Saturday 28 February 2015

The Defenseless by Carolyn Arnold

The Defenseless by Carolyn Arnold
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

FBI Agent Brandon Fisher and the team travelers to Colorado to stop a serial killer that targets men who were charged with animal abuse twenty years ago, but manage to go free.

This is the third book in the Brandon Fisher FBI series and the first I read. It was easy to get into the story and to get to know the FBI agents even though this was the third book, sure there is history that I only get a glimpse of, but that only makes me want to read the previous three books even more.

The case was an interesting one; this is the first serial killer book I read that the killer is after men who have abused animals. This is probably the first time I have in any way sympathized with a serial killer (well to be honest more the cause than the person I question). The sympathy for the killer is also shown in the book. Not many feel that sorry about the men that got killed, not even their significant others. Even the agents felt that this is a case that is tougher because the killer is standing up for those who have no voice.

The ending was a bit weak, it seems that the FBI and the police instead of trying to get it right the first time, tried to arrest every damn suspect, realize that the person was not the one and go after the next one. I mean of course they are bound to find out the right killer in the end if they do so, but how about sitting down, go through the evidence a bit more, cover every corner and not bounce and accuse every suspect. Now I just read, and thought; "no, that's too easy next one."

Other than that, the book was really great! Liked the characters, I liked the forbidden romance between Brandon and Paige and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Friday 27 February 2015

The World According to Clarkson by Jeremy Clarkson

The World According to Clarkson by Jeremy Clarkson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first audiobook I have listen to in forever because I'm just not an audiobook person. But I wanted something to listen to at work when I got bored with listening to music, and what to listen to at Volvo? Of course The World According to Clarkson. This has taken me a while to listen to, probably a couple of months since I listen to the audiobook sporadically.

The great thing is that every chapter in this book is around 6-7 minutes long and since it's a collection of Jeremy's Sunday Times columns is every chapter about a different subject so it wasn't a story I was following so it was no problem listen to some chapters now and then. I liked the narrator's voice, but I wished it has been Jeremy Clarkson himself that had been the narrator. That would have been more fun to listen to!

Sunday 22 February 2015

Catching Lightning by Katie Stephens

Catching Lightning by Katie Stephens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mel travelers back to Africa, to bury her parents that have died in a car crash. She carries a lot of anger towards her parents whom she felt abandoned her to a boarding school when she was young to traveler back to Kenya to run an orphanage and a school. Mel was born in Kenya, but she and her parents left when she was little and she has never been back since then, both because of her anger towards her parents and because of is afraid to fly.

I was expecting a romance book when I started to read this one, and yes there is romance in this book, but it is also so much more, it's about finding yourself. Mel has to make peace with the past and by reading her mother's diary and scrapbook she comes to better grip with her past and why her parents returned to Kenya. She has always felt that her parents loved Kenya more than her, but through the reading of the books, meeting the people that worked with her parents and the children there do she realize that that she didn't know the whole truth. And, then there is Sam, the gorgeous guy that worked with her parents and shows her Africa.



This was a lovely book to read. One thing I really enjoyed was that the book took placed in Africa. All the Out of Africa references was also great, I love that movie. I think this is perfect for anyone that wants to read a romance book, but also want to read about forgiveness and friendship. Btw, I love the cover, the mix of colors.

I was provided a free copy of this book through the Catching Lightning Blog Tour and this is my honest review! Originally posted at It's a Mad Mad World!

Saturday 21 February 2015

Born to Drum by Tony Barrell

Born to Drum: The Truth about the World's Greatest Drummers--From John Bonham and Keith Moon to Sheila E. and Dave Grohl by Tony Barrell
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

To have a great band you need a great drummer. For the first time, Tony Barrell shines a long-overdue spotlight on these musicians, offering an exciting look into their world, their art, and their personalities. In Born to Drum, he interviews some of the most famous, revered, and influential drummers of our time—including Chad Smith, Ginger Baker, Clem Burke, Sheila E., Phil Collins, Nick Mason, Patty Schemel, Butch Vig, and Omar Hakim—who share astonishing truths about their work and lives. He investigates the stories of late, great drummers such as Keith Moon and John Bonham, analyzes many of the greatest drum tracks ever recorded, and introduces us to the world’s fastest and loudest drummers, as well as the first musician to pilot a “flying drum kit” onstage.

