Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books: February 2012

New This Week - February 26, 2012

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Every Sunday Tanzanite highlights books that will be released during the upcoming week. She hopes you will find something you will enjoy!

The King's Agent by Donna Russo Morin. US and UK release February 28, 2012.

To the casual observer, Battista della Paglia is an avid art collector, or perhaps a nimble thief. In reality, the cunning Italian is an agent for François, the King of France, for whom he procures the greatest masterpieces of the day by any means necessary. Embroiled in a power struggle with Charles V, the King of Spain, François resolves to rule Europe's burgeoning cultural world. When he sets his sights on a mysterious sculpture, Battista's search for the elusive objet d'art leads him to a captivating woman on a mission of her own. . .

Having spent her life under the controlling eye of her protector, the Marquess of Mantua, Aurelia longs for freedom. And she finds it in Battista. Together, they embark on a journey to find the clues that will lead him to the sculpture-- a venture so perilous it might have spilled from the pen of Dante himself. From the smoldering depths of Rome to a castle in the sky, the harrowing quest draws them inextricably together. But Aurelia guards a dark secret that could tear them apart--and change the course of history. . .

Cain at Gettysburg by Ralph Peters. US release February 28, 2012.

Two mighty armies blunder toward each other, one led by confident, beloved Robert E. Lee and the other by dour George Meade. They’ll meet in a Pennsylvania crossroads town where no one planned to fight.

In this sweeping, savagely realistic novel, the greatest battle ever fought on American soil explodes into life at Gettysburg. As generals squabble, staffs err. Tragedy unfolds for immigrants in blue and barefoot Rebels alike. The fate of our nation will be decided in a few square miles of fields.

Following a tough Confederate sergeant from the Blue Ridge, a bitter Irish survivor of the Great Famine, a German political refugee, and gun crews in blue and gray, Cain at Gettysburg is as grand in scale as its depictions of combat are unflinching.

For three days, battle rages. Through it all, James Longstreet is haunted by a vision of war that leads to a fateful feud with Robert E. Lee. Scheming Dan Sickles nearly destroys his own army. Gallant John Reynolds and obstreperous Win Hancock, fiery William Barksdale and dashing James Johnston Pettigrew, gallop toward their fates….

There are no marble statues on this battlefield, only men of flesh and blood, imperfect and courageous. From New York Times bestselling author and former U.S. Army officer Ralph Peters, Cain at Gettysburg is bound to become a classic of men at war.

If Walls Could Talk by Lucy Worsley. Non-fiction. US release February 28, 2012 (released in the UK in 2011).

Why did the flushing toilet take two centuries to catch on? Why did Samuel Pepys never give his mistresses an orgasm? Why did medieval people sleep sitting up? When were the two "dirty centuries"? Why did gas lighting cause Victorian ladies to faint? Why, for centuries, did people fear fruit? All these questions will be answered in this juicy, smelly, and truly intimate history of home life. Lucy Worsley takes us through the bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchen, covering the architectural history of each room, but concentrating on what people actually did in bed, in the bath, at the table, and at the stove. From sauce-stirring to breast-feeding, teeth-cleaning to masturbation, getting dressed to getting married, this book will make you see your home with new eyes.

The Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower. US release March 1, 2012 (released in the UK in 2007)

His lust for power gave him everything. But it might cost him the love of his life.

The Bishop hired her for a simple job: embroider a tapestry. It is an enormous work, a cloth trophy of the conquest of England. But her skill with a needle and thread is legendary. It would be uncomplicated.

She plans to kill him as soon as she gets the chance. He and his brother, William the Conqueror, murdered her King and destroyed her world. Revenge, pure and clean. It would be simple.

But neither planned to fall desperately in love. As the two become hopelessly entangled, friends become enemies, enemies become lovers, and nothing in life—or the tapestry—is what it seems. An unlikely love story born of passion and intensity, crafted by critically acclaimed historical novelist Sarah Bower,The Needle in the Blood is a "story of love, war, and the tangled truth of England's birth."

The Girl in the Mask by Marie-Louise Jensen. Young Adult. UK release March 1, 2012.

Lady by day...Thief by night. Set in Georgian England, fifteen-year-old Sophia is trapped by the limitations of living in a man's world. Forced by her father to give up everything she loves, Sophia is ordered to make a new life in Bath. By day, she is trapped in the social whirl of balls and masquerades. By night, she secretly swaps her ball gowns for breeches, and turns to highway robbery to get her revenge . . . When one man begins to take a keen interest in her, Sophia must keep her distance, or risk unmasking her secret life.

