Sunday Monday Bookish Stuff

   

Visit Svea's blog at The Muse in The Fog Book Review to start linking up your Sunday posts; Suddenly Sunday is a weekly event hosted by Svea whose purpose is to share all the exciting events that have occurred on your blog throughout the week.

Happy Summertime, bloggers!! What are your plans now that your kiddos are out of school/getting close to summer? Do you have read a thon plans for your summer? I have worked very hard on diligently cutting back on the review requests so that I could have some spare time in the summer to just loaf. I remember this time last year I was kicking myself because I had so many review books and couldn't appreciate the fact that it was summer time. When you work full time, all the seasons tend to blend together anyway, so the fact that the hobby of reading has become more like a second job can be depressing! So turning away review books may be hard on a voracious reader, but very beneficial for working moms like me who need some sort of respite from it all. It's been a bit crazy on the homefront lately so I wasn't even able to compose a post for last week's Sunday/Monday Memes, but I didn't think y'all would miss me =)

This summer I have already set in place two different Group Reads for which I invite you to:

July 12: Katherine by Anya Seton
July 28: Lion of Justice by Jean Plaidy


Mailbox Monday is a meme originally from Marcia's Mailbox and is being hosted by Bellezza @ Dolce Bellezza for this month. The Story Siren also hosts IMM, so we can find some cool YA titles there as well.

On my Paperbackswap wishlist forever was this one that I'm not really in the mood for now but here it is:

Elizabeth's Spymaster: Francis Walsingham and the Secret War that Saved England by Robert Hutchinson
England in the time of Elizabeth was on the brink of disaster. On the continent, Catholic Spain sought to forcefully reimpose the Catholic Church on its Protestant neighbors. At home, a network of powerful Catholic families posed a real and serious threat to the Protestant queen. In this world, information was power: those closest to the Queen were there because they had the best network to gather it. Elizabeth’s Spymaster is the story of the greatest spy of the time: Sir Francis Walsingham. Walsingham was the first ‘spymaster’ in the modern sense. His methods anticipated those of MI5 and MI6 and even those of the KGB. He maintained a network of spies across Europe, including double agents at the highest level in Rome and Spain---the sworn enemies of Queen Elizabeth and her protestant regime. His entrapment of Mary, Queen of Scots is a classic intelligence operation that resulted in her execution.
As Robert Hutchinson reveals, his cypher experts’ ability to intercept other peoples’ secret messages and his brilliant forged letters made him a fearsome champion of the young Elizabeth. Yet even this Machiavellian schemer eventually fell foul of Elizabeth as her confidence grew (and judgment faded). The rise and fall of Sir Francis Walsingham is a Tudor epic, vividly narrated by a historian with unique access to the surviving documentary evidence.

No Angel (The Spoils of Time #1) by Penny Vincenzi
No Angel is an irresistibly sweeping saga of power, family politics, and passion-a riveting drama and a fervent love story. Celia Lytton is the beautiful and strong-willed daughter of wealthy aristocrats and she is used to getting her way. She moves through life making difficult and often dangerous decisions that affect herself and others-her husband, Oliver, and their children; the destitute Sylvia Miller, whose life is transformed by Celia's intrusion; as well as Oliver's daunting elder sister, who is not all she appears to be; and Sebastian Brooke, for whom Celia makes the most dangerous decision of all.

Set against the tumultuous backdrop of London and New York in the First World War, No Angel is, as British Good Housekeeping wrote, "an absorbing page-turner, packed with believable characters and satisfyingly extreme villains, eccentrics, and manipulators." Readers of Maeve Binchy, Barbara Taylor Bradford, and Anita Shreve will fall in love with this epic, un-put-downable novel.

With more than 3.5 million copies sold, Penny Vincenzi is one of the world's preeminent writers of popular fiction-and American readers no longer have to miss out on the fun. With the publication of No Angel, a novel introducing the engaging cast of characters in the Lytton family, Overlook opens a thrilling new dimension to this author's already illustrious career.

Battlefields and Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from the Revolutionary War by Jane Hampton Cook (I read the author's new release American Phoenix on John Quincy Adams and I was impressed enough to buy this one!)

The book features 365 devotionals, one for each day of the year. - Each devotional features a 400-450-word story, a relevant scripture, and an application-oriented sentence prayer. - Each week highlights five stories that chronicle the Revolutionary War, followed by two weekend features called Weekend Reflection and Sabbath Rest. Weekend Reflection takes a modern-day twist on a topic, such as contentment and life purpose, presented in the preceding stories. 
Sabbath Rest highlights a sermon from the Revolutionary era. 
The stories may be so captivating for some readers that they may read the book from "cover to cover." - As readers consider the meaning of the American Revolution, they may also experience a revolution in their own hearts, one devotional at a time.

Inheritance: Southern Son Saga of Doc Holliday by Victoria Wilcox -- I had run a guest post from the author on my other blog and she kindly offered me an autographed copy as a thank you for the spot, what a nice lady! Such a pleasure to do business with ;)  I'd probably read this closer to when the next book comes out next Spring, as I do not like having to read my series books too far apart.

The name Doc Holliday conjures images of the Wild West and the shootout at the OK Corral, but before he was a Western legend he was a Southern son, born in the last days of the Old South with family links to the author of Gone with the Wind. Now this amazing story is told for the first time in a trilogy of novels entitled Southern Son: The Saga of Doc Holliday. The story begins with Inheritance, set during the turbulent times of the American Civil War, as young John Henry Holliday welcomes home his heroic father and learns a terrible secret about his beloved mother. Inheritance is the first novel in an epic tale of heroes and villains, dreams lost and found, families broken and reconciled, of sin and recompense and the redeeming power of love.

The What Are You Reading meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where we keep track of what we are currently reading and plan to read.

I haven't had the luxury to read much of anything lately - I've tried but failed to concentrate - but from previous reads I had posted two reviews recently, and have zero clue when another will come this way so enjoy these two!!

Last week I reviewed The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley.. great stuff!

After that one I definitely want to read all her other stuff too. I had eagerly anticipated this one after I had read The Shadowy Horses and I wasn't disappointed.

and another great read:

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer (review) -- I had read this a few weeks ago and I fell in love with the thought of a sexy preacher man =) bad me!!! Such a great inspirational story, I will probably always recommend Karen Witemeyer as a truly faith-based storyteller. Not for those who do not like inspirational themes however.


