Teaser Tuesday and word origins

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Last week for my Teaser Tuesday I mentioned that I might have to do a teaser from the same book twice - oh the mortification. This week I am doing a teaser from the same book as last week because I still haven't finished reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. It isn't truly a teaser though in some ways because I have specifically chosen a section to share (which I don't normally do) and it is more than 2 sentences, but I did think it was a fun little piece of information so that is why I am choosing to share it this week. This quote comes from page 356-356:

Since the days of Michelangelo, sculptors had been hiding the flaws in their work by smearing hot wax into the cracks and then dabbing the wax with stone dust. The method was considered cheating, and therefore, any sculpture "without wax" - literally sin cera - was considered a "sincere" piece of art. The phrase stuck. To this day we still sign our letters "sincerely" as a promise that we have written "without wax" and that our words are true.

I also will do a true Teaser Tuesday teaser from one of the other books I started this week, The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick. I have to read Pendragon's Banner before the end of the month for a blog tour, but I didn't want to read that book without haveing read this one first, even though I am assured that it wouldn't make a big difference to my reading experience! This teaser comes from page 375:

It tooks five days for Fidelia to discover more. Five days of walking with her man on the hills, of pretendng to enjoy helping with those stinking sheep. Steering the conversation, probing and questioning, she found answers as hard to come by as wild strawberries in midwinter.

The Tudor Rose by Margaret Campbell Barnes

One woman holds the key to England's most glorious empire

Elizabeth of York, the only living descendant of Edward IV, possesses the most precious thing in all of England - a legitimate claim to the crown. Two princes meet to determine a country's destiny: whoever wins will take Britain's most rightful heir as his bride and her kingdom for his own. On one side is her uncle Richard, the last Plantagenet King, whom she fears to be the murderer of her two brother's the would-be kings. On the other hand is Henry Tudor, the exiled king. Can he save her from a horrifying marriage to a cuthroat soldier.

Her mother was the beautiful woman who secretly captured a king's heart. Her father was a charismatic and handsome king whose brother was a loyal general, but who took the throne for his own. Her younger brothers disappeared in one of the enduring mysteries of the ages.

There are times when a book has a main character who just can't carry a story on their own, and for me, this book is one of those. Whilst Elizabeth of York was very important in her time, particularly as a marriageable young princess, she must have been a bit difficult to write about because in some ways it seem as though the interesting things happened around her instead of her being an active participant. Her story is interesting given the events that happened to people around her and her early life, but certainly her marriage appeared very much to be one of duty and is portrayed as being very lonely, despite the attempts from Henry's mother to welcome her into the family. Henry's mother is portrayed as a loving mother-in-law when everything else I have read about her suggests that she was controlling and overbearing. Elizabeth's own mother, Elizabeth Woodville doesn't come out of this portrayal too badly given the reputation that has carried through the ages.

Much of the content of the book revolves around what happened to the Princes in the Tower, as well as the two pretenders. One of the positives of this book for me is the way that the story of Perkin Warbeck is told. My interest has certainly been piqued, and I am definitely looking for more to read about him, and his life.

The other dominating character in the novel is that of Richard III - a love him or hate him kind of guy if ever there was such a thing! Many people are either strongly pro or strongly anti Richard, and there are many novels where you can clearly see the author's personal bias in the characterisation that they choose. In this novel it is almost as though Barnes tried to be even handed when it came to Richard III but instead comes off as inconsistent.

As we follow Elizabeth through her life we get brief glimpses of her children, the ill fated heir, Arthur and the dashingly sporty and handsome Henry but for me the book ends at a very strange point, very abruptly, and I think that this has flavoured my final rating of the book.

I received an ARC of this book from Sourcebooks. I have no idea if the blurb above ended up being the blurb on the final book but I really hope not! I am pretty sure that Elizabeth's sisters were living descendants of Edward IV, and I don't think Henry Tudor was an 'exiled king' when she married him.

