Library Haul This Week...I Went Aground!

 

I know, right?  That Nalini Singh book "Tangle of Need" just leaps off the picture!  I became a fan of hers when I was thrust into reading a copy of one of her books a couple of years ago on Netgalley, I think.  She is, (and I quote Booklist here) "The alpha author of paranormal romance."  Her men are to DIE for and I'm really not even into the whole thing, believe me.

So, when I was perusing the new books in fiction at the library, this one reached out and grabbed me.  Isn't the cover hot!?

 

 

 

About wolf changlings, I gather....  :]

 

 

 

Anyway, I have to tell you I went to the library with a list of books I wanted to find and came home with not one of them!

They were all checked out or already on hold.

 

I don't know if you know about Naples, FL, where I live, but it's a community that has a small town feel with the "year 'round" people (of which I'm one), and then we have a large group of people who come down here just for the winter.  Generally, they're called "snow birds," but I call them "winter hawks."

 

I call them that because it better describes how we natives really feel about most of them.  They clog the traffic, act like they own our town and amenities, get pretentious, take all the new books from "my" library, reserve all the seats in the restaurants...well, you get the drift.  Ordinarily, we're a small, quiet town...rather laid back. Pleasant people.

 

When "the birds" are around, we have to fight for space!!

So, while most of the year I can always find the newest books I need on my library shelves, in season...they're gone!  Rats!!

 

The above represents what I found in total.  Here's the breakdown:

 

 

 

 

Short Summary:

 

ALL BETSEY DOBSON HAS EVER ASKED IS THE CHANCE TO BE VIEWED ON HER OWN MERITS, BUT IN A MAN’S WORLD, THAT IS THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN

 

When Betsey disembarks from the London train in the seaside resort of Idensea, all she owns is a small valise and a canary in a cage. After attempting to forge a letter of reference she knew would be denied her, Betsey has been fired from the typing pool of her previous employer. Her vigorous protest left one man wounded, another jilted, and her character permanently besmirched...

Couldn't resist this one.  It's been on my TBR list for a couple of weeks, so I was gasping when I found it.  Grabbed it quickly before a bird beak pecked...

 

Short Summary:

The year is 1919 and the Great War has ended. Sergeant Quinn Walker--with a damaged body and soul from his wartime experiences--decides to return home to the small and desolate town of Flint, Australia, to set right the past. Ten years earlier, he had fled following the horrific rape and murder of his beloved younger sister Sarah--a crime that everyone, including his family, believed Quinn committed.

See!!  Aren't you glad I got this one for a review!?  I can't wait to read it.  Doesn't it sound good?

 

 

 

 

Small Summary which doesn't do this one justice:

 

A young woman tries to save three people she loves in this elegant and remarkably insightful coming-of-age debut.

Afraid of losing her parents at a young age—her father with his weak heart, her deeply depressed mother—Naomi Feinstein prepared single-mindedly for a prestigious future as a doctor.

This one takes place around Wellesley College and I nearly fell over having to get this one.  I would have torn it from the hands of a bird!  Notice the bird on the cover....  I raised my children in Wellesley, MA, and loved the community...love my friends there.  Had to have this one to read.

                                       Now, 2 audio books:

 

Synopsis in a nutshell...

 

It is 1940. France has fallen. Bombs are dropping on London. And President Roosevelt is promising he won't send our boys to fight in "foreign wars." "But American radio gal Frankie Bard, the first woman to report from the Blitz in London, wants nothing more than to bring the war home. Frankie's radio dispatches crackle across the Atlantic Ocean, imploring listeners to pay attention - as the Nazis bomb London nightly, and Jewish refugees stream across Europe...

 

This is really not the gorgeous cover of the audiobook I have, but same book.  My husband and I were actually fortune enough to see Sarah Blake at the Miami Book Fair a couple of years ago and to hear her talk about this book.  She was such a class act and very funny!  I started reading it

but never finished it, so I'm looking forward to this on audio.

I'll post a review...

