I'm so far behind, I may never catch up!

I've really enjoyed the books I've gotten to review, at least the ones I've had a chance to read so far, and I've also enjoyed reviewing them, at least the ones...well, you get the picture. Unfortunately, my life over the past few weeks has been crazier than usual, what with a major plumbing problem which included a large jagged hold in the living room ceiling and a sopping wet carpet, removal of the unexpectedly asbestos-containing "popcorn coating" on the aforesaid ceiling, and a copper repiping job. Anyway, I'm still dealing with the fallout of that mess (repairing the walls and ceiling, including patching, plastering and painting, as well as getting the final approval of the job by the city's building inspector).

What's that's meant as far as my blog is concerned is that I haven't had much time to read, much less review, the many books that I have been sent by wonderful authors, publishers, and others, or to interview the authors I have lined up to have as guests on my blog.

So, this is my abject apology for slacking off lately and my promise to get started again just as soon as this nightmare is over.

In case you're wondering, the books for which I owe a review are: Brideshead Revisited, The Italian Lover, The Brass Verdict, The Hand of Isis, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, Fault Line, and Nine Lords of the Night. The first three have already been read, the fourth I'm reading now, and the last three are on the TBR pile.

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming Giveaway

Hatchette Book Group USA is again making it possible for me to host a giveaway. This time, the book is The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson, which looks at the darker side of Southern living.

In the words of Entertainment Weekly, it is "[a] ghost story, family psychodrama, and murder mystery all in one. Jackson's latest is a wild, smartly calibrated achievement. A-." I'll be posting a review here as soon as I read the copy that's being sent to me, so stay tuned!

Up to 5 copies will be given away, and the drawing will take place at midnight on April 15. As usual, this giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only, and the novel cannot be sent to post office boxes.

Good luck, ya'll!

Bad Girls

I've reviewed The King's Rose, a YA historical novel by Alisa Libby before, giving it a rave review, but I just thought I'd mention that it's now been released.

Alisa loves writing about the bad girls of history. The King's Rose tells the story of Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, who was married at age 15 to the aging and paranoid megalomaniacal king and who, shortly thereafter, got into a spot of trouble for her allegedly adulterous behavior. Her earlier novel, The Blood Countess, is an historical fantasy based on the true story of a woman who believed that bathing in the blood of virgins would make her young forever. (Can you say "Ewwwww?")

Anyway, there's a pretty neat article here about her and her novels that I thought others might enjoy reading. Do take a look at the video interview toward the bottom of the article. And be sure to check out The King's Rose in bookstores near you!

The Seven Sins of Memory

Started The Seven Sins of Memory by Daniel L. Schacter last night and am finding it surprisingly accessible and extremely interesting, especially now that I'm getting a bit on in age and forgetting things more often. I was disappointed to learn that science doesn't seem likely to come up with a "magic bullet" to help with memory, and that for absent-mindedness, the only thing to do is use Post-Its (or other memory cues). I've been avoiding doing that, maybe because I don't want to admit that my memory is not as sharp as it used to be, but I guess I better invest in some pretty Sticky Notes to use around the house. You know, to remind myself to "unplug iron," "pay credit card bill," "feed fish before leaving for work," "put wash in dryer," "take library books back on Saturday," and the like.

Hmm, now, where in heaven's name did my eyeglasses go? I had them just a minute ago!

Sway, a Review

In this fictionalized retelling of some of the more sordid and shocking events of the wild and heady 60s, the mix of sex, drugs, violence, and rock-and-roll is spot-on. Featured characters are some of the iconic figures of the age ~ Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Brian Jones of the Stones, Anita Pallenberg, muse to both Jones and Richards consecutively, Charles Manson and Bobby Beausoleil, and Kenneth Anger, the filmmaker who knew both the Stones and Beusoleil and, thus, was at the center of the novel.

I won't pretend the novel was perfect. For instance, it was often disjointed beyond what it needed to be, and the culmination of Altamont seemed anticlimatic somehow. Yet it managed to achieve the flavor, the paranoia, the fervor of the 60s in a way that I remember at least vaguely from back in the day and that have stuck with me since I finished Sway a week ago. My favorite parts were the ones with the early Stones ~ Mick, Brian, and Keith. I don't know how faithful (no pun intended) to real life these events were, but they sure go a long way to explain things. I also enjoyed the discussions about the music, the mystique that surrounded the band, especially Mick (on whom I've had a crush since the 60s). I also found the parts about the Manson Family fascinating in a trainwreck sort of way. I read Helter Skelter a long time ago, so maybe I've just forgotten, but Sway brought things to light that I hadn't known (or remembered) before.

As I've already noted in other places, I came of age in the late 60s, and, when I say I lived through the 60s, I mean that I experienced most of what those years had to offer. In other words, while certain events shine through the purple haze with the clarity of the noonday sun, I don't clearly remember much about that time as a whole. While reading Sway, I found myself feeling a bit like you do when you remember an old dream you had a long time ago, and you KNOW it's a dream, but you suddenly can't help feeling in some eerie way that maybe it really did happen after all. Or maybe I was having a flashback.

Either way, I am glad I read this slim novel and am putting it on my TBRR (to-be-re-read) list.