tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17481597074918963592024-03-16T22:50:44.747-07:00The Tome Traveller's WeblogGlobe trotting with my nose in a book!
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~A well composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter any other way....Caroline Gordon~The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.comBlogger328125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-69299629427987874892011-02-24T17:26:00.001-08:002011-02-24T18:47:26.185-08:00Review: The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dq2VWtpE6Hc/TWcFVe6Au8I/AAAAAAAABVA/cJ_KjJb_yTI/s1600/thetudorsecret.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 258px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 379px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577432530153421762" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dq2VWtpE6Hc/TWcFVe6Au8I/AAAAAAAABVA/cJ_KjJb_yTI/s400/thetudorsecret.jpg" /></a><br />Brendan Prescott never knew his parents, or even who his parents were. He was raised by a servant of the powerful Dudley family, Mistress Alice, alongside the four Dudley sons. At the age of twenty, he is sent to the court of young Edward VI to serve Robert Dudley.<br /><br />In the waning days of Edward's short life the political plots are roiling. Court is a dangerous place to be and within days of his arrival Brendan is plunged into the complex webs that are being woven by both William Cecil, Princess Elizabeth's closest advisor, and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who controls the fate of Edward VI.<br /><br />Cecil, in fact, sees something worthwhile in Brendan and recruits him as part of his extensive spy network. Cecil's instructions put Brendan at odds with his duties to Robert, making him a double agent. In spite of that, Brendan puts his wits and natural intelligence to work in support of the woman who wins his loyalty the first minute he sees her, Princess Elizabeth.<br /><br />As Brendan is drawn further into the tumultuous reality of the court, he will be tested in multiple ways. His very survival will require all of his concentration, quick thinking and courage. <br /><br />This novel has a fast pace and a thrilling plot that will keep you turning pages as fast as you can. I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of twenty year old Elizabeth, already forced to use all of her abilities to stay alive, biding her time until the throne of England is rightfully hers. For those of you who might be having a little Tudor burnout let me just say that you will not be disappointed in C.W. Gortner...a historical novelist who blows a breath of fresh air into the vast Tudor genre with his latest novel.<br /><br />For more information about the author and his books, please visit his <a href="http://www.cwgortner.com/index.html">website</a>. For my review of his first book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345501853?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345501853">The Last Queen</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0345501853" width="1" height="1" />, click <a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2008/09/last-queen-by-cw-gortner.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312658508?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0312658508">The Tudor Secret (The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles)</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0312658508" width="1" height="1" /> is published by St. Martin's Griffin, ISBN 978-0-312-65850-2.<br /><br />This novel has been getting great reviews all over the blogosphere....check some of them out!<br /><br /><a href="http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/2011/02/review-tudor-secret.html">Booking Mama</a><br /><a href="http://celticladysreviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/tudor-secret-by-cwgortner-virtual-book.html">CelticLady's Reviews</a><br /><a href="http://historicallyobsessed.blogspot.com/2011/02/book-review-tudor-secret-by-gortner.html">Historically Obsessed</a><br /><a href="http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/2011/02/review-tudor-secret-by-cw-gortner.html">My Friend Amy</a><br /><a href="http://www.passagestothepast.com/2011/02/review-tudor-secret-elizabeth-i.html">Passages to the Past</a><br /><a href="http://www.peekingbetweenthepages.com/2011/02/book-review-tudor-secret-by-cw-gortner.html">Peeking Between the Pages</a><br /><a href="http://burtonreview.blogspot.com/2011/02/book-review-tudor-secret-elizabeth-i.html">The Burton Review<br /></a>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-53025342944617023642011-01-07T12:32:00.000-08:002011-01-07T12:42:44.702-08:00Have you met Maisie Dobbs yet?<a href="http://www.bookclubgirl.com/book_club_girl/2010/12/im-mad-for-maisie-join-my-maisie-dobbs-read-along.html"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 280px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559544801479697186" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TSd4io0RIyI/AAAAAAAABUQ/zBsCS0a9v9U/s400/Maisie-Dobbs-webadrevision1.gif" /></a> No? Well, now's the time to join <a href="http://www.bookclubgirl.com/book_club_girl/2010/12/im-mad-for-maisie-join-my-maisie-dobbs-read-along.html">Book Club Girl's Read-Along</a>! She will post questions according to the following schedule:<br /><br />January 14th - Maisie Dobbs<br />January 31st - Birds of a Feather<br />February 14th - Pardonable Lies<br />February 22nd - Paperback edition of The Mapping of Love and Death goes on sale<br />February 28th - Messenger of Truth<br />March 14th - An Incomplete Revenge<br />March 22nd - Hardcover of A Lesson in Secrets goes on sale<br />March 28th- Among the Mad<br />April 11th- The Mapping of Love and Death<br />April 25th - A Lesson in Secrets<br /><br />Find all information about the Read-Along <a href="http://www.bookclubgirl.com/book_club_girl/2010/12/im-mad-for-maisie-join-my-maisie-dobbs-read-along.html">here</a>. I'm excited to join, I have read one book in the middle of this series and this gives me the perfect reason to go back and read them the right way...in order (yes, I have a little OCD about reading series books in order...I admit it!).<br /><br />Visit Jacqueline Winspear's <a href="http://jacquelinewinspear.com/">website</a> for info about Maisie and the whole series and find the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/jacquelinewinspear?v=wall">Jacqueline Winspear page on Facebook.</a>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-22759092164995665212010-12-24T20:52:00.001-08:002010-12-24T20:54:06.009-08:00Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas!!<div align="center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TRV4tDeKVFI/AAAAAAAABTs/V4xNH3A4ayQ/s1600/christmaspinup.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554478430852633682" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TRV4tDeKVFI/AAAAAAAABTs/V4xNH3A4ayQ/s400/christmaspinup.jpg" /></a> Have a wonderful holiday season!<br /><br /></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-28441295184972536492010-11-26T00:01:00.000-08:002010-11-26T00:01:02.349-08:00Review & Giveaway: Dining With Joy by Rachel Hauck<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TO6X06Bod-I/AAAAAAAABTU/pHg0XUet-Yc/s1600/dining-with-joy1-194x300.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 194px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543535126524753890" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TO6X06Bod-I/AAAAAAAABTU/pHg0XUet-Yc/s400/dining-with-joy1-194x300.jpg" /></a> Joy Ballard fell into television by accident. Well, sort of. Her dad had a local cooking show, <em>Dining with Charles</em>. But when he died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 56, his last wish was that Joy take over. There was just one problem with that, Joy is a total klutz in the kitchen. She can't cook, if it was possible to burn water, she would find a way.<br /><br />But, for her dad and the crew who made their living from the show, Joy stepped in. And she turned out to be great on television. Funny, smart, full of ideas that made the show a success, taking it out of the kitchen making it more about the viewers and their experiences. For three years, everything was fine.<br /><br />Then, disaster. The owner of the show sells to a big reality show production company. They love Joy, love the show, and are going to take it national. She has hit the big time...but that secret of hers just keeps getting bigger.<br /><br />Luke Redmond looks like he might be her way out of the lie that threatens to ruin everything. He recently moved to Joy's hometown of Beaufort, SC after his New York restaurant failed. He's a great chef but a bad businessman. They hit it off from the start and soon Luke is the new co-host of <em>Dining With Joy.</em><br /><p>Unfortunately life is never so simple and lies as big as Joy's have a way of blowing up spectacularly.</p><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595543392?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1595543392">Dining with Joy</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1595543392" width="1" height="1" /> is published by <a href="http://www.thomasnelson.com/">Thomas Nelson</a>, ISBN 978-1-59554-339-4. I received this book as part of the <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/">TLC Book Tour</a>, for a complete blog tour list, click <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2010/06/rachel-hauck-author-of-dining-with-joy-on-tour-novemberdecember-2010/">here</a>. For more information about Rachel Hauck and her books, visit her <a href="http://www.rachelhauck.com/">website</a>.</p><p><strong>Up for grabs is my gently read copy of Dining With Joy. To enter just leave a comment that includes your email address. Open to anyone with a US or Canada mailing address. You can enter until midnight eastern time on December 9. Thanks for visiting and entering!<br /></strong></p>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-29853446279482767842010-11-25T00:01:00.000-08:002010-11-25T00:01:03.073-08:00Happy Thanksgiving!<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TO3c3-m3GMI/AAAAAAAABTM/yCQMLZ8Er4Y/s1600/pinup.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 378px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543329570619857090" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TO3c3-m3GMI/AAAAAAAABTM/yCQMLZ8Er4Y/s400/pinup.gif" /></a><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">Wishing everyone a lovely holiday!!</span></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-84023935769214692412010-11-18T19:02:00.001-08:002010-11-18T19:53:54.945-08:00Review: The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TOXo_eRNYPI/AAAAAAAABTE/uarAYXwEwZQ/s1600/forever%2Bqueen.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 140px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 210px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541091093703909618" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TOXo_eRNYPI/AAAAAAAABTE/uarAYXwEwZQ/s400/forever%2Bqueen.jpg" /></a>In the year 1002 thirteen year old Emma of Normandy is taken to England and given in marriage to AEthelred the king, who is an old man of thirty four. Like women down the ages, she had no choice in the matter and she instantly dislikes her new husband, a weak man with violent tendencies. She herself is distrusted from the start for her blood ties to the Vikings that habitually raid the English coast.<br /><br />But Emma surprises herself, the stress of her situation results is something she didn't expect...turns out she is strong, feisty, brave in the face of her husband and the yes-men he surrounds himself with. While she can't quite bring herself to care even for her children, she grows to love the English people and they love her in return.<br /><br />A weak king can only hold out for so long, especially against a strong, determined enemy like the Scandinavian king, Swein Forkbeard. With the Viking victory comes another sweeping change for Emma, her life and her future. She is equal to the challenge.