Kelly reviews "Royal Mistress" by Anne Easter Smith

Title: Royal Mistress
Author: Anne Easter Smith
Published: Touchstone, May 2013

Anne Easter Smith write fascinating historical fiction about some of the most intriguing  characters. People that you only read about in history books beautifully come to life in the pages of her books, and her newest, Royal Mistress, is no exception!

Royal Mistress mainly follows Jane Shore, a simple merchant's daughter who catches the eye of the Queen's son, Tom Grey. They are both married (or are about to be married) and Jane doesn't want to stoop to being his mistress, so they part ways. Several years later, after Jane's divorce (something that was a HUGE deal in this period of time), she this time catches the eye of Tom's stepfather, Edward, the King of England. Jane is older now and realizes that being a mistress to a high ranking man has many advantages. She becomes Edward IV's final and most beloved mistress, staying by his side for eight years until his death. Edward's brother, Richard, then claims the throne, and as a very moral man, he heartily disapproves of Jane and her background. Jane must struggle to survive using her wits in this turbulent and unstable time in England's history.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this period of time. I usually like to jump ahead and read about Henry VIII, but it's always great to come back to his ancestors. Edward IV and his family  drama is more entertaining that any show on television. So much betrayal, jealousy, murder, secrets, and, depending on who you ask...incest. I liked that Royal Mistress told us this story through the eyes of several key players, though mostly through Jane, who was a fascinating woman. She truly did care for Edward, but she states that she never really loved him, as she truthfully had no choice in the relationship. It's such a realistic look at how mistresses felt. No romantization here, just reality. The only problem I had with the story was Jane and Tom's relationship: they meet two times before they part ways and see each other maybe another two times in the following ten years - yet Jane is forever hung up on how he is her "true love" and is convinced they could live happily ever after if only they could be together. She hardly knew him! I know their relationship is historically accurate but it just seemed so far fetched here. Still, overall, this was a fascinating read, not just for historical fiction buffs, but lovers of drama, romance, and books that keep you intrigued every page.


Thank you to Simon & Schuster for my review copy!

Broke and Bookish Book Haul for 5/26 - 6/8

Daisy's Book Haul

Egalleys for review:
-This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales: I LOVED Past Perfect, I'm really excited to read this!!
-Less Than a Gentleman by Kerrelyn Sparks: this will be my first book by this author, it really sounds like my kind of romance!
-Catherine by April Lindner: I'm actually part of a blog tour for this book, I'm always up for a classics retelling!
-Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken: EEEE! ALL THE EXCITEMENT!!! Seriously, I never expected to love The Darkest Minds as much as I did, but it was AMAZING and I cannot wait to read the sequel!!

Bought:
-Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein: EEE! SO EXCITED! So much love for Code Name Verity! I think this is the UK version and for some reason it came out 3 months before the US version :)
-The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen: this will be my first ever Sarah Dessen book, I've heard so many good things about her writing!
-The Gatecrasher by Madeleine Wickham (AKA Sophie Kinsella): this was a total bargain at my local bookstore and I love her books!
-Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier: so I still need to read Ruby Red, I HAD to pre-order the paperback because of reasons! That dress is gorgeous!
-Confederates Don't Wear Couture by Stephanie Kate Strohm: I really loved Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink and am eager to dive back into Libby's life and her antics :)
-Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James: I'm fully on the Eloisa James bandwagon and this sounds really cute!
-Impostor by Susanne Winnacker: seriously, I'm DYING to read this book! It sounds so good!
-The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn: I'm making it my mission to read all of Julia Quinn's backlist and our very own Julia says this book is AMAZING, so I'm excited :)
-Boys Wanted by Flynn Meaney: the paperback version of The Boy Recession, though I'm not entirely sure why they changed the title... I kinda liked The Boy Recession better. Well, anyway, this does sound like a cute read :)

Our Broke & Bookish book haul is inspired by memes like IMM & Stacking the Shelves & Mailbox Monday. This is just our very simple way of doing it collaboratively so we can participate in all of them and not have to choose one.