 

 

 

 

Summary:

 

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg takes us to Chicago at the time of World War II in this wonderful story about three sisters, their lively Irish family, and the men they love.
As the novel opens, Kitty and Louise Heaney say good-bye to their boyfriends Julian and Michael, who are going to fight overseas. On the domestic front, meat is rationed, children participate in metal drives, and Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller play songs that offer hope and lift spirits...

You know I'm such a sucker for WWII stories, so I couldn't resist this novel, either.  I'm going to have to find time to listen.  This one is 8 discs...  Elizabeth Berg is a wonderful author.

                                That's my Library Haul this week.

Did you get to the library?  What did you find?  I also downloaded
"The Chaperone" by Moriarty for listening on my laptop, and I'm reading "The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society" tonight for a review tomorrow....

Busy and loving my reading and scrounging for books.   Let me know if you've found any inventive ways to find books.  I saw that one person on YouTube had a money challenge.  She gave herself $20. and set about seeing how many books she could find for within that amount.  I'm thinking about trying that in Feb.

What other good ideas do you have??

Deborah/TheBookishDame

WINNERS! January Giveaways..

 

 

It's time to announce the winners of our January Giveaways.

 

Here they are!

 

 

"The Forgotten Queen"   Lara

 

"A Thing Done"  Cyn

 

"Alaina Claiborne"  Rhonda 

 

 

 

 

"This Cake Is For The Party"  Suzie

 

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who entered, and to the winners for the month.

 

Stay tuned for more giveaways in the month of February!

 

And thanks so much for stopping by and commenting on the blog.

 

You all are what keeps Jessica, Catherine and me going!!

 

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Burning Embers" by Hannah Fielding ~ Hot & Sultry!

 

SUMMARY :

 

Coral Sinclair is a beautiful but naïve twenty-five-year-old photographer who has just lost her father. She's leaving the life she's known and traveling to Kenya to take ownership of her inheritance--the plantation that was her childhood home--Mpingo. On the voyage from England, Coral meets an enigmatic stranger to whom she has a mystifying attraction. She sees him again days later on the beach near Mpingo, but Coral's childhood nanny tells her the man is not to be trusted. It is rumored that Rafe de Monfort, owner of a neighboring plantation and a nightclub, is a notorious womanizer having an affair with her stepmother, which may have contributed to her father's death.

 

Circumstance confirms Coral's worst suspicions, but when Rafe's life is in danger she is driven to make peace. A tentative romance blossoms amidst a meddling ex-fiancé, a jealous stepmother, a car accident, and the dangerous wilderness of Africa. Is Rafe just toying with a young woman's affections? Is the notorious womanizer only after Coral's inheritance? Or does Rafe's troubled past color his every move, making him more vulnerable than Coral could ever imagine?

Set in 1970, this contemporary historical romance sends the seemingly doomed lovers down a destructive path wrought with greed, betrayal, revenge, passion, and love.

Read More

 

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

 

Published by:  Omnific Publishing

Pages:  282

Genre:  Contemporary Fiction

Author:  Hannah Fielding

Find this book:  Barnes & Noble

More about the Author:  Hannah Fielding

 

 

 

A BIT ABOUT MS FIELDING :

 

 

 

 

 

When I was a child, my governess told me fairy stories. These tales, full of superstition and magic, were my first inspiration, and the warmth and colour they still evoke greatly influence my writing. They were also the experience through which I learned to become a storyteller, as my governess and I had an agreement – whenever she told me a story, I would have to tell her one in return.
As a novelist, I am obsessed by vivid colours, lush landscapes and tales of exotic customs in far-off lands. I can trace much of this back to a dear and long-departed friend of my family Mr Chiumbo Wangai, who fascinated me as a teenager with stories of the witch-doctors and magical ceremonies in his native Kenya. When I visited the country myself, I soon fell in love with its beautiful countryside and unforgettable sunsets.
Though I have been telling stories since I was a child, it was only after my children had grown up and my husband and I had turned our family business into a success that I felt I could devote myself to writing full time. After I dug out the various ideas and sketches I had jotted down over the years, I realised how profoundly my travels throughout Europe, the Mediterranean and particularly Africa had burned themselves into my memory. I felt driven to turn them into a novel.
The mystery, magic, heat and passion of Kenya’s landscapes inspired me to use them as the setting for my first novel. Burning Embers, a passionate love story set against the backdrop of the country in 1970. Burning Embers is available to buy from all leading retailers.