<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TOXo4NVdm8I/AAAAAAAABS8/qf5mnJ1mAbU/s1600/helenhollick.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 205px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 220px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541090968899263426" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TOXo4NVdm8I/AAAAAAAABS8/qf5mnJ1mAbU/s400/helenhollick.jpg" /></a> <em><span style="font-size:85%;">Helen Hollick<br /><br /></span></em></div>Those of you who have long been readers of this blog will know that Helen is one of my very favorite authors (and it isn't because she sends me Christmas cards, though I will say that receiving hers is the highlight of my holiday cards!!!). I picked up The Kingmaking in London in the early 1990's and that trilogy is still right at the top of my favorite books list. (Click on the titles for my reviews: <a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2009/03/review-and-blog-tour-kingmaking.html">The Kingmaking</a>, <a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-pendragons-banner-by-helen.html">Pendragon's Banner</a>, <a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2010/04/review-shadow-of-king-by-helen-hollick.html">Shadow of the King</a>.) The Forever Queen is another fantastic historical fiction novel. It is classic Helen: meticulously researched, beautifully written, and with the intricacies of ancient politics simply and fascinatingly related so the reader feels completely at home in that time period. If you love historical fiction and have never read a Helen Hollick book, pick up The Forever Queen! By the time you finish you will be putting all the rest of them on your wishlist!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1402240686?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1402240686">The Forever Queen</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1402240686" width="1" height="1" /> is published by <a href="http://www.sourcebooks.com/">Sourcebooks.</a> ISBN 978-1-4022-4068-3<br /><br />For more information about Helen and all of her wonderful books, please visit her <a href="http://www.helenhollick.net/">website</a> and <a href="http://www.acorne.blogspot.com/">blog</a>. She was recently featured in an interesting BBC radio program about Harold, the last Saxon king, you can listen to that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vxz48">here</a> (but the site says it will only be up for four more days, so hurry!)<br /><br />Here's a list of blogs participating in the Sourcebooks Fall Reading Club event for The Forever Queen:<br /><br />1-Nov<br /><br />http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/<br /><br />http://calicocritic.blogspot.com/<br /><br />2-Nov<br /><br />http://www.passagestothepast.com/<br /><br />http://lifeinthethumb.blogspot.com/<br /><br />3-Nov<br /><br />http://www.luxuryreading.com/<br /><br />4-Nov<br /><br />http://yankeeromancereviewers.blogspot.com/<br /><br />http://historicallyobsessed.blogspot.com/<br /><br />5-Nov<br /><br />http://booksbythewillowtree.blogspot.com/<br /><br />http://www.historyandwomen.com/<br /><br />8-Nov<br /><br />http://www.rundpinne.blogspot.com/<br /><br />http://www.bookwormsdinner.blogspot.com/<br /><br />9-Nov<br /><br />http://debsbookbag.blogspot.com/<br /><br />http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/<br /><br />10-Nov<br /><br />http://literatehousewife.com/<br /><br />http://carpelibrisreviews.com/<br /><br />11-Nov<br /><br />http://web.me.com/quirion/Bookaddict/Welcome.html<br /><br />http://bookslikebreathing.blogspot.com/<br /><br />12-Nov<br /><br />http://www.brokenteepee.blogspot.com/<br /><br />http://www.read-all-over.net<br /><br />15-Nov<br /><br />http://writesthoughts.blogspot.com/<br /><br />http://celticladysramblings.blogspot.com/<br /><br />16-Nov<br /><br />http://www.jennylovestoread.blogspot.com/<br /><br />http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/<br /><br />17-Nov<br /><br />http://bookalicio.us/<br /><br />http://themaidenscourt.blogspot.com/<br /><br />18-Nov<br /><br />http://pushersink.blogspot.com/<br /><br />http://marthasbookshelf.blogspot.com/<br /><br />19-Nov<br /><br />http://theroyalreviews.blogspot.com/<br /><br />22-Nov<br /><br />Book Club Chat on http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-49044831429267958202010-11-11T07:00:00.000-08:002010-11-11T07:01:57.274-08:00<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TNwFQj6FIdI/AAAAAAAABS0/XCrjOJgov60/s1600/veteransday.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 362px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538307423833760210" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TNwFQj6FIdI/AAAAAAAABS0/XCrjOJgov60/s400/veteransday.jpg" /></a><br /><div></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-61720192500536815632010-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:002010-10-31T00:01:01.581-07:00Trick or Treat!!<div align="center"><a href="http://photobucket.com/images/vintage%20halloween%20graphic" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Vintage Halloween Greeting Pictures, Images and Photos" src="http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii237/Jinxie1111/sparklehalloween.gif" /></a></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-83185283171940262232010-10-30T06:57:00.001-07:002010-10-30T21:48:38.458-07:00Review: Wicked Company by Ciji Ware<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMzqa8Yc1oI/AAAAAAAABSk/LSHT1CCHvkQ/s1600/wickedcompany.bmp"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 247px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 376px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534055790737675906" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMzqa8Yc1oI/AAAAAAAABSk/LSHT1CCHvkQ/s400/wickedcompany.bmp" /></a><br />Sixteen year old Sophie McGann is the only child of a widowed Edinburgh printer and bookseller. Since Mr. McGann had no son he taught his daughter all that a printer's apprentice should know. She is bright, quick and eager to prove that she is a good assistant.<br /><br />One day while out on a delivery Sophie happens to pass a small traveling minstrel family: a blind grandfather, worn mother and handsome son. Hunter Robertson instantly captures Sophie's interest. Her dainty stature make her seem younger that her years, so while Hunter is drawn to Sophie it is more as a brotherly protector. And she needs one, her tendency completely disregard diplomacy and speak her mind get her into one scrape after another.<br /><br />When Sophie's sharp tongue brings her into serious peril, she is forced to escape to London in search of an elderly Aunt and Uncle, who also own a print and book shop. Unfortunately her relatives have had their share of hardship and Sophie must use all of her vivid imagination to earn her daily bread. Eventually her talent leads her to write plays for the lively London theater, making her one of a small circle of successful female playwrights. Hunter finds his way to London too, though it will take years for them to untangle their complex relationship.<br /><br />Wicked Company is chock full of interesting characters like James Boswell and David Garrick and I absolutely loved the descriptions of the Drury Lane theater community with their squabbles and rivalries. It is very much Sophie's story, there were times when I wished for a little more from Hunter's story and a bit less from Sophie's. And it was just a tiny bit long...it did seem that there was not one more thing that could possibly have happened to keep these two apart. But overall I really enjoyed this lively tale, I liked it just as much as the author's earlier book, <a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2010/02/review-island-of-swans-by-ciji-ware.html">Island of the Swans</a>, which I reviewed in February (click the title for my review).<br /><br />I will definitely be reading the rest of Ciji Ware's books, they are very detailed and well researched. I'm especially looking forward to <strong>A Race to Splendor</strong>, set in the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. It will be published by <a href="http://www.sourcebooks.com/">Sourcebooks</a> in April 2011. For more information about Ciji Ware and all of her books, please visit her <a href="http://www.cijiware.com/">website</a>. Many thanks to Danielle at Sourcebooks for sending me Wicked Company for review!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1402222718?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1402222718">Wicked Company</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1402222718" width="1" height="1" /> is published by <a href="http://www.sourcebooks.com/">Sourcebooks</a>. ISBN 978-1-4022-2271-9The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-36473419717996502822010-10-28T08:16:00.000-07:002010-10-28T08:41:22.122-07:00Halloween Giveaway! A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness!<em></em><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmU7j7fSgI/AAAAAAAABSU/E1E8WZNmcJI/s1600/discovery+of+witches.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533117368179313154" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmU7j7fSgI/AAAAAAAABSU/E1E8WZNmcJI/s400/discovery+of+witches.jpg" /></a>Halloween is the perfect time for a giveaway of one of 2011's most anticipated novels, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness! Here's a little about the book:<br /><br /><em>A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.<br /><br />Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.<br /><br />Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism. </em><br /><p><em>~Synopsis from Amazon.com</em><br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/naIUATVxRAA?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/naIUATVxRAA?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /></p><div><br /><strong>So, this is the scoop. The winner of this giveaway will receive a set of the very cool buttons you see below. Then, when the book is released in February they will receive a hot-off-the-press copy of the book! How cool is that? Winner will be drawn at random and must have a US mailing address. Enter thru midnight eastern on Nov. 5. To enter just leave me a comment here telling me what you are doing this year for Halloween or relating your favorite Halloween. Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win. Many thanks to Langan at </strong><a href="http://us.penguingroup.com/"><strong>Viking</strong></a><strong> for providing the buttons and book! Happy Halloween everyone! Thanks for visiting and entering!<br /></strong><div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmUfNlREEI/AAAAAAAABSM/5pt8et13qd8/s1600/witchbutton.jpg"></a></div><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmUSPXpsuI/AAAAAAAABR8/Ev-rgIkBsE0/s1600/vampirebutton.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 148px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533116658285654754" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmUSPXpsuI/AAAAAAAABR8/Ev-rgIkBsE0/s200/vampirebutton.jpg" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmUETep5AI/AAAAAAAABRs/1fROOlttBsQ/s1600/demonbutton.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 139px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533116418870600706" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmUETep5AI/AAAAAAAABRs/1fROOlttBsQ/s200/demonbutton.jpg" /></a><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 147px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533116539047846450" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmULTLJIjI/AAAAAAAABR0/xSrbnd6j9UE/s200/humanbutton.jpg" /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmUYU8kaiI/AAAAAAAABSE/Lv1JmkwbGCA/s1600/ashmolebutton.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533116762861890082" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmUYU8kaiI/AAAAAAAABSE/Lv1JmkwbGCA/s200/ashmolebutton.jpg" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmUfNlREEI/AAAAAAAABSM/5pt8et13qd8/s1600/witchbutton.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 144px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533116881144188994" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmUfNlREEI/AAAAAAAABSM/5pt8et13qd8/s200/witchbutton.