The Tomb of Alexander by Sean Hemingway. US and UK release March 1, 2012.

Sought after for generations. Venerated by the great and the good. Hidden from all mankind.

Alexander was one of the greatest leaders of all time. After he died, his tomb was the most renowned and respected shrine in the Roman Empire, the object of veneration by great emperors and leaders the world over. It stood at the heart of the grandest city on earth. And then it disappeared.

Centuries later, on a dig in Crete, curator and archaeologist Tom Carr is convinced that he's discovered a vital clue. At his side is a beautiful young artist, Victoria Price. Together, they are prepared to risk everything to find the tomb, and solve one of the most enduring mysteries of our time.

The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer. Non-fiction. UK release March 1, 2012 (will be released in the US in April 2012).

We think of Queen Elizabeth I as 'Gloriana': the most powerful English woman in history. We think of her reign (1558-1603) as a golden age of maritime heroes, like Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Francis Drake, and of great writers, such as Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. But what was it actually like to live in Elizabethan England? If you could travel to the past and walk the streets of London in the 1590s, where would you stay? What would you eat? What would you wear? Would you really have a sense of it being a glorious age? And if so, how would that glory sit alongside the vagrants, diseases, violence, sexism and famine of the time?

In this book Ian Mortimer answers the key questions that a prospective traveller to late sixteenth-century England would ask. Applying the groundbreaking approach he pioneered in his bestselling Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England, the Elizabethan world unfolds around the reader.

He shows a society making great discoveries and winning military victories and yet at the same time being troubled by its new-found awareness. It is a country in which life expectancy at birth is in the early thirties, people still starve to death and Catholics are persecuted for their faith. Yet it produces some of the finest writing in the English language and some of the most magnificent architecture, and sees Elizabeth's subjects settle in America and circumnavigate the globe. Welcome to a country that is, in all its contradictions, the very crucible of the modern world.

Posted by Daphne at 12:28 PM 3 comments

Photo Friday - #36

Friday, February 24, 2012

There's a lot to love about Windsor Castle:

The beautiful grounds

Details like this above the entrance to the State Apartments (and since hubby knows how much I love them he was so good about taking pictures of them!)

The funny gargoyles that inhabit St. George's Chapel (they are literally everywhere!)

Posted by Daphne at 8:27 AM 1 comments

Weekly Wishlist - February 23, 2012

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Every week Tanzanite features upcoming historical fiction and history related non-fiction books that have come to her attention and may be of interest to others. Since she has an out of control TBR pile, so should everyone else!

The Purple Shroud by Stella Duffy. UK release July 5, 2012.

In THEODORA, Stella Duffy brought to life the dramatic and compelling true story of a woman who rose from near-slavery to become Empress of Byzantine Rome. Charming, charismatic and heroic, Theodora had to rely on her wit and talent as well as her beauty to survive. At the end of the novel, she has risen to the impossible heights of Empress. In this stunning and compelling sequel, Stella Duffy continues Theodora's extraordinary story - bringing to life a fascinating and dangerous world in all its rich and splendid power.

Warrior of Rome: The Wolves of the North by Harry Sidebottom. UK release July 5, 2012.

In the fifth novel in Harry Sidebottom's acclaimed and bestselling Warrior of Rome historical fiction series, Ballista returns in Warrior of Rome: The Wolves of the North to undertake yet another epic mission - while the Roman Empire reels in chaos around him.

AD 263 - the Roman Empire is close to turmoil, violent uprising threatening to shatter the fragile balance of power.

In the north, the tribes are increasingly bold in their raids on the Imperium - their savagery unlike anything Rome has known before. Ballista must undertake his most treacherous journey yet - a covert attempt to turn the barbarians against each other. He must face the Heruli - the Eaters of Flesh, the Wolves of the North - the most brutal tribe of them all. As Ballista and his retinue make their journey, someone - or something - is hunting them, picking them off one by one, and leaving a trail of mutilated corpses and terror.

Ballista is in a strange land, among strange people, but is it possible that the greatest threat may come from within his own familia?

Harry Sidebottom's Warrior of Rome: The Wolves of the North is a nail-biting, action packed epic tale of rebellion and terror set in the Roman Empire.

The Red Sea by William Napier. UK release July 19, 2012.

