Charm Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Oh! I'm so pleased you liked Dime Store Magic peace!! I really wanted you to like it, it and Industrial Magic are my favs in the series! I loved Paige, she's so believable as a normal young woman who has flaws as well as a witch and even Lucas is adorable with his flaws! Can't wait to see how you like Industrial Magic now, get your hands on it soon girly!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted January 18, 2010 Author Share Posted January 18, 2010 Close to Shore by Michael Capuzzo Blurb from Waterstone's: As the idle rich thronged the palatial hotels of the Jersey Shore in the summer of 1916, America was at its most self-confident. But the world's first industrial superpower was about to receive a series of terrifying shocks. Sharks, it was believed, were not man-eaters, so when a lone Great White shark began to develop a taste for human flesh, America went into total denial. Only after the most horrific attacks was the truth admitted - and an unprecedented national frenzy forced President Woodrow Wilson to mobilize the US Navy in an attempt to put nature back in its place. Combining history and adventure, this is the first book on the events that pitted 20th-century technology against an ancient, mythic enemy and became the model for Peter Benchley's JAWS. For as long as I can remember I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted February 16, 2010 Author Share Posted February 16, 2010 The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova Synopsis: Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Great review peacefield, well done, its sounds a great read I was so tempted to buy it the other day but I was tempted by something else , its on the list though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexicola Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Love the review, peacefield I'm now very keen to read this! The way it's written and the letters etc sounds so interesting and I do enjoy art in novels I may just treat myself to this at the weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted February 17, 2010 Author Share Posted February 17, 2010 Oh good, Mexicola! I think you'll really like this one . I don't remember, have you read The Historian? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexicola Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 I have read The Historian and I couldn't get enough of it! How do you rate The Swan Thieves compared with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted February 17, 2010 Author Share Posted February 17, 2010 Oh man that's a hard one to answer since I loved both! I think the Swan Thieves would be just a wee bit higher in my book since I have a great love of art, but mostly I loved them both . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexicola Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Excellent Great to know Kostova's kept up the quality. I mean, it must've been difficult living up to The Historian! It's like that difficult second album Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted February 17, 2010 Author Share Posted February 17, 2010 True! I don't mind waiting the time between when the Historian was published and this one - it was so worth the wait! Have you read either of Donna Tartt's books, Mexicola? I absolutely loved Secret History and was SO disappointed in The Little Friend after waiting for 10 years for it, ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexicola Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 No, I haven't read either of those (quite interested in Secret History though having heard quite a few people mention it favourably). I can imagine that's pretty disappointing - especially after such a wait, jeez! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Readwine Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Peacefield. Thank you for the review of The Swan Thieves. I have been really hesitating about buying this book as the reviews I've read were so, so. I love books about art and artists as well, so I think I shall give it a go. I have not read The Historian so I am not familiar with Kostova. Maybe it is time I was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 Mexicola, if you ever have the opportunity to pick up Tartt's 'Secret History,' please do! It remains one of my favorites . Readwine, glad you are considering some Kostova now! Both of her works are excellent so you really can't go wrong . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted March 4, 2010 Author Share Posted March 4, 2010 Mary Finch is a young woman of wit, courage, and straitened circumstances. When invited to meet her wealthy uncle and end a family estrangement, therefore, she sets off immediately for White Ladies, his estate on the Suffolk coast. Yet soon she is embroiled in an adventure beyond any she could imagine, for the year is 1795, and England is at war with Republican France. When she arrives at White Ladies she learns that her uncle has died, leaving behind evidence of a treacherous plot. Enemy agents have obtained military secrets that would give France a decisive advantage, but who is the source of this information, and how can he be stopped? Mary is not alone in her quest to solve the mystery, but the men who profess to help her are not quite what they seem. From Suffolk the traitor's trail moves finally to London. There Mary learns the true meaning of the Blackstone key, but has the treasure it secured already been lost? I started out really enjoying this book, getting caught up in 18th century England and following Mary around as she heads off to see her long-lost uncle. I also got a kick out of her counterpart, Captain Holland, and his mumbling and general crouchiness. For some reason though it really starting dragging about halfway through. It's hard to explain, but I just wasn't interested in smuggling and French spies! There were a lot of characters introduced too and I had trouble keeping them straight . Good effort for the author, but it just ended up being blah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Great review peacefield, do you think you will read any more books by the author? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted March 25, 2010 Author Share Posted March 25, 2010 Thought I better come in and give my poor thread a bit of a bump. I'm such a slow reader compared to you guys! Anyway, I'm mainly concentrating on Bel-Ami now since it's part of a ring, and I'm really enjoying it! Trying not to let the main character get on my nerves, but that's only because I'm picturing you-know-who playing him in a movie! Honestly though, if I knew a guy like Georges Duroy in real life I'd kick him to the curb! As soon as I finish this (I'm at the halfway point) I'll go back to PP&Z. Hope everyone else is having happy reading times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 Anyway, I'm mainly concentrating on Bel-Ami now since it's part of a ring, and I'm really enjoying it! Trying not to let the main character get on my nerves, but that's only because I'm picturing you-know-who playing him in a movie! Honestly though, if I knew a guy like Georges Duroy in real life I'd kick him to the curb! I am glad to hear you are enjoying 'Bel-Ami', Georges is a great character and I found him quite funny at times but oh yeah, definitely he would be kicked to the kerb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted March 25, 2010 Author Share Posted March 25, 2010 I'm glad you agree . He is funny though, I agree! I love how he talks to himself all the time . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 I'm glad you agree . He is funny though, I agree! I love how he talks to himself all the time . He is hilarious when he talks to himself and then starts arguing with himself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 Bel-Ami by Guy De Maupassant Young, attractive and very ambitious, Georges Duroy, known to his friends as Bel-Ami, is offered a job as a journalist on La Vie francaise and soon makes a great success of his new career. But he also comes face to face with the realities of the corrupt society in which he lives - the sleazy colleagues, the manipulative mistresses and wily financiers - and swiftly learns to become an arch-seducer, blackmailer and social climber in a world where love is only a means to an end. Written when Maupassant was at the height of his powers, "Bel-Ami" is a novel of great frankness and cynicism, but it is also infused with the sheer joy of life - depicting the scenes and characters of Paris in the belle epoque with wit, sensitivity and humanity. I had a good time reading this book, and even though I spent a lot of time grumbling about how annoying Georges was being, I spent an equal amount of time laughing too. I felt like I was transported back into Paris the way De Maupassant described Georges surroundings, and I really got a sense of just how both high society and the poorest of Paris lived at the time. Georges did everything to the fullest extent - living, working, playing and of course, loving. A great read, and of course, I'm DYING to see the movie . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Great review peacefield, Georges is a great character, he is very much what you see, is what you get kind of guy, I could not believe how much he got away with but he kept on going. Like yourself, I am looking forward to the movie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 Thanks, Weave, and I agree he got away with a lot! I want to shake those women he had power over too . Bring on the movie sideburns!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Thanks, Weave, and I agree he got away with a lot! I want to shake those women he had power over too . Bring on the movie sideburns!! Oh me too but I think the way they acted was a sign of the times, they were all pretty bored and then this young beau appears and shakes things up a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Well since you both loved it, there's no way this book is not making it onto my wishlist now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Well since you both loved it, there's no way this book is not making it onto my wishlist now! There is a book ring chesil, if you would like to join Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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