I cannot put it better than Bookpage’s on-point review of Blood Water Paint, but in the spirit of #MeToo, I will share my experience with this novel as well. Blood Water Paint is a vivid depiction based on facts of Baroque artist Artemesia Gentileschi. The story immerses the reader in Artemesia’s daily life and most intimate thoughts. Visceral descriptions of what it was like to be a woman, a daughter, and a female artist in the16th […]
This past October, in conjunction with Frankenreads.org, I hosted a month of programming centered around Mary Shelley and her Frankenstein at my library. The publisher was kind enough to send us a book club kit of TDDoEF, so we featured the novel as our October Young Adult Fiction for Adults book club pick. Overall, feelings from our book club attendees were lukewarm about Kiersten White’s spin on Mary Shelley’s dark fictional world and characters. The book was […]
A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing author Sara Wolf at her Katy Budget Books Bring Me Their Hearts release party. If you live in the Houston area, go and buy yourself a signed copy of BMTH! You can also order a signed copy to be shipped to you from their website. First, I want to say that I was completely dazzled by author Sara Wolf (her nom […]
NOTE: I elaborate on some of my issues with this book at the end of my review. It is a little spoiler-ish. I will give a heads-up for when to stop reading/scrolling if you do not wish to know more. I was ecstatic when I got an ARC of this book because I thought it was going to be full of commentary on the most pressing social and political issues of the past four years. […]
A read about a teenage girl who wakes up in a hospital bed and cannot remember the last six weeks of her life, including the accident that killed her best friend– only what if the accident wasn’t an accident? (REMEMBER TO SCROLL TO THE END FOR THE AWESOME GIVEAWAY! US ONLY.) About the Book Title: WITH MALICE Author: Eileen Cook Pub. Date: June 7, 2016 Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers Format: Hardcover, eBook, & audiobook Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Goodreads Eighteen-year- old […]
Check out my review of Jennifer Laam’s The Secret Daughter of the Tsar HERE. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Catherine the Great 1995 I enjoyed Laam’s debut, The Secret Daughter of the Tsar, and this follow up did not disappoint. Straddling the worlds of 18th century and 21st century Russia, the author bravely tackles some complex political and cultural issues that very much resonate with topics that are flooding American headlines today. It was absolutely genius how […]
A fantastic and fun middle-grade fantasy. The Secrets of Solace will inspire those who read it to observe the world around them with curious and magical minds. I wish I would have reviewed this book before Easter so I could have shared this piece of advice: This is the PERFECT book to add to your child’s or favorite friend’s Easter Basket. It’s such a fun book about finding cultural treasures and preserving them. It’s also […]
I went into this book with some Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas baggage. I was beyond bored and unimpressed with the film when I was in high-school and had to hide my true feelings about it so I could be cool and fit in with my friends. Every time so-and-so made a reference to the film, I just nodded in agreement about how cool it was or whatever. Kind of like in college when […]
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 […]
The Queen’s Dwarf was a completely engrossing historical tale of turmoil and intrigue from the perspective of the cherubic, 18 inch tall Jeffrey Hudson- a spy planted in the Queen’s Menagerie of freaks. Jeffrey Hudson, The Queen’s Dwarf, and Queen Henrietta Maria I have not read much historical biography or fiction from the reign of King Charles I, and this book was such a great introduction to the time period. The Stuart era […]
My thoughts… The St. Helena Vineyard series is one of my favorites series. I’ ve read all of the books in this series and love them all. I love the characters, the setting, and the overall feel of these stories. I love slipping into their world and spending time with them. One of the things I love most of this series though is that it’ s funny. The dialogue cracks me up every time I […]
My thoughts… Finally! We get to hear Remy’s side of the story. I love reading books from the heroes POV. I like being able to get into their head and experience things from their perspective. After having read the first two books in this series I know how the story goes. Having said that, in this story you can get a feel for Remy in a different light. While the majority of this story highlights […]
My thoughts… I have been patiently err not so patiently waiting for this one!!!! I love this series so much!!! The plot is really good. I kept turning page after page because I had to know what was going to happen next. I literally couldn’ t put this book down. Although Charlie is a new character to this series Cain is not. He’ s been in previous books and I couldn’ t wait for his […]