Mademoiselle Chanel by, C.W. Gortner

Mademoiselle Chanel  by, C.W. Gortner

Release date March 17, 2015

Enthralled, captivated, fascinated, enamored, I'm not even sure if these words come close to explaining how great this book was and how captivated I am with this woman. This book was impossible to put down I needed to know more and more and more. This is one of those books that when you get finished you want to go back to the beginning and start again because you don't want it to end.

She was definitely a woman before her time she was an absolutely fascinating woman, what she did, not only as a designer but as a single woman in France in the early 1900’s is awe inspiring, she did what she had to do and look what she accomplished, and when you learn where the famous trademark stems from and the origins of her famous perfume it is so interesting. Her rise and how she got there and the people she met along the way is so interesting I am just awe-struck by this woman. I am far from being a fashionista but I want to go see these older dresses and see more of her life.

This book also made me look up everyone she meets along the way and to look at her styles and the scary lobster dress by her rival Schiaparelli . I love Chanel’s more conservative simple dresses; really without her we wouldn’t have the little black dress. And that she stopped women from wearing fruit and birds on their heads that was a great thing.

But above all she was a woman ahead of her time; independent, opinionated, beautiful and rich, but she didn’t start out that way and everything she had was from her hard work, yes, yes men helped her along the way but she paid every one of them back and without her talent she would have never become the icon that she became.

The life she lived and the people she knew is a who’s who in the artistic world of the time, she was accepting of everyone from the snobs of the British aristocracy, to gay men and women, to the drug addled artists, dancers and musicians, she accepted everyone despite their flaws, she was also a very caring woman though her outward attitude didn’t seem that way I believe from this book that if Coco liked you she would do just about anything for you. Some of the things she did during the war are tough but I believe this version she never wanted to hurt anyone and a person had to survive. I do hope that she was able to find some peace and love at the end of her life.

Okay, I could go on and on about this book but I will stop now and just say read this book the minute it comes out, you will not be disappointed!

5 Stars (if I could give it more I would)

**I received this book from edelweiss and the publisher for a fair and honest review**

As I have said in previous reviews I love a historical fiction book that makes me want to do research and boy howdy did this book make me want to look stuff up, everything from pictures of the clothes to learning about the people she met along the way so here are some of the sites I found with great picture of Coco and her crowd:

CW Gortner's Pintrest page:

This is a great site to see  pictures of some of the people and places you will meet in this book

http://5-culture.chanel.com/en/une_histoire_damour/

An article about Coco and the ballet with a picture of her and Serge Lifar

http://themakingofmarkova.com/2013/05/01/coco-chanel-and-the-ballets-russes/

A neat tribute to Misia Sert as muse to so many artists in the early 1900’s

http://theredlist.com/wiki-2-24-525-770-925-view-1900s-1-profile-misia-sert.html

Picture of Boy

http://5-culture.chanel.com/en/une_histoire_damour/

Bendor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Grosvenor,_2nd_Duke_of_Westminster

My Favorite Books of 2014

My Favorite Books of 2014

(Some links will take you to my library blog or Goodreads for my reviews)

102 books Read ( my list on Goodreads) -75 were Audiobooks (890 Hours) –While putting this list together I notice I really need to listen to more male narrations I am going to try to listen to more male narrators in 2015

Narrator of the Year:

January LaVoy - I just discovered this wonderful narrator this year with the books Dollbaby and Missing You. I love her range of voices she can sound like a child and an old woman all within minutes I will always choose a book in audio if she is the narrator she quickly shot to the top of my must listen list. Here is her list on audible 

5 Star Reads:

Dollbaby by, Laura Lane McNeal narrated by, January LaVoy

Whimsey: A Novel by Kaye Wilkinson Barley narrated by, Susanna Burney

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon narrated by, Cassandra Campbell & Kathe Mazur

Missing You by Harlan Coben narrated by, January LaVoy

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Euphoria by Lily King narrated by, Simon Vance & Xe Sands

Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8) by Diana Gabaldon narrated by, Davina Porter

Unfit by Lara Cleveland Torgesen

Sunrise (Ashfall #3) by, Mike Mullin

Fear Nothing by, Lisa Gardner

Night Broken (Mercy Thompson #8) by Patricia Briggs

The Daring Ladies of Lowell: A Novel by Kate Alcott narrated by, Cassandra Campbell

2015 release 5 Stars:

Rebel Queen by, Michelle Moran

A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London's Flower Sellers by, Hazel Gaynor

Honorable mentions: (books I enjoyed that stayed with me):

