Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe by Sandra Gulland

Books Completed: 14
Completion Date: January 28, 2007
Publication Year: 2006
Pages: 378
Owned Prior to 2007
Book Two in the Josephine B. Series

Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe is the much-awaited sequel to Sandra Gulland's highly acclaimed first novel, The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. Beginning in Paris in 1796, the saga continues as Josephine awakens to her new life as Mrs. Napoleon Bonaparte. Through her intimate diary entries and Napoleon's impassioned love letters, an astonishing portrait of an incredible woman emerges. Gulland transports us into the ballrooms and bedrooms of exquisite palaces and onto the blood-soaked fields of Napoleon's campaigns. As Napoleon marches to power, we witness, through Josephine, the political intrigues and personal betrayals -- both sexual and psychological -- that result in death, ruin, and victory for those closest to her.

I have to admit that I finished this book and almost immediately started book three, so I might have a hard time remembering what happens in book two and what happened in book one.

In the first book the main character was known as Rose, but now she is the beautiful wife of Napoleon. I really liked this trilogy. Josephine is a very interesting character. Some people are not fond of the diary-style of writing, but I thought it worked well for this trilogy. It feels more personal that way. You cannot help feeling bad for Josephine. She has not had a very easy life, most people in France at this time have not, but her luck does not seem to ever fully recover. As a result of her enprisionment during the Terror, she is unable to have Napoleon's child. They try all these methods, but we know that that the stress of her enprisionment likely resulted in her starting menopause at a young age. She can have children, she has two with her first husband, the timing is just wrong for her to give Napoleon any.

I thought that Napoleon is also an interesting character. You are not really sure if Josephine and Napoleon are going to hit it off at first, if you go into it with an innocent impression of what is going to happen. For those that know what happened in history, though, Gulland does a very good job sticking to the main historical facts. I cannot say that I liked Napoleon, though, he just had his good points. He loved Josephine, I never questioned that. He just tried to do what was best for France, and he had an atrocious family. At the end of the third book it tells what happened to all of them, actually.

Another thing I liked about the books were the footnotes. They explained things that happened in the previous book so you understood references, but they also included letters and things from historical records of Josephine and her family, plus providing references for off-hand remarks that were not explained. To someone living in Josephine's time, they likely made sense, but to people living today, unless you are very up on the time period, you might miss the reference. I have to admit that while I like history, and have taken many history courses in university, I have never had a course that covered the Napoleonic Wars in any great detail. They were mentioned, I know who they were, but even if it is a fiction book, this is the most I have ever read on Napoleon. When I graduate and reading non-fiction history books becomes fun again, this is a subject matter I would like to read more about.

I also have to briefly comment on the medical practices of the time. Normally I might have overlooked them, but I am taking a history of medicine course this year, and we just talked about medicine in about the time that this book covers, so it was interesting to see the methods I learned about in use in this novel. I mean, obviously I have seen it before, but in the past I did not have a medical history course to provide background information.

I wish I had not got sick, I should have wrote this review right after I read the book because now the three books are crowding together in my head.

4.5/5

Just so everyone knows, I really have all the books together in my mind, so I am writing individual reviews, but I am rating the books more as one full novel than three separate ones.

Authors Gender:
Female: 13
Male: 1

I have, obviously, read this author before. You can see my review on The Many Lives and Sorrows of Josephine B. by clicking here.

The Silver Rose by Susan Carroll

Books Completed: 8
Completion Date: January 20, 2007
Publication Year: 2006
Pages: 515
Owned Prior to 2007
Book Three in Cheney Sisters Trilogy

From Brittany's fog-shrouded forests to the elegant dark heart of Paris's royal court, one woman must challenge a country's destiny-and her own dangerous fate.

France, 1585. She is the youngest and most powerful of the "Sisters of Faire Isle," women known far and wide for their extraordinary mystical abilities. Skilled in healing and able to forecast the future of those around her, Miri Cheney has returned to her ancestral home to take refuge from a land devastated by civil war-and to grieve for her family, driven to exile. But she cannot hide from the formidable new power threatening to seize control of France from the dread "Dark Queen," Catherine de Medici-a diabolical woman known only as the Silver Rose. Miri has no choice but to turn to the one man she distrusts as much as she desires: Simon Aristide, the charismatic witch-finder who is now himself the hunted, and who has reluctantly made an unholy pact with Catherine. Miri must defy throne and family to save all that she loves most-and command a future greater than she could ever imagine.