CATHERINE, THE DAME'S REVIEW :

Hot, sultry, breathtakingly beautiful and entirely unpredictable.
 

When discussing a romance novel, it's fair to say that most major characters can be described this way, but when talking about Hannah Fielding's "Burning Embers," the lush coastal jungles of Kenya and its dry savannas are just as significant as the memorable characters of Coral Sinclair and Rafe de Montfort.
 

Coral is a beautiful but naive 25-year-old when her father, who she has not seen since she left Africa as a girl, dies and leaves her his coastal plantation, Mpingo, named after the East African Blackwood tree harvested there. On the ship from England, where she lived with her mother and stepfather, Coral's senses are forever altered by her first encounter with the handsome and enigmatic Rafe, a businessman and friend of her father's who owns the neighboring plantation.

From there, the book follows a torturous path (for readers and lovers alike) to the consummation of this epic love affair.
 

But where the path is agony for the erstwhile lovers, who are constantly misunderstanding each other and falling prey to meddlesome ex-lovers, the torture is exquisite for the reader who knows, this being a romance, that the lovers will eventually kiss and make up — forever.
 

With Fielding's detailed descriptions of African landscape, architecture, history and bush lore — not to mention liberal mention of food and fashion — the electric chemistry and obvious compatibility between Coral and Rafe unfolds exquisitely as they encounter wild animals, a sudden storm, a car crash, a near-death illness and Rafe's shadowy past.
 

That's not to say that "Burning Embers" isn't flush with the superfluous language typical of romance novels ("Rafe's voice was a teasing provocation, and yet it was smoldering, charged with all sorts of sensuous intonations.")
 

Nevertheless, for a reader who has very little familiarity with the romance genre, I think the end analysis of a good read is whether it lingers, and this one certainly did. I wanted to follow Coral and Rafe to their new home in France, where after their wedding they were going to live on Rafe's family estate that has been empty since his grandparents passed away. I wanted to meet their children and read more of a love affair that I can only imagine would age very, very well.

5 stars                   Catherine Fahy/A Bookish Dame 

"Blackberry Winter" by Sarah Jio ~ Won't Disappoint Her Fans!

/

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

In 2011, Sarah Jio burst onto the fiction scene with two sensational novels--The Violets of March and The Bungalow. With Blackberry Winter--taking its title from a late-season, cold-weather phenomenon--Jio continues her rich exploration of the ways personal connections can transcend the boundaries of time.

Seattle, 1933. Single mother Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, goodnight and departs to work the night-shift at a local hotel. She emerges to discover that a May-Day snow has blanketed the city, and that her son has vanished. Outside, she finds his beloved teddy bear lying face-down on an icy street, the snow covering up any trace of his tracks, or the perpetrator's.

Seattle, 2010. Seattle Herald reporter Claire Aldridge, assigned to cover the May 1 "blackberry winter" storm and its twin, learns of the unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth. In the process, she finds that she and Vera may be linked in unexpected ways...

 

 

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

 

Published by:  Plume

Pages:  320

Genre:  Contemporary Fiction

Purchase this book:  Amazon

Show more

Show less

 

 

A BIT ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

 

 

 

Sarah Jio is the New York Times bestselling author of BLACKBERRY WINTER, THE VIOLETS OF MARCH (a Library Journal Best Book of 2011), THE BUNGALOW, and THE LAST CAMELLIA (to be published on 5/28/13)–all from Penguin (Plume). A magazine writer and the health and fitness blogger for Glamour magazine, she has written thousands of articles for national magazines and newspapers including Redbook, O, The Oprah Magazine, Cooking Light, Glamour, SELF, Real Simple, Fitness, Marie Claire, Hallmark magazine, Seventeen, The Nest, Health, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, The Seattle Times, Parents, Woman’s Day, American Baby, Parenting, and Kiwi. She has also appeared as a commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Sarah has a degree in journalism and writes about topics that include food, nutrition, health, entertaining, travel, diet/weight loss, beauty, fitness, shopping, psychology, parenting and beyond. She frequently tests and develops recipes for major magazines.

