To The Scaffold

Author: Carolly Erickson

One of history's most misunderstood figures, Marie Antoinette continues to symbolize the glamour, the extravagance, and the decadence of French society before the French Revolution. Yet there was a poignant innocence about Antoinette, sent away in her early teens from her home in Vienna to the chillingly formal French court.

Married to the maladroit, ill-mannered dauphin and condemned to childlessness by his inability to beget an heir, Antoinette sought pleasure in costly entertainments and grotesque eccentricities of dress. Along with most members of the court, she spent lavishly while her husband's subjets, overtaxed and increasingly hostile toward their sovereign and his mismanaged government, blamed her from France's plight and accused her of every imaginable vice.

In time Antoinette matured into a capable and courageous queen, though her husband, Louis XVI, remained timid and inept at a time when France needed bold and visionary leadership. When the forces arrayed against the monarchy finally closed in, however, Antoinette followed her husband to the guillotine, an aged, white-haired widow not yet forty.

In To the Scaffold, acclaimed biographer Carolly Erickson provides an unusually nuanced portrait of a lost queen, a portrait that is psychologically acute, richly detailed, and finally, deeply moving.

So, pretty much, I've wanted to read this biography for quite a while since I've read Carolly Erickson's novel about Marie Antoinette several times and I wanted to see how they compared, since, frankly, the novel is extremely historically incorrect. I was actually really surprised because I thought it was a pretty good biography, because the reviews that I read weren't so great.

Erickson presented a lot of information that I've never heard before. She gave some really interesting details, for example, Marie Antoinette's childhood. Normally, biographers give you a quick overview and don't really talk about it in depth much. I was very excited that Erickson decided that that information was important enough to include! I feel like I definitely learned a lot of new things about Marie Antoinette from her book.

However, there were some points where I didn't feel like there was enough details. Her friends weren't mentioned much, and they were a huge part of Marie Antoinette's life. There was a short section about the Polignacs, but not much on Princesse de Lamballe, who was Marie Antoinette's first best friend, and the one that was with her in the end. The time that the royal family spent in the Temple prison doesn't get very much mention at all, and that disappointed me a bit.

I thought that the book was very well written. It definitely read more as a story than a biography, in my opinion. That makes it a really good choice for those people that are interested in Marie Antoinette's story, but are turned off by a biography.

However, Erickson wasn't very kind to Louis XVI. While I know he was not the best leader in the world, I don't think he was as horrible as she thinks he was. She also says that Marie Antoinette made all the decisions for many more years than any of the other books I've read say. So I guess that I wasn't a big fan of her portrayals of some of the people.....

And finally, I, of course, have to mention the Axel Fersen myth. Erickson did present why everyone thinks the affair did happen, but she treated it as a complete truth. I feel like she also made up facts to make it seem like a bigger deal than it actually would have been. It felt like she was saying that Fersen was the most important person to her, even over her children! This I know not to be true from everything else I've read.


I didn't really have a ton to say about it, but I was pleasantly surprised. You should read it. =D So next up I think I'm going to reread Sharon Lathan's In the Arms of Mr. Darcy because I really feel like more Darcyness. =D After that, I have quite a few choices of new books on my shelf to choose from. So I'll review one of those next. =D And sorry for my super short review!

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

Little Bits of Wisdom- April 2010

Ok, so I know that it is not the last day of April yet. BUT I'm leaving for Disneyland trip with school tomorrow, so I have to post this today. So, here we go:

"Tribulation makes one realize what one is." -Marie Antoinette

"I see you are a wit."

"Oh, no," I say sincerely. "That is something I have never wished to be, for wit is cruel, and my first wish is always to be kind." -Sena Jeter Naslund, Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette

"Good deeds echo after us, long after we have forgotten their enactment." -Sena Jeter Naslund, Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette

"Where there is a lack of other connections, of meaningful moments, in our lives, music can often fill the gap." -Sena Jeter Naslund, Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette

"But of what merit is firmness if it represents a wrong choice?" -Sena Jeter Naslund, Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette

"Madame, be yourself and you will always be perfect." -Chauveau-Lagarde (lawyer to Marie Antoinette)

"Without my books, I truly believe I would shrivel up and die." -Catherine Anderson, Summer Breeze

