Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Top Ten Tuesday: The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed From My Shelf

 





Sometimes I feel like I have the same authors all the time on my shelf! Probably because I do :) I also read so many books on Kindle that my bookshelf is kind of bare these days. But here are the ten random books I picked out to share. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

1. Alexandra by Carolly Erickson (wonderful biography written in a narrative style about the last Tsarina of Russia)

2. The Road To Compiegne by Jean Plaidy (Book Two in her series on the French Revolution)

3. Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George (The title says it all....I need to read this!)

4. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (truly a prized possession....I've read it four times and here is my review https://www.shellielovesbooks.com/2022/04/gone-with-wind-by-margaret-mitchell.html

5. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (a children's classic about a boy from Boston who experiences the American Revolution first hand...a fantastic book for adults too) 

6. The Highland Clearances by John Prebble (can be a bit dry in certain parts if you are used to historical fiction, but this is the gold standard for non-fiction information about this time period, I am lucky to have a copy!)

7. The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon (Book 5 in the Outlander series....I have all of her books so honestly, I could close my eyes and point and I'd probably have a good chance of getting one of them)

8. When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman (Book One in her fantastic Plantagenet series; I want to read it again one day but it's a beast to get through!)

9. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (a satirical take on the Christian life by a man I have read and admired for many years)

10. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (I really need to finish this series....a great way to learn about the politics, wars, and drama of the early 20th century). 














Saturday, April 29, 2023

Stacking the Shelves #1

 


Sometimes I just want to post about books I'm planning to read or have recently added to my shelves. Stacking the Shelves is perfect for that....it's a weekly meme hosted by Reading Reality. While I might not do it every week, it looks fun to do when I am wanting to share what my TBR pile is looking like. Happy Reading!





Book One in a new series.....combine Scotland, a cozy mystery, and a manor house and you make me happy! I recently posted for Can't Wait Wednesday about book two in this new series so I thought I'd start with the first one. Hoping I've found another Verity Bright-type of book. 



I'm currently watching this movie (it's four hours long so I'm viewing it in chunks!) and it's on my Classics Club list to read in the next five years. May as well get started, right? I love, love, love Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean so I'm hoping the movie doesn't spoil my enjoyment of the book if the images in my head aren't aligned. Also, born, raised, and lived in Texas all my life so we will see if I like how it portrays my home :) 




As spring arrives and we near summer vacation, I just go crazy for all things Caribbean. I have wanted to read this book for awhile and it was on sale at Book Bub so I bought it for my Kindle. After seeing the length (over 800 pages) and realizing not all the sections look interesting to me, I've decided to read the parts that I want to and just take my time with it. But that cover....can I move there please?

What new books have you acquired recently? Share with me because I'm always up for new things to read!


Friday, April 28, 2023

Josephine: A Life of the Empress by Carolly Erickson



Publication Date: April 1, 1999

Length: 400 pages

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

This is the third biography by Carolly Erickson that I've read. She is one of my favorite authors for narrative non-fiction, meaning books that are true but feel much like a novel. Her research is always solid and includes a multitude of primary sources, diary entries, and little tidbits of information that really make one feel like she is in the mind and personal life of her subject. 

The book is divided into Josephine's early life, her marriage to her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, son of the French Governor of Martinique and a member of the French nobility, her marriage to Napoleon, and later, her life as the divorcee former Empress of France. She was born in the year 1763 on the island of Martinique to impoverished sugar planter parents, Joseph and Rose Tascher who struggled to make ends meet. Living in near poverty and existing alongside the African slaves on the plantation, Trois-Ilets, Josephine and her siblings grow up with the slow, languid style of island life which stays with them throughout their lives. As children, they are free spirited and often unsupervised, learning the customs and ways of those around them.  With their father unable to send them off to more polished, sophisticated schools where they could hone their common edges, the Tascher siblings find themselves caught between two worlds: that of the island and that of the future expectations awaiting them in France. 

Her first marriage to her aunt's godson and the son of Alexandre de Beauharnais is lonely and troubling for Rose (her name until her marriage to Napoleon). Unused to sophisticated Parisian ways, she is often insecure in the forced social settings and must cope with her husband's lack of interest in her and his overwhelming loyalty and obsession with his mistress. They manage to produce two children during their tumultuous marriage, although Rose finds she is helpless when Alexandre decides to assert his rights as guardian and at one point even removes her son from her care. 

As the French Revolution heats up and the Reign of Terror begins, Rose is forced to confront the fact that she is powerless as a member of the nobility and throughout imprisonment and some of the most trying circumstances of her life, her fragile yet kind nature is revealed. Although she is often unscrupulous in her willingness to seek refuge from her despair, Rose manages to maintain her sanity and emerges with a determination to start a new life. 

Meeting Napoleon Bonaparte charts a course for her that will take her from poor impoverished daughter of the West Indies, to Empress of the French and throughout she uses her charm and survival instincts to thrive in a world that is constantly changing and challenging her ability to live the carefree life she craves.

Without giving away the entire story, it is fair to say that Erickson does her best work during the chapters on the French Revolution. She evokes the misery and degradation suffered by the imprisoned, helpless citizens caught up in the frenzy of madness and I found myself seeing, hearing, even smelling the sights and sounds of what it must have been like. Each day crowded into cells with strangers, not knowing if you will be taken out to lose your head clearly left indelible scars on Josephine. 