Filled with fascinating insights into the trade and little-known details about the greats, Born to Drum elevates drummers and their achievements to their rightful place in music lore and pop culture.

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This book was deeply fascinating to read even though I didn't recognize many names in this book. That is one thing I found quite peculiar that I knew of many bands and never knew the drummer's name. I started reading this book thinking that hopefully I would about Phil Collins and Roger Taylor (of Queen, not Duran Duran) and I got what I wished for and so much more. There was so much information here, anecdotes, interesting theories (no not all the drummers are batshit crazy like Keith Moon lol) and I learned a lot. It was interesting to read about women who drums, a subject I knew very, very little about and as I'm a bit morbid did I like reading about drummers that died or almost died because of drugs and alcohol. Don't take drugs and drive if you are a drummer btw!

Another thing I found very interesting besides everything I learned in this book is how I listen to music while and after I read the book, suddenly I'm listening to drums in a whole new way. I have always liked drums, but now old songs feel like new songs when I listen to the drums...

I recommend this book to all music nerds out there!
Thank you Edelweiss for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

Friday 20 February 2015

The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel

The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disgraced inspector Ian Frey is sent to Edinburgh to investigate the brutal death of a violinist. The violinist was killed in a locked room and there is no way out or in and the walls are covered in magic symbols.

I wish more books were like this; fast-paced, interesting and with short chapters. With short chapters I'm like "OK, just one more chapter"...and 1-2 hours later 1/3 of the book is done. Anyway, the mystery in this book was interesting and I like that the main characters Ian Frey and Adolpho "Nine Nails" McGrey can't stop insulting each other from the moment they met. Dislike at the first sight, I love it. (I prefer it to love at first sight lol). Yes, there were moments in the book when I got it before the main characters, but I just credit that to how brilliant I am to figure out things instead of how simple the solution is. Hehe

This was a good book and I hope more will come, but from the ending of this book it sure looks that way! Yay

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

Wednesday 18 February 2015

Cursed by Fire by Jacquelyn Frank

Cursed by Fire by Jacquelyn Frank
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I should probably have given up the book the moment I realized that the story wasn't working for me. But as this is a book I have received home I just kept going. There are probably people out there who will love this book, but I just couldn't enjoy it. The beginning was OK, but then the story just turned to a lust parade with the two main character lusting after each other like to dogs. In the end, I just wanted them to have sex so that this prolonged lusting after each other would stop.

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I freely admit that I skimmed the book at the end to finally finish it so that I could read something more suiting to me.

Thank you Piatkus for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

Sunday 15 February 2015

Cognac Conspiracies by Jean-Pierre Alaux

Cognac Conspiracies by Jean-Pierre Alaux
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Cognac Conspiracies is the fifth book in the Winemaker Detective Mysteries series and the first one I have read in the series. But I had no problem getting into the story, there aren't many characters to keep track on and the main characters Benjamin Cooker and Virgile made an interesting duo. But I most say that I preferred Virgile as a character rather than Benjamin. At least in this book. Since this is the first book I have read about them perhaps my view will change when I read the others. But one of the reasons to why I liked Virgile was that not only does women fancy Virgile, but in this book he had some problem with a man desiring him. But that is perhaps something he is used to, I don't know. But that was quite fun reading. Trying to work with women and men undressing one with their eyes was tough for poor Virgile.

But, I wish I had to get to know the characters a little more than I did in this book. A little more background. That's the drawback to reading a book in the middle of a series. On the plus side, I now have a couple of books to read.

Now about the story. It wasn't really a surprise that something was fishy about the drowning, this is a crime novel after all. Also, This isn't a thick book, so there wasn't really much time for red herrings or many suspects and that was too bad because that meant that there wasn't really a big surprise when everything was revealed at the end of the book. I wished there would have been more twists to the story because I liked the writing style and the main characters in the book.