"Sometimes you have to dig deep for courage, girl. Start digging." -Catherine Anderson, Summer Breeze

So there we go! Now I kind of feel like I didn't read much this week.... But oh, well. Anyways, originally I started reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks, but then I realized that Lies by Michael Grant come out on TUESDAY, so I had to ditch that to reread Gone and Hunger so that I could remember what happened before. So, I'll make sure to review Lies and THEN I'll restart Dear John and review that. Ok? Good. Well, as always, please feel free (in fact, you are encouraged) to leave me a comment. About anything, really. Books, movies, life, etc. =D

Well, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette

Author: Sena Jeter Naslund

Marie Antoinette was a child of fourteen when her mother, the Empress of Austria, arranged for her to leave her family and her country to become the wife of the fifteen-year-old Dauphin, the future King of France. Coming of age in the most public of arenas-eager to be a good wife and strong queen-she warmly embraces her adopted nation and its citizens. She shows her new husband nothing but love and encouragement, though he repeatedly fails to consummate their marriage and in so doing is unable to give what she and the people of France desire most: a child and an heir to the throne. Deeply disappointed and isolated in her own intimate circle, and apart from the social life of the court, she allows herself to remain ignorant of the country's growing economic and political crises, even as poor harvests, bitter winters, war debts, and poverty precipitate rebellion and revenge. The young queen, once beloved by the common folk, becomes a target of scorn, cruelty, and hatred as she, the court's nobles, and the rest of the royal family are caught up in the nightmarish violence of a murderous time called "the Terror."

With penetrating insight and with wondrous narrative skill, Sena Jeter Naslund offers an intimate, fresh, heartbreaking, and dramatic reimagining of this truly compelling woman that goes far beyond popular myth-and she makes a bygone time of tumultuous change as real to us as the one we are living in now.

Oh my goodness. I think I just found my new favorite book. 

I swear, this book was absolutely fantastic! It's definitely my most favorite one out of anything I've reviewed on here so far. And it is by far the BEST historical fiction novel about Marie Antoinette that I've ever read. Easily.

My favorite part about this book was the historical correctness. Very few historical novels stay as true to the real events as this one did. I mean, why do authors always want to add in outrageous twists into Marie Antoinette's life? Ms. Naslund definitely understood that Marie Antoinette's story didn't need any major embellishments. Sure, she added very minor things in here and there, but they didn't change the main plot at all. They were mostly just little points that just enhanced the story and made it better. She didn't feel the need to add in completely fictitious events, like a trip to Sweden (like in Carolly Erickson's The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette). Like the saying goes, why fix what isn't broken? (Or why change what isn't boring? is probably a better phrase).

So, obviously, Sena Jeter Naslund did absolutely fantastic research. Almost every anecdote that I've read about in biographies was at least mentioned, but many of them were actually talked about in detail. Also, the author used REAL letters and quotes in her novel (but please note that not ALL the quotes are real!). This absolutely added more to the authenticity of it! I thought it was a really nice touch that not a lot of authors do, which really is a shame. Why not use the resources you already have? I loved those parts, because I really felt like I was learning so much more about Marie Antoinette.

And, of course, I HAVE to mention Axel Fersen. However, for the first time on this blog, it's not something bad I have to say. While Naslund did say include the love affair between Marie Antoinette and Count Fersen, I think that she did it in a way that actually made it more believable than a lot of biographies present it (not that it convinced me that they DID actually have an affair. See Tea at Trianon!). Naslund actually wrote it how I imagined it. I always thought that they were just innocently in love, not a passionate, physical affair. That's just the impression that I always got for some reason. I really felt like Naslund and I were on the same wavelength.

I thought that she was particularly good at portraying Marie Antoinette's relationships. She effectively showed the innocent love and friendship between the King Louis XVI and the queen; the true friendship that Marie Antoinette and the Princesse de Lamballe shared; the true, motherly affection that she had for her children, and her relationships with everyone else. I felt like each character had a unique bond with Marie Antoinette, and there were always different characteristics of each person that attracted them to each other. It really added depth to the characters and made them seem like actual people instead of just imaginary, 2-D people.