Napoleon enters the book about halfway through and I found his family dynamics absolutely fascinating, including their total disdain for his wife and Napoleon's inability to defend her against his unforgiving Corsican relatives. He comes across as an incredibly odd and socially awkward man who alternates between total obsession for his wife romantically with disregard for her feelings. Although Erickson explains the history behind the wars and battles he led, her focus is more on her subject and the nature of her relationship to Napoleon himself. 

Throughout the book, Josephine is often presented as sexually promiscuous to a fault, although one almost forgives her as it is framed within the loose social mores of the times, especially her life in Paris during the marriage to her first husband and during the Revolution, when all decency ceased in the chaos of the time. She still manages to come across as a sympathetic figure, and in light of her two disappointing marriages and inability to be with her true romantic lovers, one understands that she was using whatever she had in her arsenal to make ends meet and provide for herself and her family. She makes no pretense about wanting to live the comfortable life and uses her charm and grace to her advantage.

I enjoyed this book and although I'd have preferred a bit more history behind Napoleon and the political dynamics of the day, Erickson does a good job of including just enough to keep one informed. But it is clearly focused on relationships and romantic intrigue so if you are looking for a biography with more historical depth, this probably isn't the place to start. There is a lot of emphasis on fashions of the day and the lifestyles of the rich and famous French aristocracy which might turn off serious history buffs. I found that part interesting but sometimes tedious and could have done without so much of it. But overall, a solid four star work on the life of a fascinating, flawed lady.
















 

Saturday, April 22, 2023

Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie

 



Publication Date: 1944

Length:  288 pages

My Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

This is the April selection for the Read Christie 2023 challenge. I just love the cover and the title, it is such a contrast of festive and celebratory with the sinister. Having many other books to get through right now and being a teacher in the middle of testing season I wasn't sure I was going to add another Christie book to my TBR pile. But I am glad I didn't skip this one. It was a quick, easy read but with a fun premise that kept me intrigued. I think I'm becoming a Christie fan after all!

One year ago Rosemary Barton died suddenly at her birthday party, ghoulishly falling over at dinner, blue and gasping from the poison she ingested. It is assumed that she committed suicide due to her depression after recovering from a serious bout of flu, however her younger sister Iris Marle is not so sure. Living under the guardianship of her widower brother in law, George, Iris has discovered that Rosemary was having an affair prior to her death and was planning to leave her husband. Evidence that she was deserted by her love leads Iris to think this was the true cause of her depression. As more unfolds, it begins to seem as if Rosemary's death may in fact not be suicide at all, but rather, murder. 

In the first part of the story we are introduced one by one to the other guests at the table. There is Ruth Lessing, George's faithful, hard working secretary, Anthony Browne, the American who appears unscrupulous and having had a previous affair with Rosemary, quickly tired of her. The married Farradays, Stephen and Sandra, who are part of the upper crust, Stephen in Parliament and Sandra an heiress of the powerful Kidderminster family, and finally George, who comes across as a rather boring, dutiful, cuckolded husband. When George arranges to recreate the dinner a year later, hoping to expose the possible murderer of his former wife, he is in fact poisoned in the same way, at the same table, in the exact same restaurant. It seems highly unlikely that this a coincidence and now all the members of the dinner party are bewildered and concerned about who might be next. 

The detective for this story is neither Hercule Poirot nor Miss Marple, but rather one I'd never heard of before....Colonel Race. He is a former military fellow and astute to the goings on around him, trying to warn George not to take things into his own hands. I didn't feel like I got to know him very well here but I see he appears in other books (had no idea!) and might need to read one to get a better idea of his personality. 

I enjoyed this book and liked how the first part went through each main character and their link to Rosemary. I was kept guessing throughout and although I was ultimately correct about who the murderer was, I was way off as to the why they did it. It was very cleverly crafted and with details I only saw after finishing the story, a hallmark of so many of Christie's books I now notice. It is amazing how the pieces all end up fitting together in the end. 





















Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Can't Wait Wednesday: The Sugar Merchant's Wife by Lizzie Lane

 


For this week's Can't Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, I'm featuring The Sugar Merchant's Wife by Lizzie Lane. I was drawn by the cover, the title, and the time period. The story is part of a series and that appeals to me too. It looks like a romantic saga but with lots of interesting twists. If you've read one of the books in the series...what did you think?

May 25, 2023
**After posting this I found out this book is not new. It is being republished under another name (same author). It was originally published in February 2005 titled Just Before Dawn, by Jeannie Johnson. 

Historical Fiction



Description courtesy of NetGalley

In the face of changing fortunes, the Strong family must unite to keep their wealth and status…or risk losing it all.As Cholera sweeps through the streets of Bristol, no one is immune. Blanche and her husband Conrad Heinkel, sugar merchant and master sugar baker, are devastated when their seven-year-old daughter Anne, is taken by the deadly disease.

Lost in her own immense grief, her childhood sweetheart Tom Strong, is the only man who can heal Blanche’s terrible hurt and reignite the passion for life and love that has died within her.
But Horatia Strong, daughter of the eldest Strong son, has her sights on grabbing power of the Strong family dynasty. Ambitious and more ruthless than most women, she is still desperately in love with her adoptive cousin, Tom, despite his humble birth. As her brother Nelson succumbs to his opium habit, Horatia, believes that only Tom can give her the wealth and strength to take the family businesses to new heights.

Will Tom be able to leave his romantic history with Blanche behind for the sake of the Strong family? Or will Blanche and Tom get their happy ending they deserve?