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Book shopping today ...
- red805
- Avid Reader
- Posts: 303
- Joined: August 2008
- Preferred HF: I like a series the best - more to look forward to after one book ends. Masters of Rome, The Century Trilogy, & the Outlander series are some of my favorites.
- Location: Southern California
The nearby used bookstore was advertising a sale, so I had to check it out. I came home with Shadow of the Moon by M.M. Kaye (since I liked Far Pavillions so much), Mandarin by Robert Elegant, which looks like a historical epic romance set at the time of the Taiping rebellion, the non-fiction, abridged Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon abridged by D.M. Low (which must have been an epic task).
It's around the begining of the month, so it's time for bookshopping. And I have found a source for Kusmi tea here in the states -- arm and a leg time, but their blends are delightful. Here's the goodies for April:
1381: The Peel Affinity: An English Knight's Household in the Fourteenth Century
A Necessary Luxury: Tea in Victorian England
Five Roundabouts to Heaven: A Novel
The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea
Style & Splendor: The Wardrobe of Queen Maud of Norway 1896-1938
The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey: A
Tudor Tragedy
The Country House Kitchen Garden
Mistress of the Arts: The Passionate Life of Georgina, Duchess of Bedford
Eating with the Victorians
Savory Suppers and Fashionable Feasts: Dining in Victorian America
1381: The Peel Affinity: An English Knight's Household in the Fourteenth Century
A Necessary Luxury: Tea in Victorian England
Five Roundabouts to Heaven: A Novel
The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea
Style & Splendor: The Wardrobe of Queen Maud of Norway 1896-1938
The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey: A
Tudor Tragedy
The Country House Kitchen Garden
Mistress of the Arts: The Passionate Life of Georgina, Duchess of Bedford
Eating with the Victorians
Savory Suppers and Fashionable Feasts: Dining in Victorian America
- Vanessa
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 4378
- Joined: August 2008
- Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
- Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
- Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
- Preferred HF: Any
- Location: North Yorkshire, UK
I have Mudbound and Kept on my TBR pile. They are both on my list to read this year.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
- diamondlil
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 2642
- Joined: August 2008
[quote=""Amanda""]Went to the new clearance store nearby again, and got Mudbound by Hillary Jordan, and Kept: A Victorian Mystery by D.J. Taylor. For $5 each!
Got home to find an ARC of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe on the doorstep.[/quote]
I've picked up Kept a few times to buy, but for some reason I kept on putting it back down again.
Got home to find an ARC of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe on the doorstep.[/quote]
I've picked up Kept a few times to buy, but for some reason I kept on putting it back down again.
My Blog - Reading Adventures
All things Historical Fiction - Historical Tapestry
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton
All things Historical Fiction - Historical Tapestry
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton
- cw gortner
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1288
- Joined: September 2008
- Location: San Francisco,CA
- Contact:
Kept was an impulse buy for me in hardcover, I must confess. I fell in love with the cover, which was so unusual. I did read the flaps - I'm not completely nuts! - and it seemed interesting, different. It's been sitting right under Meaning of Night for over a year now, so I'll have to get to it soon.
I also got my copy of Royal Blood today for review, so I might have to set Meaning aside to read it. At first glance, the writing looks quite good; the first chapter sweeps you right into Tudor-era Ireland. It's a very strange cover, though: the woman is one side, a full bleed of her vixen-face. On the back, there's a Nordic stud-jouster dude with coiled blonde hair. I'm usually quite unfazed by others' reactions but this is one of those covers I'd almost be embarrassed to be seen carrying on the bus. On the back, there's very little descriptive content, just a few teaser words, lest it mess with Nordic dude's smoldering gaze. The book's description is on the first page when you open the front cover. It has to be the oddest cover I've seen yet on a recent historical; like a hybrid romance / historical, a new breed.
And speaking of breed, there's no mention of vampires . . .
I also got my copy of Royal Blood today for review, so I might have to set Meaning aside to read it. At first glance, the writing looks quite good; the first chapter sweeps you right into Tudor-era Ireland. It's a very strange cover, though: the woman is one side, a full bleed of her vixen-face. On the back, there's a Nordic stud-jouster dude with coiled blonde hair. I'm usually quite unfazed by others' reactions but this is one of those covers I'd almost be embarrassed to be seen carrying on the bus. On the back, there's very little descriptive content, just a few teaser words, lest it mess with Nordic dude's smoldering gaze. The book's description is on the first page when you open the front cover. It has to be the oddest cover I've seen yet on a recent historical; like a hybrid romance / historical, a new breed.
And speaking of breed, there's no mention of vampires . . .