I started to read the newest book by Robert Parry but just couldn't get into it presently, so I picked up Gillian Bagwell's Venus in Winter which is a novel featuring my very first Tudor Favorite Figure: Bess of Hardwick, hoping this novel will stir some of my lost inspiration:

The author of The September Queen explores Tudor England with the tale of Bess of Hardwick—the formidable four-time widowed Tudor dynast who became one of the most powerful women in the history of England. On her twelfth birthday, Bess of Hardwick receives the news that she is to be a waiting gentlewoman in the household of Lady Zouche. Armed with nothing but her razor-sharp wit and fetching looks, Bess is terrified of leaving home. But as her family has neither the money nor the connections to find her a good husband, she must go to facilitate her rise in society. When Bess arrives at the glamorous court of King Henry VIII, she is thrust into a treacherous world of politics and intrigue, a world she must quickly learn to navigate. The gruesome fates of Henry’s wives convince Bess that marrying is a dangerous business. Even so, she finds the courage to wed not once, but four times. Bess outlives one husband, then another, securing her status as a woman of property. But it is when she is widowed a third time that she is left with a large fortune and even larger decisions—discovering that, for a woman of substance, the power and the possibilities are endless . . .

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer

Ready for a gush fest? LOVED LOVED LOVED!

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer
Bethany House; June 1, 2013
Christian Historical Fiction
Review copy provided for free from Litfuse in exchange for this honest review
Burton Book Review Rating:

Purchase a copy here

On his way to interview for a position at a church in the Piney Woods of Texas, Crockett Archer can scarcely believe it when he's forced off the train by a retired outlaw and presented to the man's daughter as the minister she requested for her birthday. Worried this unfortunate detour will ruin his chances of finally serving a congregation of his own, Crockett is determined to escape. But when he finally gets away, he's haunted by the memory of the young woman he left behind--a woman whose dreams now hinge on him.

For months, Joanna Robbins prayed for a preacher. A man to breathe life back into the abandoned church at the heart of her community. A man to assist her in fulfilling a promise to her dying mother. A man to help her discover answers to the questions that have been on her heart for so long. But just when it seems God has answered her prayers, it turns out the person is there against his will and has dreams of his own calling him elsewhere. Is there any way she can convince Crockett to stay in her little backwoods community? And does the attraction between them have any chance of blossoming when Joanna's outlaw father is dead set against his daughter courting a preacher?

Stealing the Preacher is book two in Karen Witemeyer's Archer brothers series, the previous novel being Short-Straw Bride (review) which I loved and gave 4.5 stars. This one gets 5 stars! I absolutely LOVE Bethany House Publishers allowing the faith theme to be so majorly prevalent in their Christian historicals, and it was so strong in this novel that I spiritually latched on to Brother Archer very quickly, but I knew I would since I loved him in Short-Straw Bride. And he sure wasn't that hard to read about either, the way Joanna gets all pink in the face around him -whew- throw that girl a towel!!

Crockett Archer had no idea he was about to meet Joanna, the love of his life, when her father abducted him from a train. Crockett had other places to be and other people to meet, but God had other things in mind and that was Joanna and her goal for restoring faith for her father.

From rebuilding a church and nursing an injured man, Crockett Archer has all the right moves, and he has moved right into Joanna's path who cannot get enough of the man. Turns out the socialite Holly wants Crockett too, so there's a little not so nice competition going on. Luckily, Crockett sees through Holly's ways but can he reform her before someone gets hurt? A dash of intrigue, a great bit of romance and full on unabashed faith keeps this story going in page turning fashion from start to finish. I absolutely loved this story -perhaps I was in the need of a preacher man - but those who don't revel in God's glory probably would feel too consumed by the verses being recited throughout. I cannot wait to see what is next from Karen Witemeyer and I am definitely going to get to reading her previous novels sooner rather than later. Stealing the Preacher was just what this reader wanted: a sexy Christian cowboy and a fantastic romance that offers unforgettable characters rewarded with redemption, it's going on my Best of 2013 list without a doubt.

/end gush fest.

Even though this could be a stand-alone, I highly recommend you read Short-Straw Bride first in order to understand the dynamic behind Crockett's character.


Karen Witemeyer is "kindling" the excitement for Stealing the Preacher (Bethany House) with a Kindle Fire Giveaway and connecting with readers at her June 18th Facebook Author Chat Party!

  One winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire
• Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer 

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends at 4pm on June 18th. Winner will be announced at the "Stealing the Preacher" Facebook Author Chat Party on June 18th. Connect with Karen for an evening of book chat, trivia, laughter, and more! Karen will also share an exclusive look at her next book and give away books and other fun prizes throughout the evening.

So grab your copy of Stealing the Preacher and join Karen on the evening of June 18th for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 18th!

The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley

Effortless storytelling

The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley (a sort of sequel to The Shadowy Horses)
Historical Timeslip
Sourcebooks Landmark, June 4 2013
Paperback 544 pages
Review Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for this review, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating:

Nicola Marter was born with a gift: when she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When the gallery she works in receives a wooden carving she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird, the mythical bird that inspires an old Russian fairytale and was once owned by Russia’s famed Empress Catherine.

Nicola’s investigation into the Firebird’s origin draws her into the 1715 world of Anna Logan and leads her on a quest through Scotland, France and Russia, unearthing a tale of love and sacrifice, of courage and redemption.

After reading of young Robbie in The Shadowy Horses, I had been eagerly anticipating The Firebird as Rob is now a grown man but still happily using his sight to peek into the history that he stumbles upon. The story follows Rob and Nicola as they both search for a woman during the 1700's which would help give answers to a woman they would like to help. Their search for Anna consists of Nicola and Rob traveling to the places they believe Anna Moray to be, and using their paranormal gifts they are able to 'watch' Anna's life unfold during her childhood and adulthood. The Scots talk that was so endearing in The Shadowy Horses comes alive again with Rob's voice, only this time he exudes a powerful but sensitive masculinity that keeps us wanting more of his story and his voice.

It becomes a timeslip novel as we are sucked into Anna's historical world, with Captain Graeme, Captain Jamieson and Vice Admiral Gordon during the tumultuous era of Jacobite uprisings and exiles and traitors. There are quite a few historical threads and settings, from a convent at Ypres to St. Petersburg as we - along with Rob and Nicola - trace Anna's intriguing path which is full of intrigue, suspense, romance and sorrows. Anna is the star of the show, yet the contemporary relationship between Rob and Nicola doesn't detract from the story, which is different from other timeslips that we read where we would prefer to get back to one storyline over the other. Each of the characters all had something to like and something to give, and we wanted to learn as much as we could within these pages. Some of the actual history bits were like a cat's string - baiting me to learn more but the book itself didn't uncover overly much of the historical facts that were actually occurring. I am very intrigued with Russia, St. Petersburg, Peter The Great and will now seek to learn more because of the glimpses I've had through this book.