Vibrant with stunning historical detail, alive with characters as richly passionate as they are compelling, The Silver Rose is a sweeping, exquisitely wrought tale from a mesmerizing storyteller.

I was supposed to read this book back in October of last year, and as you can see, I am a bit late, but since I was supposed to buddy review it with Marg, I resurrected her old post and I am going to add my thoughts to it. I am in blue, with her comments in black.

When the legendary witch hunter Simon Aristide, is becoming the hunted rather than the hunter, he turns to the one person who he would prefer not to - Miri Cheney. Miri was just a young girl living on the Faire Isle when he first met her, but he betrayed her and nearly caused her to be tried as a witch. Some years later he met her as a young lady in Paris, but he was well and truly entrenched in his role as witch hunter, and she was once again betrayed. It is hard to believe sometimes how these two find themselves coming together. Simon is like two different people, one moment he is nice, while other times you cannot seem to find a nice trait in him. The events in this latest book in the trilogy take place ten years after The Courtesan, so Miri and Simon are both older and wiser (we think) than they were in the previous books.

After many years of living in exile, Miri has returned to live on the Faire Isle, looking to recapture her lost happiness. For Miri, Simon was a young boy that she first came to love during an idyllic summer that nearly ended in tragedy. When he reappears asking for her assistance Miri is reluctant, especially once she understood that he was asking for her assistance in tracking down a witch. Miri is still the same character that we have watched grow up in the two previous novels about her sisters. She is a lover of animals, understanding them better than people. She looks for the good in people at great cost, and she never seems to know what she risks by refusing to see the negative in people. It does not seem to matter how many times Simon betrayed her, she is still totally on his side and believes that there is a good person in him. At the beginning of the novel, though, when he reappears, she finds that she attempts to look at him as others have.

Miri has always thought of herself, and others like her, as a wise woman, as opposed to a witch, and getting Simon to understand the difference was a big part of their journey, but in a way another part was having Simon find the man behind the witch hunter. The young boy with a happy family life, who survived in the face of tragedy, and who was taken in and taught to hate and fear. Ah...Simon. He would have to be right up there with the most tortured heroes every written..surely. Not only is the man terribly scarred, and missing an eye, but he really is a good man as well struggling to live with the way he had previously lived his life and the actual and emotional consequences of that life. One of the things I enjoyed about this book was how Miri seemed to bring out Simon's past. We know the three Cheney sisters, and have seen what they have gone through in the course of their life. Simon's past has been hinted about in the two previous novels, but in this one he really goes back and enlightens Miri on who he is (or was) and how he became to be the person that we see in the course of the book. I really was looking forward to seeing how Simon would play a part in this book. I wanted to know if Miri ever found the good in him, and what would happen if she did.

Miri was practically engaged to Wolf, a man who had been her loyal friend, for many years, but she had always held back from committing to him, and from allowing any kind of hanky panky. In a way I felt sorry for Wolf even though he was a bit of a womaniser. I liked him from the time we first met him in the second book in the trilogy, and I was really scared that something horrible was going to happen to him. It was certainly an interesting twist in the story for him during this book. The other really interesting twist was the identity of The Silver Rose! I really was curious which man that Miri would choose. It really could have been either of them, and I was waiting to see if it would be predictable or if it would surprise me. As the novel went along, though, and I started to understand the outside characters, I found that Carroll wrote the best ending possible for the trilogy. I feel bad for Wolf, he loved a girl that was not sure what she wanted, and he tried so hard. When the identity of the Silver Rose was revealed, it made sense to me, and yet did not.

This third book is definitely one that you will appreciate more if you have read the two books proceeding it in the series. I am not sure if there is going to be more books related to this one, but there certainly seems to be scope for it particularly in relation to Wolf who you may notice I have a certain tenderness for! I for one would certainly read any future books. I know that this is supposed to be a trilogy, but I would love to see spin off books. This really was one of the better trilogies I have read, overall. I am very sad to see it end, and I think that is partly why it took me so long to read this book. I did not want to see it end! Sometimes with trilogies, the first book is very strong and the rest fades in comparision. I believe that all three of these books are well-written and they stand up well.

One small note to the author though...please, please get a website so that your fans have some idea about what is coming up next! Having read and enjoyed this trilogy, I will definitely be trying to find whatever books I can of Susan Carroll's backlist. Anyone have any idea what she is working on now?

Marg's Rating 4.5/5
Kailana's Rating 4.5/5

I also need to take the oppurtunity to thank Random House for this book! Everyone should read this trilogy, and all three books are available through them, although I owned the other two from other sources.

