to other less well-off nobles. But there is no doubt that the woman, like her mother and father before her, was a clothes horse. 

            Her coronation robes, according to Norris, "consisted of a dress with a long train of gold tissue lined with white sarcenet and bordered with ermine, and worn over the Spanish farthingale." Of interest is the fact that, of course, ermine, the winter white fur of the English stoat, is common among the robes of state, sometimes being powdered (as was the queen's visage) to make it even whiter. Although both Queen Anne Boleyn and her daughter were particular to French fashion, the queen retained a fondness for the Spanish hoop and  underskirt fashion nearly all of her reign. But how did the queen, and others of the age, know what was fashionable in France, or anywhere else?

            Portraits of ladies and nobles in other lands were available through diplomatic channels, and they provided insight into continental fashion. Queen Elizabeth tried, in vain, to bring over a French seamstress at least once during her reign. More interesting, though, were the fashion dolls that were sent from land to land. Helena von Snakenborg, Marchioness of Northampton, sent such a doll to her Swedish sister, Karin Bonde, in 1604. Helena's letter to her sister says, "As regards the doll, which, dearest sister, you have mention in your letter, we have sent our servant up to London, to have it dressed in the best and latest fashion of the season. When it is ready it shall be sent to you as you desire." According to Janet Arnold's Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd, there is just such a little doll preserved at a museum in Stockholm, dating from the late 16th century. Click here to see the doll.  

            There are two fashion accessories for both men and women that are particularly noted to the Elizabethan era: the ruff and gloves. Norris teaches that the ruff started out as "a cutwork or lace edging on the neckbands of gentlemen's shirts" before the reign of Elizabeth's brother, Edward VI. But they continued to grow until, as John Davis writes in Life in Elizabethan Days, "ruffs a foot deep are very usual and a gallant's head sticking out of them looks (as a courtier remarked) 'like John the Baptist's head upon a platter.'" The ruffs were often lace or linen, and were formed and curled on hot irons. Norris states that, "Starch, called by the Puritans as 'the Devil's liquor'" was brought over from the Netherlands, and that a Dutch woman whose husband was Elizabeth's coachman "monopolized in England the knowledge of clear starching."

            The queen was famously vain of her long white fingers, and rightly so. To protect them, and to show them to their best advantage, she often wore gloves. Gloves were most often made of soft kid, and were embroidered and embossed, or had delicate ruffs of their own sewn on.  Norris says that perfumed gloves were not common until later in Elizabeth's reign, when they became very popular indeed. The queen received a dozen pair of them as gifts for the New Year, 1599. The queen was famous, like her father, for an abhorrence to "evil smells."  This made perfumed gloves very popular,  but also an easy vehicle for those who would like to poison her through inhalants. In 2012, the London department store Selfridges sponsored an exhibition of gloves to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The centerpiece of the exhibit? The gloves worn by Queen Elizabeth I at her 1559 coronation.  You can view the entire collection here: Selfridge's Diamond Jubilee Glove Exhibit.

            According to Lace: A History, by Santina Levey, in today's money, Queen Elizabeth I averaged £9535 4 wardrobe each of the last four years of her reign; James I averaged £36,377 per year during the first five years of his.  In today's money, that's roughly £1,191,875 ($1,883,163) per year for Elizabeth or £4,547,125 ($7,184,458) for James. So perhaps the Stuarts were the biggest clothes horses of all!

 

Perfect and informative piece on Elizabeth who always appeared to be the consummate "clothes horse!" 

 

THE BOOKISH DAME'S REVIEW :

Sandra Byrd has written a trilogy in historical fiction beginning with To Die For, then The Secret Keeper, and now Roses Have Thorns.  These are extraordinary works of fiction simply because they are well-researched on the one part, and they are also so well presented as stories.  I think Ms Byrd is at the top of her game.  She rests as one of the best in those writing historical fiction on the market today.

In this novel, we meet a Swedish noble lady who leaves her homeland as a teenager to serve her homeland noblewoman in a trip to England.  As she leaves her mother, she discovers she's been betrayed by her sister and her betrothed.  Once in England, she meets a love interest and decides to stay, and to serve Queen Elizabeth I in hopes of marrying the nobleman.  Love and loss follow her in the coming years in England.

What Ms Byrd focuses on in her characters throughout the book is this sense of betrayal along with the character traits of loyalty and devotion; thus the title of roses and thorns.  Also, she shows the two sides of Queen Elizabeth in the novel--her love and patience toward  her peasant subjects, yet her dual personality in relationship to her close ladies in waiting and relatives.   These character studies, as well as the love interests of the Swedish Elin von Snakenborg who becomes a Marchioness in her eventual life in England, provide historical details in the life of Elizabeth and the workings of her inner sanctums.

Historically, the time of the Protestant and Catholic struggle between Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots is dealt with; although I didn't find this a strong focus of the novel. 

I'm a fan of Sandra Byrd and her consistent way of writing.  She's an author who is true to historical facts, while she brings in a storyline that is easy to read and flows well with descriptive detail and human love interests.

I'm delighted to be able to recommend all of her books in this series, particularly "Roses and Thorns" with its court intrigue and pains of love and loss.

5 stars in historical fiction         Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

This guest post and review was brought to you in cooperation with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours.  Please visit the website to find more reviews, interviews and posts regarding this book at:  http://www.hfvirtualbooktours.com

 

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