Kearsley's writing is so fluid and descriptive that every word was a pleasure and after reading the author's note I see that some of the historical characters were also in The Winter Sea which I have yet to read but definitely have very good reason to now. This was a wonderful story that will create new Kearsley fans, but I do hope that readers get to read The Shadowy Horses (& maybe even The Winter Sea) first so that they can better appreciate the background to the story. Let the record show that I am not a reader of paranormal, or timeslip novels, but if it's a Kearsley novel I'm all over it. Once I read a few more of her works I am sure I will be listing Susanna Kearsley as one of my favorite storytellers.

The End of The Point by Elizabeth Graver

 

The End of The Point by Elizabeth Graver
Harper: March 3, 2013
Hardcover 352 pages
Review copy provided by the publisher for review in the May 2013 Historical Novel Society magazine
Burton Book Review Rating:


Synopsis:

A precisely observed, superbly crafted novel, The End of the Point by Elizabeth Graver charts the dramatic changes in the lives of three generations of one remarkable family, and the summer place that both shelters and isolates them.

Ashaunt Point, Massachusetts, has anchored life for generations of the Porter family, who summer along its remote, rocky shore. But in 1942, the U.S. Army arrives on the Point, bringing havoc and change. That summer, the two older Porter girls—teenagers Helen and Dossie—run wild. The children’s Scottish nurse, Bea, falls in love. And youngest daughter, Janie, is entangled in an incident that cuts the season short and haunts the family for years to come.

An unforgettable portrait of one family’s journey through the second half of the twentieth century, Elizabeth Graver’s The End of the Point artfully probes the hairline fractures hidden beneath the surface of our lives and traces the fragile and enduring bonds that connect us.

If the author's intent was to focus on the genre of literary fiction and its skim the surface type of nuances, she succeeded. She presents us with the Porter family unit that summers in a fictional town of Ashaunt, Massachusetts and rarely leaves the setting. The family includes children's caregivers who were Scottish and we leave the Point to visit Scotland with the caregivers as a rare reprieve from Ashaunt. Other than that, the setting remains the same as the author focuses her story on the people in the family and their personal struggles. Bea, the caregiver who has no life outside the family she cares for; Helen, the precocious elder child; and later Charlie, who is Helen's son who suffers from depression and drug dependence. The eras evoke significance, as we begin in the 1940's and the war effort that was evident from the front porch of their summer escape; later wars and the sixties also lend background themes as causes to the eccentricities of the characters.

The prose reads fluidly, but once you get comfortable with the characters and the heavily foreshadowed plot told through third person, the events seem to stand still.  In the last third of the novel there seems to be a lull as the author focuses on characterization with a very observational ambiance. One sentence will describe a character's thought and in that same sentence offhandedly mentions that years later such and such happened. This constant peek into the future ruined whatever sort of wonder I had at what would happen to the characters. The novel portrays living at Ashaunt through the eyes of passing generations with a depressive slant towards the grim reality of persistent misunderstandings yet enduring constancy. Though it lacks the emotional impact I would have preferred, I did appreciate her descriptive style.

Giveaway Reminder | TSS | Mailbox Monday | FTC Update

   

Visit Svea's blog at The Muse in The Fog Book Review to start linking up your Sunday posts; Suddenly Sunday is a weekly event hosted by Svea whose purpose is to share all the exciting events that have occurred on your blog throughout the week.

Hey bloggers!

If you missed it amongst all the fun Armchair BEA posts from the blogosphere (are you under a rock?), I finally remembered to get a giveaway up...
So go to my Giveaway post if you want to be one of three winners of some cool books!!

All three of these little stacks of books are looking for new homes, don't miss your chance to win them.

I participated in a ArmchairBEA Twitter party and I won something! Last year I had won some books for the daughter also, but she has yet to devour them. She is her father's daughter. So this year I chose Sharon Lathan's new novel The Passions of Dr Darcy as my win.

A few weeks back I posted an editorial information post about the FTC and their guidelines... and I did formally ask the FTC to please explain the nature of their Endorsement Guides as they would relate to a book blogger or a book reviewer or a bookish person who talks about books. I mailed them a letter, directed them to my site asking them to clarify their view of blogger vs. endorser AKA ADVERTISER:

Long ten page response cut short: Bloggers are endorsers, even as some on twitter land debated that term.
Everything I have been doing is cool and you are probably safe, too. They pointed me to a link on their own site which is from 2010. Basically, everything we've been doing before is good as I hardly come across any book reviewers anymore who don't automatically disclose their source of the book in the review. As long as you are doing that, you are fine, end of story. They simply want you to disclose your source of the book, and not just have a graphic on your sidebar that links to your policy on another page that only then would state that you receive books for review for free; there should be a 'clear and concise' statement of your source and preferably at the beginning of your spiel. If you disclose within each review that you have received the book in exchange for an honest review, then we are all golden.

It's not rocket science, especially since folks like me who have been blogging about books for a number of years have already trained ourselves to be upfront with our blog readers. If you have a relationship with an author/publisher/marketing company/blogging for books company, your average internet hopper must know that relationship. It gets trickier with affiliate links, Amazon Associate stores, those who get help with hosting, or those who have a Paypal button, but if you are disclosing properly then I would simply move on and keep reading =)

The Armchair BEA also had a quick post about Ethics of Blogging which everyone should read and realize that it is better for the blogging community to blog 'ethically' and with full disclosure, to ensure our credibility as a whole, regardless of what country you blog from. "Those who refuse to be accountable or play by ethical rules would be exposed as biased or fraudulent. In the end, the readers and true bloggers would benefit greatly."


Mailbox Monday is a meme originally from Marcia's Mailbox and is being hosted by Bellezza @ Dolce Bellezza for this month. The Story Siren also hosts IMM, so we can find some cool YA titles there as well.

Since I'm being a really good girl and I am kinda hating the review schedule and by extension, BOOKS in general... I haven't gotten any physical books for Review. WHEEEEE!

