Titanic Centenary Week

One of my favorite books...It's not just about the Titanic but many other things as well. Nikola Tesla, spiritualism, journalism, time travel, just to name a few. Sherlock Holmes and his inventor Arthur Conan Doyle, Colonel Astor, even George Bernard Shaw and Queen Victoria are minor characters.

The story centers around the five Taylor sisters: Mimi, Jane (the narrator,) Emma, Amelie and Blythe, whose mother is a medium. Through many events leading up to this, which take up half the book, all five end up on that "Ship of Dreams", sailing towards a compelling ending.

Okay. That summary was bad. But it's a great book! Historical fiction, a bit of romance, science fiction...the only thing that irks me is the dress on the cover. So not 1912!!! And besides, it isn't the main character who wears a wedding dress!

What I've Been Reading

I always like to read the professional reviews on the backs of books (if they're hardcover) or on the inside (if they're paperback) and decide which one best fits my perception of the book.
        Last week I was engrossed in a book called Entwined, by Heather Dixon. It's one of those sometimes rare novels where you really want to read it as often as you can, instead of just during the times you usually read. (For me, that's during breakfast and lunch, before I go to sleep, and in the car sometimes.) The book is a re-telling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses and it actually has a sort of morbid twist to it, but the thing that captivated me the most was the 12 sisters.
           Azalea, who becomes a sort of second mother to her younger sisters when their mother dies, and who is the main character; the madcap, sometimes comical Bramble, who despite this is not a tomboy; the shy, beautiful and caring Clover; the romantic, dramatic Delphinium; literary-loving Evening Primrose, (Eve for short;) the twins Flora and Goldenrod, both "shy and eager at the same time"; Hollyhock, who I didn't notice having a particularly defining personality trait; the ever-hungry Ivy; delicate, quiet Jessamine; vicious Kale, who likes to bite people and scream, and who always made me laugh; and baby Lily. Each of their distinguishing personalities charmed me, and their closeness made me smile.
         The professional book review which I felt expressed the book the best was this one:

Graceful and enthralling...a fully original world, brimming with romance, enchantment, even a healthy dose of humor. --Edith Pattou

            However, I do think that Ms. Pattou shouldn't have listed romance first, because I think that the friendship between the sisters is more prominent, and that even their estrangement from their father, the King, and the looming danger coming from Keeper, the master of the pavilion and silver forest where they sneak off to dance every night, are more significant in the book than romance.
            The sisters live for dancing, I think, or perhaps a better way to word it would be 'they can not live without dancing.' So, forbidden to do so because of mourning, they go to dance secretly.
            The book was very different from what I expected it to be, the cover with the back of a girl in a rather odd dress and the whole outer appearance of the tome made me think that it would be more of a romantic book with not so much focus on the rest of the girls, just Azalea. But I loved the many heart-warming scenes, the frank way Ms. Dixon writes, the numerous funny bits, the slightly British feel to some parts, so much that I think I might like to purchase this book for myself, to re-read over and over as I do with my favorite books.

<Entwined cover

          Really, this is becoming more book reviews and fashion pictures than actual stories or poems! Oh, well! Lately I haven't been genuinely, properly inspired for a really good something. Grr!

          

Slightly Annoying Heroines

Sometimes I get fed up with heroines of books who detest balls, fancy clothes and romance, and prefer to be riding horses, or, in the case of the newest novel I've started, Bewitching Season, practicing magic. The start of this book reminds me immensely of a novel I read a while back, called, (very similar title, too...) The Season. Both set in the early 1800s, both about a society girl who is not looking foward to the coming social season, wishes she doesn't have to marry some stuffy suitor, and then suddenly a handsome childhood friend arrives and changes that! But--once I get further along in Bewitching Season, I am sure it will change, because the central plot aspect is supposed to be something to do with a plot to harm Princess Victoria, who would one day become Queen Victoria. Based on my love of The Young Victoria movie, which the beginning involves her last year as a princess, (same as BS,) I'm sure that I'll get around to enjoying it more.
      However, back to my original complaint. I'd just like to read about a heroine who actually is interested in fashion, society, etc. In fact, I can't think of any book which featured a character like that, off the top of my head! And ach, the historical fashion lover in me can't help criticizing the cover of Bewitching Season. The model is wearing a very costume-y outfit that looks very Spanish.  At least it's better than the cover of The Season, those models were supposed to look Regency, but they just ended up looking like very modern-day girls in high-waisted, backless (for goodness sakes!) dresses! Ugh!

As for the long-ago, (well, not so long,) promise, (well, sort of promise,) of a review of The Fool's Girl, I still have not finished it. Yes, I very often read several books at once. But that particular novel is just not that interesting! I mean, it is, but it's very heavy reading, and not very captiviating. It doesn't help that the text is very crammed close together.
Francis Bacon, (whoever he is,) once said:

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.

Sometimes some books just have to be left as "tasted".

The Fool's Girl

I scraped my wrist on a book today--The Fool's Girl, by Celia Rees. I'd much rather get scraped by a book than anything else!
This novel is a sort of sequel to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night,  in which Viola's daughter Violetta along with the fool Feste end up in London, where they meet William Shakespeare and Violetta tells him of her mother's adventures which 'Will' apparently then puts into a play. According to Ms. Rees, Illyria does not long stay happy, but is in a horrible state, and Violetta is trying to put it back to rights, with the help, (or not,) of characters from the original play as well as new additions. It started out very confusingly, going back and forth from Violetta, Lady Maria, and Feste telling about the events leading up to their coming to London, but now, (I'm not quite halfway through, this book has been unusually slow-going for me,) it's getting clearer though I'm still not sure how they ended up in London!
When I finish reading it, I'll give it a review out of five stars. And then...the next book I read...and the next...and on and on...with also get a review.