Athenais: The Life of Louis XIV's Mistress, the Real Queen Of France

An inside look into Athenais de Montespan's life with Louis XIV and her declined into obscurity in her later years.

Athenais was the "It" girl of the 17th century.  She had beauty, wit, charm and a great fashion sense. With her infinite ambition, she reached the highest position a female courtier was able to obtain - mistress to the king.  She became Louis's right hand and confidant for many years until her friend, Madame the Maintenon's influenced over the king, brushed her aside, forced her to retire and abandon Versailles for good.

This book is captivating and engaging.  If we do a search on books about Athenais, we will find that there aren't many biographies that depict her life. I would probably say this is one of the best and perhaps the only biography out there that describes in full detail Athenais's rise to power.

Love Slave

Not the type of story or book I like to read but if you are into modern romantic novels, then this book is for you.

Its about a young journalist who lives in NYC and deals with relationships, life and work.

Typical story for a single  post grad student. Not my cup of tea but if you are looking for a book that falls into this category, I believe the read will enjoy it. 


 (sent by the publisher through netgalley.com for review)

The Good Girls Revolt

Great book, great story and well written.

The Good Girls Revolt is based on a true story about a group of women in the early 1970s that took Newsweek to court for discrimination in the work place.
This is a real Mad Men situation that describes the constant sexual harassment these working girls had to put up with in the 60s and early 70s.  I actually thought that Mad Men had exaggerated this type of situation on the show but the fact is that this actually did happen back then.  Women were discriminated, harassed and were looked down for just being a woman and this book explains a real life situation that changed the working environment for the rest of the world...in some parts ;)

Queen of Vaudeville: The Story of Eva Tanguay

Queen of Vaudeville is a story of Eva Tanguay and her pioneering ways of becoming the first Vaudeville star of her times.  

She was unique in her own ways and would stop at nothing to gain notoriety by performing Broadway musicals in the most infamous and fun loving way.

Personally, I found this book a bit sluggish.  I was not enthralled with the style of writing and the tone of storytelling Mr. Erdman has approached this biography.   I suppose he could have made it interesting by capturing the audience’s attention the same way Eva did with her fans.  She kept them guessing but this book was predictable and repetitive.  

I am sure Eva had a fascinating life but Mr. Erdman did not do justice to her biography.

 (sent by the publisher through netgalley.com for review)

The Second Empress

The Second Empress

Michelle Moren did it again.  She created another master piece which focuses on the Napoleonic Era and the Second Empress of France.  After divorcing Josephine for not being able to provide him with an heir and her continuous infidelity, Napoleon embarks on a search to find the ideal match that could provide him with a successor to inherit the crown.

The story is based on three perspectives:  Marie Louise, Empress of France, Pauline Bonaparte who was Napoleon’s sister, and Pauline’s assistant – Paul Moreau.

The most intriguing character in the story I would have to say is Pauline.  We see her obsession with her brother and how she wishes to become the Empress of France by marrying her brother.

I enjoyed this book very much.  It’s a historic continuation of where I left off after reading Madame Tussaud. I do hope that Ms. Moran will continue writing historical novels because she has the ability to captivate you with her writing skills and her story telling.

 (sent by the publisher through netgalley.com for review)

Miss Buncle's Book

Incredibly hilarious and a page turner – I couldn’t put it down for two days. 

Miss Buncle’s Book is comedy at its best.  Miss Buncle decides to turn in her manuscript not knowing that it will turn into a best seller and the most despised book in her village. 

She decides to write about her neighbors but before they can figure out who wrote the book, she uses a roman a clef in order to disguise her real name.
The book causes drama and intrigue amongst the residents but they soon realized that not only are they being portrayed in the story as who they truly are but they soon start to live the events that have been illustrated in the book – Life imitating art.

(sent by the publisher through netgalley.com for review)

Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace

This is a true story about a Victorian housewife, Mrs. Robinson, who documents in her journal, her desires and sexual rendezvous with her lover while still married to her husband. 
As we all suspect, her husband discovers her diary and all hell breaks loose.
I found this book to be somewhat sluggish and tiresome in the beginning.   It talks and explains her psychological and emotional state as some sort of an experiment.
I wanted it to be filled with drama and tension but all in all, it read like a dull review of her journal.
It could have been a good book but it turned out to be dry.

