May 2009: What Are You Reading? [Archive] - Historical Fiction Online

MLE

05-01-2009, 04:16 AM

It's not May yet on the Pacific Coast, but I'll start. I just started That Lady by Kate O'Brien, it's about Ana de Mendoza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_de_Mendoza) of Spain. What a dunce, I didn't know who the Phillip II in the novel was until I went to Wik and realized it was _that_ Phillip. She apparently lost her eye during a duel when she was a young teen.

OK, I have got to read this. Some time ago I read a brief biography of this notorious lady in a scholarly work Power and Gender in Renaissance Spain.
What a life she led!

Besides, my re-enactment persona at Faire is a chamber-maid who served Spanish Ambassador Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, (a cousin of Ana's), which gives me a probable 'contact' to blather about history from Suleiman to the New World. From a couple of his letters, Diego, a friend of Guzman's, helped arrange the May-November marriage between them.

Fortunately Diego was an unusually egalitarian sort, known in several cases to have taught his servants to read. Altho unfortunately another cousin of quite a different stamp, Bernardino de Mendoza, was Ambassador under Elizabeth and those steeped in Faire lore often confuse the two.

The Mendozas and their relatives between them occupied about half the positions of influence in Spain.

sweetpotatoboy

05-01-2009, 08:55 AM

I'm still reading "Books on Fire: the Tumultuous Story of the World's Great Libraries". It should be a fascinating book, but it's not written that well. Originally in French, I think the translator has been a bit too faithful to the style of the original - but the problem is more to do with the structure and general approach. Still, there is a lot of interesting stuff in there if I can persevere, though I am skimming through the more opaque passages.

Vanessa

05-01-2009, 11:17 AM

I'm just about to start Firmin by Sam Savage.

Telynor

05-01-2009, 11:38 AM

Ariadne

05-01-2009, 11:54 AM

Last night I started Of Merchants and Heroes by Paul Waters.

Misfit

05-01-2009, 01:30 PM

Thats pretty cool though!

Although I didnt know women did duels.

I saw a note from the author that it was with a squire when she was 13. Don't know if that's true since I haven't seen it elsewhere.

Ash

05-01-2009, 01:46 PM

Still reading and loving Legacy. Should finish it this weekend - this is my busy season at work so Im not able to read during the day and by the time I get home....But I do keep thinking about it when I'm not reading it. There is much I didn't know about Eliz, and parts I'd read before but didn't know if they were true. I feel this author is much more trustworthy with her facts and realistic in her speculation. This is probably the best written and most comprehensive HF of her life that I have read.

Misfit

05-01-2009, 02:06 PM

OK, I have got to read this. Some time ago I read a brief biography of this notorious lady in a scholarly work Power and Gender in Renaissance Spain.
What a life she led!

Here (http://medusa.livejournal.com/1353195.html) is a post from a Live Journal friend (she's on this board as well) where I first heard about her and the book. I think I'll have to get a hold of the film with Olivia D if I can.

*Edited* Found info on the film on IMDB, the promos are fun and can be seen here (http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1536199168/tt0048712).

zsigandr

05-01-2009, 04:12 PM

I'm finishing up The Marsh King's Daughter and going to start the BOTM Azincourt next. I also picked up a couple of bargains yesterday at work - we had a used book sale to raise funds for our hospital's library. I picked up In the Company of Courtesans by Sarah Dunant, London by Edward Rutherford and The Moneyman by Thomas B Costain all for $4 - a real steal!

lindymc

05-01-2009, 05:30 PM

Misfit

05-01-2009, 05:55 PM

I just finished Portrait of an Unknown Woman, by Vanora Bennett, an interesting novel about Sir Thomas More's adopted daughter, Meg. The author poses an intriguing theory about the fate of the Princes in the Tower, causing me to be less resentful of More's take on Richard III. Maybe he had a good reason for writing that history the way he did. Anyone else read this book?? What did you think??

I've heard a lot about it, and although I was very disappointed in her latest book I plan on reading it some day. BTW, if you are on Good Reads pop over to the R3 (http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/12605.Richard_III) group and you can discuss away. You might find a familiar person or two over there :)

annis

05-01-2009, 07:32 PM

Posted by Ariadne
Last night I started Of Merchants and Heroes by Paul Waters.

I was impressed with this book- it was another one which made my "Best Reads of 2008" list, so I hope you enjoy it. In fact I'm just about to make a start on Paul Water's latest novel, set in Roman Britain and called "Cast Not The Day" (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/paul-waters/cast-not-day.htm). i'm presuming that Waters took the title from Swinburne's poem -The Last Oracle" (http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/algernon_charles_swinburne/poems/11790). ( "Out of heaven they shall cast not the day") It will be interesting to see what title it acquires for the US market- "Of Merchants---" became the more dramatic "Republic of Vengeance"

Ariadne

05-01-2009, 07:42 PM

I made it to p.100 last night, Annis, and am enjoying it quite a bit. I decided to buy from Book Depository rather than Amazon because I preferred the original title and cover (plus it was cheaper). "Of Merchants and Heroes" must have been thought too sedate a title for American readers! I hope the sequel proves to be equally good.

TLee

05-01-2009, 08:38 PM

Just started The Seventh Son by Reay Tannahill after reading the reviews here. I am liking it very much so far.

annis

05-01-2009, 08:47 PM

Posted by Ariadne
I decided to buy from Book Depository rather than Amazon because I preferred the original title and cover (plus it was cheaper). "Of Merchants and Heroes" must have been thought too sedate a title for American readers! I hope the sequel proves to be equally good.

I think that the original title "Of Merchants and Heroes" fits much better, myself.

MLE

05-01-2009, 11:20 PM

I saw a note from the author that it was with a squire when she was 13. Don't know if that's true since I haven't seen it elsewhere.
I doubt it. There are piles of records and letters available from Spain (they were a far more literate society that England or France, and had the advantage of using their own language for legal matters, rather than Latin) and so far all of the research works I have read say that nobody knows how she lost the eye. But she was painted a lot because of a court painter -- a woman, can't remember her name -- was a good friend and liked to use Ana as a subject.

Just Finished Captain from Castile, and re-located Daughter of Silk. Maybe I'll finish that -- but I'm not really in the mood for France---

Misfit

05-02-2009, 12:31 AM

I doubt it. There are piles of records and letters available from Spain (they were a far more literate society that England or France, and had the advantage of using their own language for legal matters, rather than Latin) and so far all of the research works I have read say that nobody knows how she lost the eye. But she was painted a lot because of a court painter -- a woman, can't remember her name -- was a good friend and liked to use Ana as a subject.

Just Finished Captain from Castile, and re-located Daughter of Silk. Maybe I'll finish that -- but I'm not really in the mood for France---

Thanks, fascinating stuff. Will hit the book hard this weekend. It appears it deals with her life after the death of her husband, and not her younger days.

annis

05-02-2009, 12:39 AM

Ana de Mendoza sounds quite fascinating, Misfit. I went looking for more info, but as MLE points out, most of it is in Spanish ( not surprisingly), however someone has set up a My Space profile with some history and pictures here:
http://www.myspace.com/princesadeeboli
Not sure how accurate it is, but it's quite entertaining, though beware, it has loud, gothic music attached which can give you a bit of a start- my poor cat still hasn't recovered from the shock :)

*Edit Sofonisba Anguissola (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofonisba_Anguissola) was the artist- a fascinating woman in her own right as a professional artist in Renaissance times. She was Italian, but spent much of her life at the Spanish Court.

Misfit

05-02-2009, 12:55 AM

Ana de Mendoza sounds quite fascinating, Misfit. I went looking for more info, but as MLE points out, most of it is in Spanish ( not surprisingly), however someone has set up a My Space profile with some history and pictures here:
http://www.myspace.com/princesadeeboli
Not sure how accurate it is, but it's quite entertaining, though beware, it has loud, gothic music attached which can give you a bit of a start- my poor cat still hasn't recovered from the shock :)

Thanks for the warning Annis (still waiting for the page to load, slooooow connection). Fascinating indeed and I'm wondering how many of the rest of you are going to read the book. Or are you waiting for me to be the guinea pig? ;):o

annis

05-02-2009, 12:58 AM

Posted by Misfit
Or are you waiting for me to be the guinea pig?

It's a tough job, but someone 's got to do to do it :)
Is it one of those older titles that are hard to track down?

Susan

05-02-2009, 01:01 AM

Just going off to bed to start Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell.