Rage Against the Dying: A Thriller (Brigid Quinn #1) by Becky Masterman narrated by, Judy Kaye

The Book of Obeah (Crossroads #1) by Sandra Carrington-Smith Narrated by, Dave Fennoy

Speaks the Nightbird (Matthew Corbett #1) by Robert R. McCammon, narrated by, Edoardo Ballerini

The Legendary Adventures of the Pirate Queens by James Grant Goldin narrated by, Shiromi Arserio

Blunder Woman written and narrated by, Tanya Eby

Wild Rover No More: Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber by, LA Meyer Narrated by, Katherine Kellgren

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng narrated by, Cassandra Campbell

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune By, Bill Dedman & Paul Clark Newell Jr. narrated by, Kimberly Farr

The Burning Room (Harry Bosch #19) by Michael Connelly narrated by, Titus Welliver

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein

You're Next by, Gregg Hurwitz narrated by, Scott Brick

Favorite Audiobook of 2014 ~ Dollbaby , by Laura Lane McNeal narrated by, January LaVoy

This was my favorite audiobook of 2014

Dollbaby , by Laura Lane McNeal narrated by, January LaVoy

Warning: You will fall in love with the characters in this book.

This book made me laugh and made me cry. 11 year old Ibby’s (Liberty) father has died and her mother (can I put quotes around mother to let you know what I think of her) drops her off at her grandmother Fannie’s house the problem is Ibby and Miss Fannie have never met, and this so called mother doesn’t even walk her to the door to introduce them just drops her off in the street and drives away. If you can’t tell by this paragraph I don’t think very highly of Vidrine’s so called motherly love. Especially the “gift” she wants Ibby to give to her grandmother, Vidrine is just a spiteful woman.

Luckily for Ibby she is going into a house full of women that will love her and take care of her, the first person she meets is Dollbaby and her momma Queenie who work for her grandmother Fannie and Ibby doesn’t realize her grandmother is just as scared as she is that they won’t like each other, but Miss Fannie is a character and luckily they do hit it off even if it is strained for a little while. Miss Fannie is an interesting character strong yet fragile I laughed when she was helping the bookie then cried when she had her spell on Ibby’s birthday she was such an interesting character that has been through some awful things and when we learn how Queenie came to work for her and how she got her nickname it really gives insight into both of these women.

The book starts out in 1964, 3 days before Ibby’s 12^th birthday and continues on till she is in college. Now, you know what race relations were like at this time in our country and even though this is New Orleans there is still certain things that can’t be done, even though Ibby is friends with Doll & Queenie’s family when she is out alone with any of them things are said and done that will make you cringe and hope that in this day and age things like that don’t happen anymore.

There is one other character that I did not like and that was neighbor girl Annabelle what a little brat who grew up to be a spoiled rotten brat (ok not the b-word I was going to use but you get my drift) but karma oh wonderful karma with a little push from Miss Fannie and Miss Ibby she does get her comeuppance and that made me laugh and cheer!

I truly loved the characters in this book Doll and Queenie are great ladies and I loved how loyal and loving they were towards both Miss Fannie and Ibby even from the first time meeting them. This is a story about family and acceptance and is a truly wonderful read.

Narrator January LaVoy did a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life I loved how she voiced Ibby at age 11 sounding like a little girl and voiced her differently as she got older but yet you knew it was Ibby talking, everyone had their own unique voice, LaVoy’s narration truly added to my experience of this book.

If you are a fan of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt or Secret Life of Bees or just southern fiction in general give this one a try.

5 Stars

Wild Rover No More: Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber by, LA Meyer Narrated by, Katherine Kellgren

Wild Rover No More: Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber by, LA Meyer Narrated by, Katherine Kellgren

Well Played Mr. Meyer you made me laugh, you made me cry and gave Jacky the sendoff she deserved!

 Great narration by Katherine Kellgren, as always, but this time she had to do a Russian accent and sing in that accent, you are an amazing talent Ms. Kellgren!

I don’t want to spoil this book for those of you that have read the entire series, so I will just say I enjoyed this book more than Boston Jacky and it was an excellent end to a fabulous series that will forever be a go-to book for me and I know I will listen to this series again and again.

I am sad that the series is over but am glad that Mr. Meyer had the chance to finish the book before he passed away and that we won’t end up with another author coming in and ruining his work. I am so glad your memory will live on in the wonderful characters you have written, RIP Mr. Meyer.

5 Stars

A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London's Flower Sellers by, Hazel Gaynor

A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London's Flower Sellers by, Hazel Gaynor

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, this was a very interesting look at a sad time in London history when there were many homeless children who would sell flowers and watercress on the streets by day and sleep in doorways by night. Some did have families but going there and being beaten was worse than sleeping on the streets.