THE QUEEN'S VOW available on June 12, 2012!
THE TUDOR SECRET, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
THE LAST QUEEN
www.cwgortner.com
THE TUDOR SECRET, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
THE LAST QUEEN
www.cwgortner.com
- diamondlil
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 2642
- Joined: August 2008
Today I picked up The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong, Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin, Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan and The Rosary Girls by Richard Montanari.
My Blog - Reading Adventures
All things Historical Fiction - Historical Tapestry
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton
All things Historical Fiction - Historical Tapestry
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton
[quote=""cw gortner""]
I also got my copy of Royal Blood today for review, so I might have to set Meaning aside to read it. At first glance, the writing looks quite good; the first chapter sweeps you right into Tudor-era Ireland. It's a very strange cover, though: the woman is one side, a full bleed of her vixen-face. On the back, there's a Nordic stud-jouster dude with coiled blonde hair. I'm usually quite unfazed by others' reactions but this is one of those covers I'd almost be embarrassed to be seen carrying on the bus. On the back, there's very little descriptive content, just a few teaser words, lest it mess with Nordic dude's smoldering gaze. The book's description is on the first page when you open the front cover. It has to be the oddest cover I've seen yet on a recent historical; like a hybrid romance / historical, a new breed.
And speaking of breed, there's no mention of vampires . . .[/quote]
Just been to look CW. Is this the return of the Fabio cover but in very updated guise? A bit cheesy, but it will be interesting to see how audiences in general relate to it. Looking at the various images at Amazon.com, it looks as if the dressing up box has come out. The costumes are certainly not Tudor. The jousting kit one is mid 13thC. If it's about vampires, you would think it might just be useful to mention it somewhere....
I also got my copy of Royal Blood today for review, so I might have to set Meaning aside to read it. At first glance, the writing looks quite good; the first chapter sweeps you right into Tudor-era Ireland. It's a very strange cover, though: the woman is one side, a full bleed of her vixen-face. On the back, there's a Nordic stud-jouster dude with coiled blonde hair. I'm usually quite unfazed by others' reactions but this is one of those covers I'd almost be embarrassed to be seen carrying on the bus. On the back, there's very little descriptive content, just a few teaser words, lest it mess with Nordic dude's smoldering gaze. The book's description is on the first page when you open the front cover. It has to be the oddest cover I've seen yet on a recent historical; like a hybrid romance / historical, a new breed.
And speaking of breed, there's no mention of vampires . . .[/quote]
Just been to look CW. Is this the return of the Fabio cover but in very updated guise? A bit cheesy, but it will be interesting to see how audiences in general relate to it. Looking at the various images at Amazon.com, it looks as if the dressing up box has come out. The costumes are certainly not Tudor. The jousting kit one is mid 13thC. If it's about vampires, you would think it might just be useful to mention it somewhere....
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI chasront
'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'
Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal
www.elizabethchadwick.com
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI chasront
'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'
Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal
www.elizabethchadwick.com
[quote=""EC2""]Just been to look CW. Is this the return of the Fabio cover but in very updated guise? A bit cheesy, but it will be interesting to see how audiences in general relate to it. Looking at the various images at Amazon.com, it looks as if the dressing up box has come out. The costumes are certainly not Tudor. The jousting kit one is mid 13thC. If it's about vampires, you would think it might just be useful to mention it somewhere....[/quote]
The review in Romantic Times is the place where I read the "vampire" mention. My copy (for HNR) arrived yesterday also, and I've glanced through and believe RT was correct. Sometimes their reviews give away plot points they feel it's important for readers to know in advance before buying, and that may have been the case here. (So apologies if this was a spoiler, but I had no way of knowing!) I agree the packaging is strange. It seems to be a paranormal romance made to appear as a mainstream historical. Either way, the book's not for me... I've read the first few chapters and the prose is very old-school romancey, plus I'm not sure what Renee de Valois was doing romping around England when she was eight years old in 1518. It seems rather a "Braveheart" thing to do.
The review in Romantic Times is the place where I read the "vampire" mention. My copy (for HNR) arrived yesterday also, and I've glanced through and believe RT was correct. Sometimes their reviews give away plot points they feel it's important for readers to know in advance before buying, and that may have been the case here. (So apologies if this was a spoiler, but I had no way of knowing!) I agree the packaging is strange. It seems to be a paranormal romance made to appear as a mainstream historical. Either way, the book's not for me... I've read the first few chapters and the prose is very old-school romancey, plus I'm not sure what Renee de Valois was doing romping around England when she was eight years old in 1518. It seems rather a "Braveheart" thing to do.