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMmUYU8kaiI/AAAAAAAABSE/Lv1JmkwbGCA/s1600/ashmolebutton.jpg"></a></p><br /><div align="center"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div></div></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-50518534895972708192010-10-27T21:30:00.000-07:002010-10-27T22:26:46.091-07:00Review & Blog Tour: The Art of Disappearing by Ivy Pochoda<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMj8yVIGPbI/AAAAAAAABRk/Zo2HOwASCko/s1600/disappearing.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532950083819421106" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMj8yVIGPbI/AAAAAAAABRk/Zo2HOwASCko/s400/disappearing.jpg" /></a><br />While sitting in the Old Stand Saloon in the tiny, lonely town of Tonopah, Nevada, Mel Snow meets a fascinating stranger. His name is Toby Warring and he is a magician. An enchanting, intriguing magician. Within two days they are married in a Las Vegas wedding chapel.<br /><br />The thing is, Toby really IS a magician. His tricks are not illusions but actual magic that he has spent his life learning how to control. When he sleeps, objects appear that are conjured out of his dreams. But since he did one disastrous trick where he made his assistant disappear and couldn't bring her back, he has been afraid to perform anything but the most basic magic. Meeting Mel breathes new life into Toby's magic and his life.<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMj8sVWNyjI/AAAAAAAABRc/hhO57-ND0lo/s1600/ivypochoda.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 250px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532949980799420978" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TMj8sVWNyjI/AAAAAAAABRc/hhO57-ND0lo/s320/ivypochoda.jpg" /></a><em> </em><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>Ivy Pochoda </em></span><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">Falling in love with Toby changes Mel, too. Her life has been largely a lonely, wandering one. Her job as a textile expert takes her from hotel to hotel, arranging carpets and fabrics that will endure harsh wear and tear. She has spent the most recent years in the desert, as far from the sea that claimed her brother's life as it is possible to be. </div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Things start to look up for both of them almost immediately. Toby's dream has always been to do a Vegas show and he is offered one the day after they are married. Mel is hired as a textile consultant at a huge new hotel. As Toby's success builds, the temptation to try another big trick becomes too much. Unfortunately, his worst fears are realized, challenging both Toby's confidence and their very new marriage.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><div align="left">This unique and absorbing novel reminded me strongly of The Time Traveler's Wife. I really enjoyed the complex and interesting characters and the inventive story that blurs the lines between reality and illusion.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><div align="left">I received this book as part of the <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/">TLC Book Tour</a>. For a complete list of tour stops, click <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2010/06/ivy-pochoda-author-of-the-art-of-disappearing-on-tour-september-2010/">here</a>. You can read more about the author at her <a href="http://www.ivypochoda.com/">website</a>.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031265099X?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=031265099X">The Art of Disappearing</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=031265099X" width="1" height="1" /> is published by <a href="http://www.stmartins.com/">St. Martin's Press</a>, ISBN 978-0-312-65099-5.</div></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-12092362581380773072010-09-30T20:13:00.001-07:002010-09-30T20:47:08.942-07:00Review: The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker<div align="left"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TKVSCIDGshI/AAAAAAAABRU/toIe_mKVaEU/s1600/mormon.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 128px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 193px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522910714513502738" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TKVSCIDGshI/AAAAAAAABRU/toIe_mKVaEU/s400/mormon.jpg" /></a>Every single week I get a bunch of books in my mailbox or on my doorstep. Some of them I have agreed to review but most are just sent on the off chance that I might choose to review them. It is a little like Christmas every day, which is fantastic. Some of the books I receive are not books in genres that I like or about subjects that interest me, so they go into the "giveaway or read when I have nothing else left (HA HA!) pile. Many are historical fiction, which I love, or other types of fiction that I might muster up an interest for eventually...they go into the ever expanding to-be-read piles that clutter up my house.<br /><br />Very, very rarely does a book come in that I did not ask for, have never heard of before, but that catches my attention immediately. For me to take it out of the package, sit down and start to read it? Seriously, it has happened maybe two or three times in the last two plus years. This one, happily, was one. By page seven I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my face. Here's the dedication:<br /><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><em>Mom and Dad,</em></div><div align="center"><em><br /></em></div><div align="center"><em></em></div><div align="center"><em>I could never have done this without your faith, support, and constant encouragement. Thank you for teaching me to believe in myself, in God, and in my dreams.</em></div><div align="center"><em><br /></em></div><div align="center"><em></em></div><div align="center"><em>This book....aside from the nine F-words, thirteen Sh-words, four A-holes, page 257, and the entire Warren Beatty chapter....is dedicated to you.</em></div><div align="center"><em><br /></em></div><div align="center"><em></em></div><div align="center"><em>You might want to avoid chapters twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-thr</em><em>ee, anything I quote Mom saying, and most of the end as well.</em></div><div align="center"><em><br /></em></div><div align="center"><em></em></div><div align="center"><em>Sorry. Am I still cute as a button?</em></div><div align="center"><em><br /></em></div><div align="center"><em></em></div><div align="center"><em>Love,</em></div><div align="center"><em><br /></em></div><div align="center"><em></em></div><div align="center"><em>Elna</em><br /></div><br />How, I ask you, could you resist reading on after an opening like that? In her first book, Elna Baker takes you along with her on her life since she moved to New York at age eighteen. She grapples with big questions: religion, faith, sex, love and life in an endearingly honest and frequently hilarious way. I think she's cute as a button, too. And I loved this book!<br /><br />But don't take my word for it...here are some clips of the author herself, telling some of the stories that are included in the book. Bet you'll be hooked, too.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BogilVYcvCs?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BogilVYcvCs?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lBvVBXpV8tI?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lBvVBXpV8tI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">You can visit Elna's <a href="http://www.elnabaker.com/">webpage</a> and <a href="http://www.elnabaker.blogspot.com/">blog</a> for more information about her! <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452296498?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0452296498">The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0452296498" width="1" height="1" /> is published by Plume/Penguin, ISBN 978-0-452-29649-7. Many thanks to <a href="http://www.penguin.com/">Penguin</a> for randomly sending me a wonderful book!!</div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-50444149259940240142010-09-27T18:17:00.000-07:002010-09-27T19:08:40.283-07:00Review: The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TKFFBxxkx1I/AAAAAAAABRM/2TE4tr_0uOw/s1600/zoo.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 140px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 211px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521770514976393042" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TKFFBxxkx1I/AAAAAAAABRM/2TE4tr_0uOw/s400/zoo.jpg" /></a> A job that includes living at the Tower of London would seem like a dream to most people. Or maybe just to most history buffs. For Beefeater Balthazar Jones and his wife Hebe life is not quite dreamlike. Their home is damp, the walls are round, the fellow employees are a mixed bag of quirky and irritating characters. But their problems go far beyond where they live. The deep sadness and grief of the loss of their only son have permeated their existence, the gloom of the Tower fits perfectly with their emotional pain.<br /><div><br /></div><div align="center"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TKFEGTCBw_I/AAAAAAAABQ8/EgP2AQopuk4/s1600/tower.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 293px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521769493111620594" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TKFEGTCBw_I/AAAAAAAABQ8/EgP2AQopuk4/s320/tower.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;">The Tower</span><br /><br /><div align="left">Soon Balthazar is tapped to be in charge of the creation of a Zoo at the Tower to house animals that the Queen has been gifted by other countries. He is reluctant to share this great news with his wife or anyone else that resides in the Tower. Change is never a welcome thing in their small society.</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">But the arrival of the animals creates a few unexpected results. Who would have guessed that Balthazar would find, in his wounded heart, great affection for a bearded pig? And the residents may be annoying but who knew they would band together for the sake of one of their own? </div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">This is Julia Stuart's second novel. I reviewed her first, <a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2008/08/matchmaker-of-perigord-by-julia-stuart.html?showComment=1236169560000">The Matchmaker of Perigord</a>, about two years ago. I was won over by her gentle and charming style, the warmth that comes through in her writing, and her wonderfully quirky characters. So I was thrilled to receive The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise, an equally lovely book. I was not disappointed!</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TKFD2OlzkgI/AAAAAAAABQs/E6VojYATTLA/s1600/juliastuart.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 160px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 245px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521769217041601026" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TKFD2OlzkgI/AAAAAAAABQs/E6VojYATTLA/s320/juliastuart.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Julia Stuart</span><br /><br /><div align="left"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385533284?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0385533284">The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0385533284" width="1" height="1" /> is published by Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-385-53328-7</div></div></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-56690556190288141582010-09-11T00:01:00.000-07:002010-09-11T00:01:01.992-07:00Nine years ago and it feels like yesterday....<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TIrV3cEqipI/AAAAAAAABQk/7wYuDLW6Rtc/s1600/never+forget.