Leyland

05-02-2009, 01:36 AM

I got Jasper Kent's Twelve delivered today and am going to jump right into it. I'm hoping for a Terror type of HF/horror blend as this one is set in 1812 Russia. The Oprichniki and voordalak are involved and I'm about the surf around and find what they are before I start - hope I don't spoil any plot twists though.

MLE

05-02-2009, 01:47 AM

Thanks for the warning Annis (still waiting for the page to load, slooooow connection). Fascinating indeed and I'm wondering how many of the rest of you are going to read the book. Or are you waiting for me to be the guinea pig? ;):o
Fun page -- and pretty much accord with the various letters in my dusty tomes, although not entirely accurate on a few points--Don Carlos didn't die in prison, he died at the palace of El Escorial. And he wasn't starved to death -- in fact, he was encouraged to overeat, might well have been poisoned by his father. It was a real problem for Philip, the laws of succession didn't have any exclusions for an insane heir, and he'd already seen how his grandmother Juana was used as a pawn in the Communero Revolt. But it did make me look up some details in someone who is only marginally connected to the character I springboard off of at Faire...

And yes, Misfit, I'm waiting to hear whenther it's worth the time -- Ana's transgressions fall after the death of my Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. Not to be confused with Ana's father, also Diego Hurtado de Mendoza -- apparently these Mendozas only had six first names to share between the lot of them, and they bred like rabbits. Going through old letters, you have a zillion Antonios, Diego Hurtados, Inigos, Bernardinos, Luises and Juans.
And they wrote a lot, when they weren't involved in litigation, half the time against each other. A research headache!

Misfit

05-02-2009, 01:52 AM

Posted by Misfit

It's a tough job, but someone 's got to do to do it :)
Is it one of those older titles that are hard to track down?

Not too rare, but maybe not that easy to get either. There are only nine listed at Amazon and a similar amount at Abe (http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=0860684334&sts=t&x=0&y=0) from various sellers. I should have a fair dent put in it by the end of the weekend and will check in. I'm thinking I might have to start a thread on Ana before DL or BB do it for us :)

diamondlil

05-02-2009, 03:53 AM

I went to the hair dresser this morning, and so had some good reading time! I managed to get a third of a way into EC's Children of Destiny.

annis

05-02-2009, 04:07 AM

Posted by Leyland
--got Jasper Kent's Twelve delivered today and am going to jump right into it.

I'll be curious to know what you think of it, Leyland- I've been debating whether to get a copy myself.

EC2

05-02-2009, 03:56 PM

Just finished The Road to Jerusalem by Jan Guillou. Report forthcoming. Enjoyable 4 stars I think, although I'm still mulling the verdict.
Now on How to be a Better Person by ummm...forgotten. Seb someone. It's for Amazon Vine, and non historical. Anecdotes narrated by a guy who decides to do voluntary work and see if it improves his Karma. Amusing so far.

cw gortner

05-02-2009, 07:58 PM

Ludmilla

05-02-2009, 09:28 PM

I just finished Ursula Le Guin's Lavinia and am getting ready to start Sarah Water's new one, The Little Stranger.

Misfit

05-02-2009, 09:40 PM

Kasthu

05-02-2009, 11:16 PM

Currently reading time travel with a twist: a woman from Regency England wakes up in modern-day LA. The book is Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, by Laurie Viera Rigler.

Anna Elliott

05-03-2009, 01:08 AM

I just finished The Language of Bees, by Laurie R. King, her latest in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series. A great read!

Lauryn

05-03-2009, 02:55 AM

I'm slogging through Roberta Gellis' The Dragon and the Rose, about Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York. I've read it before, but I don't recall her writing being so pedantic. And I think her editors must have been distracted because I'm finding simple errors in sentence construction that contradict preceding paragraphs.

Hmm, dunno what's next though.

SonjaMarie

05-03-2009, 06:56 PM

I've finished reading "The Incredible Book of Vatican Facts and Papal Curiosities: A Treasury of Trivia" by Nino Lo Bello. It was ok trivia book, some interesting facts.

SM

gyrehead

05-04-2009, 06:04 PM

Interesting coincidence that the Princess of Eboli should come up, as I'm reading a biography of her right now which was recently published in Spain.

I read "That Lady" many years ago, so my recollection of it is fuzzy, but I think I liked it. I also read a novel in Spanish about the same character by Almudena de Artegua last year, which I forgot to add to my reading list.

You know people who can read Spanish are really starting to annoy me! Seems half the books I want to read get published in that language first or are only available in that language. Spanish gives me a headache! And now you have to be all "I just read....blah blah blah ole!". :D And I'm stuck with mi quiero Taco Bell.

I have a copy of the "That Lady" in my to-read pile having picked it up as a bargain when it was reprinted a year or so ago and then set aside into one of the tottering "Mormon" piles that litter my book room. I'll have to pull it out. I know I pikced up it having a slight knowledge of the woman simply as a heiress of her branch of the family one day after spending hours scrolling through their genealogy at the Library of Congress.

Vanessa

05-04-2009, 06:11 PM

Little Bird by Camilla Way.

cw gortner

05-04-2009, 09:51 PM

You know people who can read Spanish are really starting to annoy me! Seems half the books I want to read get published in that language first or are only available in that language. Spanish gives me a headache! And now you have to be all "I just read....blah blah blah ole!". :D And I'm stuck with mi quiero Taco Bell.
.

Well, let me really be annoying and say Idelso Falcones, author of Cathedral by the Sea, is about to release his new book, called La Mano de Fatima (The Hand of Fatima) and I have it on pre-order.:p

So, there.

annis

05-04-2009, 10:11 PM

Posted by CW
Idelso Falcones, author of Cathedral by the Sea, is about to release his new book, called La Mano de Fatima (The Hand of Fatima) and I have it on pre-order.

I thought "Cathedral of the Sea" was very good ( if rather depressing- times were tough for the lower orders and especially the women)
Darn it, I suppose it will be a couple of years before his new book comes out in English translation.

I often curse the fact that so much good HF never does get translated into English. Apart from school French and mostly-forgotten German, I've never learnt any other modern language, though a grounding in Latin sometimes lets me pick up bits of Italian and Spanish- not enough to read a book, though :(

Ash

05-05-2009, 12:43 AM

Reading Mudbound for a RL book group, and so far liking it. Takes place in a small farming town between the wars. Characters very interesting

Also reading The Believers by Zoe Heller, which looks to be a good read. (Not HF)

annis

05-05-2009, 04:46 AM

Trying again with this one- I had a mental meltdown and first put it in April's list- duh! Still wondering how we got to be nearly half way through the year already ---

Currently flying the raven banner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven_banner) and reading a stirring Viking adventure, "Raven: Blood Eye" (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/giles-kristian/raven-blood-eye.htm), the first in a series set in ninth century England and Scandinavia (in between re-reading Bernard Cornwell's "Azincourt", since it's now several months since I first read it and I want to discuss it on BOTM.)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3595/3502584579_88775cbddd_o.jpg

diamondlil

05-05-2009, 12:23 PM

Well, let me really be annoying and say Idelso Falcones, author of Cathedral by the Sea, is about to release his new book, called La Mano de Fatima (The Hand of Fatima) and I have it on pre-order.:p

So, there.

I really would like to read Cathedral of the Sea one day!

Today I started reading The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson.

Misfit

05-05-2009, 12:39 PM

I'm going to start Wanderers Eastward, Wanderers West by Kathleen Winsor (Forever Amber). All I know is it's about Montana and I think it's as big as FA as well.

diamondlil

05-05-2009, 12:47 PM

That's a book you don't hear much about!

Misfit

05-05-2009, 01:48 PM

I'm finding that's half the fun of getting odd-ball out of print books with those old old reviews on Amazon that don't tell you much of anything. It's a nice surprise package.

LambChop

05-05-2009, 05:53 PM

I'm nearing the end of The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick. Feeling sad as I read of William Marshal's last few years and reckon that I'll be wiping away tears shortly :(

gyrehead

05-05-2009, 06:28 PM

Well, let me really be annoying and say Idelso Falcones, author of Cathedral by the Sea, is about to release his new book, called La Mano de Fatima (The Hand of Fatima) and I have it on pre-order.:p

So, there.

Ohhh. That does it!!! If I wasn't so busy with work right now, I'd come out and kick your...well I'd...I'd sneak in and change the defaults on all your fonts and margins. Yeah. That's what I would do! So there yourself!

