Rachel Kovaciny's Blog, page 54

"The Queen's Falconer" by Charity Bishop

The fifth book in Charity Bishop's Tudor Throne Series does not disappoint!  Intrigue and treachery still swirl around King Henry VII even while his court celebrates the Twelve Days of Christmas.  Many familiar faces and names return from the previous four books, and I love that I'm really starting to feel like I know King Henry, Queen Elizabeth, Kathrine of Aragon, Prince Harry, and Princess Maggie.  But not Thomas Lovell, because he is, of course #unknowable.  Or so he likes to tell himself.

I ...

New Femnista Post about "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"

The latest issue of Femnista focuses on stories told through letters.  I wrote my article, "Bonded by Words," about The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schafer and Annie Barrows, which I have reviewed previously on this blog here and here.  It's a dear favorite of mine, and one I've reread several times.  I also greatly enjoy the audio version of this book!


I have not yet seen the Netflix movie based on this book, so my article concerns the book ONLY, not the film.  I do...

"Riviera Gold" by Laurie R. King

It seems like, for the last few years, I've been loving every-other-one of Laurie R. King's novels of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.  I loved Garment of Shadows , liked Dreaming Spies pretty well, loved The Murder of Mary Russell , and liked Island of the Mad  kind of okay.  I'm happy to announce that Riviera Gold continues this pattern -- I loved it!  It's one I will add to my bookshelf at some point, for sure.

This adventure finds Mary Russell cruising up to Monte Carlo with ...

"The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" by John le Carre

My husband and I watched the 1965 Richard Burton film based on The Spy Who Came in From the Cold a couple of weeks ago, and I decided I wanted to read the book because it had been sitting on my TBR shelves for longer than most of my children have been alive, and that's a nonsensical way to live.

So, I read it.

And I really dug it.  I've never read something by John le Carré before, and I quite liked his style.  It struck me as a mix of Robert Ludlum's swift pacing, Ernest Hemingway's terse underst...

"C.S. Lewis: Letters to Children" ed. by Lyle W. Dorsett and Marjorie Lamp Mead

Well, now I just want to give C. S. Lewis a big hug and adopt him.  Or have him adopt me.  My goodness, what a delight this little book is!

As you can imagine, C. S. Lewis had many young fans who loved his books, especially the Chronicles of Narnia.  And many of those kids wrote to him, some of them repeatedly!  In fact, he carried on a years-long correspondence with quite a number of young people, even critiquing stories they sent him and so on.  Now, some of these letters were from his godchild...

Discussing Diversity in YA Fiction

Author Jenna Terese has a wonderful article up on her blog today that explores the issue of presenting diverse characters in young adult fiction, especially in Christian YA fiction.  She asked for book recommendations and overall opinions and thoughts from writers and readers alike, and compiled those in this post, along with her own thoughts.  Please do yourself a favor and go read it here.  (And I'm not just saying that because I contributed some of my opinions.)

Jenna is a Christian YA author,...

Live Chat on July 28 -- Ask Me Anything!

On July 28 (Release Day for One Bad Apple) I'm going to do a live video chat on Instagram!  It'll start at 3pm (EST) and run for... thirty minutes or more?  It'll run for however long it takes me to answer YOUR questions!


Basically, this is an ask-me-anything kind of deal.  You can ask me questions in the comments on this post OR in the stories in my Instagram account, and I will answer them LIVE, on camera, on that day.  
Questions about what?  Basically anything.  Within reason, of course ;-)  B...

"Of Literature and Lattes" by Katherine Reay

I was a little worried when I started this book because I've been seeing some reviews from people who did not like it as much as Katherine Reay's last book, The Printed Letter Bookshop .  In fact, some of them liked it considerably less.  You know what I learned from this?  I learned I need to quit reading reviews before I read books by authors I already love.

Of Literature and Lattes takes place in Winsome, the same fictional Illinois town as Printed Letter.  And the main characters from that pre...

"Macario's Scepter" by M. J. McGriff

Y'all know that fantasy is not one of my go-to genres.  A fantasy book has to have something going on in it besides "it's fantasy" for me to want to read it.  Is it by an author I already admire?  Is it a retelling of a story I'm familiar with?  Is it crossed with another genre that does automatically draw me, like detective stories or westerns?  Or does it have some random thing I can't resist?  Like, you know, cowboys or vampires or pirates?

Yup, pirates.  Man, I love pirates.  I really don't r...

Cover Reveal for Elisabeth Grace Foley's "Land of Hills and Valleys"

Elisabeth Grace Foley has a new western coming out later this year!  And today, I'm happy to help her unveil the cover for Land of Hills and Valleys. 

You know I've enjoyed a lot of her westerns.  I've reviewed many here over the years, including Corral Nocturne  and A Sidekick's Tale  (my favorites!).

What's her new book about?  Let's find out from the official blurb:

Her inheritance came with an unsolved mystery. If she can’t find out the truth, she may lose more than she gained. 

Lena Campbell neve...