I have posted several posts on my other blog at awell-wateredgarden.blogspot.com
I will be taking the rest of the year off for reading, relaxation, and spending time with family.
I will be back in the new year, at that time I will need to tweak my blog a little in order to organize well for all of the book challenges I will be taking part in.
Merry Christmas to all of you, and my hope for you, is that you will have a joyous New Year!

Winter Poetry

"Announced by all the trumpets of the sky, arrives the snow." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Winter is in my head, but eternal spring is in my heart." Victor Hugo

"On a lone winter evening, When the frost Has wrought a silence." John Keats

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." Anne Bradstreet

"Every mile is two in winter." George Heubert

"Every winter, When the great sun has turned his face away, The earth goes down into a vale of grief, And fasts, and weeps, and shrouds herself in sables, Leaving her wedding-garlands to decay--Then leaps in spring to his returning kisses."
Charles Kingsley

"In the bleak mid winter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone, Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak mid winter of, Long ago."
Christina Rossetti

Photo by Chris Andersen
Flickr

A Winter Read

Before I leave my mini study on Russia, I have one more book to post on, "The White Russian" by Tom Bradby. This is a murder mystery, and a fictional look, at the days before the Russian revolution. The location setting is St. Petersburg, or Petrograd as it is called in 1917. Alexander Nikolaevich Ruzsky, or Ruzsky as he is called throughout the book, is a detective, he has just returned to duty after being sent to Siberia for three years. He is separated and estranged from his wife Irina and son Michael; they live with Ruzsky's father, brother Dmitri, and his German born wife Ingrid. Two bloody and frozen bodies are found on the frozen river Neva just outside of the tsar's Winter Palace. By the end of the book there are four murdered people, a country coming apart, demonstrations, a revolution beginning, and desperate people taking great risks. All of the love interests are ill fated, a reflection of the dynasty of the country. Ruzsky is a man with vices, but he has great love and devotion to his family, he strives to do the right thing.
This book is expertly written, captivating, rich in story line, a lofty read for a bitterly cold winter night.

The Fair Maid Marian

Join me for a cup of tea and we shall talk of Robin Hood and Maid Marian.
My only previous introduction to Robin Hood and Maid Marian was in watching the old classic movie where Errol Flynn portrayed the part of Robin Hood, and Olivia De Havilland portrayed the Maid Marian. I also read a historical fiction book entitled "Hood" by Stephen Lawhead.
I had previously posted that I would be reading the book "Maid Marian" by Elsa Watson, and I received a delightful hello from this author.
This is the first novel written by Elsa Watson, I find it interesting that she started writing this book while she was in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa with the Peace Corps.
Elsa you have done a splendid job in this first novel.
I loved the dreamily, enchanting, and sensuous word usage.
Robin Hood as should be expected is daring, chivalrous, handsome, charming and a romantic hero. Maid Marian is a tenderly young and beautiful girl, that has been misused by those in power over her. Maid Marian voice and emotions in the novel is well written for an authentic young girl of the late teen years.
I am looking forward to the next novel from Elsa Watson!

God Ordained

"The First Elizabeth" by Carolly Erickson
I have read several books over the years on Elizabeth I, most have been good, some even very good, the book written by Carolly Erickson is brilliant. I am amazed at the talent of an author, when they can take a historical character that has been written about countless times, and write their book in such a way that the reader is kept reading page after page till the end. Carolly Erickson envisions for the reader the "damp and airless stone chamber in Bell Tower" that Elizabeth had been kept in. The reader understands the tedious and precarious walk, that Elizabeth must endure, in order to survive during her half sister Mary's reign. When Elizabeth did become queen she quickly and assertively ruled post-haste. Elizabeth was tactful, intelligent, wise, scrupulous, and stubborn, she worked hard feeling that it was God ordained that she became queen.