Oh. What's the book about by the way?

Ellie

05-06-2009, 05:15 AM

Terrier by Tamora Pierce

SonjaMarie

05-06-2009, 07:07 PM

Today I've finished 3 books:
"Stop the Show! A History of Insane Incidents and Absurd Accidents in the Theater" by Brad Schreiber - A mildly amusing book, only 2 or 3 of the stories made me laugh outloud.

"Royal Discord: The Family of George II" by Veronica Baker-Smith - What could've been a interesting book about a family most people overlook in British History was a bit of a mess at times. The writing didn't flow very well, I found myself having to reread paragraphs to make sure I understood what was being said.

Also in the family tree of the House of Hanover the author has the years wrong for the husband of Carolina of Orange - 1743 to 1787 - (daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, George II's oldest daughter). Instead of 1735 to 1788 she has his year of birth and death as 1685 to 1753, which would have meant his wife would've only been 10 when he died, but that's wrong. They had 15 children.

The birth year for George II's son Frederick, Prince of Wales is wrong as well. He was born in 1707, but in the family tree his birth year is written as 1719. His son was George III. The birth year for the husband of George II's daughter Mary is just written as 172, obviously a typo, but does that explain the problems with the other birth years?

With the mistakes in the family tree it makes me wonder how many mistakes are throughout the book.

"The Lexicon of Stupidity" by Ross Petras & Kathryn Petras - a very funny book of how stupid people (mainly celebrities, sports people and politicians) can be.

SM

Ash

05-07-2009, 03:36 AM

Nefret

05-07-2009, 04:50 AM

The Traitor's Wife by Susan Higginbotham.

Vanessa

05-07-2009, 07:41 AM

I'm just about to start Ferney by James Long.

sweetpotatoboy

05-07-2009, 08:52 AM

I've just started "Three's Company" by Alfred Duggan.

EC2

05-07-2009, 09:07 AM

Legacy is not only the best HF about Eliz I I have ever read, but its likely to be on my list of outstanding books. Incredibly well done and well researched. A shame she has not written more HF (the one on Phantom of the Opera does not interest me)

Legacy really ought to be re-issued. It stands like Sunne in Splendour as THE novel on the period. Completely blows Alison Weir out of the water IMO.

Madeleine

05-07-2009, 10:40 AM

I've also just started Fermey by James Long.

Misfit

05-07-2009, 11:42 AM

Legacy really ought to be re-issued. It stands like Sunne in Splendour as THE novel on the period. Completely blows Alison Weir out of the water IMO.

I couldn't agree more. You would think with anything and everything Tudor coming out someone would republish this. Sourcebooks where are you?

Ash

05-07-2009, 01:43 PM

Legacy really ought to be re-issued. It stands like Sunne in Splendour as THE novel on the period. Completely blows Alison Weir out of the water IMO.

So, how does a book get re-issued? Does a publisher take letters from fans? Does the original author or estate have to start the process? I'd be interested in getting this started; its so sad that a book of this caliber isn't being read.

I've looked up Susan Kaye and there is next to nothing about her. Does anyone know if she is even alive?

Telynor

05-07-2009, 02:10 PM

Reading Panther in the Sky by James Alexander Thom, and so far, not bad at all. About Tecumseh and the Shawnee in 1810's America. Usually I don't go for American historical fiction, but after watching "We Shall Remain" on PBS, I've finally have developed some interest.

Just wound up Susan Kaye's second half of her interpetation of Austen's Persuasion. Told through the eyes of Captain Wentworth, For You Alone has some interesting moments, but I'm still a bit uneasy about the ending - it just didn't -feel- right at all.

Lauryn

05-07-2009, 04:39 PM

I'm browsing through Norman Cantor's The Medieval Reader. It was given to me several years ago, by someone whose book and movie recommendations I generally steer clear of, mainly because our tastes differ greatly. So, as the very bottom of Mount TBR, I found this gem of an introduction to medieval thought and behaviour, in the words of those living at the time.

For example, it includes an essay from Phillip de Commynes which essentially damns Charles the Bold of Burgundy for a self-aggrandizing fool and an idiot. IIRC, PdeC was one of Charles' leading advisors, until he decided he'd rather be at the French Court.

Leyland

05-07-2009, 05:57 PM

Reading Panther in the Sky by James Alexander Thom, and so far, not bad at all. About Tecumseh and the Shawnee in 1810's America.
He's one of my favorite authors of American HF and I've read several of his novels. I think a few of us here agree that his Follow the River is not to be missed.

Tanzanite

05-07-2009, 07:27 PM

Started John Adams by David McCullough last night. Didn't get very far before jet lag finally caught up with me.

Kasthu

05-07-2009, 09:14 PM

Currently reading The Principessa, by Christie Dickason.

Ash

05-08-2009, 12:08 AM

I'm browsing through Norman Cantor's The Medieval Reader. It was given to me several years ago, by someone whose book and movie recommendations I generally steer clear of, mainly because our tastes differ greatly. So, as the very bottom of Mount TBR, I found this gem of an introduction to medieval thought and behaviour, in the words of those living at the time.
.

It is a gem. Another one that I got about the same time as this one is called A Medieval Miscellany edited by Judith Herrin. Each page is an example of illuminated manuscripts or paintings of the time, as well as contemporary writings in a wide variety of subjects. Well worth getting!

http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Miscellany-Judith-Herrin/dp/0670893773

Amanda

05-08-2009, 03:34 AM

Just finished Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, and have started Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross.

rex icelingas

05-08-2009, 08:57 AM

`Warrior of Rome-Fire in the East` by Harry Sidebottom

Defending an Eastern outpost against a Sassanid Army
So far so good!

Leyland

05-08-2009, 03:47 PM

Posted by Leyland
-

I'll be curious to know what you think of it, Leyland- I've been debating whether to get a copy myself. Annis - I'm on page 137 now of Jasper Kent's Twelve and while not so engrossed to the point I can't bear to put it down, I am enjoying it. So far it pretty much reads as straight war HF, with only hints of supernatural behavior. The historial details and vibe are not as deep as I expected, but doesn't throw me off too much.

If you want to read the first fifty pages, click on the author's link below

http://rhwidget.randomhouse.co.uk/flash-widget/widget_lg.do?isbn=9780593060643&menu=0&mode=1&cf=4aa5a2&cb=77c8da

Chatterbox

05-08-2009, 04:21 PM

Norman Cantor's early work -- his magisterial Middle Ages stuff -- is great. I wish the shorter books he wrote more recently were as universally good, but still, a great historian....

Finished & reviewed Shanghai Girls; just finished re-reading Anchee Min's two books about Empress Tzu Hsi, and I remain surprised by how different my reaction is to both -- the first one I still enjoy and the second one still feels pedestrian/wooden. The giant volume of Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is sitting on my desk, but it will have to wait. Probably will re-read a Susanna Kearsley book to keep me going while I write and then move on to meatier fare.

annis

05-08-2009, 07:26 PM

Posted by Leyland
I'm on page 137 now of Jasper Kent's Twelve and while not so engrossed to the point I can't bear to put it down, I am enjoying it.

Thanks for the update, Leyland, and the link. Luckily the library has just added it to the collection, so now I can read it without having to worry about the cost-- in fact, it's on my TBR pile right now, and I'll probably pick it up soon. I've just finished Paul Water's "Cast Not The Day" (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/paul-waters/cast-not-day.htm), well-written but curiously disappointing. I might add a note or two about it later.

Ariadne

05-08-2009, 10:16 PM

Annis, I'd be curious to hear more of your thoughts on Cast Not the Day when you get a chance, since I just finished Of Merchants and Heroes and agree with your assessment - it's an excellent novel. I noticed that Cast Not the Day isn't a direct sequel. Are there any connections to the previous book?

annis

05-08-2009, 11:09 PM

"Cast Not The Day" is totally unrelated to "Of Merchants & Heroes", Ariadne, but I get the feeling that CNTD could possibly be the first in a series, though that isn't mentioned anywhere that I can see at this stage.

Ariadne

05-08-2009, 11:53 PM

Interesting; I must have misread that OM&H was first in a trilogy since that's obviously not correct (that'll teach me, as I was looking forward to the next book). It may be that CNTD is set to be the first in a series instead.

annis

05-09-2009, 12:12 AM

I'm sure that I saw mention of a trilogy as well, and may have even mentioned that somewhere. I wonder if it is a trilogy of unconnected books with a classical setting that is meant?

