"What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them, and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake...."

AHHHHH.... it's a gloriously gorgeous and warm Sunday here in Sunny Texas, without a chance of rain which has been rare lately. A perfect day to sit outside and listen to the birds as you read your favorite book... or in my reality, a day to sit outside with the sun in my eyes and my 7 year old whining to go play with her friends elsewhere as the toddler throws sand in my face while I re-read the same paragraph for the umpteenth time because I can't concentrate. AHHHH

MAY 31st today! This day marks my step-daughter's 15th birthday. Happy Birthday to her! And coincidentally enough, this day also marks the 15th anniversary of me stepping on Texan soil and calling it home sweet home. It was just a few years later that I met the love of my life, and then brainwashed him into loving me back and later marrying me in Vegas, baby.. But he doesn't like me getting all personal in my blog posts so I'll stop here but I'll add a big I love you to the husband.. I am so glad that I made that decision to leave New York and make my life here. I have never regretted it and never will.

It is also Lenore's birthday at Presenting Lenore! Happy Birthday, Lenore!

As many of you know, this was the weekend for the Book Expo America Event in New York City. I wish I could have gone just to meet up with the other bloggers that have been lucky enough to attend. I cannot wait to read some of the blog posts about who everyone met there and what books they have received! Apparently the BEA will have its home in NYC for quite awhile, but if it ever gets out of NY and closer to Texas, I would love to go. I did participate some in the BEA Twitter Party on Friday night, and on June 2 BlogTalk Radio will broadcast their Book Bloggers Panel at BEA with Book Club Girl. Sarah at Reading the Past has already posted about her Day One, and she was picky with the books she chose to bring home with her. And I must say she picked some wonderful ones! I need to go put all those on my wish list that aren't there already!

There is also an article about Book Bloggers and the BEA called "BookExpo America 2009: Bloggers Draw a Crowd" at Publisher's Weekly. Here is a great quote from it: "With the huge number of books being published, book bloggers are becoming even important gatekeepers, increasing awareness for readers and building buzz. To that end, publishers and authors are working more closely than ever with them, and on new ways of promotion, such as blog tours."

In other news, a wonderful thing happened to me this week. A NEW BOOKCASE!! (That should be in rotating electric lights)..And maybe a little one on the way (a bookcase mind you!) for my bedroom. I want to put my Jean Plaidy's in that little one, I have about 52 of those so far, still looking for some of the harder to find ones. I need most of the Plantagenet era, and 3 of the Georgian era and just a few more scattered throughout Plaidy's different series.
I've moved around some books and I've got ORDER to the mayhem. Medieval on top shelf, Tudor Era on second, and French Revolution on the third, etc. I have a special bookshelf in my bedroom that has my favorite Wars of the Roses and Tudor Era books, which there are still many to read! The other bookcase for the general fiction and the shelf of ARC's to review.. And with my new addition, I have room to expand... yeppers, I've got some holes to fill now WEEEEE.... And I also wondered how I'd accumulated 3 different books on Marie Antoinette that I've yet to read... didn't know I was that interested!

This week I have read The Sitting Swing by Irene Watson. The review will post on June 8 as Irene stops by for a virtual book tour. Some of you may recognize Irene as the managing editor from Reader Views. The book has been revised from an earlier edition but is a touching story of how Irene survived a rough childhood and what she has done to come to terms with that. She shares her insights without preaching and offers hope to the rest of us. This is a very good read, I recommend it. Be sure to return June 8 during her tour, because I will have an author post and a book giveaway for you which is for an autographed copy!

I also finished The Indiscretions of The Queen, by Jean Plaidy, (review here) which was book #6 for the Jean Plaidy Reading Challenge hosted by the lovely ladies Arleigh and Lucy at Royal Intrigue. This book was the Jean Plaidy Reading Group pick for the month of May, for which we have a little forum where we can talk about the book. The pick for the coming month is Victoria Holt's (pseudonym) My Enemy The Queen. I have already read that one, and it is AWESOME for any of the Elizabeth I fans out there. IF I had some extra reading time and wasn't bogged down in ARC books I would be re-reading this one for the discussion. But I'll definitely still be there to discuss it, I really enjoyed the characters in this book. (Lettice Knollys, Penelope Deveraux, Robert Dudley..)

Off my beaten path, I am now reading The Osiris Alliance by Jack Ford. It is a crime novel that reads like a Law and Order episode, with a historical twist regarding the Charles Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Case. It is a debut novel by Ford, who was a Emmy and Peabody award winning news anchor. If you like crime novels then this is a pick for you, although you can make little comments to pick the writing style apart, but I won't. It is still a good read despite small flaws. I'll probably have my review later this week, God willing!

