It’s Summer time and when I’m sitting at my desk in the most air-conditioned city in the country, I close my eyes and imagine that I’m lounging on the Spanish steps, my face raised towards the Sun, my skin turning as golden as freshly pressed olive oil while pistachio gelato drips off the waffle cone in my hand and down my toasty decolletage… *Snaps out of it* Okay. I’ll continue to my book review before […]
If you’ve ever had any interest in Welsh or Celtic mythology or ancient Welsh culture, you will be obsessed with this book. The Silver Witch was AWESOME. I was enthralled with how Paula Brackston wraps up her fantasy/supernatural narratives in solid, mesmerizing historical research. You can find some of the historical artifacts she writes about in this novel here. With spellbinding craft, Ms. Brackston weaves the life of a contemporary widowed woman with the life of […]
Such a wonderfully written and thoroughly explored family dynasty. This is one of my new favorite Royal Biographies. A Royal Experiment is as compelling and absorbing as a novel. Most of us who dabble in Historical reading and Historical films might have a faint idea about who King George III is. Or maybe he sounds familiar from school days spent in American History class learning about the American Revolution. Those who live outside of America […]
A fresh and funny take on the classic possessed-doll-poltergeist story. I love Katie Alender. Her writing is clever and carries that kind of quick-wit charm you see on the big screen or current television shows aimed at teens. I really enjoy Katie’s writing and her simple yet effective characterization. I first fell in love with Katie’s writing in her book, Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer. You can check out my review of that one, here. Alexis […]
If you’ve ever been curious about how the other half of America lives- the immigrants and the undocumented and those who would never even imagine having enough money to spend any on buying books to read for pleasure- then this powerful piece of fiction is a great place to start. This book is for readers that enjoy character studies and learning about other cultures and socioeconomic classes. What I had first thought was going to […]
This book was gifted to me from my lovely friend, Kristen over at My Friends Are Fiction. I probably wouldn’t have picked up this book on my own or even heard about it if it weren’t for her. That being said, the experience of reading this book was like a mental tug of war. There were parts of it that I was in love with, and then aspects of the story that left me a […]
Euphoria is one of those books that I feel a little nervous about reviewing because it is a story built around a very specific topic, and I don’t want to interpret something wrong or say something that is completely off target. So, for the most part, I’ll just keep it as general as possible. Although I did take an Intro to Anthropology class, and a Magic, Ritual, and Religion anthropology class in college, I don’t […]
Let’s start with the AWESOME book trailer, shall we? Fans of Etiquette and Espionage will (should) love Palace of Spies. I try to refrain from doing this- but after reading the book and giving it five stars on Goodreads, I scanned some of the less than stellar reviews of the novel. One reviewer commented that the book had ”casual racism” in it and I was a little perplexed by this. There were no instances […]
It’s almost been a year since I read this book, but I can’t let the New Year ring in without reviewing it because A Mad, Wicked Folly was one of my FAVE books of 2014. Imagine the lush world created in 1998’s Titanic film or the luxurious settings of PBS’s Downton Abbey, and you have the story world of A Mad, Wicked Folly. As if that isn’t enough to make someone run to their nearest […]
Magical Realism in a historical setting makes me HAPPY. Think “The Young and The Restless” meets ” Camelot” on steroids. TR & TC unfolds against the unstable historical setting of London during the Franco-British empire and Melissa De La Cruz immediately dazzled me with the sensibilities of her characters just as much as she did with the story setting. There are several key players in this book that move around like pieces on […]
Part of me wishes I had spent the money I blew on this book on some US Weekly or OK! gossip mags instead. I never understood what was so great about The Great Gatsby. I read and analysed it my junior year of high-school just like everyone else, and I read it with great expectations because of the reputation that proceeded it. The story just never hit the mark for me, even when I reread […]
Think. Pink. And Paladins. This book filled my head with all kinds of glittery, pastel, satin-y, sequined images punctuated with spiked heels and daggers. Not just because of the ballerina-pink cover but because of the bouncy, bubble gum like dialogue and scenes. Rachel Hawkins says she pitched this book to her agent as Legally Blonde meets Terminator but I would pitch it as Legally Blonde meets 1992’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Harper Price is a smart […]
If I gave this book a rating strictly based on my enjoyment of the novel it would be closer to 3 stars. Unfortunately, I think I had a bad case of The Reader’s Curse while reading The Winner’s Curse. I read TWC about a week after reading Tsarina by J.Nell Patrick. These books have the same bones. I couldn’t help myself from comparing them while reading TWC. I decided to call my conundrum The Reader’s […]
So I was at Barnes & Noble trying to decide if I wanted to splurge on Tasarina or The Winner’s Curse and I couldn’t make up my mind because I had heard such great things about the latter. I decided to read the first few pages of both books to help me decide and ended up going with Tsarina. I can’t remember the first time I ever learned about the Romanov’s but I do remember […]
I’m like a Sofia Coppola film. I love pop music, pop culture, trendy clothes, and glittery, sparkly, never-ending-shimmery things. On sunny days you can find me driving to work with my sun roof open, jamming Britney Spears and admiring how my freshly painted nails contrast with my gold steering wheel cover. The truth is, I LOVE bubble gum pink, Chanel lipstick, and pretty things. So does Gia. Sounds superficial, right? But zoom in on the […]
Sometimes authors CANNOT RESIST picking up a copy of their own book at their local bookstore. Yep. They wrote the darn book but they want to experience it again with fresh eyes, and pretend they are reading it for the first time. This psychological phenomenon leads these same authors to want to review their own books as well. The following is what happens when they do: In Which Victoria Scott Reviews […]
Let them eat cake….. AND DIE!!! [sc_embed_player fileurl=”http://mereadalot.com/muzak/02%20-%20Heads%20Will%20Roll.mp3″] (
* Review to be read to one’s self in a proper British accent* I have had Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series on my TBR list for a while, but decided to start with her Finishing School series since it is written for the YA genre. The corsetted cover model holding a stylish pair of sewing scissors on the dust jacket was enough to make me want to read this book in my finest pair of […]