The Captain's girl - Nicola Pryce

Cornwall 1793 - As the French Revolution threatens the stability of England, so too is discontent brewing in the heart of Celia Cavendish. Promised to the brutal Viscount Vallenforth, she must find a way to break free from the bounds of a life stifled by convention and cruelty. Inspired by her cousin Arbella, who just a few months earlier followed her heart and eloped with the man she loved, she vows to escape her impending marriage and take her destiny back into her own hands. She enlists her neighbours, Sir James and Lady Polcarrow, who have themselves made a dangerous enemy of Celia's father, in the hope of making a new life for herself. But can the Polcarrows' mysterious friend Arnaud, captain of the cutter L'Aigrette, protect Celia from a man who will let nothing stand in the way of his greed? And will Arnaud himself prove to be friend...or foe? 

My thoughts:

Celia knows her duty. Marry the guy they tell her to marry. But trust me, no one would want to marry that guy and when she finds out, well what can she do? What could any woman do at this time when you had to obey your father and then your husband. But she has a streak of wild in her and plans an escape.

First, her cousin Arabella who ran away. We only hear about that. I do not know Arabella, but I was all, I want her story too! How did Arabella fall in love? How are they now? Sometimes those side characters that are not even there really grab your attention. But let us forget about Arabella, I am sure she is happy somewhere. I guess I should read more of the authors books even if she is not in them.

There are more things going on that just Celia's marriage to be. The French revolution is still felt and the English worry about spies (this being a book set at the coast and all). Something is strange about the neighbors and they have their problems. And of course then there is the handsome strangely French captain that she meets.

Conclusion:
Romance, spies, wonderful side characters (not just the that cousin we never even met) and drama.

Paperback, 464 pages
Published July 6th 2017 by Corvus Books
Romantic historical fiction
for review

Carole's Sunday review: A fistful of love

Author: Om Swami

Title: A Fistful of Love

Genre: Nonfiction, Humor, & Philosophy

Pages: ebook

Published: Feb 2016

Where I Got It: My shelf (Given to me by the author/publisher for my honest and unbiased opinion)

Wisdom and Humour from a Monk's Bowl A man was sitting with his friends in a local inn. After a couple of drinks, he asked his friends, "Do you love me?" "Of course, we do," they replied. "So do you know what I need?" No one answered. "If you don't know what I need then how can you say you love me?" To love and to be loved is the most basic human need. No wonder we are attracted to people who give us attention, care about us, and love us. Yet, love also remains the greatest challenge in most relationships. Why? A Fistful of Love is a collection of insightful, thought-provoking nuggets of wisdom appreciated by millions around the world. This book is full of humour and narratives most beautifully woven into learnings of life that will make you stop and think. A must read. Om Swami is a mystic living in the Himalayan foothills. He has a bachelor's degree in business and an MBA from Sydney, Australia. Prior to renunciation, he founded and ran a multi-million dollar software company successfully. 

Not sure why but I really love books like this. I love looking at life through another's eyes. I love learning about other people's philosophy and view on life and everything in it. This was a no-brainer for me to pick up and read. 

I am so glad I read this. This was awesome and I loved it! Lots of wisdom, but it had humor too which made me really like the author. The author seems so wise but also so down-to-earth that the words on the page really struck a chord with me. 

I soaked this book up and all of the pages. The author was honest and made amazing points. Sure there were a couple of points where I had my own opinion and might not change my viewpoint, but it gave me a chance to see something different. 

I think the quote that really struck me was: 

"Life does not know what you want. It only sees what you do. And even if it could understand what you want from it, it is too unattached, too wise, to take you seriously. Have you ever noticed how a split second flies? This is the life we dearly hold, protect, cherish, and cling to for decades."

Life waits for no one.

The little anecdotes made the points really shine. Also, I really think the format and organization of the book made it better. 

In the end, this was a wonderful book. I really connected with this book on a lot of levels and just reading it gave me a sense of calm. The sprinkles of humor made this even better. In a way it symbolized how you should live your life....yes, take it seriously but you need to have some laughs and good stories too. Highly recommended. This gets the shiny 5 star stamp. 

Saturday Night Movie: Queen of the Desert

A chronicle of Gertrude Bell's life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.

Director: Werner Herzog

Writer: Werner Herzog (screenplay)

Stars: Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis

2 h 8 min /Biography drama history (2015)

Musings:

I might have heard the name before, it did ring a bell. But other than that I knew nothing about her.

Here she was portrayed as a strong woman who wanted more than balls and suitors. Her mother despaired since her father had sent her to university and now she was too smart for me ;) Go Gertrude!

Later she  heads out and falls in love with the desert. She travels, she experiences things. She is an archaeologist, explorer, writer and yes there is that whole look at this white woman who is all in love with their freedom thing. I try not to think too much about that. To her it was freedom since a lady like her was stuck in ballrooms and here she just saw a mighty desert. And she did seem to get it all, actually understand it their way of life. Not just think she did.

It is a rather slow movie. But hey those are the movies I always review for some reason. And I do like to review the smaller ones, instead of the bigger ones.

Still I continued to watch, while doing other things.

Idle Hands - Tom Fletcher

Desperate to cure his son Billy of the disease Idle Hands, Wild Alan must find a way back into the Pyramid from which he was exiled. But, trapped in the barren wasteland that is the Discard - the area surrounding the Pyramid - there isn't much he can do alone.

Bloody Nora, the mapmaker, has her own reasons for wanting to get into the Pyramid; she believes that the secrets of Gleam's history can be found in the Pyramid's vaults. And she has worked with Wild Alan before.

There are more secrets there than either imagined: those vaults hold the key to destroying the Pyramid's tyranny, but saving Billy and uniting the Discard against the Pyramidders is going to be far from straightforward.

My thoughts:

I really do not know how to explain this book. Weird dystopia fantasy? I mean how to even explain where it takes place. There is this pyramid where people work work die. Then there is this swampland where people eat moss and, you know what. This is a book better read than explained. You have to see it to believe it. It really is the strangest land, and I wonder why it is like that. We get some more hints in this one. Freaky fantasy? Oh I must read my review of book 1 and see if I called it something.

Alan is trying to save his son who has a disease called Idle Hands, a freaky one for sure, but then the whole world is freaky. He has to go back to the place he escaped from to save his son. Honestly what are they doing at that place!

He has help. A gay biker who was discared for being day (told you the pyramid people are weird). Nora who makes maps and knows the Pyramid are hiding some.

I really can't say a lot about the plot, spoilers you know. There is adventure, danger and freaky stuff. At times the book might just be too weird for me.

I need to know those hidden truths! I need to know about the world and the pyramid. Oh those secrets. Secrets drives me crazy, cos I want answers at once.

And I check and I did not know how to explain the world then either. I will just call it the future? gone to hell ;)

Hardcover, 400 pages
Published July 27th 2017 by Jo Fletcher Books
Fantasy / Dystopia
For review