But I did go to HalfPrice books and get a little stack of books to try and ease my woes. Shopping is fun, right? Especially if you have a gift card AND they're having a 20% off sale.

Links go to Goodreads for more information:

• Heaven Help Us: The Worrier's Guide to the Patron Saints by Clare LaPlante (basically because I need all the saints help I can get right now cuz I'm depressed/lonely/sad/job woes/kid woes/husband woes/weather woes/house woes/you name it/help me)
• Katherine by Anya Seton (a really snazzy 1956 edition perfect for our July 12 read along, come join!)
• Mine Is the Night (Here Burns My Candle #2) by Liz Curtis Higgs (I think have all her novels for crying out loud I really need to get busy and actually READ one for God's sake)
• Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore (*I'll start this next year, it's actually a daily devotional that starts in January. I probably wouldn't have gotten it if I had known that, but I've set a reminder for it!)
• Virgin and the Crab by Robert Parry (*I was very surprised to find this there as it's a self-published all the way from England. Looking forward to this someday.)
• Peter, Paul & Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History & Legend by Bart Ehrman (I had opened this one up and found myself reading passages at a time so I figured it was a keeper).

Featured eBook Download:

Broken Identity by Ashley Williams (basically since I feel broken
Drake Pearson, a narrow-minded 18-year-old barely enduring Missouri’s heat, is tired of feeling empty. Living conditions are about as cozy as a cardboard box, on account of his alcoholic father who can find nothing better to do than argue relentlessly with him. When Drake thinks he can’t take another blow, he is reminded daily of his mom who vanished twelve years ago. And now there’s a dead body. After a terrible accident turns into a protected secret, a twisted string of events brings Drake miles away from home to an elderly man’s front door. Every promising opportunity also brings new doubts and temptations to run away—this time for good. When the secret he has kept locked away threatens to reveal itself, Drake knows he must shield it with his very life, even if the love he has been shown undeservingly is about to be destroyed.

The What Are You Reading meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where we keep track of what we are currently reading and plan to read.

"Heaven Help Us" is tons of fun.. here is a pic of my giggly fat face.. and some fun saintly facts if you are my FB Friend.. which I've been thumbing through.

I have been having a bit of a depressive lull invade my person in case you couldn't tell, so I was slowly reading Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck. If there is any way that you could be sad in your life, this book is not the best for it. It is a sad look at the pending demise of a marriage and how it affects others... but a very good book nonetheless, just bad timing for me personally. Sad sad sad. I posted my review here.

Then it was time to read Julie Lessman's newest, Love at Any Cost. I had seen mixed reviews for this one, as some did not like the passion/repetitive lustful thinking within a Christian historical, so I went into it with trepidation. And a few pages in holy hell annoyance with the descriptions of slanting lips, thin lined lips, flat lips, smile tipping, smile rebounding, then going crooked again. Or tilting. But the author is such a sweet lady I really hoped that I could let the book grow on me. So I dove in full force and spent my Saturday with it and now I need to formulate a formal review for HNS. Yuck. There was even a zagged smile in there.

Obviously, this is not a great time in my personal life to be talking about lips or smiles for some reason since they seem to be aggravating me to no end. Hope your reading week is better!

Book Giveaway Galore! Three Winners each get a pack of books!

Today is the Giveaway Day at Armchair BEA & I was going to originally participate in the posts but my heart wasn't in it this year, sad to say.

I am in a bit of a funk lately ... job, kids, husband, everything is getting on my nerves... BLAH. Rainy soggy humid blah icky weather.

So, what's a girl to do?

GIVE AWAY BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!
Please help get  me some happy thoughts and show your love for reading and join me in celebrating books.. which is what we book bloggers LOVE right?

So here we have three different 'stacks' of books that I am giving away. Click links for more information on the titles.

Book Giveaway #1 - Christian Historical Fiction

Swept Away by Mary Connealy

The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah Ladd

Roses Have Thorns by Sandra Byrd

Book Giveaway #2 - Royal | Arthurian Historical Fiction

The King's Damsel by Kate Emerson

Reign of Madness by Lynn Cullen

Shadow of the King, and Pendragon's Banner each by Helen Hollick

Book Giveaway #3 - General Literature Mix

Edge of Dark Water by Joe R. Lansdale

What A Mother Knows by Leslie Lehr

Death and the Courtesan by Pamela Christie

The Darlings by Cristina Alger

All of these books are read/gently used, and some are ARCs as well. Follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter form. Email subscribers get an extra 10 giveaway entries, as a big thank you to those who subscribe!! Apologies to non-USA readers, but my budget can only handle mailing to USA residents. Thanks for entering and sharing my giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck

Robuck's writing evokes the melancholy state of Zelda 

Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck
Biographical historical fiction
Penguin NAL, May 7, 2013
Review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating:

From the author of Hemingway’s Girl comes a richly imagined tale of Zelda Fitzgerald’s love, longing, and struggle against ever-threatening insanity.

From New York to Paris, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald reigned as king and queen of the Jazz Age, but those who really knew them saw their inner turmoil.

Committed to a Baltimore psychiatric hospital in 1932, Zelda vacillates between lucidity and madness as she fights to forge an identity independent of her famous husband. She discovers a sympathetic ear in her nurse Anna Howard, who finds herself drawn into the Fitzgerald’s tumultuous lives and wonders which of them is the true genius. But in taking greater emotional risks to save Zelda, Anna may end up paying a far higher price than she ever intended.

In this thoroughly researched, deeply moving novel, Erika Robuck explores the boundaries of female friendship, the complexity of marital devotion, and the sources of both art and madness.

With all eyes on Gatsby-themed books and movies this year, Erika Robuck's tale of Zelda's manic depression is not the glitzy glamorous high-rolling tale of the 'gin-soaked' Jazz Age that some may expect. The novel is actually narrated by Zelda's fictionalized nurse, who gets in over her head during her care of Zelda and is sucked into the abyss that the Fitzgerald family creates for each other. It is a sad and poignant story and definitely not a sweet love story of Zelda and F. Scott - they were depicted as being very abusive and cruel and it was heartbreaking to read about their vindictiveness towards each other as Zelda sank deeper and deeper into a psychotic state.

This is not the first time the author has depicted distressing circumstances: Receive Me Falling touches on slavery, and Hemingway's Girl features a tattered and battered Hemingway with another example of a volatile relationship. Robuck can adeptly write these scenes as her voice is always clear and true though I am quite sure that I did not expect Call Me Zelda to be quite so melodramatically depressing, for lack of a better description.

