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What Are You Reading (Jan 2009 edition)?
- Vanessa
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 4290
- 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
Just about to start Niccolo Rising by Dorothy Dunnett.
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
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
I am a huge fan of DD! There are currently two reading lists out there for the works of Dorothy Dunnett -- Marzipan for the Lymond books, and Cleas for the Niccolo series. I'm looking forward to what you think of them. If you get stuck on the various foreign language bits, there are two compendiums that translate all of that for the adventuresome reader.
The Wild Hunt by Elizabeth Chadwick and The Vorkosigan Companion by LMcMB and Lillian Stewart Carl.
The Wild Hunt by Elizabeth Chadwick and The Vorkosigan Companion by LMcMB and Lillian Stewart Carl.
I really don't know what to think about Pear's "An Instance From the Fingerpost"....I have decided to take a respite from the novel....Read over 250 pages and I find my mind wandering(for me not a good sign)....way too much information....yes I like good research, but......maybe it's just The Restoration Period I'm struggling with and the characters are a bit flat....A very tedious read....I have picked up Mailman's "The Witch's Trinity" at my local library.....
Last edited by chuck on Sat January 10th, 2009, 4:43 pm, edited 3 times in total.
[quote=""chuck""]I really don't know what to think about Pear's "An Instance From the Fingerpost"....I have decided to take a respite from the novel....Read over 250 pages and I find my mind wandering(for me not a good sign)....way too much information....yes I like good research, but......maybe it's just The Restoration Period I'm struggling with and the characters are a bit flat....A very tedious read....I have picked up Mailman's "The Witch's Trinity" at my local library.....[/quote]
Chuck, I don't know if it helps or not but An Instance of the Fingerpost was a 'Did not Finish' for me. I was very gripped at the start but somewhere around half way I did exactly the same as you. Dh tried it and the same happened to him, and yet a lot of readers love this one. Horses for courses I guess.
Chuck, I don't know if it helps or not but An Instance of the Fingerpost was a 'Did not Finish' for me. I was very gripped at the start but somewhere around half way I did exactly the same as you. Dh tried it and the same happened to him, and yet a lot of readers love this one. Horses for courses I guess.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI chasront
'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'
Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal
www.elizabethchadwick.com
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI chasront
'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'
Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal
www.elizabethchadwick.com
Sometimes if I'm not enjoying a book (particularly one that's well written but just doesn't grab me) I adjust my expectations. That helped with Fingerpost. I stopped trying to figure out the mystery and that did the trick. Same with Strange & Norrell. I was disappointed that there wasn't more magic, so I stopped thinking of it as a fantasy and read it as a straight historical. The footnotes are still my favorite part of that book though.
Right now I'm reading Echoes from the Dead by Johan Theorin. It's a mystery, Scandinavian, and as is typical of Scandinavian (and Canadian) authors I've read, it's on the depressing side. But I'm enjoying it.
Right now I'm reading Echoes from the Dead by Johan Theorin. It's a mystery, Scandinavian, and as is typical of Scandinavian (and Canadian) authors I've read, it's on the depressing side. But I'm enjoying it.
Just finished Robert Harris' "Imperium", the first in his trilogy about the life and times of Roman statesman, Cicero. Harris does an excellent job of untangling and enlivening complicated late Republican politics for the reader. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume, "Conspirata", when it comes out.
I've just started David Blixt's "Master of Verona" So many people mentioned it that I thought I'd better give it a try. It's good stuff so far- a sort of literary swashbuckler.
I've just started David Blixt's "Master of Verona" So many people mentioned it that I thought I'd better give it a try. It's good stuff so far- a sort of literary swashbuckler.