Friday Finds: The Devil's Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis

"Catherine de Medici has been considered history’s most ruthless and cunning queen. Even today, it is commonly accepted that Catherine resorted to astrology and black magic to keep her family, and herself, in power at all costs. Here, for the first time, bestselling author Jeanne Kalogridis (author of THE DEVIL'S QUEEN) opens the pages of history to reveal some of Catherine’s favorite black magic spells and dark charms in the 'BOOK OF BLACK MAGIC: The Devil’s Queen Grimoire'..."



How can you possibly resist a book about Catherine de Medici? And especially one that has a special ebook created all about her black magic?

Just one click will let you inside the Book of Black Magic.

The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici by Jeanne Kalogridis hit stores July 21.

Review: The Natural Laws of Good Luck by Ellen Graf

Book Info:
The Natural Laws of Good Luck: A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage

by Ellen Graf
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Trumpeter (August 4, 2009)
ISBN-13: 9781590306918
Genre: Nonfiction

Rating: 2.75/5

The quirky and funny story of a woman in upstate New York who marries a man from China whom she barely knows. They don’t share a language or a culture, but together they discover what matters most—a story of taking risks, culture clash, and the journey to real love.

Ellen was lonely and having no luck with personal ads when her Chinese girlfriend suggested that she meet Zhong-Hua, her brother in northern China. Ellen soon finds herself going to Beijing to meet him, and although they speak only a few words of each other’s language, they decide to get married.

Ellen and Zhong-Hua settle at Ellen’s farmhouse in upstate New York where they face a host of challenges, including the language barrier, financial problems, and profound cultural differences. When Ellen tries to teach Zhong-Hua to drive, explaining to him the concept of right-of-way and the meaning of a red light, he cheerfully replies, “I don’t think so,” and develops his own free-form, heart-stopping style of driving. A character worthy of first-rate fiction, Zhong-Hua rarely fails to surprise and entertain us, whether by his driving style, his culinary tastes (Ellen must learn to appreciate rock fungus, among other unusual delicacies), and his creative low-budget home maintenance solutions (who knew that concrete had so many uses?).












If you've read this blog for very long you know I read a lot of non-fiction, mostly memoirs. For the most part, I really enjoy them. I enjoy learning about other people lives and experiences, especially from other cultures. So, The Natural Laws of Good Luck sounded like a wonderful book, but it didn't quite deliver like I'd expected.

Zhong-Hua was a kick. I admired his courage in coming to an unknown country without knowing the language or customs. And, as you'd expect, this brought about some funny and unexpected stories. I particularly liked the parts about the differences between the cultures and how misunderstandings could easily come about because of it.

What I found a little lacking was the writing. Maybe the style just didn't work for me, but I found it a bit unfocused and rambling at times. I also prefer memoirs, for the most part, to be in chronological order. Natural Laws was close, but there were also some tangents that I couldn't tell where exactly they fit. This is a fairly short book but it took me well over a week to finish. All of the tangents in the story just didn't hold my attention.

If you are interested in other cultures, especially Chinese, I would recommend The Natural Laws of Good Luck. Otherwise, I'd say get it from the library instead of buying it. 2.75 stars

Guest Post by Elle Newmark, author of The Book of Unholy Mischief

I am very happy to welcome Elle Newmark today, author of The book of Unholy Mischief, as a guest blogger.

The Book of Unholy Mischief
Elle Newmark

Like Susan Boyle, I am gobsmacked. While lots of people are talking about The Book of Unholy Mischief, precious few are talking about the point it makes.

In writing this book, I wanted to say something about the potential for magnificence we all hold within us. But in the seven months since the release of The Book of Unholy Mischief, the only reviewer who touched on that was Kirkus. They said, “…Intelligence is the daily special on Newmark’s menu, served with facility and skill.”

Thank you.

On the other hand, The New York Times compared me to Dan Brown. Apologies to Dan, but I am not amused. How can you compare a contemporary thriller to a historical picaresque? I was in London when that review appeared, and I paced my hotel room with steam coming out of my ears. It was a good review and sales went up, but that’s not the point. Well, it kind of is the point for my agent and publisher, but not for me.

I happen to be obnoxiously proud of writing historical fiction that uses food metaphors to illustrate ideas. It’s not something you see every day. The Book of Unholy Mischief is about a chef and his apprentice in Renaissance Venice embroiled in intrigues involving a mysterious book, a corrupt church, powerful bad guys, a sexy nun, and a syphilitic doge. All this serves to teach the apprentice how to become the best man he can be.

Now honestly, when was the last time you read that?

The Book of Unholy Mischief is dedicated to teachers because the chef is a teacher the way Sean Connery mentored Christian Slater in the Name of the Rose. It also uses food as metaphor and magic as Juliette Binoche did in Chocolat. In both cases, these devices were used to make a point.

If you want to know more about Unholy Mischief please visit my website http://www.ellenewmark.com/. If you want to know even more, read the book. Paperback will be out in November 2009.

Elle, thank you for stopping by my blog today, and thank you to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for putting together this tour.