We first meet , sisters Florrie and Rosie who is almost blind and Florrie has a problem with her leg they live with their parents, a sick mother and abusive father, they sell their violets and watercress in the markets when their mother dies and the father is not someone you'd want to be around, then the father dies too, that is when Rosie and Florrie spend the most time sleeping on the streets. Rosie and Florrie are inseparable, Florrie always tells Rosie don't let go of my hand no matter what don't let go until the worst happens and one day Rosie’s hand slips out of Florrie’s and she's gone.

In the second part of the story we meet Tilly we are not sure what exactly happened to Tilly’s sister but we know whatever it was Tilly was blamed for it and that life at home is not happy at all, so she seeks a position as a housemother at the Violet house home for orphan watercress and flower girls.

We also meet Mr. Shaw the benefactor of the Training Home for Watercress and Violet girls where he takes them in, gives them a home and teaches them to make silk flowers to sell, including making thousands and thousands of roses for the first Queen Alexandra Rose Day. Mr. Shaw also takes Florrie in after she loses Rosie and gives her a purpose and a home. In a twist of coincidence Tilly ends up in the room Florrie had been in and finds her journals detailing her life-long search for her sister Rosie. We do not find out what happened to Rosie until much later in the book.

This book is sad and hopeful all at the same time we get to see Tilly blossom and become stronger with every step she makes away from her home, she becomes a much loved housemother at Violet House, she also enjoys her time at the Clacton Orphanage and starts to feel at home and comfortable in her own skin. Florrie’s story is also sad but there is hope there too.

 I don’t want to give anymore away than I already have, this was such an interesting story I never knew about these flower girls. This book is fiction but I was able to find out more about the real Flower Girls home and the Alexandra Rose Charities that truly exist but were elaborated upon for the book. The story of these 3 girls and also Mr. Shaw’s story were quite fascinating and I would highly recommend this well written book that you won’t be able to put down and will end up reading into the wee hours of the night!

This is the second book by Hazel Gaynor I have thoroughly enjoyed and I look forward to reading anything else she writes.

5 Stars

I was lucky enough to get an early review copy of this book from Edelweiss and the Publisher for a fair and honest review.

This is an interesting link to the actual training home for watercress and flower girls

http://www.theclerkenwellpost.com/love-well/item/142-the-flower-girls

Here is the history of the Alexandra Rose Charities starting with the event that took place in the book in 1912. (the book is fiction but so well researched )

http://www.alexandrarosecharities.org.uk/ourhistory.html

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng narrated by, Cassandra Campbell

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng narrated by, Cassandra Campbell

Below you will find my random/rambling thoughts as I listened to this book. I liked and disliked this book or should I say I liked the book and completely disliked the characters. The parents in this book are unemotional distance people who should never have had children, they are not abusive in the broad sense of the word but they have no idea who their children are and have no idea how to show that they love them let alone care about them. See my final thoughts at the end.

Everyone grieves differently and it is sad that they are all grieving separately instead of as a family, to be there for each other but I don't think they were there for each other before Lydia's death so I feel like her death multiplied this separateness tenfold.

It just seems like Marilyn could have enrolled in a school right from home instead of sneaking out signing up for classes and getting an apartment. I guess I just don't understand this woman at all.

Do these two people (James & Marilyn) even know each other at all it feels like their whole relationship is superficial it doesn't go deep enough to tell each other what they want from life, what their lives are really like or anything about their true selves and they passed this on to their children so they are just as closed off as the parents are.

James & Marilyn started out fighting the stereotypes then ended up being the stereotypes I am hoping this family becomes something amazing and breaks out of those roles but I am scared this is going to be a depressing book all the way through.

Poor Nath and Hannah to be that ignored by your parents must be heartbreaking.

How could you forget your own child so much that you forget to set a place for them at the table?? Really??

It didn’t seem like James even cared that Nath got into Harvard. Then when Lydia ruined his moment it made me very mad.

The way this family relates to each other is so heartbreaking they are so separate in so many ways.

And even Lydia making up friends pretending to be on the phone talking, all 3 of these children are so lonely and starved for love it’s so sad.

Wow the way James treats Nath is horrible I understand he is grieving but wow.

 For this family to get certain news from the authorities is going to tear them apart even further.

But James is so not handling this at all but I also get the feeling that James would have cheated and said the things to his mistress even if Lydia hadn’t died.

