Review: Solame by Oscar Wilde *Spoilers*

 The second Oscar Wilde play that I have read. It is the one act drama that has biblical and historical references. We follow a Princess named Salome, King Herod and Queen Herodias. The story starts off with two guards and they are chatting. One is fawning and adoring the princess and commenting on how pale she is. The other soldier is trying to get him to stop looking at her.

There is also a prophet named Jokanaan. He is well respected by King Herod and disliked by Queen Herodias. It comes to light that Salome is in love with the prophet and she asks him is she can touch his body, hair and kiss his lips. He refuses her and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Throughout the play, Jokanaan is screaming out prophecies of an angel of death with wings at the door. 

Salome does a favor for Herod in exchange for anything she wants. She dances for him and in return she asks for Jokanaan's head in a silver cistern. The king becomes horrified and offers her jewels and white peacocks. Her mother continues toegg her daughter on and to not back down from her demands. Herod finally agrees and when Salome is given the prophets head, she finally gets her kiss. This disgusts the king and calls for Salome's execution.

I listened to this on audio and one of the voice actors is James Marsters who played Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If you have never watched Buffy, then I should tell you that Spike before he was turned into a vampire was an aspiring poet. He was not a very good poet and in several episodes his poetry was made fun of. Now when the character Jokanaan was speaking and prophecizing, I couldn't help but remember the episodes of Spike reciting his god awful poetry. It did take me out of the story a bit, but I did get a good chuckle and a urge to rewatch Buffy.

BLOG TOUR: The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA by Elodie Harper Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA (Wolf Den Trilogy #3)

Author: Elodie Harper

Pub. Date: November 14, 2023

Publisher: Union Square Co.

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 352

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/THE-TEMPLE-OF-FORTUNA 

The final, dramatic installment in Elodie Harper's Sunday Times bestselling Wolf Den Trilogy.

Amara's journey has taken her far; from enslavement in Pompeii's wolf den brothel to her new life as a high-powered courtesan in Rome, but her story is not over yet. While Amara plays for power in Rome's imperial palace, those dearest to her remain in Pompeii. But it is 79 CE, and mighty Mount Vesuvius is about to make itself known . . .

Readers of Jennifer Saint's Ariadne, Natalie Haynes books like A Thousand Ships and Stone Blind, and other novels based on Ancient Roman and Greek mythology—as well as fans of inspiring feminist historical fiction exploring the worlds of Ancient Greece and Rome—will love Harper's acclaimed Wolf Den Trilogy. Anyone looking for a book that centers women’s perspectives on the historic events of Pompeii will be captivated by Amara’s story, which starts with the first book in the trilogy, The Wolf Den, a Barnes & Noble Our Monthly Fiction Pick, a Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month, and a critically acclaimed UK bestseller.

 

Grab the whole series here!

 

Review: coming soon

 

About Elodie Harper:

Elodie Harper is a journalist and author whose bestselling Wolf Den trilogy has won wide acclaim. The first book The Wolf Den, won the Glass Bell Award and was shortlisted for Page turner of the year at the British Book Awards. The second in the series, The House with the Golden Door, was a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller.

The Wolf Den trilogy has sold into 20 territories worldwide and has been optioned for TV. The third and final instalment, The Temple of Fortuna, will be published in the UK and the US in November 2023. Elodie is currently a reporter at ITV News Anglia, and before that worked as a producer at Channel 4 News.

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive finished copies of The Wolf Den, The House with the Golden Door, and The Temple of Fortuna, US Only.

Ends November 28^th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

11/13/2023	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt/IG Post
11/14/2023	bookreviewsbytaylor	Review/IG Post
11/15/2023	Lifestyle of Me	Review/IG Post
11/16/2023	jlreadstoperpetuity	Review/IG Post
11/17/2023	Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's	Review/IG Post

Week Two:

11/20/2023	Karen Dee's Book Reviews	IG Review
11/21/2023	@evergirl200	Review/IG Post
11/22/2023	Confessions of the Perfect Mom	Review/IG Post
11/23/2023	The Litt Librarian	Review/IG Post
11/24/2023	@lexijava	Review/IG Post

Top Ten Tuesday: Mainstream Authors I still Haven't Read From

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

This weeks topic is mainstream authors you haven't read yet but are on TBR. These 10 authors have been on my running TBR for a while and some are on my priority TBR.

1. Colleen Hoover

2. Jay Kristoff

3. Jennifer L. Armentrout

4. R.F. Kuang

5. Brandon Sanderson

6. Ken Follett

7. Joe Abercrombie

8. Josh Malerman

9. T. Kingfisher

10. Steven Graham Jones

Review: Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde

 

When I read The Picture of Dorian Gray a couple years ago, I fell in love with his writing style. The story also gripped me and kept my attention. I have had all of his works on my TBR since and my oldest daughter had to read The Importance of Being Earnest for her Lit and Comp class this year and it being Oscar Wilde, I was so excited. She loved the play and I ended up checking out the Penguin Classic of The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays. This play is the first in the book. I am listening to them on audio, so I can count them separately for my Goodreads goal. 

