Winners!

The winners for this week!

The winner of Before Versailles is ... Jenny Q of Let Them Read Books!

The winner of The American Heiress is ... Teresa of Teresa's Reading Corner!

I still have many open giveaways -- check them out!

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Flashes of War by Katey Schultz

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Title:Flashes of War
Author: Katey Schultz

Genre: Fiction (Contemporary / Soldiers / War / Iraq / Afghanistan / Short Stories / PTSD / Military Families / Non-Combatants)
Publisher/Publication Date: Loyola University's Apprentice House (5/2013)
Source:MindBuck Media

Rating: Liked.
Did I finish?: I did, in a single morning.
One-sentence summary: Thirty-one short stories about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the soldiers, the survivors, and the citizens in Iraq and Afghanistan responding to the violence.

Do I like the cover?: I do -- it's simple and sparse. As many of the stories have the POV of someone young, the use of the toy soldier is smart, I think.

I'm reminded of...: Tara L. Masih

First line: Now there's waiting to get deployed and there's waiting to get shot at., from 'The Waiting: Part I'

Buy, Borrow, or Avoid?: Borrow or buy, especially if you're interested in stories about the military and those impacted by war.

Why did I get this book?: Curiosi…
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Historical Novel Society 2013 Conference: Gushing & a Story

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I'm back from both my work conference and the Historical Novel Society's 2013 Conference.

I had an amazing time.

Some off-the-top-of-my-head points:

I rode in the same van as Diana Gabaldon on the way to the conference, and me and my fellow shuttle-mates all tried to play it super cool.  Gabaldon was incredibly gracious. Amy of Passages to the Past and Historical Novel Virtual Book Tours and Heather of The Maiden's Court are as fabu as one would expect and I'm grateful that they were my con buddies! (Also, how crazy is it that I had to go to Florida to meet Heather, who lives, like, 40 minutes away from me!?!)got to meet bloggers like Meg of A Bookish Affair and reviewer/author/GoodReads friend Jane Steenevery author I met was adorable, gracious, enthusiastic, collegial, sweet, and supportive, not just of each other, but of the aspiring writers, bloggers, readers, and fanshad the head spinning experience of people gasping when they met me!the panels were fun and intere…
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Book Review: The Changeling by Victor LaValle

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First line: This fairy tale begins in 1968 during a garbage strike.

Holy expletive, this book was intense!

A quarter of the way in, I told my wife this was American Gods by way of Laura Lippman, and now that I've finished, I stand by that description. This is a family mystery, a domestic thriller, a supernatural mindfuck.

Perfect for Halloween and the creepy autumn days around it.

This was my book club's October read, and I inhaled it in about three days. All of us who read it loved it, although pretty much none of us expected some of the elements -- although it varied which plot point or character surprised us.

Apollo Kagwa loves books and stories; his parents' courtship, which opens the novel, has the magic of a fairy tale. His own marriage seems similarly fantastic, from his unusual courtship to his mesmerising wife Emma. But the pressure of a new baby takes a toll on all of them, especially when Emma becomes convinced their baby isn't really their baby. The famili…
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The Printmaker’s Daughter by Katherine Govier

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Title:The Printmaker’s Daughter
Author: Katherine Govier

Genre: Fiction (Japan / 19th century / Printmaking / Calligraphy)
Publisher/Publication Date: Harper Perennial (11/22/2011)
Source:TLC Book Tours

Rating: Liked.
Did I finish?: I did.
One-sentence summary: A young woman with exceptional artistic talent subsumes herself out of loyalty to her father.
Reading Challenges:Historical Fiction

Do I like the cover?: I don't think so. It's sort of ambigu-Japanese without telling us anything about the story, plus I think there's something odd about the woman's arm, like it was accidentally Photoshopped out. It's...spindly. (I vastly prefer the Canadian version.)

I'm reminded of...: Tracy Chevalier, Arthur Golden

First line: "Hey, you! You with the big chin! Oei!

Do... I love/hate novels about forgotten women artists?: YES. I wish more hist fic would taken on these fabulous forgotten figures, rather than churning out more Tudor-fic. I hate them only because it frustrat…
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