Nurse Anna Howard's story is a major piece of the Fitzgerald puzzle as she is attempting to come to grips with the after-effects of the war and the fact her husband has disappeared while on duty. Anna becomes too close to the Fitzgeralds and subsequently blurs the lines between patient and nurse, but this flawed nature is what endears the reader to Anna, and being told in first person helps as well. The relationship between Zelda and Anna is the biggest thread to this story which plays itself out even when Zelda is not in the picture.

The nuances of the thirties are here in the telling through Zelda's letters and depictions of the past, but the story is very character-driven as they each attempt to manage their relationships. Zelda and Scott, Zelda and Scott and their daughter, Anna and the Fitzgeralds, Anna and her parents, Anna and her brother the priest, Anna and her missing husband, Anna and the missing husband's best friend, Anna and her driver, etc. It is a melancholy look at marriage between soul mates, at love that is lost to the ravages of time, of how misunderstandings irrevocably lead to disaster, of resilience of a little girl amidst it all, and how despite the tragedies and the grief, life goes on whether there is redemption or not.

While not a concentrated look at Zelda alone, using the narrator of Anna really helps the reader to imagine Zelda as a woman, a struggling wife and mother, and not just a flapper at a party. I love Erika Robuck's emotive writing especially because she always seems to be able to get at the heart of the characters just as she did with them here. I've always felt that Robuck's voice is eloquent and precise as she emits both the beauty and the tragedy of the figures she is portraying. The book chronicles the failures during their doomed quest to find the former life of the laughter and the young love in such a way that you will never be able to think of the Fitzgeralds in quite the same way again.

TSS | Post Office Fun | What Are You Reading?

   

Visit Svea's blog at The Muse in The Fog Book Review to start linking up your Sunday posts; Suddenly Sunday is a weekly event hosted by Svea whose purpose is to share all the exciting events that have occurred on your blog throughout the week.

Hope you are all having a nice Memorial Day weekend, and feeling peace as you remember your loved ones as you are spending some time off with family.

This week I snazzed up my twitter background, it was tons of fun. Go take a look at my twitter profile and let me know what you think! It's better than the last one anyway which was just a tiled image of my old blog button, but it is a pain in the butt to get it to look right from one computer screen to the next. Maybe that's why I had simply done a tiled image before...

I also spent tons of $$ at Kohls and got some cute tops including eight or nine tank tops so I think I'm ready for the summer since Spring has forgotten to spring. It's pretty darn muggy already! I also got a haircut - alleluia - which is a major feat with two kids and a full time job and always existing exhaustion, but I'm most proud because I braved it and just went to Great Clips and it wasn't a disaster. They're open on Sundays!

Also, a few weeks ago I used a mailbox/memes post to test out Google Plus Commenting where some of you could utilize that, however others who aren't on google plus can't comment. So I deleted the Google Plus commenting feature and of course that deleted the actual comments. Very glad I had only tested it out for a very short while, so if you were thinking about using the google plus feature (available via blogspot settings in your dashboard), it's not very blog friendly. It posts your comments to a stream on Google plus and it's just sort of stupid, so before any fellow bloggers decide to try it out I wanted you to be aware of these issues.

I need some prayer warriors for me.. totally need to get one of the school positions that are open and teasing me.. there are SEVEN positions that I've applied for - all paraprofessional jobs that might mean less money but it would offer an environment that I am perfect for. Pray that I get calls for some interviews there! Yes, I still have a job currently, but things are not looking so hot for the company and it's past time for me to move on. SEVEN is a good number in the bible, I hope it sends me positive energy!


Mailbox Monday is a meme originally from Marcia's Mailbox and is being hosted by Abi @ 4 the LOVE of BOOKS for this month. The Story Siren also hosts IMM, so we can find some cool YA titles there as well.

So as I mentioned last week, an idiot driver took out my mailbox so I've had to go to the glamorous post office to fetch my mail every day. Back when I was growing up on Long Island we had a quaint little receptacle attached to the house which negated all these mailbox issues. Ah, the good old days! Some of the older neighborhoods here in TX still have that old fashioned style of mailboxes, but I wonder if postmen started getting too overheated with all that walking and we all started putting our mailboxes on the street for efficiency's sake. So now my mailbox and steel pole is demolished and my husband will have to have the fortitude to install a new one when he gets the desire to. Meanwhile, it's off to the post office I go. Yay.


Featured eBook Download:

Take A Chance On Me by Susan May Warren 
This book was just begging for me to, ehm, take a chance on as I loved the author's historical Daughters of Fortune series and wanted to see if I would like her contemporary work as well. I splurged on the $1.99 special price.

Darek Christiansen is almost a dream bachelor—oldest son in the large Christiansen clan, heir to their historic Evergreen Lake Resort, and doting father. But he’s also wounded and angry since the tragic death of his wife, Felicity. No woman in Deep Haven dares come near.

New assistant county attorney Ivy Madison simply doesn’t know any better when she bids on Darek at the charity auction. Nor does she know that when she crafted a plea bargain three years ago to keep Jensen Atwood out of jail and in Deep Haven fulfilling community service, she was releasing the man responsible for Felicity’s death. All Ivy knows is that the Christiansens feel like the family she’s always longed for. And once she gets past Darek’s tough exterior, she finds a man she could spend the rest of her life with. Which scares her almost as much as Darek learning of her involvement in his wife’s case.

Caught between new love and old grudges, Darek must decide if he can set aside the past for a future with Ivy—a future more and more at risk as an approaching wildfire threatens to wipe out the Christiansen resort and Deep Haven itself.

For Review ...

Love at Any Cost (The Heart of San Francisco #1) by Julie Lessman - I haven't read any of Lessman's work even though I have all of her titles. I am eager to get started!

Jilted by a fortune hunter, cowgirl Cassidy McClare is a spunky Texas oil heiress without a fortune who would just as soon hogtie a man as look at him. Hoping a summer visit with her wealthy cousins in San Francisco will help her forget her heartache, Cassidy travels west. But no sooner is she settled in beautiful California than Jamie McKenna, a handsome pauper looking to marry well, captures her heart. When Jamie discovers the woman he loves is poorer than he is, Cassidy finds herself bucked by love a second time. Will Jamie discover that money can't buy love after all? And can Cassidy ever learn to fully trust her heart to a man? With delectable descriptions and a romantic sensibility, bestselling author Julie Lessman brings the Gilded Age to life in this sumptuous new series. Readers will faithfully follow Lessman to the West Coast for more romance, passion, and surprising revelations found in "Love at Any Cost."

