Review and Giveaway: What My Mother Gave Me by Elizabeth Benedict

Title: What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most
Author: Elizabeth Benedict
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Algonquin
Publish Date: April 2, 2013
Source: I received a copy from the author; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a non-fiction fan.
• You love reading about mother - daughter relationships.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Women look at the relationships between mothers and daughters through a new lens: a daughter s story of a gift from her mother that has touched her to the bone and served as a model, a metaphor, or a touchstone in her own life. The contributors of these thirty-one original pieces all written specifically for this book include Pulitzer Prize winners, perennial bestselling novelists, and well-known NPR commentators.Joyce Carol Oates writes about quilts her mother sewed that were a comfort when her husband died; Rita Dove remembers a box of nail polish that taught her to paint her nails in stripes and polka dots; Lisa See, daughter of writer Carolyn See, writes about the gift of writing; Cecilia Munoz remembers the wok her mother gave her and a lifetime of home-cooked family meals; Judith Hillman Paterson revisits the year of sobriety her mother bequeathed to her when Judith was nine years old, the year before her mother died of alcoholism.Collectively, the pieces have a force that feels as elemental as the tides: outpourings of lightness and darkness; simple joy and devastating grief; mother love and daughter love; mother love and daughter rage. In these stirring words we find that every gift, no matter how modest, tells the story of a powerful bond."

My Two Cents:

I read this book just in time for Mother's Day and I actually passed on my copy of "What My Mother Gave Me" to my mom. This book is a collection of stories of what each author's mother gave her. Some gifts are tangible. Some are not. They vary from author to author. Some of the stories are happy and some of them are sad but I think that's sort of a normal reflection of the relationships that women have with their mothers. Whether happy or sad, the gifts that you get from your mother are incredibly important. They truly are things that you carry with you for your entire life, which is exactly the point that the book makes.

I really, really enjoyed this book. This is a book that you will want to share with the women in your life. It would make a great gift book for just about any occasion (but do you really need an occasion to share a book??? No way; books are for anytime!!!) So many of the stories really tugged on my heart. A couple of them made me smile. A couple of them made me tear up.

I suggest reading this book story by story. It's hard to stop in the middle of each story as I think you kind of lose momentum that way so make sure that you have time to sit down and read the whole story all the way through. I could see this being a great book to read one story at night or something like that. I feel that some of the stories in this book are definitely meant to be savored a little bit.

Overall, this is a great book!

Giveaway:

Thanks to the publisher, I have two copies of this book to give away! (US only)

  
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Review: Black Venus by James MacManus

Title: Black Venus
Author: James MacManus
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Publish Date: May 7, 2013
Source: I received a copy from the PR; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a historical fiction fan.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "A vivid novel of Charles Baudelaire and his lover Jeanne Duval, the Haitian cabaret singer who inspired his most famous and controversial poems, set in nineteenth-century Paris.

For readers who have been drawn to The Paris Wife, Black Venus captures the artistic scene in the great French city decades earlier, when the likes of Dumas and Balzac argued literature in the cafes of the Left Bank. Among the bohemians, the young Charles Baudelaire stood out—dressed impeccably thanks to an inheritance that was quickly vanishing. Still at work on the poems that he hoped would make his name, he spent his nights enjoying the alcohol, opium, and women who filled the seedy streets of the city.

One woman would catch his eye—a beautiful Haitian cabaret singer named Jeanne Duval. Their lives would remain forever intertwined thereafter, and their romance would inspire his most infamous poems—leading to the banning of his masterwork, Les Fleurs du Mal, and a scandalous public trial for obscenity. "

My Two Cents:

"Black Venus" is a historical fiction novel focused on the relationship between infamous French poet, Baudelaire, and his Haitian mistress, Jeanne Duval. Duval became the inspiration for some of the poet's raciest and most shocking poems. I didn't know much about either of these people before this book but the book gives good insight into what their very stormy relationship was like.