I added a few words about CNTD to the Reviews section, but as always, i'm only giving my personal impressions and others may see the book quite differently.
http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=27644#post27644

LCW

05-09-2009, 04:06 AM

I'm about 20 pages away from finishing The Last Queen and am LOVING it! Great job, CW!

For my next read I'm having difficulty deciding between As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann and Devil Water by Anya Seton!

Amanda

05-09-2009, 11:09 AM

I've started Amenable Women by Mavis Cheek.

zsigandr

05-09-2009, 11:42 AM

I've just finished the BOTM, Azincourt, so I am starting the Traitor's Wife, which I have been aching to get to!

SonjaMarie

05-09-2009, 07:17 PM

I've finished "The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective" by Kate Summerscale (BOTM Nov 08). I really enjoyed this book, though I'm still at odds to decide who really committed the crime. I read the paperback copy and it had a postscript and two pictures of Whicher that the hardback did not.

SM

Nefret

05-10-2009, 05:02 AM

I've just finished the BOTM, Azincourt, so I am starting the Traitor's Wife, which I have been aching to get to!

I am in the middle of Traitor's Wife. And really liking it.

And I am also reading Banners of Gold by Pamela Kaufman.

Divia

05-10-2009, 01:35 PM

The Swan Maiden. I finally got a copy from the lib. Yay.

Mello

05-11-2009, 06:28 AM

It's been a hellish couple of weeks where I haven't had time to pick up a book, but just started Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers. Not exactly HF but hopefully a lot more fun than Wuthering Heights.

cw gortner

05-11-2009, 06:09 PM

I've had a total fiction blackout. Nothing grabbed me - which reflects my state of mind far more than the quality of the books I was trying. Also, I'm on tour, virtually and physically, for the trade pb of The Last Queen so I could just be tired.

However, I did get a copy of Miles J. Unger's biography of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Magnifico in paperback the other day and started reading it for research. I was skimming it for certain sections I needed, but the book just drew me in. Very well written and entertaining; he makes the complexity of Florentine politics and Italian Renaissance history very accessible.

So, I'm going with it.

gyrehead

05-11-2009, 07:36 PM

However, I did get a copy of Miles J. Unger's biography of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Magnifico in paperback the other day and started reading it for research. I was skimming it for certain sections I needed, but the book just drew me in. Very well written and entertaining; he makes the complexity of Florentine politics and Italian Renaissance history very accessible.

So, I'm going with it.

In what was a bit of a Medici overload last year, this one stood out quie a bit above the rest. I'm hoping Unger will go after someone a bit less famous next round but with the same eye for detail and ability to organize into something very readable.

diamondlil

05-11-2009, 08:38 PM

Today I will be starting a short story collection called The Boat by Nam Le.

Kasthu

05-11-2009, 09:08 PM

Today I began, and read 275 pages of , Madonna of the Almonds, by Marina Fiorato. The story is good, but the novel reads like it was written by someone whose first language isn't English.

chuck

05-12-2009, 03:38 AM

Reading a Western Historical Fiction that takes place in Texas 1865...Edwin Shrake's "Custer's Brothers Horse" title is a bit clumsy, but a very interesting story and the characters are unusual and all have various backgrounds that are unique and interesting....Really enjoying the read......

Carine

05-12-2009, 05:47 AM

I'm about 10 pages away from finishing Katherine, it is as everyone says a great read indeed. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Next up something completely different : Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

Kasthu

05-13-2009, 11:33 PM

I whipped right through Madonna of the Almonds and Mary Stewart's Thornyhold, and now I'm jumping back and forth between the 17th century (again) and the present day in Mariana, by Susanna Kearsley.

SonjaMarie

05-14-2009, 06:18 AM

I've finished "Effigies: A Faye Longchamp Mystery #3" by Mary Anna Evans. Another good book in the series.

SM

Vanessa

05-14-2009, 07:03 AM

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

My daughter loves this series and has read it at least twice. So it'll be good to know what it's all about and also so I can watch the DVD, which she watches over and over again!:rolleyes:

diamondlil

05-14-2009, 11:58 AM

Today I started Lois McMaster Bujold's Sharing Knife: Beguilement.

lindymc

05-14-2009, 12:31 PM

I just started The Norman Pretender by Valerie Anand.

sweetpotatoboy

05-14-2009, 12:57 PM

I've just started The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville.

Ludmilla

05-14-2009, 01:36 PM

Just started Louise Erdrich's The Master Butchers Singing Club this morning.

SonjaMarie

05-14-2009, 06:41 PM

I've finished "English History Made Brief, Irreverent, and Pleasurable" by Lacey Baldwin Smith. A good book, but I'm not sure how irreverent and pleasurable most people would find it, but it was certainly one of the briefer histories of England I've seen or read.

SM

Chatterbox

05-14-2009, 09:43 PM

Just started Palace Circle by Rebecca Dean.

cw gortner

05-14-2009, 11:13 PM

I'm reading an ARC of Michelle's Cleopatra's Daughter!!! and loving it:D

Chatterbox

05-14-2009, 11:44 PM

CW, I'm green with envy. Pea green, in fact. I have to wait until July to get a UK copy. Am not going to twiddle my thumbs until September!

Ash

05-15-2009, 12:05 AM

Just started Louise Erdrich's The Master Butchers Singing Club this morning.

I liked that book very much as I was reading it; then I got to the end and thought WTF? Not sure is she didn't know how she wanted it to end, or what, but it didn't fit for me.

Misfit

05-15-2009, 12:32 AM

Just started Palace Circle by Rebecca Dean.

I'll be looking for your thoughts on that one. Reviews/opinions are all over the map.

JMJacobsen

05-15-2009, 04:40 AM

I'll be looking for your thoughts on that one. Reviews/opinions are all over the map.

You can have my copy...I finished it (and thought it was pretty ok...3-4 stars okay, that is). We'll pick a time where I can drop it off for you!

Telynor

05-15-2009, 11:08 AM

Just finished Panther in the Sky by James Alexander Thom. Very interesting topic -- the Shawnee at the turn of the nineteenth century -- but the writing gets very tedious in spots. Now onto Inheritor by CJ Cherryh, a SF novel.

Misfit

05-15-2009, 12:03 PM

You can have my copy...I finished it (and thought it was pretty ok...3-4 stars okay, that is). We'll pick a time where I can drop it off for you!

That would be fun, but now I'm really unsure if I want to try this. You, Divia, Lilly Flora and more, not a good sign. Don't make a special trip - King County has this one in the library system and (gads!) my holds are out of control again. Four Du Maurier's, Galway Bay, The Swan Maiden and Below the Salt.

diamondlil

05-15-2009, 12:59 PM

I'm reading an ARC of Michelle's Cleopatra's Daughter!!! and loving it:D

Very jealous

Chatterbox

05-15-2009, 03:24 PM

I'll be looking for your thoughts on that one. Reviews/opinions are all over the map.

I'm about 2/3 through and I'm kinda lukewarm. I'd hang on to the du Maurier and Costain holds before trying this. It's a historical version of an "aga saga". I don't care about the peripheral nature of the historical personages of great note or the shifting POV (which may actually be an advantage) -- it's just thin. Well enough written and plotted, but feels like "Oh, I think I'll write a book and set it in this time and era -- now what characters/plot could I fill it up with?" I'll reserve final judgment...

On the other hand, quite liked Maeve Haran's take on Anne Donne, though the writing is no better than Dean's. It's a solid book. Not literary HF, a la Hilary Mantel, but good.

Hey, Michelle, get your publishers to put Cleopatra's Daughter into Vine, wouldja???

Misfit

05-15-2009, 03:31 PM

I'm about 2/3 through and I'm kinda lukewarm. I'd hang on to the du Maurier and Costain holds before trying this. It's a historical version of an "aga saga". I don't care about the peripheral nature of the historical personages of great note or the shifting POV (which may actually be an advantage) -- it's just thin. Well enough written and plotted, but feels like "Oh, I think I'll write a book and set it in this time and era -- now what characters/plot could I fill it up with?" I'll reserve final judgment...

That sounds kind of meh. Du Maurier is definitely first before this one (no ingratitude towards Michele's gracious offer though :):o). Costain is off to an interesting start, it's my "gym book" so it stays in the car and gets read during the 30 minutes of cardio. This one might encourage me to go longer.....

nona

05-15-2009, 06:56 PM

Katherine Deauxville's Daggers of Gold. really well written medieval romance though not like the typical romances.

annis

05-16-2009, 03:18 AM

John Man's non-fiction title, "The Great Wall" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Wall-John-Man/dp/0593055748), 2000 years of Chinese history, culture and legend surrounding the Great Wall of China-- very readable.

