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Review: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Trapped in a love less marriage to a man with good social standing, Anna Karenina does the unthinkable–she enters into a doomed, passionate love affair with another man. Society will torment her, her husband will ridicule her, but her own guilt will drive her to the breaking point. With one of the most memorable opening scenes in western literature, Anna Karenina is a literary masterpiece about life, passion, and love. This lengthy novel is spread over eight parts featuring two alternating protagonists, Konstantin Levin and Anna Karenina. The elegant and proper Anna, is married to a high-ranking government official, Alexei Karenin. For the past eight years they have maintained a fragile facade.…
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Review: The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott
Beware the Ravenswood! Sir Walter Scott’s, The Bride of Lammermoor is a must read for fans of the genre….a classic gothic romance! This is your ultimate indulgence gothic romance fans…honest and truly. This ridiculously over the top tale has it all…witches, women going mad, a family fallen from grace, degenerative castles, ruined fortunes, Byronic heros, star crossed lovers, a dark prophecy, ominous symbology….everything! It is MacBeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Wuthering Heights all rolled into one. The novel is introduced as a tale based on a true story, set in Scotland at the time of Queen Anne (early 1700’s). Lord Ravenswood is dead and all that remains of the Ravenswood…
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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: Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) by Cassandra Clare
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Review: A Stranger in Mayfair (Charles Lenox Mysteries #4) by Charles Finch
Charles Lenox’s is the quintessential armchair detective. Being a highborn well funded gentleman has it’s perks and one of them is being allowed eccentricities. For Lenox, his ‘eccentricity’ is….wait for it….a J-O-B! Being a detective is something most of Lenox’s friends frown upon, he frequently finds himself on the source of a good many jokes and though he is well liked, his profession isn’t deemed proper by his social circle. This fact is beginning to wear on Lenox though, after all he is an Oxford chappie and well liked in London society and with his older brother holding a seat in Parliament….Lenox longs to be truly respected. In the last…
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Review: Timeless (Parasol Protectorate #5) by Gail Carriger
Agent Blue Bonnet here with a transmittal from the Parasol Protectorate secret society: Timeless by Gail Carriger is finally out! I discovered this series last year while I was participating in the Steampunk Reading Challenge over at Bookish Ardour. I absolutely loved Soulless (Book #1) and it has been an interesting series to watch evolve overall. Timeless is Book #5 in the series–which seems to be the last installment I am sad to say. The first four books take place in rapid secession but this book is set two years after Book #4. Alexia Tarabotti AKA Lady Maccon, is settling into her new life–as best she can considering she is married…
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Review: The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott
Do you find yourself wasting countless hours a day, day dreaming of the Edwardian era? Do you suddenly find yourself longing for a corset, button up boots, and an ostrich plum hat? You my friend are in good company and clearly suffering from Downton Abbey withdrawals. If like me, you are looking for literary tale to satisfy your need…then look no further than Kate Alcott’s novel, The Dressmaker. The Dressmaker is a Cinderella-ish tale reminiscent of The Devil Wears Prada set against the backdrop of the Titanic disaster. Tess Collins spontaneously quits her job with the hope of gaining last minute employment on the Titanic the day it is to set sail.…
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Review: Devoured (Hatton and Roumonde Mystery #1) by D. E. Meredith
To have one’s ideas be heard, isn’t that what all scientists want? That is certainly what forensic scientist, Professor Aldolphus Hatton, wants in D.E. Meredith’s thriller, Devoured. In the budding world of Darwinism, botanical study, forensics, and science in general– Hatton is using early forensic science to solve crimes all around Victorian London hoping that this new manner of solving crime will catch fire and blaze a new path of crime fighting. I recently read the second book in the Hatton series, The Devil’s Ribbon which I thoroughly enjoyed. Meredith and I are friends and she offered to send me a copy of Hatton’s first mystery since she knows I hate…
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Review: Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) by Cassandra Clare
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The Lit Bitch has entered the 2012 Regency & Victorian Reads Challenge
Reading challenge #2 for 2012 has been entered! As I mentioned before in my other post, over the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting my entries for various challenges here as I sign up and I will also have a special page/section devoted to my entries which will have lists of books I plan on reading. As per usual I’ll post my reviews throughout the year and add the buttons on my sidebars. So here is the second challenge sign up of 2012: the Regency & Victorian Reads Challenge hosted by The Royal Reviews. For more details about my entry and goals please see my the Regency & Victorian Reads Challenge If you are…
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Review: Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare
Lies. Betrayal. Danger. Deception. Anger. Adventure. Passion. Love. All of which await eager readers in Cassandra Clare’s latest installment of The Infernal Devices, Clockwork Prince. Clare flawlessly blends action, sci-fi/fantasy, YA, pararomance, and steampunk together magically. While romance is a huge part of this latest book, it does not over power the adventure. For me, other YA sagas such as Twilight, the love story overpowered the action and adventure, especially in the second book making it less enjoyable but in this series….there was a delicate balance which made it exceptionally hard to put down! In the midst of all the YA romance there is a richly satisfying mystery and adventure.…
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Review: The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker (Strangely Beautiful #2) by Leanna Renee Hieber
The illuminating, ghostly second installment of the Strangely Beautiful series by Leanna Renee Hieber, The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker, picks up right where Book I left off. The dark, brooding professor Alexi Rychman and ‘reincarnated’ Grecian goddess Persephone “Percy” Parker are soul mates….destine for each other. They are now planning their hasty wedding in the midst of the turmoil which prophecy has brought on. With the coming prophecy has come the war which was also for told….the Whisper World is threatening all The Guard holds dear. The Guard knows that their fight is far from done….the Whisper World and Darkness threaten to claim the now mortal goddess (Percy)…
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Review: Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) by Cassandra Clare