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Review: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess)
Be still my heart….finally someone who understands, finds humor in, and can articulate life’s little f-ed up moments that happen to us all…..well to some of us more than others! The Bloggess is known for her sardonic quick wit and dark situational humor. She compiled a list of “Things Most People Have Never Experiences of Could Have Ever Possibly Imagined, But That Totally Happened to Me” and woven these special little stories together creating a brilliant and hilarious novel. This is a difficult novel to review, mostly because it is the kind of book you just have to read to understand how truly awesome this book is. It is truly…
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Review: Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
For each of us the name Cleopatra conjures up many vivid images… sensuality, seduction, beauty, the exotic, wealth, excess, Elizabeth Taylor. While the legend of Cleopatra is prevalent, what has been buried over time is this incredible woman’s real tale. What we know of her today comes to us through the writings of pissy old dead guys. In her book Cleopatra: A Life, Stacy Schiff attempts to sift through these accounts, many of which are brimming with Roman propaganda, to reveal a woman even more impressive than her modern day persona. I like to think of her as the O.B., the Original Bitch. Cleopatra became Queen of Egypt at the…
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Review: The Journal of Countess Francoise Krasinska by Klementyna Tanska Hoffman
Charming towering spires, castles, and palaces litter Poland in the 18th century which makes it the perfect backdrop for a fairytale romance. In The Journal of Countess Francoise Krasinska by Klementyna Tanska Hoffman we explore the true life fairytale romance of Francoise Krasinska and the Prince Royal, Charles Duke of Courland (Poland/Lithuanian region). Klementyna Tanska Hoffman pens this historic account of the Countess Francoise courtship and hasty marriage to the Duke. Though it is a second-hand account of the events, they are historically accurate and offer a unique insight into the royal court during the Georgian era. I am not familiar with Eastern European history….at all, so I was a little…
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Review: A Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed the British Monarchy by Helen Rappaport
The romance between Prince Albert and Queen Victoria is legendary–a love that bordered on obsession. Helen Rappaport’s latest non-fiction book, A Magnificent Obsession: Victoria, Albert, and the Death That Changed the British Monarchy explores how a fairy tale romance turned into a dark melancholy that altered the course of the British monarchy. I won an ARC of this book through Goodreads. Non-fiction is normally not my review genre….non-fiction is more The Lib Bitch’s area than mine :). But I love Queen Victoria and was thrilled when I won the giveaway. I haven’t read a lot of books on Queen Victoria but I know the love story like I know any classic fairy…
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Review: The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
What is a “weekend” you ask?… Like you I’m having Downton Abbey withdrawls, so I turned to Nancy Mitford to give me a fix. Nancy was one of the famous Mitford sisters, members of an aristocratic and eccentric English family who became quite famous for their exploits. There is a very interesting biography about them that I plan to tackle at some point by Mary S. Lovell called The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family. Nancy Mitford bases many of her fictional characters and stories off of her infamous family. The book I picked up is called The Pursuit of Love (for all of you cover whores out there…
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Review: Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by The Countess of Carnarvon, Fiona Carnarvon
Don’t we all wish we could wave our magic wands and become the Crawley family living the high life at Downton Abbey? For Lady Almina Carnarvon that dream was a reality. With Downton Abbey sweeping the telly waves, fans are salivating at the mouth for more Downton–I know I am! This book was extremely appealing to me for the obvious–a promise of more Downton! When the publisher sent me a copy for review, I was over the moon–checking my mailbox daily in eager anticipation! I am always a little iffy about non-fiction and biography books because they can often become rather dry and scholarly for my taste…that’s all well and…
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Review: The Rose of Martinique: A Life of Napoleon’s Josephine by Andrea Stuart
Josephine Bonaparte was the Jacqueline Kennedy of her era. She was a fashion icon and patron of the arts, who was also renowned for her charm, beauty, and compassion. Josephine worked hard to constantly reinvent herself and her public image, even Madonna would be impressed by her efforts. Despite the veneer of glamour this woman had a rough life, but fought through it all dressed to kill and with a smile firmly in place. Andrea Stuart’s biography provides a fascinating account of Josephine’s chaotic life from her birth on the island of Martinique, to her unhappy first marriage, her imprisonment during the French revolution, and finally her tumultuous relationship with…