Author Genders:
Female: 7
Male: 1

I have previously read this author before. You can see my reviews of the two previous books in this trilogy by clicking here and here.

One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey

Books Completed: 5
Completion Date: January 15, 2007
Publication Year: 2006
Pages: 393
Owned Prior to 2007

From Amazon.ca:

When a dragon storms the castle, what should a (virgin) princess do?

Why, turn to her studies, of course! But nothing practical-minded Princess Andromeda of Acadia finds gives a definitive solution. The only Traditional answer, though, is soothing the marauding dragon by a virgin sacrifice. Things are going fairly smoothly with the lottery--except for the women chosen, of course--until Princess Andromeda herself is picked!

But facing down the dragon doesn't go quite as planned, and now, with the help of her Champion, Sir George, Andromeda searches for the dragon's lair. But even--especially--in the Five Hundred Kingdoms, bucking Tradition isn't easy. It takes the strongest of wills, knowledge, quick wits and a refusal to give up, no matter what happens along the way…

Head on over to Twisted Kingdom to see my review of this book.

Author Gender:
Male: 1
Female: 4

I have read this author before.

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A memoir, a history - Lewis Buzbee

Books Completed:4
Completion Date: January 15, 2007
Publication Year: 2006
Pages: 216
Owned Prior to 2007

From the flap:

In The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, Buzbee, a former bookseller and sales representative, celebrates the unique experience of the bookstore—the smell and touch of books, the joy of getting lost in the deep canyons of shelves, and the silent community of readers. He shares his passion for books, which began with ordering through the Weekly Reader in grade school. Woven throughout is a fascinating historical account of the bookseller trade—from the great Alexandria library with an estimated one million papyrus scrolls to Sylvia Beach’s famous Paris bookstore, Shakespeare & Co., that led to the extraordinary effort to publish and sell James Joyce’s Ulysses. Rich with anecdotes, The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop is the perfect choice for those who relish the enduring pleasures of spending an afternoon finding just the right book.

I actually started this book last year, but it vanished and I just found it again, so I am happy to finally complete it. It was never a book I meant to not complete, anyways.

During my original reading of this book, I posted this, where I asked what that early book was that you read, loved the author, and read all that there was to read by that author. Other thoughts have presented themselves to me as I have read this book. My biggest question came to me as I was reading the last few pages. Can anyone ever see a world where e-books would be preferred over the actual feeling of a book in your hands? I can understand that there are situations where having this option open would be a good thing, but I cannot imagine not having books in my house, not holding the book in my hand and flipping the pages. What about everyone else?

While reading this book I thought about how I have become cheap. I love browsing bookstores, but if I go into an independant store where the books are regularly priced, I find myself finding a few books and buying them later on amazon or another chain store. I think a lot of that is the prices that books are nowadays. Today I bought two novels for school. They are in essence trade paperbacks. I get up to the cash and she asks me for sixty dollars. I said "what?". I couldn't believe the price, I thought I must have heard her wrong. I had to have the books, so I did not even pay attention to the price, but that just blew me away. If I had known that, if I had planned a bit ahead, I likely would have searched for those books online and found them cheaper. For someone that reads about 150 books a year, and has a very bad library, I need to be able to get books at a price that it is not going to break my bank account.

This book was very informative about the book-selling industry. I have to admit, I wish that it was Canadian, because it gave info that was very Americanized and I was not really sure if it even applied in Canada, but in essence, it was a very interesting read. I like to read books about books. I think it was a very interesting read.

4/5

Author Gender:
Female: 3
Male: 1

This was a new to me author.

The Many Lives and Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland (Book 1 of the Josephine Series)

Books Completed: 2
Completion Date: January 4, 2007
Publication Year: (3-in-1 edtion) 2006
Pages: 429
Owned Prior to 2007

From the back of the book:

Sandra Gulland's irresistible epic draws the reader into the passionate relationship between Josephine and Napoleon Bonaparte. Comprising three acclaimed bestsellers, this omnibus traces Josephine's transformation from an impressionable young girl to the empress of France and one of the most sophisticated, powerful women in history.

I have the three-in-one edition of this book, so you will find that the back will be the same for each review. I hope to read the whole trilogy this month, and include them all in the From the Stacks challenge, but we will have to see how that goes.

I have had this book since March of last year. I bought it when it first came out as a 3-in-1 book, and it is has been on my to be read pile since. I have no idea why, but I was on my way out the door the other night to work, and while I had a book picked out to read, I came back downstairs and selected this one off my shelf. It was really random and a spur of the moment thought, but I am glad that I read it!

