Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a lovely holiday!!

Review: The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick

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.

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.

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.

Helen Hollick

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: The Kingmaking, Pendragon's Banner, Shadow of the King.) 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!

The Forever Queen is published by Sourcebooks. ISBN 978-1-4022-4068-3

For more information about Helen and all of her wonderful books, please visit her website and blog. She was recently featured in an interesting BBC radio program about Harold, the last Saxon king, you can listen to that here (but the site says it will only be up for four more days, so hurry!)

Here's a list of blogs participating in the Sourcebooks Fall Reading Club event for The Forever Queen:

1-Nov

http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/

http://calicocritic.blogspot.com/

2-Nov

http://www.passagestothepast.com/

http://lifeinthethumb.blogspot.com/

3-Nov

http://www.luxuryreading.com/

4-Nov

http://yankeeromancereviewers.blogspot.com/

http://historicallyobsessed.blogspot.com/

5-Nov

http://booksbythewillowtree.blogspot.com/

http://www.historyandwomen.com/

8-Nov

http://www.rundpinne.blogspot.com/

http://www.bookwormsdinner.blogspot.com/

9-Nov

http://debsbookbag.blogspot.com/

http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/

10-Nov

http://literatehousewife.com/

http://carpelibrisreviews.com/

11-Nov

http://web.me.com/quirion/Bookaddict/Welcome.html

http://bookslikebreathing.blogspot.com/

12-Nov

http://www.brokenteepee.blogspot.com/

http://www.read-all-over.net

15-Nov

http://writesthoughts.blogspot.com/

http://celticladysramblings.blogspot.com/

16-Nov

http://www.jennylovestoread.blogspot.com/

http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/

17-Nov

http://bookalicio.us/

http://themaidenscourt.blogspot.com/

18-Nov

http://pushersink.blogspot.com/

http://marthasbookshelf.blogspot.com/

19-Nov

http://theroyalreviews.blogspot.com/

22-Nov

Book Club Chat on http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/

Trick or Treat!!

Review: Wicked Company by Ciji Ware

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.

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.

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.

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, Island of the Swans, which I reviewed in February (click the title for my review).

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 A Race to Splendor, set in the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. It will be published by Sourcebooks in April 2011. For more information about Ciji Ware and all of her books, please visit her website. Many thanks to Danielle at Sourcebooks for sending me Wicked Company for review!

Wicked Company is published by Sourcebooks. ISBN 978-1-4022-2271-9

Halloween Giveaway! A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness!

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:

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

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.

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.

~Synopsis from Amazon.com

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 Viking for providing the buttons and book! Happy Halloween everyone! Thanks for visiting and entering!

Review & Blog Tour: The Art of Disappearing by Ivy Pochoda

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.

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.

Ivy Pochoda

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.

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.

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.

I received this book as part of the TLC Book Tour. For a complete list of tour stops, click here. You can read more about the author at her website.

The Art of Disappearing is published by St. Martin's Press, ISBN 978-0-312-65099-5.

Review: The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker

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.

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:

Mom and Dad,

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.

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.

You might want to avoid chapters twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, anything I quote Mom saying, and most of the end as well.

Sorry. Am I still cute as a button?

Love,

Elna

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!

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.

You can visit Elna's webpage and blog for more information about her! The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance is published by Plume/Penguin, ISBN 978-0-452-29649-7. Many thanks to Penguin for randomly sending me a wonderful book!!