Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

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

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

Please avoid spoilers!

A week later, approaching Aden, Margaret pulled her own aching tooth with a string. She’d extract every tooth in her head, she told Henry, before she’d betray Mrs. Randolph by seeking out Dr. Pritchard.

-The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moore, p. 20

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Post from: Devourer of Books

Teaser Tuesday – The Wives of Henry Oades

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1. Teaser Tuesday – Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story
2. Teaser Tuesday – American Rust
3. Teaser Tuesday – Four Queens

The Queen’s Dollmaker

Claudette Laurent grew up in her father’s shop in Paris where he made gorgeous dolls for the upper class.  Between her life with her parents and her time with Jean-Philippe, her childhood friend with whom she has fallen in love, everything seemed perfect for Claudette.  Yes, she has heard people, including Jean-Philippe, speak out against the excesses of the nobility and the monarchy, but she doesn’t take it very seriously.  When fire breaks out in her neighborhood, though, Claudette is separated from her family, Jean-Philippe, and everyone and everything she’s ever known and loved.

With no idea what to do in Paris, Claudette boards a ship for London where she befriends another Parisian emigrant and her daughters.  They end up as servants in the household of a petty, social climbing woman.  Life isn’t good, but it is safe.  Also, it is in this household that Claudette meets the English gentleman, William Greycliffe, and eventually gets the idea to begin her own doll making shop in London.  As revolution foments back in Paris, Claudette is summoned back to France by Marie Antoinette, a commission that could prove to be very dangerous.  Now Claudette must decide whether her life belongs in London or Paris, whether her heart belongs to William, or to Jean-Philippe.

Okay, so this was an enjoyable book.  Claudette was fun, strong and feisty.  Of course, at times she seemed a bit modern for her time period.  The romance between Claudette and Greycliffe was also fairly enjoyable, and I’m very glad that Trent did not feel the need to write any elaborate love scenes, but their love story was a bit hard to believe as well.  Here Claudette was, a French servant and Greycliffe, a gentleman, falls in love with her when he attends a party thrown by her mistress.  It seemed a bit far-fetched to me.  And, once the romance angle was firmly established, quite a bit of the story became somewhat predictable.

Trent is a good writer and has clearly done her homework about the time period. All of her details seemed accurate and she didn’t fall into the classic historical fiction trap of wanting to show off all the awesome research done by the author by finding a way to throw in every single fact discovered in research.  That being said, I didn’t really feel like I was pulled into the late 18th century, although I cannot really pinpoint the reason for that, some things just felt a bit too modern..  Perhaps it simply suffered by comparison, because I read it immediately after another historical fiction novel that completely transported me both time and place.

It was an entertaining book, and I loved the details of doll making, but it didn’t have as much historical feel as I would have liked.

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

This review was done with a book received from the author.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

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Post from: Devourer of Books

The Queen’s Dollmaker – Book Review

Related posts:

1. The Devil’s Queen – Book Review
2. The Madness of Queen Maria – Book Review
3. The White Queen – Book Review

If you haven’t already guessed, I’m telling you all of this because I am going to be a guest on That’s How I Blog!  Mark your calendars for next Tuesday, February 16th!  The show time is 8:30 Eastern, 5:30 Pacific.  Actually, if you visit Blog Talk Radio and the page for my show, you can even set a reminder for yourself, so you don’t miss a minute of the show.

We will be discussing “City of Refuge,” which was one of my very favorite books last year.  There’s still time to read it and join us if you’re so inclined, it is a fabulous book.

Hope to see you all there!

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Post from: Devourer of Books

Join Me At That’s How I Blog!

Related posts:

1. That’s How I Blog and a Giveaway
2. Library Loot, Admitting I Have a Problem Edition
3. Not going to BEA this weekend? Feeling left out? We say: “No BEA? Books Anyway!”

I read 18 books this month, 15 of which were in print, and 3 of which were audios.  This gave me a total of just under 4500 pages read, and almost 2 days worth of audio.  Not counted on here is the book I abandoned half way through.

After my list of what I read this month, you’ll find a list of the other reviews I posted this month.