In the end, will I say that I liked the book. It was a nice cozy mystery book and I would very much read more in the series. Especially the previous books. But I have to deduct a half star because the lack of a more surprising ending.

Thank you Le French Book and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

Saturday 14 February 2015

Dead Time by Tony Parsons

Dead Time by Tony Parsons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An exclusive short story featuring DC Max Wolfe from Tony Parsons, the Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author of The Murder Bag.

One am, Boxing Day. Snow falls, the city sleeps.

Not DC Max Wolfe. He is looking out of his loft apartment at the deserted streets below.

A van has just drawn up. Two men get out. Dressed in black and wearing ski-masks, they are dragging something.

It’s a man. Half-naked. Half-dead. But still alive.

Not for much longer.

Soon Max Wolfe is hunting a gang of killers who decapitate their victims

And this time it’s personal...


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I have Tony Parsons book The Murder Bag (The first Max Wolfe book) on my iPad that I'm going to read soon. But I thought I would start with this short novella first and it was actually a very good way of getting to know Max Wolfe and his young daughter Scout. Reading short novellas as an intro for book series can be a very good idea, well as long as you can get into the story easily.

I enjoyed this short novella very much, the story was interesting and I really liked Max Wolfe and Scout. I'm looking forward to reading The Murder Bag as soon as I have time for it.

I received this copy from the publisher through NetGalley return for an honest review!

Thursday 12 February 2015

The Dead Hamlets by Peter Roman

The Dead Hamlets by Peter Roman
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Something is haunting the play Hamlet, every time faeries put up the show someone dies...for real! It's up to the immortal Cross; a rogue and a drunk to stop the curse.

This was one hell of a ride! I enjoyed this story very much. Cross has to stop this curse or else his daughter Amelia could be the next victim of the curse, and he also has to fight a personal curse put on him by the fairy queen Morgana that makes him love her. To find out how to stop the curse he has to get help from quite different "people" like Christopher Marlowe, Alice (from the Alice in the Wonderland books), Frankenstein (the monsters actually not the doctor, but it's his name) The Scholar and so on...

I loved the story, the characters, the cameos of known fictional and not fictional characters. It was a great book that I recommend warmly!

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

#BookReview Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb

Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There's a thin line between hero worship and dangerous obsession...the explosive new Eve Dallas and Roarke thriller

A crisp winter morning in New York. In a luxury apartment, the body of a woman lies stretched out on a huge bed. On the wall above, the killer has left a message in bold black ink: FOR LIEUTENANT EVE DALLAS, WITH GREAT ADMIRATION AND UNDERSTANDING.

Eve Dallas is used to unwanted attention. Famous for her high-profile cases and her marriage to billionaire businessman Roarke, she has learned to deal with intense public scrutiny and media gossip. But now Eve has become the object of a singular and deadly obsession. She has an 'admirer', who just can't stop thinking about her. Who is convinced they have a special bond. Who is planning to kill for her - again and again...

With time against her, Eve is forced to play a delicate - and dangerous - psychological dance. Because the killer is desperate for something Eve can never provide - approval. And once that becomes clear, Eve knows her own life will be at risk - along with those she cares about the most.

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Obsession in Death is the 40th book in the In Death series and the first book I read in this series. I didn't know that J.D. Robb as a pseudonym for Nora Roberts before I got information about this book and I was a bit curious how an author that I associate with romance (albeit with a dash of mystery to them I have read) would be as a crime author. One thing for sure, this crime novel was a lot more chic lit that the usual crime novels I read. That is not necessarily a bad thing by the way. I'm just not used to having clothes described in detail in that way. This could be because this is a female writer, but I can't think of any other crime novels I read written by a female author that clothes is so often described or that the characters are so perfect. That's another thing, the main good characters are a bit too perfect to my taste. They are looking so good, dress so fine and that isn't something I associate with crime novels. Also, I'm not that used to in crime novels that romance/sex scenes take up much space. Usually, there is there in the background, some romance, that's nice. But here we have Eve and her billionaire husband Roarke suddenly engaged in that kind of sex scenes you find in a romance book. But that was actually alright because it didn't feel like erotic, it was OK to read. It wasn't four pages of rough sex, with a lot of dirty words. So I didn't mind.

