A group of dedicated bloggers read and recommend some of the best books being published each month in the Bloggers Recommend newsletter. I am proud to be a founding member of the Advisory Board. Today I want to turn the spotlight on the book I recommended over the past two months. If you haven’t already signed up, you can get next month’s edition delivered right to your Inbox simply by signing up. The upcoming newsletter will include some December releases as well as the best books that haven’t yet been recommended this year. You won’t want to miss that.
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The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
(October 15, 2013 from Little, Brown & Company)
My Blurb in the October Bloggers Recommend Newsletter
Catton explores Hokitika, New Zealand, in the 1860s, where the murky relationships among its residents clears as a dozen men attempt to solve a mystery involving a prostitute, a dead hermit, a disappearance, and a disputed fortune in gold. With a Dickensian feel, this novel is an investment of time that pays off in highlight-worthy passages.
I spent almost an entire month reading this Man Booker Award winning novel. Normally – even for a novel of this size – that would not be a compliment. With this book it very much is. Not long into the book I pulled out my highlighter, falling in love with the way characters spoke and thought. The way the story unfolded felt very much like Dickens. I appreciated the way the author presented and thought out each character and storyline. It was worth every minute I devoted to it.
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Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories from History Without the Fairy-Tale Endings by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie
(November 19, 2013 from Quirk Publishing)
My Blurb in the November Bloggers Recommend Newsletter
This is a must read for lovers of historical fiction. Broken into seven sections, the book features the lives of princesses from across the world and through time, expanding European horizons. It works well when read as a whole or princess by princess. Irreverent, informative, and entertaining, Princesses Behaving Badly is the perfect companion to royal novels.
When I was pitched this book I took no time at all to accept. As a lover of Historical Fiction, I spend a lot of my reading time at one court or another. I loved the idea of reading the true stories about notable and notorious princesses and queens. This book lived up to my expectations and beyond. I loved the author’s tongue and cheek approach. I chuckled at many of her headings. While European princesses were represented, she scoured the globe for the perfect stories for her book. I also liked the way the book was set up. The stories dealing with similar types of “bad behavior” were grouped together. That made it possible to read by theme or skip around if you wanted a taste of everything. This book would make the perfect gift for Historical Fiction fans or those who teens and adults who love to read about real princesses. If they are like me, they’ll have a list of naughty royals they want to research further.