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515455842073873042" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TIrV3cEqipI/AAAAAAAABQk/7wYuDLW6Rtc/s400/never+forget.jpg" /></a><br /><div></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-32254954835949936352010-09-03T15:10:00.000-07:002010-09-03T16:53:09.661-07:00Review & Giveaway: The Red Queen: The Cousins' War, Book Two by Philippa Gregory<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TIFzwf81crI/AAAAAAAABQU/3GetYO12X1c/s1600/redqueen.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 140px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 208px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512814695925772978" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TIFzwf81crI/AAAAAAAABQU/3GetYO12X1c/s400/redqueen.jpg" /></a>A question for all of you: can you really enjoy a book if you don't like the protagonist?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416563725?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1416563725">The Red Queen</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1416563725" width="1" height="1" /> is Philippa Gregory's second book in The Cousins' War series. The first was <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416563695?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1416563695">The White Queen</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1416563695" width="1" height="1" /> , which was told from Elizabeth Woodville's point of view (see my <a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2009/08/review-and-giveaway-white-queen-by.html">review </a>from about a year ago). Elizabeth is one of the most hated English queens, but in The White Queen she gained my sympathy and some of my understanding.<br /><br />In this one, we get the story of Margaret Beaufort Stanley, mother of Henry Tudor and creator of the Tudor line, told from her point of view. Born into the powerful Lancaster family, Margaret is used as a pawn to further her family's political and dynastic endeavors. She is a pious girl who wants nothing more than to serve God, or so she claims. Her most proud achievement is her "saint's knees," red and calloused from kneeling for hours in prayer where she has visions and imagines herself to be Joan of Arc.<br /><br />Once married and mother of the first Tudor, Henry, Margaret becomes singularly obsessed with his becoming king of England. Her schemes and plotting know no bounds, she doesn't care who she tramples on the way. Worst of all, she does it all in the name of God:<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">"You want power, Margaret, power and wealth; and so do I. Nothing matters as much as this to either of us, and we will sacrifice anything for it."</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">"I am guided by God!" I protest.</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">"Yes, because you think God wants your son to be King of England. I don't think your God has ever advised you otherwise. You hear only what you want. He only ever commands your preferences."</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">I sway as if he has hit me. "How dare you! I have lived my life in His service!"</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">"He always tells you to strive for power and wealth. Are you quite sure it is not your own voice that you hear, speaking through the earthquake, wind, and fire?"<br /></span></em><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TIFzpuc2ZEI/AAAAAAAABQM/ofuiNslqvc0/s1600/margaret+beaufort.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 220px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 276px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512814579559064642" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TIFzpuc2ZEI/AAAAAAAABQM/ofuiNslqvc0/s320/margaret+beaufort.jpg" /></a> <em><span style="font-size:78%;">Margaret Beaufort</span></em></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="left">She was so insufferable that I was wishing that the entire history of England could be changed just to thwart her. But the thing is, the author could not really have written this book any other way. Margaret was the way she was (doesn't it look like she is sucking on a lemon?), she was not likable. So it is no surprise when we don't. It does say something about Philippa Gregory that she would set out to write a novel based on a character who has so few redeeming qualities. </div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">This is not my favorite Philippa Gregory book. (Come to think of it, none of her more recent books are among my favorites, though I always enjoy them.) But I understand why she wrote it and appreciate where it fits into the network of her other novels. For die hard Philippa Gregory fans and historical fiction readers in general, The Red Queen is a must read. As to whether or not a book can be enjoyed if you don't like the protagonist, I think the answer must be yes. Where would we be without characters we love to hate?</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416563725?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1416563725">The Red Queen</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1416563725" width="1" height="1" /> is published by <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/">Touchstone</a>. ISBN 978-1-4165-6372-3.<br />For more information about the author and all of her books, please visit her <a href="http://www.philippagregory.com/">website</a>.</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">Check out some other reviews!</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"><a href="http://readersrespite.blogspot.com/2010/08/red-queen.html?showComment=1281097935671">A Reader's Respite</a></div><div align="left"><a href="http://www.devourerofbooks.com/2010/08/the-red-queen-by-philippa-gregory-book-review/">Devourer of Books</a></div><div align="left"><a href="http://medievalbookworm.com/reviews/review-giveaway-the-red-queen-philippa-gregory/">Medieval Bookworm</a></div><div align="left"><a href="http://myflutteringheart.blogspot.com/2010/07/book-review-red-queen-by-philippa.html">My Fluttering Heart</a></div><div align="left"><a href="http://www.rundpinne.com/2010/08/book-review-the-red-queen-by-philippa-gregory.html">Rundpinne</a></div><div align="left"><a href="http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/2010/08/book-review-red-queen-philippa-gregory.html">S. Krishna's Books</a></div><div align="left"><a href="http://www.shhhimreading.com/2010/08/review-red-queen-by-philippa-gregory.html">Shhh I'm Reading</a></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"></div><br /><strong>Thanks to the generous publishers, I have one brand-spanking-new hardback copy (it's a first edition, too!) to give away. For one entry just leave me your email address in the comments with your favorite Philippa Gregory title. If you have never read a PG book then tell me why you would like to start with this one. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on September 17.. The winners will be drawn at random and must have a US mailing address.<br /><br />+2 Follow this blog any way you choose (Google, Feedburner, etc) and leave a comment...if you already do, include that in your comment<br />+2 Tweet or blog this giveaway and leave me a comment to let me know that you did<br /><br />Good luck everyone, thank you for visiting and entering!</strong>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-75914967775645818842010-08-24T14:42:00.001-07:002010-08-24T14:52:12.648-07:00Giveaway: I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman<strong></strong><strong></strong><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/THQ9Y5N4SjI/AAAAAAAABPk/t3wR1Grg0-o/s1600/idknowyouanywere.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 258px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509095742066149938" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/THQ9Y5N4SjI/AAAAAAAABPk/t3wR1Grg0-o/s400/idknowyouanywere.jpg" /></a><br /><em>The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author returns with a new stand-alone novel—a powerful and utterly riveting tale that skillfully moves between past and present to explore the lasting effects of crime on a victim's life....I'd Know You Anywhere<br /><br />Eliza Benedict cherishes her peaceful, ordinary suburban life with her successful husband and children, thirteen-year-old Iso and eight-year-old Albie. But her tranquillity is shattered when she receives a letter from the last person she ever expects—or wants—to hear from: Walter Bowman. There was your photo, in a magazine. Of course, you are older now. Still, I'd know you anywhere.<br /><br />In the summer of 1985, when she was fifteen, Eliza was kidnapped by Walter and held hostage for almost six weeks. He had killed at least one girl and Eliza always suspected he had other victims as well. Now on death row in Virginia for the rape and murder of his final victim, Walter seems to be making a heartfelt act of contrition as his execution nears. Though Eliza wants nothing to do with him, she's never forgotten that Walter was most unpredictable when ignored. Desperate to shelter her children from this undisclosed trauma in her past, she cautiously makes contact with Walter. She's always wondered why Walter let her live, and perhaps now he'll tell her—and share the truth about his other victims.<br /><br />Yet as Walter presses her for more and deeper contact, it becomes clear that he is after something greater than forgiveness. He wants Eliza to remember what really happened that long-ago summer. He wants her to save his life. And Eliza, who has worked hard for her comfortable, cocooned life, will do anything to protect it—even if it means finally facing the events of that horrifying summer and the terrible truth she's kept buried inside.<br /><br />An edgy, utterly gripping tale of psychological manipulation that will leave readers racing to the final page, I'd Know You Anywhere is a virtuoso performance from acclaimed, award-winning author Laura Lippman that is sure to be her biggest hit yet.</em><br /><div><strong></strong></div><br /><em>~Book description courtesy of the publisher</em><br /><br /><br /><p>Once again I am wayyyy behind in my reading. Too many books, too little time is certainly true in my case! So my review will be upcoming but I'm going to go ahead and post the giveaway!</p><strong>I have two copies of I'd Know You Anywhere to give away. For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on September 6.. The winners will be drawn at random and must have a US mailing address. Many thanks to Megan at Harper Collins for sponsoring this giveaway!<br /><br />+2 Follow this blog any way you choose (Google, Feedburner, etc) and leave a comment...if you already do, include that in your comment<br />+2 Tweet or blog this giveaway and leave me a comment to let me know that you did<br /><br />Good luck everyone, thank you for visiting and entering!</strong>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com66tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-38344549702580151422010-08-22T10:56:00.000-07:002010-08-22T11:36:42.590-07:00Review & Giveaway: Holly's Inbox, Scandal in the City by Holly Denham<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/THFlVSBHgTI/AAAAAAAABPU/XK-up-B0Ne4/s1600/holly.bmp"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 184px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 280px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508295235539009842" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/THFlVSBHgTI/AAAAAAAABPU/XK-up-B0Ne4/s400/holly.bmp" /></a> Summer is almost over (maybe for some it is already over) but I always think of the end of summer as Labor Day weekend...and we have a couple of weeks to go before then. So, if you need a last summer reading book, or even two, consider <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1402219032?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1402219032">Holly's Inbox</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1402219032" width="1" height="1" /> and its sequel, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1402241143?