But what I did mind was the slow pace throughout the book. It wasn't even that complicated story to begin with. Someone was idolizing Eve Dallas and to prove that the person killed for her. Eve and her partner Peabody had to find the killer. But I just couldn't really get into the story. It wasn't even anything wrong with the characters (except that God must have been extra generous with their looks) but I felt several times that I started to skim the text or that my attention wavered.

But the book wasn’t that bad, I liked the futuristic theme of the book, quite nice to have a crime novel set in the future. It wasn’t badly written and I would very much read more in this series. Especially from the beginning since I’m curious to know more about the characters.

So if you like crime novels, like romance novels, then why not try out this series.

Thank you Piatkus for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

Sunday 8 February 2015

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Me before You by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lou Clark loses her job at the café she has worked for years and she is in desperate need of a new job since her work supports her family. She takes a job as a companion for Will who is paralyzed. It is not love at first sight, quite the opposite instead. Lou is not sure how to deal with this bitter man that she has been hired to take care of.  But, she won't give up on him despite his attitude to live.   

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I find it's hard to find a really good romance books nowadays, well honestly it's because I hardly read any real romance books, and I often find them too cheesy and annoying. But now and then I actually read a romance book that is good. Me Before You a really good one. But I knew it would end badly, I read some reviews and I have never seen so many people emotionally destroyed by a book, a sign that I must read the book of course.

Strangely, In Sweden, they decided to call the book "Livet efter dig", translated to "Life after you". I much prefer "Me Before You", since calling a book "Life after you" well, gives the ending away. But it didn't make the blow easier. I don't often cry when I read books, but the ending brought tears to my eyes.

One thing I really love about the book was how Lou was transformed throughout the book. Her will to get Will to find a reason to live also made her life bigger. Her life was safe before Will, she had a job, a boyfriend, but meeting Will gave her courage, gave her wings. Yes, she suffered, but in the end, she grew strong.

Cannonbridge by Jonathan Barnes

Cannonbridge by Jonathan Barnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Flamboyant, charismatic Matthew Cannonbridge was touched by genius, the most influential creative mind of the 19th century, a prolific novelist, accomplished playwright, the poet of his generation. The only problem is, he should never have existed and beleaguered, provincial, recently-divorced 21st Century don Toby Judd is the only person to realise something has gone wrong with history.

All the world was Cannonbridge’s and he possessed, seemingly, the ability to be everywhere at once. Cannonbridge was there that night by Lake Geneva when conversation between Byron, Shelley and Mary Godwin turned to stories of horror and the supernatural. He was sole ally, confidante and friend to the young Dickens as Charles laboured without respite in the blacking factory. He was the only man of standing and renown to regularly visit Oscar Wilde in prison. Tennyson's drinking companion, Kipling's best friend, Robert Louis Stevenson's counsellor and guide - Cannonbridge's extraordinary life and career spanned a century, earning him a richly-deserved place in the English canon.

But as bibliophiles everywhere prepare to toast the bicentenary of the publication of Cannonbridge's most celebrated work, Judd's discovery will lead him on a breakneck chase across the English canon and countryside, to the realisation that the spectre of Matthew Cannonbridge, planted so seamlessly into the heart of the 19th Century, might not be so dead and buried after all...

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After a bit of a slow start, the story in this book really took off. The mystery of whom or what Matthew Cannonbridge was really made this book exciting to read and made this book into a real page turner and the ending were interesting and peculiar (I think I have it figured out at least). Although the last couple of pages, when something was revealed wasn't really a surprise, I saw that coming. I liked the jump between the past and the present, it was interesting to follow Toby Judd in the present trying to figure out the truth about Matthew Cannonbridge, while in the past famous authors like Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, and Oscar Wilde encounter Matthew Cannonbridge and often these famous authors sense that something is wrong with him. But what? Who is he? Read and find out...