Overall, the story is very interesting. I love historical fiction that takes on real-life characters, especially ones that I'm not so familiar with. I also really enjoyed that the book was set in Paris, which is definitely one of my favorite stories to read about. You get a good sense of what the city was like during Baudelaire's time.

You can tell that the author spent a lot of time doing research on the poet and his times. Sometimes the narrative felt more non-fiction than fiction and veered into simply reporting on Baudelaire and Duval rather than bringing the reader into the story.

It was also very difficult to tell how much time passed between various events as there really was not any marking of time. I think marking the passing of time could have added a little bit more context to the story, especially for those who are not very familiar with Baudelaire like myself.

Overall, this was a good foray into Baudelaire's love life!

HF Virtual Book Tours Review and Giveaway: Spartacus: Rebellion by Ben Kane

Title: Spartacus: Rebellion
Author: Ben Kane
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Preface Publishing
Publish Date: August 16, 2012
Source: HF Virtual Book Tours

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a historical fiction fan.
• You like action.
• You don't mind violence.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "The mighty slave army, led by Spartacus, has carried all before it, scattering the legions of Rome. Three praetors, two consuls and one proconsul have been defeated. Spartacus seems invincible as he marches towards the Alps and freedom.

But storm clouds are massing on the horizon. Crixus the Gaul defects, taking all his men with him. Crassus, the richest man in Rome, begins to raise a formidable army, tasked specifically with the defeat of Spartacus. And within the slave army itself, there are murmurings of dissent and rebellion.

Spartacus, on the brink of glory, must make a crucial decision - to go forward over the Alps to freedom, or back to face the might of Rome and try to break its stranglehold on power forever."

My Two Cents:

"Spartacus: Rebellion" is the second book in Ben Kane's epic two part series about the infamous Spartacus. This book begins right when the first book, "Spartacus: The Gladiator" ends. Spartacus is now leading his slave army in an uprising against the Romans. Now if you are a history buff, you probably know how Spartacus's story ends but this does not make this book any less exciting to read. Kane weaves a great story that kept me turning the pages.

Although you will be fine reading this book without reading the first book, you really should go back and read the first book. It gives the reader a lot of good background on where Spartacus is coming from and how he go to where he is in this book. You will also get a better understanding as to why things are happening in this book.

I enjoyed this book and found it to be a lot more character driven than the first book, which was very much event driven. I felt that you got a much better understanding of Spartacus and some of the other characters such as his wife, Ariadne, in this book. Even though this book is more character driven, this book is very much action filled still. You get to see the inner workings (and inner divisions) of Spartacus' army.

Be warned: some parts of this book are pretty rough. There isn't a happy ending here (but you already probably figured that out). I thought that there were some scenes that could have been scaled back as this book is quite long (404 pages) but overall, Kane tells a good story about this infamous hero.

Giveaway:

Today I am excited to be able to giveaway one hardcover copy of Spartacus: Rebellion AND one paperback of Spartacus the Gladiator to one lucky winner.  Open to US and Canada ONLY.  

 
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HF Virtual Book Tours Guest Post and Giveaway: A Prince to be Feared by Mary Lancaster

Today, I am very glad to welcome Mary Lancaster here to A Bookish Affair for a guest post and a giveaway of her latest, A Prince to be Feared.

The Impaler’s Wife By Mary Lancaster

What would it have been like to marry Vlad Dracula?

Having reached my own ideas of Vlad’s character (which isn’t at all the generally accepted one!), in order to write the story I wanted to, I needed to create the right wife for him. This was difficult. To begin with, history is unsure about who she was, or even if he actually had a wife. There is a legend about a wife – or perhaps a mistress – throwing herself off the castle of Poenari onto the rocks below during the Turkish invasion that deposed him. And there is mention of negotiations for an alliance with the King of Hungary that included marriage with the king’s sister. Or perhaps his cousin!