The Bottom Line, #3 James Patterson Edition

The Bottom Line is a feature to designed to give quick and dirty reviews of books I've read, but I either don't have the time or the inspiration to write full reviews on them.

Run for Your Life by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (February 2, 2009)
ISBN-13: 9780316018746
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: 3/5

This is the second book in the Michael Bennett series, and I'm not sure I'll continue reading them. It wasn't awful, the mystery was decent, if forgettable, but I really don't feel any connection to Bennett. If you don't want to know more about the main character in a series, maybe it's time to quit reading.



Lifeguard by James Patterson
Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (August 1, 2006)
ISBN-13: 9780446617611
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: 2.5/5

Lifeguard is a typical Patterson book. Short chapters, a fast read, but nothing memorable. I finished this one a couple of weeks ago and honestly cannot tell you a single thing about the book. It's books like these that really make me wonder why I keep reading Patterson...



Beach Road by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge

Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Vision (June 1, 2007)
ISBN-13: 978-0446619141

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Rating: 3.5/5

Most Patterson books are very predictable. Beach Road had a lot of predictable moments in it, but the ending was one I didn't see coming. I don't usually analyze a book too much while I'm reading it. I prefer to let it unfold and let what happens surprise me. Others may have seen the ending coming, but for a quick summer read, I enjoyed Beach Road.

Review: Honey, It's All in the Shoes by Phyllis Norton Hoffman

Book Info:
Honey, It's All in the Shoes: Celebrating the Footsteps of the Contemporary Woman by Phyllis Norton Hoffman
Paperback: 170 pages
Publisher: Health Communications (July 2009)
ISBN-13: 9780757307577
Genre: Non-Fiction
Rating:

Can you remember the magic you felt when you slipped on your mother's high heels; your very own first pair of pumps; your excursion for the perfect professional pair; the glory of finding the most comfortable shoes; and your first ballet slippers, Mary Janes, or running shoes?

In these pairs of shoes reside distinct journeys, phases of life, triumphs and tragedies, precious memories, and lessons learned. In Honey, It's All in the Shoes Phyllis Norton Hoffman takes you on a journey examining these defining moments, sharing what she has learned when she was required to wear different shoes - from a mother and wife to entrepreneur and businesswoman to publishing powerhouse to doting grandmother - and provides advice for women on putting their best foot forward, not matter their role, circumstance, or stage of life.

I've never considered myself a shoe person. Now, don't get me wrong, I like shoes and have a wide variety to choose from, but choosing from work or play, weekend or dressier seems pretty limited compared to the variety in some people's closets!

Even with my (relative) lack of shoe choices I found Honey, It's All in the Shoes a delightful read. Hoffman tells her stories of everything from business to family with relation to her shoes and the result is a fun and entertaining read. Hoffman is always upbeat and her words are often inspirational as well.

Each chapter ends with a mini history lesson about either a style of shoe, or about a famous person and their love of shoes. This was a wonderful way to end each story and I actually ended up learning a lot! I would recommend Honey, It's All in the Shoes to shoe lovers and memoir lovers alike. 4 stars

A special thank you to TLC Book Tours for my review copy. Be sure to check out the page for the other tour stops.

Booking Through Thursday...Preferences

Which do you prefer? (Quick answers–we’ll do more detail at some later date)

Reading something frivolous? Or something serious? Depends on my mood
Paperbacks? Or hardcovers? Paperback, preferably trade size
Fiction? Or Nonfiction? Both
Poetry? Or Prose? Prose
Biographies? Or Autobiographies? Autobiographies
History? Or Historical Fiction? Historical Fiction
Series? Or Stand-alones? Both
Classics? Or best-sellers? Best-sellers
Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose? Straight-forward
Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness? Plot
Long books? Or Short? Doesn't matter, but needs to be long enough to adequately tell the story
Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated? Non-illustrated
Borrowed? Or Owned? Owned, I consider my books part of my decorating scheme
New? Or Used? Used, I'm too cheap to buy new unless I'm going to keep the book

(Yes, I know, some of these we’ve touched on before, and some of these we might address in-depth in the future, but for today–just quick answers!)

Attention Historical Fiction Lovers...

Pope Joan author Donna Woolfolk Cross is giving one lucky reader a chance to walk the red carpet!

You can find all of the details on the Walk the Pope Joan Red Carpet website, but here are the highlights:

Buy a new copy of Pope Joan online or at a bookstore on or before August 9, 2009. Make sure your receipt lists the title and date clearly.

Enclose the receipt with:
your name
your phone number and/or
your email address

(Don't forget the contact information, or I won't be able to reach you if you are selected!)

Mail your dated receipt with the title of the book or the ISBN number*, and your contact information to:

POPE JOAN RED CARPET

c/o Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency

216 East 75th Street

New York, New York 10021
*ISBN: 978-0307452368

This is a unique book identifier often used on receipts.

Want more than one chance to win?

Multiple book purchases will each count as an entry (i.e, five books count as five entries, for I'll duplicate your receipt five times).

So get out there and buy your books for a chance to win this wonderful trip!