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

Winterworld Book 1: The Mechanic's Song by Chuck Dixon

Winterworld Book 1: The Mechanic's Song by Chuck Dixon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fans of Winterworld only know Scully's story from after he met Wynn. But what was life like for the traveling trader before he rescued a young girl and found a new reason to survive in the endless wastes of a frozen planet? Presented in stark prose by creator Chuck Dixon (author of the acclaimed Bad Times series) we learn for the first time of Scully's past from childhood to manhood in the brutal and unforgiving world where every day presents another challenge from death. Filled with the kind of breakneck pacing, savage action, and high stakes that have made the comic series a world renowned classic, Winterworld Book 1: The Mechanic's Song will thrill you, horrify you, and touch your soul. Find out how the saga begins!

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Winterworld Book 1: The Mechanic's Song was listed under graphic novels on NetGalley, so I was a bit disappointed when I realized it was an ordinary book instead. But I decided to read it since it was a short book and I actually came to enjoy it quite much. I like dystopian books and this one was really good, the world is frozen over and everyone has to fend for themselves. It's basically to eat or not to be eaten, seriously, there are cannibals out there in the frozen world.

I liked Scully, I liked the way the book was structured, him retelling Wynn about his upbringing. It was a great read to follow him from boy to a young man in this frozen world and I'm keen to read the rest of the books in the Winterworld series and to finally met Wynn.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

Saturday 7 February 2015

Amherst by William Nicholson

Amherst by William Nicholson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Alice Dickinson, a young advertising executive in London, decides to take time off work to research her idea for a screenplay: the true story of the scandalous, adulterous love affair that took place between a young, Amherst college faculty wife, Mabel Loomis Todd, and the college’s treasurer, Austin Dickinson, in the 1880s. Austin, twenty-four years Mabel’s senior and married, was the brother of the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, whose house provided the setting for Austin and Mabel’s trysts.

Alice travels to Amherst, staying in the house of Nick Crocker, a married English academic in his fifties. As Alice researches Austin and Mabel’s story and Emily’s role in their affair, she embarks on her own affair with Nick, an affair that, of course, they both know echoes the affair that she’s writing about in her screenplay.

Interspersed with Alice’s complicated love story is the story of Austin and Mabel, historically accurate and meticulously recreated from their voluminous letters and diaries. Using the poems of Emily Dickinson throughout, Amherst is an exploration of the nature of passionate love, its delusions, and its glories. This novel is playful and scholarly, sexy and smart, and reminds us that the games we play when we fall in love have not changed that much over the years.



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This is a book I have wanted to read for some time now and I can say that in the beginning of the book I had hoped that this would be a really wonderful passionate romantic book that I would love. It didn't turn out that way. I liked the book, but I didn't love it. I just couldn't really get that invested in either of the love stories in the book. Both Austin and Maud and Alice and Nick's relationship just didn't work on a deep level for me. It didn't help either that I just couldn't get that invested in Emily Dickinson's poems either, a big part of the book's story. Maud was the one that edited and got the poems published after Emily's death and Alice is researching Austin's life and there are a lot of quotations of Emily's poems in this book, but I just don't really enjoy them very much.

So, in the end, this book was not as grand as I had hoped it to be, it was an enjoyable reading, especially in the beginning and I liked the ending. I found Williams Nicholson's writing style quite pleasing and wouldn't mind reading more books by him. But I will stay clear of Emily Dickinson, at least for now...

Thank you Edelweiss for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

The Silence of Ghosts by Jonathan Aycliffes

The Silence of Ghosts by Jonathan Aycliffe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dominic Lancaster hoped to prove himself to his family by excelling in the Navy during World War II. Instead he is wounded while serving as a gunner, and loses his leg. Still recovering from his wounds and the trauma of his amputation when the Blitz begins, Dominic finds himself shuffled off to the countryside by his family, along with his partially deaf sister, Octavia. The crumbling family estate on the shores of Ullswater is an old, much-neglected place that doesn’t seem to promise much in the way of happiness or recovery.

