Author: Ambrosia

Musing Monday 7/16/18

- Ambrosia 4 Comments

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

Welcome to July. Goodness where is the time going this year? It seems to be going by very fast!

Random Question: Do you ever get teased or looked at oddly for reading?

My recent travels made me notice a few things I have been overlooking for a long time. I love to read, I always try to bring a book with me either in my Kindle or a hard copy anytime I go somewhere. I do this with crochet as well, but let’s stick to the books for the moment, lol. At home, I tend to get more judgmental looks and I have even had people call me weird for choosing to sit in a park and read for several hours. I have been teased as a bookworm both good natured and not so good natured.

However, while I was abroad, I didn’t have any of those things happen. Instead, I was several times asked what I was reading and had some nice conversations about books. I noticed overall there were a lot of other people reading as well. I saw people like me reading on public transport or in parks just enjoying a nice day. I am not saying this doesn’t happen in the US and I am not saying everyone in Europe reads, but there were enough moments that happened to make me take note.

Book Review: The Virgin’s Daughters: In the Court of Elizabeth I by Jeane Westin

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

In a court filled with repressed sexual longing, scandal, and intrigue, Lady Katherine Grey is Elizabeth’s most faithful servant. When the young queen is smitten by the dashing Robert Dudley, Katherine must choose between duty and desire-as her secret passion for a handsome earl threatens to turn Elizabeth against her. Once the queen becomes a bitter and capricious monarch, another lady-in-waiting, Mistress Mary Rogers, offers the queen comfort. But even Mary cannot remain impervious to the court’s sexual tension-and as Elizabeth gives her doomed heart to the mercurial Earl of Essex, Mary is drawn to the queen’s rakish godson…

I wanted to like this book so much more then I did. I read some of the reviews, but since I have enjoyed other books by the author and do love historical fictions in the time of Elizabeth I, it seemed like this would be a hit read. Sadly for me this book did fall a little bit flat. It was not a completely awful book but in the end it was just a bit repetitive and trite overall.

On nearly every single page at least once we the reader were reminded that at any moment Lady Katherine Grey could be named the heir to the throne. This of course was seen as a totally awful thing that the Lady did not want and we were told again and again how much she didn’t want it. With that being the very loud overall theme it was a little harder to get into the other events going on over that kind of noise.

It also felt for me that a lot of the characters were not fully fleshed out and I felt many of them were vapid because of this. With those negatives said there were some bright moments here and there. The book also flowed fairly well which is what saved it from a lower rating. My end thoughts are if you want to take a chance on a book give it a try. Otherwise if you don’t have much interest in the time period or taking risks give it a pass.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Teaser Tuesday 7/10/18

- Ambrosia 14 Comments

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

• 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! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Tricky wordpress didn’t postas scheduled luckily I caught it before it was to late today! Hope everyone is having a terrific tuesday.

“When that unhappy day arrives, Mistress I will come for you, though I would tell you now that your firstborn son will not gain the title. Have no illusions of that, since I have five sons living. I will of course, make ample provision for ours.” ~ The Virgin’s Daughters by Jeane Westin pg 303

Musing Monday 7/9/18

- Ambrosia 3 Comments

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

Welcome to July. Goodness where is the time going this year? It seems to be going by very fast!

Random Question: How does reading making you feel?

This might seem like a silly question to ask, but I know when I am reading I can run a gamut of different emotions, about the book and just in general. The first thing I tend to feel when I pick up a new book to read is excited. It is something fresh and new to dive into. New stories to know about, new people to meet you can’t go wrong. I will also fully admit to the fact that more than once a book has made me laugh out loud, or sob or feel overly emotional in many different ways. I really love books.

Teaser Tuesday 7/3/18

- Ambrosia 8 Comments

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

• 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! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Tricky wordpress didn’t postas scheduled luckily I caught it before it was to late today! Hope everyone is having a terrific tuesday.

The priest coughed, his eyes searching the rear of the chapel, mentally finding his place in the wedding service. “I, require and charge you as you will answer at the dreadful day of judgement that if either of you do know of any impediments…. ”

“There are no impediments, ” Ned said impaitiently, his arm going reassuringly about Kate’s slender shoulders. “Get on!”
~ The Virgin’s Daughters by Jeane Westin pg 98

Musing Monday 7/2/18

- Ambrosia 4 Comments

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

Welcome to July. Goodness where is the time going this year? It seems to be going by very fast!

Random Question: How do you feel about book of the month type clubs/groups?

