Book Tour: The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera

The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera, published June 23, 2015 Harper. Contemporary novel.

"From the internationally acclaimed, bestselling author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, an unexpected and enchanting novel—the culmination of his life's work.

Casting light on the most serious of problems and at the same time saying not one serious sentence; being fascinated by the reality of the contemporary world and at the same time completely avoiding realism—that’s The Festival of Insignificance." (publisher)

Having read only The Unbearable Lightness of Being put me at a disadvantage for reading this book, the "culmination of his life's work." I admit I was somewhat lost as to the author's message and intention and realize that the book, though very brief, would have more significance for those who have read more of his work and followed this well known author. 

Nevertheless, there are fascinating parts to The Festival of Insignificance.The women he refers to are unsympathetic to say the least. I was tempted to think him a misogynist in this book, but I would have to judge his words by the body of his work. 

Unfortunately, I think I would need to read more of Kundera to comment adequately on The Festival of Insignificance. I would welcome comments from Kundera fans and readers and refer readers to other reviews at TLC Book Tours.

About the Author

The Franco-Czech novelist Milan Kundera was born in Brno and has lived in France, his second homeland, since 1975. He is the author of the novels The Joke, Farewell Waltz, Life Is Elsewhere, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, andImmortality, and the short-story collection Laughable Loves—all originally written in Czech. His most recent novels Slowness, Identity, and Ignorance, as well as his nonfiction works The Art of the Novel, Testaments Betrayed, The Curtain, and Encounter, were originally written in French.

Purchase links: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

For more reviews of the book, visit the tour schedule at TLC Book Tours.
I received a free proof of this book from TLC Book Tours for the tour.

A Little Night Murder by Nancy Martin: Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

A Little Night Murder: A Blackbird Sisters Mystery #10 by Nancy Martin, to be published August 4, 2015 by NAL

This is the first time I've seen this series which now has ten books! I love the cover - those stairs, the elegant gown, and the title!

Book description: Nora Blackbird turns the spotlight on a killer in the latest in the series.

While a pregnant Nora relaxes in her best friend’s Bucks County pool, a Broadway show is in rehearsal next door at the home of the legendary late composer “Toodles” Tuttle. His diva widow, Boom Boom, has racked up a chorus line of enemies, so the old broad’s death is a hotly anticipated event. But it’s her beloved daughter, Jenny, who drops dead just as the lights are set to go on for the lucrative new Toodles musical.

Nora must first deal with her sisters’ love lives and a visit from her mobster boyfriend’s mother. Only then can she bring the curtain down on a daring killer....(publisher)

What new release are you waiting for? 

Book Review/Tour: BUM RAP by Paul Levine

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

Bum Rap: A Thriller by Paul Levine, Published by Thomas & Mercer (July 1, 2015)

First chapter, first paragraph:
The gunshot hit Nicolai Gorev squarely between the eyes. His head snapped back, then whipped forward, and he toppled face-first onto his desk. 

There were two other people in the office of Club Anastasia.

My comments:
Paul Levine describes the book best in his Author's Note at the end of the book.
 "Bum Rap brings together Lassiter, the lineback-turned lawyer, and mismatched law partners Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord."

I thought it was clever of the author to bring together in Bum Rap the main characters of his two separate thriller series. The book becomes just as much a love triangle possibility as a legal thriller, when Victoria enlists Lassiter's help to clear her partner in life and law, Solomon, of a murder that would bring him many years in jail if he is convicted. As the sparks fly between Victoria and Lassiter, the two fight to find legal ways to "bend the system" to bring about a kind of ultimate justice and free Solomon.

Legal thriller readers will love this book. Though not lawyerly-inclined, I was equally intrigued by the arguments and strategies Lord and Lassiter use to try to bring about a desired outcome. But first they have to find out what really happened the day the Russian mafia type was killed, supposedly by Solomon. Solomon is saying something different, however, but is it the truth?