Not long ago I read Su Tong's "Binu and the Great Wall" (http://www.themyths.co.uk/?p=16) a haunting interpretation of one of the Great Wall myths.

Posted by Nona
Katherine Deauxville's Daggers of Gold

I haven't read any of the Katherine Deauville titles, but I enjoyed her "Winter Serpent", written under the name Maggie Davis. Vikings in medieval Scotland, a Berserker and a beautiful Scottish girl who brings disaster wherever she goes- quite compelling.

Nefret

05-16-2009, 03:21 AM

Dresden Files- Dead Beat by Jim Butcher (great series)

Mattigan

05-16-2009, 09:17 AM

I just finished The Traitor's Wife and I am on to The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry.

ejays17

05-16-2009, 10:11 AM

A Countess Below Stairs - Eva Ibbotson, YA fiction set just after the end of WW1. Was recommended on another board I belong to, and so far is up to expectations.
The copy I have is a re-release, and is a card-carrying member of the "headless Ladies" brigade. :)

zsigandr

05-16-2009, 11:42 AM

I just finished the Traitor's Wife and loved it! I am now on to the Borgia Bride...

Leyland

05-16-2009, 12:37 PM

I'm just starting Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. My mom lent it to me and wants it back fairly soon, so I plan to get through it today and tomorrow.

TLee

05-16-2009, 09:22 PM

I am into the first book of the Morland Dynasty - THE FOUNDING - and am enjoying it.

Kasthu

05-16-2009, 11:28 PM

I am into the first book of the Morland Dynasty - THE FOUNDING - and am enjoying it.

Good to hear that! It's a great series (currently through book 6 myself). Now reading Tasha Alexander's And Only to Deceive. The heroine is a little to modern for the Victorian era, though...

Chatterbox

05-16-2009, 11:33 PM

I really loved Ibbtson's books, though I wouldn't have called them YA. More sort of classic romances featuring quirky heroines. There are about four others, in addition to her childrens' books. Sarah's Key was also good, though a bit too coincidental re plot twists. I wish they would translate her thrillers so they'd get a better audience; they're v. good but only avail. in French!

Not sure what to read now. Don't want to get bogged down in Wolf Hall until I'm finished writing, so I think I'm going to pull a mystery out of my bookshelf. Finished Palace Circle last night. It was reasonably good for what it was, aside from a very implausible final 20 pages. Not a wallbanger, Misfit.

Misfit

05-16-2009, 11:36 PM

Not a wallbanger, Misfit.

Well that's good to know. Might have to try it after all.

I'm about 200 pages into Galway Bay and enjoying it a great deal. We've all learned about the potato famine in Ireland, but it's quite different seeing it "first hand", and I'm only into the first winter.

Ariadne

05-17-2009, 12:38 AM

I just finished Mahbod Seraji's Rooftops of Tehran, about the intertwining lives of several middle-class families in Iran's capital city in 1973. It takes a candid look at the daily lives of ordinary Iranians and the choices they're forced to make during the Shah's brutally repressive regime. At the heart of the novel is a poignant story of forbidden love between the 17-year-old narrator and the girl next door. Very insightful, enjoyable, even funny in places (with many pranks and wisecracks courtesy of the narrator and his best friend). I'm not old enough to remember 1973 real well, so in a sense this was "historical" for me, though it reads more like a contemporary novel than a historical one.

Nefret

05-17-2009, 03:26 AM

I just finished the Traitor's Wife and loved it! I am now on to the Borgia Bride...

Good to know. Must finish that and go read Borgia Bride again.

Now reading... The Mercy Seller.

Telynor

05-17-2009, 03:52 AM

...It's a historical version of an "aga saga"....

Silly question, but what is an 'aga saga'?

SonjaMarie

05-17-2009, 03:53 AM

Silly question, but what is an 'aga saga'?

I found this on Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGA_Saga

SM

ejays17

05-17-2009, 06:06 AM

I really loved Ibbtson's books, though I wouldn't have called them YA. More sort of classic romances featuring quirky heroines. There are about four others, in addition to her childrens' books. Sarah's Key was also good, though a bit too coincidental re plot twists. I wish they would translate her thrillers so they'd get a better audience; they're v. good but only avail. in French!

Oh, I found them in the YA section of the bookshop, and the site they were recommended on focusses on childrens/YA books.
But I can see (from the one I've read so far :D), that they could possibily be classed some other way.

I've currently got 6 new-to-me of EC's books lined up on my shelf begging to be read, so I'm going to eeny-meeny-miney-mo tonight and pick one.

Leyland

05-17-2009, 12:50 PM

I just started reading Douglas Galbraith's The Rising Sun about the 1698 Scottish colonization attempt in Central America. I got it at a used book store and just realized it's an ARC.

As an aside - my summer reading strategy is to simply take the top books on the TBR shelf stacks and start reading them without trying to choose the next one to be read from among the many stacks. My motto: Just read the next one down! That means a last in, first out method and so I do not plan to add any new books to the stack. Famous last words ....

diamondlil

05-17-2009, 08:49 PM

Good luck with that!

Divia

05-17-2009, 09:27 PM

Twilight of Avalon. So far I'm enjoying it :)

Nefret

05-18-2009, 02:13 AM

Twilight of Avalon. So far I'm enjoying it :)

Have not seen that for sale anywhere. Wish to find it.

Vanessa

05-18-2009, 08:33 AM

I'm just about to start Mudbound by Hillary Jordan.

Tony Roberts

05-18-2009, 12:03 PM

I'm looking at 'Under the Eagle' by Simon Scarrow, and have been staring at it for some months now. I'm threatening to read it the weekend coming, so it had better be ready.

Ludmilla

05-18-2009, 01:04 PM

Originally Posted by Divia
Twilight of Avalon. So far I'm enjoying it

Nefret replied: Have not seen that for sale anywhere. Wish to find it.

Nefret are you in the States or elsewhere? I don't know if it has been released outside of the US. Perhaps Anna can enlighten us? I have seen it in the new paperback releases at my local B&N.

As for me, I guess I'm sticking with WWI lit. Getting ready to start The Last Summer of the World by Emily Mitchell.

leehow

05-18-2009, 01:23 PM

The Wine Of Angels by Phil Rickman

Ash

05-18-2009, 02:29 PM

Finished Any Other Night by Dana Horn. An ok read about a Jewish soldier/spy in the Civil War. Learned lots about the situation for Jews at that time in both North and South. Writing wasn't bad, but very very different from her previous two novels so it was a bit getting used to.

zsigandr

05-18-2009, 08:20 PM

Just finished The Borgia Bride and it was okay (personally did not like the whole incest part with the Borgia's, but apparently it is true :eek:).

On to a little bit fluffier story with The First Princess of Wales...:)

Kasthu

05-18-2009, 10:48 PM

Now on to Dust and Shadow, by Lyndsey Faye. 1880s Sherlock Holmes pastiche that's pretty decent.

cw gortner

05-18-2009, 11:50 PM

Just finished The Borgia Bride and it was okay (personally did not like the whole incest part with the Borgia's, but apparently it is true :eek:).

Actually, nobody knows for certain if Pope Alexander or Cesare ever slept with Lucrezia; many modern historians now think it was lurid speculation drummed up to blacken the Borgia name. Lucrezia in particular has suffered some nasty fall-out as far as her reputation goes because of the incest accusation; yet even those that allege she bore a child by her brother and/or father were citing conjecture, in the absence of actual paternity tests. Lucrezia's first husband Giovanni Sforza started the incest rumor; he was allegedly impotent and therefore unable to consummate their marriage, and pretty pissed off at the Borgias for insisting he grant Lucrezia an annulment. He commented to the Duke of Milan that Alexander sought the annulment so "he could have Lucrezia all to himself." His comment is corroborated by several chroniclers who heard it when Guiliano visited the Sforza court in Milan. Apparently, he wasn't discreet: he wanted as many people to hear the accusation as possible, which, to me, sounds like someone with an axe to grind. After all, he'd been sent to his family seat in somewhat of a disgrace, unable to do his manly deed with the reputedly gorgeous Lucrezia. He must have felt humiliated and desperate to exact revenge.

