book reviews

Some Recent Great Reads

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I have had a flurry of good reads lately and only one of them was an actual book review!

I just finished “The Accidental Empress” by Allison Pataki. This book centered around the Habsburgs in 1853. This is historical fiction at its finest. The reader meets Sisi when she is 15 and suddenly finds herself betrothed to Emperor Franz Joseph. The book has all the usual suspects in a royal court and I could not help but feel sorry for Sisi as she learns to navigate the endless treachery while being so young.

I could not put down “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah. The Holocaust always makes for an emotional-filled backdrop. Two sisters trying to survive while being rebellious against the Germans made for an incredible, engrossing read!

I reviewed “Paris Red” for Portland Book Review and loved it! This was another book with an instant character connection and engrossing period details.

“Unbecoming” by Rebecca Sherm guides the reader on a journey of how a few bad decisions can have one looking over their shoulders for a long time.

Finally, “The Paying Guests” by Sarah Waters made me definitely want to read more by this author. I could not put this book down after I was introduced to Frances and her mother in 1922. When their circumstances change and they are forced to take in guests (aka boarders) to make ends meet, the outcome changes their lives forever!

Blog Inc.

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I am reading the book “Blog Inc.” by Joy Deangdeelert Cho.  This is an awesome resource for the world of blogging.  Cho offers all sorts of wisdom about building a blog centered around your passion and creating community at the same time.  She begins with the basics, moves on to finding your voice and choosing a platform.  She talks about etiquette, making your blog a businees and even how to get published.  She also covers making money from a blog, but repeatedly states that making money from your blog should not be your priority.  Blogging for profit will be transparent; a blog focused on money rather than a passion will turn off readers.  I love how her book includes interviews with other bloggers because you get to read about many different perspectives.  Every blogger showcased reveals how blogging changed their lives.  

So if you don’t have a blog, yet, pick up this book and get inspired…and get blogging!

Le Road Trip

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Cheaper than a ticket to Europe, Vivian Swift’s Le Road Trip is the next best thing to the sights and sounds of France. Swift likens her travel to falling in love, beginning with anticipation. This book is about France but not in your practical, fact-filled travel book way. There are hundreds of watercolor illustrations that create a whimsical, charming book that instantly immerses you in the French-way. Swift infuses the book with some cute ideas such as the traveler’s scrapbook, an accordion folding pocket-sized scrapbook for your travel mementos.

Swift has an aggressive itinerary with Paris, Normandy, Brittany, Bordeaux, Loire Valley, Chartres and back to Paris. After anticipation comes infatuation, where Swift debates the differences between her travel in 1975 and 2005 in France. She discusses food, buildings, gardens and the night light from the Northern Lights. ||As in love, nothing is perfect and Swift’s third phase wanders through some bumpy travel. During the honeymoon phase, Swift discusses all things romance and in phase five, survival tips for both love and travel. But ultimately, Swift’s book is about arriving in the comfort zone, which Swift calls being a vagabond…where the affair turns into a relationship. Sit down, have a glass of wine (from Bordeaux of course) and enjoy this book for what it was meant to be–a quirky visual record of Swift’s travel and love throughout France.

http://www.portlandbookreview.com/le-road-trip-a-travelers-journal-of-love-and-france/

Books, Books and More Books

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I have been reading voraciously, as usual, and have a few books to recommend:

Trapeze by Simon Mawer.  The main character, Marian, becomes a special operations spy for Britain against the Nazis.  Her special skill is that she speaks French and therefore is placed in France, where she has some previous connections.  Read on to find out what happens.  Apparently there were lots of women spies during this war.

I also read two business books:  Results Without Authority and Quick Brainstorming Activities for Busy Managers.  Both are worthy of a place on your business bookshelf.

Last night I started The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan.  I am 70 pages in and hooked.  I am always amazed by debut novels and wonder how long the writer mulled over the contents of their story before pen met paper (or fingers met keys)!