Madam Tussaud

Michelle Moran's Madame Tussaud is a novel about the famous wax artist who created wax models in the 18th century of famous people in Revolutionary France such as Marie Antoinette's decapitated head, Robespierre, Voltaire and many more. 

The book is well written and quite informative with accurate dates and facts about the time the Revolution started in the late 1700s. 

We get to finally know or pretend to know and get close the main character who takes us through her visits to the palace of Versailles, private conversations with the Queen, discussions with Danton, Lafayette, Robespierre and Marat and a private dinner with Thomas Jefferson. 

This fictional novel is enchanting and imaginative and transports you to an era with so many famous and captivating characters in history that change a nation forever.

Cousin Bette

I consider this book somewhat of a dark novel about a woman's scorn. Cousin Bette falls in love with an aspiring artist who ends up pursuing her cousin. She does anything to prevent them from being happy even sacrificing her friendships and family members in order to keep her love interest to herself.

This book has been added to my all time favorite book list. I cannot believe I didn't read or heard about this novel before. This book is extremely well written and the plot is unique.

Bel Ami

So my next review will be about a book that I read last month.  Its a classic novel from the 19th century England based on greed, manipulations and this evil ambition to be successful no matter who you have to step on.

I am talking about the classic novel buy Guy de Maupassant, Bel Ami.

This book reminded me of The Picture of Dorian Grey because not only does the main character sinks himself in sinful desires but he is the alluring man that attracks the weak and destroys them with his selfishness in order to obtain what he needs from his victims.

Georges is a poor soldier who moves to Paris after his military service to pursue a career but after six months working as a clerk in a train station, he meets an old comrade, Mr. Forestier, who invites him to his home to meet his wife, dine and perhaps obtain a job from him as a journalist of the prestige newspaper La Vie Francaise.

Georges does not have any experience as a journalist. Forestier offers his wife's services as a tutor so Georges can improve his writing and turn in an article that same day for La Vie Francaise.  While George gets to know Mrs Forestier, he realizes that he has fallen into her spell.  She introduces him to her circle of friends and she helps him succeed as a journalist by improving his writing skills with her knowledge.  As time goes by, he uses her to write his best articles.

Once Mrs Forestier introduces him to her friends; friends who have money and power, he decides to seduce them in order to climb the ladder of success. 

This goes on until right at the end, he accomplishes what he always aspired - control over the newspaper and a marriage of convience to the most eligible socialite of Paris.

This is a great read and I recommend anyone who enjoys Oscar Wilde's classics to read this amazing  masterpiece.

I am not the type of person that writes about a product or spreads the word about it.  In fact, when I find something that works for me, I tend to keep it to myself.  I don't want anyone else to enjoy it.

BUT I am feeling like I need to share this with the world because this is the greatest invention of them all.

First of all, in order for this to work, you gotta move your ass and work out.  I run 5-6 miles (8-10 Km) a day and after some time of running every single day thinking that I would lose weight, I reached a plateau.   I tried every diet there is to try; i tried pilates, yoga, running and walking (to change the course), and even weight training - none of them help me lose the extra pounds i wanted to get rid off.
So, one morning, while having my regular cup of coffee and my egg white omelette while reading the newspaper, i stumbled upon an article Daily Mail had written about some type of work out pants that makes you lose inches and sweat like a pig faster than running 30 miles per week. 
So, I did some research. I read reviews and all the reviews were from real people explaining their success stories. 
I was convinced.  I order them and they finally arrived.  The first few hours, I had no idea I was sweating.   Once I took them off , i realized my skin was damp and super smooth from all the sweat I had released after running and doing my daily chores at home - I did not take them off the whole day just to maximize the outcome.

Well, its been a few days and I feel amazing.  My jeans fit better and I am sure that after a month, I will definitely lose those extra inches I have been meaning and wanting to do since January of this year.


These pants are amazing.  these pants works wonders. 


if you are skeptical, read the reviews on facebook.  then try them on and see for yourself.  they do work. 

zaggora.com

The reason why I don't have a blog or I forget I have one is because I never update nor have the need or the enthusiasm to do it.  I find it boring to talk about myself so I will just , if I remember,  post pics.  Maybe not. Maybe yes....that all depends if I remember the password to this account.

Ta ta for now, kids.