Daily Archives: June 7, 2010

Book Blogger Appreciation Week – September 13-17, 2010

This month makes six months that I’ve been posting my reviews to my blog.  I chose to keep my personal blog because the title fit for a lover of books and, honestly, it fit me.

It’s been a wild ride.  I’ve learned so much and when I started on this journey I still remember just how astonished I was that there was this whole world out there that I knew so little about!  I began to explore titles I saw on other blogs (those linked on my blog roll have been huge inspirations to me).  I began to expand, reading books that even as little as a year ago I would never have picked up.  I’ve learned how to take reviews with a grain of salt, and how to give reviews with a grain of salt.  I still have many, many things I want to improve on, but I’m doing what I love right now and the feedback I’ve received from readers and authors alike humbles me.

So for Book Blogger Appreciation Week we’re supposed to include links to some of (what we think are) our best blog posts.  I’ve registered in the Eclectic category because, frankly, I read a little of everything.  Well, I don’t read Erotica because.. hey, my mom reads this blog!

So without further ado, here are what I think some of my best reviews and posts on this blog have been (and please, feel free to let me know in the comments if anything has been particularly helpful to you!):

For Eclectic Niche:

For New Book Blog Featured Category:

Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn

Mistress of Rome Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn

Buy on Amazon

Wow. I stayed up late and got up early to finish this book and then I had to take some time away from it to process because there was a whole lot of information given throughout this story.

I will tell you right now – do not be deceived by pretty covers. This story was brutal in parts, from describing the Gladiator fights to describing the Emperor and his twisted forms of entertainment at the cost of his slaves.

Kate Quinn does a fantastic job of breathing life into some very interesting, complex characters. Thea (Leah/Athena) is a strong-willed slave who takes as a matter of course her life’s burdens as a slave and doesn’t spend time bemoaning them. She just lives her life – as I would imagine all slaves had to do during that time. She has her secrets though.

Arius the Gladiator was.. frightening. He had some unexpected sides but out of all of the characters, he was the most predictable.

And oh.. how I loved to hate Lepida, the original owner of Thea. She was so wicked and written so well that I ached to just slap her!

I will say that the first 50 pages or so really dragged along for me, but I don’t know if that’s just because the old Roman names are just so difficult to get straight? I can tell you I sped through the last half of the book, devouring the story as quickly as I possibly could and was satisfied at the ending given to us.

View all my reviews >>

The Body Finder Giveaway + Swag

Are you following Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe? If not you should.  One of my favorite blogs to check out every morning – and now she’s having a giveaway.  I’m really interested in reading this one and my library is very very backlogged on it so go over and enter and make sure you let her know Lydia (The Lost Entwife) sent you her way!