Sarah is working on her fifth and sixth novels. In total, to date, Sarah’s books have been sold/translated for publication in 17 countries.

Sarah lives in Seattle with her husband, Jason, and their three young sons.

 

Please find her blog and more about her here:  Sarah Jio

 

 

 

THE BOOKISH DAME'S REVIEW :

 

This is a charming novel with a story that will keep you turning pages long into the evening.  Sarah Jio is a writer with her fingers on the pulse of the young American woman...particularly young homemakers, I would think.  Not a heavy novel with a dreary or difficult message to give, this book has a sweet note of love and redemption to deliver.  I thought it was a bit old-fashioned and bridging close to a romance novel, but it was enjoyable for a change of pace for me.

 

There isn't a lot of sophistication to Ms Jio's writing; however, it is beautiful in its own way.  It is simple and clear with a kindly storytelling manner.  Her characters are lovable and real, making one feel immediately sympathetic to their struggles.

 

Vera, the young, single mother who has difficulties with love and taking care of her child, is a wonderful character.  I fell in love with her from the start.  I couldn't help cringing at some of the things that happened to her, and smiling at some of the happy moments she shared with her little boy.  This is the power of Sarah Jio.  Her characters throughout the book are charming and captivating.  They engender emotional responses such as sadness, joy, laughter and tears.

 

We may have read similar stories to this one in other places and times, but rarely with the depth of compassion and feeling Jio enlists.  This book is sure to draw lots of readers who are familiar with her other books and writings.  She is a popular writer with a voice that appeals to a broad spectrum of readers.  I don't think they will be disappointed with "Blackberry Winter" at all.

 

4 stars for a good read with lovable characters                Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

Oh, Mr. Darcy!! 200th Anniversary of "Pride and Prejudice"

 

Please tune in here for a play list of the following book whose 200th Anniversary it is today....and tonight.   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/pride-and-prejudice-the-p_n_2566724.html

Thanks to Huffington Post!

Enjoy...  :]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, Mr. Darcy....  sigh....

 

 

Go to Alyssa Goodnight's blog for more exciting blog stops on her Anniversary event!!!

http://alyssagoodnight.com/2013/01/pride-and-prejudice-anniversary-party-blog-hop/

 

 

 

 

"The Painted Girls" by Cathy Marie Buchanan

 

SUMMARY :

A heartrending, gripping novel about two sisters in Belle Époque Paris.

1878 Paris. Following their father’s sudden death, the van Goethem sisters find their lives upended. Without his wages, and with the small amount their laundress mother earns disappearing into the absinthe bottle, eviction from their lodgings seems imminent. With few options for work, Marie is dispatched to the Paris Opéra, where for a scant seventeen francs a week, she will be trained to enter the famous ballet. Her older sister, Antoinette, finds work as an extra in a stage adaptation of Émile Zola’s naturalist masterpiece L’Assommoir.

Marie throws herself into dance and is soon modeling in the studio of Edgar Degas, where her image will forever be immortalized as Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. There she meets a wealthy male patron of the ballet, but might the assistance he offers come with strings attached? Meanwhile Antoinette, derailed by her love for the dangerous Émile Abadie, must choose between honest labor and the more profitable avenues open to a young woman of the Parisian demimonde. 

Set at a moment of profound artistic, cultural, and societal change, The Painted Girls is a tale of two remarkable sisters rendered uniquely vulnerable to the darker impulses of “civilized society.” In the end, each will come to realize that her salvation, if not survival, lies with the other.