The What Are You Reading meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where we keep track of what we are currently reading and plan to read.

This week on the blog there were two reviews:

David and Bathsheba by Roberta Kells Dorr (read quite awhile ago, but its pub date is early June). This is a reissued novel that I enjoyed enough to want to read Solomon's story which I hope they will reissue as well.

Last week I finally finished the chunky non-fiction read of American Phoenix: John Quincy and Louisa Adams, the War of 1812, and the Exile That Saved American Independence by Jane Hampton Cook and my review is here.

I needed some fast paced reading after that chunky one, and I couldn't have chosen better timing for Karen Witemeyer's newest novel Stealing The Preacher. I DEVOURED it. This book is fantastic for those wanting a preacher in their midst! Not fantastic for those who don't want to hear God's message, but perfect for those of us who do. Now THIS is Christian fiction the way I like it! I had read the novel that precedes this one and I loved it so much I went and bought her previous novels. Now I really can't wait to read them all.

Then I started reading Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck featuring the famous Fitzgeralds. I have always admired this author's work as her voice rings clear and true, and I know I won't be disappointed with this story.

Coming up I would have to read the above Julie Lessman title for review in the August HistNov mag, and then I will probably start either Firebird by Kearsley or Godiva by Galland. Godiva is an edelweiss copy I've had for awhile, and I just couldn't ever get myself in the mood for it. I don't like reading eGalleys as a general rule, so I wonder if the Godiva one has already expired anyway. I'm not going to care at this point if it's gone either, I am getting a little burned out on the review robot thing anyway =) as I am totally looking forward to some summer reading of my own books, such as Katherine by Anya Seton. If you want to join me in this read, we are planning on reading it as a group over on Goodreads. Feel free to join in. The start date is July, and I know some of you already said you would join in and I am so eager to begin the discussions, that I've already got the topics set up! See you there!

David and Bathsheba by Roberta Kells Dorr

The love story that rocked a kingdom

David and Bathseba (Song of Solomon #1) by Roberta Kells Dorr
Biblical fiction
Moody Publishers | River North; New Edition, June 2013
Paperback 320 pages
Review copy provided via publisher on NetGalley, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating:

David and Bathsheba is a spellbinding story of a gifted king and the woman he loved but could not have. Told from Bathsheba’s perspective, author Roberta Kells Dorr bring to life the passion that almost cost David his kingdom and tested a people’s courage and faith in God. “David and Bathsheba” is colored richly with details of Bible-era Israel – from the details of the everyday way of life to details of the Jewish religion. Dorr brilliantly merges reality with folklore as she tells the story of two great characters of the biblical era. The book starts out with Bathsheba as a young girl and David as a strong willed rebellious military leader. It details the way they meet and follows them all the way through their difficulties.

Readers of the bible would recognize the story of King David slayer of giants and how he became acquainted with Bathsheba. It was one of those times that upon reading the Bible I was a bit disgusted at how such a revered man behaved regarding women. Despite that, there is a new interest for me to read biblical novels since I am now through with reading the bible cover to cover for the first time.

Even though the synopsis states this is Bathsheba's point of view, that is not completely true. It is an omniscient narrator that offers a view from many angles, including David's new advisor Ahithopel who is Bathsheba's grandfather. Ahithopel is first portrayed as a wise and logical man, and has the best interests of his family at heart, especially since Bathsheba has lost her father during one of the many religious battles.We also get David's point of view, and his tumultuous relationship with Michal who was Saul's daughter.

There are quite a few battles in the Old Testament, and the one that brings the story of David to life is the victorious battle in Urusalim. Here we also meet Uri, who Ahithopel wants the young Bathsheba to marry. Bathsheba has little say in the matter, and is forced to marry Uri the Hittite whom readers of the bible would recognize as Uriah. There is turmoil during this marriage, and we know eventually that David will see Bathsheba bathing, and the rest is history.

The story of the bible is fleshed out, with views of a few sides. The many wives of David, the family of Bathsheba, and the sons of David all play a part in the story. I felt the central mover and shaker was actually Ahithopel, as it was at his will that major things occurred. While the events of Bathsheba's life are the key events, do not expect to just get her side of the story, because in the end you'll get a full sense of the restless era that contains David and the sad story of his sons Absalom and Amnon, with the hope of righteousness finally settling on young Solomon, the son of David and Bathsheba.

As a reissue from 1980 I was not overly passionate about it at first. Its tone was a bit too matter-of-fact as it offered interesting background information to Bathsheba's family as a child. Towards the latter of the novel I became more entrenched in the story while the author filled in the voids from what we know from David and Bathsheba's lives from the bible. Both the historical details of Israel and the biblical sense were very well presented and I would recommend it to those who have not already read David and Bathsheba's fictionalized story yet.

From what I can tell Solomon's Song was written as a sequel, but I can't tell if that is being reissued yet. Queen of Sheba is being reissued a month after this one, but I would prefer to read the story of Solomon. It is a testament to the good writing of Roberta Kells Dorr that I am already eager to read that story.

American Phoenix: John Quincy and Louisa Adams, the War of 1812, and the Exile that Saved American Independence by Jane Hampton Cook

American Phoenix: John Quincy and Louisa Adams, the War of 1812, and the Exile that Saved American Independence by Jane Hampton Cook
Non-fiction
Thomas Nelson; May 2013
Hardcover 512 pages
Review copy provided by BookSneeze in exchange for this review, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating:

American Phoenix tells the gripping story of John Quincy Adams’s “honorable exile” during the War of 1812 and the harrowing journey of his wife, Louisa, to be reunited with her family.

American diplomat John Quincy Adams and his wife, Louisa, had two things in common with the audacious Napoleon Bonaparte—speaking perfect French and living in exile. American Phoenix reveals the untold true story of Quincy’s unexpected nomination as the top US envoy to Russia in 1809, and Louisa’s agony at being forced to leave their six- and eight-year old boys behind in Boston. Believing that ambition can never repay such sacrifice, she clings to the hope of reuniting with her sons in a year. Pretention, royal dissipation, extreme weather, covert political maneuvers, French interference, private tragedy, and two great wars trap them in St. Petersburg longer than their worst fears. Their personal story is soon swept into the public drama of Napoleon’s war with Russia and America’s war with Great Britain, which ultimately force John Quincy and Louisa to live apart. When Napoleon escapes his exile, his march to reclaim Paris threatens to forever separate John Quincy and Louisa from each other and their children back home.

