Well, moved. Belle of the Books has moved over to http://belleofthebooks.wordpress.com/
Check it out!
Thanks all!
-Heather
Monday, August 11, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Amaztype
http://amaztype.tha.jp/
This link is so much fun. I've been playing around with it for going on 20minutes.
It's really simple:
Type in a word that the site will search for on Amazon.com (for example: love)
It will then create that word (love) out of books that come up in the search (love related books).
It's sort of like just doing an Amazon search for a keyword, but instead the search results come back in a fun shape. If you pan your mouse over the letters created by the covers, it will highlight the books on top and give you some of their information. If you click on the cover, it will open a window to that book on Amazon.com
This link is so much fun. I've been playing around with it for going on 20minutes.
It's really simple:
Type in a word that the site will search for on Amazon.com (for example: love)
It will then create that word (love) out of books that come up in the search (love related books).
It's sort of like just doing an Amazon search for a keyword, but instead the search results come back in a fun shape. If you pan your mouse over the letters created by the covers, it will highlight the books on top and give you some of their information. If you click on the cover, it will open a window to that book on Amazon.com
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The House at Riverton
The Publisher's Description:
The House at Riverton is a gorgeous debut novel set in England between the wars. It is the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all and kept a secret for decades.
Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline.
In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they -- and Grace -- know the truth.
In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight years old and living out her last days in a nursing home, she is visited by a young director who is making a film about the events of that summer. She takes Grace back to Riverton House and reawakens her memories. Told in flashback, this is the story of Grace's youth during the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege shattered by war, of the vibrant twenties and the changes she witnessed as an entire way of life vanished forever.
The novel is full of secrets -- some revealed, others hidden forever, reminiscent of the romantic suspense of Daphne du Maurier. It is also a meditation on memory, the devastation of war and a beautifully rendered window into a fascinating time in history.
Originally published to critical acclaim in Australia, already sold in ten countries and a #1 bestseller in England, The House at Riverton is a vivid, page-turning novel of suspense and passion, with characters -- and an ending -- the reader won't soon forget.
http://www.amazon.com/House-at-Riverton-Novel/dp/1416550518Review and Grade: A
I loved this book. I finished it over a week ago and I'm still thinking about it. I recommended it to my mom's book club because it makes such a good discussion book and because I want someone to talk about it with! Kate Morton is incredibly talented and she weaves such an intense, beautifully complicated tale, filled with those "ah-ha" moments. I'm positive I could read it again, even right now, and still be just as enthralled and still see another level of meaning that I missed the first time. I can't say enough wonderful things about this book, but apparently, neither can anyone else. I'm not doing this book justice but just look at all of the reviews on Amazon too.
This book was published a few years ago in Australia and has become a worldwide success over time. It was finally released in the US this spring and I've already heard movie rumors. I doubt the movie would do the book justice (does it ever?) but it just reflects how much buzz there is around this book.
Overall, go get this book. Right now. Even in hardcover (and its not small), you can't put it down. I even carried it in my purse!
The Wilde Women
My first review on here!
Publisher's description:
I enjoyed this novel as I read it, but by the end I was losing interest. There are just so many characters to follow and as a result, none were really able to develop. The protagonists, Pearl and Kat Wilde held so much potential for strong character in the beginning but by the end, they simply fell flat. The plot developed about as much as the characters. There are so many questions and intrigues early on that are wrapped up so neatly by the end that they simply aren't worth knowing.
The strengths of this novel is the style, which makes me confident that Paula Wall has another good book in her. She managed to keep me interested far past the point when I realized it wasn't going anywhere, which says a lot. She also had a few quotable jems thrown in that show insight into the true nature of relationships.
Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who has nothing better to do and nothing better to read. It isn't a bad book, but it is severely lacking.
Publisher's description:
Paula Wall, the national bestselling author of The Rock Orchard, returns with another witty, wise, and romantic tale of two sisters with a talent for seduction and the unfortunate habit of falling for the wrong man every time.
The Wilde sisters dove headfirst into this world on fire with life and expectation. With hair black as midnight and eyes blazing blue, they grow into truly irresistible women. But as well as being blessed with beauty and determination, the Wilde sisters are cursed with equal tastes for mischief and bad men. And both of these appetites always lead to trouble. Love either lifts a woman up or drags her down. When a Wilde woman dies, they don't have to dig a hole.
On Black Friday in Five Points, Tennessee, Pearl Wilde finds her sister, Kat, in the barn wearing both her favorite shoes and her fiancé. As quick to fury as she is to passion, Pearl leaves town immediately. She returns five years later a sophisticated femme fatale, with her claws sharpened like stainless steel and a demeanor so cool that the townspeople can no longer tell if she even has sweat glands. Slowly and deliberately, Pearl begins her revenge on Kat by captivating all the men of Five Points, but all the while never forgetting the one man who had the power to break her heart.
In The Wilde Women, Paula Wall once again bewitches the reader with humor, sass, smarts, and sensuality, creating a hilarious and beguiling world where sometimes the best revenge is forgiveness.
Review and Grade: D+
I enjoyed this novel as I read it, but by the end I was losing interest. There are just so many characters to follow and as a result, none were really able to develop. The protagonists, Pearl and Kat Wilde held so much potential for strong character in the beginning but by the end, they simply fell flat. The plot developed about as much as the characters. There are so many questions and intrigues early on that are wrapped up so neatly by the end that they simply aren't worth knowing.
The strengths of this novel is the style, which makes me confident that Paula Wall has another good book in her. She managed to keep me interested far past the point when I realized it wasn't going anywhere, which says a lot. She also had a few quotable jems thrown in that show insight into the true nature of relationships.
Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who has nothing better to do and nothing better to read. It isn't a bad book, but it is severely lacking.
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