Over the last couple of years I have been lucky enough to read a couple of Margaret Campbell Barnes' books that have been being republished by Sourcebooks. This was an okay read, but not as good as either Brief Gaudy Hour (about Anne Boleyn) or My Lady of Cleves (about Anne of Cleves). I am on the lookout for The King's Fool though, and if I can find them, will definitely read more from this author. I believe that another of the author's books is due to be rereleased next year.

I was interested to see on Fantastic Fiction that they have grouped Brief Gaudy Hour and My Lady of Cleves together with this book as part of a trilogy called Shadows of the Crown. Whilst the Tudor connection was obvious, I hadn't actually seen this title for the group of books before.

I'm glad that I have read this, but if I was asked to recommend a book by this author, I would start with one of the others.

Rating 3.5/5

Spotlight on Fiona Buckley

I'm late! I'm late! Before I had even written the post for the letter A as part of the Crime Fiction Alphabet being hosted by Kerrie from Mysteries in Paradise, I knew what I was going to write about for the letter B. You would think that that would make it more likely that I would actually get around to posting it on time wouldn't you? Unfortunately not, but I thought I would still write the post for my own entertainment anyway. It will probably end up being cross posted at Historical Tapestry at some point as well!

Now I have to try to think about what I can possible post about for the letter C!



For a long time now, a look at the historical fiction shelves will reveal that one of the most popular eras in historical fiction is the Tudor period, particularly the life and times of Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I. This fascination is understandable - scandalous love lives, religious upheaval and dramatic events in world history all are factors in the fascination that readers have with these times.

Those factors are part of what makes the Ursula Blanchard series of novels by Fiona Buckley an entertaining read.

Full name Ursula Faldene Blanchard de la Roche Stannard, our introduction to Ursula is when she is a young widow who has recently arrived in the court of Elizabeth I. She needs to provide for her young daughter, Meg, as well as her servants. It isn't long before William Cecil has Ursula working for him in a variety of roles, placing her both in danger, but also in situations where she can show her resourcefulness and resolve.

There is definitely some similarity in tone and broad themes to Karen Harper's Elizabeth I mysteries series, but one of the key differences is that Ursula is not restricted to the court as Elizabeth I, as sleuth, needs to be for the most part. Being able to travel around means that Ursula is able to investigate events such as the death of Robert Dudley's wife (The Robsart Mystery) and various Catholic (The Doublet Affair) and aristocratic plots (To Ruin a Queen). Along the way, Ursula interacts with Catherine, Queen of France (The Queen's Ransom), Mary, Queen of Scots (A Pawn for a Queen and The Fugitive Queen) and also finds time to live her own life as well including dealing with deaths, marriages and raising a young girl to womanhood.

Like many other historical mysteries series, there are times when Ursula is too modern, and there are some things that happen that I didn't really like, but the positives outweigh those criticisms.

At this point in time, there doesn't appear to be any new Ursula Blanchard books due to be published, which is disappointing. Fiona Buckley is however the pen name for Valerie Anand who writes historical fiction/fantasy, and she has at least one long running series that I will try at some point.

I did find that this series started slowly, but the books did improve and the last few were very entertaining. I started reading this series before I started blogging so I don't have reviews for all of them, but I have provided the links where possible. The series in order is:

1. The Robsart Mystery (also published as To Shield the Queen)
2. The Doublet Affair
3. Queen's Ransom
4. To Ruin A Queen
5. Queen of Ambition
6. A Pawn for a Queen
7. The Fugitive Queen
8. The Siren Queen

Stop!

I really love this song from, I guess it's the early 90s, maybe late 80s.

I was watching something on one of the music channels last night, and Sam Brown was performing, and I just had to come and search out this song! Love it!

The only problem with this song is that whenever I hear it I always really want to sing a long, at the top of my voice, but it isn't exactly the easiest song to sing along with in tune! Oh well.