A new author, Anna Elliott, has done a guest post on Backstory last Thursday. She is a really sweet person and I cannot wait to read her book, Twilight of Avalon, which centers around Arthurian lore. Her second novel Dark Moon of Avalon is in the copy editing process now! Anna's website is here.

***AWARD TIME!**

I have gotten a few more blog awards lately, such as the Lemonade Award, The Kreative Blogger Award, The Literary Blogger Award... Check out my sidebar for links to who awarded them to me. I really appreciate you thinking of me and mentioning me in your award posts, it does mean a lot to me.

The Kreative Blogger Award is one that has not been three-peated throughout the blogosphere so I've picked that one to go ahead and redistribute. I know that are so many of these things it gets a bit cumbersome, although everyone loves the recognition! So today I am going to pass along the Kreative Blogger Award. Thanks to Melissa at Melissa's Bookshelf for thinking of me!

Rules:
Post 7 things you love.
Give award to 7 other bloggers who are creative.

Here are seven things I love:
My little Texan family!
My Blog Buddies
My books
The Texas Sky
A cup of tea
A slow day at work
Italian cannolis

I am awarding:
Sheri at A Novel Menagerie
Susie at All Things Royal
Amy at Passages to the Past
Teddyrose at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
Claire at The Anne Boleyn Files
Dolleygurl at The Maiden's Court
Virginie at Virginie Says...

**Congrats to these wonderful blogger ladies!!**

**GIVEAWAY WINNERS**

The giveaway for Wild Highland Magic ended last night. I had a winner for an Advance Reader's copy, and a winner from the publisher Sourcebooks for the released version.

The ARC Winner is: HeatherZilla

The New Released winner is: Marie Lay

Congratulations!

And ONE more thing... tomorrow, June 1st begins a new reading challenge.. see my post about it here... I would love for you to join us! It is The Four Month Challenge, and pretty simple to participate :) Jean Plaidy is even mentioned!! Hope to see you there! Have a great day! (I feel like I just wrote a book!)

hee hee That pic really belongs on Last Week's Post, but here it is now anyway! Sometimes this is really reflective of my mood.

TEASER TUESDAYS is hosted by ShouldBeReading and asks you to:
♠Grab your current read.
♠Let the book fall open to a random page.
♠Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
♠You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
♠Please avoid spoilers!

"The Sitting Swing" by Irene Watson
End of Page 19:

"One matter stood out most of all - one matter that would make the biggest difference in their point of view and would so profoundly impact me that it could be argued as the defining period of my life, even though it was my parents' issue, and even though it happened some time before I was born. That matter was my brother, Alexander."

This book is part of the Virtual Book Tour on June 8, 2009, where I will host a giveaway for this as well; stay tuned!

NFMGirl
Diane LaRue
RubyMoon
Marie Lay
MiniShoes

The 3 winners of Follow Me by Joanna Scott are:
MJ Coward
MiniShoes
Diane LaRue

Congratulations to everyone, Please send me your Snail Mail address!

I finished The Mating Rituals of the North American WASP this week, and will post that review and offer a giveaway for that during the blog tour on May 27th. There are a lot of bloggers on the tour for this one so it should be an interesting tour with different opinions of the novel.

There have been very aggravating Technical Blogger Issues, causing IE to randomly popup with the hated Operation Aborted window, which shuts down the whole site. !! My question is there another free blog host that imports your site? I don't mind setting up a new blog as far as layout and sidebar etc, but to get the posts and links moved over are going to be an issue. Any ideas? Blogger on Twitter says to remove the Followers gadget, so I've done that albeit reluctantly. I have heard there are still issues even with the gadget removed. So if this blog is shutting down on you, somehow let me know.. oye vey.

This week also commemorated the anniversary of Anne Boleyn's execution. Some sites I visited are :The Anne Boleyn Files and I had some fun reading the ghost stories over at Unexplained Mysteries which talks about the ghosts of some of the Tudors at Hampton Court; and The Raucous Royals.

I have just begun to read Jean Plaidy's "Indiscretions of the Queen" which is a fictional account of the life Caroline of Brunswick and her farce of a marriage to the Prince of Wales, George IV (circa 1795). You may recall the name Maria Fitzherbert as the beloved mistress of the flamboyant George IV, so poor George was not even about to open his heart to anyone else besides the beloved ex-mistress and his newest conniving mistress Lady Jersey. Pretty much from the first look upon Caroline, George was disgusted.
Caroline the German was not as up to par on sanitary and hygienic conditions as the English were, she probably smelled a little pungent as she did not like to bathe. They had the one child, Charlotte and that is all. I have to read the rest of the story to see how the uncouth Caroline handles the fact that her husband's mistress was assigned as a Lady of the Bedchamber to Caroline and see what other social atrocities Caroline commits. The cover of the book I am reading does not quite accurately depict the story, I do not know who the pretty woman on the cover is supposed to be; Caroline is pictured here and not exactly a buxom beauty.

