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Susan's 2012 Book Log
26) The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan; finished 7/17/12
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
27) Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks; finished 7/19/12; Based upon a true story, this was a powerful story about how an English village handled the plague in 1665-1666.
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
28) Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel; finished 7/23/12
I am "Tudored out" and really don't want to read any more Tudor books (but I probably will), but I had to read the second book in Hilary Mantel's trilogy. Even though I knew exactly what was going to happen, it was fresh because the reader is seeing the events through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's principal adviser, the one who did the dirty work. As I was reading, I pictured what Cormwell would be like today, scheming behind the political scenes, always on his cell phone. Hilary Mantel is a superb writer, but at times it was difficult for me to get into the book because of the writing style (using the third person pronoun) and that is why I gave it four stars. I found that if I read the book at a longer sitting, I became more used to the style and less inhibited by it.
I am "Tudored out" and really don't want to read any more Tudor books (but I probably will), but I had to read the second book in Hilary Mantel's trilogy. Even though I knew exactly what was going to happen, it was fresh because the reader is seeing the events through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's principal adviser, the one who did the dirty work. As I was reading, I pictured what Cormwell would be like today, scheming behind the political scenes, always on his cell phone. Hilary Mantel is a superb writer, but at times it was difficult for me to get into the book because of the writing style (using the third person pronoun) and that is why I gave it four stars. I found that if I read the book at a longer sitting, I became more used to the style and less inhibited by it.
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
29) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness; finished 7/31/12
Originally I was hesitant about this one because I am not all that keen on supernatural books, but I spent a weekend with a friend who said I would like this series and that I would love the second book. My friend was correct. I loved the witch-vampire-daemon world and its intersection with the human world. I loved the little bits of history and found myself researching the historical people mentioned. There are so many interesting characters and Matthew is one cool vampire!
Originally I was hesitant about this one because I am not all that keen on supernatural books, but I spent a weekend with a friend who said I would like this series and that I would love the second book. My friend was correct. I loved the witch-vampire-daemon world and its intersection with the human world. I loved the little bits of history and found myself researching the historical people mentioned. There are so many interesting characters and Matthew is one cool vampire!
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
30) The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
31) Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness; finished 8/10/12
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
32) The Second Empress by Michelle Moran; finished 8/20/12
This book was published the day I left for Vienna so I downloaded it to my Kindle before I left. How appropriate to read this novel while I was in Austria as the main character, Marie-Louise, the second wife of Napoleon, was born and raised in Vienna as the eldest daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria. While I was in Vienna, I visited Hofburg Palace and Schönbrunn Palace where Marie-Louise grew up. I also visited the Imperial Crypt where she was buried. I very much liked the structure of the plot which dealt with the years Marie-Louise was married to Napoleon instead of a birth to death plot. I also appreciated the story being told from the point of view of three characters: Marie-Louise, Napoleon's sister Pauline, and Paul Moreau, a Haitian mulatto whom Pauline brought to France as her chamberlain.
This book was published the day I left for Vienna so I downloaded it to my Kindle before I left. How appropriate to read this novel while I was in Austria as the main character, Marie-Louise, the second wife of Napoleon, was born and raised in Vienna as the eldest daughter of Emperor Franz I of Austria. While I was in Vienna, I visited Hofburg Palace and Schönbrunn Palace where Marie-Louise grew up. I also visited the Imperial Crypt where she was buried. I very much liked the structure of the plot which dealt with the years Marie-Louise was married to Napoleon instead of a birth to death plot. I also appreciated the story being told from the point of view of three characters: Marie-Louise, Napoleon's sister Pauline, and Paul Moreau, a Haitian mulatto whom Pauline brought to France as her chamberlain.
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
33) Now Face to Face by by Karleen Koen finished 9/2/12; see review at http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... post104084
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
34) Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt; finished 9/8/12
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
Forgot to add this little blurb. I'll probably write something about the novel in its thread.
This is one of those books where the reader pretty much knows how it will end, but getting there is quite interesting. The author paints a vivid picture of what it was like to live in a small town in England in the late 16th - early 17th centuries. Add into that "cunning folk" who practiced traditional folk magic and a real 1612 witch trial. This is a bleak book, but life and the situations in the book are also bleak. I do wish the author had added some kind of hope.
This is one of those books where the reader pretty much knows how it will end, but getting there is quite interesting. The author paints a vivid picture of what it was like to live in a small town in England in the late 16th - early 17th centuries. Add into that "cunning folk" who practiced traditional folk magic and a real 1612 witch trial. This is a bleak book, but life and the situations in the book are also bleak. I do wish the author had added some kind of hope.
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/