Here come the challenges…

December 21, 2016 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

It is that time of year again, where all the book bloggers out there start deciding which challenges they are going to take part of for the next year. I have to admit with all candor that the last few years I have majorly slacked off not only on my book blogging and blogging in general, but my challenges. There has been a lot of upheaval in my life, some of it beautiful and fantastic and some of it horrible and soul crushing. We all go through those times don’t we though?

I tend not to set resolutions for New years like many people do, instead I make myself a set of goals or I take a look at things that I have fallen down on that I really should get back up on. One of those things I have been looking at in the last few months is blogging and more to the point of this blog of course book blogging. I love blogging, I love reading, I love posting my reviews even if no one but me sees them, I enjoy keeping a record of what I am reading. I have been doing it since 2008 after all. I used to celebrate my blogversery as well, perhaps that should be added into my new goal of dedication. Alas, I digress I am heading down one of my lack of sleep induced rambles, sorry about that!

Reading challenges and 2017 goals and dedications! While I may not have kept all of my goals for 2016 (lets face it we all are going to start referring to this last year as the year that shant be named) I did keep a few of them. One of my biggest goals was NOT to beat myself up if I fell down on reading challenges or even on blogging reviews. I tend to be very hard on myself when I don’t do those things and honestly that needed to change. When you are to hard on yourself after all you tend to suck the fun out of things.

Reading should be fun. Blogging about reading should be fun. So I am very glad that I kept that goal, even better now here as we move towards 2017 I am feeling energized to blog again. The new name and theme of my book blog has energized me in so many ways not the least of all because part of it is a tribute to a stunning beautiful artistic soul that left this plane in 2016. The creative juices are flowing again!

I know, you are probably thinking come on Ambrosia get to the challenges already you are prattling on like this is a year end post. I did warn you sleep deprived ramble could happen. So here, finally my challenges for 2017. I may find some other ones in the coming months (never to late to start right?) but this year I am tending towards the ones I have been doing the last few years. I am determined that sometime in the next few years I will complete ALL of the challenges I sign up for. In the meantime my big goal for 2017 aside from continuing to be kind to myself and be better about my blog dedication, is to work on my physical TBR. I would say my entire TBR but at least the kindle TBR is all in one easy small place, and not taking up hoards of room and giving me the occasional bad dream about being stuck under a heavy book case that fell over.

I then plan on taking part of the other challenges I have for the last few years (I have taken part in TBR ones ) I am also thinking about possibly creating a challenge of my own. I know I don’t have long to think about it. But I am still thinking about that one. So the other challenges.

2017 Alphabet Soup Challenge
2017 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
2017 Historical Fiction challenge (still looking for which one)
2017 Paranormal Challenge (formerly Reading Bites)

All of my 2016 and 2017 Challenge info can be found on the Challenge page. I am slowly gathering together what I am going to fo this year..and if I chose to do my own..of course I will make an announcement.

Teaser Tuesday 12/20/16

December 20, 2016December 19, 2016 - Ambrosia 36 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.

Well my teaser this week is a little naughty. What can I say I am trying to keep warm..lol

“And then he kissed me. Softly, like a friendly, nice-to-meet-can-I-strip-your-clothes-off-and-bury-myself-inside-you-kind of kiss.

I finally pulled back, but I didn’t want to and hoped that I had been able to convey a yes-you-can-and-why-haven’t-you-done-it-already response when I’d moaned and shoved my tongue into his mouth.” ~ witching the Werewolf (Megan Stephens #1)
by Caroline Hanson

Musing Monday 12/19/16

December 19, 2016December 18, 2016 - Ambrosia 12 Comments

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

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Do you tend to find that you make more time to read during the holiday season? Or do you have less time to read because of the hustle of the season?

With Christmas time and all those other wonderful holidays of the winter (summer if you are in the other hemisphere!) nipping at our heels, I thought it would be fun to do a seasonal question. For me it can vary from Holiday to holiday, this year I have actually had more time to read. Or at least have my kindle read to me. While I work away on creating the handmade gifts I need to get done and wrapped up, I can listen to book after book. It might not be as ideal as holding one of my paperbacks, but I like being able to multi task. I also really enjoy doing two things that I find calming and rewarding at once.

Book Review: The King’s Damsel (Secrets of the Tudor Court #5) by Kate Emerson

December 18, 2016 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

In the fifth novel in Kate Emerson’s highly acclaimed Secrets of the Tudor Court series, a young gentlewoman catches King Henry the Eighth’s roving eye.In 1533 and again in 1534, Henry the Eighth reportedly kept a mistress while he was married to Anne Boleyn. Now, that mistress comes to vivid life in Kate Emerson’s The King’s Damsel.
A real-life letter from Spanish Ambassador Eustace Chapuys, written on September 27, 1534, reported that the king had “renewed and increased the love he formerly bore to another very handsome young lady of the Court” and that the queen had tried “to dismiss the damsel from her service.” Other letters from Eustace reveal that the mystery woman was a “true friend” of the Princess (later Queen) Mary, Henry’s daughter by Catherine of Aragon. Though no one knows who “the king’s damsel” really was, here Kate Emerson presents her as young gentlewoman Thomasine Lodge, a lady-in-waiting to King Henry’s daughter, Princess Mary. Thomasine becomes the Princess’s confidante, especially as Henry’s marriage to Catherine dissolves and tensions run high. When the king procures a divorce in order to marry Anne Boleyn, who is suspicious and distrustful of Mary, Mary has Thomasine placed in Anne’s service to be her eyes and ears. And that’s when she gets the attention of the king…
Rich in historical detail and featuring a wealth of bonus material, The King’s Damsel is sure to keep readers coming back for more in the exciting series!