So I had something else to say, but I definitely forgot what it was (oops!), so that's the end of the review! As you can tell, I absolutely, 100% loved it! The only thing I didn't like was the cover design and art. I thought it looked much too busy, but it doesn't matter. I highly recommend this one over other Marie Antoinette novels, because this one actual teaches you what really happened, but in the form of a not-biography (since biographies seem to turn people off). It's more personal and emotional, so read it!!! 

Anyways, I think I'm reading a romance with a sparkly cover called Summer Breeze by Catherine Anderson next. I'm excited to read it because I read another book by Anderson a few months ago and I absolutely loved it. It was just so cute. So, I'll try to get the review up, if I do one (and yes, I know, every time that I say I might not do a review, I do it anyway), as soon as possible! My goal is at least one blog post a week starting now, since I didn't post anything last week. Sorry! But I do have a life that I have to balance out with reading, unfortunately. =D Anyways, as always, please leave comments if you want to talk about anything, or give suggestions! I'm always looking for new books to read, so I really appreciate suggestions! So leave a comment! 

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France

Author: Evelyne Lever

Married for political reasons at the age of fourteen, Marie Antoinette was naive, impetuous, and ill equipped for the role in which history cast her. From her birth in Vienna in 1755 through her turbulent, unhappy marriage, the bloody turmoil of the French Revolution, her trial for high treason (during which she was accused of incest), and her final beheading, Marie Antoinette's life was the tragic tale of disastrous circumstances colliding.

Drawing upon diaries, letters, court records, and memoirs, Evelyne Lever paints vivid portraits of Marie Antoinette, her inner circle, and the lavish court life at Versailles. Marie Antoinette dispels the myth of the callous queen whose supposed response to her starving subjects was the comment, "Let them eat cake." What emerges instead is a surprisingly average woman thrust into a position for which she was wholly unprepared, a combination that proved disastrous both for her and for France. This is the revealing story of how Marie Antoinette kept her dignity and courage when Fate turned its back and she lost everything: throne, children, husband, and - in a very public and cruel execution- her life.

Well, originally, I wasn't planning on actually reviewing this biography, but as I was reading I definitely had a few opinions that I wanted to share. And I'm going to be completely honest right now, I'm not a fan of it at all. 

So, as you might be able to tell, Marie Antoinette is my favorite historical figure, and I've read quite a few biographies related to her. And I must say, I've never heard anyone else be so harsh about her personality. I mean, most people that haven't learned much about Marie Antoinette believe she was just an extravagant, selfish person, but if you've done extra research, you find that she was actually a pretty good person. Yes, she was extravagant and naive, but it's okay to have faults. Having a balance of good and bad qualities is what it means to be human. However, Evelyne Lever completely forgot to acknowledge ANY good qualities about her. I thought that made the book one-sided and that it just went along with what people think now. 

Also, I had a REALLY big problem with the whole Axel Fersen plot. Yes, I understand that the relationship between Marie Antoinette and Fersen is commonly accepted as fact, and I'm really used to reading about it. However, I have been convinced that they were not lovers (due mostly to the fact that the 3-part blog about Marie Antoinette and Count Fersen at  Tea at Trianon makes much more sense than any argument I've ever read) and this biography did nothing to convince me that they were. My biggest reason for this was that a lot of her reasoning didn't make sense to me and also seemed contradictory with other things she was saying. I actually put Post-Its in my book (which I HATE doing) so that I could quote an example for everyone. Lever said, on page 165, "Unfortunately, the passages of interest were so effectively crossed out that they are illegible. An ultraviolet lamp is of no use in deciphering them, nor are nay of the other procedures used by the curators at the Archives de France. There can be no doubt, given where they were placed and their context, that these were crossed-out love messages." That made absolutely NO sense whatsoever to me. If you can't decipher what the BLANK SPACES in the letters are, how can you effectively say that there's no doubt as to their content? 

Also, I thought that there was WAY too much emphasis on Axel Fersen. I mean, he was mentioned at least once in almost every chapter after he had met Marie Antoinette. But, according to everything else that I've read, her children were the most important things to her in the entire world. Surprisingly, they were very rarely mentioned. When her daughter, Sophie, and her oldest son, Louis-Joseph, died, I believe Sophie got a one sentence mention, and Louis-Joseph got at most a page. That is completely ridiculous in my opinion. Also, she failed to mention that Louis-Charles, who was the son who accused her of incest in her trial, only made the accusation in order to please his jailers (and Marie Antoinette herself said that her son would say anything that would please those around him). Madame Royale (aka Marie-Therese) was probably the least mentioned of all of them except Sophie, who only lived nine months. Considering that she was the only one to survive the French Revolution, I think that she should have been given much more attention. However, I do admit, that she is generally mostly ignored in most biographies. I just wish that Lever would have set different priorities for her book. It seemed almost as if the point was to try to prove that Marie Antoinette did have an affair with Axel Fersen, instead of trying to tell the most important parts of her life.