Rasputin Book Two

"The Rasputin File" by Edvard Radzinsky
A file was bought at a 1995 Sotheby's auction, it is a gold mine of information on Rasputin. The file contains interviews from those who were his friends, and those that were his enemies. The file was bought by a friend of the Russian author Edvard Radzinsky, the author traveled to Paris to see this file that he had heard about, but had never been able to locate. Rasputin has after perestroika become a curiosity to the Russian people, there is a renewed interest in him, many do not believe what had been said about him, believing that these stories are myths. The file is proof, from the investigation that was done after Rasputin's death, that attest to his true character, his true life. I had written in an earlier post entitled Rasputin Book One, about many of his dalliances with numerous women, women that were wives of state officials, actresses, prostitutes, and servants. He had an enormous sexual appetite, and he justified it by saying he was purifying women. I had also written that the tsar and his family believed that Rasputin was their true and faithful friend, they refused to believe any bad reports about him. This second book that I have read on him also attests to all of these stories, but it tells the stories from the testimonies of many of the people involved. Not all of the women that Rasputin was sexually assertive to reciprocated his advances, The Grand Duchess Olga, the sister of the tsar, was very cautious of Rasputin and kept her distance. She is quoted as saying that "he was as changeable as a chameleon." This ideology of believing that he was purifying women, is from a group of believers that called themselves Khlysty, meaning living god's. They believed that in order to supress the flesh and purify it, they needed to drive out sin with sin, then afterwards the Holy Spirit can then descend on their body. In the beginning it was the peasants that believed in this, later by the 19Th Century it was court officials and nobility, of course all of this was in secret. Rasputin was a known follower of the Khlysty group.
I found this book to be exceptionally spellbinding, I loved reading the very words that the witnesses interviewed in the file gave on Rasputin.

A Russian Family

"The Beginning of Spring" by Penelope Fitzgerald
This is a short book 187 pages; but an interesting story about a family living in Moscow in 1913, this is shortly before the Revolution. The story begins with the wife Nellie leaving her husband and at first she thought of taking her children with her. The husband upon finding out that his family is departed is stunned, puzzled, lost. The husband is Frank Reid and he is the main character, although his family and servants, and the people that work for him are contained in the story as well. The children are returned to him never leaving the train station, life goes on for them in the household without their mother. A woman named Lisa Ivanovna is hired to care for the children. As the story unfolds the reason for Nellie's departure becomes clear and communicated. There are also small tidbits of information for the reader throughout the story to bring to light the problems in the marriage. The book does not end neatly, meaning it leaves the reader with not knowing the end, the finis.
My favorite quote from the book, "Remember that what binds us together is the knowledge of the wrongs we have done to one another."

If you have been reading my posts you will see the link of the past few, the link is hemophilia.
The past few books I've read have alluded to this disease. Please read the post on hemophilia.

Blissful reading!

Rasputin Book One

"Rasputin, The Saint Who Sinned" by Brian Moynahan.
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was born 22 January 1869 in Siberia. His parents were Efim Aklovlevich Rasputin and Anna Egorovna. Efim was a peasant farmer. Siberia was a desolate, mystical place; it was a land of criminals, runaways, and religious dissenters.
After Grigory's older brother died he became withdrawn and moody. He was thought of even at a young age to have the powers to heal animals and people. He was uneducated and illiterate until his teen years, and then when he was a man wrote as well as a 4 year old. He married a women possibly in 1889, and they had 3 children. His wife was tolerant of his behavior all of his life. He was loving to his children, he spoke kindly to his wife. He spent sometime in a monastery and then felt that it was his calling in life. He no longer ate meat, he did not smoke, he memorized parts of the Bible. In 1903 he left Siberia and arrived in St. Petersburg, through connections he became involved with Alexandra the tsarina, and other aristocratic women. Within a short time he was well known to many state officials, and the famous. He was recognized on the street, one woman that saw him on the street commented that, "his eyes were the eyes of a maniac." He was a complex person, people feared him, yet were drawn to him, people felt he had physic abilities, women were drawn sexually to him, he seemed to have power over their will. The tsarina Alexandra referred to him as "her guide and protector sent from God." She consulted him and relied on him for advice, and for the healing of her son Alexis that had hemophilia. All of her family were charmed by him, and thought of him as "their sweet friend." The royal family cocooned themselves from the heart of the Russian people, from the truth of what the country thought of them. They had convinced themselves that they were beloved by the true people of Russia. In truth the Russians thought that the royal family was a diseased rotting carcass, and must be done away with. Rasputin life by 1916 was hanging by a thread, many wanted him eliminated. A man that was a member of the royal family, another seedy and interesting character accepted the murderous assignment. Prince Felix Yusupov age 29, married to a beautiful woman that was the niece of the tsar. Felix grew up in a capricious family; he was spoiled, a braggart, a transvestite. He would amuse himself by dressing as a woman and then stand on the street corner with the prostitute's. Felix was the murderer of Rasputin, beating him, shooting him 3 times, the final shot in the brain. Rasputin body was disposed in the river, his body later found frozen. His date of death is 29 December 1916. There was no formal investigation, nor a trial, even though most people knew who had committed the murder.

