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Posted: Tue August 23rd, 2011, 3:03 am
by Michy
[quote=""Misfit""]Just finished The American Heiress by Dorothy Eden (not the Daisy Goodwin one). Very good, and lots of surprise twists and turns.
[/quote] That one's on my book swap wishlist -- glad to hear it's good.

Currently reading The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart. Almost 1/2 way through and, so far at least, this is one of the best suspense stories I've read in a very long time in terms of having absolutely no idea how it's going to turn out. The heroine seems to be straightforward and good with no secrets (other than I can't understand why she let herself get involved in this mess she's in). But all the other characters seem to be such a dichotomy of good and bad, that I honestly can't tell who's really malevolent and who's not, and I have no idea how it will all unravel.......

Posted: Tue August 23rd, 2011, 4:43 am
by annis
Just finished The Girl King by Meg Clothier, a novel based on the girlhood of legendary 12th century Georgian queen, Tamar. Historical adventure with romance which works well in many ways- the unusual, exotic setting and atmosphere are excellent and Tamar is an appealing character, though as the story progresses she somehow becomes a figurehead, secondary to her love interest, Soslani. To me, the style and nature of this novel positively shrieks "young adult", though it is marketed as adult fiction. The tile is a bit disingenuous as the Georgian (Kartvelian) word for "monarch" was not gender specific but applied equally to either a king or a queen regnant.

Posted: Tue August 23rd, 2011, 5:31 am
by SGM
Eventually started Dorothy Dunnett's Niccolo series, having deliberately given myself a break after finishing the Lymond Chronicles. I am going to try very hard not to whizz through these too fast as I did the first series (well, I wanted to know what happened next) so I am going to try to interspere Niccolo with other books. I have the rest of the Penman Henry II and Welsh triologies to do it with -- or I might use some of the Arturo Perez-Reverte which I have been intending to try for quite a while too.

The daft thing is that I have had the Niccolo books for quite a while and they are lovely (heavy) hardbacks which are such a pain to carry to work but I discovered the local library now has them as e-books. So I am reading those. Much easier on the shoulder. Easier reading at night too because I have a back-lit e-reader for the evenings which means I can read without the light on which I quite like.

Posted: Tue August 23rd, 2011, 6:02 am
by MLE (Emily Cotton)
Cleaned out the car today and found my copy of Cleopatra's Daughter wedged under the passenger seat--finally! I lose books often, but was enjoying this one whenever I started it (some number of months ago) and had been completely baffled as to where it might have got to. So now I am happily immersed in Rome.

Posted: Tue August 23rd, 2011, 10:31 am
by Misfit
[quote=""Michy""]That one's on my book swap wishlist -- glad to hear it's good.

Currently reading The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart. Almost 1/2 way through and, so far at least, this is one of the best suspense stories I've read in a very long time in terms of having absolutely no idea how it's going to turn out. The heroine seems to be straightforward and good with no secrets (other than I can't understand why she let herself get involved in this mess she's in). But all the other characters seem to be such a dichotomy of good and bad, that I honestly can't tell who's really malevolent and who's not, and I have no idea how it will all unravel.......[/quote]

You should be able to ILL it, my library had a copy. The Ivy Tree sounds intriguing.

Posted: Tue August 23rd, 2011, 10:47 am
by LoobyG
Returning to the Williamsburg series by Elswyth Thane, no.4 'The Light Heart' :)

Posted: Tue August 23rd, 2011, 2:35 pm
by Michy
[quote=""Misfit""]You should be able to ILL it, my library had a copy. The Ivy Tree sounds intriguing.[/quote] When I finish I'll let you know. Without spoiling it, of course. :)

[quote=""LoobyG""]Returning to the Williamsburg series by Elswyth Thane, no.4 'The Light Heart' :) [/quote] I read that one a few months ago, and that was as far as I got with the series. I haven't read any further. They lost steam for me, I guess. :(

Posted: Tue August 23rd, 2011, 6:33 pm
by SGM
[quote=""Michy""]Currently reading The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart. [/quote]

Is that the one that's on a similar theme to Josephine Tey's Brat Farrar? I think it is the only one of Mary Stewart's that I haven't read except for the last Arthurian one -- I'd got Arthur'd out by that stage. But it was so many years back, I couldn't swear to it. I did buy a couple of her's second-hand recently but haven't got round to re-reading them but if this weather holds out, I might catch up with a lot of reading soon. Rain, Rain, Rain - and some more what -- Oh, yes Rain -- but it is perfect for curling up on the settee with a good book.

Posted: Tue August 23rd, 2011, 6:37 pm
by Alisha Marie Klapheke
Currently reading Firebrand (Rebel Angels) by Gillian Phillip and loving it. Myth, mind reading, late medieval/renaissance setting, a hot guy--my kind of story.

Posted: Tue August 23rd, 2011, 6:50 pm
by Brenna
Taking a little break from history to reread Eragon by Christopher Paolini before the 4th book comes out in November. It's such a nice break from sword fighting and conqueroring other lands (insert sarcasm here).