Something very strange happened to this review. I had it written, scheduled and all ready to go back in 2015! I did not really check on it (my mistake, obviously I should have) and assumed it posted to the blog. When I was doing a clean up after moving over and checking to make sure everything was running smoothly since moving over from Fire & Ice to The Purple Booker, I found part of the post. After doing a search through everything I could not find the rest and saw that this one never actually posted. So, after all that long babble and with no further gilding of the lily here is a review from 2015 that really should have gone up ha ha! I may even have to go back and read the book again now.

Tamsin is a Lady of good family who was used to being tended to herself, her life like many in the upper reaches of Tudor era had the best of things. However, she was tapped to be part of the court of Mary Tudor and then found herself in the servant role. Making matters worse is the fact that after her parents die she becomes the charge of Sir Lionel Daggett, there is no love lost between both of them. No love lost at all.

Like the other books in this series I found this a fast paced and fun read. All the history is there and author Kate Emerson builds upon what we know to add her own twist to things. Of course King Henry is around, but I love that the focus of this series is the smaller people in the court, those players that most often only sit in the background in fiction of this era. It is these players that make up an entire court, though, the King and his family are such a small portion. If you enjoy good historical fiction that has a little bit of love and a lot of other information to enjoy, I highly recommend not only this book but the entire series.

My Gemstone Rating:

Book Review: Black Mass by Dick Lehr, Gerard O’Neill

December 14, 2016December 14, 2016 - Ambrosia 2 Comments

John Connoly and James “Whitey” Bulger grew up together on the streets of South Boston. Decades later, in the mid 1970’s, they would meet again. By then, Connolly was a major figure in the FBI’s Boston office and Whitey had become godfather of the Irish Mob. What happened next — a dirty deal to being down the Italian mob in exchange for protection for Bulger — would spiral out of control, leading to murders, drug dealing, racketeering indictments, and, ultimately, the biggest informant scandal in the history of the FBI.

Compellingly told by two Boston Globe reporters who were on the case from the beginning, Black Mass is at once a riveting crime story, a cautionary tale about the abuse of power, and a penetrating look at Boston and its Irish population.

The movie Black Mass was one that I really needed and wanted to see. I Have always been curious about crime bosses and Whitey is one of those larger then life characters. You would expect him to actually be a character in a movie not someone who was real. However, as someone who has committed to the read it first challenge no book no movie. So I dove into the book happily, but put off writing that review. I admit I have not been the best book blogger this year but I am working on changing that for the better. The new design and domain name as well as being the new hostess of long running meme’s Musing Monday and Teaser Tuesday gave me a breath of new life for book blogging. Alas I have gotten off subject, Black Mass the book.

This book is gritty and raw and honest. Some of the things that Whitey does whether himself or by order are just beyond the pale. He tries to act like he is a good guy a king of Robin Hood for his area and for some people he is. There are many in his neighborhood who like and respect him. The bottom line is that for me in this book Whitey was not the main bad guy, the FBI was in fact the main bad guy from my point of view. I might get stoned for that comment but I truly do believe it.

The FBI wanted to put a stop to a lot of mafia crime, which is of course understandable and plenty of people remember this era and how many top bosses went down. The problem is they essentially created a monster. Whitey was no choir boy when they got to him, but he was a relatively small little thug. That was until the FBI basically gave him carte blanche to do anything he wanted so long as he gave them information. Whitey gamed the system and played the FBI and continued to say he was not a rat.

This book is riveting and it is a warts and all kind of book. I was glued to the book from cover to cover and was a little bit sad when it was over. So to make a long rambling post short, I recommend it. The only reason that I gave it four gems instead of 5 is that honestly I really wanted it to be a little longer. What can I say I am a girl who loves research and enjoyable historical real life stories.

My Gemstone Rating:

Teaser Tuesday 12/13/16

December 13, 2016December 13, 2016 - Ambrosia 51 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:

ETA: I am face palming myself for not using my new graphic, force of habit to just use the old one lol, sorry about that everyone. Feel free to use the new one if you want to.

This may not be the longest teaser, but for some reason it made me laugh so I thought I would use it for this weeks post. Again I want to thank everyone who has made the move over and I look forward to seeing everyone’s teasers!

“Five-hundred-fifty-six dollars and twenty-nine cents worth of Christmas decorations.”
― Heather Horrocks, Bah, Humbug!

