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Leyland's Log

What have you read in 2009? Post your list here and update it as you go along! (One thread per member, please.)
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Telynor
Bibliophile
Posts: 1465
Joined: August 2008
Location: On the Banks of the Hudson

Post by Telynor » Thu May 7th, 2009, 2:29 pm

[quote=""Leyland""]Rebecca

Tanya Huff's Vicky Nelson Blood series is also a favorite - and the vamp is no other than Henry FitzRoy, Henry VIII's and Bessie Blount's boy. CE Murphy's Ancient Ones characters have back stories that take place hundreds of years previously so sometimes a wee bit of 'historical urban fantasy' results.[/quote]

It looks as though I am going to have to check out the Huff series, what with the connection with Henry VIII and all -- there certainly were quite a few TB deaths in the Tudors, come to think of it. What's the first one?

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Leyland
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Joined: August 2008
Location: Travelers Rest SC

Post by Leyland » Thu May 7th, 2009, 5:27 pm

The books are now published two to a volume, with Blood Price and Blood Trail being the first two. Check them out at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url ... tanya+huff

I've got them as individual books and will read them all again someday. Lifetime network produced a series called Blood Ties based on the books and stayed very true to the first books and the characters - and best, filmed the series in Toronto where the books are set.
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams ~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Ode

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Leyland
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Joined: August 2008
Location: Travelers Rest SC

Post by Leyland » Sat May 16th, 2009, 2:17 am

#20 Twelve by Jasper Kent. See my review - yes! I actually posted one! :rolleyes:
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams ~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Ode

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Misfit
Bibliomaniac
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Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Sat May 16th, 2009, 2:24 am

I am looking forward to reading it, but it will have to be tomorrow. Bad night and never slept past 2 AM. I'm fading fast......
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Leyland
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Location: Travelers Rest SC

Post by Leyland » Sun May 17th, 2009, 12:42 pm

#21 Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. I thought the story was told well overall, particularly the way she personalized the events of July 16, 1942 in France when the French police, under Nazi orders, rounded up Jewish residents of Paris for deportation to the death camps.

I don't want to say that I enjoyed the story since it's about such horrific events, but I do recommend it as a novel worth reading.
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams ~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Ode

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Leyland
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Joined: August 2008
Location: Travelers Rest SC

Post by Leyland » Mon May 25th, 2009, 6:48 pm

#22 A second re-read of The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton. Classic Seton - what else can I say?
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams ~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Ode

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MedievalBookworm
Scribbler
Posts: 39
Joined: May 2009

Post by MedievalBookworm » Tue May 26th, 2009, 9:17 pm

I loved Sarah's Key. It's always hard to say that about books on such difficult subjects. It's not that I enjoyed it, but I agree it's very worth reading.

Haven't read The Winthrop Woman yet, but I do like Anya Seton so I expect I will in good time. =)

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Leyland
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Post by Leyland » Sun May 31st, 2009, 2:33 pm

#23, sort of. It was A Durable Fire by Virginia Bernhard and a DNF. See a short review in the proper section for a short review/reason.
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams ~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Ode

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Leyland
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Joined: August 2008
Location: Travelers Rest SC

Post by Leyland » Sun June 7th, 2009, 1:10 pm

#24 The Lynmara Legacy by Catherine Gaskin. I found this 1975 hardback for a dollar at a Goodwill store and thought the story about an American girl discovering her mother's secret past in England in the years between the two World Wars might be interesting and intriguing. I absolutely loved this story and all the characters created by Gaskin. Didn't see it coming!

Nicole and Anna are separated mother and daughter whose stories weave in and out of poverty to high glamour as they seek willingly and then unwillingly to find high social acceptance - Nicole's London debutante season is the epitome. They are both highly talented pianists and Nicole is somewhat driven to succeed in this world, as well. What is decided when achievments are met is very surprising. Nicole's romantic story continues throughout WWII and that part of the story departs from a formerly happy contentment to the hardness of living in the English countryside in the war years.

The characters Gaskin created really reached out to me emotionally. I can't quite define the quality that nearly all of them have - but the closest I can say is that they are just good people. Flawed or misguided, but I liked them. Some of the characters offer such perceptive comments on life in general that I probably learned a thing or two about life! I'll be looking for more Gaskin stories in the future. I can't believe I missed her way back when.

I ended up creating a little review again, didn't I?
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams ~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Ode

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Leyland
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Post by Leyland » Thu June 11th, 2009, 11:41 pm

#25 The Time of the Hunter's Moon by Victoria Holt. Classic romantic suspense and mystery.
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams ~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Ode

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