The Borgias were of Spanish blood and apparently very affectionate with each other; Alexander and Cesare were often seen walking together with arms slung about each other's shoulders, whispering into each other's ears. Visitors to the Vatican at the time, including the English and French ambassadors, actually commented on how demonstrative they were with each other, which seems to disprove the incest theory. If you were sleeping with your daughter and/or sister, you'd hardly act it out in public, now would you? This familial affection that visitors observed was, and still is, quite common among Spaniards, while Roman Italians - particularly those of the 16th century Vatican schemer variety - frowned on excessive demonstrations of affection, particularly in the pope - who was supposedly removed from such earthly passions. Alexander was one of the first popes to openly exalt his children (though he never admitted they were his children) and the Romans also resented the Borgia tendancy to neopotism, as it excluded many of the great Roman families which had, up till this point, dominated the wealth and power of the papacy.

I'm not saying incest couldn't have happened or that it didn't, but the truth is no one can say for sure - though it does make for near irresistible hf subject material.

diamondlil

05-19-2009, 08:04 PM

I am now reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton and Why Shoot the Butler? by Georgette Heyer.

Ken

05-19-2009, 08:34 PM

Just finished the last in the 'Brethren' series by Robyn Young (I haven't read anything about her books in this Forum!). It's a trilogy about the history of the Templars as seen through the eyes of her 'hero' Will Campbell, a Scots Templar, who becomes the leader of the Anima Templi, a secret brotherhood within the order, whose aim is peace, but gets anything but!

It's really well researched and the writing is something that I wouldn't criticize, being a newcomer myself, but, although I finished all three books, I was never captivated by the personages, nor the story. I continued because I am interested in the same period from a different angle and I hate to give up on something!

Have other members read these books and what did they think??

cw gortner

05-19-2009, 11:07 PM

Just finished the last in the 'Brethren' series by Robyn Young . . . Have other members read these books and what did they think??

I read them and I thought they were very entertaining; I didn't set the bar very high for historical accuracy. I just read them for fun.

sweetpotatoboy

05-20-2009, 03:08 PM

About 100 pages into "Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle" by Manda Scott. Not sure what I think of it so far.

LCW

05-20-2009, 07:18 PM

Devil Water by Anya Seton. Really liking it so far!

Kasthu

05-20-2009, 07:24 PM

EC's The Winter Mantle.

Susan

05-21-2009, 12:16 AM

Susan Holloway Scott's Duchess about Sarah Jennings Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. I need to read something that doesn't have all the gore of Agincourt!

Misfit

05-21-2009, 01:39 AM

I'll Never Be Young Again by Daphne Du Maurier

boswellbaxter

05-21-2009, 01:53 AM

Susan Holloway Scott's Duchess about Sarah Jennings Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. I need to read something that doesn't have all the gore of Agincourt!

I'll be interested in seeing what you think of it. I tried it, but simply couldn't like the narrator well enough to keep reading.

Vanessa

05-21-2009, 08:00 AM

I'm just about to start The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale.

Mattigan

05-21-2009, 08:47 AM

Jane and the Stillroom Maid: Being the Fifth Jane Austen Mystery by Stephanie Barron.

lindymc

05-21-2009, 11:58 AM

Just finished The Norman Pretender and immediately started The Disputed Crown by Valerie Anand.

diamondlil

05-21-2009, 01:46 PM

The Dreaming Place by Charles de Lint.

Telynor

05-21-2009, 04:30 PM

Still slogging my way through CJ Cherryh's Invader -- I'd be making better headway if J wasn't interrupting me all of the time, I fear. Next up in the queue is Gortner's The Last Queen and a retelling of the Ballad of Mu-Lan in the 'once upon a time series...'

MedievalBookworm

05-21-2009, 05:30 PM

I'm just about to start Warrior Daughter by Janet Paisley. Historical fiction about a young female warrior in Iron Age Britain. No one on the internet seems to have an opinion on this one yet but on reading the first couple of pages, it looks good.

SonjaMarie

05-21-2009, 06:12 PM

I've finished "Madame Tussaud and the History of Waxworks" by Pamela Pilbeam. Despite some typos, and misnaming of at least 2 of the waxwork models (she has the supposed wife murderer Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen as Dr. Henry Hawley Crippen in the picture section, and I think she meant Alfred Hitchcock not Arthur Hitchcock in another section).

Besides the history of Madame Tussaud the book also discusses other waxworks around the world. It is also illustrated throughout the book with black and white images as well as 2 colour image sections.

This book continues with the history of Tussaud's after Madame's death up until just 6 years ago.

It was interesting to learn that not long after I visited Tussaud's in Sept '01 that they removed the cafe to have more room. I did not go to the cafe so I don't even recall what it looked like. I also went to the Tussaud's in Vegas a few weeks after I returned from London in Oct. Sadly I've lost all the images from those visits, oh well.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this subject or just curious.

SM

wealcere

05-21-2009, 08:07 PM

Just started Falls the Shadow by you know who, loving it already.

Chatterbox

05-21-2009, 08:20 PM

Susan Holloway Scott's Duchess about Sarah Jennings Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. I need to read something that doesn't have all the gore of Agincourt!

I quite liked this one; then went on to try another by her and never got past page 20.

LCW

05-21-2009, 11:37 PM

Just started Falls the Shadow by you know who, loving it already.

I have never balled my eyes out on a book as hard as I did with this one! Everyone else, it seemed, thought The Reckoning, the last book, was the tear jerker but I thought this one was by far!

Susan

05-22-2009, 12:22 AM

I quite liked this one; then went on to try another by her and never got past page 20.

Which book was it? I recently read Royal Harlot by Susan Holloway Scott.

pat

05-22-2009, 06:30 AM

Holy Cow, by Sarah McDonald (not sure if I have spelt her name right! Not got the book with me at the moment!) Sarah has gone to India to be with her bf/husband, while he works there as an ABC reporter.

Leyland

05-22-2009, 02:07 PM

I needed a comfort read this week due to a respiratory virus with aches/low grade fever, so I'm reading Anya Seton's The Winthrop Woman for only the second time.

SonjaMarie

05-22-2009, 05:11 PM

I needed a comfort read this week due to a respiratory virus with aches/low grade fever, so I'm reading Anya Seton's The Winthrop Woman for only the second time.

Feel better Leyland!

SM

lindymc

05-22-2009, 07:57 PM

Ash

05-22-2009, 09:58 PM

Thats a new author for me; just checked out King of the Wood and will have to try it, thanks.

EC2

05-22-2009, 10:06 PM

Thats a new author for me; just checked out King of the Wood and will have to try it, thanks.

Ash, I loved King of the Wood. It is linked to her earlier Gildenford series, but is very much a stand alone. Around the time I read KOW, I also read Jean Plaidy's take on William Rufus and the difference was painful to behold. In this particular novel, Anand does a fantastic job of bringing the late 11thC to life and of understanding the character of William Rufus.

Misfit

05-23-2009, 12:34 AM

Finished The Disputed Crown by Valerie Anand - a very different picture of Waltheof and Judith as that depicted in The Winter Mantle. But, I've enjoyed Anand's trilogy of the pre and post Conquest era.

Now I've started King of the Wood - about the turbulent years following William the Conqueror's death.

I loved the whole Gildenford series, another set that it's a shame they're out of print, it's a great way to get a good grounding on the events leading up to and through the conquest and William's reign. I had read King of the Wood several years prior to the other books, and it definitely stands alone, but I think knowing some of the characters from the previous books would have helped appreciate it even more.

Anand does handle Rufus and his..well....fondness for men very tactfully. I don't know what the going prices are for this but don't be afraid to try the library and/or an ILL.

I liked seeing how differently Anand and EC portrayed Waltheoff and Judith as well.

Amanda

05-23-2009, 01:55 AM

Misfit

05-23-2009, 02:24 AM

Its good to see such recommendations for Valerie Anand's books, as I have them all buried in Mt TBR. Well, most of them anyway....I think there is just one more Bridges Over Time series that I have to get.

That reminds me I have to put in an ILL and see if I can get a copy of the last in that series, and I know the prices on the used edition are through the roof. Books #4 and #5 were only three stars, but I do want to finish it.

I did not care for her recent two books. House of Lanyon was boring as h*** and I only finished it as my take to the gym and read whilst doing cardio. I forget the more recent one but I did bail at 25 or so pages. The Gildenford books are the best of the lot IMHO.