American Phoenix uncovers the challenges, fears, sorrows, joys, triumphs, and faith that come when life—no matter the era—takes an unexpected journey.

American Phoenix is the story of the political exile that John Quincy and Louisa Adams endured in Russia in 1809-1815. These historical figures wrote many letters and diaries which are now used to help characterize these two iconic figures of American history. But this book is more than just a look at this famous couple, there are other diplomats also in the Imperial courts of the Czar Alexander which is the setting for most of this impressive piece of literature.

Aside from just the important political atmosphere of the times, issues with social customs, trade embargoes, Napoleon and family matters all come together in this non-fiction account of this period that is left out of most children's history books. The nuances of the era are evident as Louisa laments of her lack of funds to suitably dress herself for the dances held at court because when she humbly declines she is facing the ire of the Imperial Mother. Louisa's sister Kitty is with the Adams on this diplomatic trip abroad, and she attracts the attention of the Czar and irks Louisa's sensibilities, illustrating one example of Louisa's own family life.

The author writes, "The long-term repercussions would influence not only John's future as a diplomat but ultimately the success of US trade in Europe and thus practical acceptance of America's sovereignty." This was John Q Adams main purpose in Russia: opening up favorable trade routes despite the enmity between France and England. But who was the USA, anyway? In 1810 America was certainly not an influential country it has since become; the book indicates it was still seen as a part of England no matter how many times the USA sought independence from the British.

The strongest theme in the first half of the book is this commerce and trade issue, which is why Adams was sent to Russia as a diplomat. "There was a pretty strong sentiment against the colonial trade in Paris, because they considered it as all English," a peeved Caulaincourt replied. Napoleon was a major player in this as the Emperor of France and as diplomats began to talk amongst themselves the seeds of discontent regarding Napoleon are planted. We watch Napoleon come and go, and come again, and go again as Adams attempts to avoid costly wars despite the European conflicts, and he hears months later of news from America and the Redcoats invasion.

Alongside John's peacemaking political endeavor, we never forget Louisa, who was forced to leave two of her boys behind in America while she was surrounded by blankets of ice with little hope of communication from her family in America. Since she was fluent in French she was able to converse easily with others in a royal court, and was a respectable and pretty lady. On the inside, she was aching to go home, and the author imparts this sort of depression through the very words of Louisa herself. And this little foray to St. Petersburg wasn't supposed to take quite as long as it did, so as the years iced over during that "honorable" exile she suffered "doubt, guilt, denial, depression and nightmares" as she coped with childbearing and loss.

And of course there is John Quincy, with intriguing facts about the man who was subject to venomous attacks from political foes in America. Yet, while in Russia, later Paris, and later England, he was achieving respectability, even though it was a long and tedious process. But relations with Britain and America were never going to get better unless the British made amends for either kidnapping or killing sailors and injuring others during supposed peace time off the Virginia coast. The book relates all the maneuvers through John's eyes that lead to the wars, with British's invasion of Washington in October 1814 as well as Napoleon's earlier invasion of Russia. The eventual rise of America from the ashes is coincidental (or is it?) with the rise of Adams' respectability, and imparts the symbolism of the title American Phoenix.

As evidenced by this lengthy review (typical of all non-fiction reviews I write) the material was vast and the book shows how well the author researched her topics. I cannot imagine a full biography on the couple; if it came from this author I would expect it to be a few thousand pages! The Adams left us many of their letters and notes that their son helped edit and compile which were used as sources for this work by Jane Hampton Cook but her writing offers much more insight and details surrounding the atmosphere in which the letters were written. By focusing on these important political years, the author was able to exhibit the characteristics of John Quincy and Louisa Adams in such an informative way that we don't miss the "full biography" format and we get an expansive look at the political connections of John Quincy Adams as a representative of America. The author ended the book with the brief summary of their lives after these significant years of the exile, so you will not be left wanting to learn any more that what this book provides for this topic. This book is a fabulous tool to help humanize John Quincy and Louisa Adams as they endured much hardship on behalf of securing America's independence.

I also wanted to add that there were extensive notes and references as opposed to footnotes, thankfully they were at the end of the book as opposed to interfering with the flow of the book. After the notes were the bibliography and index for easy reference material, making this book a keeper for your American history library.


Thanks to BookSneeze for a free copy of American Phoenix, in exchange for this honest and long-winded review. I felt I owed it to my country. *wink*

TSS | Mailbox Monday | Group Reads Info | FTC Mindgames

   

Visit Svea's blog at The Muse in The Fog Book Review to start linking up your Sunday posts; Suddenly Sunday is a weekly event hosted by Svea whose purpose is to share all the exciting events that have occurred on your blog throughout the week.

Spring was here, right? Was it? It's already hit over 90 degrees here in Texas, and meanwhile not too long ago I was wearing turtlenecks. Despite the heat, I took my kiddos out to the local Founder's Day Festival (150 years old Rockwall is) and we had some fun shopping and eating and hanging out with Radio Disney yesterday.

Exciting Events:
Go find yourself a used copy of that classic 1954 novel Katherine by Anya Seton, and come join us for a July Group Read. Information is here at the Goodreads Classic HF Group.

We have also just begun the Bible Study Plan of Major People. This plan will span 89 days but consists of 65 weekday daily chapters, leaving the weekends available for further study. You can follow along here, stragglers are allowed to participate at any time.

Instead of doing Armchair BEA this year I am going to do a giveaway here on the blog. I had tons of fun last year participating and I met new people, but I never really conversed with those folks again and I don't really have the time to devote to it this year.. so I am going to stick with my followers here and host some giveaways here without going through the 'Armchair' motions, lol. But, if you are a YA blogger, the Armchair BEA has tons of participants from that niche, and I definitely would recommend it to the YA followers! HINT subscribe by email, and find BBR on facebook to get more entries for the upcoming giveaways. I'll be pulling some books from the shelves that will be some general literature and christian historical fiction. My library is getting too insane for me to handle and I wouldn't mind sharing it with you!

