The International Giveaways Cafe (34)

Welcome back to the café! I hope everyone has had a great week and will be able to find some well needed reading time over the weekend. There are lots of giveaways listed that go on through to mid-March (thanks in large part to the awesome Stella 😉 ) but there’s always room for more! And remember to let us know if you’ve won anything recently; the Book Lovers would love to hear! At Book Lovers Inc., it’s our pleasure to share the bookish love! Good luck to everyone and hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Here’s the fine print for entering your link:
Guidelines:
If you have a giveaway you would like to share with our other readers, the rules are simple:
1. The giveaway MUST be available to international addresses (Book Depository does count)
2. Add your link below, in the format shown. (Please use the URL for …

Review: I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley

Format read: Hardcover
Series: Book #4 in the Flavia de Luce series
Genre: Mystery
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Number of pages: 297 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Formats available: ebook, audio
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon

Book Blurb:

It’s Christmastime, and the precocious Flavia de Luce—an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry and a penchant for crime-solving—is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick. But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern. Amid a raging blizzard, the entire village of Bishop’s Lacey gathers at Buckshaw to watch Wyvern perform, yet nobody is prepared for the evening’s shocking conclusion: a body found, past midnight, strangled to death with a length of film. But who among the assembled guests would stage such a chilling scene? As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must use …

Explore This!: Havana, Cuba

Today, I’m whisking you all off to Havana, Cuba. Personally speaking, Cuba has always been a place that I knew would have beautiful spots, but was also a country that invoked fear at the thought of visiting. The common knowledge (rumour?) that police walk around with machine guns and the fear of doing anything wrong (even by accident) just made it seem less than appealing as a vacation destination.

To be honest, my inspiration for today’s post, Peggy Blair’s The Beggar’s Opera (I believe it’s Canadian release only so far, but keep an eye out for it), doesn’t do much to allay my fears. It did make me curious, however, to check out the sites. If you all promise to hold my hand, when can begin our tour now:

Plaza de la Catedral

Chinatown in Havana

Playas del Este

Havana night life.

A British war ship in Havana Bay. It …

The International Giveaways Café (33)

Welcome back to the café! I hope everyone has had a great week and will be able to find some well needed reading time over the weekend. I keep hearing talk of a “snowpocalypse” from our European contingent, so I hope those of you dealing with it keep bundled up…perhaps even snuggled by a fire with a good book?

There are lots of giveaways listed that go on through to mid-March, but there’s always room for more! In fact, only 4 out of the 24 previously on the list have dropped off, so there’s got to be some awesome odds there, don’t you think? And remember to let us know if you’ve won anything recently; the Book Lovers would love to hear! (I won an audio copy of Darynda Jones’ Third Grave Dead Ahead this past week, which I’m I can’t wait to receive 🙂 ) At …

Elements in Lit 201: Exceptions to the Rules

I’ve finally just finished reading Sarah MacLean’s Love by Numbers series with the last installment of Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart and I’ve discovered some recurring ideas, character, themes that bring the taste of life at that time to us, through historical romance novels.

The Regency Romance is made that much more appealing to its readers by the descriptions of the strict rules of society and of course, the main characters attempts to thumb their nose at said rules. With this in mind, I bring to you the top 6 exceptions to real Regency era rules. as portrayed in romance novels:

1- I’m bigger than you! We talked about the hierarchy of the British peerage before, but even if one character out ranks another, if they are smaller in demeanor and have done something to displease the hero of any tale, an intangible thing like rank …

The International Giveaways Cafe (32)

Welcome back to the café! I hope everyone has had a great week and will be able to find some well needed reading time over the weekend. Personally speaking, there never seems to be enough time in the day to get things done, so I appreciate it all the more when I get the quiet time needed to read and relax. It’s just pure bliss!

Now’s the time to list your giveaway and I’m sure that there will be a lot out there that are romance themed. We’re a mushy bunch here at BLI, so we love the lovin’ 😉 And remember to let us know if you’ve won anything recently that you’ll get the chance to read now. The Book Lovers would love to hear! At Book Lovers Inc., it’s our pleasure to share the bookish love! Good luck to everyone and hope you enjoy the …

The International Giveaways Café (31)

Welcome back to the café! Sadly, we were closed last week due to medically induced forgetfulness, so I apologize profusely. (Darned cold meds!) But now, it’s back to business as usual.

I hope everyone has had a great week and will be able to find some well needed reading time over the weekend. Personally speaking, there never seems to be enough time in the day to get things done, so I appreciate it all the more when I get the quiet time needed to read and relax. It’s just pure bliss!

Now’s the time to list your giveaway and I’m sure that there will be a lot out there that are romance themed. We’re a mushy bunch here at BLI, so we love the lovin’ 😉 And remember to let us know if you’ve won anything recently that you’ll get the chance to read now. The Book Lovers would …

Elements in Lit 201:

We talked a while back about the British peerages, but when reading through historicals, we quite often see the French titles mixed in with the British (English?) ones. The reason for this comes mostly from the royal families attempting alliances through the marriages of their sons and daughters.

In my first search through the information, names popped up like “Cleves”, which was the surname associated with the Count of Nevers. It’s also familiar because it was connected to one of Henry VIII’s wives, though Anne of Cleves was of German desent. (Henry VIII was considered to be “King of England, France, and Ireland” so it’s no surprise that his name would pop up, but also because he’s a subject I’ve looked into a lot over the last year :-p ) I’m sure though, that somewhere in Anne’s family tree, a connection would be made to that French house …

Explore This! Park City, Utah

To be honest, before reading Everneath by Brodi Ashton, I had never heard of Park City, Utah before, But, as I read through the pages, I discovered the connection with the Sundance Film Festival and realized I did know this place and its images, just not it’s actual name.

And though the Film Festival is running, even as we speak, Everneath is told from the perspective of someone that lives there year round. As Nikki, the main character, talks about her life, we see how important the snow is for this area but also a mix of city and rural living. Let’s check it out for ourselves:

The pristine white snow (with some track marks), make this look like the perfect winter wonderland.

This looks like a great blend of old time feel with modern amenities.

Lifestyles of the rich and famous, …

The International Giveaways Café (30)

Welcome back to the café! I hope everyone has had a great week and will be able to find some well needed reading time over the weekend. Personally speaking, there never seems to be enough time in the day to get things done, so I appreciate the time I get to read my books and enjoy a lovely flavoured coffee from my new Keurig. This is relaxation at its best!

Only one giveaway has dropped off the list from last week, so there’s still time to enter the active ones. Remember to let us know if you’ve won anything recently that you’ll get the chance to read now. The Book Lovers would love to hear! At Book Lovers Inc., it’s our pleasure to share the bookish love! Good luck to everyone and hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend
Here’s the fine print for entering your link:
Guidelines:
If …