Thursday, February 27, 2014

A peak into Curtsies & Conspiracies and Jewels: A Secret History

I finally finished The Disappearing Spoon! So to treat myself, I have started reading Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger, the second book in the Finishing School series.

So for  Book Beginnings on Friday hosted by Rose City Reader I present the first few sentences ...

"Miss Temminnick. Miss Plumleigh-Teignmott. With me, ladies, please."

Sophronia glanced up from her household sums. She was glad of the distraction. She was convinced she was miscalculating the purchase of the three most deadly flower arrangements. Does one need four fully grown foxgloves for decorating a dinner table for six guests? Or is it six foxgloves to kill four fully grown guests?

And in keeping with my pattern, here are a few sentences from page 1 of Jewels: A Secret History by Victoria Finlay...

AMBER
2 - 2.5

In the ancient Cheddar Gorge of Somerset in England, there is a huge cavern. Since it was first discovered more than a century ago it has yielded many rare artifacts and bones from the ancient past, including even a complete seated skeleton, nine thousand years old. But in 1950 this place, named "Gough's Cave" after the Victorian sea captain who found it, also yielded what is perhaps the oldest piece of traded gem-type material ever discovered. 

Six Large Baltic Amber Specimens, one with
 traces of encrusted sea barnacles (Source)
A chamber and mirror pool inside Gough's Cave, Cheddar,
called Alladdin's Cave. (Source)


For The Friday 56 hosted at Freda's Voice here is something from page 56 of Curtsies & Conspiracies we have ...

Bumbersnoot was, technically, illegal. Not only were students of Mademoiselle's Geraldine's not permitted pets, but unregistered mechanimals were forbidden throughout the British Empire.

"Lesson five five four," said Sophronia. "Sometimes it is best to hide a suspicious item in plain sight."


And from page 56 of Jewels: A Secret History here is ...

In January 1870 a Mr. Charles Bryan hosted an annual supper for his employees at the Black Horse Hotel in Whitby. He began the meal with a toast to "The health of our most gracious Queen." Everyone drank with enthusiasm. The diners were the jet-workers of Whitby, and Queen Victoria's taste for their products had kept them employed for years.

Jet Brooch with the letters V-I-C-T-O-R-A
(I can only find one letter "I")
You can see Whitby jet at http://www.whitbyjetstore.com/

11 comments:

  1. I just finished Curtsies & Conspiracies. I read book one and two back to back and enjoyed both. I love the Jewels books.

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  2. I love how you give examples that relate to the books. It makes me want to read these books even more.

    My Post

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    1. Thanks! I like having something to visualize when I read.

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  3. What's up with the names in Curtsies and Conspiracies? They're amazing but they must be hard to remember as you read. And the jet brooch looks absolutely beautiful! I added you on Google+ Thanks for sharing :) I hope you have a great weekend

    My Friday Post

    Juli @ Universe in Words

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    1. I know - that is the one thing I complained about with the first book. The names are absolute killers! Fortunately the characters use first names most of the time, otherwise you would get lost.

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  4. I love the names but I agree with Juli. Every time I saw one, I'd stop and try to pronounce it! That would take me out of the story. Both books sound good, however.
    Here's the link to my Friday post: WILD.

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    1. The good news is that the vast majority of the time the characters are referred to by their first names, but when a new last name is introduced it is like hitting a roadblock - due both the length and usually the punning involved.

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  5. I love Gail Carriger's books but haven't read this series yet. I want to though.

    Happy weekend!

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  6. I enjoyed the first Carriger book in that series. I hope the second is just as good.

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