Book GiveAway-The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

If you visit The Book Connections you can enter a chance to win the historical fiction book The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C. W. Gortner

Here is a synopsis of The Confessions of Catherine de Medici:

The truth is, none of us are innocent. We all have sins to confess.

So reveals Catherine de Medici in this brilliantly imagined novel about one of history’s most powerful and controversial women. To some she was the ruthless queen who led France into an era of savage violence. To others she was the passionate savior of the French monarchy. Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter into the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family’s throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power.

The last legitimate descendant of the illustrious Medici line, Catherine suffers the expulsion of her family from her native Florence and narrowly escapes death at the hands of an enraged mob. While still a teenager, she is betrothed to Henri, son of François I of France, and sent from Italy to an unfamiliar realm where she is overshadowed and humiliated by her husband’s lifelong mistress. Ever resilient, Catherine strives to create a role for herself through her patronage of the famous clairvoyant Nostradamus and her own innate gift as a seer. But in her fortieth year, Catherine is widowed, left alone with six young children as regent of a kingdom torn apart by religious discord and the ambitions of a treacherous nobility.

Relying on her tenacity, wit, and uncanny gift for compromise, Catherine seizes power, intent on securing the throne for her sons. She allies herself with the enigmatic Protestant leader Coligny, with whom she shares an intimate secret, and implacably carves a path toward peace, unaware that her own dark fate looms before her—a fate that, if she is to save France, will demand the sacrifice of her ideals, her reputation, and the passion of her embattled heart.
From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.


If you visit The Book Connection not only can you enter to win the book but you can also read an intreview of the author, C. W. Gortner

Class is over!!!

Hi, everyone I am back. I have been silent for two months. Between work, class and family I barely had time to read and let alone blog. I have read two books since the last time I posted. I know two books is not much but I am pleased because my class was taking so much time. I was writing my assignments Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Nothing like the last minute, since everything was do on Sunday.

My family was at Border's browsing books. I had no intention to buy anything; when my husband picked up Monster by A. Lee Martinez and joking said "Here is a book for you." I took the book and read the back cover and I decided that a book about monster hunter with a girlfriend from Hell would be a fun read. My husband was a little surprised that I actually liked the book. So I bought the book and started to read it.

This is from the back cover: Monster runs a pest control agency. He's overworked and has domestic troubles -like having the girlfriend form hell.

Judy works the night shift at the local Food plus Mart. Not the most glamorous life, but Judy is happy. No one bothers her, and if she has to spell things out for the night manger every now and again, so be it.

But when Judy finds a yeti in the freezer aisle eating all the Rocky Road, her life collides with Monster's in a rather alarming fashion. Because Monster doesn't catch raccoons: he catches the things that go bump into night. Things like ogres, trolls, and dragons.

Oh and his girlfriend from hell? She actually is from Hell.

This book was a fun read. I read it in one night. LOVED IT. It was the right book to help distress after a day of writing about infant and toddler development. Everybody in my household was surprised that I read Monster and actually liked it. My youngest kept asking me what monsters were being captured as I was reading. My husband was very proud that he actually picked out a book for me and I like it. I am going to try and read other books by A. Lee Martinez.



Diamond Willow by Kathleen Eagle was a book I had laying around the house. My mom gave to me awhile ago. When I was in college, I read Harlequins and Silhouettes books as a quick read. So I picked this book to read because it should have been a quick read.

From the Back cover:

His name was John Tiger, but the few who truly know hem called him the Cat. Th Indian rancher was locked in a bitter struggle to save the land that was his birthright, standing his ground against outsiders who cared nothing for the traditions of his people.

It was hard for this proud, solitary man to admit he needed help-and even harder to ask it of Teri Nordstrom, the woman whose memory had haunted him for so many years. But this was one battle he could not win alone.

Then, suddenly, there was for more at stake than land. Suddenly he was fighting to claim a love he had thought was lost forever-and a child he had never known was hie.

This was an average romance. I can usually read these types of romances in about 2-3 hours, this one took a couple of days to finish. This book was OK, nothing inspiring or made me feel that satisfied feeling that one can get after reading a romance.

During the past four months, I have lost touch with the book world and I will be spending time catching up.

Happy Reading.

Where Have I been?