The Mediterranean, 1571. For hundreds of years the Ottoman Empire has ruled the seas. But the seas are only a gateway to the lands they covet beyond.The armies of the Turk are picking off colonies and small islands, and if the Mediterranean falls, then finally perhaps the balance of power between crescent and cross will tip... It has been a momentous summer - the fall of Nicosia, Cyprus besieged and men flayed alive, their bodies displayed as trophies on opposing galleys.

Now, as the sun rises on one October day, history will be written in blood. Five hours will shape history. Countries all over western Europe have sent ships and men. Caught up in it are Hodge and Ingoldsby - two young British soldiers who have survived the siege of Malta and are already living on borrowed time. Now, it seems the debt must be repaid...

Blood Sisters: The Women Who Won the War of the Roses by Sarah Gristwood. Non-fiction. UK release September 13, 2012.

From best-selling historian, Sarah Gristwood comes the true story behind Philippa Gregory’s recent novels – the women who gave birth to the Tudor dynasty. It is a fiery history of Queens, the perils of power and of how the Wars of the Roses were ended – not by knights in battle, but the sinewy political skills of women.

The events of the Wars of the Roses are usually described in terms of the men involved; Richard, Duke of York, Henry VI, Edward IV and Henry VII. The reality though, argues Sarah Gristwood, was quite different. These years were also packed with women's drama and – in the tales of conflicted maternity and monstrous births – alive with female energy.

In this completely original book, acclaimed author Sarah Gristwood sheds light on a neglected dimension of English history: the impact of Tudor women on the Wars of the Roses. She examines Cecily Neville, the wife of Richard Duke of York, who was deprived of being queen when her husband died at the Battle of Wakefield; Elizabeth Woodville, a widow with several children who married Edward IV in secret and was crowned queen consort; Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, whose ambitions centred on her son and whose persuasions are likely to have lead her husband Lord Stanley, previously allied with the Yorkists, to play his part in Henry's victory.

Until now, the lives of these women have remained little known to the general public. Sarah Gristwood tells their stories in detail for the first time. Captivating and original, this is historical writing of the most important kind.

Winter of the World by Ken Follett. US and UK release September 18, 2012.

Ken Follett follows up his #1 New York Times bestseller Fall of Giants with a brilliant, page-turning epic about the heroism and honor of World War II, and the dawn of the atomic age.

Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants, the first novel in his extraordinary new historical epic, The Century Trilogy, was an international sensation, acclaimed as “sweeping and fascinating, a book that will consume you for days or weeks” (USA Today) and “grippingly told and readable to the end” (The New York Times Book Review). “If the next two volumes are as lively and entertaining as Fall of Giants,” said The Washington Post, “they should be well worth waiting for.”

Winter of the World picks up right where the first book left off, as its five interrelated families—American, German, Russian, English, Welsh—enter a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the Spanish Civil War and the great dramas of World War II, up to the explosions of the American and Soviet atomic bombs.

Carla von Ulrich, born of German and English parents, finds her life engulfed by the Nazi tide until she commits a deed of great courage and heartbreak. . . . American brothers Woody and Chuck Dewar, each with a secret, take separate paths to momentous events, one in Washington, the other in the bloody jungles of the Pacific. . . . English student Lloyd Williams discovers in the crucible of the Spanish Civil War that he must fight Communism just as hard as Fascism. . . . Daisy Peshkov, a driven American social climber, cares only for popularity and the fast set, until the war transforms her life, not just once but twice, while her cousin Volodya carves out a position in Soviet intelligence that will affect not only this war—but the war to come.

These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as their experiences illuminate the cataclysms that marked the century. From the drawing rooms of the rich to the blood and smoke of battle, their lives intertwine, propelling the reader into dramas of ever-increasing complexity.

As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. With passion and the hand of a master, he brings us into a world we thought we knew, but now will never seem the same again.

The Tudor Deception by Christopher Gortner. UK release November 8, 2012.

Winter 1554. Brendan Prescott, spymaster to the Princess Elizabeth, has discovered that he is connected to the Tudors by blood as well as allegiance. Though his secret is known only by a few, it could be his downfall as he is called to London to protect the princess.

Accompanied by his young squire Peregrine, he reluctantly leaves his sweetheart Kate behind - but in the city he discovers that no one is quite what they seem. What fate does Queen Mary intend for her sister? Is Robert Dudley somehow manipulating the princess, even though he is locked in the Tower? And should Brendan trust the alluring Sybilla, Mary's lady-in-waiting, who professes to be on his side?