I have a strong liking for historical fiction novels, so when I heard about this trilogy I knew I had to eventually buy it. Other than Naomi Novik's historical fantasy series about the Napoleonic wars, this is the first time that I can remember reading a book about this particular period in time. It was not an intentional thing, but for whatever reason, this is the first time I got around to reading about this time period.

I really liked this book. Let me point out that I am totally clueless. I was reading the book, and the main character in the novel is named Rose. It never even came to mind that it should be Josephine. I really wonder about myself sometimes, as it was clear that she was going to be the main character in all three books. It was not until she met Napoleon that her name became Josephine. I am still kicking myself for being so totally unobservant!

It is amazing what Josephine becomes in this novel. She begins the book living with her family, having never even been to France before, but one of her aunts sends a letter looking for one of her nieces to marry a young man that her aunt knows, Alexandre. For a large period of the novel, he is an important person in France's history. This naive young girl comes to France, and winds up married to a very important man. Too bad that he is not a very nice husband, and treats her more like a friend than anything else. He does give her two wonderful children, that present themselves and their personalities several times during the course of the book. It is hard to believe that the woman that marries Alexandre becomes Empress of France, because she can be quite naive. She is brave, but she holds onto romantic notions that make you wonder how she ever gets ahead. She grows up, though.

During the course of just this first book you see her go from this naive little girl to this very important woman in France. She may not have a lot of money, but she is very brave and puts her fellow man ahead of herself more times than I can count. She does not seem to care what happens to herself, she is more interested in helping others. She makes wonderful connections in doing so, though, that help her out in the end. I have to say, I know who Napoleon is, of course, but he was never given a lot of study in the history courses that I took. As far as I can tell, Sandra Gulland put a lot of time into making this diary-format book as close to accurate as possible. I learned a lot, and plan to track down a non-fiction book in the future to get a clearer idea of the validity of this historical fiction novel.

I give this first installment a 4.5/5.

I am going to start adding a few stats as I go along to the end of my reviews. Just things that I found myself wishing I had kept track of last year.

Authors gender:
Female: 2
Male: 0

This author was new to me.

I also received one of the books I ordered with my Christmas gift certificates in the mail today: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I really stretched out my gift certificates this year. If I remember I will post a complete list of what I got when the rest of my order arrives next week.

From the Stacks Challenge

Looks like I will be doing this entire challenge in January. That will not be so bad because any of the books that I have planned to read this month will count, as they have all been on my tbr pile for a while. I did relatively good on the not buying books thing. I just used gift certificates from Christmas, but other than that, have not hardly spent any of my own money on books. When I did it was to off set going over the amount of the gift card a bit.

I need to stop making lists. I look at those thirty books that I originally posted, and while they look good, none of them are calling out to me right now. The first review of a From the Stacks book will be up in a bit, as I FINALLY read The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B by Sandra Gulland. According to my librarything, that book has been on my tbr pile since last March.

Winter Reading Challenge

So, this challenge has been circulating its way through the blog world. I have been meaning to post about it, but as you can see, I haven't posted much in the last couple days. I was on an inforced vacation, so I made myself pretty scarce. I should be back around now, and get caught up on my posts! And, I am very happy to see people joining in on my Reading Challenge! It got more response than I was anticipating, so now I think that I am going to get organized and make it a bit more official. Seeing people take an interest makes me think I will just make it a yearly challenge, so if you can't join in this year, you can join in next. Anyways, for my "From the Stacks" Challenge, I am just going to repost the list I was working on. I will extend the deadline to the 30th of January, but these are the books I would like to finish before then. I have already read a few, so hopefully I can get some more cleaned off.

1.The Hatbox Letters by Beth Powning
2.The Keep by Jennifer Egan
3.Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier
4.Accursed by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden
5.The Faery Reel by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
6.Soul Voyage by Cameron Royce Jess
7.Stormwarden by Janny Wurts
8.Raven's Shadow by Patricia Briggs
9.Heat by George Monbiot
10.Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
11.The Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
12.Heir to the Shadows by Anne Bishop
13.A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
14.Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling
15.Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead
16.Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi
17.The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel
18.The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander
19.The Oak Above the Kings by Patricia Kennealy
20.The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
21.New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
22.The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
23.The Truth-Teller's Tale by Sharon Shinn
24.The Alleluia Files by Sharon Shinn
25.Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow
26.The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
27.Poison Study by Maria Snyder
28.Helen of Troy by Margaret George
29.The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
30.A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin

More posting to follow, just not tonight!