2009 Reading Challenges

I have so far enrolled in 4 reading challenges for this blog, all books must be read in 2009.

1. War Through the Generations Book Challenge, must read at least 5 books from WWII.
My goal is to read 7 books.
http://warthroughthegenerations.wordpress.com
2. Casual Classics Reading Challenge, must read 4 books.
My list of books: "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins, "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas, "Ivanhoe" by Sir Walter Scott, and "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens.
http://readingwise.wordpress.com
3. Library Book Challenge, my goal is to read 50 books from the library.
http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com
4. 100+ Reading Challenge, must read at least 100 books.
http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com

All books that I read will be posted on this blog, including any revisions, my goals, and the reviews on the books.

Blissful reading!
MissDaisyAnne

A Salacious Character

I awakened this morning to a cloudless sky, a strong north wind, and a temperature that is just above freezing. I am sitting in front of my lap top, in my Mickey Mouse pajamas, drinking my second cup of coffee.
I stayed up late last night reading, unable to put down a book, on the unsavory and flagrant, Russian historical figure, Grigory Efimovich Rasputin. I have two books, "Rasputin, The saint Who Sinned" by Brian Moynahan, and "The Rasputin File" by Edvard Radzinsky. I am one hundred pages from being finished with the book by Moynahan.
The character Rasputin is a man that was uncouth, mesmerizing, fearful, a charlatan, mystical, licentious, and salacious. "He told women that when they had sex with him he was purifying them; and that when a man slept with a woman she came into the grace of God." Rasputin was a dirty, smelly, uncouth, individual; but yet women flocked to him and treated him as if he were a godlike entity. Many women had sex with him out of curiosity, some had sex with him because they were mesmerized by him, and some poor souls were raped and they became his slaves.
I will post more on him when I've finished the book.

End Of The Year Questions

What makes a blog interesting?

How do you feel about long posts?

Are pictures important?

Are personal life stories from the author of the blog important?

Is having a primary theme important, or should the blog be eclectic?

A Blood Malady

"A Flaw In The Blood" by Stephanie Barron

One of the genres of literature that I am unfamiliar with is mysteries. I have only read maybe three mystery books in my life, the first mystery book that I read was when I was a young adolescent, it was a Nancy Drew book. I have always been more interested in reading about how "other" people lived, such as royalty, or pioneer women, or sea adventures, or other true life historical characters. Recently while meandering through our public library I came across a book that is a mystery book, but yet its characters are Queen Victoria's family. I had to read it.
Hemophilia is a recessive gene, an inherited disorder, caused by one of the proteins that is needed to form a blood clot, it is missing, or reduced. The person with this disorder does not bleed more, but they bleed longer. This ailment affects 1 in 5000 males, and it usually occurs in males. Hemophilia plagued the family of Queen Victoria and her offspring, sometime in this century it passed out of the British royal family.
The author of the book "A Flaw In The Blood" takes this disease and its mark on the family of Queen Victoria, and creates a story that is quite controversial. Is it plausible? Possibly.
An Irish Barrister named Fitzgerald and a Miss Georgina Armistead travel in Europe to search for the truth. Hot in pursuit of them is a Wolfgang Graf Von Stuhlen, a German Count. The information that they seek would put a nasty gash in the imperial family.