I used to belong to some fantastic book groups when I lived in Minnesota. We didn’t have books we read at the same time but we got together and talked about our reads and just enjoy time together. Really I find myself missing that rather a lot. I have not been able to find a group like that since moving from Minnesota and I wish I could. I tried a monthly book club locally to where I am now but I just found that I didn’t really fit with that. I like to read what I want to read and well most of the books being read by that group were not ones I really enjoy. Not one historical in the bunch! Gah! And they were not willing to listen to the new girls thoughts on changing it up a little. So in the end I stopped going, fair enough not every group is for every person. But I do miss getting together with like minded people, friends and having a nice chat about books and just life and everything else. How about you?

Book Review: Mistress of Rome (The Empress of Rome #1) by Kate Quinn

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

An exciting debut: a vivid, richly imagined saga of ancient Rome from a masterful new voice in historical fiction

Thea is a slave girl from Judaea, passionate, musical, and guarded. Purchased as a toy for the spiteful heiress Lepida Pollia, Thea will become her mistress’s rival for the love of Arius the Barbarian, Rome’s newest and most savage gladiator. His love brings Thea the first happiness of her life-that is quickly ended when a jealous Lepida tears them apart.

As Lepida goes on to wreak havoc in the life of a new husband and his family, Thea remakes herself as a polished singer for Rome’s aristocrats. Unwittingly, she attracts another admirer in the charismatic Emperor of Rome. But Domitian’s games have a darker side, and Thea finds herself fighting for both soul and sanity. Many have tried to destroy the Emperor: a vengeful gladiator, an upright senator, a tormented soldier, a Vestal Virgin. But in the end, the life of the brilliant and paranoid Domitian lies in the hands of one woman: the Emperor’s mistress.

I am going to be completely honest here, I picked this book because it was based in ancient Rome and I wanted a book set in Rome to come with me on my Roman Holiday. So I really expected just a quick, fun, but cheesy read with this one. I am glad to say I got more than what I thought I would.

Mistress of Rome does have some of the familiar historical romance tropes, but it also has so much more within the pages. The characters created are multi layered and the story that unfolds is really gripping and spans so many years. I found myself feeling the anguish of Thea and her loved ones. This story really does show how little power over their own lives as slaves of the ancient times had. However, it also shows that if played right slaves could have a form of power, especially the Gladiators who won the heart of the mob. Was it a useful power? Was it power that was worth the price? Well, that is hard to say and you will have to read the book yourself to find out the details of this story. I truly enjoyed this read so much and I am going to be reading more in the series. The Emperor Domitian was no one that I did much research on personally, but this historical fiction has ignited my desire as a history fan to dig more into this interesting and complicated Emperor who was assassinated.

All in all, for me the fact that I really enjoyed the book AND it has made me want to dig into more real research means this is a winner. I am sure this read wont be for everyone, but if you like a good story with lots of layers and interesting characters with a hearty helping of love, this is a read for you to give a shot. It moves quickly and it holds your interest.

My Gemstone Rating:

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Teaser Tuesday 6/26/18

- Ambrosia 9 Comments

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

• 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! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Back home and in the real world as mentioned in yesterday’s musing Monday. Happy to see my babies but a little grumpy about being back to the grindstone 😂. I hope everyone else is having a great week so far!

My emeralds reflected the stage lights, as they were intended to do. I removed my cloak and took my time sitting, as I knew William liked, giving them all a chance to see me, letting the glare of my jewels lure their gazes. — An inconvient wife by Megan Chance

Musing Monday 6/25/18

- Ambrosia Leave a comment

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

I am back state side and it is time to get out of Holiday mode and back to work. I really don’t want to 😂 although some of the things I do want to do like give this blog more attention! Anyways on with Musing Monday.

Random Question: Do you multi task while reading? blockquote>

The other day I was at the gym and saw someone reading while on the treadmill. That is what prompted this question, I don’t remember seeing someone do that before. I myself find that even if I intend to do more then one thing at once like read and walk or read and cook I never end up being able to do it. Either I wind up needing to fully focus on what I’m doing or getting sucked into the book. I have even have had times when I will sit down to start a new book, get to the end of it and notice 8 hours passed without me getting anything at all done 😂. So how about you?

Teaser Tuesday 6/18/18

- Ambrosia 16 Comments

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

• 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! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Another travel day today alas this one means the holiday is over. Heading home and back to real life as it were. Back to work lol I look forward to seeing my babies again. 💜💜💜

Quickly, fetch pen, ink and some paper Anne for soon I will die.” Jane murmured to her brothers wife already knowing the truth. – I, Jane Diane Hager

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