I think it was awful that Nath had to be the one to tell Marilyn where James was especially after what James had said to Marilyn.  I don’t think she knew, I honestly don’t think she could comprehend him having a mistress when he didn’t have any friends.

I find it a bit I don’t know disconcerting that there is only one other oriental in the whole town and she is who James is having an affair with I don’t know it’s a little too unbelievable. Someone had mentioned to me that I need to remember what year this is but this is the late 70’s and things had changed a lot in the last 18 or so years since they have been together. And that James didn’t have the balls to come out of the bedroom what a louse!

That Hannah and Nath were right there watching as her parents fight over the affair was tough; it just goes to show how little these parents thought about their children. And that James said if we had never met and she had never been born I wanted to yell Hey jackass you have 2 other children too!

She left first, come on James, that was a long time ago. Oh these two are so screwed up! But it goes to show that they never communicated when Marilyn came back they never talked about it and so all these years James is still hurt by Marilyn leaving. They never discussed why she left, maybe if they had a conversation about the reasons Marilyn left all those years ago maybe everything would be different just maybe James would have supported her decision I don’t know maybe not but maybe…

I think that Nath leaving for college was so hard for Lydia because she felt he was the only one she had, but poor Hannah always gets lost in the shuffle. Then when Hannah tries to bond with Lydia it all goes wrong, oh this family makes me so very sad. I feel so bad for Hannah she just wants some love and affection and every time she tries she gets slapped down figuratively and literally.

Oh my gosh when Jack comes clean to Lydia, if anyone can understand feeling like an outsider it’s him she should have stayed his friend they could have been true friends. I think if Lydia would have had it in her to understand Jack things would have been different.

How sad just when Lydia was finally thinking on her own without the grudges and hatred. But was it an accident? She stepped out of the boat into the water it sounds like she meant to do it to me.

I hope this means Hannah will finally get some love and not just be a cardboard cutout of Lydia in her parents eyes.

There is this little bit of a coming together but I don’t think this family ever learned to communicate with each other, too many years have passed and these behaviors are ingrained now. I wonder how Nath & Hannah were with their families in the future.

Ooof this book is like a gut punch but so beautifully written that you need to continue on. I honestly am not sure how to rate this book because there was no redemption, one can only hope that this family got better that they cherished the children they had left and started communicating with each other but I’m afraid I this did not happen.

Cassandra Campbell’s narration is very well done as always.

4 Stars

Thanks you to the FordAudiobookClub for the opportunity to listen to this book.

The Legendary Adventures of the Pirate Queens by James Grant Goldin narrated by, Shiromi Arserio

The Legendary Adventures of the Pirate Queens by James Grant Goldin narrated by, Shiromi Arserio

What a fun book I didn’t want to stop listening, it was rip-roaring fun on the high seas! These two ladies are so different Martin/Mary dresses like a man and fights in a war and goes to sea and ends up on a Pirate ship. Anne Bonny on the other hand is all woman all the time, she ran away from her husband and became mistress to a pirate though in all honesty I think Anne ran the ship and just let Captain Calico Jack think he did.

When Anne can’t seem to get Martin to pay attention to her and then Calico makes the comment that Martin is in love with her Anne sets out to find out the truth, these scenes are hilarious because as readers we know Martin is really Mary however Anne Bonny is not used to a man who wants nothing to do with her. I loved how she couldn’t comprehend a man not falling for her feminine wiles, and poor Mary trying her best not to cross Anne because she is a pirate after all and has the temper to go with it. And Mary as Martin is a gentleman she is tough as nails and can fight and shoot and do the jobs on the ship but she always tries to be a gentleman.

However our dear Martin/Mary is in love another seaman Peter who has no idea that she is a he,  this complicates their relationship, so she moons over him from afar and tries her best to keep him alive because he is not much of a seaman and not a fighter at all, he came to sea because he is the 2^nd born or the spare as they were known in the day, wanting to learn about longitude and clocks because at this time in history it was sailing by the stars and I believe people went of course a lot.

All the characters in this book were very interesting, and it made me want to know even more about these ladies and as I always say a sign of a good historical fiction book is that it makes me want to research more and this one definitely did that.

New to me narrator Shiromi Arserio was very good she had many different accents and I liked how she had 2 different voices for Martin and Mary even though they were the same person. Very well done and I will be on the lookout for anything else she has narrated.

This was a new author and narrator for me and I truly enjoyed them both and if the author writes any other historical fiction books I will be reading them for sure.

If you enjoy the Jackie Faber/Bloody Jack books give this one a try I think you will enjoy it.

4 ½ Stars

I received this from the author for a fair and honest review, and I am so glad I said yes!