However, I must say that I did like the way the Lever wrote the book. I personally think that the biography read more like a story than a biography. But on the other hand, that was also one of the reasons I didn't like it as well. I thought that it seemed romanticized  a lot of the time. So, based on what I observed above, I wasn't sure if I should believe those sections. However, I did still appreciate those minor facts that she included in the book. I hadn't ever read about a few of them, so I thought it was interesting. 

So, overall, I didn't like it very much. I must say that I prefer Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette: The Journey. It talks about all of her life, with the emphasis on Marie Antoinette's life, and not just her affair with Count Fersen. It shows you both the good and bad aspects of her personality and I think that you just get a better idea of who she actually was and how she lived her life. It's also more current, so it has information that wasn't available when Evelyne Lever wrote this, such as being able to say, definitely that Marie Antoinette's son, Louis-Charles, did actually die in the Temple Prison. So, if you're interested in learning more about Marie Antoinette, I highly recommend Fraser's biography. 

Well, here's the deal, I ordered two books from Barnes & Noble that won't be here until Wednesday! They're both about Marie Antoinette (I'm sorry, but once I read one book about her, I just want to go on to another one!). They are Marie-France Boyer's The Private Realm of Marie Antoinette and Sena Jeter Naslund's Abundance, A Novel of Marie Antoinette. And because I have to go TWO days without my new books, I think I'll probably read a few small books until then. So, I have no idea what book I'll review next on here or when it will be, since I haven't decided if I'm going to review Abundance, but I definitely won't be reviewing Private Realm. So, I'll post something else if it takes too long. As always, feel free to comment with opinions, question, or anything really. =D I'm not too picky. 

So, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

The Queen's Dollmaker

Author: Christine Trent

I finished this book just a few minutes ago, and I'm not completely sure that I have a lot to say about it. I didn't think it was a great book, but I didn't think it was bad either. It was just more of a good book (in my weird ranking scale, that means above average).

I did really like the plot, which is most important to me in a novel, as I state in a ton of my posts (sorry for the repetition! =D). I thought it was a really creative idea that I've never heard of before. Claudette Laurent, daughter of a Parisian dollmaker, becomes an orphan after a fire claims her parents' lives. As she's unable to find her fiance, Jean-Phillipe, she travels to London and becomes a kitchen assistant to a horrible mistress. Along the way she meets many people that affect her life in major ways, such as Beatrice du Georges and her daughter Marguerite, Elizabeth Preston, and William Greycliffe, being some of the most important. Claudette tries to turn her situation around and make herself into a successful dollmaker, hoping to return to France someday. As her business grows more popular, she earns commissions from none other than the Queen Marie Antoinette (I know, who would've thought that I, of all people, would read a book involving Marie Antoinette?). The story continues from there, as Claudette has to deal with her own personal problems, her need for independence, and also her loyalty to the French monarchs, who become her dear friends, in midst of the revolution. Intriguing, yes? Absolutely. And while the plot was somewhat predictable at some points, Christine Trent also managed to add in twists that NO ONE would have guessed at, especially the ending. My jaw literally dropped. That never happens.

One of the problems I have with the book is that it kind of jumps around a lot, so sometimes I wasn't completely sure what was happening. One time, I was actually convinced I was missing a page or something, because one big event seemed like it was still in the process of happening, but then I turned the page and Claudette suddenly had an invitation to appear before Marie Antoinette. I sat there for at least three full minutes, trying to figure out what happened. 

Also, some of the scenes with Marie Antoinette seemed like they were randomly thrown in there. They weren't very relevant to the story, because she didn't even indirectly enter into Claudette's life until Axel Fersen decides to buy her one of Claudette's dolls, which happens almost halfway through the book. And while I think she did effectively explain parts of Marie Antoinette's life, like the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, in just a plain summary, I wish that Trent had presented some other parts of her life, such as the deaths of two of her children, with something other than a summary, like dialog, or correspondence, because I thought it seemed almost devoid of emotion, and she had an extremely turbulent and emotional life. I think that it would have been much more appealing with more of Marie Antoinette's thoughts or feelings included a little bit more.