Winston's War by Michael Dobbs

Winston's War is a masterful blending of imagination and compelling fact that places the reader at the right hand of the most momentous events in our history.

Saturday 1 October 1938. Two men meet. One is elderly, the other in his twenties. One will become the most revered man of his time, and the other known as the greatest of traitors.

Winston Churchill met Guy Burgess at a moment when the world was about to explode. Now in his astonishing new novel, Michael Dobbs throws brilliant fresh light upon Churchill's relationship with the Soviet spy and the twenty months of conspiracy, chance and outright treachery that were to propel Churchill from outcast to messiah and change the course of history.

Winston's War opens in October 1938. Winston Churchill is a man on the outer with his political companions, Hitler has just annexed part of Czechoslovakia and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has just returned home from talks with the Fuhrer declaring that he has obtained 'peace with honour, peace for our times'.

We are given several different view points throughout the novel, starting with Churchill and Chamberlain and their political allies as well as the barber who goes about the business of cutting and shaving whilst the very important men go about their business almost oblivious to the barber.

Another is from Guy Burgess, a man who worked as a journalist for the BBC, and whose paths crossed with those of Churchill on several occasions. I don't want to give too much away about Burgess, but he lived a very notorious life, and as a reader you are never quite sure where his loyalties lie, other than to himself. He is a degenerate character but completely key to this fictionalisation of the events in the twenty month period covered by the novel.

One of the other perspectives is from a post mistress in Bournemouth. I must confess that as I read the novel I wasn't sure about this final storyline as I couldn't see how it connected to the main plot, but in the end the author I didn't need to be worried due to a couple of different events. Whilst many of the interconnections between the various characters are obvious others are more subtle, but in the end the connections are there.

As much as this is a novel about the momentum towards and the beginning of WWII, including leaving the people of Poland and Czechoslovakia to defend themselves despite promised assistance, it is also a novel about the political machinations of the British parliament. There are shady deals, immoral behaviour, spies, betrayal, blackmail and misdirection to the British people through the newspapers of the day. The constant battle to maintain power and to keep political enemies out of positions of power dominates, even when those enemies might be parliamentary colleagues from your own party! One of the more interesting examples is around a Scottish MP, Duchess of Atholl, Katharine Stewart-Murray, who vehemently opposed Chamberlain's policy of appeasement and who found herself forced out of Parliament.

One of the most striking things about this novel for me was the reminder of how much there is that is not necessarily commonly known even when we are only a couple of generations away from the events, particularly for those of us who do not profess to be scholars of a particular period. For example, some of the most enduring images of WWII are the bombed out homes in London from the Blitz, or say the evacuation from Dunkirk, the damage done in France, Belgium and Holland. It is easy to forget that from the time that war was declared against Germany, there were many months where there was very little actual fighting, although there was plenty of political infighting going on.

I should say that this book was not an easy read. At times it was dense with the political machinations and plotting, more political thriller than my more standard historical fiction maybe, but it was definitely worth taking the time to read.

As anyone who has read my blog for any length of time will probably be aware, I really, really do not like to read a series out of order. It may be something of a surprise then to find that this is the third book in the Winston Churchill series by Michael Dobbs that I have read, despite the fact that it is the first book in the series. I have now read books 1, 2 and 4. The reason this happened is that I was originally given review copies of both Never Surrender and Churchill's Triumph from Sourcebooks a couple of years ago. I always intended to go back and read the other books in the series, but every time I borrowed this book from the library I had to take it back unread. I was determined that this time, I was going to read it, and now I have. I should confess though it is overdue by more than a week at the library so that I could finally read it! The third book is on request and I hope to read it soon.

I read this book as part of the War Through the Generations challenge hosted by Anna and Serena.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I am in such a reading slump at the moment, I was very nearly going to have to find a teaser from the same book as last week. Luckily, I read the last few pages at lunchtime. I don't normally read at lunch time because I am always a bit worried about losing track of time!

