Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Dreaming Sophia Author: Melissa Muldoon ISBN: 978-0-9976348-0-8 Publisher: Matta Press Type of book: Italy, fairytale, culture, art periods, dreams, Sophia Loren, famous personages of Italy, Venice, Rome, Sonoma Califonira, Florence, Lucca, Verona, Val d'Orcia, family, friends, art, destiny Year it was published: 2016 Summary: Dreaming Sophia is a magical look into Italy, language, art, and culture. It is a story about turning dreams into reality and learning to walk the fine line between fact and fantasy. When tragedy strikes, Sophia finds herself alone in the world, without direction and fearful of loving again. With only her vivid imagination to guide her, she begins a journey that will take her from the vineyards in Sonoma, California to a grad school in Philadelphia and, eventually, to Italy: Florence, Lucca, Rome, Verona, Venice, and Val d'Orcia. Through dreamlike encounters, Sophia meets Italian personalities--princes, poets, duchesses, a...

Name of Book: purged by fire heresy of the cathars Author: Diane Bonavist ISBN: 978-0-86698-810-0 Publisher: Bagwyn Books Type of book: 1234-1244? France, Albigensian Crusades, fire, martyrdom, cuckold, history, South France, heretics, siege, survival, Catholics vs Cathars, history Year it was published: 2016 Summary: In 1209, with the infamous words 'Kill them all, God will recognize his own' the pope's crusade against his own Catholic faithful commenced. For two decades, this holy war to defeat the Cathar heresy decimated the troubadour culture of Southern France. But when it failed to destroy the heretical faith, the papacy gave special powers of inquisition to Dominican monks. Their mission was to root out heretics, confiscate property, and burn the unrepentant at the stake. Purged by Fire: Heresy of the Cathars tells the stories of three people ensnared in the fatal complicities of the Inquisition. Isarn believes he has survived the wars by accept...

Title of the book:  The Stages of Grace: Life and Love in the Face of Alzheimer's Author:  Connie Ruben Publisher: Xlibris Publishing Date: 2014 ISBN: 978-1-4990-5347-0 Summary: This book was written in part to honor Grace Ruben as a profoundly important person, but it was also born of a desire to share with others who have loved ones with Alzheimer s disease what Connie Ruben experienced as Grace s caregiver and friend. Connie wanted to capture the emotions, the expected and unexpected issues, the painful times, as well as the humorous and loving moments that she and Grace have shared as a result of this disease. This book is not meant to be a handbook for dealing with Alzheimer s disease, but Ms. Ruben hopes that by sharing her feelings and experiences, readers may recognize that they are not alone on this particular journey. Author Info: (From iRead Book Tours) Buy the Book:   Amazon   ~   Amazon.ca ​ Meet the Author: Connie Ruben i...

I want to thank Naz at Read Diverse Books for tagging me to do this book tag :) I haven't done those, and I kind of am looking for an excuse to do one. so here we go! :D eBooks or physical books? From phylosofy.com Physical books of course! I understand the advantages of eBooks and understand their benefits, but I grew up with physical books, and I love having a physical book in my hand, turning the pages onward, seeing how much I have left to read, and how much progress I have made. Also as well, my father is a huge eBook fan, and he is not exactly the most understanding person when it comes to differences, thus physical books for me.  Paperback or hardback? Hmm, I think paperbacks. While I like hardbacks and all, and honestly, as long as the story is good what does it matter if the book is in hardback or paperback? I like the paperbacks because they're portable and easy to carry in a purse. Hardbacks, on the other hand, they're difficult to carry and f...

Name of Book: The Book of Esther Author: Emily Barton ISBN: 978-1-101-90409-1 Publisher: Tim Duggan Books Type of book: alternative history, Khazar Jews, WWII, Esther retelling, female to male transgender character, Hitler, Judaism, meaning of life, spiritualism, Kabbalah, gender roles, desert, journey, path, Khazaria Year it was published: 2016 Summary: What if an empire of Jewish warriors that really existed in the Middle Ages had never fallen—and was the only thing standing between Hitler and his conquest of Russia? Eastern Europe, August 1942. The Khazar kaganate, an isolated nation of Turkic warrior Jews, lies between the Pontus Euxinus (the Black Sea) and the Khazar Sea (the Caspian). It also happens to lie between a belligerent nation to the west that the Khazars call Germania—and a city the rest of the world calls Stalingrad. After years of Jewish refugees streaming across the border from Europa, fleeing the war, Germania launches its siege of Khazaria. ...

Name of Book: The Autobiography of Henry VIII, with notes by his fool, Will Somers Author: Margaret George ISBN: 978-0-312-19439-0 Publisher: St Martin's Griffin Type of book: Henry VIII, Tudors, 1494-1557, England, France, wars, wives, heirs, children, family, companions, Catholicism, breaking away from church, Protestant, Oliver Cromwell, Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Katherine Parr, surviving, adoration Year it was published: 1986 Summary: This is the story of England's most famous, and notorious, king. Henry was a charismatic, ardent - and brash - young lover who married six times; a scholar with a deep love of poetry and music; an energetic hunter who loved the outdoors; a monarch whose lack of a male heir haunted him incessantly; and a ruthless leader who would stop at nothing to achieve his desires. His monumental decision to split from Rome and the Catholic Church was one that would forever shap...