Unabridged Chick

Title:Before Versailles: A Novel of Louis XIV
Author: Karleen Koen

Genre: Fiction (Historical / French / 17th century)
Publisher/Publication Date: Crown (6/28/2011)
Source:TLC Book Tours

Rating: Liked very much!
Did I finish?: Yes -- I kept daydreaming about returning to it whenever I had to stop.
One-sentence summary: Seven months in 1661 at the king's palace in Fontainebleau, France are filled with intrigue, romance, mischief, and mystery as a young lady-in-waiting navigates life at court.
Reading Challenges:Historical Fiction

Do I like the cover?: Yes, although it's a bit simple, it appeals to me, and has hints of Koen's previous covers (plus I love it when the covers accurately portray the setting -- in this case, Fontainebleau Palace).

I'm reminded of...: Sandra Gulland, Anya Seton

First line: Intelligent, virile, handsome, a man who made himself master of all he surveyed, Louis XIV was the foremost figure of his age.

Did... I get lost in this book every time I picked it up…

Seen both at The Printed Page (hosted in July at A Sea of Books) and The Story Siren, my Mailbox Monday/In My Mailbox...on a Sunday!  I've got a crazy review week ahead of me so I'm doing my mailbox today.  Lots of fascinating books to review plus some guilty pleasure purchases!  Read any of these?  What did you get?




For Review




Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller
The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Magician King by Lev Grossman
The Twelfth Enchantment: A Novel by David Liss
Eromenos by Melanie J. McDonald
The Homecoming of Samuel Lake: A Novel by Jenny Wingfield


Purchased/Swapped



A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba BrayBedelia by Vera Caspary (an original hardcover from 1945!)

I missed posting last week's winners, so I'm combining two week's worth of giveaway results into this single post -- sorry for keeping all of you waiting!

From last week...

The winner of Mr. Bishop and the Actress is ... Jenna of Literature and a Lens!

The winner of The Hypnotist is ... karenk!

And for this week...

The winner of The Art of Forgetting is... Tiffany Drew!

The winners of The Seven Year Bitch are ... Jenn of Picky Girl and Lisa of Lisa's Loves (Books of Course)!

Congrats to the winners!  If you didn't win, I still have many open giveaways and more great ones coming this week!

Title:In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother's Suicide
Author: Nancy Rappaport

Genre: Non-Fiction (Memoir / Contemporary / 1960s / Divorce / Suicide)
Publisher/Publication Date: Basic Books (7/12/2011)
Source:TLC Book Tours

Rating: Liked a great deal.
Did I finish?: Yes -- it really was un-put-down-able!
One-sentence summary: A Boston-based psychiatrist recounts the story of her parent's marriage, her mother's suicide, and the subsequent impact on her family's life.
Reading Challenges: None.

Do I like the cover?: Yes -- it features a picture of the author's mother and feels a bit retro to me, reminiscent, perhaps, of the 1960s setting.

First line: The day my mother killed herself, she had just finished preparing her house on Marlborough Street for the anticipated return of her children after a fierce custody battle with my father.

Buy, Borrow, or Avoid?: Borrow for sure -- I think it could appeal to many readers for the myriad of angles Rapp…

Title:Miss Timmins' School for Girls
Author: Nayana Currimbhoy

Genre: Fiction (India / Historical - 1970s / Girls School / Murder Mystery / Post-Colonial)
Publisher/Publication Date: Harper Paperbacks (6/21/2011)
Source:TLC Book Tours

Rating: Liked immensely!
Did I finish?: Yes -- I couldn't stop thinking about this book.
One-sentence summary: A young teacher's life is changed by love (and sex), the murder of a colleague, and family drama in 1970s India.
Reading Challenges:Historical Fiction, South Asian

Do I like the cover?: Yes. It references a rather iconic moment from the story.

I'm reminded of...: Charlotte Greig, Zoë Heller

First line: Today Charu came back to me, suddenly.

Did... I greatly appreciate the glossary in the back?: YES! It made my wiki-ing a lot less!

Did... I stay up multiple nights because I couldn't stop reading?: YES! At 491 pages, this was not one of my three-hour reads, but it was so good I didn't want to go to bed.

Do... I love the font used …

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

- Grab your current read & open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page (be careful not to include spoilers!)
- Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers
Today's teaser is from Nayana Currimbhoy's fabulous novel Miss Timmins' School for Girls.  Set in 1974 at a girl's school in the Panchgani region of India, the story follows Charulata Apte, a young Indian woman who is an English teacher there.  The excerpt below is from early in the novel, as Charu is chatting with a few other teachers. They're telling her about monsoon season and how hard it is to keep the students cooped up inside.  Miss Manson, one of the teachers, suggested Charu help her teach the students Scottish dance.

I really knew nothing about the dancing habit…