My teaser this week comes from the book I started on the train trip home, Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (page 348):

On Sato's command, the pilot performed a "touch hover" on the roof of the tallest building around - the renowned One Franklin Square - a towering and prestigious office building with two gold spires on top. The maneuver was illegal, of course, but the chopper was there only a few seconds, and its skids barely touched the gravel rooftop.

Now if only I knew who Sato was!

I have only finished two books so far this month - unheard of for me. Normally I read 13 or 14 books, if not more, every month, but I think it is fair to say that it is not going to be anywhere near that many this month.

Night of Flames by Douglas W Jacobson

In 1939 the Germans invade Poland, setting off a rising storm of violence and destruction. For Anna and Jan Kopernik the loss is unimaginable. She is an assistance professor at a universitry in Krakow; he, an officer in the Polish cavalry. Separated by the war, they must find their own way in a world where everything they ever knew is gone.

Anna's father, a prominent Polish intellectual, is deported to a death camp, and Anna must flee to Belgium where she joins the Resistance. Meanwhile, Jan escapes with the battered remnants of the Polish army to Britain. When British intelligence asks him to return to Poland in an undercover mission to contact the Resistance, he seizes the chance to search for his missing wife.

Though the long night of Nazi occupation, Anna, Jan, and ordinary people across Europe fight a covert war of sabotage and resistance against the overwhelming might of the German war machine. The struggle seems hopeless but they are determined to take back what is theirs.

At the beginning of the year Anna and Serena announced the War Through the Generations reading challenge, focusing on WWII. Very early on in the challenge, they featured posts from Douglas Jacobson, author of Night of Flames, where he talked about some members of the resistance in Belgium. I think I had heard of Night of Flames before that, but it was definitely those guest posts which convinced me that I needed to read the book. I am certainly glad that I did so.

The main characters in Night of Flames are Anna Kopernik, daughter of a university academic and her husband, Jan who is a Polish cavalry officer. With the inevitable onset of war with Germany, Anna and Jan have been separated for quite some time when the novel opens. Anna is in Krakow when the city is bombed. She barely escapes with her life, and it is the start of the first of many close shaves for her as she tries to survive along with her Jewish friend Irene and Irene's son Justyn, starting with a nightmarish drive back to her home in Warsaw.

When she returns home she finds that her father has been arrested, and that due to some tenuous links with resistance groups she too is a target of the German authorities, Anna must use those links to find a way out of Poland quickly.

Meanwhile, Jan is fighting battles against the German enemies, often mismatched. There is one scene where the Polish cavalry is on horseback riding through a forest when the German airplanes start firing on them. My heart was racing as I read through that scene.

As the separation lengthens, both Jan and Anna find themselves outside of their homeland, involved in organisations devoted to fighting against the Germans in different countries. The story begins to encompass the actions of the resistance in Belgium, and for Jan, details of how a Polish officer becomes involved in work behind enemy lines as orchestrated by the British armed forces.

When, as part of his undercover work, Jan finds himself in Poland, he begins the search to find out what has happened to his wife. The question is can he do what he has been ordered to, survive and find his wife. And will she survive her own trials for long enough to be found.

For all that I enjoyed this book, there were some flaws. The most obvious was the introduction of several different points of view. For example, early on, there are just a few pages which are told from the point of view of a German soldier. Whilst I got what the author was trying to achieve with these brief interludes, some times they were a distraction. To be fair, at the moment I am reading another book with a WWII setting at the moment, and the author uses the same multiple view points, some of which are stronger than others.

I also found some of the events, particularly in relation to Anna in the later stages of the book to be a bit cliched, but by that time was emotionally invested enough in the characters, particularly Anna, so that I just wanted to know what happened next.

Overall this was a good read with vivid scenes, some relatively unknown history and a fascinating look at life inside the Resistance organisations, particularly in Belgium. So often, WWII literature use France as their location, so it was a change to read about Poland and Belgium.

