Melanie CleggReseñas

Japanese Myths: Heroes, Gods, Demons and Legends by Melanie Clegg is a very attractive and informative overview of Japanese mythology.

Clegg does a wonderful job of being informative without becoming academic. There is enough detail to make both the myths and their roles in society and culture understandable while still remaining accessible to even the most casual reader. If you want to dive deeper there is a short bibliography but the terms and names mentioned in whatever section interests you will pull up plenty of resources online and in libraries.

I was particularly pleased to see the role of myth brought into contemporary times, with references to popular culture and urban legends. So whether your curiosity is inspired by ancient myths or more recent media, there is something for you here.

While academics who study this topic may not learn anything new here, most of the rest of us will be taken on a wonderfully guided tour, so I highly recommend it for readers with little to no knowledge of Japanese mythology.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.½

Japan: Land of the Rising Sun by Melanie Clegg is an excellent introduction to Japan for those who haven't been and a great reminder of its beauty and culture for those who have.

I spent some time the past couple of days reading several coffee table books. I use them as decoration but with an eye toward being conversation starters. So while attractiveness is important, for me, the information offered is just as important. I usually want a nice mix of illustrations and either good captions or short sections of text that only refer to one or two pictures. In other words, I want to put the pictures and the information together easily, unlike, say, a history book that may have a number of illustrations but they may not even be on the same page as the part of the chapter that refers to them. So…

This book, like many of Amber Books' titles, is set up perfect for my taste. A brief introduction for each chapter about the region covered, then informative captions for each photograph telling the reader what they are looking at as well as some background. The history and the culture of sacred places, the juxtaposition of the ancient with the ultra modern and of nature with contemporary amenities are some of the things we learn. Plus just seeing some of the photographs makes you feel you're there.

I would definitely recommend this for those with an interest in Japan as well as those who simply enjoy nice photography. As for gift giving, I think coffee table books make wonderful gifts, but I usually pick books on topics I know the person likes rather than guessing whether they might be interested. I don’t want them to feel like they have to set a book out because I might be dropping by. For the right person, this would make an excellent gift.

Some of the books in the Visual Explorer Guide series are smaller, roughly the size of the old large postcards one bought on vacation. I like those as end table, rather than coffee table, books. This one, however, is full size, roughly the size of standard printer paper (8.5”x11”) turned landscape.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Interesting

Well written and very educational. Gives you a full picture. I enjoyed this book very much and would highly recommend.

I enjoyed the book and it was a bit different from other books that I have read about Minette. Those books implied that she was entranced by Louis at a very early age, whereby, in this book it doesn't present itself that way. I loved the balance between narrative and dialogue (I prefer books heavy on dialogue) and the descriptions of the clothing and castles were wonderful. The book took its time in telling the story and I eagerly await the sequel.

This was incredibly readable, engrossing and interesting.
It's written in an overly familiar tone which makes me feel like this is more supposition than fact, not based on incorrect factual info included.
I think this may appeal more to folks who like that tone.
Otherwise I'd have given this a higher rating because it's very well done.

Empress Alexandra by Melanie Clegg was such an interesting and informative read. She draws from Victoria's letters and journals, revealing a mother and grandmother who doted on her family. She was known as Grandmama to her granddaughter's spouses.

Clegg tells Alix's story in context of her relationship with her grandmother Queen Victoria. Alix was Queen Victoria's favorite granddaughter. Her mother Alice was the queen's companion and social secretary after the death of Prince Albert. Tragically, Alice died young.

The queen took Alice's children under her wing as a surrogate mother. They and their father Prince Louis became even closer to the monarch.

Alix was a beautiful child. At an early age, she caught her cousin Nicky's attention.

In spite of Queen Victoria's endeavors to arrange a marriage for Alix, she and and her cousin Nicky fell in love. When became Nicholas became Emperor of Russian, and Alix became Empress Alexandra, Victoria worried about her. She did not approve of the opulent lifestyle of the Russian Court, or the condition of Alicky converting to the Russian Orthodox Church. And especially, she worried about the social unrest and feared assassination attempts.

The queen loved Nicky and he enjoyed his time in Britain with her and his beloved Alix. The couple recreated a retreat inspired by British middle class style, and preferred a quiet life. When Nicky's father died, he was only twenty-six. He followed his father's autocratic style of governing.

Victoria and Albert raised their children to be self-sufficient, educating them well but also including fun and healthy activities in their lives. Alice patterned her mother's style, and so did granddaughter Alix when a mother.

Queen Victoria died in 1901 and happily never lived to know her beloved granddaughter and Tzar Nicholas and their children were assassinated in 1918.

Clegg's book is well presented, and for all the characters and royals to keep track of, I never felt confused.

The royal family suffered so many tragedies! But love also blossomed.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

This book outlines the life of Margaret Tudor, older sister of Henry VIII. At a young age Margaret was married to King James VI of Scotland. The two enjoyed several good years together until he was killed when Margaret was 23. Margaret was made regent for her son, a position she was forced to give up when she remarried a year later.

Although Margaret Tudor is an interesting historical figure, this book was a bit dry. She didn't quite seem realistic, and I never felt like I was able to get to know her. The book moved slowly, even tedious at times. Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.

Whitechapel, August 1888 and Jack the Ripper is on the loose. Alice a young well to do lady is wanting to know the whereabouts of her sister Beatrice. Cora the daughter of a policeman and two prostitutes, Emma and Marie Kelly may hold the key.

