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Three Dark Crowns - Kendare Blake

The lauded author of Anna Dressed In Blood, Kendare Blake's Three Dark Crowns captured me from the first page. describing the advisers who prod the wasting body of the poison Queen Katharine who, is one of the three sisters vying for the crown on Fennbirn. Sisters Mirabella - the elemental queen - and Arsinoe - the naturalist - too have their advisors skilled in that specific talent who plot and plan from their separate sections of the island to claim the throne after the festival of Beltane where each queen must display their talent to prove their strength. And then plan to kill the rest of their sisters - as you do, in every generation of triplets born from the former queen of the island.
With the sisters separated from a young age, they're conditioned to accept that to be queen, you need to kill off the siblings that pose a threat - or you'll die yourself. Unique in character. personality and surroundings, the queens face similar manipulations from those who provide their council, and who seek to further the interests of their own kind.
I was surprised to find that for this book, three covers are available and themed according to each queens talent. I had the pleasure of reading from the beautiful rose gilded crown cover (representing naturalist Queen Arsinoe I assume?) and found it riveting. Itching to read the sequel, One dark Throne.
*Book sponsored by Pan Macmillan

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Beauty's Kingdom - Anne Rice, written as A.N. Roquelaure

It had been a while since I had read an Anne Rice novel, so I was quite excited when I picked up this beautifully gilded covered book, and boy, was I surprised. Being a Rice fan of many years, I've come to expect and appreciate the sumptuous and rich writing that is part of the artistry and mastery that is Mrs. Rice, however this, this I was not expecting. The first novel of the Sleeping Beauty series that I have read, this book is apparently written twenty years after the trilogy was introduced to humankind, before darker, ahem, pleasures became as commercial as it is today. Yes, flashbacks of you know what movie I'm talking about, however this would on another -ahem, ahem - licentious and dissolute level, making you know what seem almost chaste. Now I supposed one wholly expects this level lasciviousness from a cover that promises 'provocative and stirring', and by all means does it deliver with strong and unabashedly lewd versions of fairy tale characters such as Sleeping Beauty & King Laurent. Perhaps the pseudonym that this book is written under provides the reader with more than a literal indication of the change in the writers mind-frame. As with all Rice's books, the plot unfolds on a rich tapestry of dramatic characters and scene descriptions with a writing style that creates a special realism for a reader in the scenes -  feeling the warmth of flickering candlelight and stroking crimson velvet curtains. While the book theme is not what I'd call my cup of tea, I do as always, appreciate the richness of her writing and the complexity she invests into each character.

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The Square Root of Summer - Harriet Reuter Hapgood

This is the story of Margot or Gottie, who comes of age by means that sounds like either severe anxiety or,  access to time- morphed of wormholes that only she can see.
Little Gottie and Thomas are best friends until he moves away with his family and they lose contact. Gottie belongs to a rather eccentric family and worships her grandfather, Grey. She grows up in this eccentric family - bell-bottom lip stick wearing singer brother, spaced out father, and then of course there was the uber cool Grey - and becomes a teenager. And as teenager girls do, she falls in-love with the rather cad-like Jason, her brothers band mate. Cue Grey's death, and a string of disappointments turns once normal Gottie into a worm-hole seeing recluse. But as good fortune would have it,the wheel of fate turns and results in the return of Thomas.
This is a great read for the teenage target market, turning the typical heart break story into something more substantial with a lot of science and an interesting and intelligent heroine, Gottie.
* Book sponsored by Pan Macmillan

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The Other Queen - Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory's The Other Queen provides a fictional narration on the historically factual people who played a role in the English captivity of Mary, Queen of Scots. One truly appreciates the research efforts that depict Mary and her cousin & rival, Queen Elizabeth as the complex women they may very well have been. One can't help but cheer for the apparently ravishingly beautiful Mary who, had events played in her favour, could have been a queen three times over. The events that lead to Mary's eventual execution in 1587 - after 16 years of captivity - lays a historically rich plot and the courtiers and captors that surround both queens are what makes it such an intriguing read as the high levels of influence they had were what swayed events. Now it could be my fascination with all things medieval that makes this book so enjoyable to me, however I do think that any reader would appreciate the first hand account provided by each arch character, specifically those of Mary's 'jailors', Bess and George Talbot.
The author of many well known books, two of which inspired a TV mini-series (The White Queen) and a movie (The Other Boleyn Girl), I look forward to picking up another read through the eyes of famous historical figures.