Musing Monday 12/12/16

December 12, 2016December 12, 2016 - Ambrosia 27 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…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Does reading help you to release stress during stressful times? I it does do you have a favorite book that you return to for calm?

ETA:If you don’t see your reply right away don’t worry it just means I have to approve it the first time you post. After that you will be on the white list and your post should go up right away.

First, I would like to welcome everyone over to The Purple Booker (formerly Fire & Ice) and to say that I am honored (and a little nervous) I was allowed to take over Musing Monday and Teaser Tuesday. I hope I can do the same justice to the meme’s as Jenn has throughout the years. If anyone has any suggestions or anything they would like me to do to make things easier, or better please let me know. With that said, I truly hope everyone will continue to enjoy the meme’s we have all enjoyed. I know I have enjoyed Musing Monday and Teaser Tuesday as a participant or years. So with no more gilding of the Lily here we go.

I have used reading as a coping tool for stress for a long time. I always find it relaxing to settle in, pick up a book and delve into a new world, full of characters that I can love or hate and everything in the middle. I have found in recent years I have used books to help with stress even more than I had in the past. It really helps me to have a book with me in places like the Doctor’s waiting room where my anxiety can often crop up.

I don’t have a particular book most of the time. However, I have found that sometimes I do gravitate towards childhood favorites. This usually happens when there are huge levels of stress in life. We all have those once in a while right? Some of those favorites include, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Black Beauty and the Black Stallion books.

So how about you?

Please leave your comment: With either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your answer in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thank you so much!

Posted in Musing Monday - Tagged Musing Monday

Book Review: Doctor Thorne (Chronicles of Barsetshire #3)

December 11, 2016December 11, 2016 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

I feel a bit like a silly girl admitting this, but when I picked this book off my shelf I totally forgot that it was part of a series. The good news is you can read it as a stand alone and still enjoy the book, or at least I did. Also means I can go back and enjoy the first two books in the series, always a win when you have more time with the characters.

This is a spellbinding book that draws you in and makes you love every part about it. The only reason I didn’t give it a 5 rating is because at times it dragged a little, which can be hard when reading such a long book. Beyond that however and I personally really enjoy it. The characters are rich and full of life. You can picture yourself walking along with them as they go through the motions. Anthony Trollope made a beautiful romance that you just have to dive in and reach for yourself to truly understand it. I personally feel that I would fail at finding the right words beyond what I have said just now to properly sum up my feelings on this book. The bottom line is, I recommend it, you should read it and allow yourself to be enveloped by the book.

My Gemstone Rating:

Posted in 2016 Challenge - Tagged Book Review, Historical, Review

Book review: Kiss of Fire (Imdalind #1) by Rebecca Ethington

December 8, 2016December 8, 2016 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

Joclyn Despain has been marred by a brand on her skin. She doesn’t know why the mark appeared on her neck, but she doesn’t want anyone to see it, including her best friend Ryland, who knows everything else about her. The scar is the reason she hides herself behind baggy clothes, and won’t let the idea of kissing Ryland enter her mind, no matter how much she wants to.
The scar is the reason she is being hunted.

If only she knew that she was.

If only she had known that the cursed stone her estranged father sent for her 16th birthday would trigger a change in her. Now, she is being stalked by a tall blonde man, and is miraculously throwing her high school bully ten feet in the air.

Joclyn attempts to find some answers and the courage to follow her heart. When Ryland finds her scar; only he knows what it means, and who will kill her because of it.

I wanted to like this book, I wanted to be in love with this book. Sadly the feeling I ended up having when it came to Kiss of Fire was just kind of meh. It wasn’t a bad book and all of the right things seemed to be there, a little mystery, some tension, two star crossed kids. Alas, something really just didn’t come together for me.

One nag I had about it was Joclyn hiding her scar so much. A huge deal was made of the scar, and without giving anything of the story away I get that. However, for me it is stretching a little to far to fathom that she managed to completely and successfully hide it for so long by wearing lots of hoodies. Hey, I enjoy hoodies too, but come on.

There was also a lot of Mary sue type situations and in the end, I really can’t take too much Mary sue these days, so maybe that was what really ended up bothering me the most. I may be saying a lot of negative in this review, but overall the book was readable. It was not the best book of the year, but it wasn’t the worst either. As I started with for me it was just a bit meh. That doesn’t mean someone else won’t enjoy it more than I did, because the potential is there. Toss in Ryland who suffered so much at the hands of his own Father and the book does give you some of those emotional punches that you need.

I might even give this series another try and check out the second book of the series. If the second book picks up the pace faster, it might bring me out of the Meh zone.

My Gemstone Rating:

Posted in 2016 Challenge, Review - Tagged Book Review, Review, YA

Teaser Tuesday 12/6/16

December 6, 2016December 7, 2016 - Ambrosia Leave a comment

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along with Teaser Tuesday! 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! (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.

“Zackary Connor’s office building was made of glass, endless windows giving the impression of being outside. It was exactly how I liked nature–air conditioned and bug free.” ~ Bewitching the Werewolf (Megan Stephens #1)
by Caroline Hanson

Posted in Uncategorized

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