Firstly this book has Jack the Ripper has a backdrop and really is about the lives of the young women and how their stories blend together. The murders do take place and his victims have small cameos in the story. What this book has is wonderful description of Whitechapel and does give the reader a sense of place, and what it may have been like in Victorian London.

I haven't read any books by this author before and I would certainly read more. What I did find however that although the book had lovely descriptions it was very wordy.

However for me to read about the Victorian period especially Jack the Ripper is a treat and I did enjoy the book very much and would recommend it.

This is the story of Henriette-Anne, youngest child of the doomed Charles I of England, affectionately known in the family as Minette. She was born during the Civil War while both parents were on the run from Cromwell's Parliamentarian Army. The novel begins when Minette is eleven, living in exile in France with her mother and brothers Charles, James, and Harry, and it ends with her marriage to Philippe, younger brother of Louis XIV. (A second installment is forthcoming.)

Clegg presents a sympathetic portrait of the royal family in exile--with the exception of Queen Henrietta-Maria, who seems bound to end her son's chances of ever being returned to the throne by pushing her staunch Catholicism and constantly complaining about her income and status. Minette has been raised as French child for as long as she can remember, but even she realizes that her brother Charles has to make decisions and sacrifices with the goal of regaining the throne always in mind.

Through Minette's eyes, we get an intriguing, colorful portrait of court manners and politics and of the impoverished state in which the royal Stuarts were left. By the end of the novel, Charles has been returned to power, and Minette herself has just joined the upper ranks of French society. The characters are generally well drawn and developed. I'm looking forward to the sequel, as I already know a little about Minette's ultimate fate.½

Before the Storm follows 2 English sisters and 2 or 3 of their friends as they and their mothers persue their quest for a husband in the period before the French Revolution. They all end up in Paris and find French titled men, and we follow their lives through some of the Revolutionary period as well. I think I enjoyed the first half of the book over the second half. The second part jumps ahead from the very early days of the Revolution to a point about 3 years later. I found that a bit jarring when the younger of the two sisters was smiling at one young Duc, clearly smitten, and in the next half is married to someone completely different. I'm not sure if I missed something or my ebook was missing something or if we just jump in and continue on.

That aside, the young women in the story are well drawn out if not in depth but I enjoyed the characters and the descriptions of life in Bath, London and Paris of that time period. You can tell it's well researched for detail.½

You’ve heard me say it before so don’t act surprised to hear it now --- I have a thing about France and particularly Marie Antoinette. I have no idea why, I just do. Now, since I’m in the confession mood, I read Melanie Clegg’s blog, Madame Guillotine, and have for a while. I’m a good lurker like that and she’s interesting and funny so I keep going back. Anyway, I saw the book there and then one day I saw it come up on my Nook and I bought it. I’m so happy I did too.

The Secret Diary of a Princess is told through the diary entries of the young Marie Antoinette starting as a child in the Viennese Court, her early education (and antics), family turmoil, and her eventual marriage. She leads a privileged life, and because she’s considered unimportant in terms of being marriageable material, she gets away with a lot. When it’s decided by her Empress mother that she will become the Dauphine of France, her life is forever changed. Gone are the silly games she would play, gone are the teachers who let her education lag, and in their place are new manners and etiquette to be learned and new people to impress.

I am a sucker for a story told epistolary style. It’s true. This book delighted me in the way it was told. It’s a young girl writing and relaying her antics and daily problems such as not being able to enjoy some of the things her older sibling are allowed to do. When her mother’s plans are announced for her future, Marie Antoinette is no longer the least important of the daughters but is now the daughter the Empress is placing a huge burden on. She begins to feel the weight of what her mother wants of her but you also see a very young, and very scared, girl. I liked that. While Marie Antoinette doesn’t change dramatically --- she still has the worries of and understanding of a young girl who doesn’t see the political ramifications of her actions --- you see a glimpse of the woman she’s about to become.

There’s so much written about Marie Antoinette, her early life included, and while no one would say it was easy, it was certainly interesting. She is the youngest child of 15, lives a quiet and sheltered life at the Viennese court, and is then elevated to being the Queen of France. It’s an amazing story in some ways even more fascinating than anything fiction writers can imagine. I think that’s why I keep going back to books about her and this time frame. It all fascinates me so much.

Anyway, back to the book. I enjoyed it and when I came to the end, I was actually sad to see there was no more. It ends in a necessary place but I wanted it to go on. The dairy of a princess must stop when she stops being a child. My only quibble, and it’s a small one, is that I never thought of Marie Antoinette as being a writer so it took me a minute to take my early thoughts out it and get lost in the story. It didn’t take long. I was too entranced by the story to care at that point.

Finally, I did see that Clegg is writing a sequel to this one and I’m planning to read that one as well. I’m interested to see how she handles the next stage in this character’s life.

Maire Antoinette's early life makes for a pacey and entertaining read in this novel. Though the narrator's tone is light and bubbly (the town is spot on for a pre-teen girl amd matures as she does through the novel) there are pricks of sadness throughout the book. Her increasing loneliness as one by one her siblings die or marry and leave is sympathetically presented and her upcoming marriage provokes as much trepidation in the reader as it does her. I would love to see a sequel to this dealing with her early married life. My only complaint is that hte papeback version is a little unweildy, being wider than usual.½