Boswellbaxter's Bookfest

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Thu April 14th, 2011, 2:35 am

It's been a while since I updated this:

My Thoughts Be Bloody by Nora Titone (NF)

Jane Seymour by Frances Clark

To Die For by Sandra Byrd

The Raven's Bride by Lenore Hart

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Tue April 19th, 2011, 2:54 am

I finished reading an ARC of D. L. Bogdan's Rivals in the Tudor Court. I know and like the author, so my opinion's not unbiased, but I did enjoy it. It focuses on three people who usually aren't sympathetically portrayed in Tudor fiction: Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk; his wife, Elizabeth; and his mistress, Bess Holland.

I also tried reading Nell Gavin's Threads, but didn't finish it. I'm not a stickler for the show-don't-tell rule, but this novel took the telling to the extreme. I felt as if I were listening to a sermon in parts, and I got tired of being told what various characters were like.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Thu April 28th, 2011, 12:33 am

Plowing along this month! I finished Stephanie Dray's Lily of the Nile. As I said on another thread, I thought it was well written, and I enjoyed it, although I would have enjoyed it more if the supernatural element had been missing. I would have liked to have seen how Selene coped with her situation and stood up for her religious beliefs without the help of hieroglyphics magically appearing on her body at sundry times. It was interesting to contrast Dray's approach to Selene with that of Michelle Moran's.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Wed May 4th, 2011, 2:03 am

Finished Robert Hutchinson's Young Henry (NF about Henry VIII) today. It was well-written and entertaining, though I didn't find anything new in it.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Mon May 16th, 2011, 11:08 pm

Recently finished:

Madonna of the Seven Hills by Jean Plaidy
The Secret Diary of a Princess by Melanie Clegg
The Confession of Katherine Howard by Suzannah Dunn

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Thu May 19th, 2011, 2:56 am

Dearest Cousin Jane by Jill Pitkeathley .

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Tue May 24th, 2011, 11:15 pm

The Favourite by Matthew Lyons (NF about the rise of Sir Walter Raleigh; interesting, but the author seemed to run out of energy toward the end. The book didn't so much as conclude as stop).

Nine Days a Queen, YA by Ann Rinaldi. I've been reading some YA historical fiction lately for a project that's lurking in the back of my mind.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Wed June 1st, 2011, 4:04 am

Closed out May with A Golden Sorrow: Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves by Dixie Atkins and Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Tue June 14th, 2011, 5:17 pm

Finished Carolyn Meyer, Duchessina, a YA novel about the young Catherine de Medici. I liked it, except that the author tried to cover way too much ground in too short a space once Catherine got to the French court.

Also finished Peter Carroll's Queen of Misfortune, about Lady Jane Grey. Hilarious, especially in the second half, but that wasn't the author's intention.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Tue June 21st, 2011, 2:30 am

Thanks to a long flight, finished:

My Enemy the Queen by Victoria Holt
The Very Young Mrs. Poe by Cothburn O'Neal
Cleopatra Confesses by Carolyn Meyer