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1402241143">Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1402241143" width="1" height="1" />. Both are very fast, light reads thanks to their inventive email format. <br /><br />Scandal in the City picks up a few months after the events of the first book. Holly is doing well at work, despite the presence of a co-worker or two out to sabotage any success she might have. She has finally found a great guy in Toby, someone who loves her despite her flaws. And she does have some flaws. On the plus side she is sharp and funny but she tends to drink a bit too much when out with her friends and then does stupid things which she usually can't remember but regrets when she learns about them. A little bit self destructive, but she is incredibly loyal to her friends, a quality that goes a long way to making up for her shortcomings.<br /><br />Many of you will be surprised to learn that this series is written by a man, Bill Surie, who owns a placement service in London for receptionists and secretaries. He had real life inspiration for this book, which started out as a <a href="http://www.hollysinbox.com/">website</a>. There is a great interview with him, originally published in the New York Post, on the <a href="http://www.sourcebooks.com/">Sourcebooks</a> website, click <a href="http://www.sourcebooks.com/independentvision/hollys-inbox-bill-surie-interviewed-on-nypost.com.html">here</a> to read about how it all started!<br /><br />I loved both of these books, they are so entertaining and fun! And you could easily read them in a quiet weekend. I do recommend that you read them in order. If you haven't read the first book, head on over to <a href="http://www.hollysinbox.com/">Holly's Inbox</a> and read the first half of the book online. I bet you'll be completely hooked!<br /><br />Up for grabs is my gently read Advanced Reading Copy of Scandal in the City! If you would like to enter just leave me your email address in the comments. Winner will be picked at random, you must have a US or Canada mailing address (sorry, can't afford to ship internationally). Enter until midnight eastern time on September 5. Good luck everyone and thanks so much for visiting and entering!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1402241143?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1402241143">Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1402241143" width="1" height="1" /> is published by <a href="http://www.sourcebooks.com/">Sourcebooks</a>, ISBN 978-1-4022-4114-7<br /><br />Want a few more opinions? Check out some other blog reviews!!<br /><br /><a href="http://luanne-abookwormsworld.blogspot.com/2010/08/hollys-inbox-scandal-in-city-holly.html">A Bookworm's World</a><br /><a href="http://bermudaonion.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/review-hollys-inbox-scandal-in-the-city/">Bermudaonion</a><br /><a href="http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-hollys-inbox-scandal-in-city.html">Booking Mama</a><br /><a href="http://luanne-abookwormsworld.blogspot.com/2010/08/hollys-inbox-scandal-in-city-holly.html">Cafe of Dreams</a><br /><a href="http://www.peekingbetweenthepages.com/2010/08/hollys-inbox-scandal-in-city-by-holly.html">Peeking Between the Pages</a><br /><a href="http://kayespenguinposts.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-hollys-inbox-scandal-in-city-by.html">Pudgy Penguin Perusals</a><br /><a href="http://www.rundpinne.com/2010/08/book-review-hollys-inbox-scandal-in-the-city-by-holly-denham.html">Rundpinne</a><br /><a href="http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/2010/08/book-review-hollys-inbox-scandal-in.html">S. Krishna's Books<br /></a>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-62112075547230837682010-08-16T14:24:00.000-07:002010-08-16T15:10:39.861-07:00Review & Blog Tour: The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGmtGKq88pI/AAAAAAAABPM/CV-bjlI8ytU/s1600/hypnotist.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 203px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506122340892471954" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGmtGKq88pI/AAAAAAAABPM/CV-bjlI8ytU/s400/hypnotist.jpg" /></a><br />FBI agent Lucian Glass has been investigating the co-director of the Phoenix Foundation, Malachi Samuels, for well over a year. The man is suspected in the death of at least one person in his quest to obtain the ancient memory tools that he thinks will allow him to remember his previous lives. Nothing is more important to him, he is single minded but very, very careful. Thus far, Lucian has been unable to find anything more than circumstantial evidence of Malachi's guilt.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Lucian is battling his own demons. Twenty years ago, when he was an art student in college, his girlfriend Solange was brutally murdered in her father's art framing shop. Lucian arrived in time to find her body and become the second victim. He actually died for a minute and a half in the back of the ambulance. He physically recovered but put all his artistic abilities behind him and devoted himself solely to his job in the Art Crime Team unit of the FBI, tracking down the theft and fraud of priceless antiquities.<br /><br />He had been able to perform his job very well, until a recent event in Vienna (covered in the author's previous book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0778326632?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0778326632">The Memorist</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0778326632" width="1" height="1" />). Lucian heard a ancient melody played on a specific instrument, as many others did. Since then he has been plagued by nightmares and visions of the faces of people he's never met. He is compelled to draw the people that he sees nightly in his dreams.<br /><br />When the Metropolitan Museum of Art receives a destroyed Matisse painting that had been stolen years before, Lucian is called in. The painting was delivered with a note, the sender wants a recently rediscovered ancient statue of the Greek god Hypnos that the Met owns. And he's not the only one that wants it. Iran and Greece want it too, both claiming that it originated in their countries and should be returned.<br /><br />At first the case against Malachi Samuels and the one involving the Matisse and Hypnos don't seem to be related, though gut instinct tells Lucian that they must be. And then he realizes that the Matisse was one of the paintings stolen the day he was attacked, that long ago day when Solange died. As the pieces of his life circle in upon themselves, Lucian struggles to solve both cases as well as his own history, both in this life and beyond.<br /><br />I really enjoyed this entire trilogy: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0778328279?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0778328279">The Reincarnationist</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0778328279" width="1" height="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0778326632?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0778326632">The Memorist</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0778326632" width="1" height="1" /> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0778326756?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0778326756">The Hypnotist</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0778326756" width="1" height="1" />. It is a bit hard to summarize this one, there are many interwoven characters who are all integral to the outcome. Each book is an intriguing thriller with satisfying ancient mysteries and intricately woven plots...they do keep you guessing and are a fast paced, wild ride! I think each one could be easily understood on their own but there are overlapping characters, so my recommendation is to read them in order if you can.<br /><br />This book was sent to me as part of the <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/">TLC Book Tour</a>. For a complete list of participating blogs, click <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2010/05/m-j-rose-author-of-the-hypnotist-on-tour-julyaugust-2010/">here</a>. For more information about M.J. Rose and her books, please visit her <a href="http://www.mjrose.com/content/index.asp">website</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0778326756?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0778326756">The Hypnotist</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0778326756" width="1" height="1" /> is published by <a href="http://www.mirabooks.com/">Mira</a>, ISBN 978-0-7783-2675-5.<br /><br /><a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506122237571942578" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGmtAJxayLI/AAAAAAAABPE/xBlSe6y9wPU/s200/tlctours.jpg" /></a>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-36991480667244387572010-08-11T15:38:00.000-07:002010-08-11T16:31:20.707-07:00LADIES & GENTLEMEN, THE CAPTAIN HAS TURNED ON THE FASTEN SEATBELT SIGN...<a href="http://www.donkeyts.com/"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 263px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504285708133272194" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGMmsEeLCoI/AAAAAAAABO8/ktJHaWv31xg/s400/tee.jpg" /></a> Sorry, I just couldn't let the big news about the Jetblue flight attendant who quit his job the other day after cussing everyone out, blowing the emergency slide and jumping out (beer in hand) go by without a comment. Did you hear about it? He did this after a female passenger stood up, got into the overhead bin while the plane was still taxiing, told him to *f* off when he asked her to sit down and then hit him in the head. Most of you know this already, but for those who don't: I'm a flight attendant myself, for a major airline, and have been for over twenty years. There is not one of us, NOT ONE, who hasn't dreamed of what outrageous thing they would love to do or say on their very last day. Any flight attendant who says they haven't is telling you a big, fat lie.<br /><br />You see, like many professions where you deal with the public, we spend the majority of our time smiling and nodding. You really don't want to know what we are thinking. Luckily, most passengers are perfectly nice, reasonable people. And I enjoy them, I really do. You're probably one of them and I'm always glad to see you on one of my flights. For you, my smile will be totally sincere. But unfortunately there is at least one bad apple in every single bunch. These are the folks that think the rules, for some reason, DO NOT APPLY TO THEM! They are SPECIAL, of course they are. Why should they have to remain seated while taxiing?? So what if the plane comes to a sudden stop and they are thrown to the floor or onto some other poor, rule abiding, seated passenger? So what if the ridiculously heavy stuff in the overhead bin then falls out and hits someone on the head? What do they care?<br /><br />I'm afraid that is just the problem, they don't care. Not about me, you or anyone else that is not THEMSELVES. A lack of manners and thought for others is widespread and one of the things I like least about dealing with the public. Is asking someone to use basic manners, be polite and follow the rules just too much to ask? The rules are there for the safety and protection of everyone, crew included. That is why we follow them and ask you all to follow them too. Yes, you paid for that seat, but when you did so you agreed to the Federal Aviation Administration rules set for airline travel and you are required to abide by them.<br /><br />I am constantly amazed by the total disregard for the seat belt sign. If it is turned on it is because it is not safe for passengers to be out of their seats. Often it is not even safe for crew to be out of their seats. I can't tell you how many times I am sitting in my jumpseat, strapped in, we are bouncing all over the place in the midst of turbulence and some idiot pops up and starts digging around in the overhead bin or heads for the bathroom. When I tell them they have to be seated there is almost always an argument. For some reason they think I am deliberately and arbitrarily infringing on their personal rights. Happens all the time.