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What are you reading? May 2011

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annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Wed June 1st, 2011, 8:57 pm

Posted by emr
She means enlight the rest of the msg with the mouse.
Ooo, the things you can do - I didn't know about that one!

Seem to be having a siege novel phase at the moment and have just finished David Benioff's City of Thieves, set during the 1941 siege of Leningrad by the Germans. Absolutely loved this book. Doesn't skimp on the horrors of siege conditions in a city where even the library books are being stripped for their glue, which is edible (if you're starving), but is both poignant and well laced with mordant Russian humour.

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Brenna
Bibliophile
Posts: 1358
Joined: June 2010
Location: Delaware

Post by Brenna » Wed June 1st, 2011, 10:30 pm

[quote=""cw gortner""]I liked Exit The Actress, too. Hope you enjoy Mme de Medici![/quote]

I loved your Catherine de Medici book! Very well done! Do we know what happened to Claude's children? Why couldn't they inherit the throne? Oh the questions I could ask!!
Brenna

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Misfit
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 9581
Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Wed June 1st, 2011, 11:19 pm

Ooo, the things you can do - I didn't know about that one!
That is pretty handy and it forces someone to drag the mouse to see the comment. I prefer the spoiler tags at Goodreads, but we can't have everything. Just highlight your comment and choose white for a color.

Halfway through The American Duchess by Daisy Goodwin. Easy read and bits about the filthy rich are fun, but it's not a perfect book.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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noodles
Scribbler
Posts: 11
Joined: June 2011
Location: Atlanta

Post by noodles » Sun June 5th, 2011, 3:26 pm

In May I read Dark Angels by Karleen Koen which I enjoyed very much. Koen also wrote Through a Glass Darkly which I also liked. She's really good at developing her characters, and I like how there are not just merely "good" or "evil" characters, but most are fairly complex and flawed, although they might be innately "good." Her books really draw me in and make me feel like I'm there, which is what really makes me enjoy a book.

I also read Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn, which was just okay. Admittedly I couldn't put it down after I got about half way, but it started out way too fluffy and the writing was average. It was endorsed by Diana Gabaldon, so that's why my mom bought it for me. Ms. Gabaldon must have been paid heavily or else Kate Quinn is a buddy!

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Sun June 5th, 2011, 8:31 pm

[quote=""Brenna""]Do we know what happened to Claude's children? Why couldn't they inherit the throne? Oh the questions I could ask!![/quote]

Claude's daughters weren't in line for the French throne because French inheritance followed Salic Law, under which succession to the throne could not be passed through the female line. So when the male line died out, the french had to go back to whatever the last male-to-male succession passed--sometimes many generations back, in the case of the Bourbon claim of Henry IV.

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Brenna
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Location: Delaware

Post by Brenna » Sun June 5th, 2011, 9:05 pm

[quote=""MLE""]Claude's daughters weren't in line for the French throne because French inheritance followed Salic Law, under which succession to the throne could not be passed through the female line. So when the male line died out, the french had to go back to whatever the last male-to-male succession passed--sometimes many generations back, in the case of the Bourbon claim of Henry IV.[/quote]

I guess Claude's son Charles didn't make it then?
Brenna

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Mon June 6th, 2011, 12:09 am

[quote=""Brenna""]I guess Claude's son Charles didn't make it then?[/quote] He died in 1545, 2 years before King Francis.

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