Nthikeng Mohlele - Pleasure

Having not read a Nthikeng Mohlele piece before Pleasure, I was quite surprised at the reflections so artfully documented in a book with a rather sensuous cover. By no means shying away from sensuality at all, the book in itself is less so about the act or pursuit of pleasure, rather than the notion thereof. Our protagonist Milton Mohelele (interestingly enough sharing our authors last name - a fact perhaps in need of further deliberation by someone more qualified than I) becomes obsessively consumed by a dream he has of a woman in 1945, and creates a character to couple with her who is imprisoned by Nazi's. A character who strangely enough, he would come to emulate in reality.
Milton frequently ponders on the women of his failed relationship's and while he is in his mid-fifties, he still finds himself in the shadow of his father who was an esteemed and brilliant author. He is a most ardent surveyor of human behaviour - the nuances in actions that create beauty or something worse and in those moments of raw emotion he see's pleasure. Too many of those moments coupled with the weight of the obsession, his fathers shadow and a string of failed relationships, eventually leads him into a life of recluse.
While not an easy-to classify-in-a-specific-genre type of book, Nthikeng has definitely created a unique literary work that gives the reader an impression of being a trusted sound board, or at least a getting a peek into a journal of internal reflection
*Book sponsored by Pan Macmillan

The Yearning – Mohale Mashigo

The subliminal theme of roots and family is what stood out most for me in Mohale Mashigo’s book that would take any reader – South African or not – on a life tour of what is the norm for most modern South Africans. That being, despite the career focused city lives that many cultivate, where and more specifically who you come from will always be the cradle of your consciousness. The books protagonist, Marubini, is an independent and successful city girl who starts to experience unexplained symptoms that remind her of the spiritual journey that her father took years back in the place of her childhood. After enduring seizures and frighteningly familiar voices of ghosts not forgotten, she returns home for a wedding and there learns the truth of her symptoms from her charismatic grandmother, Finally, she is able to submit to the yearning that her mind is forcing her to confront. Any reader could appreciate the ease of the inter-changeable traditional vs. modern scenes that are so uniquely South African in this book. Witty conversations and vivid flashbacks steer a story fused with equal measures of culture, sadness and life.

*Book sponsored by Pan Macmillan

The Storm Sister - Lucinda Riley

I have a deep appreciation for the rich factual and historical cloth on which Lucinda Riley sets out her tales. The Storm Sister is the second - and considerably bigger - volume on the Seven Sisters series and, well lets just say it does not disappoint. Ally, - or Alcyone as she was named by Pa Salt -  is the second eldest of the D'Apliese sisters. Working as a sailor, she falls in love with a famous skipper and accidentally witnesses her fathers' secret and  very suspicious burial at sea. Thrown by the death of her beloved rock, she is buoyed by her love for Theo until tragedy sends her life completely spiraling. Similar to the previous book where her older sister Maia is overwhelmed by the death f Pa Salt and events out of her control, Ally is motivated to follow the clues Pa Salt left her in death as a coping mechanism and distraction. The clues lead her to the crisp and sophisticated cultural landscape of Norway where Ally discovers secrets, family and the love of music that stretches across lifetimes.
Even the Acknowledgement section of the books display the natural story telling ability of the author. I look forward to the book on Star, the next sister of the Seven Sister series.
*Book sponsored by Pan Macmillan