I am still here. I have just been busy with my infant/toddler on-line class. I usually have three assignments due in a week and after spring break I will be having four assignments due in a week. My class involves a lot of writing. So it has been taking a lot of my time.

I have read some books before my class started.

I finished Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden. This book is about the early years of Julius Cesar and Marc Anthony.

I did not enjoy it. It was not a bad book. It just was not my type of book. I hate to be sexist, but I kept thinking that this book is geared for men.

For the Historical Fiction Challenge, I read The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzione-Halevy. This book was about Deborah a famous bible prophet, and Barak, a Jewish General. My only issue with this book is that I cannot see God picking a general who sleeps with any female, and a prophetess who sleeps with her general. To save the Jewish people from their enemies the Canaanites. It just did not fit with my idea of biblical fiction. Otherwise, I liked it.

My goal is to read one book a month as long as my class is in session. The sad thing is I am already behind. I did not read any books in February. So I will have to finish Flowers in The Rain by Rosamunde Pilcher, a book filled with short stories about love and relationships, and another book in March. So hopefully when I am on spring break, I can achieve this goal.

Even though I am not writing on my blog, I am still thinking of everyone. I will try to write in about a month or so. I guess I can always put my essay's form my class up on my blog. Just a thought.

Happy Reading.

The Tudor Book Challenge

The Tudor Challenge is my fourth challenge of the year. I just love the Tudors. This is a must challenge for me.

Here are the guidelines as posted by Benedictionary:

The Challenge:
From January 1st, 2010 to December 31st, 2010 The Tudor Book Challenge challenges you to read books about or inspired by the Tudor era of the English monarchy.

The Challenge Rules:
You may read your books in any format – e-books, audio books, electronic reader books, and printed books are acceptable.

You are welcome to use the books you read for the Tudor Book Challenge in other challenges (where applicable).

Books can be fiction or non-fiction, but they must be about or inspired by Tudor England.

You are not required to post a list of the books you intend to read. You may choose them as you go.

Bloggers and non-bloggers alike are welcome to participate in the challenge. If you do not have a blog, you will need to review the books you’ve read on some book-related website: i.e. GoodReads, Amazon, Borders, etc. and send in the links (via comments) to be eligible for the prizes. I need to be able to verify that these books were read by you.

The Registration Rules:

All registrations must be received by midnight (EST) on December 31st, 2009 to be eligible for the prizes. If you do not register by the midnight deadline, you may still participate in the challenge but you will not be eligible for the prizes.

To keep things official and time-stamped, you will need to comment on this post if you wish to participate in the challenge. Please provide me with the following information:

YOUR NAME or ONLINE ALIAS YOUR BLOG or BOOK SITE YOU’LL BE REVIEWING FROM – Remember, if you do not have a blog you will need to post reviews on GoodReads, Amazon, Borders, B&N, or some other site that allows for book reviews.YOUR CHALLENGE LEVEL – This is very important, so please include it in your comment.

The Challenge Levels:

(I have lowered the required books for each level at the urging of my better half. Feel free to change your selection before the deadline.)

King or Queen – You are the ruler of your dominion. You will read at least 11 Tudor-related books.

Nobleman or Noblewoman - You are honorable, indeed. You have earned your title by agreeing to read at least 9 Tudor-related books.

Courtier – You are a rising star in the royal court. You have decided to read at least 7 Tudor-related books.

Commoner – Your role in the kingdom is small but mighty. You are going to read at least 5 Tudor-related books.

Visit The Tudor Book Challenge if you want some more info.

My Challenge level is commoner. I will try to read 5 books. I have searched my shelves and have come up with at least 4 books.

1.The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn

2. The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir

3. The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir

4. The Autobiography of Henry VII by Margaret George (This one my be a killer)

5. ???????? (I was think something to do with Queen Mary)

That is my plan anyway. But it could change.

American Civil War Reading Challenge

This is my third challenge for this year.

Here are the guidelines as posted by Marny:

1. Read books about the Civil War, either fiction or non-fiction
2. There are four levels of participation-
Private: Read three books-
Sergeant: Read six books-
Lieutenant: Read nine books-
General: Read twelve books

3. Read the books between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010
4. Overlaps with other challenges are allowed
5. Ebooks and audiobooks are okay, too
6. You don't have to have a reading list ready to participate in the challenge but please let Marny know which level you're doing.