So, basically, I had a blank canvas. Historians seem to believe the likeliest candidate is the king’s cousin Ilona Szilagyi. I was happy to go with that. The daughter of a great soldier and niece of Christian Europe’s hero of the time, John Hunyadi, she must have lived among the great decision-makers whose actions affected Vlad. She probably knew him before any marriage negotiations were mentioned. I began to imagine the kind of girl she might have been to attract the attention of the ambitious, obsessive and probably frightening young soldier Vlad Dracula. I imagined her to be bright, perceptive and unafraid, someone perhaps even her important elders listened to occasionally; someone used to living on the edge of warfare and under the threat of invasion; someone who understood what drove the young Vlad.

I liked this Ilona. The only trouble was, I also had a conflicting vision of a slightly older woman, grey, faded, almost wraith-like, so vague that she verged on madness. And this was the woman who had to be forced into marriage with the older, imprisoned Vlad to secure his loyalty to the Hungarian crown, should he be allowed to reclaim his principality. Considering his reputation by then was monstrous, it would have been a cruel duty to impose.

So which tale should I tell? My head said the tale of the bright young Ilona – the book could then cover the main adventures of Vlad’s life, be exciting and romantic at once. But my heart kept coming back to the faded Ilona, pushed into a marriage with “the monster of Wallachia”. I started one version and then the other – and finally realized I had to make them both Ilona. And show Vlad’s unchanging humanity through his efforts to win her, and then win her back.

And that’s the story I eventually wrote. I tried to stick to what’s known of Vlad’s life, but at least half the fun of writing a novel like this is in letting my imagination fill up the gaps. I made an educated guess at his true character, and imagined, in those days of female duty and blinkered family ambition, the kind of love he might have inspired and returned. The result is A Prince to be Feared, which I hope you enjoy!

Giveaway:

One lucky winner will win an ebook copy of this great book (open internationally)!

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Literary Locale!

I'm about a month and a half away from traveling to St. Petersburg, FL for the 2013 Historical Novel Society  conference and I have had travel on the brain. I absolutely love traveling once I get to my destination but planning for a trip kind of stresses me out. I'm always looking for ways to make traveling less stressful so I was very excited to try out some travel products from David's Been Here.

I was sent the products for free but this didn't affect my review!

Passport Wallet:

I have a small case that I usually carry my passport in usually. This case is substantially bigger. I could see using the case while you are on the plane or the train but it is a little too big to take around in a purse or a small bag but it would be good to organize  travel papers while transiting to wherever you are going. I would also like something a little bit sturdier for organizing papers.

Sleep Eye Mask with Ear Plugs:

I always carry a sleep mask with me when I travel by airplane. The sleep mask in this kit isn't anything special. It's pretty standard. It didn't keep all of the light out of my eyes but it kept enough out that it would work for me (if I'm tired, I can sleep just about anywhere). Some people may like that the product comes with ear plugs but seeing as how I sleep really deeply, I probably will not use the ear plugs. The ear plugs are just the standard squishy kind.

Portable Travel Digital Luggage Scale:

I loved this product. This has happened several times to me on various trips: picture this, I'm in the airport check-in line, they weigh my luggage, and I'm X-number of pounds over. I'm already frantic because I'm already stressed by just getting to the airplane. I'm frantically unpacking my bag and shoving stuff into my carry-on. This would, of course, happen when I am coming home from a fabulous foreign country somewhere, because that makes it extra fun. This scale could be the end of that rigamarole and for that, I am thankful. 

 I also reviewed one of the David's Been Here travel guides. There are not many of these guides yet but they are pretty good. Because they only cover one day in a particular city, they are really short. They cover just the highlights for the particular location. This guide definitely made me want to visit Barcelona (now, who wants to come with me???). The information is pretty good but sparse. This book is the highlights and not a lot of detail.

One thing to know about these guides is that for right now, they are just digital, something that didn't really work for me. When I travel, I like to be able to refer back to a guide, which would be really difficult with a digital version on my Kindle.