Kimberly ventures into the drama that is Game of Thrones

I realize that just about everyone and their dog has read or watched Game of Thrones. They chat on twitter about characters that I've never heard of. I see video after video that fans have edited and put on YouTube. My own Aunt has read the series. I'm the reader in the family. I'm usually the one who has conversations like this...

Relative: "I heard about this new book and thought you might like it. It's called -----"
Me: "Yes, I've read it. And the sequel. And met the author."

So when I was camping a couple of weeks ago and my aunt started talking about the series, I realized I needed to get my butt into gear and start reading the series again. I read the first one about a year ago and never picked up the second one. Now I'm almost done with A Clash of Kings. I'd forgotten how much his writing sucks you in.

I'm also preparing myself for the inevitable emotional torture that I'll experience reading these. Luckily, a few of my friends including some of the other lovely B&B bloggers, have read them and listen to me freak out or get excited when a character I've only heard about makes their entrance. Mainly it is Kelly and Daisy that get to hear about it. (Thanks ladies!)

So, who else out there has read the series? (possibly a dumb question) Anyone else just getting started with the series?

Expanding My Horizons

Last week, I sort of started participating in Armchair BEA.  I had a good time, but just wasn't able to stick with it.  One of the posts I was able to write about was on Literary Fiction.  I really enjoyed thinking about the topic and have found myself reading more literary fiction in the recent past as I've lightened up my reading.

Just so we're clear, here is my interpretation of "literary fiction," taken straight from my blog post:

Personally, I think it falls right in line with my goal to read the classics. I feel like literary fiction is a category for books that are relatively new, but are likely well on their way to becoming classics. In this category, I would add the works of John Irving. I've only read The Cider House Rules by him, but my understanding is that his works often have a larger message about human nature--a message that will be understood fifty years from now. I think that literary fiction can be part of a genre. A work like Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton surely sends a message to readers about the consequences for playing God.
Literary fiction is a work that, like the classics, stands apart from the other works in its genre. It possesses the elements that place it in the genre. Yet it is somehow more, better, than the books in its category. However, it has not stood the test of time in order to become a genuine classic.

Yesterday and today, I have totally immersed myself in Jeffrey Eugenides's The Marriage Plot.  It's about a girl in college who is writing her senior thesis on the marriage plot that Jane Austen and George Eliot explored in their work.  What I like most about it so far (and I'm not that far, only about 75 pages, is that it seems like a book written for people who love books.  It's about how books can have such an impact on your life.  And I really like reading about things like that.

What I like about literary fiction is that it's a bit lighter fare, not like diving into a plate of tiramisu, but it's more substantial than cotton candy.  Basically, a chocolate bar for your brain.  I like that I've been expanding my horizons and have chosen to include something that let's my mind take a break, but still feels like I am reading something worthwhile.  Not that I am setting in judgment on any genres right here.  I'm setting in judgment on my own reading tastes, habits, and appetites.  Personally, I like to feel like I am reading something good.  Hence, literary fiction is best for me.

How do you expand your reading horizons?  What genre do you reach for when your usual set isn't doing it for you?

Top Ten Tuesday -- Books that Feature Travel in Some Way

For the future Top Ten schedule and how to participate go HERE!

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is Books that Feature Travel in Some Way.  Lori and Jamie came up with their ten picks for the best books dealing with travel.  Can't wait to see your picks!

1. On the Road by Jack Kerouac--Obviously.   You just can't write a post about books featuring travel and not include THE novel about road tripping.  Sal Paradise (Jack Kerouac) and his friends go on several cross-country trips and do a whole lot of drugs.  It has some really interesting ruminations about life and man's existence.  And just some funny instances because of everyone's strung out state.  I read the original published edition a few years ago.  I'm reading the Original Scroll--the transcript of Kerouac's manuscript, which had no paragraph or chapter breaks--this summer.  Should be a fun challenge.

2. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert--I totally envy this trip.  I would love to go to Italy, India, and Indonesia.  This memoir is really inspirational and it makes you want to go places.  I want to eat my weight in pasta in Italy, then meditate it off at an ashram in Italy, then study with an old medicine man in Indonesia.  Who wouldn't?  I recently watched the movie and think I might need to reread the book soon.  And do some yoga...

3. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes--I count this as a book with travel...even though she's kind of mostly describing the process of buying and fixing up a new home.  But she is a US resident.  I love this book so much.  It makes me want to travel to Italy even more than I already do, which is a lot, so in a way, it IS about travel.

4. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares--I do read some YA :)  I read all four of these one summer in a complete tear.  They were light, fun reads.  The first one includes more travel than the others because three of the four girls are traveling for the summer.  They're just fun and talk about the changing nature of friendships as you grow into adulthood.  (I need to read the fifth one sometime soon!)  I went to the Greek Islands a couple of years ago and would love to go back.  Greece really is as beautiful as depicted in the movie.

5. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson--Another novel about driving around and doing copious amounts of drugs.  This book was pretty funny--more funny than On the Road.  There were some musings about life and existence.  It made me wish I could be a journalist from the 1950s/1960s.  I need to see the movie sometime soon.






Lori's top 3 would definitely be on my list!

6. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson: I had some problems connecting with this book but I really enjoyed the travel aspect and the journey she was on!












7. Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard: One of my all time favorites!! I loved vicariously backpacking around South America!
















8. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck: I love this travelogue from John Steinbeck about his travels across the US with his dog Charley. It was really quiet and reflective and I get so caught up sometimes in exotic places but after reading this I wanted to do a cross country road trip!






9. The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner: This was an interesting travelogue because it wasn't just about the adventure but an interesting study in happiness around the world.








10. In Honor by Jessi Kirby: A very emotional road trip that I adored!

Tahleen's thoughts on very large books

Or maybe not.

I know many of you out there agree with the above statement. And I know that getting your hands on a whopper of a novel (or nonfiction book if you like that kind of thing) can be kind of exciting and a challenge. However, I find myself getting intimidated by books more than 500 pages long.

Right now I'm about halfway through The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I'm enjoying it very much, but I'm pretty sure one of the reasons it's taken me so long to get here is its 700-something page length. I don't know about you, but I like the thought of not tying myself to one book for too long. When I do pick up a lengthy volume, I end up setting it aside for a while to read another book in between. And actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I did that with Wildwood by Colin Meloy like two weeks ago.

Maybe it's just the visual. I find I don't mind it as much when I'm reading a huge book on my nook, probably because it doesn't feel ungainly in my hands and I can't see how little progress I've actually made.

This might also be the reason I haven't been finishing many books lately.

Am I the only one that feels this way?

With Our Last $20 -- June 2013 Edition!

With Our Last $20 is a feature here at The Broke & The Bookish wherein we answer the prompt of which book we'd purchase with the last $20 left in our pocket for each month -- be it new releases or older books..basically which ever book we'd be so excited to read that we'd be willing to spend the last $20 in our pockets on. I mean, we are The Broke and the Bookish after all. We'd no doubt live up to our name and forgo other things for a new book!

Jamie's Pick  - Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn

I'd definitely spent the last $20 in my pocket for the prospect of a good horror novel in the YA genre. Seriously. I have an ARC of this one and hope it is SO GOOD.

Kelly's Pick - Z: a novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

Her husband may have written the fascinating books, buy Zelda Fitzgerald was the fascinating inspiration. Z  is a new biography of the "first flapper" and it looks amazing! With the new Gatsby movie out it seems like everyone's on a 1920s kick - which means I'm number 54 on the library waiting list.

Julia's Pick - Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines

I swear this book has been staring at my from my to reads shelf on Goodreads since it came out back in August. I am pretty sure I have put it on Top Ten Tuesday lists, but I have yet to give this one a read. I think I just need it in my posession, staring at me from my literal to read shelf, silently pleading "Read meee. You know you want to..." I am already dreaming of all the stuff I would pull from books if I could.





Jana's Pick - Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

I am reading an ARC of this one right now, and it is AMAZING. I would definitely pay the big bucks to get Siege and Storm on my shelf. AND that cover must be owned. It's so pretty!