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December 2010: What are you reading?

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SonjaMarie
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Post by SonjaMarie » Tue December 21st, 2010, 6:53 pm

[quote=""fljustice""]Finished my commuting book The World Without Us by Alan Weisman about the what would happen to the earth if people suddenly vanished. Except for the nuclear plant hot spots and oil refinery blazes; it will do quite nicely. [/quote]

Was it a good book though? BF has it and if you liked it, I might add it to my queue.

SM
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SonjaMarie
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Post by SonjaMarie » Tue December 21st, 2010, 6:54 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]Almost done with The Virgin Widow by Anne O'Brien. Bah! It scares me what she'll be doing with Eleanor of Aquitaine next year :mad: [/quote]

That bad huh? Guess I'll remove it from my BF queue, sigh! This is why I don't read as nearly as much hist fic of the kind I like as I'd like to because most of it seems like crap :P

SM
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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Tue December 21st, 2010, 7:06 pm

[quote=""SonjaMarie""]That bad huh? Guess I'll remove it from my BF queue, sigh! This is why I don't read as nearly as much hist fic of the kind I like as I'd like to because most of it seems like crap :P

SM[/quote]

It really is very much a romance and not a straight historical.
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Vanessa
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Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
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Post by Vanessa » Tue December 21st, 2010, 8:27 pm

I'm just about to start The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly, the second in the 'Rose' trilogy. I had The Wild Rose on order with Amazon but they've cancelled my order so I don't know what's happening with it? Anyone know if they're not publishing it any more?
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fljustice
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Post by fljustice » Tue December 21st, 2010, 8:46 pm

[quote=""SonjaMarie""]Was it a good book though? BF has it and if you liked it, I might add it to my queue.

SM[/quote]

Re The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. I very much enjoyed it, but I'm a science nerd, as well as a history geek. Weisman is a science reporter who went all over the world and interviewed hundreds of people (scientists, engineers, environmentalists, etc.) putting this book together. He used real examples (abandoned hotel complex on Cyprus, Chernoblyl in the Ukraine, the DMZ in Korea, etc.) to show what happened in real life when people were banned, as well as expert extrapolations. Our dogs and domesticated food animals are goners, but our cats will do quite well!
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SonjaMarie
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Post by SonjaMarie » Tue December 21st, 2010, 8:50 pm

[quote=""fljustice""]Re The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. I very much enjoyed it, but I'm a science nerd, as well as a history geek. Weisman is a science reporter who went all over the world and interviewed hundreds of people (scientists, engineers, environmentalists, etc.) putting this book together. He used real examples (abandoned hotel complex on Cyprus, Chernoblyl in the Ukraine, the DMZ in Korea, etc.) to show what happened in real life when people were banned, as well as expert extrapolations. Our dogs and domesticated food animals are goners, but our cats will do quite well![/quote]

I watched a documentary series that showed what this book also talks about. What would happen to our animals, our monuments, our buildings, etc. It was very interesting but somewhat sad at the same time. Esp. when they would show little pet dogs trying to find food, trapped in the house and if they had managed to get out, they'd be eaten by other dogs or other animals, that made me sad.

It was called "Life Without People" http://www.history.com/shows/life-after-people and I think there was another similar series but I can't remember the name at the moment.

SM
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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Wed December 22nd, 2010, 2:36 am

Heartbroke Bay by Lynn D'urso. Alaskan Gold rush. Woohoo.
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cw gortner
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Post by cw gortner » Thu December 23rd, 2010, 2:11 am

Finished The Lady Elizabeth by Weir. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed her first novel on Jane Grey but this one wasn't my cup of tea. Her Elizabeth bursts into "noisy sobbing" too much and the plot contains a bizarre segueway into the fantastical that Weir freely admits in her author's note is something she doesn't believe ever happened, but as a novelist she "couldn't resist" speculating about. There's also two episodes of spectral visions that she says she based on "an experience her [Weir's] mother" had.

Okay. Whatever.

Anyway, I'm moving on to an ARC of Rory Clement's Revenger - which I'm excited to read.
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Post by Ash » Thu December 23rd, 2010, 2:13 pm

Her Elizabeth bursts into "noisy sobbing" too much

Sounds like she took a few cues from The Virgin's Lover's blond, inept Eliz. Bah.

Gave up on The Borgia Bride, for lots of reasons. Think I'd just rather read a book about the Borgias. Any suggestions?

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Thu December 23rd, 2010, 3:19 pm

Try Prince of Foxes. Much more interesting treatment of the Borgias. Or if you want a novel on the Borgias with no redeeming lightness and no likeable characters, you can read Cecelia Holland's City of God.

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