I enjoyed it very much and I hope to read more from this author. If you are looking for an interesting read about WWII, or a book to read for the War Through the Generations reading challenge, then this book would be worth taking a look at!

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

The Mr Linky for signing up this week is at the bottom of this post.

I have a few books to talk about in Library Loot this week. I do think I am going to have to rethink my library borrowing strategy, or more precisely my reading strategy, because I just don't seem to be getting much read at the moment. The biggest reason why is the cut in the travel time now that I am only catching one train to work every day! The fact that I have been exhausted for the last two nights also hasn't helped. I am not going to do anything desperate just yet, but the writing is on the wall for sure!

Here's my loot for this week:




The Oak Apple by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - I am slowly working my way through the Morland Dynasty books by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. This is book number four in the series!


A Dangerous Love by Sabrina Jeffries - I am pretty much up to date on all the more recent releases from Sabrina Jeffries, so now I am trying to read through her back list to see what gems are there to be discovered!


The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters - the first of two reloots this week! I do really want to read this author because I think I will like her. Hopefully this will be the time when it happens!

The Night They Stormed Eureka by Jackie French - The second of my reloot books. I want to read this because it is YA with an Australian historical setting.


The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown - I put my name down early to get this one from the library so quickly. I was a little surprised when I went to the library and it wasn't waiting for me on the hold list as I knew that it was supposed to be there. Turns out that they were keeping any copies of this book behind the counter, in case someone stole them!

So what books did you borrow this week? Leave you link in Mr Linky so we can all come and be nosy and see what loot you got!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I haven't done a Teaser Tuesday post for a couple of weeks because I was away last week! This week my teaser comes from page 269 of Winston's War by Michael Dobbs. When I tell you that this book is about Winston Churchill and WWII, the following two sentences are not exactly spoilers given that it is from the historical record.

This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final note stating that, unless we heard from them by eleven o'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us.

I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently, this country is at war with Germany.

By the way, over at Historical Tapestry we are giving away 10 copies of Lady Vernon and her Daughter, A novel of Jane Austen's Lady Susan by Jane Rubino and Caitlin Rubino-Bradway. For all the giveaway details please click on the following link:

http://historicaltapestry.blogspot.com/2009/10/huge-giveaway-announcement.html

First day in the new job.

Good, but tiring.

Going to bed before 8pm. Do it all again tomorrow!

Sharing some Diesel

I have been watching the Top 500 songs of the 80s (according to the Max music channel anyway) and they played Crying Shame by Johnny Diesel and the Injectors! Off I go to Youtube and plenty of time later, I am now sharing both that song from the late 80s, and Tip of the Tongue from the early 90s.

Johnny Diesel is one of those artists who has changed their name over the year. I think he just goes by the name Diesel these days, but he is still around, and he still has a great voice!

A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander

Kerrie from Mysteries in Paradise has come up with a fun idea called The Alphabet in Crime Fiction. The idea is that each week the participants will post something about crime fiction that relates to the letter of the alphabet for that week. I can't guarantee to participate every week, but I thought it would be a good incentive for me to actually write some reviews!

This week the letter is A and I am choosing to finally write a review for a book that I finished quite some time ago - A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander, the third book in the Lady Emily Ashton series of mysteries.

See what I did there? Not one, but three letter A references!

If you think you might like to participate in this meme, then please head over to Mysteries in Paradise to get all the details.

At her friend Ivy's behest, Emily reluctantly agrees to attend a party at the sprawling English country estate of Lord Fortescue, a man she finds as odious as he is powerful. But if Emily is expecting Lord Fortescue to be the greatest of her problems, she is wrong. Her host has also invited Kristiana von Lange, an Austrian countess who was once linked romantically with Emily's fiancé, the debonair Colin Hargreaves. What Emily believes will be a tedious evening turns deadly when Fortescue is found murdered, and his protégé, Robert Brandon—Ivy's husband—is arrested for the crime.

