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Virginia T. (Ginski) - Reviews

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Blind Descent (Anna Pigeon, Bk 6)
Blind Descent (Anna Pigeon, Bk 6)
Author: Nevada Barr
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 167
Review Date: 11/23/2009


Enjoyable book - I had forgotten how good Nevada Barr books are.


Cottage by the Sea
Cottage by the Sea
Author: Debbie Macomber
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 20
Review Date: 10/16/2021
Helpful Score: 1


Just finished this book after hearing about it on the Podcast "Currently Reading" I love Debbie Macomber books because they are comforting, and cosy. They are typically the kind of reading you do when the world is closing in on you and you don't want drama, mystery or blatant romantic sex novels.
Loved the story and the characters.


Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker
Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker
Author: Syrie James
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 25
Review Date: 8/26/2012


Read this book based on the reviews here and absolutely loved it. It had been awhile since I read Dracula but I loved that James has told the story through Mina's eyes. That age old struggle so many good women go through - choosing better the "good guy" and the "bad boy" with a twist!!! Very enjoyable read!
Think I will now go back and re-read Stoker's Dracula.


Figures in Silk
Figures in Silk
Author: Vanora Bennett
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 13
Review Date: 1/10/2011


Loved this book. Lots of information from the merchant side of the War of the Roses era without being too much. Craftly woven together to keep you reading. I put off going to bed so that I could finish it. Look forward to reading more by Vanora Bennett.


The House at Tyneford
The House at Tyneford
Author: Natasha Solomons
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 53
Review Date: 11/25/2012
Helpful Score: 1


Elise Landau moves from pre-Nazi Vienna to England in 1938 to escape the coming of Hilter to her homeland - perilous for she and her family because they are Jews.
She gains a position at a Manor house as a parlour maid and everything changes for her.
This book had me captivated from page one through to the end. Infact, I didn't want it to end. Well worth the read!


In the Still of the Night (Grace and Favor, Bk 2)
In the Still of the Night (Grace and Favor, Bk 2)
Author: Jill Churchill
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 101
Review Date: 6/22/2014


Second in an easy read and enjoyable series.


The Last Summer
The Last Summer
Author: Judith Kinghorn
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 8/23/2012


Really Liked this book - although had some difficulty with the side writings excepted from letters, journal entries, etc at first.
Good pre=WWI story.


The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
Review Date: 12/31/2015
Helpful Score: 4


I listened to this book first on Audio and then read it to make sure that my ears were hearing correctly. I firmly believe that you should hold on only to what gives you joy and have worked very hard recently to purge and purge on many levels and areas but...... when the author says that she can't imagine that there could be more than 30-40 books that bring a person joy - well I about wrecked the car! And then I almost had a heart attack to hear her talk about tearing pages out of books and throwing mutilated books away - much less her cavalier attitude about throwing books away. I would rather get rid of 90% of my wardrobe than purge books or even tear out pages. Never mind actually throwing books away! As Sheldon would say, "The HORROR".


Love for Sale  (Grace  and Favor, Bk 4)
Love for Sale (Grace and Favor, Bk 4)
Author: Jill Churchill
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 30
Review Date: 6/22/2014


Love is series of "light-hearted" mysteries.


Mr. Darcy's Decision: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
Review Date: 9/13/2011


Interesting perspective based on my favorite classic, "Pride and Prejudice".


Murder Under Cover (Bibliophile, Bk 4)
Murder Under Cover (Bibliophile, Bk 4)
Author: Kate Carlisle
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 91
Review Date: 4/6/2015


Love this series of books that I discovered at the Library. Short, cute and a good mix of mystery and my favorite thing - BOOOKS!


Off Season
Off Season
Author: Anne Rivers Siddons
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 19
Review Date: 10/4/2010


I rated this book really liked because for most of it, I did. It had been a long time since I had read an Anne Rivers Siddons book but this one looked interesting - must have been because I read it mostly in one sitting today. However, as much as I like the imagery and characters of the story, I thought she was tired of it before she finished it and pushed the ending closed too fast. It sunk into the same old plot of girl loses childhood sweetheart, mother dies of breast cancer and at the end of his life, girl - now grown woman - finds out that the "love" of her life cheated on her with a rival from the past. Or maybe I was just pissed that I paid for the book instead of getting it on the swap and in the end - the ending was predicatable.