<br /><br />I am honestly not complaining, I'm sure every profession has its issues, but the job I do is not easy. These days the hours are very long, rest very short, since 9-11 any glamour that ever existed has gone for good. We all have a breaking point and obviously that Jetblue flight attendant reached his. He could probably have handled the situation better. But I tell you what: he did something we all wish we could do and that is why he is receiving such widespread attention.<br /><br />I know this problem is not confined to the airline industry, I see poor manners and people being selfish and unkind all over the place. If we could all just be polite to each other, the world would be a much nicer place!<br /><br />The photo above is the latest from <a href="http://www.donkeyts.com/">Donkey Tees</a> , they have lots of silly, cute, funny shirts on their website. Even one for booklovers like us! <br /><br /><a href="http://www.donkeyts.com/"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 356px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 233px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504285614875782258" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGMmmpD2rHI/AAAAAAAABO0/WH97W25CE0g/s400/big+books.jpg" /></a><br />Thanks for listening to my rant! I could go on, but that is definitely enough for one day. It is not often that I let my real job seep into my blogging, but sometimes the temptation is just too great! If you missed my post about airplane bathrooms from a little over a year ago, you can find it <a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2009/04/word-about-airplane-bathrooms.html">here</a>. <br /><div></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-1716961049752972012010-08-11T09:27:00.000-07:002010-08-11T10:43:26.983-07:00Review & Giveaway: The Miracles of Prato by Laurie Albanese & Laura Morowitz<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGLQvwSOz5I/AAAAAAAABOk/lQvA4xuRgrE/s1600/the-miracles-of-prato-198x300.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 198px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504191213433966482" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGLQvwSOz5I/AAAAAAAABOk/lQvA4xuRgrE/s400/the-miracles-of-prato-198x300.jpg" /></a>Prato, Italy 1456. Twenty year old Lucrezia Buti arrives at the Convent Santa Margherita, along with her younger sister, Spinetta. The sisters lives have completely changed since the death of their father, a successful cloth merchant. They find themselves suddenly destitute, with no choice but to enter the convent. For Spinetta, who was always promised to the church, the transition is not difficult. But this is not the case for her beautiful sister. Lucrezia's future husband had been selected, she was planning to be married. With the sudden lack of a dowry all her plans are destroyed and she feels the loss keenly. She is not comfortable with the stark life of a nun, though she tries her best to adjust to the life fate has chosen for her.<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGLQmputOnI/AAAAAAAABOc/YHtzoIDgVKw/s1600/lucrezia.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 194px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504191057055529586" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGLQmputOnI/AAAAAAAABOc/YHtzoIDgVKw/s320/lucrezia.jpg" /></a> <em><span style="font-size:78%;">Lucrezia Buti was the model for Lippi's Madonna</span></em></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></em></div><div>Fate is still at work, though. Renowned but dissolute painter Filippo Lippi has been given the job of chaplain at Santa Margherita by his patrons, the powerful Medicis. He is at a low point, lacking inspiration, when he suddenly meets Lucrezia and her beauty inspires both his painting and his heart. Lucrezia is drawn to him in return, though any relationship between a monk and a novice nun is of course completely forbidden.</div><div><br /></div><div><div align="center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGLQgS22cnI/AAAAAAAABOU/8wlaVhSxsHo/s1600/prato_big.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504190947836457586" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGLQgS22cnI/AAAAAAAABOU/8wlaVhSxsHo/s320/prato_big.jpg" /></a> <em><span style="font-size:78%;">The Cathedral of Santo Stefano, Prato Italy</span></em><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Beauty can be a blessing and a curse, as Lucrezia discovers when the powerful Prior General begins to force himself upon her. In desperation, she uses the uproar on the day of The Feast of the Sacred Belt to escape the convent and hide in the house of a wealthy family. But she meets Lippi on the way and ends up taking refuge in his home, instead. When the worst happens anyway, Lippi is willing to give up everything to protect her and keep her from further harm.</div><div><br /></div><div><div align="center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGLQTd99HaI/AAAAAAAABOM/BHtH0xnkK7s/s1600/fra-filippo-lippi-1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 198px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504190727480745378" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGLQTd99HaI/AAAAAAAABOM/BHtH0xnkK7s/s320/fra-filippo-lippi-1.jpg" /></a><em><span style="font-size:78%;"> Filippo Lippi</span></em> </div><div><br /></div><div>Human nature never changes, that is what makes stories like this one resonate down through the years. Don't we always want most what we can't have? Centuries have gone by and this still remains true. And there will always be those who can't resist greed, self importance, power...the villains then are not so very different from the villains now. This is the aspect of historical fiction that I most enjoy, that a dusty old story that has had the personality and emotion eroded from it by time can be renewed and made relevant by the imagination of an author (or authors, in this case). Now I wish I'd paid more attention in the single art history class I took in college...I remember it being boring, boring, boring. Too bad the professor didn't have a little of the talent of these authors, if he had added the stories behind the paintings...well, who knows where I'd be now! If you enjoy historical fiction you'll definitely want to read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061558354?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061558354">The Miracles of Prato</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061558354" width="1" height="1" /> !</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061558354?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061558354">The Miracles of Prato</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061558354" width="1" height="1" /> is published by Harper Collins, ISBN 978-0-06-155835-1</div><div><br /></div><div>I received this book as part of the <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/">TLC Book Tour</a>. For a complete list of blogs on the tour, click <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2010/06/laurie-albanese-and-laura-morowitz-authors-of-the-miracles-of-prato-on-tour-august-2010/">here</a>. </div><div><br/></div><div>Up for grabs is my gently read trade paperback copy! If you would like to enter just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. You can enter until midnight eastern on August 25th and the giveaway is open to anyone with a US or Canada mailing address. Thank you for visiting and entering!!<br /><br /></div><div><a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504190454705620802" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TGLQDlzTB0I/AAAAAAAABOE/XfY9R2ECID8/s320/tlctours.jpg" /></a></div></div></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-34818556146023289782010-07-26T18:28:00.000-07:002010-07-26T18:59:12.296-07:00Review & Giveaway: 31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TE427hQvFaI/AAAAAAAABN0/nm-PLbGILVo/s1600/31bondst.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 203px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498392591234700706" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TE427hQvFaI/AAAAAAAABN0/nm-PLbGILVo/s400/31bondst.jpg" /></a>Amidst a horrendous winter storm in February, 1857, prominent New York dentist Harvey Burdell is violently murdered in his room at his home. The doors and windows were all locked and suspicion immediately falls on Emma Cunningham, a pretty widow with two teen aged daughters who had recently become Dr. Burdell's housekeeper. When she produces a marriage certificate dated two weeks prior to the murder which shows that she secretly became Dr. Burdell's wife, the suspicion is only heightened.<br /><br />As the coroner begins what seems to be a completely biased inquest, Emma finds an ally in defense attorney Henry Clinton. He is inspired to help Emma when he sees that the powerful district attorney is set upon prosecuting Mrs. Cunningham despite nothing but circumstantial evidence.<br /><br />However, nothing and no one is what they seem in this complicated case. Dr. Burdell is far from the upstanding citizen that he appeared to be and practically everyone involved has an ulterior motive of some kind. Unravelling the tangle reveals an exciting and absorbing tale.<br /><br />The detail of nineteenth century New York and the excellent trial depiction made this one of the most enjoyable crime novels that I have read. Ellen Horan does an superb job of capturing the flavor and turmoil of the years just before the beginning of the Civil War.<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TE423PLClRI/AAAAAAAABNs/f6gWe4eEQcI/s1600/ellen+horan.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 178px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498392517659497746" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TE423PLClRI/AAAAAAAABNs/f6gWe4eEQcI/s200/ellen+horan.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;">Ellen Horan</span></div><p>I read 31 Bond Street as part of the <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2010/05/ellen-horan-author-of-31-bond-street-on-tour-july-2010/">TLC Book Tour</a>. For the full schedule of participating blogs, click <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2010/05/ellen-horan-author-of-31-bond-street-on-tour-july-2010/">here</a>. And for more information about the author and her book, please visit her <a href="http://www.31bondstreet.com/">website</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061773964?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061773964">31 Bond Street</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061773964" width="1" height="1" /> is published by Harper Collins, ISBN 978-0-06-177396-9</p><p>I am giving away my gently read paperback advanced reading copy! If you would like to enter, just leave your email here in the comments. An extra entry is available for anyone who becomes a follower or follows already (on Google, Feedburner, etc). Leave a separate comment if you do. US and Canada mailing addresses only, please. You can enter until midnight eastern on August 15. Thank you for visiting and entering!!<br /><br /></p><div align="center"><a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498392418750400658" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TE42xetRiJI/AAAAAAAABNk/TMjIsB8Z62M/s320/tlctours.jpg" /></a></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-27609410624796922952010-07-21T17:49:00.000-07:002010-07-21T20:01:51.424-07:00Review: The Passage by Justin Cronin<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEeWJTHDbGI/AAAAAAAABNc/Ra3vGWIB9YA/s1600/passage.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 190px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 289px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496526956721826914" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEeWJTHDbGI/AAAAAAAABNc/Ra3vGWIB9YA/s400/passage.jpg" /></a> In a complete departure from my usual reading material, I just read Justin Cronin's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345504968?