If this challenge interests you please sign up at American Civil War Reading Challenge.

I will be doing the Private Level. Here are the books I plan on reading.

1. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
2. Rebel by Benard Cornwell
3. Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara

Here's hoping I can finish.

I will post another challenge tomorrow.

2010 TBR Challenge

OK I am going to try this challenge again. I did really good the first year I did this challenge, but last year I read only one book off of the TBR list. So lets see what happens this year. Maybe I can finish the list this year.

Here are the MizB's TBR Challenge rules:

** Pick 12 books – one for each month of the year - that you’ve been wanting to read (that have been on your “To Be Read” list) for 6 months or longer, but haven’t gotten around to.
** OPTIONAL: Create a list of 12 “Alternates” (books you could substitute for your challenge books, given that a particular one doesn’t grab you at the time)
** Then, starting January 1, read one of these books from your list each month, ending December 31. )

Additional rules/guidelines for this challenge:
* the challenge is to read 12 TBR books in 12 months — you can read those all in one month if you want, or one a month, or however you wanna do it.

* you should have a list posted somewhere for others to see

* you CANNOT change your list after January 1st, of the current year!!!

* you can create an Alternates list of MAXIMUM 12 books, if you want, in order to have options to choose from (you can read these in place of books on your original list).

* audiobooks and e-books ARE allowed

* re-reads are NOT allowed, as they aren’t TRUE “TBRs”* you CAN overlap with other challenges

* OPTIONAL: you can join the Yahoo! Group created for participants of the TBR Challenge, if you want to have a place to keep your list, or just to share with others about how you’re doing!

If this challenge catches your eye go to Miz Bs Reading Challenge

Here is my list. It is the same list as last years minus one. So I had to add a new TBR book.

1.This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
2. Rebel by Benard Cornwell
3. Queen Bees & Wanna Bes byRosalind WiseMan
4. Flowers In The Rain by Rosamunde Pilcher
5. Hide and Seek by James Patterson
6. East and West by Gerald Green
7. Savage Sunrise by Cassie Edwards
8. The Seventh Stone by Nancy Freedman
9. Air Force Wives by Ruth Walker
10. To Touch The Earth by Fran Kendall
11. In Broad Daylight by Harry N. Maclean
12. Comeback by Dick Francis (moved up)

My Alternatives:
1. The Samurai's Wife by Laura Joh Rowland (new TBR book)
2. The Daughter of the Pangaran by David Divine

3. Midwives by Chris Behjalian
4. Life Of Pi by Yann Martel
5. Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel
6. Circle of Friends by Meve Binchy
7. A Purrfect Romance by Robin Lee Hatcher, Susan Wiggs
8. Potter Springs by Britta Coleman
9. The Gambling Man by Catherine Cookson
10. Cat-A-Lyst by Alan Dean Foster
11. The Baker's Apprentice by Judith Ryan Hendricks
12. Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

I will post another challenge tomorrow.

2010 Historical Reading Challenge

This is from Royal Reviews:

To kick off our challenge week for 2010 we are starting with a favourite at Royal Reviews. If you've been participating in our Historical Fiction Challenge for the past 2 years then you'll notice we've made some changes. Firstly the challenge will go for the full year as opposed to 3 months that it ran for previously. Then we have different levels for participants. If you're like me you'll dive straight into the Obsessed but then I am a bit of a HF fan!

Challenge Guidelines:

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.--Non-Bloggers: Include your information in the comment section.

2. There are four levels:--

Curious – Read 3 Historical Fiction novels.--

Fascinated – Read 6 Historical Fiction novels.--

Addicted – Read 12 Historical Fiction novels.--

Obsessed – Read 20 Historical Fiction novels.

3. Any book format counts.

4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.

5. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010.6.

To sign up visit Royal Reviews: Historical Reading Challenge

I will be doing level 1 Curious – Read 3 Historical Fiction novels.

Here are my choices:

1. The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy

2. The Empire of Darkness by Christian Jacq

3. Duchess: A Novel of Sarah Churchill by Susan Holloway Scott

Here's hoping I can do it.

I will put up another challenge tomorrow.