The biggest problem I had, though, was historical accuracy and consistency. While I understand that in a historical fiction novel, you can take certain liberties, I think that if you don't have to change something to fit into your story, you should just keep it the same. I don't think it was a lack of research, because I've read several of the books Christine Trent listed in her bibliography, and they're really very good sources of information. For example, there were several places where Axel Fersen was referred to as Alexl. I've NEVER heard of him being called Alex, and it just bugged me every time it came up. Also, another example was that until the fishwives marched to Versailles, it sounded like the Palace of Versailles was IN Paris, but it really isn't. The Palace OF Versailles is in a town called Versailles, about 12 miles or so away from Paris. I had a problem with that mostly because when the royal family was taken to the Tuilleries Palace in Paris, Versailles suddenly seemed as though it were in a different place. So, mostly, it was a consistency issue. Those were my only two big accuracy annoyances, but I doubt it would bug anyone but me, just because I'm weird and anal about that stuff. 

So, ultimately, I did like it and would recommend this book to someone or read it again. Try it out, if you want and tell me what YOU think. Comments and emails (Kristi_reads@yahoo.com) are always accepted. =D Next I THINK I'm going to start Safe Harbor  by Luanne Rice, which I most likely won't write a review for because I read it about a million times when I was younger. But I'll figure out something else to write about if it takes me too long to finish. =D

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

Little Bits of Wisdom- January and February 2010

So I'm back with a new post today! As it's the last day of February, it's time for the quotes I've found in books during the past few months (since I'm trying to do some catch up!). I made a name for this post, since I'll be doing it every month now. It's not very creative but I think it's a heck of a lot better than just plain old book quotes! So, here we go:

"...I don't regret yesterday and I don't anticipate tomorrow. I live in today, and revel in it." -Carolly Erickson, The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette

"Honest men have no occasion to fall on their knees to make their requests."- Marie Antoinette

"In troublesome times, a mere nothing may save a life, or destroy it." -Madame Campan, The Private Life of Marie Antoinette

"Persons of integrity have nothing to fear from the evil-disposed." -Princesse de Lamballe

"Fear isn't actually a bad thing. It's a primitive instinct that's your friend. It warns you to pay attention, because you're in danger. It tells you to do something, to act, to save yourself." -Nancy Werlin, Rules of Survival

"But when you insist on cleaving to the past, no matter how enchanted your memory of it might be, you have to endlessly revise the present to accommodate it." -Kathryn Davis, Versailles

"Nothing's certain in this life, unless you count being born and dying. Everything in between in a gamble, and anyone who thinks otherwise in a damned fool." -Catherine Anderson, Early Dawn

"Wherever the hand of God take you, remember that you will teach by your example, do good every time you find the occasion." -King Louis XVI

"He must forget all hate and resentment." -King Louis XVI

"Do not give in to useless alarm... though it is right to be prepared for the worst, there is no occasion to look on it as certain." -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

"Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure." -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

That's it, not nearly as much as last time, so I'm very proud of myself. =D Right now, I'm still getting through Sharon Lathan's continuation series of Pride and Prejudice. I just finished the first in her series, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwillam Darcy, a few hours ago, and started the second, Loving Mr. Darcy. I'm very excited, because I was never a huge fan of the first book, but, from what I remember, I like the second one A LOT better. So, after that, I'll read the third one in the series, My Dearest Mr. Darcy, which is the one I'll be reviewing. I'll try to get it up quickly, but I happen to have a lot of stuff coming up this week, so it probably won't be up for at least a week and a half.

Also, it recent news, I made a Twitter account for this blog! It's really weird for me, because I've never had a Twitter because I think it's pretty pointless to have a one, if you have a Facebook and actually write your status updates. But, since there's no Facebook for the blog, I decided, might as well! So, you follow it! It's really simple: KristiReads. And I'll try to make sure to update it! =D

And as always, feel free to email me at Kristi_Reads@yahoo.com or comment to discuss anything!

