Svetlana's Reads and Views

The title above is self-explanatory. These are the books I'm hoping I'll get one way or another, especially the first one, The Enemies of Versailles by Sally Christie. Wish me luck! The Enemies of Versailles: A Novel-Sally Christie Summary: In the final installment of Sally Christie’s “tantalizing” (New York Daily News) Mistresses of Versailles trilogy, Jeanne Becu, a woman of astounding beauty but humble birth, works her way from the grimy back streets of Paris to the palace of Versailles, where the aging King Louis XV has become a jaded and bitter old philanderer. Jeanne bursts into his life and, as the Comtesse du Barry, quickly becomes his official mistress. “That beastly bourgeois Pompadour was one thing; a common prostitute quite another kettle of fish.” After decades suffering the King's endless stream of Royal Favorites, the princesses of the Court have reached a breaking point. Horrified that he would bring the lowborn Comtesse du Barry into the hallow...

General Information: Name of Book:  Shining from a different firmanent; poems ISBN: 978-1-62229-856-3 Publisher: Finishing Line Kentucky Year it was published: 2015 Summary: Spanning cultures from ancient Egypt to the American West, and time, from medieval France to modern day Florida, this collection attempts to capture the voices of women, fictional, legendary and historical, some famous, some infamous, who lived, loved and died with an undefeated spirit, and who were loved, defamed and persecuted in their turn. We know very little about their personal lives and in some cases what we know of them is mostly a reflection of the times in which they lived or the men they loved. These iconic women who dared to be who they were and thus live forever in our imaginations inspired this collection. Author:  Beatriz Fitzgerald Fernandez About the Author: Beatriz F Fernandez is a university reference librarian in Florida. She grew up in Puerto Rico, the daughter of...

General Information: Name of Book: When Adam Opens His Eyes (Adam i nun ttul ttae) ISBN: 978 1 56478 914 3 Publisher: Dalkey Archive Year it was published: 2013 (original 1990) Summary: First published in 1990, this is a sensational and highly controversial novel by one of Korea's most electrifying contemporary authors. A preposterous coming-of-age story, melding sex, death, and high school in a manner reminiscent of some perverse collision between Georges Bataille and Beverly Cleary, the narrator of this book plows through contemporaneous Korean mores with aplomb, bound for destruction, or maturity--whichever comes first. Author: Jang Jung-Il (Translated by Hwang Sun-Ae, Horace Jeffery Hodges) About the Author: (From the book) Jang Jung-Il was born in 1962. Once he began his career as an author, the self-educated Jang's wide-ranging tastes led him to try his hand at various genres. Jang Jung-il is infamous-and has even been jailed-for his erotic and vio...

Title: Silence Interrupted Author:  Sania Shaikh Summary: Two months before Troye Saavedra’s senior year of high school, his father’s drinking problem skyrockets. When Troye’s parents make an impulsive move to Georgia in order to “help” him finish high school on a positive note, he is forced to leave behind everything he knows. Things couldn’t get worse for Troye. That is, until he meets three enigmatic teenagers: Adelaide, an independent violinist with radical ideas; Zaidan, fiercely loyal and always funny; and Arabella, a girl who harbors secret struggles. Together, the four friends try to pick up the jagged pieces of their lives without getting hurt themselves. An insightful tale of perseverance, Silence Interrupted is a young adult novel about the beauty and peril of traversing the world as a teenager. Author's Bio: (From iRead Book Tours) Meet the Author: Sania Shaikh is a junior at Cambridge High School. Inspired to write from a young age, she worked on  ...

Name of Book: The Brothers Path Author: Martha Kennedy ISBN: 9781535101295 Publisher: Self published Type of book: Switzerland Zurich, religion, brothers, 1524-1532, Catholicism, Protestantism, faith, doubts, rituals, baptism as infant vs not, brotherhood, family, revolution, rebellion, Zwingli, church, betrayal Year it was published: 2016 Summary: The world-shattering tumult of the Protestant Reformation enters the Schneebeli household when Rudolf Schneebeli is born two months early and dies a few minutes later without being baptized. Named for the well trodden track linking the Schneebeli farmhouse to the old Lunkhofen castle, The Brothers Path is set in a Swiss village near Zürich, between 1524 and 1531. It chronicles the lives of the six Schneebeli brothers, Heinrich, Hannes, Peter, Conrad, Thomann and Andreas. Each brother navigates his own path through, around or directly into the deadly drama of the Protestant reformation, seven years when a person's life ...