What I Read:

Audiobooks
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (review pending)
Homer and Langley by E.E. Doctorow (review pending)
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Fiction
The Dolphin People by Torsten Kroll
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar
Genesis by Bernard Beckett (review pending)

Young Adult/Middle Grades Fiction
Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Speak by Laurie Halse-Anderson (review pending)
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (review pending)

Historical Fiction
Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (review coming February 10th)
A Storm in the Blood by Jon Stephen Fink
The Boleyn Wife by Brandy Purdy
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier (review pending)
O, Juliet by Robin Maxwell

Memoir/Essays
War Child by Emmanual Jal (review pending)

Nonfiction
Food Rules by Michael Pollen (review pending)

Pick of the Month:

What I Posted:

My Top Books of 2009!

Guest Posts
Ask Claire Voyante – Guest Post by Lauren Mechling

Audiobooks
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix/Half Blood Prince
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Fiction
Boneman’s Daughters by Ted Dekker
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Children/Middle Grade/Young Adult Fiction
Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Dream Girl and Dream Life by Lauren Mechling
Rene Has Two Last Names by Rene Colato Lainez
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Nonfiction
Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat? by Claire Mysko andMagali Amadei

.

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Post from: Devourer of Books

TSS: January 2010 Reading Wrap-Up

Related posts:

1. TSS: November 2009 Reading Wrap-Up
2. September 2009 Reading Wrap-Up
3. August 2009 Reading Wrap-Up

The Book of Fathers by Miklos Vamos

“The Book of Fathers” follows the Csillag family through 400 years and 12 generations from first son to first son.  Each son inherits not only the Book of Fathers, something similar to a journal that has been added to by each man, but the ability to see into the future and the past at certain junctures in his life.  For some, the gift allows them to see the woman they will marry, for others they are able to gain the knowledge of their forefathers without studying, because they can reach into the past for that knowledge.

So the writing and translation were good, but I was really, really bored while reading it, which is a shame, because I was really excited about this book.  Bored enough that I soldiered through a little over half of this 500+ page book and then just couldn’t go any further.  Two main things contributed to my boredom and inability to finish the book:

First, was the format through which the story was told.  Each son was given his own chapter of about 40 pages.  Some of the chapters felt interminable – because 40 pages are pretty long chapters, especially in a book that isn’t a very quick read – but at the same time they were far too short.  How can you tell a man’s entire life in 40 pages?  This resulted in the men’s lives tending to be condensed into him meeting/marrying the mother of his children, something bad happening, and him dying.  This is not to say that every chapter was like this, but by virtue of how the story was structured, that was the general format.  In addition to this being a bit monotonous, I never really got the chance to attach to any of the members of the family, because just as I was starting to get interested in one of them they would die, or otherwise transfer their story to their son.  I should also say, I didn’t think much of the magical realism element of this book, I didn’t really think that much was added to the storyline by the first born sons being able to see into the past and future.

A bigger problem than the format, though, was partly my own deficiency.  This was a translation from Hungarian and I can see how it would be a very interesting book for Hungarians or those who have a good deal of familiarity with Hungarian history.  There was so much happening in the background that I didn’t fully understand because I don’t have a good grasp of Hungarian history at all.  Sure, I could figure out a lot of what was going on, but I think it was meant to be more of a reference to things that happened, looking at the story of a family set against the backdrop of Hungarian history.  If you already know Hungarian history, it could be a very instructive look at how people actually lived through these 400 years, but if you don’t know the basics already, it doesn’t really teach you much about Hungarian history and you miss a lot that other people would pick up on while reading this.

If you’re interested in and informed about Hungarian history, I think this could be a very interesting book, but if you don’t know anything about it already, I really cannot recommend this.

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

This review was done with a book received from Tony at Blue Dot Literary.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

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Post from: Devourer of Books

The Book of Fathers – Book Review

Related posts:

1. Teaser Tuesday – The Book of Fathers
2. The Cradle – Book Review
3. Only Milo – Book Review

There will be another book club pick every two months, so that there is plenty of time for everyone to get the book and read it before the discussion starts.  In February and March, we will be reading Irene Zutell’s “Pieces of Happily Ever After.”

If you’re interested in learning more about the book (including seeing the book trailer) and the SheKnows book club, you can check out the opening article.  There’s also a chance to win a copy of the book, if you’re interested in joining us for the discussion, which will take place on the SheKnows discussion boards.