One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd
Author: Jim Fergus
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 694
Review Date: 1/4/2012


I purchased this book based on the reviews of PBS members.. and the book did not disappoint. As others have mentioned, it was hard to remember that the book is historical Fiction. So well has Fergus woven in the history and feel of that period with the refreshing story of May Dodd. Would highly recommend reading.


The Paris Architect
The Paris Architect
Author: Charles Belfoure
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 31
Review Date: 10/19/2018


The Paris Architect - at first I didn't care for the main character - he's vain, self-centered and arrogant. But slowly, he grew on me. I listened to this book as an audio book and then just had to get the book to read myself. Sorry PBS - not reporting. It's going in my short stack to re-read along with "The Alice Network", "Beneath a Scarlet Sky", "From Sand and Ash" and "Circling the Sun".


The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier
Review Date: 11/13/2016


From my Good Reads Review:
I know that some reviews have liked this book mainly because of the music references and the information on European pianos and I have to admit that this was some of the fascination for me with this book. But a vision that I had in mind during most of my reading was not this Paris Atelier full of partial and full piano "corpses" but a trip I took to Tennessee 3 years ago to see my fully restored J.C. Fischer Square Grand piano before I finished paying for it. Because of the experience in touring The Antique Piano Shop owned and started by Michael Stinnett, I could smell Luc's shop as I read through the book. I had a very similar problem with the stabilizing bar on my newly restored piano as Thad had on his Stingl baby grand. I could identify with Mathilde in her search for her stolen piano - I didn't search for a stolen piano but for someone who would lovingly restore my grandmother's piano. It took me almost twenty years and like Mathilde, I almost gave up and looked for the "next dream piano" but I am so glad that I did not.
Needless to say, I loved this book and would recommend to anyone that has music in their soul and wants to learn a thing or two.


Queen Defiant: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine
Queen Defiant: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine
Author: Anne O'Brien
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 5
Review Date: 7/5/2011


Anne O'Brien does a great job in this book of bringing to life the passion of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Great reading - you feel like you have been transported back to the time of Louis of France, Henry of Anjou and Eleanor of Aquitaine.


The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn
The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn
Author: Robin Maxwell
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 151
Review Date: 9/4/2008
Helpful Score: 4


I have been a lover of English history since I was a very young girl. My mom had me watch the BBC production of "The Six Wives of Henry the VIII" with her and I spent a lot of time after that soaking up all the books and information that I could read on that time period as well as from the Conqueror forward.
This book gives almost a completely different view of Anne Boleyn. One of the reviewers called it "energetic" - well, I would say it's that and more. I completely lost myself in the two time periods - Henry's and Elizabeth's.
Enjoy!


The Stand: Complete and Uncut
The Stand: Complete and Uncut
Author: Stephen King
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.4/5 Stars.
 694
Review Date: 8/17/2008
Helpful Score: 1


This book is definitely in my top 10 books to read and re-read. I have a paper back copy and a hard back copy. The paperback copy is held together with rubber bands. I probalby re-read this book every other year. It is the only book(s) from my original Stephen King collection that I kept!
Awesome read and re-read!!!!!


Tending Roses (Tending Roses, Bk 1)
Tending Roses (Tending Roses, Bk 1)
Author: Lisa Wingate
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 100
Review Date: 1/13/2011
Helpful Score: 1


Tending Roses - What a book! Reading this book brought back images and memories of my grandmother who could be loving on one hand - so full of wisdom and nic-picky on the other hand. Grandma Rose is just like her in this book. And just like Kate comes to cherish the wisdom of Grandma's point of view, I too find myself repeating things that my grandmother said to me.
The message of Tending Roses is to pay attention to what you have been given that's right in front of you - your life, your family, your friends - instead of buying into the constants of the material world. Less is more and Lisa Wingate does a good job explaining through Grandma Rose, Kate and the rest of the family.


The Violets of March
The Violets of March
Author: Sarah Jio
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 120
Review Date: 10/25/2012
Helpful Score: 5


Excellent book. The person I swapped it from sent me a note hoping that I enjoyed the book! "Boy Howdy"!! I was so enthralled. The whole time I was reading I kept trying to piece it together. Esther was..... well I am no spoiler but I loved how the author tied the past and the present together in a cathartic resolution. Definitely on my recommended read list!


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