Soma Intimates Personality PJs: A Review

Wednesday 1 December, 2010 by 2 Comments

It is highly unusual for me to deviate from book reviews to review other products yet when I was given the opportunity to receive a pair of Personality Pajamas from Soma Intimates for review, I could not pass the opportunity up.  Soma Intimates has a fun personality quiz to take and then recommends a category of pajamas based upon the results.  There are six categories;  Glam, Romantic, Chic, Wild, Classic, and Fun.  The full line of  Personality Pajamas may be viewed here.   My quiz answers placed me in the categories of Traditional/Chic and I received Chic Pajamas, to be exact Chic Personality PJ Lace Print Satin.  The Pajamas are wonderful for lounging around in and are my first silky-type pajamas, as I usually prefer cotton.  The Pajamas wash and dry well without shrinking, the sizing chart (XS-XL / 0-18)  is fairly accurate and if in doubt go with the closest size, do not size up.   The tops and bottoms may be purchased separately, an option I did not have and so I have a medium top and bottom when I really needed a size small bottom and size medium top, so my pants are far too big, but cozy.

I am quite satisfied with my pajamas. They are perfect for lounging around and reading in and I think the Personality PJs would make a fun and thoughtful Christmas gift, maybe paired up with a book or two for those long winter nights.

Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Soma Intimates and received a pair of Personality PJs to thank me for taking the time to participate.


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Book Review: Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

Wednesday 1 December, 2010 by 12 Comments

Title:  Cleopatra: A Life
Author: Stacy Schiff
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition
Publication Date: November 1, 2010
Hardcover: 384 pages
ISBN: 978-0316001922
Genre: Biography

From the Publisher:

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt.

Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator.

Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and–after his murder–three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since.

Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way, Cleopatra’s supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff ‘s is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life.

My Review:

How does one begin to write a review that can do justice to an extraordinary work of art? This has been my question for some time and I have not found an answer to satisfy myself so I will let the synopsis speak for itself and tell the reader my thoughts on Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff. Cleopatra: A Life is a staggering work of passion for Schiff’s subject, revealing extreme and precise historical details regarding Cleopatra’s life and vivid imagery which draws the reader back to 48 BC, which is no small feat. Coupled with writing about some of the most well known names in all of history, Cleopatra: A Life is a work of pure brilliance. Schiff brings Cleopatra to life dispelling long held myths and making clear the events of Cleopatra’s life, a woman to be admired and feared, intelligent, cunning, and an exceptional leader. Cleopatra: A Life is so well written, detailed, footnoted, and referenced I cannot imagine how it could be written better. What I know for certain is that I plan to read more books by Stacy Schiff beginning with Véra (Mrs. Nabokov-yes, the wife of Vladimir Nabokov of whom I often mention!) and I suggest everyone read this book, even if biographies are not the typical genre the reader likes, this is the one to begin with. Cleopatra: A Life would make for a brilliant discussion group choice.

About the Author:

Stacy Schiff is the author of Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), winner of the Pulitzer Prize; Saint-Exupéry, a Pulitzer Prize finalist; and A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, winner of the George Washington Book Prize, the Ambassador Award in American Studies, and the Gilbert Chinard Prize of the Institut Français d’Amérique. All three were New York Times Notable Books; the Los Angeles Times Book Review, the Chicago Tribune, and The Economist also named A Great Improvisation a Best Book of the Year. The biographies have been published in a host of foreign editions.

Schiff has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities and was a Director’s Fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. She was awarded a 2006 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Schiff has written for The New Yorker, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe, among other publications. She lives in New York City.

To learn more visit Stacy Schiff’s website and follow her on Twitter.

I received a complimentary copy of Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff from Hachette to review. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.


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Book Review: The Wolves Of Andover By Kathleen Kent

Wednesday 1 December, 2010 by 7 Comments


Title: The Wolves of Andover
Author: Kathleen Kent
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books
Publication Date: November 8, 2010
Hardcover: 320 pages
ISBN: 978-0316068628
Genre: Historical Fiction

From the Publisher:

In the harsh wilderness of colonial Massachusetts, Martha Allen works as a servant in her cousin’s household, taking charge and locking wills with everyone. Thomas Carrier labors for the family and is known both for his immense strength and size and mysterious past. The two begin a courtship that suits their independent natures, with Thomas slowly revealing the story of his part in the English Civil War. But in the rugged new world they inhabit, danger is ever present, whether it be from the assassins sent from London to kill the executioner of Charles I or the wolves-in many forms-who hunt for blood. A love story and a tale of courage, The Wolves of Andover confirms Kathleen Kent’s ability to craft powerful stories of family from colonial history.

My Review:

Dark, historic and deeply compelling, The Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent is more than a work of historical fiction as she is writing about her own ancestors and their lives in 1673 colonial Massachusetts. Following Kent’s extraordinary novel, The Heretic’s Daughter, I was not certain if Kent would be able to match the quality, when in fact she exceeds it in The Wolves of Andover. Historical fiction fans will recognise many names straightaway especially when Kent shifts to England. Kent’s characters are vividly described and both the feelings in the colonies as well as in London during this time in history are made quite clear to the reader as Kent easily transitions the reader into this period where, for Martha in the colonies, life is rather desolate, bleak and extremely dangerous. The crown wants someone to pay for Charles I’s execution and witch trials are in full force. As I read The Wolves of Andover I had little difficulty imagining life as a colonist and I do not think I would have made it. The life was very hard and for the characters even more so as the wolves Kent alludes to in her title pertain to more than the animal that could easily destroy a family. It is not necessary for one to have read The Heretic’s Daughter to follow along in The Wolves of Andover, but once read, I believe readers will want to read Kent’s previous book. I went into The Wolves of Andover with extremely high expectations and I was not disappointed. I strongly recommend The Wolves of Andover to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or is merely looking for an intriguing and captivating book.

About the Author:

Kathleen Kent lives in Dallas with her husband and son. To learn more about Kathleen Kent and her extraordinary novels please visit her website.

I received a complimentary copy of The Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent from Hachette to review. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.


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