Determined to right this terrible wrong and clear Robert's name, Emily begins to dig for answers, a quest that will lead her from London's glittering ballrooms to Vienna's sordid backstreets. Not until she engages a notorious anarchist in a game of wits does the shocking truth begin to emerge: the price of exonerating Robert can be paid only by placing Colin in deadly peril. To save her fiancé, Emily must do the unthinkable: bargain with her nemesis, the Countess von Lange.

Some times there are books that are just a perfect fit for a reader. Both this series, and Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey series are that for me.

If I was to create a list of things that I love in a book, not specifically a mystery, but just any book, then at the top of the list would be historical setting, drool worthy hero, unusual locations, and a imaginative storyline. Throw in a mystery, a house party and

Set in Victorian times, Lady Emily Ashton has grown since the events of the first book in the series. She has found she has a nose for investigation, something that is not necessarily always appreciated by the people around her, especially her friend Ivy's politician husband, Robert. Robert is eager to rise through the political ranks, and as such has allied himself with Lord Fortescue.

When Ivy invites Emily to join them for a house party, she joins them, not realising that amongst the guests there will be one of her fiance Colin Hargreaves' former loves and some times partner in his role as an agent for the British Crown, Countess. With Colin called away on business for the Crown, Emily is left to fend for herself in a hostile environment, with the Countess Kristiana von Lange taking every opportunity she can to undermine the relationship between Colin and Emily.

Worse still, when the host of the house party is found dead, Robert is presumed to be the murderer, and a distraught Ivy calls on Emily to assist with the investigation. Emily is drawn into a complex web of plots and intrigues, and finds herself in Vienna, dealing with royalty, anarchists, old murders and jealous ex lovers. It certainly doesn't help that it appears that Colin may be hiding something from her.

As with so many of these types of novels where the heroine is to be a strong, independent woman, as much as the author tries to maintain the historical integrity of the characters, it is not always possible to completely keep modern attitudes and actions from creeping in, but it is usually minimal. Some of the plotting did seem a little overly contrived, but I guess when you want to cover such a broad range of themes and relationships, plus provide a resolution to a couple of mysteries that will happen.

The one thing that the author did do is to provide a delicious morsel in the very end of the novel. As soon as I closed the book I was ready for the next book in the series. Fortunately, after waiting for a few months, I shouldn't have to wait too much longer to actually read it. Tears of Pearl was released at the beginning of last month and is currently sitting on my library book shelf calling my name.

You can read my review of the previous two books in this series here and can find out more about Tasha Alexander's books, including information on the locations used in her novels at her website.

Rating 4/5

What I did yesterday...

After a visit to the Immigration Museum and lunch with friends, we wandered down to Borders, and I bought these books with one of the gift cards I got when I left my old job:






and then I went and bought some of these (yum!). It's a bit dangerous now that I know where the shop is!



And then I went and picked up my new glasses. Here's a before and after (and you can see my hair cut and colour from a couple of weeks ago as well). In the photo the glasses look black, but they are really degrees of purple, from very dark on the outside to gorgeous, vibrant lighter purple on the inside. I am very pleased.






It is always something of a surprise to me to see how prominent my chin is in photos. There's a reason I don't often like to be in photos!

September Update

I have a long tradition of not reading much when I am not going to work, and this month is no exception! Whereas a lot of people find their holidays to be a time where they can read a lot, I struggle to finish anything! It doesn't help that I have been busy, busy, busy.

Take today for instance. The plan was to do the prep work so that I could reseal my deck in time for summer. Doesn't sound too complicated really does it? Except that I still need to do that! Instead we have pulled all the lattice work out, and decided that we need to paint it a completely different colour, and that we will add some slats etc etc. So at the moment, I have painters thumb as well as paint all over my hands, and have at least one more day of painting to go, and that is before we can do the cleaning of the deck that started all of this! If it is ever finished I will take photos!