Something more than a friendship begins to flourish between Dominic and his nurse Rose in the late autumn of that English countryside, as he struggles to come to terms with his new life as an amputee. Another thing that seems to be flourishing is Octavia’s hearing.

As winter descends, sinister forces seem to be materializing around Octavia, who is hearing voices of children. After seeing things that no one else can see and hearing things that no one else can hear, Octavia is afflicted with a sickness that cannot be explained. With Octavia’s help, Dominic sets out to find the truth behind the voices that have haunted his sister. In doing so, he uncovers an even older, darker evil that threatens not only Octavia, but Rose and himself.

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The story in itself is interesting and I love that the book is written in a diary form. But it's never scary, never even chilly to read or not even a tiny bit suspenseful. It's just a ghost story that lacks the horror, which is unfortunately since I really hoped to read something that would chill my blood. But alas, perhaps next horror book will do that. Also, I was a bit disappointed with the ending; "that's it? Is this how it going to end?" Perhaps I just wanted a more horrific ending...lol

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through Edelweiss for an honest review!

Thursday 5 February 2015

Death of a Liar by M.C. Beaton

Death of a Liar by M.C. Beaton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is alarmed to receive a report from a woman in the small village of Cronish in the Scottish Highlands. She has been brutally attacked and the criminal is on the loose. But upon further investigation, Hamish discovers that she was lying about the crime. So when the same woman calls him back about an intruder, he simply marvels at her compulsion to lie. This time, though, she is telling the truth. Her body is found in her home and Hamish must sort through all of her lies to solve the crime.

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This reading experience was a bit...odd. I was expecting a cozy British mystery, but what a got was a British mystery book that was apparently trying very hard to be funny, but failed. At least for me, it failed. There were so many weird things happening all the time, two spinster sisters accusing the main character, Hamish Macbeth of being a Casanova every time he was seen with a woman, a woman getting bit by a fox, a woman finding a dead body and then she stumbles and hits her head and dies, etc. But it wasn't funny, in any way. The case in itself could have been more interesting, a woman with mythomania gets killed and it all leads to a religious cult. But it lacked depth in both the characters and the story and Macbeth's women problems get a bit too much attention.
This is the first Hamish Macbeth book I read, so perhaps you have to read them from the beginning to appreciate the books and its "humor"...
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy through Netgalley for an honest review! 

Tuesday 3 February 2015

The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour

The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour by David Ebsworth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

On the bloody fields of Waterloo, a battle-weary canteen mistress of Bonaparte’s Imperial
Guard battalions must fight to free her daughter from all the perils that war will hurl against them – before this last campaign can kill them both.


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I have had for years a soft spot for Napoleon Bonaparte. Also, I find the French revolution is a very interesting subject. But I’m not that interested in war or any kind of field battle. So reading this book for me was sometimes a bit hard since the story takes place during the last days of the Napoleonic Wars. Thankfully, the story in itself, that we are following two women during the war is something that makes reading about battle much easier.

Marianne Tambour is a canteen mistress for a battalion of the Imperial Guard’s Foot Grenadiers and she is very determent to give herself and her daughter a better life after this campaign. A life without war something they have never experienced. Then she meets Liberté Dumont, Dragoon Trooper and sometimes spies for the French Minister of Police Fouché.

I found the book both interesting to read and a bit hard to read, as I wrote above, I just have a problem with war but I liked knowing more about the Napoleonic Wars and about women’s part of the war. I never really thought that women were soldiers in the war and it was interesting to know more about the lives of canteen mistress´s something I never know anything about. It was a great moment in the book when some characters from Les Miserable’s showed up, I knew about it since it I read it in the preface but then I forgot about it until they showed up in the story. I liked the portraying of Napoleon Bonaparte in the book that he is part of the story not just mentioned. I loved reading about how the French people just loved him, the soldiers that adored him and died for him.

David Ebsworth has done a tremendous work both with the research and writing this book. It's very well written. But, I admit that it felt a bit heavy to read sometimes but still the core story, about Marianne and Liberté kept me going since I wanted to see how it would end for them.