At first the audio was very jarring because it is a full cast and then I realized that all of the character names and movements and stage positions were not going to be read. So I had to quickly read thos or not at all and I had to pay attention to the character names because it was difficult to know who was who. Besides all that I did end up giving this a 5 star. It was funny and so freaking dramatic.... obviously.

The play starts off with Lady Windermere getting visited by a Lord Darlington who is sweet talking her and saying that he will be her friend if needed. She then gets a visit by the Duchess of Berwick who is a freaking gossip. She informs Lady Windermere that her husband has been seen in London with a woman who has been cast out of society. Lady Windermere then goes through her husbands desk and find a bank book where she discovers that he has been giving this Mrs Erlynne random sums of money.

She then confronts her husband who then has the nerve to demand that his wife invite this Mrs Erlynne to Lady Windermere's ball that evening. She then threatens that if Mrs Erlynne shows up, then she will get a smack across the face with her fan.

There are a handful of other male characters who kind of don't matter and they talk about trivial things and basically be men who talk down upon women and call them crazy and that Mrs Erlynne is wonderful. 

In 70 pages Oscar Wilde managed to portray aristocratic society in such a ingenius way. 

Sunday Post #59

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly from The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

This week has been a long one. The time change has affected our routines and I am feeling rushed in the afternoons. It doesn't help that the woman I babysit for doesn't get to my house until 4:45pm and then she doesn't leave for a good 30-45 minutes because she loves to talk and complain about her baby daddy and their issues. Then I have to take care of my dogs and walk them and feed them their supper and give them their nightly exercise and play time. I have to cook supper and get my kids winding down and ready for bed at 9. I just need more time to get used to a routine and definitely make some changes. 

I have made a decision that I will be utilizing my crock pot and instant pot more this coming winter to help with having more relaxed time and me time. My reading this week has been good. I am listening to Oscar Wilde plays and I am enjoying them. It is also helping with my Goodreads goal. 

We have a fun family day planned out for today. My husband has the day off from both jobs so we are going to get some grocery shopping done and then shopping shopping and then my kids want to spend their money that I give them for helping me babysit. Maybe some Christmas shopping will get done too, but I am focusing on the coming week and Thanksgiving.

Reading wise, I want to finish the book of Oscar Wilde plays and then I want to get to at least 2 of my Netgalley arcs. I have a to read list a mile long on Netgalley and it's a wonder how I still have an account on there. It is embarrassing. 

Everyone have a good week.

Review: Sheets by Brenna Thummler

 I have had this book on my TBR for years and thanks to Netgalley, I finally picked it up and I have to say that I absolutely loved it. I was not expecting it to be so wholesome, cute, funny, sad, and angering. It did hit a sore spot for me and my girls. The main character's name is Marjorie and that is my husband's grandmother's name, my girls GG. 

Anyways this graphic novel starts with a list of things Marjorie hates. Laundry and ghosts are tied for first on her list. She lives above a laundromat with her little brother and dad. Her mom was the owner of the laundromat and she has recently passed. Marjorie is a loner and quiet at school. She has to deal with rude ass customers and there is one man named Mr. Saubertuck. He is obsessed with having a 5 star yoga and meditation retreat and he is trying to sabotage the laundromats business.

The ghostie in this story is a young boy named Wendell. He is in the land of the ghost and he is pretty much a story teller. He tells different stories of how he died, but there is some truth in them. I won't spoil it but the land of the ghosts are a hilarious bunch. 

Eventually the two meet which is againt the rules for Ghosts and Wendell refuses to leave Marjorie while she is grieving and dealing with peer pressure and harassment from Saubertuck.

I immediately requested the sequel and the newest book that just came out from my library. I need more of Wendell and Marjorie. I want more of the Land of Ghosts.

Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

 I was so looking forward to this and this has become another classic on the list that just didn't WOW me. I am so disappointed because there were some parts that I really liked and spooked me a little, but I made the mistake of listening to this on audio and the narrator was just garbage. 

When we had the monster's POV about his time in the woods watching the family and helping them with fire wood, I had to increase the speed to 2.5 because the way the monster talked I couldn't listen to that for 7+ hours. I got the jist. 

Also Victir was just a freaking cry baby who got scared and fainted way to much. He couldn't deal with his own creation and then he almost created a companion for his fear. I was confused as hell at the beginning because I couldn't figure out who the hell was writing the letters to his sister. I think the story would have been even better if the story that was being told and re-iterated to the sister was a made up fantasy by a mad man who killed his own family and blamed a reanimated monster. 

My 14 year old daughter read this, not by audio book and she enjoyed it. She gave it a 4 out of 5 stars. I give it a 2 star rating and I think she was scandalized...lol.