So Many Books, So Little Time

From Goodreads : Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn't. Instead, two  old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead. In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn't know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college--until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams... My Thoughts:  I have been wanting to read this book for a long time and I'm so glad I finally got to it!  It w...

  Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature hosted by Tynga's Reviews . This is my first STS post since Julia was born and I received a couple really great books this week!   For Review (from Historical Fiction Virtual Tours):   Illuminations by Mary Sharratt For Review (from NetGalley):   A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert Royal Inheritance by Kate Emerson What books did you get this week?

From Goodreads:  Debated for more than five centuries, the disappearance of the young princes Edward and Richard from the Tower of London in 1483 has stirred the imaginations of numerous writers from Shakespeare to Josephine Tey and posited the question: Was Richard III the boys' murderer, or was he not? In a captivating novel rich in mystery, color, and historical lore, Robin Maxwell offers a new, controversial perspective on this tantalizing enigma. The events are witnessed through the eyes of quick-witted Nell Caxton, only daughter of the first English printer, William Caxton, and Nell's dearest friend, "Bessie," daughter of the King of England, sister to the little princes, and founding ancestress of the Tudor dynasty. With great bravery and heart, the two friends navigate this dark and dangerous medieval landscape in which the king's death sets off a battle among the most scheming, ambitious, and murderous men and women of their age, who will ...

From Goodreads:  Archaeologist Verity Grey has been drawn to the dark legends of the Scottish Borderlands in search of the truth buried in a rocky field by the sea. Her eccentric boss has spent his whole life searching for the resting place of the lost Ninth Roman Legion and is convinced he's finally found it—not because of any scientific evidence, but because a local boy has "seen" a Roman soldier walking in the fields, a ghostly sentinel who guards the bodies of his long-dead comrades. Here on the windswept shores, Verity may find the answer to one of the great unsolved mysteries of our time. Or she may uncover secrets someone buried for a reason. My Thoughts:  I have no idea why I waited so long to read a Susanna Kearsley book!  I own several of her books but for some reason I continuously put off reading any of them despite the rave reviews I have read.  After reading The Shadowy Horses, I will be moving the rest of her books to the top of my TBR pi...

From Goodreads:  Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her children and manage the family apple orchard: the other followed a dream and traveled the world to become a famous photojournalist. But when their beloved father falls ill, Meredith and Nina find themselves together again, standing alongside their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. As children, the only connection between them was the Russian fairy tale Anya sometimes told the girls at night. On his deathbed, their father extracts a promise from the women in his life: the fairy tale will be told one last time - and all the way to the end. Thus begins an unexpected journey into the truth of Anya's life in war-torn Leningrad, more than five decades ago. Alternating between the past and present, Meredith and Nina will finally hear the singular, harrowing story of their mother's life, and what they learn is a ...

From Goodreads:  With A Feast for Crows , Martin delivers the long-awaited fourth volume of the landmark series that has redefined imaginative fiction and stands as a modern masterpiece in the making. After centuries of bitter strife, the seven powers dividing the land have beaten one another into an uneasy truce. But it's not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters of the Seven Kingdoms gather. Now, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed while surprising faces—some familiar, others only just appearing—emerge from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges of the terrible times ahead. Nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages, are coming together to stake their fortunes...and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests—but only a few are the survivors. My Thoughts:  Holy cow! There were some major...

 I've been a little MIA lately and I thought I would let you know why, I FINALLY had my baby!! She was 5 days late so I was pretty excited when I finally went into labor. This was taken the day before my water broke.  I was pretty uncomfortable!! I won't bore you with all the gory details but I was reading A Feast for Crows and had just gotten to a really good part when my water broke!  After about 20-21 hours of active labor, she finally arrived!   Julia Elise was born on 6/28/13 at 6:05 pm and weighed 8 lbs, 4 oz and measured 21 in long.  She is such a great baby!  I am still trying to adjust to her schedule (or lack thereof) but things are going pretty well.    Doing a little tummy time yesterday! I have been trying to get some reading done (the nook app on my phone is my new bff) and will continue to keep the blog up, things just may be slower around here for a while.  I am participating in a couple...

Synopsis:  Amanda Rosenbloom, proprietor of Astor Place Vintage, thinks she's on just another call to appraise and possibly purchase clothing from a wealthy, elderly woman. But after discovering a journal sewn into a fur muff, Amanda gets much more than she anticipated. The pages of the journal reveal the life of Olive Westcott, a young woman who had moved to Manhattan in 1907. Olive was set on pursuing a career as a department store buyer in an era when Victorian ideas, limiting a woman's sphere to marriage and motherhood, were only beginning to give way to modern ways of thinking.  As Amanda reads the journal, her life begins to unravel until she can no longer ignore this voice from the past. Despite being separated by one hundred years, Amanda finds she's connected to Olive in ways neither could have imagined. My Thoughts:  I don't read historical fiction set in in the United States very often but this story sounded so intriguing that I couldn't re...

  Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish . This week's topic is: Top Ten Best/Worst Movie Adaptations Best: Shutter Island -I loved both this book and movie.  I saw the movie first and was so surprised by how closely it matched the book. Harry Potter- Do I really need to say anything about this? Lord of the Rings- I have only read the first LOTR book but I think Peter Jackson did a fabulous job of adapting it for the big screen. The Mists of Avalon- This miniseries is fantastic and the book is one of my favorites.  Yes, the miniseries isn't exactly the same as the book but I think they stayed true to the story and the acting is wonderful. Cold Mountain -This movie is so different from the book but I still love really love them both. Everything is Illuminated- Honestly, this is one of those movies that I actually like more than the book.  Seriously, if you haven't seen the movie, you really should.  It was one of...

From Goodreads:  1943: Tucked away in the idyllic hills south of Florence, the Rosatis, an Italian family of noble lineage, believe that the walls of their ancient villa will keep them safe from the war raging across Europe. Eighteen-year-old Cristina spends her days swimming in the pool, playing with her young niece and nephew, and wandering aimlessly amid the estate’s gardens and olive groves. But when two soldiers, a German and an Italian, arrive at the villa asking to see an ancient Etruscan burial site, the Rosatis’ bucolic tranquility is shattered. A young German lieutenant begins to court Cristina, the Nazis descend upon the estate demanding hospitality, and what was once their sanctuary becomes their prison. 1955: Serafina Bettini, an investigator with the Florence police department, has her own demons. A beautiful woman, Serafina carefully hides her scars along with her haunting memories of the war. But when she is assigned to a gruesome new case—a serial killer targe...

I am so excited to welcome Anna Belfrage, author of The Prodigal Son, to the blog today!! May I start by saying thank you to Denise for participating in the blog tour for my book, The Prodigal Son , and for being kind enough to allow me the opportunity of doing a guest post for her aptly named blog.  A pivotal role in The Prodigal Son is played by Sandy Peden, the charismatic minister that has Matthew Graham risking life and limbs by his steadfast support of the Covenanter cause. While Matthew is a purely fictional character, Sandy Peden is not – and anyone familiar with the history of the Covenanters and their persecution in the late 17 th century will, at some point or another, have stumbled over his name. To me, Sandy Peden – oops, Alexander Peden (Sandy to friends only, and I’m not quite sure I qualify. “Aye, you do,” Sandy says, smiling at me. “You can’t help being opinionated, loud and sadly uneducated in anything having to do with faith and Bible. Now I...