What are you reading August 2011?

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Sat August 13th, 2011, 2:10 am

[quote=""Berengaria""]Yes, it is a very good read! I also liked her biography of the English medieval queens. A great resource source![/quote]

I don't see a book about that by her on Amazon just her books on Mary I and Katherine.

SM

rebecca · Post by **rebecca** » Sat August 13th, 2011, 3:44 am

Hello Thalia

I am sure Jean Plaidy wrote many books on the Plantagenets. The one I have dealing with Anne Neville is 'The Reluctant Queen' by the above author. I think another member mentioned Sandra Worth's books on Richard and Anne. I also have 'We Speak No Treason' by Rosemary Hawley Jarman. There is also 'Desire the Kingdom' by Paula Simonds Zabka. And the wonderful Sharon Kay Penman's 'Sunne In Splendour'(which has also been mentioned.

Perhaps you can do a search on Amazon by typing in Anne's name or the Plantagenets and then note down the author and titles of the books if you wish to borrow them from your library.

I will say that many of the books I have mentioned are on my TBR list though I did read Sandra Worth's trilogy which I found enjoyable and I loved Penman's book(I love almost everything she has written).

I hope this helps

Bec

cw gortner · Post by **cw gortner** » Sat August 13th, 2011, 5:28 am

I feel as though I have been woefully absent for months - because I have! So sorry, but this deadline on my second Spymaster book, plus research on my new Lucrezia Borgia novel, are putting a serious crimp in my online time.

Anyway, last month I read The Mercy Seller by Brenda Rickman Vantrease, which I highly recommend and I'm currently reading an ARC of Philippa Gregory's The Lady of the Rivers, for review. Melusine has made six appearances in the first 20 pages but that said, it's heftier both in style and substance, in my opinion, than The Red Queen. Jacquetta is quite interesting, as I don't know much about her. We'll see how it develops.

On the TBR pile are Elizabeth's Lady of the English and Robyn Young's Insurrection. I can't wait to dig into Lady!

Ariadne · Post by **Ariadne** » Sat August 13th, 2011, 3:53 pm

I know what you mean about the lack of online time, CW, because I haven't been here much either. I was just made an interim supervisor at work, so writing my blog has been about all I've had time for. I had a number of review books pile up during the time I was planning the HNS conference and I'm finally getting to them - but not much else!

I enjoyed Lady of the Rivers with one caveat - but I won't say that here until you're done. Hope all the writing is going well!

Most recently I finished Dinah Dean's Silk and Stone, an out-of-print novel of 12th-century England. Now I've moved on to Laurel Corona's Finding Emilie, which I'm thoroughly enjoying.

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Mon August 15th, 2011, 3:24 am

I've finished 2 books today:
"To Be Queen: A Novel of the Early Life of Eleanor of Aquitaine" by Christy English (380pgs, 2011). I really enjoyed this book (except the times where Eleanor was being a bit repetitive in what she was thinking). It was a quick and easy read.

"What the Butler Winked At: Being the Life and Adventures of Eric Horne, Butler" by Eric Horne (273pgs, 1923orig, 2011ed). When I put this on my queue I didn't know it was a book originally published in 1923. It was an interesting book, but for someone who supposedly considered himself well educated his spelling and grammar were rather lamentable.

SM

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Mon August 15th, 2011, 5:33 am

Cecelia Holland's latest: The King's Witch. Largely by coincidence, it's set in the time period immediately following the last book I read, Jan Guillou's The Templar Knight. The Guillou novel (see review) is the second in a trilogy about a Swede in the Crusades, and ends shortly after the Battle of Hattin, in which the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem was lost and Saladin regained Jerusalem. The King's Witch picks up with Richard the Lionheart and his entourage arriving to try to regain what was lost.

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Mon August 15th, 2011, 7:52 am

I will be starting Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn tonight.

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Mon August 15th, 2011, 5:40 pm

Finally finished Saints and started EC's Lady of the English!

Tanzanite · Post by **Tanzanite** » Mon August 15th, 2011, 10:58 pm

an ARC of Lionheart. One another thread earlier today (I think) there was a little bit of discussion about how much historical detail is enough and when it is too much. There is no doubt in my mind that SKP's research is extensive and reliable, but I'm finding the amount of detail a little too much at times. I'm not talking about clothing and food etc, but after 160 pages (in little print) it doesn't seem like much has really happened. Don't get me wrong - the writing itself is wonderful and I'm really enjoying Joanna's part of the story, but Here Be Dragons this isn't.

rebecca · Post by **rebecca** » Wed August 17th, 2011, 2:08 am

I have just finished 'The Phantom' by Susan Kay. I enjoyed it more than what I expected. Her ability to bring the tortured soul of Erik to life and to make one feel some sympathy for him is at the heart of her story and at times your heart goes out to the younger Erik.

What spoils the plot(which is not the author's fault)is the idea that Erik only has to speak and almost everyone for one reason or another loses their minds. Another thing that spoils the story is the introduction of Christine Daae and Raoul(thank God they come in near the end of the book). Again it is not the author's fault that Christine is simply boring and seems to have no personality, much like a puppet and the same for the snooze worthy Raoul.

I would give it 3-1/2 stars mainly because of the authors ability to bring Erik to life and the reasons as to why he embraced evil. I am not sorry I bought the book even though it is a little bit pricey.

Bec