Objective rating: 4.5/5

Book description:
NFL linebacker-turned-lawyer Jake Lassiter... gets a call from Victoria Lord, the better half of hot local legal team Solomon & Lord. Her partner in life and law has been arrested for murder. What’s worse: the only person who can clear him has fled the city. Now it’s up to Jake and Victoria to track down the witness—a stunning “Bar girl”—before she’s roped in by the feds…or eliminated by the Russian mob. (publisher)

PAUL LEVINE worked as a newspaper reporter, a law professor and a trial lawyer before becoming a full-time novelist. His books have been translated into 23 languages; Levine has won the John D. MacDonald fiction award and has been nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Macavity, the International Thriller Writers Award, the Shamus Award, and the James Thurber Humor Prize. Connect with Paul Website | Facebook | Twitter

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the author for a review copy of this book.

For more reviews of Bum Rap, and giveaways, visit the tour schedule.

Sunday Salon: The Social Elite in Books

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit Mailbox Monday.

I went into the bookstore only to browse, started to read this book, then bought it. Seems I've been doing this recently, to the detriment of my pocketbook.

China Rich Girlfriend: A Novel by Kevin Kwan, published June 16, 2015 by Doubleday.
I read the previous novel, Crazy Rich Asians, and enjoyed reading about the antics and manners of the crazy filthy rich in Asia. The author lives in New York, but was raised in Singapore, so it seems he knows of what he writes. Now he tackles the crazy newly rich from mainland China and their interactions with the ones from Southeast Asia.  I am having fun reading it, being relatively poor myself :)

The mailman brought a few interesting books:

A Gilded Grave: A Newport Gilded Age Mystery by Shelley Freydont, to be released August 4, 2015; Berkley
First in a new series... a setting that was America's answer to Downton Abbey? 

In 1895, the height of the Gilded Age, the social elite spend their summers in Newport, Rhode Island. Within the walls of their fabulous “cottages,” competition for superiority is ruthless … and so are the players.  
During her first Newport season, Deanna Randolph attends a ball given in honor of Lord David Manchester, a Barbadian sugar magnate, and his sister, Madeline. But on the nearby cliffs, a young maid lies dead—and suspicion falls on Joseph Ballard, a member of one of the town’s most prestigious families. Deanna and Joe must navigate a world of parties, tennis matches, and séances to find the real murderer. (publisher)

Malice at the Palace: A Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys Bowen, to be released August 4, 2015; Berkley Lady Georgiana Rannoch won’t deny that being thirty-fifth in line for the British throne has its advantages. Unfortunately, money isn’t one of them.  

While my beau Darcy is off on a mysterious mission, I am once again caught between my high birth and empty purse. I am therefore relieved to receive a new assignment from the Queen. The King’s youngest son, George, is to wed Princess Marina of Greece, and I shall be her companion at the supposedly haunted Kensington Palace.

George is known for his many affairs with women as well as men—including the great songwriter Noel Coward. But when I search the Palace for a supposed ghost only to encounter an actual dead person: a society beauty said to have been one of Prince George’s mistresses.
 
The Queen wants the whole matter hushed. But as the investigation unfolds—and Darcy, as always, turns up in the most unlikely of places—the investigation brings us precariously close to the prince himself. (publisher)

The Race for Paris by Meg Waite Clayton, to be released August 11, 2015; Harper
A dynamic World War II novel about two American journalists and an Englishman, who together race the Allies to Occupied Paris for the scoop of their lives. Based on daring, real-life female reporters on the front lines of history like Margaret Bourke-White, Lee Miller, and Martha Gellhorn—and with cameos by other famous faces of the time.

These books are all fabulous! I can't wait to review them!

What do you have in your mailbox this week? 