As he tries to unravel the mysteries of the Tudor court Brendan's life will be put in danger many times, and along the way he learns more about his own past.

Bristling with betrayal, death and intrigue, THE TUDOR DECEPTION is as fast-paced and thrilling as THE TUDOR SECRET, its predecessor in the ELIZABETH'S SPYMASTER series.

Posted by Daphne at 4:39 PM 0 comments

The Poisoned Crown by Maurice Druon

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Following the death of his first wife in The Strangled Queen, Louis X of France welcomes a new wife – Clemence of Hungary- in the third installment of Maurice Druon’s The Accursed Kings series. From troubles in Flanders to the growing power of his Valois relatives, Louis spends his short (less than two years) reign fumbling through one crisis after another. And then there is the problem of the succession.

Woven amongst Louis’s troubles is the continuing story of a Lombard banker and the noblewoman that he loves as well as Robert of Artois’s struggle to get his inheritance back from his aunt. The problems plaguing France need a stronger king than it has in Louis who is described as “incapable of concentration, the gravest of all faults in the powerful.” The book ends with Louis’s death at 26 amid speculation of poison and with Clemence pregnant, the stage is set for the next book in the series, The Royal Succession.

In keeping in the style of the previous books in the series, Druon’s narrative fills in the future from time to time, especially noting that before it’s all said and done, the crown of France will sit on the heads of both of Louis’s brothers as well as his nephew. There is also plenty of overly dramatic commentary on the human condition and specifically, the plight of those who happen to be French. Although I still think these asides are a little jarring, they summarize the larger political environment in which the events take place without having to spend pages explaining it within the context of the story itself.

This series is about a time period I know very little about and from that standpoint, I enjoy reading them. But I always have a hard time deciding what I think about them and the Lombard plotline still has me confused, although I have been assured that it will make sense in the end…

In case the FTC asks: Bought it used

Posted by Daphne at 6:00 PM 0 comments

New This Week - February 19, 2012

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Every Sunday Tanzanite highlights books that will be released during the upcoming week. She hopes you will find something you will enjoy!

The Six Wives of Henry VIII (20th Anniversary Edition) by Antonia Fraser. Non-fiction. UK reissue February 20, 2012.

The six wives of Henry VIII - Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr - have become defined in a popular sense not so much by their lives as by the way these lives ended. But, as Antonia Fraser conclusively proves, they were rich and feisty characters. They may have been victims of Henry's obsession with a male heir, but they were not willing victims. On the contrary, they displayed considerable strength and intelligence at a time when their sex supposedly possessed little of either.

The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott. US and UK release February 21, 2012.

Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a vivid, romantic, and relentlessly compelling historical novel about a spirited young woman who survives the disaster only to find herself embroiled in the media frenzy left in the wake of the tragedy.

Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she's had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men, one a roughly-hewn but kind sailor and the other an enigmatic Chicago millionaire. But on the fourth night, disaster strikes.

Amidst the chaos and desperate urging of two very different suitors, Tess is one of the last people allowed on a lifeboat. Tess’s sailor also manages to survive unharmed, witness to Lady Duff Gordon’s questionable actions during the tragedy. Others—including the gallant Midwestern tycoon—are not so lucky.

On dry land, rumors about the survivors begin to circulate, and Lady Duff Gordon quickly becomes the subject of media scorn and later, the hearings on the Titanic. Set against a historical tragedy but told from a completely fresh angle, The Dressmaker is an atmospheric delight filled with all the period's glitz and glamour, all the raw feelings of a national tragedy and all the contradictory emotions of young love.

Posted by Daphne at 10:43 AM 1 comments

Photo Friday - #35

Friday, February 17, 2012

Hever Castle (from 2010)

a long "covered" walkway along the edge of the gardens

The interior courtyard

Posted by Daphne at 8:03 AM 1 comments

New This Week - February 12, 2012

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Every Sunday Tanzanite highlights books that will be released during the upcoming week. She hopes you will find something you will enjoy!

The Forest Laird by Jack Whyte. US release February 14, 2012 (will be released in the UK in May 2012 as The Rebel).

