"Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. join the Salon."Happy Mother's Day! This week I reviewed The Last Queen, The Wish Maker, and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. With those reviews posted, I have hit my 100th post of the blog, and this one is #96 for the year already. Woohoo!
The highlight of my week was the Guest Author Post by Christopher Gortner, author of "The Last Queen" where he discusses women in power and the effects of being a woman in a man's political world. This was a wonderful post: "Power and Intrigue: Being a Queen of Spain Is Never Easy" if you missed it make sure you go back and read what Christopher has to say about it! He is also doing his Blog tour this month to celebrate the paperback release of "The Last Queen", and you can find the links to all the tour stops on the Guest Author Post. Another awesome thing was that Christopher even mentioned "Marie is such fun; her blog rocks, literally," on one of his own blog posts at Historical Boys. That was awesome!
I really enjoyed the new book that releases in June by Katherine Howe "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane". If you read Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" then you have the background of the subject matter that Howe's book is based on. Although we know the basics of the history, Howe did her research as far as the witchcraft spells and herbs which made her story more compelling. Nearly 200 people were accused of witchcraft in the hysteria that engulfed the 1690's, and 19 people were put to death, still more died in prison, and the effects of the families involved were extreme for generations that followed. Finally, Governor Phipps, in response to his own wife being questioned for witchcraft, prohibited further arrests and soon after the paranoia stopped. It wasn't until 1711 that the government attempted to officially restore honor to the families of the accused and granted restitution; still, it was 250 years later that they offered a simple apology. The book does not center around this actual history but offers intriguing glimpses of those involved through the flashbacks that the author created. It was these flashbacks that I found most interesting, and I would welcome any suggestions on books that anyone else has read regarding the times of the Salem Witch Trials. I have just added "The Heretic's Daughter" to my wish list. And yes indeed it was wishful thinking that I could get it through Paperbackswap.. there are 50 more people in line there.
I have just started "The Convenient Marriage" by Georgette Heyer, one of my new favorite authors. I will have three Heyer reviews posted by the end of the month, and "My Lord John" I will read and review for June, thanks to Sourcebooks.
The Jean Plaidy Reading Group selection is "Indiscretions of the Queen" so if you have read it, join in our discussions around June 1st. If you haven't read it, then join the group and start reading!
I didn't participate in a few of the daily memes that I normally do last week, it was a stressful week with the bad toddler of mine getting forced out of daycare..my mind has been elsewhere.. so the husband who works nights will now be Mr. Mom by Day.. it's more than an adjustment and a lot of things will be different around here. Insert a lot of snide comments about the daycare here. There will never be a moment's peace unless he is napping. Kudos for my husband who is so far not complaining, but I give him another week before he gets reeaalllllly cranky. Yet, it is I who shall reap as many rewards as possible for this Mother's Day, such as new glasses that I have needed for a year now..
I am going to have Kendra Leigh Castle as a guest author on Tuesday, May 12th, with the review of her new release "Wild Highland Magic" posting shortly before that. It was a fun read, and I will be doing a giveaway as well so keep your eyes posted for that in a few days.
It's been fairly quiet in the blogosphere other then the CW Gortner tour.. I hope everyone is reading and enjoying themselves!
Finally, I remind you that there are three book giveaways going on right now at The Burton Review, just see the top right corner of the sidebar for the links. I myself won some poetry books courtesy of Hachette's Poetry Month promotion, so I am excited to get myself back into that genre; I used to dabble in the field myself. I had some of my cuter poems published in my High School's writing 'magazine', and I think I got $10 as a prize for one of them. LOL!
Happy Mother's Day, and Happy Reading!
.JPG)