Enjoy your weekend folks, and let's hope the Blogger issues get solved soon (are you even able to read this?), so I can comment on everyone else's blogs again.

Georgette Heyer, born August 16, 1902 at Wimbledon, London; died July 4, 1974 in London of lung cancer. Her first published work was when she was 19 and she continued to write to help support her family, writing more than 50 books. She is known as the forerunner of the Regency Romance era. More information on her biography and titles can be found at The Historical Novel Society.

The image below is another cover from one of the past issues of the crime novel, which actually depicts it quite well (1937 by E. P. Dutton & Co.):

Amazon.uk Preorder

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd (24 Sep 2009)
ISBN-10: 0224082264

Product Description:

"Elizabeth I was born into a world of women. As a child, she was served by a predominantly female household of servants and governesses, with occasional visits from her mother, Anne Bolyen, and the wives who later took her place. As Queen, Elizabeth was constantly attended by ladies of the bedchamber and maids of honor who clothed her, bathed her and watched her while she ate. Among her family, it was her female relations who had the greatest influence: from her sister Mary, who distrusted and later imprisoned her, to her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, who posed a constant and dangerous threat to her crown for almost thirty years. Despite the importance of women in Elizabeth's life, most historians and biographers have focused on her relationships with men. She has been portrayed as a 'man's woman' who loved to flirt with the many ambitious young men who frequented her court. Yet it is the women in her life who provide the most fascinating insight into the character of this remarkable monarch. With them she was jealous, spiteful and cruel, as well as loyal, kind and protective. She showed her frailties and her insecurities, but also her considerable shrewdness and strength. In short, she was more human than the public persona she presented to the rest of the court. It is her relationships with women that hold the key to the private Elizabeth.

In this original chronicling of the life of one of England's greatest monarchs, historian Tracy Borman explores Elizabeth's relationships with the key women in her life. Beginning with her mother and the governesses and stepmothers who cared for the young princess, including her beloved Kat Astley and the inspirational Katherine Parr, "Elizabeth's Women" sheds new light on her formative years. Elizabeth's turbulent relationships with her rivals are examined: from her sister, 'Bloody' Mary, to the sisters of Lady Jane Grey, and finally the most deadly of all her rivals, Mary, Queen of Scots who would give birth to the man Elizabeth would finally, inevitably have to recognize as heir to her throne. It is a chronicle of the servants, friends and 'flouting wenches' who brought out the best - and the worst - of Elizabeth's carefully cultivated image as Gloriana, the Virgin Queen, in the glittering world of her court."

Some of my favorite Elizabethan women include Lettice Knollys, Jane Grey, Bess of Hardwick and Bess' granddaughter, Arbella Stuart. I am always anxious to learn more about them and Elizabeth's interaction with the ladies of her time!

See Tracy Borman's site for upcoming events etc. She is also the author of Henrietta Howard: King’s Mistress, Queen’s Servant.

And the Burnt Shadows, which appear physically as burns in the shapes of birds on Hiroko's back, haunt Hiroko for the rest of her life, as she dreams of them and as she becomes an outcast due to the fact she survived the bomb, and millions did not. She is labeled as a Hibakusha, a victim of the bomb: she could have been carrying a disease and her child could have been also. In the story, when Hiroko is fearing for her teen-aged son Raza, the author writes: "The birds had their prey....She had not imagined the birds could fly outwards and enter the mind of this girl, and from her mind enter Raza's heart."

Along with Hiroko's life, we are following the story of The Burtons, and how these families befriend each other in the hard times and become friends for life, born in different countries, and with different nationalities, yet not really having a place to call home. Their offspring do not meet, yet they will always know that they are connected spiritually due to their parents' journeys together. It is their perceptions and their legacies that bring about the climax at the end of the book. There was a slow spot in the last third of the book, as the author was building up to the final moments and once we got there I found that the ending was a bit abrupt. I had not seen that exact outcome coming; I had a different mental picture that I thought was going to occur but I was wrong. It wasn't a bad ending, but I was a bit perturbed that I had gotten to the last sentence and yet still expected a bit more to be said. I guess I could have been selfish and just did not want the book end there, I had savored each sentence and let the story pull me in and I wasn't ready for such an ending.

This is definitely a book for the current events of our times; what can we learn from the wars and how can we turn this lesson into reaching something positive from the millions and millions of people that have been innocent victims? How should we consider national paranoia versus loyalty? Love versus hate? The author Kamila Shamsie has such a way of putting a sentence together which speaks volumes of the underlying nature; its multiple meanings dripping heavily from the words. Regret, remorse, grief, sorrow, symbolism and love shrouded in hope for a better future. This book leaves an imprint on your soul, much like the imprint the bomb left on Hiroko's scarred back. A definite recommended read.