In the pre-dawn hours of August 24th, 1305, in London’s Smithfield Prison, the outlaw William Wallace—hero of all the Scots and deadly enemy of King Edward of England—sits awaiting the dawn, when he is to be hanged and then drawn and quartered. This brutal sundering of his body is the revenge of the English. Wallace is visited by a Scottish priest who has come to hear his last confession, a priest who knows Wallace like a brother. Wallace's confession—the tale that follows—is all the more remarkable because it comes from real life.

We follow Wallace through his many lives—as outlaw and fugitive, hero and patriot, rebel and kingmaker. His exploits and escapades, desperate struggles and victorious campaigns are all here, as are the high ideals and fierce patriotism that drove him to abandon the people he loved to save his country.

William Wallace is the first heroic figure from the Scottish Wars of Independence, a man whose fame has reached far beyond his homeland. Wallace served as a subject for the Academy Award–winning film Braveheart. In The Forest Laird, Jack Whyte’s masterful storytelling breathes life into Wallace's tale, giving readers an amazing character study of the man who helped shape Scotland’s future.

Accidents of Providence by Stacia Brown. US release February 14, 2012; UK release February 16, 2012 as The Glovemaker.

Rachel Lockyer is under investigation for murder.

It is 1649. King Charles has been beheaded for treason. Amid civil war, Cromwell's army is running the country. The Levellers, a small faction of political agitators, are calling for rights to the people. And a new law targeting unwed mothers and “lewd women” presumes anyone who conceals the death of her illegitimate child is guilty of murder.

Rachel Lockyer, unmarried glove maker, and William Walwyn, Leveller hero, are locked in a secret affair. But while William is imprisoned in the Tower, a child is found buried in the woods and Rachel is arrested.

So comes an investigation, public trial, and a cast of extraordinary characters made up of ordinary Londoners: gouty investigator Thomas Bartwain, fiery Elizabeth Lilburne and her revolution-chasing husband, Huguenot glover Mary Du Gard, a lawyer for the prosecution hell-bent on making an example of Rachel, and others. Spinning within are Rachel and William, their remarkable love story, and the miracles that come to even the commonest lives.

Accidents of Providence is absorbing historical fiction for fans of Fingersmith and The Dress Lodger. And Rachel Lockyer, a woman wronged by her time, is a character neither history, nor we, will ever again forget.

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen. US release February 14, 2012.

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance. Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in. It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

The Lion at Bay by Robert Low. UK release February 16, 2012.

A NATION WILL FIGHT FOR ITS FREEDOM.

Scotland in turmoil. Robert Low at his best.

William Wallace fled to France after his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk, which ended his rebellion against the English King. He would have been slain at Falkirk but for the courage of Hal of Herdmanston, whose home was razed in reprisal by King Edward – but who has become a follower of the Earl of Carrick, known as the Bruce, now a friend of the English.

The Bruce is playing a dangerous game in submitting to Edward since his own ambition, fostered by his auld reprobate grandfather, is to be the King of Scotland. But bitter rivalry amongst the Scots nobility is as grave an obstacle to its independence as the forces of the English Edward Longshanks, and the Bruce has powerful rivals.

Wallace has returned home, though he still faces betrayal from his own. His loyalty is to the previous king, John Baliol, a prisoner of the Pope. Knights Templar, Cathar heretics, and a Curse laid on the Bruce’s family all conspire against Robert, as well as Edward’s forces. Murder and treachery will be crucial weapons in the long and bloody rise of the Bruce to his coronation.

The Garden Intrigue by Lauren Willig. US and UK release February 16, 2012.

In the ninth installment of Lauren Willig's bestselling Pink Carnation series, an atrocious poet teams up with an American widow to prevent Napoleon's invasion of England.

Secret agent Augustus Whittlesby has spent a decade undercover in France, posing as an insufferably bad poet. The French surveillance officers can't bear to read his work closely enough to recognize the information drowned in a sea of verbiage.

New York-born Emma Morris Delagardie is a thorn in Augustus's side. An old school friend of Napoleon's stepdaughter, she came to France with her uncle, the American envoy; eloped with a Frenchman; and has been rattling around the salons of Paris ever since. Widowed for four years, she entertains herself by drinking too much champagne, holding a weekly salon, and loudly critiquing Augustus's poetry.

As Napoleon pursues his plans for the invasion of England, Whittlesby hears of a top-secret device to be demonstrated at a house party at Malmaison. The catch? The only way in is with Emma, who has been asked to write a masque for the weekend's entertainment.

