Mailbox Monday



Another Monday, Another Mailbox!! This is a feature where we all share with each other the yummy books that showed up at our doors! WARNING: Mailbox Mondays can lead to extreme envy and GINORMOUS wishlists!!

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

Quality over quantity prevailed this week and I received one of my most anticipated reads of 2010...C.W. Gortner's new novel, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici! It's taking every ounce of will power not to jump right on it - although I do restrain myself from sleeping with it ;-)  Confessions will be the May event for the HF Bloggers Round Table and I am really excited about working with Christopher again - you just couldn't meet a nicer guy!



by C. W. Gortner

US & UK Release Date:  May 25, 2010

SYNOPSIS: The most infamous queen of the Renaissance reveals her secrets in an epic tale of persecution, intrigue, and betrayal.

At the age of fourteen, Catherine de Medici, last legitimate descendant of the Medici blood, finds herself betrothed to the King Francois I's son, Henri. Sent from her native Florence to France, humiliated and overshadowed by her husband's life-long devotion to his mistress, when tragedy strikes her family Catherine rises from obscurity to become one of 16th century Europe's most powerful women.

Patroness of Nostradamus and a seer in her own right, accused of witchcraft and murder by her foes, Catherine fights to save France and her children from savage religious conflict, unaware that her own fate looms before her -- a fate that will demand the sacrifice of her ideals, her reputation, and passion of her own embattled heart.

From the splendors of the Loire palaces to the blood-soaked battles of the Wars of Religion and haunted halls of the Louvre, this is the story of Catherine's dramatic life, told by the queen herself.




by Mitchell James Kaplan

US & UK Release Date:  May 18, 2010

SYNOPSIS:  Luis de Santángel, chancellor to the court and longtime friend of the lusty King Ferdinand, has had enough of the Spanish Inquisition. As the power of Inquisitor GeneralTomás deTorquemada grows, so does the brutality of the Spanish church and the suspicion and paranoia it inspires. When a dear friend’s demise brings the violence close to home, Santángel is enraged and takes retribution into his own hands. But he is from a family of conversos, and his Jewish heritage makes him an easy target. As Santángel witnesses the horrific persecution of his loved ones, he begins slowly to reconnect with the Jewish faith his family left behind. Feeding his curiosity about his past is his growing love for Judith Migdal, a clever and beautiful Jewish woman navigating the mounting tensions in Granada. While he struggles to decide what his reputation is worth and what he can sacrifice, one man offers him a chance he thought he’d lost…the chance to hope for a better world. Christopher Columbus has plans to discover a route to paradise, and only Luis de Santángel can help him.

Within the dramatic story lies a subtle, insightful examination of the crisis of faith at the heart of the Spanish Inquisition. Irresolvable conflict rages within the conversos in By Fire, By Water, torn between the religion they left behind and the conversion meant to ensure their safety. In this story of love, God, faith, and torture, fifteenth-century Spain comes to dazzling, engrossing life.

So, what goodies showed up at your door?

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5 comments:

  1. Lucky Lucky Lucky! I am dying to read The Confessions if Catherine de Medici...

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  2. Lucky you for receiving a copy of CW Gortner's new book! He's such a fantastic writer, isn't he? Now I'm trying to see if I can snag my own ARC of it... happy reading!

    I've unfortunately not received much this week, apart from Island of Ghosts by Gillian Bradshaw, which I purchased online.

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  3. A book about Catherine Medici. now that is something I have not read, but after all the books about Mary Queen of Scots I have consumed, I ought to check out Catherine, who I only know from Mary's perspective.

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  4. Wow, these both sound really good! I'll be posting my mailbox later this morning.

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  5. I'm absolutely desperate for C.W. Gortner's new book, must figure out a way to get a copy!

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