I hope you’ll check it out and join us!

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Post from: Devourer of Books

A Brand New Book Club for Women!

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1. BTT: The Absolute Worst
2. Women Unbound Challenge
3. SheKnows, Books, and Marianna Olszewski

I actually enjoyed it so much, that around Thanksgiving when a bunch of people were reading it, I started to want to do a re-read.  I didn’t think I was going to be able to fit the text in again any time soon, so I decided that I was going to have to get a hold of the audiobook and do an audio reread.  Anna from Hachette was nice enough to drop a copy in the mail for me when they were released.  The timing was perfect, I was just finishing another audiobook and ready for a new one, so I immediately embarked on my voyage back through Marlow and Robert Oliver’s lives.  I’m not going to talk about the story again, because you can go back to my review, linked at the top of the page, if you want to know what I thought about that.  Instead, I want to talk about my experience with the audio.

Most audios I listen to have only one narrator, and that is usually fine.  A good narrator can cover everyone’s voice appropriately anyway.  It is, however, a real treat to listen to an audiobook with a great cast of narrators.  “The Swan Thieves” is one of those books.  I think my favorite of all the narrators was Anne Heche as Kate, but they were all fabulous.  For a book like this that is really told from four very distinct perspectives, the use of four separate narrators really added something invaluable to the experience.  I did appreciate, though, that each narrator stuck to his or her own chapters, no attempting dialog between two of them.  That would have become too awkward with “he said”s and “she exclaimed”s included. There was also some lovely background music that chosen perfectly to complement the book.

All in all, I think the experience of listening to “The Swan Thieves” was equally as enjoyable as reading it.

(Yes, FTC, as I said above, I *did* get this for free)

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Post from: Devourer of Books

The Swan Thieves – Thoughts on an (Audio) Reread

Related posts:

1. The Swan Thieves – Book Review
2. The Swan Thieves Giveaway!
3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (audio)

The Weight of Heaven

Ellie and Frank have always had something like a fairy tale marriage.  They are deeply in love with each other, and with their little boy, Benny.  Then, one night when Frank is away on business in Thailand, Benny gets sick.  At first it seems like it isn’t too much of anything, just a low fever that actually abates, so Ellie grabs a couple hours of sleep.  Suddenly she wakes up to a terrible rash blooming over Benny’s lovely face.  When Frank and Ellie lose Benny, the pretty much lose themselves too, they are no longer sure how to be a family without him, especially in their old town and their old house.  Thus, when Frank is offered the opportunity to run his company’s factory in India, Ellie jumps at the chance for them to start over in a new place, but life in India is not the Bollywood movie she thinks it will be.

Oh my gosh, I just want to climb into this book and be carried along by the way that Umrigar makes language flow!  Here’s a completely randomly chosen passage, just to show you how lovely her writing is:

The lightning flashed, and he saw her white, slender body for an instant before the darkness carried her away again.  She was sitting erect and still, her back pressed against the wooden boards of the swing.  But what made Frank’s heart lurch was the look on her face.  She sat with her eyes closed, a beatific expression on her face, looking for all the world like one of the Buddha statues they had seen on a recent trip to the Ajanta caves.  She seemed to feel none of the agitation, the exciting turmoil, that was coursing through his body. Ellie seemed far away, as distant as the moon he could not see.  Slipping away from his hands.

Ah, gorgeous! Umrigar is an incredibly skilled writer, she can take the narration from one character’s head to another from chapter to chapter, maintaining a separate voice for each of them.  She even takes one chapter into second person and does it well, which is not easy.

Sometimes those who write well neglect their plot.  Not so with Umrigar! Frank and Ellie’s story of loss and coping with the pain in their own lives and the difficulties of moving to a country so unlike their own was captivating.  The novel was beautifully structured as well, beginning and ending in their present, with entire flashback sections devoted to their meeting and Benny’s death, both of which added even more to the already well-drawn characters.

Loved it. Want to read her entire backlist.

Thrity Umrigar will be on Blog Talk Radio with Book Club Girl on February 23, 2010 at 7:00 pm Eastern.

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

* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

I read this book as part of a TLC Book Tour.  Check out some of the other tour hosts for more reviews.  Links go to the host’s site, not to their specific review.