DARING MY PASSAGES: A MEMOIR: by Gail Sheehy, Book Beginnings

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader. Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. Post it. Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.
Also, visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Daring My Passages: A Memoir by Gail Sheehy, published June 23, 2015 by William Morrow

Chapter 1 

Do I Dare?
It felt like the longest walk of my life. Sneaking down the back stairs from the flamingo-pink precinct of the Women's Department on the fourth floor of New York's Herald Tribune to march across the DMZ into the all-male preserve of the city room. I was on a mission. I just had to pitch a story to the man who was remaking journalism. I could get fired for this. 

Page 56: 

I wore beatnik sandals and occasionally love beads, and I treasured the album Rolling Stones: Now. But with a four-year-old child, I was too responisible to spend any time being stoned.  

Book description:
Gail Sheehy became one of the premier practitioners of New Journalism at the fledgling New York magazine, along with such stellar writers as Tom Wolfe, Gloria Steinem, and Jimmy Breslin. 

Daring: My Passages is also the love story of Sheehy's tempestuous romance with Clay Felker, the charismatic creator of New York magazine and the mentor who inspired her to become a fearless journalist who won renown for her penetrating character portraits of world leaders.

Sheehy reflects on desire, ambition, and wanting it all—career, love, children, friends, social significance... and her ongoing passion for life, work, and love. (publisher)

Thanks to the publisher for a review/feature copy of this book. I am interested in her experiences in journalism, having worked, besides teaching, at a local newspaper. 

Cozy Mysteries in July

Quite a variety of cozy mystery books are out this month:

Wound Up in Murder: A Yarn Retreat Mystery by Betty Hechtman, July 7, 2015; Berkley
Dessert chef Casey Feldstein  is looking forward to running her third yarn retreat at Cadbury by the Sea’s Vista Del Mar hotel on the Monterey Peninsula, where she continues to develop her hidden talents for knitting…and solving murders.

Death Under Glass: A Stained Glass Mystery by Jennifer McAndrews, July 7, 2015.
Georgia Kelly has made a home for herself and her stained glass business in Wenwood, New York. But not everything in the sleepy Hudson River town is as transparent as it seems…

Death of an English Muffin: A Merry Muffin Mystery by Victoria Hamilton, July 7, 2015
Baker Merry Wynter returns with a fresh tray of muffins and a case that has authorities stumped…Merry takes in tenants to her Wynter Castle, but a mysterious death and tragedy strikes. 

The Book Stops Here: A Bibliophile Mystery by Kate Carlisle, May 5, 2015
You never know what treasures can be found in someone’s attic. Unfortunately for bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright, some of them are worth killing for in the latest Bibliophile Mystery series.

Fatal Reservations: A Key West Food Critic Mystery by Lucy Burdette, July 7, 2015
Hayley Snow’s beat is reviewing restaurants for Key Zest magazine. But she sets aside her knife and fork when a dear friend is accused of murder…

Which one(s) appeal to you? 

Review: Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle by J.A. Lang

Visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle (Chef Maurice Culinary Mysteries #1) by J.A. Lang, published April 7, 2015 by Purple Panda Press

from chapter 5:

Chef Maurice looked up, as if noticing Arthur for the first time. "I think," he said, beaming, "that I have found my truffle dog."  

"It's a pig, Maurice. A micro-pig."  

"Then, I have found my truffle pig!" 

Book description: It’s autumn in the Cotswolds, and Chef Maurice is facing a problem of mushrooming proportion. Not only has his wild herb and mushroom supplier, Ollie Meadows, missed his weekly delivery—he’s missing vital signs too, when he turns up dead in the woods near Beakley village.
Soon, Chef Maurice is up to his nose in some seriously rotten business—complete with threatening notes, a pignapping, and an extremely well-catered stake-out. Can he solve Ollie’s murder before his home-made investigation brings the killer out for second helpings? (publisher)

My comments: A clever, witty and humorous mystery set in the Cotswolds. The first in the series featuring the eccentric but lovable Chef Maurice. The chef likes to do things his own way. and he and his truffle hunting pig, Hamilton, steal the show, and the mystery. A fun read in a delightful setting. 

Thanks to the author for a review copy of this book.