Skip to main content

Friday Finds

The King's Favorite: A Novel of Nell Gwynn and Charles II, by Susan Holloway Scott. Historical fiction about the just-named historical figures; and since I love anything that has to do with Charles II (see my review of Forever Amber), I thought this would be right up my alley.

Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny With a Chance of Hissy Fits, by Celia Rivenbark. Humor essays; reviewed here yesterday.

The Dark Lantern, by Gerri Brightwell. Historical fiction set in Victorian England, told through the eyes of a servant whose mother was a murderer.

The Book of Unholy Mischief, by Elle Newmark. I added this to my TBR pile on LibraryThing at the beginning of the week, but when I sat down to write this post I couldn't, for the life of me, remember what it was about. And there's no description of the book on Amazon, because it won't be out until December. Maybe I requested an ARC of this book? I must have Altzeimers. At age 25.

Cover the Mirrors, by Faye Booth. More Victorian England, about spiritualism. Sounds quirky and off-the-wall.

In the meantime, I'm reading Company of Liars, by Karen Maitland. I'm only about 150 pages into it and really liking it, so I'll get a review posted as soon as I can.

Comments

Iliana said…
I'm a big fan of historical fiction so I've had The Dark Lantern on my radar for a while now... I must look into Cover the Mirrors. That one already sounds great.
Danielle said…
I read The Dark Lantern a while back and thought it was a pretty entertaining read. I must also check out Cover the Mirrors--that one is new to me. And I'm waiting for a library copy of Company of Liars, so I'm glad to hear you like it!
Anonymous said…
Ooh, your finds sound good! I'll be looking for your review of The King's Favorite especially - I read Duchess by the same author and really liked it.
Anonymous said…
I found this description online. I read this when it was self-published as Bones of the Dead and loved it. "It’s 1498, the dawn of the Renaissance, and Venice is teeming with rumors about an ancient book thought to hold dangerous secrets. Powerful men will stop at nothing to get it, and those who have it will die to protect it...Rich with historical detail, vivid characters, thought-provoking "heresies," and sumptuous culinary metaphors that readers will love, The Book of Unholy Mischief is a unique treat."

Popular posts from this blog

Another giveaway

This time, the publicist at WW Norton sent me two copies of The Glass of Time , by Michael Cox--so I'm giving away the second copy. Cox is the author of The Meaning of Night, and this book is the follow-up to that. Leave a comment here to enter to win it! The deadline is next Sunday, 10/5/08.

A giveaway winner, and another giveaway

The winner of the Girl in a Blue Dress contest is... Anna, of Diary of An Eccentric ! My new contest is for a copy of The Shape of Mercy , by Susan Meissner. According to Publisher's Weekly : Meissner's newest novel is potentially life-changing, the kind of inspirational fiction that prompts readers to call up old friends, lost loves or fallen-away family members to tell them that all is forgiven and that life is too short for holding grudges. Achingly romantic, the novel features the legacy of Mercy Hayworth—a young woman convicted during the Salem witch trials—whose words reach out from the past to forever transform the lives of two present-day women. These book lovers—Abigail Boyles, elderly, bitter and frail, and Lauren Lars Durough, wealthy, earnest and young—become unlikely friends, drawn together over the untimely death of Mercy, whose precious diary is all that remains of her too short life. And what a diary! Mercy's words not only beguile but help Abigail and Lars

Six Degrees of Barbara Pym's Novels

This year seems to be The Year of Barbara Pym; I know some of you out there are involved in some kind of a readalong in honor of the 100th year of her birth. I’ve read most of her canon, with only The Sweet Dove Died, Civil to Strangers, An Academic Question, and Crampton Hodnet left to go (sadly). Barbara Pym’s novels feature very similar casts of characters: spinsters, clergymen, retirees, clerks, and anthropologists, with which she had direct experience. So it stands to reason that there would be overlaps in characters between the novels. You can trace that though the publication history of her books and therefore see how Pym onionizes her stories and characters. She adds layers onto layers, adding more details as her books progress. Some Tame Gazelle (1950): Archdeacon Hoccleve makes his first appearance. Excellent Women (1952): Archdeacon Hoccleve gives a sermon that is almost incomprehensible to Mildred Lathbury; Everard Bone understands it, however, and laughs