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345504968">The Passage</a>. A word of warning...it IS a vampire book, to a degree. Okay, I see some of you rolling your eyes. Yes, vampires are all the rage right now and some of you have had it with them. But this summer's very buzzed about novel is as far from Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse as it is possible to be. Closer to Stephen King (The Stand) and Michael Crichton (The Andromeda Strain). I have to admit that I was a huge Stephen King fan when I was in college....I read just about all of his books. The Stand was easily my favorite. I loved the premise...it's about a virus that wipes out the vast majority of the earth's population with the survivors pulled into two groups (good & evil, of course.) It's just a fantastic story, told in a way that keeps you spellbound throughout. And so I can see why The Passage is being compared to The Stand...it is another spellbinding story about the survivors of a devastating virus that changes every aspect of our world.<br /><br />We begin a little bit in our future, ten or fifteen years maybe. The war on terror has progressed, we now have border crossings at state lines and security cameras and staff just about everywhere. The government is desperate to find a new weapon (how many great stories start with a colossal government screw-up???) and the idea of the moment is to turn humans into killing machines.<br /><br />For that, they have experimented with twelve death row inmates. They have found a way to turn back on the thymus gland, a gland everyone has in their neck that basically begins to atrophy once adulthood is reached. In childhood the gland produces cells integral to the immune system. The effect on the inmates is to turn them into creatures remarkably like vampires. Only one tiny hitch: they are not controllable. The head scientist then decides he needs a child to test it on and six year old Amy is chosen and brought to the lab.<br /><br />At this point, all hell breaks loose when all twelve inmates escape and begin a process that will kill the majority of the population while turning the remainder into the same vampirish creatures who never seem to age and are difficult to kill. Mass chaos is the result and the army attempts to take the children and sequester them, sending them to camps via train.<br /><br />Fast forward 92 years. The residents of one camp are still there, have been for a few generations now, sustained by the huge banks of lights that come on every night to repel the creatures, which they call "smokes" or "virals". Few of the residents have ever seen the stars in the night sky.<br /><br /><div align="center"><em>"His whole life Peter had thought of the world of the Time Before as something gone. It was as if a blade had fallen onto time itself, cleaving it into halves, that which came before and that which came after. Between these halves there was no bridge; the war had been lost, the Army was no more, the world beyond the Colony was an open grave of a history no one even remembered. Peter, in fact, had never given much thought to what his father had actually been looking for, out there in the dark. He supposed this was because it had seemed so obvious: people, other survivors. But holding one of his father's rifles - and even now, lying in the barracks while his ankle mended and remembering the feel of it - he sensed something more, how the past and all its powers seemed to have flowed into him. So maybe that was what his father had been doing all along.....He'd been trying to remember the world."</em></div><br />The Colony, as they refer to themselves, have a simple government system set up, everyone has a role they have been trained to fulfill. The point of it all is simply their own survival. Except that the lights that come on every night run on battery power. And batteries were never designed to last for 92 years. The lights will be going out and when they do, there will be carnage. Everyone has seen the effects of those taken by the "smokes". Death is hoped for, the alternative is unthinkable.<br /><br />As the residents are deciding what to do an incredible thing happens. A "walker" arrives. Walkers are legends, none have been seen in living memory. A walker is an uninfected survivor from the outside. And the walker is Amy, the final subject of that long ago experiment. She is not a smoke but was not unaffected by what was done to her. For one thing she doesn't age, or doesn't age normally. After 92 years she has aged no more than 10. And she heals at an incredible, unbelievable rate. Plus she can hear the thoughts of all those infected souls. They don't have any way to know that she is the key, the answer, the way to the salvation of the human race.<br /><br />But they know that she is special in some way. When they uncover a cryptic radio transmission that has been broadcast for nearly a century a group is formed to take Amy back to where she began. The message?<br /><br /><div align="center"><em>"If you found her, bring her here."</em></div><div align="center"><em><br /></em></div><div align="center"><em></em></div><div align="left">Not much to go on, perhaps, but enough. A beginning, for them and for us.</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">Seldom have I been so captivated by a story, I spent an entire weekend completely absorbed in its nearly 800 pages. Normally I am captured by recreations of the past, historical fiction makes those long gone worlds live and breathe. With this book I have renewed appreciation for those authors who create possible futures, building up the effects and repercussions of decisions made in the present into the world that might be. This book is imaginative and vivid with fully developed, interesting characters. You will miss them when it is over...good thing this is the first in a planned trilogy.</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">In short, I can't recommend this book highly enough. I just loved it. Not you usual thing? Mine either but it is easily one of my favorite books of the year. How's that for an endorsement? But don't take my word for it, here are a few more reviews from some of my favorite bloggers:</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"><a href="http://readersrespite.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-is-why-we-love-book-bloggers.html">A Reader's Respite</a></div><div align="left"><a href="http://thebooksmugglers.com/2010/06/book-review-the-passage-by-justin-cronin.html">The Book Smugglers</a></div><div align="left"><a href="http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/2010/06/review-passage-by-justin-cronin.html">The Boston Bibliophile</a></div><div align="left"><a href="http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/2010/06/book-review-passage-justin-cronin.html">S. Krishna's Books</a></div><div align="left"><a href="http://heylady.net/2010/04/28/review-the-passage-by-justin-cronin/">Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?</a></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345504968?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345504968">The Passage</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0345504968" width="1" height="1" /> is published by <a href="http://www.ballantinebooks.com/">Ballantine</a>, ISBN 978-0-345-50496-8. You can visit the website <a href="http://enterthepassage.com/">here</a>.</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">****An interesting side note....last year I received <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061558249?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061558249">The Strain</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061558249" width="1" height="1" /> by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan. The first of a trilogy about a vampire virus...from the back of the book "a bold, epic novel about a horrifying battle between man and vampire that threatens all humanity..." Hmmm. Of course I haven't read it yet. Yes, I admit to being over a year behind (ugh). But it sounds interesting and similiar to The Passage. Gonna have to read it so I can compare!!! Has anyone out there read them both??****</div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-40085603436588513882010-07-21T11:54:00.000-07:002010-07-21T12:16:28.991-07:00Huge Historical Fiction Summer Reading Giveaway!<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEdEBH3iuLI/AAAAAAAABNM/lXHj2KOmhFA/s1600/renoir+reading.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 258px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496436656311548082" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEdEBH3iuLI/AAAAAAAABNM/lXHj2KOmhFA/s320/renoir+reading.jpg" /></a>Need some great summer reading material? Help me clear some space! I am buried in books...okay, there are worse fates, but I have to make some room! I've put together seven great historical fiction books, all are paperback, five are advance reading copies. The winner will receive all seven! This will be US only (sorry, I can't afford to ship a heavy box internationally) and you can enter thru midnight eastern on August 10. For one entry just leave your email address in the comments. If you would like additional entries you can leave a comment on any of my reviews for these titles. I have reviews up for all of them except for The Constant Princess, just click on the cover to go to the review. I won't be counting comments on the reviews that say only "please enter me"...any thoughtful comment about the book or review will be counted. Best of luck and many thanks for helping me reduce my stacks of books!!!<br /><div><br /><p align="center"><a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2010/04/review-and-giveaway-daughters-of.html"><img style="WIDTH: 128px; HEIGHT: 193px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496435978734283362" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEdDZrsiKmI/AAAAAAAABM0/5Hv62Jo2T5Q/s200/daughters.jpg" /></a><a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2010/02/review-island-of-swans-by-ciji-ware.html"><img style="WIDTH: 131px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496436095798472946" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEdDgfyz8PI/AAAAAAAABM8/5nfuOoY1J2U/s200/islandoftheswans.gif" /></a> <a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2009/10/review-blog-tour-return-by-victoria.html"><img style="WIDTH: 131px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496436483197389154" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEdD3C96SWI/AAAAAAAABNE/rOyYUrF-jPg/s200/thereturn.jpg" /></a><br /><br /></p><div><div><div><div align="center"><a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-giveaway-claude-camille-novel-of.html"><img style="WIDTH: 128px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496435603696563682" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEdDD2kkteI/AAAAAAAABMc/iJkpHljsPE0/s200/claudecamille.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-and-giveaway-band-of-angels-by.html"><img style="WIDTH: 130px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496435482233671746" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEdC8yFkEEI/AAAAAAAABMU/dLfmaevWgpo/s200/bandofangels.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEdDMCMQweI/AAAAAAAABMk/vmODJFFqfDI/s1600/constant.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 108px; HEIGHT: 160px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496435744254771682" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEdDMCMQweI/AAAAAAAABMk/vmODJFFqfDI/s200/constant.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com/2010/03/review-blog-tour-creation-of-eve-by.html"><img style="WIDTH: 132px; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496435867281064466" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TEdDTMgBAhI/AAAAAAAABMs/23XE76gi4zA/s200/creationofeve.jpg" /></a> <br /><br /></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com73tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-31811763406843968592010-07-05T18:02:00.001-07:002010-07-05T19:18:06.597-07:00Review and Giveaway: The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 199px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490592894246744722" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TDKBJZvccpI/AAAAAAAABL8/jg72qpXsJkM/s400/lacemakers.jpg" /><br /><div>Life has seemed to be all about heartbreak lately for Kate Robinson. First the death of her mother, then the painful breakup with her boyfriend and finally the demise of her fashion line...they all conspire to make her want to escape. She and her Mom had long planned a trip to Ireland, a trip her Mom was not able to make but she encouraged Kate to take on her own. That is how she finds herself backpacking alone down a lonely Irish country lane, drenched to the skin with the constant rain.