historical

Top Ten Tuesday: 2016 Releases I Meant To Read (But Didn’t Get To)

10th January 2017 by Gemma 4 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. More information, plus future topics can be found on this page. This week was ‘2016 Releases I Meant To Read’.

I thought I’d do these prompts at least once (or twice?) a month since I seem to fare better at having one on instagram. Maybe it’ll make me a more regular blogger!

So I kept my ears quite close to the ground last year when it came to new book releases, and I have more than a handful of books published in 2016. Unfortunately, I still haven’t figured out how to balance reading with bookstagram and blogging, so I didn’t manage to read most of them (although I’m sure most readers always feel they haven’t read as much as they would have wanted in a year). I have to re-think my book purchases for this year, which is a post for another day!

Anyway, here are some of the books that were published in 2016, and I will hopefully get to tick them off the TBR list before the end of this year. …

On The Nightstand: The Muse

4th September 2016 by Gemma Leave a Comment

I can’t exactly remember how I felt about The Muse before its release. Everyone was waiting excitedly for it, and while I was enthusiastic, I didn’t feel it was with as much intensity compared to those who have read The Miniaturist. I admit I haven’t read that one; I missed the month when we read it for book club, and the comments were quite divisive that I did not feel particularly keen to find out which side of the debate I’d fall.

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Blog Tour: The House in Quill Court – Author Q&A with Charlotte Betts

25th August 2016 by Gemma Leave a Comment

Today, I’m very happy to welcome multi-award-winning author Charlotte Betts to the blog! She has kindly consented to a short Q&A session to celebrate the release of her fifth book, The House in Quill Court.

If you’re a reader of historical romantic fiction, this book will be right up your alley. Here’s a quick blurb —

1813. Venetia Lovell lives by the sea in Kent with her pretty, frivolous mother, and idle younger brother. Venetia’s father, Theo, is an interior decorator to the rich, and frequently travels away from home, leaving his sensible and artistic daughter to look after the family. Venetia designs paper hangings, and she and her father often daydream about having an imaginary shop where they would display the highest quality furniture, fabrics, and art to his clients.

When a handsome but antagonistic stranger, Jack Chamberlaine, arrives at the Lovell’s cottage just before Christmas bringing terrible news, Venetia’s world is turned upside-down, and the family has no option but to move to London, to the House in Quill Court and begin a new life. Here, Venetia’s courage and creativity are tested to breaking point, and she discovers a love far greater than she could have ever imagined…

As part of #QuillCourt blog tour, I was given a chance to post the author some questions, and I love learning more about Charlotte through her eloquent answers.
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From the Publisher’s Desk: Dandy Gilver & the Unpleasantness in the Ballroom

19th May 2016 by Gemma Leave a Comment

Dandy Gilver & the Unpleasantness in the Ballroom is a book of the mystery genre, written by Catriona McPherson. Set in Glasgow in 1932, Dandy and her detective partner Alec Osborne are immersed in the world of competitive ballroom dancing as they uncover secrets, deal with rivalries, and, of course, death threats.

Firstly — I must admit that I have not heard of Dandy Gilver prior to getting this paperback*. As it turns out, this is the tenth book in the series, with another one coming out July of this year in the UK. So while I am ignorant of these books until recently, they are undoubtedly popular.

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From the Publisher’s Desk: Jane Steele

21st March 2016 by Gemma 6 Comments

It has been years since I last read Jane Eyre, although, in my mind’s eye, I can still recall the cover of the copy I left (and misplaced) back home. I can barely remember the specifics of the story; all I remember are the bones: Jane being treated unkindly by her Aunt and cousin, being sent to a girls’ school and still being maltreated there, and then finding a job as a governess, and subsequently falling in love with the master of the house, Mr. Rochester. I loved Jane for having her own mind, and my little tween heart beat rapidly at the love story that developed between her and Mr. Rochester.

Jane Steele, written by Lyndsay Faye, is marketed as “a Gothic re-imagining of Jane Eyre as a gutsy, heroic serial killer”. It was making its rounds on Instagram more than a month before its release, and praises and excitement abound on every post. I grabbed at the chance to have an advanced copy of it*, despite having been severely burned by another classic retelling. I was well ready to write off and avoid all retellings after that painful experience.

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