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi

Marie-Therese: Child of Terror

Author: Susan Nagel

I have to say, I was extremely excited to read this book. I am almost literally obsessed with Marie Antoinette and I've read quite a few biographies about her and I always wondered, what happened to her daughter, Marie-Therese, the only survivor of the Temple Prison? This is the first book that I've heard of (that's in English) about the "Orphan of the Temple", besides her actual memoirs. So, major kudos for Professor Nagel.

I thought she did a wonderful job telling Marie-Therese's story, and I found it extremely interesting. I can't believe there aren't more biographies about her. She lived through so much history and impacted it incredibly. Nagel showed perfectly how the emotional state of Marie-Therese was constantly changing. She was born to loving parents and had an almost idyllic childhood. Then the revolution set in and Marie-Therese, as the oldest child, was at the age where she mostly understood the horrible things happening and her parents' unhappiness, and the loss of her little sister, Sophie, and her little brother, the first Dauphin, Louis-Joseph. Then they witnessed the deaths and escapes of many loyal servants as they were moved to the Tuilleries Palace in Paris, and then they were transferred to the Temple Prison, where her family was eventually taken away from her one-by-one. First her father was taken to solitary confinement, and then sent to the guillotine. Next, her brother, Louis-Charles, the second Dauphin, was removed from his family, into his father's old apartments, where his remaining family could hear his cries as he was tortured. Then, Marie Antoinette was taken to the Conciergerie, put on trial, and sentenced to death, although Marie-Therese was not told of this. And lastly, her aunt, Madame Elisabeth, the former king's sister, was taken away, and also sentenced to death, but again, Marie-Therese was not aware. She was kept all alone, in ignorance, since her jailers were forbidden to tell her the fate of her family, for years, until on her seventeenth birthday, she left the Prison. The new French government transferred her into the care of her Austrian relatives, where she lived until she married the Duc d'Angouleme, her first cousin. She continued her life in exiled court of Louis XVIII, where she had to constantly be accustomed to change. She lived through the Bourbon Restoration, then through their continued exile until she passed away in 1851.

Susan Nagel also showed the major political influence that Marie-Therese had. After her escape from the Temple Prison, the French people were fascinated in her and many began to sympathize with her and all the ordeals she lived through. Therefore, her opinion was very important to the French people. When the Bourbons were restored the throne of France, her uncle, Louis XVIII, relied heavily on her and also encouraged her to go visit all parts of France. Due to this public relations scheme and also to her forgiving, virtuous nature, the French people were enchanted by Marie-Therese. 

Professor Nagel also talked about the "Dark Countess" legend, which says that the real Marie-Therese was switched with her half-sister, Ernestine, who lived for the rest of her life as the very public figure that was the Orphan of the Temple, while the real Marie-Therese lived in extreme secrecy with a single companion, and the protection of some members of royalty. Nagel tried to put the theory to rest by doing DNA testing like the ones done on Louis-Charles's heart, in order to prove that he had actually died in the Temple at age seven, but due to disintegrated DNA and not having permission to exhume the corpse of the Dark Countess, she was unable to do the tests. Instead, she compared several handwriting samples, and convincingly proved (to me, at least), that there had never been a switch, and that the daughter of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, was indeed the Marie-Therese that was known all over Europe. 

However, in order to talk about this, Nagel had to make the assumption that Louis XVI had had, not one, but two affairs, which, if you read ANY other biography regarding Marie Antoinette, is completely ridiculous! Louis XVI was way to pious to ever commit adultery, and is famous for refusing mistresses that his ministers wanted him to take. While everyone has heard of Marie Antoinette's supposed affairs (of which, there is absolutely NO proof), no one has ever, as far as I and many other people who love Marie Antoinette, heard of Louis XVI being unfaithful, especially with a servant (who Nagel says is the mother of Ernestine), and his wife's best friend, the Duchesse de Polignac. These accusations made me have doubts about the truth of the rest of the facts in the book. 

I also think that the biography needed a better proofreader. I saw some simple mistakes, and a few footnote markings that lead nowhere. I'd also like to add that I wish the notes had been on bottom of the pages, instead of in the back of the book, because I had to constantly go back and shuffle through the pages to find the note that went with page. 

However, besides these few things, I really liked the book, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning a little more about the life of a very interesting woman, who doesn't get much mention in other history books. 