So, the books that I read this month were:

Legacy by Lois McMaster Bujold 4/5
The Tudor Rose by Margaret Campbell Barnes 3.5/5
Mariana by Susanna Kearsley 4/5
Millie's Fling by Jill Mansell 4.5/5
Moonlight and Vines by Charles de Lint 4/5
Undone by Rachel Caine 4.5/5
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran 4.5/5
Tears of the Moon by Nora Roberts 4/5
The Princeling by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles 4.5/5
Duchess by Night by Eloisa James 4/5
Perfect Timing by Jill Mansell 4/5
The Likeness by Tana French 4.5/5

In terms of challenges, the only one I really seem to have made any progress on this month was RIP IV, with Legacy, Mariana, Moonlight and Vines, Undone and The Likeness all fitting the criteria. I think that means that I have now completed the reading for RIP IV as I signed up to read four novels. I also participated in Short Story Peril this month for RIP.

The other challenge I can sign off on this month is the Books Alive Reading Challenge, which ran for the month of September, and this post is my update for that! Whilst 12 books read for the month is less than my average it is still not too bad I guess!

Made it home safely!

I am home! Still have a couple of days before I start my new job, but I am still busy, busy, busy doing very exciting things. For example, tomorrow I am going to be cleaning my deck in preparation for resealing it, and cleaning out the gutters. Very exciting indeed! Between all the jobs to be done, and interstate guests, I haven't been able to find a lot of time to either blog or read! Tonight I have a couple of hours and then my next houseguest arrives, I think for a couple of days. Not really a hundred percent sure how long he is staying. I am sure I will be told when I really need to know!

I will have had two weeks off of work, but I think I will be going to my new job to get a rest! I have been back in Adelaide for the last few days, which is where I spent my teenage years. I have been known to go over there and keep a very low profile, only seeing a select few people, but this time I saw a lot of people from my past, and I had a fantastic time! I won't be hiding so much when I go over in future! I don't know why I felt the need to previously! Some deep seated fear or uncomfortableness I guess.

I was very grateful to receive a couple of awards despite my lack of blogging while I was away!

First I would like to thank Lizzy from Historically Obsessed who gave me the Superior Scribbler award! Thanks Lizzy!




Thanks also to Dolleygurl from The Maiden's Court who gave me a Top Blog Commenter Award!



In honour of having spent time in Adelaide, I thought that I would post the video of the new Guy Sebastian song. Guy was the winner of the first season of Australian Idol, and grew up not far from where I used to live! After being very popular for his first couple of albums, there was a bit of a lull in popularity terms, but I really like this new single, and it seems to be doing very well for him!

Guess what the boy got for his birthday?

I think I am going to have to request a new song soon though. I have heard Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar far too many times today already!


Happy 11th birthday baby boy!

And now, instead of sitting here, I really should be icing a birthday cake, and getting read for 16 people to come to dinner tonight!

Marg has succumbed

After months and months of resisting, I have succumbed to the lure of Twitter! So far I am having a ball though!

Now I just need to figure out how to add an icon to my sidebar!

I am there under the userid Margreads.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Last week I did the Library Loot post with no loot to share. This week it is a different story altogether!

I may have actually cheated this week by not only borrowing books on my own library card, but also on my son's card as well! We went to the new library branch (oh, the new library smell) and there was a library full of new books, and I couldn't resist borrowing a couple of books even though I knew that I really didn't have enough room of my own. As tempting as it is, I really don't want to get into the habit of doing that too often.

Mr Linky is up at Eva's blog this week, so please be sure to share your library loot there!

My loot this week is:





Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning - This is the latest book in the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. I haven't been blown away by the series as a whole, but I am happy enough to keep reading it until the end having already read the previous three books in the series.



The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick

I have been sent Pendragon's Banner for review. I know they say that you can read it without having read The Kingmaking, but I prefer to read books in order when they are connected.



Rumour Has It by Jill Mansell - I've read a couple of Jill Mansell books so far this year and really enjoyed them. This was the latest release as far as I can tell.



Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell

A few weeks ago The Book Smugglers held the YA Appreciation Week. In my post, I mentioned that I didn't know that many Australian YA authors, and this is one that was recommended by Ana.



Ironbark by Johanna Nicholls - It's not often that I pick up a book on impulse when I am at the shops but every now and again it happens. I saw this book at a shop a few weeks ago and I very nearly bought it, but in the end I decided against it. When I came home and checked the library catalogue they had it on order, but it has taken until now to actually arrive at the library.



Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong

I am pretty sure that if Kelley Armstrong started writing on the back of toilet paper, I would still want to read it. This book has been on order for the new library for what feels like forever! I am so excited by the prospect of reading it!




The Lost Prophecies by The Medieval Murderers - The Medieval Murderers are Bernard Knight, C J Sansom, Ian Morson, Michael Jecks, Philip Gooden and Susanna Gregory. This was a totally impulsive pick up. I mean, I couldn't leave a library branch without borrowing a new book could I?

Reloot



The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - I borrowed this a few weeks ago as a result of the review I read at Book Smugglers, but had to return it unread. Maybe this time!



3 Willows by Anna Brashares - I returned this unread a while ago. This time I have borrowed the audio book, and I am planning to read it during the very long trip to Adelaide this weekend. I am hoping that it will help the time pass quicker than it normally would. A ten hour drive in a car with my mother is not necessarily my idea of a good time!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Another week with two teasers from me. The first comes from page 244 of The Likeness by Tana French. I liked In the Woods when I read it a while ago, and I love that even though the main character from that book isn't present, so far at least, in this book, he is very much an influence. It's very cleverly done. Anyway, here's the teaser:

Very few people are willing to ditch their whole lives and spend years bouncing around the world after some girl who pissed them off. Frank has this tendency to go for the more interesting theory rather than the more likely one, and I'd filed this one somewhere between Outside Chance and Pure Hollywood Melodrama.

My second teaser comes from page 162 of Duchess by Night by Eloisa James, a historical romance which is part of her Desperate Duchesses series. It's very different from the taught psychological crime novel that is The Likeness, that's for sure!

"Alas, I bring ill tidings," Strange said, throwing himself into an armchair. "I've insulted young Harry here, and he's determined to leave the house since my mind is black as a privy. I do have that phrase right, don't I, Harry?"

Oh, pretty!

I mentioned that I got a couple of flower arrangements when I left work last week, and here they are.

Just like a London bus

I have a dilemma today. Well, if I thought about it, I probably have more than one, but only one that I am going to blog about.

A few weeks ago I posted the blurb for the new Paullina Simons book which is due out in November and now we have our first glimpse of the cover. Even though I didn't adore her last book, I have really loved all the others, and so I am still prepared to blindly buy the book and devour it as quickly as I can. I also am very prepared to part with my hard earned cash to go to an author event when she comes to Australia during November. Not even something I have to think about, especially seeing as I had such a great time last time I met Paullina.

There are a couple of books that I am REALLY looking forward to getting this month. If I could only choose one (although I would seriously have to consider distancing myself from whoever had placed that restriction on me!) I would have to say that the book that I can not wait to get hold of is An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon.

Now, I am seriously excited by the prospect of meeting Diana Gabaldon for the first time ever when she comes out here as well. I have got groups of friends organised to go to both events, some of whom will be attending both events with me.

So, here's my dilemma. Paullina Simons has only got one appearance here in Melbourne, which will be on November 12 and I know all the details for that event. Diana Gabaldon will be in Melbourne for three days, starting from November 11. I only know the details for one event, which is a literary lunch which will cost $74, which as much as I want to see her is a little steep price wise.

My dilemma is this. Do I go ahead and buy tickets for Paullina Simons, and take the chance that there will be other events for Diana Gabaldon that we will all be able to go to, or do I not buy anything yet, and then maybe not ending up going to either thing.

What to do, what to do?