<br /><br /><br /></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TDKBDhDMvPI/AAAAAAAABL0/cqt09vqTVuo/s1600/irishlace.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490592793129434354" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TDKBDhDMvPI/AAAAAAAABL0/cqt09vqTVuo/s320/irishlace.jpg" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div>Stumbling into the small coastal town of Glenmara, Kate encounters in insulated group of villagers in the midst of a small festival. Widowed Bernie and her lifelong friend Aileen are manning the lace booth, selling the items their circle of friends have created. Kate is captivated by the lovely lace pieces...they remind her of her mother, who taught her to sew. </div><div><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 249px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490592690761699458" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TDKA9js1EII/AAAAAAAABLs/DxBwjrNqdYM/s320/lace.jpg" /></div><div><br />Bernie takes one look at bedraggled Kate and invites her to stay. Kate's presence in the village affects people in different ways, some are thrilled to have someone new around, others resent the intrusion. When she joins the circle of lace makers, Kate is inspired by the idea of adding Irish lace to the ladies' bras and underwear. What starts as a way to inject something beautiful and positive into the lives of the women, who all have had problems and challenges, ends up becoming a business opportunity that is much needed in the village and in Kate's life, too. Unfortunately, not everyone is thrilled about this new venture. There will be obstacles to overcome and problems to solve before they can look into that promising future.</div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 160px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 244px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490592510038402146" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TDKAzCdCZGI/AAAAAAAABLk/GsHeeRC7vlI/s320/heather-barbieri.jpg" /></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Heather Barbieri<br /></span><br /></div><div align="left"><br />In this lovely novel the author deftly crafts a touching story about women, friendship and life. She beautifully tells what binds them together, the threads and stitching that make up ordinary lives...sometimes embroidering them into the extraordinary and sometimes tearing them apart. If you are looking for a great summer read that will take you away, don't miss <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061772461?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061772461">The Lace Makers of Glenmara</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061772461" width="1" height="1" />.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061772461?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061772461">The Lace Makers of Glenmara</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061772461" width="1" height="1" /> is published by <a href="http://www.harperperennial.com/">Harper Perennial</a>, ISBN 978-0-06-177246-7. For more information about Heather Barbieri and her books, please visit her <a href="http://www.heatherbarbieri.com/">website</a>. I received this book as part of a <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/">TLC Book Tour</a> (thanks Trish & Lisa, you ladies are the best!!), for a complete list of tour stops, click<a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2010/04/heather-barbieri-author-of-the-lace-makers-of-glenmara-on-tour-junejuly-2010/"> here</a>.<br /><br />I have two paperback copies of this book to give away! One is an advanced reading copy, the other is the trade paperback, gently read. Winners must have a US or Canada mailing address. To enter just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. This giveaway will be open until midnight eastern time on July 26. If you would like an extra entry you can follow any way you like (Google, Feedburner, email, etc) or tweet the giveaway on Twitter. Please leave me a comment to let me know that you did--if you already follow, that counts too, just let me know in your comment. Thank you all so much for visiting and entering. Good luck!<a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490603275173775426" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TDKKlptUSEI/AAAAAAAABME/QrsvFR5uH8o/s320/tlc+logo+resized.png" /></a></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com61tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1748159707491896359.post-63841864748271059352010-06-24T00:01:00.000-07:002010-06-24T00:01:00.322-07:00Review & Giveaway: The Great Lover by Jill Dawson<div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TCKhBJUIINI/AAAAAAAABLU/uby2KzMmI58/s1600/greatlover.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 198px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486124337142964434" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TCKhBJUIINI/AAAAAAAABLU/uby2KzMmI58/s400/greatlover.jpg" /></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> "Rupert's true heart beats only on paper."</span></em></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div align="left"></div><br />April, 1982. Ninety year old Nell Golightly receives a surprising letter from Tahiti. A 67 year old woman would like to know something of her father, whom she never met. Somehow her letter finds its way to Nell, who worked as a maid, many years ago, at the Orchard House in Grantchester where the lady's father lived for a time. The man she is inquiring about is the English poet, Rupert Brooke.<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TCKg5C04ejI/AAAAAAAABLM/HkS1dKfto1I/s1600/rupert+brooke.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486124197962349106" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TCKg5C04ejI/AAAAAAAABLM/HkS1dKfto1I/s400/rupert+brooke.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">~Rupert Brooke ~</span> </div><p><br />This letter forms the basis for Nell's story. Beginning in 1909, she relates her life as a young woman working to support her brothers & sisters after their parents have died, and her meeting and infatuation with the young Cambridge student who comes to live at the Orchard. Rupert Brooke (his picture is above, beautiful isn't he?) is charismatic, charming, talented, even slightly wicked. Nell watches his interactions with women (and men) and despite both she finds herself romantically captivated and intellectually challenged by this fascinating man:</p><p><em>"Here we stop...and I acknowledge to myself the one hard fact that, despite my nature, it has taken me so long to face. There is no request Rupert could make of me that I would refuse. Whatever the pledge between me and God, this is the truth."</em></p><div align="center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TCKgyLj_xrI/AAAAAAAABLE/hI-Voe4DzMY/s1600/theorchard.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 222px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486124080048359090" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TCKgyLj_xrI/AAAAAAAABLE/hI-Voe4DzMY/s320/theorchard.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The Orchard House, Grantchester</span> </div><p><br />As a counterpoint to Nell's story, we get Rupert's own, told from his perspective in alternating sequences. Here it is revealed how much of his outer persona is a sham. He is terribly unsure of himself, sexually inexperienced, not confident of himself as a lover or a writer. He longs for peace, time to think and be alone with his thoughts, though he is constantly and almost randomly infatuated with different people.</p><p><em>"...There are only two ways of approaching relationships. One is only to allow love on the supposition that it may lead to marriage-the other is- the wandering way. And there are people made for the first way and perhaps people made for the second. But to introduce those made for the first to people made for the second is to invite pain and endless trouble....I'm a wanderer."</em></p><p><em>~Rupert Brooke, in a letter to Phyllis Gardner, 1913</em></p><p>The impetus to escape leads him to the Orchard House and eventually to Tahiti, where some of his best poems were written.<br /><br /></p><div align="center"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TCKgpzX3avI/AAAAAAAABK8/Oamq7NPeeXA/s1600/jilldawson.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 201px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 256px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486123936116075250" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TCKgpzX3avI/AAAAAAAABK8/Oamq7NPeeXA/s320/jilldawson.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;">"I think I've always been a sucker for a sexy, brilliant, <em>impossible</em> man."~Jill Dawson</span> </div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="left">I love the above quote from the author's essay at the back of the book about how she came to write The Great Lover, "The First Tiny Throb: How a Novel Begins." I found her portrayal of Rupert Brooke fascinating, as the man himself must have been. I loved Nell, her intelligence and courage, her ability to look past her social class, her gentle confidence. Rupert was interesting but Nell was the star of this beautifully written novel.</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061924369?ie=UTF8&tag=thetomtrasweb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061924369">The Great Lover</a><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thetomtrasweb-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061924369" width="1" height="1" /> is published by Harper Perennial, ISBN 978-0-06-192436-1. For more information about the author, please visit her <a href="http://www.jilldawson.co.uk/">website</a>. I received this book as part of a <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/">TLC Book Tour</a>, you can see a list of the rest of the tour stops <a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/2010/03/jill-dawson-author-of-the-great-lover-on-tour-june-2010/">here</a>.</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">I ended up with two copies of this book since I came home with one from BEA. So, I have two paperback copies to give away! One is unread, the other is my own gently read copy. Winners must have a US or Canada mailing address. To enter just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. This giveaway will be open until midnight eastern time on July 14. Thank you all so much for visiting and entering.</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><br /><a href="http://tlcbooktours.com/"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486123796324781586" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uGQOoce0PEY/TCKghqnBjhI/AAAAAAAABK0/FpwiG1n2Zmc/s320/tlc+logo+resized.png" /></a><br /><em>~The Soldier~</em> <em>Rupert Brooke<br /></em><br /><em>If I should die, think only this of me:<br />That there's some corner of a foreign field<br />That is for ever England. There shall be<br />In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;<br />A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,<br />Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,<br />A body of England's, breathing English air,<br />Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.<br /><br />And think, this heart, all evil shed away,<br />A pulse in the eternal mind, no less<br />Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;<br />Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;<br />And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,<br />In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.<br /></em></div>The Tome Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02029464145365882799noreply@blogger.com38