 

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Published by:  Riverhead Books

Pages:  349

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Read more:  Author's Website

Purchase this book:  Barnes & Noble

 

A BIT ABOUT THE AUTHOR : 

 

 

CATHY MARIE BUCHANAN is the author of The Painted Girls and The Day the Falls Stood Still. Published January 2013, The Painted Girls has received enthusiastic reviews (Kirkus, The Globe and Mail, the National Post, The Washington Post) and is a People Magazine Pick, a Good Housekeeping Book Pick, an Indie Next pick, a USA Today New and Notable selection, a Barnes & Noble Staff Pick, an Entertainment Weekly Must List pick, a Vogue Books People Are Talking About selection, a Chatelaine Book Club pick and a national bestseller in Canada. The Day the Falls Stood Still, her dedut novel, was a New York Times bestseller, a Barnes & Noble Recommends selection, and an IndieNext pick.

Her stories have appeared in many of Canada’s most respected literary journals, and she has received awards from both the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council. She holds a BSc (Honours Biochemistry) and an MBA from Western University. Born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario, she now resides in Toronto.

Connect with Cathy Marie on Facebook or Twitter.


THE DAME'S REVIEW :

I have to admit that this is one of those books I fell in love with the cover first.  I'm an art history major, and I was drawn to the Degas ballet dancers on the cover.  Once I had it in my hands, it was hard to resist the feel of it, too. It has that soft, velvety skin to it that they're putting on books these days.  It's a vivid and gorgeous book.  Then, the back cover and the summary caught me.  You've no doubt read it above...I hope.  This is all together a delicious book.

Cathy Marie Buchanan became a favorite of mine when I read her debut novel, "The Day the Falls Stood Still."  I'm not sure I know how to tell you what's different about her writing.  It just is.  Her voice is matter of fact and easy.  It was that element in her first book that made it so poignant and powerful to me, and it felt the same in this book.  While she tells us a human story, it's as if she's sitting down across the living room from us and telling it with all seriousness.  It makes for a beautiful manner; although, it's not light-hearted.

Without apologies the focus of her book is her characters, and there's nothing more powerful than a truly character driven novel.  There are actually three sisters in the book, although two sisters alternate telling their viewpoints in the story.  Marie, the younger sister, is wise and worldly beyond her years and is the model and focus of Edgar Degas and his art work The Little Dancer.  She personifies the struggles of the poor in the late 1800's in Paris, along with her older sister, Antoinette, who is no longer wanted by the Ballet and reduced to a washerwoman and lover of a criminal. 

What's interesting is that Buchanan has used the actual people to carve her story.  These people actually existed and she's created a story to encompass their circumstances.  Here is the old-world, almost journalistic bent to her writing style.  I was caught up in the horrific life-style of the sisters and their mother...the starvation and deprivation, the struggles to get ahead, the temptations of the easy way out, and the hopefulness of love even though found in the wrong places. 

The novel is a set piece continuing the light shone by Emile Zola on the human experience in his novels and play; as well as famous criminology, and the part anatomical features played in recognizing murderers in that age.  It's just fascinating as Ms Buchanan puts the story together, although it sometimes weighed more on the history than the novel side.

So, I suppose in summary I need to say that one mustn't be fooled by this book's cover!  While it is beautiful and soft, depicting graceful and limber dancers...it is solid and strange within.  It's a strong and interesting book.  The story is all the better for having been based on truth.

This is the darker side of Paris in the 1800's.  It's a mysterious side.  A glimpse behind the Opera curtain, into the art studio of a master, inside a brothel, and within the walls of a prison....  Come see!

4 stars                 Deborah/TheBookishDame

Book Haul of the Week! And my new iPad...

 

This was a busy week of buying for me.  I was searching the web for books and adding to my new iPad!!  I had the book bug, for sure.  Some books are still on the way, and I look forward to sharing some new audiobooks I've been reviewing this week, as well.

 

Let me tell you I have been putting off purchasing an iPad for a couple of years.  See my new one in the red cover on the right above.  The last time I bought one was when they first came out and I couldn't figure it out...or I was in a bad place coming out of major surgery and didn't have the patience.  I sent it off to my 2 yr. old grandson who took to it immediately and still runs circles around it and me!  However, it's my goal this year to video on Youtube, so I had to get one, and I love it.  For some reason I'm finding it more user friendly, and I love the red cover!

