What I've Been Watching

My 3rd Blogiversary

Today is the day of my 3rd blogiversary. It's been quite fun  to realise that a lot of bloggers have their blogiversaries in November, I don't think I had noticed before.

For me blogging is something that has become a part of my daily life, it's mostly about the books I read but occasionaly it's also about my life,  crafts or the movies I watch. It's been fun sharing my tastes with all of my visitors and comparing notes with them on whether we like the same things or not. My blog has also been a means to expand my TBR pile as I get recommendations in the comments. Sometimes I feel that I have so much to read that I have no time to review but so far I've managed to balance the two.

As you probably already know I've been trying to reduce my TBR pile and trade or give away the books that are not keepers because I have no space to store them all. So to celebrate this date I'll be giving away 2 books from my shelves. To enter please let me know in the comments which book you would like to receive. On November 27 I'll announce the winners.

Pope Joan - Donna Woolfolk Cross (read once and autographed by the author)

C.L. Wilson - Lord of The Fading Lands (read once)

Thank you all who have visited me and commented on my blog this past year, it's been a fun jouney and I hope to share more moments with my online friends.

Red Adam's Lady - Grace Ingram

I have a new book to add to my medieval keeper's shelf. Red Adam's Lady is a fun tale, it has a perfect medieval atmosphere and it has engaging characters telling an interesting story, what more can you ask for?

Julitta is an orphan young lady who leaves with her uncle. She likes to go about simply dress and one day is mistaken for a servant maid and almost attacked (seduced?) by an inebriated Red Adam. She manages to hit him in the head and avoid the worst but she spends the night in his chambers and the day after everyone believes she was ill used by him.

Red Adam, who is actually a nice man when he is not drunk and being a nuisance and a rake, decides to reform and make amends and that is how Julitta ends up married to her abuser. What follows is Julitta and Red Adam getting to know each other, dealing with some villains in the form of Julitta's uncle and his friends and the wife of their steward while at the same time trying to discover what really happened to the wife of Red Adam's uncle from whom he inherited his estate.

The books gives us a good feel of the medieval period and the hardships involved in daily wife and also presents an interesting picture of the divided loyalties of the time, between Young Henry and Henry II, and the horrors of the Scottish invasion.

Now, if only I could find her other books I would be really happy!

Grade: 4.5/5

Giveaway at An Evening at Almacks!

An Evening at Almacks, the traditional regency blog I participate in, is celebrating 1 year today. To mark the date there's a giveaway of some out of print traditional regencies. If you like the genre stop by and enter, you just have to leave a comment telling us your favourite title or if you are new to the genre.

The Merry Chase - Judith Nelson

AN IMPOSSIBLE MAN!


That's what independent and beautiful Drucilla Wrothton considered her new neighbor, Mr. Pettigrew. And she felt sure her equally free-spirited Cousin Mathilde would share her feelings. After all, Crandon Pettigrew had already criticized Dru's forward manners and insulted her favorite horse!

Madcap Cousin Matty was prepared to go along with any wild scheme Drucilla might have. But neither young woman counted on the sudden appearance of the charming and eligible Duke of Ratchford--or that Mr. Pettigrew would have as little respect for the proprieties as the ladies themselves.

He would stop at nothing to get the woman he desired, even if it led to a merry chase across the land and a tangle of heartstrings Cupid himself would have to undo!

I had no expectations when I started this book, I traded for it a couple of years ago just because there was nothing of interest in the other trader's pile and I forgot it at the bottom of the TBR pile till this weekend when I decided to pick it up.

I was a pleasant book as it is quite a funny story about Drucilla Wrothon, a young lady almost on the shelf, who despairs of finding a husband and stop her annoying cousins to stop coming to visit as they believe themselves to be the next heirs to the place if she doesn't marry.

Taking matters in hand Dru's aunt decides to promote a ball at their house and Dru decides to ask her cousin Matty to visit. But all doesn't go well has Dru makes the acquaintance of her disagreeable neighbour Mr Pettigrew and not even his friendship with the very nice Duke of Ratchford can make her like him.

But then Matty arrives and the cousins start spending more time in the company of the two gentlemen, especially after Matty takes a fall and as to spend a night at Mr Pettigrew's house. The story is full of witty dialogue and little jokes that are quite funny and things even better when they all go on the merry chase mentioned in the title across the country.

I really enjoyed it, found the characters funny and interesting, especially Matty and Pettigrew. Dru and the Duke were more according to the regency norm but still nice and those cousins they kept trying to kick out of the house added more humour to the whole of it. I'm now very curious about the author's other novels.

Grade: 4.5/5

New Challenge - The Alphabet in Historical Fiction

HT is hosting its first challenge and being a part of the organising team I'm automatically in the challenge. Fortunately I read a lot of historical fiction so I don't think this is going to be a difficult one to do. The rules are:

Each fortnight you have to write a blog post about an historical fiction book of your choice (it might even be something you already read before), but it MUST be related to the letter of the week. You have several possibilities:

- the first letter of the title

- the first letter of the author's first name or surname

- the first letter of a character's first name or surname

- the first letter of a place where an historical event took place

Come and join the fun, you will find the information needed to sign up here and the letter A is already up.

New Additions To The TBR Pile

More books arrived this week, 2 of them thinking about all those Christmas challenges I entered, 2 more to feed my traditional regency addiction and Zemindar which comes well recommended and that I had thought would be perfect for the A to Z challenge.