Name of Book: the silver baron's wife Author:  Donna Baier Stein ISBN: 978-0-9971010-6-5 Publisher: Serving House Type of book: Wisconsin, 1866, 1876-1900s, family, mother/daughter bond, religion, Catholicism, god, marriage, divorce, silver, Sherman Act, poverty, wealth, scandal, mining, Utah, Colorado Year it was published: 2016 Summary: The Silver Baron's Wife traces the rags-to-riches-to-rags life of Colorado's Baby Doe Tabor (Lizzie). This fascinating heroine worked in the silver mines and had two scandalous marriages, one to a philandering opium addict and one to a Senator and silver baron worth $24 million in the late 19th century. A divorcee shunned by Denver society, Lizzie raised two daughters in a villa where 100 peacocks roamed the lawns, entertained Sarah Bernhardt when the actress performed at Tabor's Opera House, and after her second husband's death, moved to a one-room shack at the Matchless Mine in Leadville. She lived the last 35 ...

Title of the book: Joseph's Journey; When Dad Left and Never Came Back Author:   Christina Nicole Smith, Dolores Medgar Publisher: self published Publishing Date: 2016 ISBN: 978-0-9981281-1-5 Summary: The second edition features EIGHT more color images, 8.5 x 8.5 dimensions, and an easier-to-read layout for younger readers. Available in hardcover, paperback and ebook versions. As a mother, how do you explain an absentee father to your child without blame, anger or resentment? Empower them! Seven-year-old Joseph shares his story about when he first learns about the POWER of choice he possesses after his father leaves and doesn't come back. His mother teaches him the difference between his father's choices and his own. Do Joseph and Mom become angry with Joseph's father? Well, a belief is just a thought you keep thinking over and over...find out what happens on Joseph's Journey! Author Info: (From pump up your book) Christina Smith is an en...

Title of the book: Occult Paris the lost magic of the Belle epoque Author:  Tobias Churton Publisher: Inner Traditions Publishing Date: 2016 ISBN: 978-1-62055-545-3 Summary: How fin-de-siècle Paris became the locus for the most intense revival of magical practices and doctrines since the Renaissance • Examines the remarkable lives of occult practitioners Joséphin Peladan, Papus, Stanislas de Guaïta, Saint-Yves d’Alveydre, Jules Doinel, and others • Reveals how occult activity deeply influenced many well-known cultural movements, such as Symbolism, the Decadents, modern music, and the “psychedelic 60s” During Paris’s Belle Époque (1871-1914), many cultural movements and artistic styles flourished--Symbolism, Impressionism, Art Nouveau, the Decadents--all of which profoundly shaped modern culture. Inseparable from this cultural advancement was the explosion of occult activity taking place in the City of Light at the same time. Exploring the magical, artistic,...

Name of Book: The Boy Who Wanted Wings Author: James Conroyd Martin ISBN: 9780997894509 Publisher: Hussar Quill Press Type of book: Poland, 1683, Asian male/white female relationship, Battle of Vienna, war, archers, marriage, choices, decisions, secrets, family, brotherhood, prejudices, friendship, determination, trickery Year it was published: 2016 Summary: "A poor archer in medieval Poland takes aim at the love of his life in this epic novel from Martin. The anxious Aleksy Gazdecki, a young farmhand, embodies the ethnic and political tensions of Europe during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. The believability of this novel, which is sprinkled with period-specific details, is never in question. Martin sets the stage so tidily that the plight of Aleksy and Krystyna, who desire to move beyond the social classes that keep them apart, transcends the historical moment. Sprawling but never slow, the plot moves naturally from battle to intimacy and back again. ...