 

You can see my first purchase along with the iPad was "iPad for Seniors...for Dummies."  Well, yes, I fall into both those categories!  It has helped me and I'm using it as a safety blanket!  :]

 

Here's a bit about the other books I got this week:

 

 

 

 

Small Summary:

 

A heartrending, gripping novel about two sisters in Belle Époque Paris.

 

1878 Paris. Following their father’s sudden death, the van Goethem sisters find their lives upended. ...With few options for work, Marie is dispatched to the Paris Opéra, where for a scant seventeen francs a week, she will be trained to enter the famous ballet. Her older sister, Antoinette, finds work as an extra in a stage adaptation of Émile Zola’s naturalist masterpiece L’Assommoir.

Marie throws herself into dance and is soon modeling in the studio of Edgar Degas, where her image will forever be immortalized as Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.

This book is published by Penguin Group and can be found at Barnes & Noble.  I just fell in love with the cover and know the author from her other book, "The Day The Falls Stood Still" which I really loved.  Since Paris is my favorite city in the world...had to have this book.

 

Small Summary:

 

Two hundred years after the Salem witch trials, in the summer of 1892, a grisly new witch hunt is beginning....

This is a newly released book by Crown Publishing that I'm dying to read.  I love anything about witch hunts, and this contemporary novel seems to have all the components of a good book...psychological interest, as well.  It has a serial killer theme which I always find intriguing.  A must read for me!

 

I mentioned this book earlier this week.  Read it in one sitting when I got it from Amazon later in the week on a quick delivery.  It is fascinating.  There are many journal entries and writings on slips of paper and in small books by Marilyn.  I was struck by how self-analytic she was in most everything...though I think she was made to be by her psychiatrists.  She was a fragile but intelligent woman who always strove for excellence and knowledge.  Interesting book.  I highly recommend it.  It's a very quick read because it's so absorbing.  It's published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

 

 

These two books below were sent by Sourcebooks:

 

 

 

Small Summary taken from the publisher:

 

"...an enthralling story set in the era of prohibition, the aftermath of World War I, and the height of the tuberculosis epidemic."

 

I absolutely fall for novels set in the World War eras.  So I was delighted to have been offered an opportunity to read and review this one.  It takes place in Louisville which evidently had the highest rate of tuberculosis in the country in the 1900's.  Should be a very interesting novel...love, medicine and music.

 

 

I received an ARC of

"The One-Way Bridge" a novel by Cathie Pelletier whom you may remember as the author of "The Weight of Water,"

winner of the New England Bookseller's Award,

and author of nine novels in total.

This novel is a return to Mattagash, Maine, the crazy little town where her books all started.  Pelletier has a wonderful sense of  humor and a crew of characters meant to make you laugh and cheer for them.  This should prove to be a good relief from the ordinary fare I read.   There is no finished cover available at this time.

  

 

 

 

Almost forgot:

 

Here's the first book I bought for my iPad....

 

Small Summary ~

 

Elysia is created in a laboratory, born as a sixteen-year-old girl, an empty vessel with no life experience to draw from. She is a Beta, an experimental model of a teenage clone.

I couldn't resist this book in the YA dystopian category.  I've heard so much about it.  Danny Marks of Youtube fame...he's my favorite bookish personality on there...was the first to tell about it, I believe.  I'm half-way through the book and just love it for a change of pace.  Check it out.  Published by Hyperion.

So, that would be my haul for this week...

What did you find?  Share some.  :]

 

Deb/TheBookishDame

"Child 44" by Tom Rob Smith ~ Stunning Thriller!

 

SUMMARY :

 

In a country ruled by fear, no one is innocent.