I enjoyed gaining new knowledge about the Napoleonic Wars and this is a perfect book for anyone interested in Napoleon Bonaparte, the French Revolution or/and the Napoleonic Wars. Or anyone just interested in history.

Monday 2 February 2015

Rodin's Lover by Heather Webb

Rodin's Lover by Heather Webb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As a woman, aspiring sculptor Camille Claudel has plenty of critics, especially her ultra-traditional mother. But when Auguste Rodin makes Camille his apprentice—and his muse—their passion inspires groundbreaking works. Yet, Camille’s success is overshadowed by her lover’s rising star, and her obsessions cross the line into madness.

Rodin’s Lover brings to life the volatile love affair between one of the era’s greatest artists and a woman entwined in a tragic dilemma she cannot escape.


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If Camille Claudel had been born a century later she would have been much more accepted and that is very tragic. She was talented, but she lived in a man's world and she just couldn't play by their rules. I mean women apparently had to send a request for permission to wear trousers! All she wanted in her life was to sculpt, but she had to fight for that, her mother was against it, thanks to her father she could do it.

Her relationship with Auguste Rodin was passionate, but her jealousy, her fierce nature, and in the end her illness just couldn't make the relationship work.

I liked the book, but I found it was hard to read also, partly because I know how it would end, but also because I felt that I really never got into the story. I felt sorry for Camille Claudel, but I never really liked her in the book, I liked that she struggled to do something that before just men had done. But often I felt that she lacked the will to compromise, do keep her mouth shut sometimes. But this could easily be a part of her illness, but that didn't make her more sympathetic. She drove her friends away with her sharp tongue and I can understand why they find it was hard to be friendly with her. I don't know if she was this way in real life or if Heather Webb has just portrayed her this way. But it really made it hard to read the book. Also the relationship between Rodin and Claudel, I just didn't feel any passion I was never engrossed by their tragic love story. I didn't feel that moved by their relationship. It was interesting to read to get to know more about them, but I could just as well have read a biographical book about them.

Still, it was a good book, it was never boring, and I liked the small part with Victor Hugo, made me want to know more about him.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

Sunday 1 February 2015

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Under the streets of London there's a place most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks.

Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his workday existence and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and utterly bizarre. And a strange destiny awaits him down here, beneath his native city: Neverwhere.


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It was a good book. I'm glad I have read it. Gaiman created a fantastic world. But for me, something is missing to give it a higher grade. And the biggest problem I have with the book is that the characters felt a bit flat. I just didn't care much for anyone of them. A great book makes you care for the characters, suffer with them all the way, and mourn for them if something happens. It just didn't happen with me with this book.



ShatnerquakeShatnerquake by Jeff Burk

Shatnerquake by Jeff Burk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After a reality bomb goes off at the first ever ShatnerCon, all of the characters ever played by William Shatner are suddenly sucked into our world. Their mission: hunt down and destroy the real William Shatner. Featuring: Captain Kirk, TJ Hooker, Denny Crane, Priceline Shatner, Cartoon Kirk, Rescue 9-1-1 Shatner, singer Shatner, and many more. No costumed con-goer will be spared in their wave of destruction, no red shirt will make it out alive, and not even the Klingons will be able to stand up to a deranged Captain Kirk with a light saber. But these Shatner- clones are about to learn a hard lesson . . . that the real William Shatner doesn't take crap from anybody. Not even himself. 

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Fans of Bruce Campbell decide to erase William Shatner from history with a reality bomb because they are jealous of his success. They place the bomb at the ShatnerCon (Of course Shatner must have his own convention). But something goes wrong and suddenly every William Shatner character (T.J Hooker, James T Kirk, Danny Crane and so on) comes to life and they are all out to kill the real William Shatner. 

This is a crazy book, it’s over the top, it’s violent and it’s absolutely hilarious! I loved it when I read it a couple of months ago and if you are a fan of William Shatner, and have a weird sense of humor, then you will love this book.