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What are you reading? May 2011

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Vanessa
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4378
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
Preferred HF: Any
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Post by Vanessa » Tue May 17th, 2011, 9:11 am

[quote=""BrianPK""]I've watched a few of the old black and white Agatha Christie films on Sky recently and really enjoyed them. Wonderful old British actors on show, especially the marvellous Margaret Rutherford.
I haven't read Christie in years though.[/quote]

I think Murder Most Foul starring Margaret Rutherford is loosely -very loosely! - based on Mrs McGinty's Dead. I say very loosely as it's actually a Hercule Poirot mystery rather than a Miss Marple. However, I do enjoy the ones with Margaret Rutherford - I think she was great. :)
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads

Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

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

Post by Brenna » Tue May 17th, 2011, 12:25 pm

I stayed up to the wee hours of the morning to finish Susanna Kearsley's The Winter Sea. Awesome book!
Brenna

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SonjaMarie
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Posts: 5688
Joined: August 2008
Location: Vashon, WA
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Post by SonjaMarie » Wed May 18th, 2011, 3:18 am

I've finished "Tutankhamun: The Last Secret" by Christian Jacq (342pgs, 2008)*. An interesting story, but I'm not sure I cared for the ending, it seemed a little lacking.

SM
The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum
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Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965

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Brenna
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Posts: 1358
Joined: June 2010
Location: Delaware

Post by Brenna » Wed May 18th, 2011, 1:18 pm

After reading and loving The Winter Sea,I decided to continue with the theme and read Barbara Erskine's Lady of Hay. I only got about 2 chapters in last night, but so far, so good.
Brenna

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Madeleine
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5860
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Wed May 18th, 2011, 3:00 pm

I read "Lady of Hay" years ago, and only yesterday bought the new 25th anniversary edition, which has a whole extra section specially added - it's a massive book! Is that the edition you've got?
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

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sweetpotatoboy
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Posts: 1641
Joined: August 2008
Location: London, UK

Post by sweetpotatoboy » Wed May 18th, 2011, 3:17 pm

Still reading "A Game of Thrones" and will be for quite a while more; it's looong.
I also see it's the book most LibraryThing members are currently reading - not surprising, I guess, given the current TV adaptation.

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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) » Wed May 18th, 2011, 6:07 pm

I'm chewing through Anya Seton's Green Darkness, which is proof that the same writer can produce brilliant works like Katherine and follow them with unadulterated tripe. The storyline lost me in the weird-Freudian muddle of the 60s. But finish it I must--my renaissance guild has just discovered it deals with the Browne family and Viscount Montagu, whose household we play.

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SonjaMarie
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Location: Vashon, WA
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Post by SonjaMarie » Wed May 18th, 2011, 6:53 pm

[quote=""MLE""]I'm chewing through Anya Seton's Green Darkness, which is proof that the same writer can produce brilliant works like Katherine and follow them with unadulterated tripe. The storyline lost me in the weird-Freudian muddle of the 60s. But finish it I must--my renaissance guild has just discovered it deals with the Browne family and Viscount Montagu, whose household we play.[/quote]

Glad I'm not the only one who really didn't like "Green Darkness", it was a yawn fest, I skimmed a lot.

SM
The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum
My Booksfree Queue

Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965

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

Post by Misfit » Wed May 18th, 2011, 7:42 pm

[quote=""SonjaMarie""]Glad I'm not the only one who really didn't like "Green Darkness", it was a yawn fest, I skimmed a lot.

SM[/quote]

I don't recall being terribly fond of the present story. Especially being so 70's dated.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Michy
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Posts: 1649
Joined: May 2010
Location: California

Post by Michy » Wed May 18th, 2011, 10:07 pm

[quote=""SonjaMarie""]Glad I'm not the only one who really didn't like "Green Darkness", it was a yawn fest, I skimmed a lot.

SM[/quote] Same here. :) People generally cite it as one of their Seton favorites, but it was actually one of my least favorites of her books. Besides the Freudian stuff that MLE mentions, there were a couple of plot elements that really turned me off. To me it showed that her writing got coarser in her later years.
Last edited by Michy on Wed May 18th, 2011, 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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