 

Stalin's Soviet Union is an official paradise, where citizens live free from crime and fear only one thing: the all-powerful state. Defending this system is idealistic security officer Leo Demidov, a war hero who believes in the iron fist of the law. But when a murderer starts to kill at will and Leo dares to investigate, the State's obedient servant finds himself demoted and exiled. Now, with only his wife at his side, Leo must fight to uncover shocking truths about a killer-and a country where "crime" doesn't exist.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :
Published by:  Grand Central Publishing/Hachette
Pages:  436 plus Reading Group Guide
Genre:  Fiction/Suspense/Thriller
Find out more by visiting the author's website:  http://www.tomrobsmith.com


SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

 

 

After graduating from Cambridge University in 2001 and spending a year in Italy on a creative writing scholarship, Tom Rob Smith went to work writing scripts and storylines for British television. He lived for a while in Phnom Penh, working on Cambodia's first-ever soap opera and doing freelance screenwriting in his spare time.

While researching material for a film adaptation of a short story by British sci-fi writer Jeff Noon, Smith stumbled across the real-life case of "Rostov Ripper" Andrei Chikkatilo, a Russian serial killer who murdered more than 60 women and children in the 1980s. Chikkatilo's killing spree went unchecked for nearly 13 years, largely because Soviet officials refused to admit that crime existed in their perfect state. Intrigued, Smith recognized the potential of this concept as a work of fiction and worked up a script "treatment." His agent, however, suggested the material would be better showcased in a novel.

The result was Child 44, a gripping crime thriller about a Soviet policeman determined to stop a child serial killer his superiors won't even admit exists. Smith upped the action ante by setting the story in the Stalinist era of the 1950s, a period when opposing the state could cost you your life. And, in MGB officer Leo Stepanovich Demidov, he created the most fascinating Russian detective since Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko.

Child 44 became the object of an intense bidding war at the 2007 London Book Fair. (The buzz only increased when director Ridley Scott bought the film rights.) But the book proved worthy of its hype, garnering glowing reviews on its publication in the spring of 2008. Scott Turow (no slouch in the thriller department himself) proclaimed, "Child 44 is a remarkable debut novel -- inventive, edgy and relentlessly gripping from the first page to the last."

Good To Know

"One of my first jobs was working in a sports complex, and I had to fill up all the vending machines. It was boring work and lonely, carrying boxes of Mars Bars down very long, fluorescent-lit corridors. But a moment sticks out. I was restocking a machine when a young boy, maybe five years old, approached me and asked if he could have a chocolate bar. I told him they were for sale: he needed to buy one. He thought about this very seriously for a while, ran off, and came back five minutes later with a conker [horse chestnut]. He honestly believed this was a fair exchange. I guess it must have had some value to him. Anyway, I gave him the chocolate bar for free. It wasn't mine, I suppose, to give away, but it made a dull day a little brighter."

"My Swedish grandparents used to be beekeepers. They made the best honey I've ever tasted. I spent my summer holidays living on their farm. It was a wonderful place to spend a summer. My parents, now retired, live on a small farm -- a different farm -- near the sea in the South of Sweden. So now I have another place to retreat from the world. They're not beekeepers though."

"I like running, although I suffer from a problem with my knees. They slide out of position, which has caused me some problems recently. If anyone out there can help, I'd be more than happy to hear suggestions. Hours of physiotherapy haven't really worked."

Tom Rob Smith on his research:

THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

Well, this is undoubtedly one of the heaviest books I've read in a while.  I was holding my breath through much of it, finding my muscles tensed as the action was building, and reaching for my drink on more than one exciting occasion!  This book is true to all the hype.  It's an old-school thriller and suspense novel filled with every sort of twist and turn that will keep you begging for the end resolution!  I can't say enough good things about it.

Written about a time of transition in modern Russia, it is resplendent in detail about the State Security Service and its terror tactics.  Such terrorizing methods cause not only the general public to be held psychologically captive to the government, but also the service officers themselves.  This cyclical reign of terror and paranoia is beautifully rendered in "Child 44" with one under officer, Vasili, making it his life's mission to destroy his over officer, Leo. 

This is a story about a Russia which insists that crime does not exist in its perfect society, and that those who say it does must be part of a Western conspiracy.  While Leo strives to bring a child murderer to justice, Vasili is driven to destroy Leo at all costs.  The two men and their goals drive the story at a break-neck speed.

