The Last Romanov
Hello!
Happy New Year and all that jazz….
Hope you are all well…read! (wink)
Monday January 14th is our next book club if you haven’t read Mitch Albom’s The Time Keeper well then get crackin it’s an easy read! Ā I want perfect attendance at this BUCs, well if possible that would be nice wouldn’t it? š
So we will be at Missy’s at 7pm. Ā Missy could you reply to all with your address? Thankya maam.
See you all there, bring your new book ideas to put in the book baggie. Ā Not sure what our next book is I need to take a look at that…did we pick one?
Sheila
How is your book club attendance?
The Last Romanov
Inside the cover:
AmazonĀ gave this book 3 1/2 stars. Ā I think that was maybe a titch generous. Ā Out of 5 I’d say this for me was a 2. Ā Unless you are into Russian history (Mom you need to borrow this book from me.) it may loose you some where around chapter 4.
The Last Romanov is a historical fiction and fantasy mished together. Ā I love both types of books, but not necessarily mished…if you know what I’m sayin’. Ā At least not this one. Ā This book was a groaner for me.
Have you read The Last Romanov? Ā How many stars would you give it? 1-5 and why.Ā
Goodreads sums it up by saying:
For almost a century, Imperial Russia has captivated the imagination- the ruthless execution of the royal family, the disputed survival of the heir: it’s a cinematic chaos that the masterful Dora Levy Mossanen unravels for her readers. Taking readers deep into tarnished grandeur, The Last Romanov follows Darya, a wise old beauty whose time spent with the Imperial family has haunted her entire life. When the murderous events unfold, Darya is plagued by the prophecy made by the Empress’s advisor, Rasputin. She must find the missing Tsarevich Alexis Romanov and restore the monarchy or risk losing her own life.
My review of The Last Romanov: So the story revolves around Darya, and her very peculiar life that is completely intertwined with the Imperial Family of Russia. Ā I went online and looked up many of the names to see if they were real, most of this book is true to history except for the main character, and her a strange addiction to ambergris. I’m sorry this is really hard for me to chat about. Ā I just did not like this book. Ā It sort of made my skin crawl. Ā We did have a farely rousing discussion because some of the content was quite risque’ it got us gals a cluckin’.
Ok for your information ambergris is whale sperm that has washed up on the shore. I googled it. Ā Oh whoops read that wrong….. Ā Ambergris is a waxy substance from the intestines of sperm whales. Ā This is why you should never quote me. Still whatever..that’s some weird stuff right there and this Darya carried it around her neck all the time. Ā Makes me have a scrunchy face just thinking about it.
I skimmed through the reviews on Goodreads. Ā People either loved this book or hated it. Ā So even though it’s hard for me to recommend it because I did not particularly enjoy it. Ā Maybe you would love it…hard sayin’.
Overall:Ā The BUCs gave this one a thumbs down. Ā I think only 5 of us read the whole book and none of us loved it. Ā I will say I learned a few things…not sure where I will use the things I learned, but you just never know when one may find herself on the beach stumbling over a glob of ambergris and saying honey look what I found!
Details of the night:Ā Tina was the hostess with the mostess! Ā She made us lovely guac, and salsa, and delicious homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza…drool. Ā This book was hard to do a theme with the food. Wild Auroch is hard to come by these days.
Next BOOK CLUB:Ā This Monday we are discussing Mitch Alboms The Time Keeper. Ā It was the perfect read to start out the new year! Ā That’s all I’m going to say ; )
What are you reading these days? Ā Any recommendations for the BUCs?
āA reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.ā
āĀ George R.R. Martin,Ā A Dance With Dragons
I’m currently reading fiction (The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin, supposedly good for fans of Downton Abbey) and nonfiction (No, They Can’t by John Stossel). I’m trying to read more nonfiction this year. Love your book club posts. : )
Kirsten, My husband reads a lot of non-fiction. I should, but I don’t. I haven’t gotten into Downton Abbey yet, I started dvr’ing this season, but I need to catch up on the last 2 seasons first. Thanks for your encouragement, my book reviews are a bit non traditional, just writing it to you as if we were sharing a cup of coffee š thanks for stopping by! Sheila
I love the idea of a book club, do you have tips on how to start one locally?!
Isra, here is my first post on our book club it gives a few pointers on how we started. https://www.eat2gather.net/2011/09/fellowship/book-club/ Thanks! Sheila
Reading “12 Tribes of Hattie”…first book in awhile for me that I can’t put down. If anyone needs a good recommendation…there you go!
Pass it on to me when you are done please ; )
Love hearing about what your book club is reading! Our book club is reading The Timekeeper this month, too. We won’t meet until the end of the month, though. Thanks.
Kathy, I can’t wait to hear how your discussion went. I already have my post half written for this book club, that’s how much our next book got me thinkin’. Thanks for stopping by! have a great evening. Sheila
You have GOT to read HEFT by Liz Moore. Such a great bookclub book. You will LOVE it, I promise!
Also Light Between the Oceans and The Homecoming of Samuel Lake. All fantastic!
Thanks Kristen, I was actually going to email you before we met next week to see if you had any good suggestions. You must be like my mom…a speed reader! How do you read so many books? Thanks again ; )
We go on a lot of very long car rides š And I force myself to read a little bit from a book each night. Sometimes I get hooked and can’t stop reading. Other times I fall asleep within 2 minutes.
I don’t read super fast (my mom is a speed reader) but when I find a good book like Heft or The Homecoming of Samuel Lake, I can’t put it down š
He (or she!) who has the folder is the boss! They also get to pick the date. Well, that’s the rule here.
I’m reading “6 steps to free publicity” by Yudkin right now. Nothing too exciting but it’s given me some good ideas for taking over the world! š
Happy new year, Sheila! Hope to see you soon.
One of my favorite books from our book club is Cutting for Stone by ABRAHAM VERGHESE. It was a rather long book and I was worried about the amount of time I would have to read it, so I purchased the audio book. That way I could listen as I cooked, did laundry, etc. It was fantastic! The narrator did a wonderful job and I believe it was one of the reasons I enjoyed the book as much as I did. Because so many of the names are ethnic, it was nice to be able to hear the proper pronunciation. A wonderful story on so many levels.
I loved that book too! What an amazing story. That was a historical book too. A piece of history I had no idea about. Loved it! Thanks for reminding of this wonderful book. ; )
I’ll be looking for The Time Keeper – it sounds familiar… how sad is it that sometimes I have to re-read about 40 pages before realizing I’ve read this before. š Quite often the opposite happens as well. I blame it on my volunteer days at the library – so many books passed through my hands – often the same popular books many times a day – that I though I’ve read books I haven’t.
Our book club get-togethers sound like yours – some months we have 20+ girls, others it is four or five. But we always have a great time. Wish we lived closer.
Love your George RR Martin quote – have you seen his HBO Game Of Thrones? That show is Dreamy Date Night for me and hubby. š
Well good that make me feel better. I guess that’s just how life is. We always have a great time too, I look so forward to it. We don’t get HBO, but maybe I could rent it. Thanks for the tip ; )