Anyways, I hope that you'll give it a try and, as always, feel free to talk to me at Kristi_Reads@yahoo.com or leave a comment if you want to discuss this book, or any others, or give opinions, etc. The next thing I'm reading is A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks, because my best friend lent it to me (and it's also my favorite movie!), so I'll make sure to get a review up as soon as possible.

So, thanks for reading!!

Love,

Kristi

Book Quotes-2009

So, during the summer of 2009 I started writing down quotes that I found in books that I liked, and I figured that since I'm taking an abnormally long time to finish my book, I might as well post the some of the ones I found last year, and then I'll start posting new ones at the end of every month (I'll put January's with February's). 

And, just for reference, they're in the order that I found them, and quite a few of them are quotes from real people that I just read in a book. I liked them all at some point, for some reason, even if I don't remember why now. And I write the quotes down whether I liked the whole book or I didn't, so just because I have a quote down, doesn't mean I liked the book (although most of them I did like. =D).  I hope that you'll read some of these and hopefully share your thoughts with me at ihs_colorguard@yahoo.com! Enjoy!

"You don't want the best of times to be just one thing, forever. You have to have lots of bests of times, each one topping the last." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"It's the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth. When something's difficult to come by, you'll do that much more to make sure it's even harder- if not impossible- to lose." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"It didn't make you noble to step away from something that wasn't working, even if you thought you were the reason for the malfunction. Especially then. It just made you a quitter. Because if you were the problem, chances were you could also be the solution. The only way to find out was to take another shot." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"It was so easy to disown what you couldn't recognize, to keep yourself apart from things that were foreign and unsettling. The only person you can be sure to control, always, is yourself." -Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride

"Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages." -George Washington

"You can't be trapped by other people, you can only be trapped by your own fear. Defy and win." -Michael Grant, Hunger

"There are few certainties in life. Chin up!" -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"I wished to be as happy as I was at that moment. Fool that I was, I had no concept of the greater happiness in store for me." -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"Life is not flawless, no matter how close one may obtain excellence." -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"We learned our lessons via grievous methods, but we did learn them." -Sharon Lathan, Loving Mr. Darcy

"It is time- more than time- to reflect and construct a better way of life. You are getting older and you no longer have the excuse of youth." -Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II

"I've seen everything, known everything, and forgotten everything." -Marie Antoinette

"Prudence, patience are my lot. Above all, courage." -Marie Antoinette

"It is in misfortune that you realize your true nature." -Marie Antoinette

"I had friends; the idea of being separated from them forever, and their sufferings as a result, are one of the greatest regrets I take with me to my death; they should know that at the last moment I think of them." -Marie Antoinette

"It's vital to keep a sense of humor when the world seems to have suddenly become a very strange place." -Michael Grant, Gone

"No man knows til he suffered from the night how sweet and how dear to his heart and eye the morning can be." -Bram Stoker, Dracula

"I've given lots of people chances.... But there's only so much faith you can have in people." -Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You

"I wondered again why the right thing always seemed to be met with so much resistance, when you'd think it would be the easier path. You had to fight to be virtuous..." -Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You

"You can't just plan a moment when things get back on track, just as you can't plan the moment you lose your way in the first place." -Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You

"I was beginning to see, though, that the unknown wasn't always the greatest thing to fear. The people who know you best can be riskier, because the words they say and the things they think have the potential to be not only scary but true, as well." -Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

"I mean, when you really thing about it, music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common." -Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

"And as to our destinies, yours and mine, we must simply do the best we can from day to day, and not think too much about tragedies." -Carolly Erickson, The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette

"A lot of people mistook ignorance for stupidity, and knowingness for intelligence." -Michael Lewis, The Blind Side

"...He actually believed that to be light of heart is the same as being light of head." -Kathryn Davis, Versailles

So, I definitely didn't realize that there were so many Marie Antoinette quotes, because I didn't really read that many books about her recently (besides the one I'm reading right now). I guess I managed to lose my notebook and forgot about it as well, (and therefore didn't write in it) because I'm smart like that. =D So, again, feel free to email me with comments, book suggestions, ect. at Kristi_Reads@yahoo.com. Next time I post quotes, there definitely won't be as many, because this is around 6 or 7 months worth of them, and I'll only be doing two month's worth from now on.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Love,

Kristi