Reviews on the blog this week: 

• In Times of Fading Light by Eugen Ruge (literary 'historical' fiction)
• Josiah's Treasure by Nancy Herriman (historical fiction, minimal faith references)

Old News that was New news to me, and as such I wanted to share:
 I created a little post about the FTC. It spread like wildfire on twitter as some strongly feel the FTC  has nothing to do with book blogging. It increased my hits tremendously, how awesome is that? Within the span of an hour there were 100 pageviews on that post alone. There is some disagreement over the term book blogger versus advertiser versus reviewer versus journalist versus writer versus marketer.. Some bloggers feel like they are blogging, some feel like they are promoting. I do feel like a review robot because all the reviews I do are 'expected' to be posted at a certain time. If I am on someone else's schedule like I have been for the last four years of reviewing, I do feel like an advertiser, albeit in a bloggy sort of way. Anyway, here's my quick turn around of a sort of rebuttal post to my own post, as I didn't want everyone to start taking my editorial as gospel (gasp!).

Who is the expert on this? No one. No matter what title you give yourself, from blogger to reviewer to writer to professional reader to professional reviewer etc etc each of us are entitled to post our feelings and that is what I did. I posted a letter to the FTC also to see if they would ever clarify their guidelines towards book bloggers. Because I DO want to know. Because of the quantity of varying and passionate opinions, we need some sort of fact from the actual source: the FTC.

Look how my traffic for the day spiked with the FTC post!! 117 views in about an hour. Woohoo! But my post sparked conversation and enlightenment throughout the blogosphere, and for that I'm eternally grateful. If I get a response to that letter, y'all will be the first to know (not counting on it)!

Most important lesson learned from all of this is that there is a need for more beneficial and helpful conversation about these matters that mean the most to us. Bloggers are supposed to stick together, because one of the biggest things bloggers mention about why they enjoy blogging is the camaraderie and helpfulness from virtual strangers within the blogging community. Let's not lose sight of that as we try to establish an amicable standard of book blogging in regards to free review books.


Mailbox Monday is a meme originally from Marcia's Mailbox and is being hosted by Abi @ 4 the LOVE of BOOKS for this month. The Story Siren also hosts IMM, so we can find some cool YA titles there as well.

Starting Monday I'm going to have to rename this meme "books I had to pick up at my post office". Some douchebag drunken fool smashed into my mailbox and tore out the steel pole as well (this is going to be fun to repair) and also tore down the neighbor's box and pole also. Idiots! I was pleased to see they left some car parts behind, and I hope it costs them tons of money to fix. Since they didn't land in the ditch by the neighbor's driveway, and judging from the damage done, I think it was a truck that came through. Texans love their pickup trucks and unfortunately the speed limit is 50 since it's a rural area. Grr. 

From Paperbackswap:

The Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden - I had read Camden's Against The Tide (review) not too long ago and really enjoyed it. It was a bit of a mix of christian fiction, romance, history and suspense..looking forward to this one which is actually the one that comes before Against The Tide, which is a 2013 Christy Award Nominee.

When Clara Endicott and Daniel Tremain's worlds collide after twelve years apart, the spark that was once between them immediately reignites into a romance neither of them thought possible.
But time has changed them both.
Daniel is an industrial titan with powerful enemies. Clara is an idealistic journalist determined to defend underprivileged workers.
Can they withstand the cost of their convictions while their hearts--and lives--hang in the balance?

eBook Download:

Heroes and Monsters: An Honest Look at the Struggle Within All of Us by Josh Riebock

Heroes and Monsters is an unforgettable memoir of passion and redemption, a ragged look into a world at once wildly twisted and profoundly beautiful, an exposé of both the hero and the monster within all of us.In this stunningly honest, thoroughly unconventional, and ultimately hopeful book, Josh James Riebock explores issues that form us into the people we are--issues of family, love, intimacy, dreams, grief, purpose, and the unexpected stops along the journey. With artful prose and vivid storytelling, he shows that pain and beauty are so inextricably linked that to lose the former costs us the latter. If you're grappling with life's inconsistencies and trials, If you're searching for an encounter with something real, If you're craving a story that's just a wee bit odd . . .Heroes and Monsters is a fresh and exhilarating perspective on the uneven nature of life, and the equally uneven people who inhabit it.

Portraits of Integrity: Real People Who Demonstrated Godly Character Volume 2 by Marilyn Boyer, Grace Tumas

Volume II of Portraits of Integrity brings your family another double dose of inspiration for greatness. Highlighting some prominent heroes from various periods of history, this book introduces you to:
--Nate Saint, the missionary pilot who, with four other brave men, gave his life in the effort to bring the Gospel to the Auca Indians of South America
--World War I hero, Sergeant Alvin York who single-handedly captured thirty-eight enemy machine guns and 132 prisoners
--Nathan Hale, George Washington's daring young spy who boldly entered British territory on a mission and when caught and about to be hung, spoke his last words: "I only regret that I have but one lift to lose for my country."
- Captain Eddie Simpson, the World War II pilot who, having survived the crash of his plane behind enemy lines then declined to escape, choosing instead to sacrifice his life for those of French Resistance fighters, delaying the advancing Germans long enough to make their escape
And much more!
Portraits of Integrity, Volume II is another exciting collection of true stories that will inspire your family members to strive for the heights of worthy character.

The What Are You Reading meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where we keep track of what we are currently reading and plan to read.

Currently Reading:

I've been reading the chunkster of a non-fiction book on an American icon John Quincy Adams and actually just completed it late last night. I learned a lot about politics of the 1810 decade, and the events that lead to the War of 1812. Mostly I've read quaint little Regency style type romps that would be in this decade, and this is quite far from that ideal. America is struggling to assert herself as a country, and John Quincy Adams is over in Russia trying to persuade Czar Alexander (who may or may not have helped murder his father) to help the commerce and trade routes. American ships were being seized by the British, Napoleon was seizing our cargo, and Russia was our ally. But this is also the story of his wife, Louisa, who was forced to join Mr. Adams on his political exile to Russia. It's took FOREVER (ten days) to read because of the details and it is all new material for me, but I still recommend it.

Up Next:
Same as last week, just try to survive:
Quite a few titles in the pile, including Call Me Zelda, Stealing the Preacher, Firebird by Kearsley, Godiva by Galland, Wildish by Parry. It would be nice if I could get all these done before the July Group Read of Katherine by Anya Seton. Wishful thinking, I know. I have so many pressures in real life right now, blogging about books is kinda like not exactly high on the priorities list as I pray for the tornado victims not too far from me, and I wonder why I bother blogging anyway. Oh yeah, it's cuz some of my most awesome followers would miss me and I thank them for their love and support! Have a happy happy week, everyone! =)