The Glassblower of Murano is an exceptional first novel written by Marina Fiorato, who is herself half Venetian and a graduate of the University of Venice. Her love of the city and its history comes through clearly. It’s a very romantic story, full of intrigue and heartbreak; to understand it, a little history is helpful. Murano is well-known for its… Read more
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane has plenty to recommend it: the Salem Witch Trials, crazy grad school mentors and a hot, agnostic steeplejack. Certainly sounds like a good start to a story, combining historical fiction, a bit of mystery and maybe something a little supernatural. It starts with a very interesting question about the Salem witch trials, one that… Read more
The Spanish Bow is an amazing look at a tumultuous period in Spanish history. Feliu Delargo is a young man who always seems to profit from his tragedies. His father’s death brings him his first real treasure: a cello bow. Because of a hip injury during his birth, he cannot play his violin standing up, so he plays it sitting… Read more
In 1666, sixteen years after his death, the bones of Rene Descartes were dug up in the middle of the night and transported from Sweden to France under the watchful eye of the French ambassador. This was only the beginning of the journey for Descartes’ bones, which, over the next 350 years, were fought over, stolen, sold, revered as relics,… Read more
If you like Historical Fiction with a strong emphasis on the Historical, you’re going to love The Whiskey Rebels. This book is well-written and painstakingly researched. Liss clearly has a thorough knowledge of the history behind the story, the language and demeanour of the characters, and the workings of the frontier economy. (It is truly bizarre to hear them keep… Read more
The problem with reading a book about the Salem witch trials is that you know how it ends, and you know it is going to end badly. It’s like reading a book about the Titanic – you know the boat is going to sink, and even if the characters survive, they’re going to get wet. This was the undercurrent running… Read more
This is definitely a woman’s book. Although it is filled with danger and intrigue, men’s fantasies about harem girls are very different from the blushing virgins and vicious, back-stabbing women you’ll meet in The Aviary Gate – and it’s their loss if they don’t read it. It’s a fascinating glimpse of the inner workings of a harem and its denizens.… Read more
This book is the fastest 600 pages I’ve ever read. I received the book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program and I have to admit that I was a little intimidated by its size. I am not a speed reader. I tend to dawdle – I re-read passages, linger over good descriptions and generally take my sweet time – but… Read more
I hate the cold. I really, really, really hate to be cold. Still, I have always loved tales of exploration and adventure, and I have several books about the exploration of the Arctic Circle in my library. The Terror combines a bit of history and a bit of mystery with excellent descriptions of the frozen north and a little Eskimo… Read more