Emma is at a crossroads: Should she return to the States or remain in France? She'll do anything to postpone the decision-even if it means teaming up with that silly poet Whittlesby to write a masque for Bonaparte's house party. But each soon learns that surface appearances are misleading. In this complicated masque within a masque, nothing goes quite as scripted- especially Augustus's feelings for Emma.

Posted by Daphne at 11:57 AM 3 comments

Photo Friday - #34

Friday, February 10, 2012

More shots from Arundel Castle (from 2010)

Inside of the Fitzalan Chapel (on the estate grounds but not attached to the castle)

Posted by Daphne at 9:59 AM 0 comments

Henry V by Christopher Allmand

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Although my favorite books to read are historical fiction, I also enjoy reading biographies and other non-fiction books that are related to certain people or time periods. Some – Anne Boleyn, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard III – have a large number of non-fiction works published about them while others languish in virtual obscurity, limiting the choices available. Having read a few books about Henry V, I decided it was time to pick up the one non-fiction book I had on him, a 1992 biography by Christopher Allmand.

As a non-historian type person, I willingly admit to preferring the so-called “popular histories” which I find to be written in a more accessible style and to be easier to read. Allmand’s work definitely falls into the other category – the scholarly. Although told mostly chronologically, by the middle of the book, the king is dead and the remaining 200+ pages is an exploration of Henry V’s impact on England and to a lesser extent, the political and religious climate of the world he lived in.

I had a hard time reading this one. Although it appears to be well researched with lots of footnotes and pages of pages of bibliography, I thought it was dry and boring. I’ve always imagined Henry V as a somewhat charismatic personality (not based on anything necessarily factual, just my own perception) but here he has no personality at all. The Battle of Agincourt is covered fairly quickly, matter-of-factly and with no enthusiasm. I skipped large sections of the last half of the book (although the chapter on Henry’s family and the Epilogue were interesting). This just wasn't for me.

In case the FTC asks: Paperback Swap

Posted by Daphne at 4:05 PM 2 comments

New This Week - February 5, 2012

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Every Sunday Tanzanite highlights books that will be released during the upcoming week. She hopes you will find something you will enjoy!

The Turning of Anne Merrick by Christine Blevins. US and UK release February 7, 2012.

A tale of love and espionage from the author of Midwife of the Blue Ridge...

She spies for General Washington, betrays the Redcoats and battles for America's independence...

It's 1777, and a fledgling country wages an almost hopeless struggle against the might of the British Empire. Brought together by a fateful kiss, Anne Merrick and Jack Hampton are devoted to each other and to their Patriot cause. As part of Washington's daring network of spies, they are ready and willing to pay even the ultimate price for freedom.

From battlefields raging along the Hudson, to the desperate winter encampment at Valley Forge and through the dangerous intrigue of British-occupied Philadelphia, Anne and Jack brave the trials of separation, the ravages of war and an unyielding enemy growing ever more ruthless.

For love and for country, all is put at risk-and together the pair must call upon their every ounce of courage and cunning in order to survive.

Masques of Gold by Roberta Gellis. US and UK reissue February 7, 2012.

Lissa never much liked her elderly husband, but she certainly hadn't suspected he was plotting treason. When she's suddenly left a widow, the sharp gaze of the king's head investigator turns straight to her. Sir Justin is honor-bound to treat Lissa as a suspect, but keeping his distance from the beautiful temptress requires every ounce of his legendary self-control.

As King John's court swirls with intrigue, tempers are high, passions are hot, and one wrong move could change the course of history.

Posted by Daphne at 8:54 AM 3 comments

Tanzanite's Bookmark Giveaway - February 2012

Saturday, February 4, 2012

For this month's giveaway, there are three to choose from:

Left: Green background with crowns/tiara

Middle: Celtic knotwork in blue/teal

Right: Richard III (from a larger chart of all the English monarchs)

To enter the giveaway, please complete the following form by midnight February 29, 2012 (this is leap year!). Open internationally

Posted by Daphne at 2:41 PM 2 comments

Tanzanite's Bookmark Giveaway - January Winner

Friday, February 3, 2012

The winner of January's giveaway is:

Sarah W from California

February's contest will be posted this weekend

Posted by Daphne at 4:50 PM 0 comments

Photo Friday - #33

Bodiam Castle (from 2010)

This is the "inside" view of the picture above (the round turret in this picture is on the other end of the tall wall from the turret in the picture above it - hopefully that makes sense.)