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therissuationxx

With Her Nose Stuck In A Book....

I'm brand spanking new to this site and I admit, I haven't blogged about books in awhile. However...let's make a hash of it and attempt it.

My Blog/Website...

I thought it would be fun if I made a blog independent of here. :) 

 

So...enjoy! 

 

xx

Ahhh!

I read the first book in this series...and let me tell you...I can't wait for this one or the next one. It's such a fun AU series...I wish it had all happened! 

 

I wrote a review and you can find it below; The Boleyn King.

How amazing does this look?

 

I need this book in my life, haha! 

The Emancipator's Wife.

The Emancipator's Wife - Barbara Hambly

Let me begin by saying that I wanted so very much to love this book and I did at first but then it began to drag on...and on...and on. I cannot possibly imagine enduring all the suffering that she did. She certainly did go through a lot and as person suffering from bipolar disorder, it could not have been easy. 

 

I wanted to be able to relate to her, however, she was quite unlikable I found. She was such a conflicted individual and I found I often wanted to reach into the book and smack her because as a child/young woman, she was intolerably rotten. Spoiled rotten and over-privledged...granted, I know that is how she was raised, but I just couldn't believe her. And how she hooked Lincoln into marrying her...I know that this was just a dramatization but how dreadful of her. Also, I didn't like how she complained about being poor. She knew when she married him that they'd be poor. Yet, hey, let's go blow money on gowns that she didn't need! Let's buy furniture for the house they didn't have yet!  Let's force Lincoln to work even harder and have nothing to show for it since people didn't regularly pay him. 

 

 

I do appreciate the details; I like to hear about the hustle and bustle of towns, the detail of attire and I will give the author as much credit for that as I possibly can. Sadly, that is about as much praise as I can give and even that can be too much of a good thing. The scenes were repetitive; such long paragraphs about Mary Todd Lincoln feels and those way too frequent dream sequences...ad nausium is the term I'm thinking of here. 

 

All in all? Just...no. I did not enjoy this book and that's a shame...there was so much potential. 

~Secrets of the Southern Belle~

I genuinely dislike "self-help" books. I'm not going to lie. I have not found any that I find helpful to me. This is just me, of course, but this one caught my eye because I saw Phaedra on one of the cooking (or was it a decorating?) shows I watch, she was a guest and I was charmed by her manners and the grace she has. I don't recollect what show it was that I saw her; I don't watch the Housewives shows, they aren't my taste. This was a woman who seems to have it together. So, when I heard about this book, I figured, "why not?"</p>


I was graciously provided an advance copy from NetGalley and as soon as I finish, I will be sure to write my review. I'm hoping this doesn't disappoint.&nbsp;</p>

Occasionally, I will just post a picture.
Occasionally, I will just post a picture.
The Boleyn King - Laura Andersen *ARC obtained from NetGalley*

This was a really brilliant read. I loved it. I am a Tudor buff and I am quite open to reading AU stories and such. I always felt that Anne Boleyn's life was cut short far too early and she might have had a son. This book gave me (along with other Tudor fans) the chance to read what it might have been like with Henry only having two wives along with the son he so longed for. A healthy, strong boy, unlike Prince Edward.

I loved how well drawn out all of the characters were, both real and imagined. Anne was just as fiery, Elizabeth just as strong and intelligent, Mary, religious and dour as we've read her to be.

I enjoyed that when Anne was giving birth to William; her favorite lady in waiting, Marie, is giving birth to a child of her own, a daughter nicknamed Minuette by Elizabeth. She will be an integral part of this story too. The entire novel revolves around William, Elizabeth, Minuette and Dominic and tells of the friendship between the four of them. The book starts when they William and Minuette are 17 and William waiting until he is 18 to officially take on the role of King. The book leads us through the year and through the intrigues that only a Tudor court could hold!

The ending was quite surprising and I am anxiously awaiting the next installation of this trilogy!
Pocketful of Fear - Joseph Rubas I admit, I was excited to read this book (because Joseph is a fab writer) and when I finished it in three hours, I had the feeling of incompleteness. Each story held potential but it never really got there. You know when you're on a roller coaster and you think you're going to go down this massive drop and then it's nothing really at all?

It felt like that.

I saw another review that nailed it--he had begun a story...but that was it. For me, it lacked depth and detail and made the words seem flat and lifeless. I found myself wishing he had spent more time on the stories, fleshing them out more; or taking one of them and fleshing it out into a full length novel.

It kind of felt like a book full of writing prompts. So much potential there that just never really was reached.
The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court - Michelle Moran I want to thank Goodreads for my advanced copy! Full review too follow shortly. (when i'm not mobile, lol!)
The Pianist in the Dark: A Novel - Michele Halberstadt I found it short and very sweet. I needn't sum it up more than that. It was nice to read before bed and it made me feel for Maria Theresia. What an inspirational woman and brave. Giving up on sight to dedicate herself to the music she so passionately loved.
Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine - Alison Weir The fact that Eleanor is portrayed as this sexually hungry woman was a huge turn off to me. Obviously, yes, she had 10 children in 14 years so she must have had sex often, but I don't want to read about that. I want a good, strong story that doesn't take place mostly in bedchambers.

I was only about 1/3 in, but that was quite enough for me.
Hitler's Niece - Ron Hansen I've read many reviews that sort of bashed the author and the story, which I admit had me going into this book with much hesitation. However, I decided to listen to myself and I read the book in several hours, for I enjoyed it.

The depravity of Hitler is all too apparent and I had to praise the author for describing him and his actions so well. More than once, I had a shiver go down my spine or I felt physically sick. Geli had my sympathy except in the moments where she almost seemed like she was truly enjoying the attentions of her uncle, who is shown as socially inadequate, irritable, abusive and demented. His awkwardness with women is mind-blowing and when you see how he treats them is disgraceful. Though he is quite settled in his anti-semite ways, he has not achieved his full transformation yet. This is in the late twenties and very early thirties, when the world was still getting to know him. His love for Geli is absolutely terrifying and all consuming, yet everyone envies the attention and gifts he lavishes on her. All she longs to do is live her life and perhaps get married before she's a spinster.

When it's revealed Hitler's molesting her, that is when his even more depraved side begins to show. By then, it's too late for Geli to escape his grasp and no one, even if they wanted to, could have saved her.

However, when she meets her death, which, though I'm certain you know she dies; I will not say how. You cannot help but feel terribly for her. It seemed as though everyone's back was turned on her, leaving her truly alone with only Hitler there--the one person whose attention she didn't want.

Even after her death, the loyalty to Hitler is undeniable and unchanging by most--including her own mother, despite the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death.
George Washington's Socks - Elvira Woodruff This is one of those books that the teacher assigned to us to read...the title alone captured my 8 year old mind and I delved into it. I'm now 25...and I have never forgotten the title. I confess I don't remember the entire story, but I remember enjoying it greatly and reading it again on my own, independent of a teacher telling me to. :)