HF Virtual Book Tours: A Prince to be Feared by Mary Lancaster

Title: A Prince to be Feared
Author: Mary Lancaster
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Self-published
Publish Date: April 2013
Source: HF Virtual Book Tours

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a historical fiction fan.
• You like love stories.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Europe’s most fearsome prisoner, Vlad Dracula, gifted military commander and one time Prince of Wallachia, the notorious Lord Impaler himself, is about to be released after twelve long years, in order to hold back the tide of Ottoman aggression. The price of his new alliance with his Hungarian captors is the king’s cousin Ilona.

Ilona does not wish to be married. In particular, she doesn’t wish to marry Vlad. Gentle, faded and impossibly vague, Ilona is hardly fit for court life, let alone for dealing with so difficult a husband.

But Ilona’s wishes have nothing to do with Vlad’s reputation and everything to do with a lifelong love affair that finally broke her. Ilona’s family blame Vlad; Vlad vows to discover the truth and sets out by unconventional means to bring back the woman who once enchanted him. Among court intrigues, international manoeuvrings and political deceptions, Vlad reveals himself more victim than villain. But he’s still more than capable of reclaiming his lost rights to both Wallachia and Ilona; and Ilona, when it counts, has enough strength for them both."

My Two Cents:

"A Prince to be Feared" is the story of the infamous Vlad Dracula after he is captured by the Hungarian rulers. Vlad Dracula is a really fascinating figure to me. I have never read anything about his life as a prisoner so it was very interesting to read this book. As with so many ruling families during this time, Vlad's captors were seeking to strengthen their power. They want to marry Ilona, their cousin, to Vlad even though they have imprisoned him and even though his reputation is anything but glowing.

I enjoyed this story. The bones of the story were very good. I always enjoy getting to see famous historical figures in a different light, which you definitely get to see here. The core story in this book is the love story between Vlad and Ilona. I really enjoyed seeing how the characters fell for each other and learning the secrets behind Vlad and Ilona's intricate relationship.

The writing was pretty good. Lancaster is definitely promising as a storyteller. There were a couple sections in the book that could have used some editing. Also, there were several sections in the book where the dialogue felt a little too present day rather than something that would have been said during the time of Vlad Dracula. This kind of took me out of the story a little bit but overall, the story was engaging and interesting. It definitely kept me reading!

Overall, this story shows Vlad Dracula in a new light and will appeal to those who like a little romance along with their historical fiction. 

Follow the Rest of the Tour:


Monday, May 13
Review & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary
Tuesday, May 14
Review at The Musings of a Book Junkie
Review & Giveaway at Unabridged Chick
Wednesday, May 15
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!
Thursday, May 16
Review at A Bookish Affair
Guest Post & Giveaway at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!
Friday, May 17
Feature & Giveaway at Broken Teepee
Guest Post & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair


 

Movie Review: Shakespeare - The King's Man

When I think of Shakespeare, he is inextricably linked to the great ruler, Queen Elizabeth I. Most of Shakespeare's plays that I am familiar with were written during the time of Queen Elizabeth. But what happened to Shakespeare after the Queen died? This movie tells all about Shakespeare after Queen Elizabeth's death when he now found himself a subject of the King (King James of bible fame, in fact). It is fascinating to see how things changed for Shakespeare. This documentary goes into much detail about this and I found all of it very intriguing.

The plays that Shakespeare wrote during King James' rule were in a lot of ways very different. They were darker. Shakespeare also continued to use his plays to comment on the politics and current events of King James' time. It was absolutely fascinating to see how he used old stories in order to bring his comments before his audiences.

This documentary is very well done. It is narrated by James Shapiro, a noted scholar who is very much familiar with Shakespeare and his life and his work. Using clips from productions of Shakespeare's play, Shapiro brings Shakespeare under King James to life!

This dvd also includes a BBC production of Macbeth, which is very good!

Overall, I really enjoyed this documentary. History lovers and Shakespeare lovers will both really enjoy this one!

***All of the above opinions are my own. I received this video in exchange for an honest review***