Monday, February 1st: Literary Feline

Wednesday, February 3rd: Devourer of Books

Thursday, February 4th: Red Lady’s Reading Room

Tuesday, February 9th: Savvy Verse & Wit

Thursday, February 11th: Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, February 15th: Lit and Life

Wednesday, February 17th: Raging Bibliomania

Thursday, February 18th: Booksie’s Blog

Tuesday, February 23rd: BookNAround

Wednesday, February 24th: Dreadlock Girl Reads

Thursday, February 25th: Book Chatter

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Post from: Devourer of Books

The Weight of Heaven – Book Review

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1. Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat? – Book Review
2. Haunting Bombay – Book Review
3. Heaven to Betsy and Betsy In Spite of Herself – Book Reviews

Robin Maxwell is the author of many works of historical fiction, including “The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn,” “Signora Da Vinci,” and “O, Juliet.”

The moment I decided to retell the literary masterpiece “Romeo and Juliet” as an historical novel (O, JULIET), I found myself looking for a period and place to set it in, and historical figures with whom I could anchor it in reality.  I’d just finished SIGNORA DA VINCI, which was set in late fifteenth century Florence and peopled with the most astonishing array of individuals — men and women who shaped the Renaissance and, thus the modern world.  One of those characters was Lucrezia Tornabuoni de’ Medici, beloved daughter-in-law of Cosimo de’ Medici (the Godfather of the Italian Renaissance) and mother to Lorenzo “the Magnificent” de’ Medici (under whose patronage the Renaissance came into full flower).

Lucrezia, who came form one of the oldest and most respected Florentine families, brought a touch of nobility to the already immensely wealthy and powerful Medici banking clan.  Not much is known about Lucrezia’s education, thought it must have been a private one (there were no schools for girls) — with various tutors in Greek, Latin, mathematics, religion and philosophy.  Judging from the astute, cultured and open-minded woman she became, she must have been a phenomenal  student.  At a time when women, even wealthy ones, were barely allowed to leave their homes, Lucrezia de’ Medici led a remarkably accomplished life.

First, of course, she was a wife and mother.  Deeply beloved by all, she raised four children to maturity, one of whom (Lorenzo) who became the greatest ruler of his day. Two of her grandsons became pope.  Addressed as “Your Magnificence,” she co-ruled Florence with her ailing husband, Piero (“The Gouty”), and later with Lorenzo.  She was a businesswoman, founding a thermal spa in the countryside and hospitals in four cities.  She was given the unusual right (for a woman) to distribute income from Medici properties to her favorite charities.  Lucrezia invested her own money in building projects, wielded authority over political positions, marital arrangements, and political alliances.  She was one of the most famous patrons of the arts in the fifteenth century, even adopting Andrea Botticelli as her own son (he lived in the Palazzo Medici).

As I observed in SIGNORA DA VINCI, there was a “Shadow Renaissance” going on in Florence beneath the glossy surface of art and architecture that one normally associates with the period.  And living at the center of that world, as Lorenzo’s helpmate, Lucrezia de’ Medici has, to my mind, a “shadow” aspect as well.  Here is a quote from a clergyman in the Church of San Lorenzo, written to her son Lorenzo, weeks after Lucrezia’s death:

“…She advised the most important people as well as the magistrates concerning matters of grave importance.  And the most humble people were admitted to her presence and all of them left happy and content.  But you know all this better than I, as you did nothing without consulting her, as she did nothing without asking your opinion.”

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Post from: Devourer of Books

Lucrezia Tornabuoni…In the Light, In the Shadows – Guest Post by Robin Maxwell

Related posts:

1. The Shadow Renaissance – Guest Post by Robin Maxwell
2. Signora DaVinci – Book Review
3. O, Juliet – Book Review

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

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

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

Please avoid spoilers!

He could stay outside himself, let the machine of his hands and limbs do these things that were asked of him. He could keep his mind, his insides, out of it.

-Dream House by Valerie Laken, p. 9

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Post from: Devourer of Books

Teaser Tuesday – Dream House

Related posts:

1. Teaser Tuesday – Dream Girl
2. Teaser Tuesday – Shadow of the Wind
3. Teaser Tuesday – Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story