Leo's wife, Raisa, is a fantastic character and my favorite.  She's a perfect mix of the feisty and intelligent female.  She's come to her marriage under less than forthright circumstances and the story builds around the relationship of the two partners as they work together to survive, as well as solve the murder mystery.  I'm looking forward to getting to know her better in the other books in this series.

I became addicted to the action and tension in this novel!  Could hardly put it down and found myself reading it in doses of 150 pages at a time.  I found it pretty daunting when Grand Central first sent me three books written by Smith about Leo Demidov, but now I'm delighted.  Can't wait to read the other two volumes.  Demidov is now my new favorite detective.  

It's not difficult to see why "Child 44" has won so many awards.  It is a brilliant novel of suspense.  I couldn't see the ending coming at all--it was a shocker!

You'll love this book if you like authors such as Nelson DeMille and John le Carre.  Smith is a stand alone author.  He's nothing short of amazing!


5 stars plus!!                                      Deborah/TheBookishDame
 

Giveaway!! "The Forgotten Queen" by D.L. Bogdan~Scotland's Queen

 

SUMMARY:

 

From her earliest days, Margaret Tudor knows she will not have the luxury of choosing a husband. Her duty is to gain alliances for England. Barely out of girlhood, Margaret is married by proxy to James IV and travels to Edinburgh to become Queen of Scotland.

Despite her doubts, Margaret falls under the spell of her adopted home. But while Jamie is an affectionate husband, he is not a faithful one. And nothing can guarantee Margaret’s safety when Jamie leads an army against her own brother, Henry VIII. In the wake of loss she falls prey to an ambitious earl and brings Scotland to the brink of anarchy. Beset by betrayal and secret alliances, Margaret has one aim—to preserve the crown of Scotland for her son, no matter what the cost…

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:
Published by:  Kensington Books
Pages:  315 plus Reading Group Guide
Genre:  Historical Fiction
For more information on D.L. Bogdan and her novels, please visit her WEBSITE. You can also find her on FACEBOOK and TWITTER.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

 

 

 

D.L. Bogdan is an ongoing student of history, musician, and avid reader who enjoys travel, the outdoors, and time with her family and friends. She is a proud wife and mother who makes her home in central Wisconsin. She is the author of Secrets of the Tudor Court, Rivals in the Tudor Court and The Sumerton Women.

THE DAME REVIEWS :

My eyes are burning and my bones are aching from staying glued to this book so many hours in the past two days!  What a wonderful walk through history and romance it is.  I was so taken up in the story from the first chapter as the young Margaret was swept by her father, Henry VII into her role as a mighty queen in purpose, to bond the great countries of England and Scotland.  Margaret was just a little girl, and her life had already become larger than imaginable.  I was breathless and anxious along with her.

D. L. Bogdan has a way of keeping the action moving while she entwines us with a perfect love story fit for the often delicate queen.  Margaret is strong in spirit, but tender of heart, that is.  And, Bogdan achieves the perfect balance of that character in her.  Mother, queen, sister and lover/wife, this Queen of the Scots is a gracious blend of womanhood.  I completely fell for her brilliance and gentleness.  As mother to the Scottish dynasty, she was loving and staunchly protective, traits that brought out the best in a young King James who was to eventually serve to unite the kingdoms of Scotland, England and France.

This is a novel written with close attention to history, but not in the least boring or difficult to glide through.  It's a glorious love story on many levels.  Bogdan is a writer of much power, and her work is both insightful and entertaining at the same time.

I strongly recommend this one to historical fiction lovers.  It's a novel that will not disappoint!

5 stars                   Deborah/TheBookishDame



This review is in conjunction with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours where you can find other reviews, interviews and guest posts on this book and the author.  Please click on the link:
 http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/d-l-bogdan-on-tour-for-the-forgotten-queen-january-21-february-1/
Twitter Hashtag: #ForgottenQueenVirtualTour

 

 

 

GIVEAWAY!!!!

 

A Giveaway of this book will be held for the month of January...ending Jan. 31st.

 

Please leave your name and email address to enter.

Also, please follow me on GFC on the sidebar!  :]

 

This is open internationally!!

 

Thanks,  Deborah