Divia

05-23-2009, 03:42 AM

Still reading Twilight of Avalon. Almost done. 100 pages to go! I'll write a review when I'mfinished :)

Ash

05-23-2009, 04:54 AM

Thanks for the info; I will definitely put King of the Wood on my list. (it will indeed be an interesting read after reading EC's book on the subject!)

Alaric

05-23-2009, 12:05 PM

"A Game of Thrones," by George RR Martin.

Fantasy for a change. :)

EC2

05-23-2009, 12:12 PM

"A Game of Thrones," by George RR Martin.

Fantasy for a change. :)

That book is fantastic IMO Alaric. It has its niche in my 'best of all time' gallery.
It feels a lot more historical than many purported historical novels. I don't know if he does do it, but I feel he takes plot scenarios from events in history and put them in fantasy environment, so you have The Wars of the Roses meets Ghenghis Khan meets William the Conqueror all rolled into one! Brilliant!

Alaric

05-23-2009, 12:23 PM

It is! :) I've actually read about 150 pages of the next one, A Clash of Kings, when I was bored at my friends place and just started reading without any idea of what's been going on, heh. I'd been meaning to get around to starting it from scratch for about a year. Now is as good a time as any!

Tanzanite

05-24-2009, 02:24 AM

I finally finished John Adams by David McCullough (after 2 weeks!) and am now getting ready to start an obscure little book about Anne Neville - The Warwick Heiress by Margaret Abbey.

annis

05-24-2009, 02:34 AM

Originally Posted by lindymc
Finished The Disputed Crown by Valerie Anand - a very different picture of Waltheof and Judith as that depicted in The Winter Mantle.

It'a also worth reading Juliet Dymoke's 1973 novel, "Of the Ring of Earls" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/ring-earls-Juliet-Dymoke/dp/0099071002), for yet another perspective on Earl Waltheof's story.

chuck

05-24-2009, 02:59 AM

Reading "The Shape of Mercy" by Susan Meissner....Intriguing and insightful book about a young women transcribing a 300 year old diary of a young women tried as a witch during the Salem Witch trials....a bit staid and bit preachy at times....but I like the subject matter....so I will read on.....

SonjaMarie

05-24-2009, 06:05 AM

I've finished "The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found by Mary Beard (aka "Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town" in the UK). I really enjoyed this book, it's highly readable, not dry at all and it amused the heck out of me that the author uses the words "sh*t" and "sniffy" (there are other swear words but these are from the historical record as they appear in the graffito in Pompeii).

Even though this is the 3rd book on Pompeii I've read this year, there was enough of a difference between them that I didn't find it repetitive at all even when she talked about things I've read about before in the other 2.

SM

Nefret

05-25-2009, 02:39 AM

When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman

Ash

05-25-2009, 02:29 PM

Not HF: Post Birthday World. Well written book that looks at parallel worlds which revolve around whether or not a married woman kisses her husbands best friend. Liking it very much

I have two HFs saved for our trip on Wednestday: Lords or White Castle, and Alfred Duggan's Lady for Ransom

zsigandr

05-25-2009, 04:10 PM

At a chateau in France with the Black Prince (Edward, Prince of Wales)

Leyland

05-25-2009, 06:53 PM

Seton's The Winthrop Woman put me in a totally American colonial state of reading, so I'm just starting Virginia Bernhard's A Durable Fire.

Ariadne

05-25-2009, 07:09 PM

A librarian friend from Virginia recommended A Durable Fire to me not long ago. I hope it's good. I just finished reading/reviewing another older novel based in American colonial history, Jean Clark's Untie the Winds (http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/2009/05/reviews-of-obscure-books-jean-clarks.html), about the New Haven Colony. The cover doesn't represent the book at all.

Earlier this morning I began Meredith Stephure's Civil Blood, about a family separated during the Glorious Revolution.

chuck

05-25-2009, 07:37 PM

Seton's The Winthrop Woman put me in a totally American colonial state of reading, so I'm just starting Virginia Bernhard's A Durable Fire.

Ms. Bernard knows her early colonial history and really spins a compelling tale about of one of the first women in JamesTowne....Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.......While I'm writing this post I'm listening to a 70's UK rock group "Vinegar Joe" with Robert Palmer and Elkie Brooks.....forgot how good this band really was....Great bluesy sound....never made the big time....probably because of the Stones and the coming scourge of the mid 70's "DISCO"....Elkie and Robert are terrific together.....She has real pipes and really rocks......She is still singing and still impressive.....

annis

05-25-2009, 07:39 PM

Posted by Ariadne
Earlier this morning I began Meredith Stephure's Civil Blood, about a family separated during the Glorious Revolution.

Sounds interesting- I don't think there are that many novels around which feature the Glorious Revolution of 1688

Ariadne

05-25-2009, 08:08 PM

I kept seeing the title on my bookshelf and thinking it was about the Civil War, but it isn't. I believe it was published only in Canada. Only 50pp in, and the writing's very crisp with excellent characterizations.

Ash

05-26-2009, 12:05 AM

Seton's The Winthrop Woman put me in a totally American colonial state of reading, so I'm just starting Virginia Bernhard's A Durable Fire.

I was amazed by Winthrop Woman; I learned more about colonial history reading that then I ever learned at school. Well written, and completely different from Katherine, which made me esp appreciate Seton's writing ability.

diamondlil

05-26-2009, 03:48 AM

I am reading Calamity Jayne by Kathleen Bacus. It was recommended to me as a book that those who like the Stephanie Plum adventures might enjoy.

Kasthu

05-26-2009, 09:48 PM

Currently reading Emily's Ghost, by Denise Giradina. Interesting fictional take on the Bronte sisters and their relationship with a young curate.

Tanzanite

05-26-2009, 11:57 PM

I started The King's Rose by Alisa Libby last night. So far, I think it's pretty good.

Ani

05-27-2009, 03:44 AM

I just finished "Of Merchants and Heroes" by Paul Waters. I loved it. This is one author who reminds you of Mary Renault - to me the best, bar none.

Maggie

05-27-2009, 10:28 AM

I'm reading - The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

MedievalBookworm

05-27-2009, 10:34 AM

I started The King's Rose by Alisa Libby last night. So far, I think it's pretty good.
I liked this one! Not my favorite book ever but a nice little read.

I'm halfway through Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe is next on my list!

Madeleine

05-27-2009, 10:38 AM

Just started Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson (not HF).

sweetpotatoboy

05-27-2009, 10:45 AM

I'm reading - The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Is this your first read of it? I keep telling myself to re-read this

diamondlil

05-27-2009, 08:33 PM

At the moment I am reading Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith, but I expect to start In the Woods by Tana French a bit later today.

EC2

05-27-2009, 09:05 PM

At the moment I am reading Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith, but I expect to start In the Woods by Tana French a bit later today.

How have you enjoyed the Tea Time novel Diamondlil? I'm going to see if my library has that one next time I'm there.

diamondlil

05-27-2009, 09:11 PM

So far I am enjoying it. His books are always a complete change of pace and a real pleasure to read.

EC2

05-27-2009, 09:17 PM

So far I am enjoying it. His books are always a complete change of pace and a real pleasure to read.

Yes, I haven't read one in a while, but I'm feeling the urge :)
I read Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin a few months ago and it had a very similar feel to A.M.Smith and was obviously aimed at his readers.

Anna Elliott

05-27-2009, 11:09 PM

EC2

05-27-2009, 11:19 PM

How was Baking Cakes in Kigali? I'm due to pick up Tea Time at the library this week, but I'd love to find similar good reads. As Diamondlil said, the books make for such a lovely change of pace--not a sword fight or public execution in sight! :)

I enjoyed it a lot Anna - my mini review below. It is definitely one for the Ladies Detective Agency fans and I think you'd enjoy it. Although I've concentrated on the lightness in the review, it does have some underlying serious things to say about the effect of former conflict on the characters.

This is a fine confection of a novel and manages to deliver a range of moods from light entertainment (whisked sponge) through to more solid, sustaining fare (rich fruit cake) with a lot of cheerful, brightly coloured icing in between. As the author's publishers have very probably and cannily sussed, this is perfect for the No 1. Ladies Detective Agency readers. Well endowed - as in plump - wise, problem solving African woman gets on with managing the difficulties in her life and the lives of others by being an entrepeneur with a heart of gold. In this case, Angel, a Rwandan woman undergoing the change of life, is into baking celebration cakes for the locals.
It's a repetitive novel but this is part of its appeal. Most children will settle down on an adult's knee to hear the story of the Elephant and the Bad Baby and will relish the constant, driving repetition. Baking Cakes in Kigali follows exactly this pattern. But instead of everyone going 'rumpeta, rumpeta, rumpeta all down the road' the repetition is supplied by Angel receiving a customer, inviting them into the house, making them tea with cardamom and giving them her cake catalogue to look at. Then she winkles out their problems, which are, of course, of the kind to have a positive resolution. This then repeats (with a bit of spectacle polishing and brow mopping)throughout the book.
It's still all very enjoyable. Put your feet up with a cup of tea, a slice of cake of your choice and enjoy it for what it is. Four and a half stars rounded up to five.

diamondlil

05-28-2009, 02:54 AM

I really enjoyed Tea Time. It was funny and poignant and I am ready to read the next one already!

I am going to look out for the Kigali one.

Telynor

05-28-2009, 03:39 AM

Finally got finished with C.J. Cherryh's SF novel Invader -- definately a four star read. Now I'm taking in a slim little NF book called Life in a Tudor Palace, chock full of little details about daily living in Henry VIII's court, and part of Sutton Publishing's 'Life in a Series' books. The other one that I'm about to dive into is Mary Balogh's latest Regency, And then comes Love. Yes, I know I read silly things, but after the Cherryh novel, I needed something light.

diamondlil

05-28-2009, 03:43 AM

I am planning to start First Comes Marriage by Mary Balogh either tonight or over the weekend.

zsigandr

05-28-2009, 10:02 AM

I have just started Decision Most Deadly by Mark Turnbull.

lindymc

05-28-2009, 12:34 PM

I've just started reading Four Queens, the Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe, by Nancy Goldstone.

LoveHistory

05-28-2009, 04:16 PM

Party Line by Louise Baker. Zipping through it and loving every minute. Great descriptions. I can see the people in my mind.

Misfit

05-28-2009, 04:58 PM

The Loving Spirit by D du M and her first novel.

SonjaMarie

05-28-2009, 06:24 PM

I've finished "The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England" edited by Antonia Fraser. Although a bit outdated (it only goes to the mid70s of the current Queen's life), this is still a good overall look at the past 1000 years of British Monarchy.

SM

Vanessa

05-28-2009, 06:45 PM

The Cat Who Could Play Brahms by Lilian Jackson Braun

Kasthu

05-28-2009, 09:33 PM

Now reading The Chevalier, by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.

Amanda

05-28-2009, 11:08 PM

Just started The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory.

I know lots of people have been disappointed with this book, and even a couple of chapters in, and I can see why!

But you see, I gave this book to my mum as a gift, and she read it and passed it on to me, and now I have had it for ages and want to give it back....but something within me won't to it without having read it!

SonjaMarie

05-29-2009, 06:00 AM

I've finished "The Queen's Necklace: Marie Antoinette & the Scandal That Shocked & Mystified France" by Frances Mossiker. A very long and interesting look at the Diamond Necklace Affair (aka the Affair of the Necklace). The majority of the book is based on passages from memoirs from people involved with the case or on the fringes of it. Here's a brief description of the affair from Britannica Encyclopedia (more trustworthy than Wikipedia):
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/161488/Affair-of-the-Diamond-Necklace

SM

Amanda

05-29-2009, 10:27 AM

I've just started reading Four Queens, the Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe, by Nancy Goldstone.

I just received a copy of this yesterday! I ordered it after reading great reviews of it. Hope you're enjoying it!

Andromeda_Organa

05-29-2009, 04:07 PM

The King's Daughter

Ash

05-29-2009, 10:12 PM

I loved The Four Queens, it helped connect so much history together for me, esp between England and France

Finished Post Birthday World and it was excellent. Anyone who enjoys split time , or movies like Sliding Doors, will appreciate this. Excellent writing (now reading HF called The Safron Kitchen, about a family from Iran and London. Its fast reading, but just ok in terms of a story.

Amanda

05-29-2009, 11:40 PM

The King's Daughter

Is that the one by Barbara Kyle? I have looked at her books and wondered what they were like. Will be interested to know what you think!

Mattigan

05-30-2009, 05:27 AM

I finished Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly yesterday and then I read The Angel by Carla Neggers (just for fun and because I wasn't home and it was handy). I started The Bone Rattler this morning.

chuck

05-30-2009, 04:50 PM

Just started Ariana Franklin's "Grave Goods"....Medieval forensic murder mysteries.....Enjoying the read

Carine

05-30-2009, 05:36 PM

I finished Dissolution by C.J. Sansom and am now about 50 pages into The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner, so far so good, I'm really enjoying it !

Ludmilla

05-30-2009, 07:29 PM

The Golden Warrior by Hope Muntz.

Leo62

05-30-2009, 09:58 PM

I finished Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

Great book :D

I've got 2 new ones on the go -

Singled Out: How Two Million Women Survived Without Men After WW1 by Virginia Nicholson (non-fic; part research, part pleasure)

and

A Place Beyond Courage by EC (my reward for finally finishing Brideshead Revisited :D)

Ash

05-30-2009, 10:16 PM

Now reading Lords of White Castle; something about reading a 600 page book by an author you trust on a long road trip that makes everything go so smootly :)

MrsMorland

05-30-2009, 11:26 PM

Just finished Ferney by James Long. Very strange, but very good.

chuck

05-31-2009, 04:13 AM

The Golden Warrior by Hope Muntz.

After numerous times of starting and stopping.....I finally finished reading Ms. Muntz' "The Golden Warrior"........It was struggle; the saga style made for a slow and difficult read.....With that said.... I found it to be worth the time and effort.....Hope you enjoy the novel......

Nefret

05-31-2009, 04:37 AM

Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik :D :D :D

Mello

05-31-2009, 04:43 AM

Just started The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart. I bought the trilogy in one book, which after reading only 5 pages I'm already wishing I hadn't. It's big and cumbersome and really annoying :mad:

Vanessa

05-31-2009, 10:41 AM

I'm reading the 20th in the Morland Dynasty series, The Winter Journey by Cynthia Harrod Eagles.

MedievalBookworm

05-31-2009, 11:13 AM

I have three books going now:

The Last Witch of Langenberg by Thomas Robisheaux
Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
Songs My Mother Never Taught Me by Selcuk Altun

I'm enjoying the first two way more than the third one. I almost never read 3 books at once, but it usually means I'm not liking the book I'm reading. That's certainly true in this case since I started with Songs and am now further along in the other two than that one.

Mattigan

05-31-2009, 12:15 PM

I'm having a hard time with The Bone Rattler. I just can't dig into the characters or the story so far. I'm only 50 pages in and it's been a chore.

Has anyone reading this read it?

Leyland

05-31-2009, 09:40 PM

I'm 28 pages into The Corner That Held Them written in 1948 by Sylvia Townsend Warner. I'm impressed so far by the level of detail given to the founding of the fictional Oby convent in 1170 and them to the plot's setting in 1349. I don't know much about the plot other than its setting, so I don't know what to expect. A mystery read!

MLE

06-01-2009, 05:06 PM

I'm reading Diplomacy and Dogmatism: Bernardino de Mendoza and the French Catholic League. It's dry as dust, but loaded with fascinating details that will be very useful to me! Besides, I have to chew straight through it while I have it on hand-- it's a rare book on loan.

I had no idea what a bind Catherine de Medici was in between the Catholics and the Huguenots in France. It seems that once you start to dig, nothing is as simple as it looks in casual hindsight.

chuck

06-22-2009, 07:27 PM

Just finished Kathleen Kent's "The Heretic's Daughter"....About the 1692 Salem Witch Trials The first half was slow reading ....The second half was so much better and compelling....The Father's character was more developed in the second half and I smell a sequel ...His character fought with King Charles I and then midstream changed his mind and fought with Cromwell.....He brought along a lot of guilt/morose behavior when he immigrates to Massachusetts.....

Madeleine

06-23-2009, 02:13 PM

Glad you enjoyed it, I thought the second half was much better too. Apparently her next book will be about the father's life, so it will be a prequel rather than a sequel!

chuck

06-23-2009, 02:38 PM

I guess I was thinking Ms. Kent would move on to Connecticut and then weave the Father's past into the story....but I like the prequel idea....There definitely a story there....I'm going to read Katherine Howe's "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane"....I'm on a long hold list at the Library.....Thanks again....

Amanda

07-03-2009, 03:56 AM