What Are You Reading? December 2011

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Thu December 1st, 2011, 2:52 pm

Whoops, it's December! I'm reading Jane, Beloved Queen by Jean Evans, an old historical novel about Jane Seymour, and Philip of Spain, King of England, NF by Harry Kelsey.

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Thu December 1st, 2011, 4:14 pm

Finally finished my ARC of Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie. Totally engrossing. Still working on a research book Roman Women, with which I'm not that impressed. Feeling the need for a some fiction. Maybe something contemporary like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

cw gortner · Post by **cw gortner** » Fri December 2nd, 2011, 7:55 pm

Reading an ARC of The Last Romanov by Dora Levy Mossanen - and four research books on the Borgias!

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sat December 3rd, 2011, 3:16 am

Reading A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist. Rather surprised to *learn* that they were harvesting Redwoods in Seattle in 1866...

Alisha Marie Klapheke · Post by **Alisha Marie Klapheke** » Sat December 3rd, 2011, 4:07 am

Okay, because I couldn't find the two hf novels I wanted at my local Barnes and Noble (oh lord it is so sad now, it is really much more of a toy store now*crying*) I read a copy of DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth. It's YA Dystopian and I almost put it down bc the cover made me think they were about to simply rip off HUNGER GAMES. But it was not a copy of that fun series. DIVERGENT is its own thing and was quite enjoyable.

annis · Post by **annis** » Sat December 3rd, 2011, 4:29 am

Colin Falconer's Silk Road - a Templar knight tormented by his past, an instransigent Dominican monk and a fiery Tatar warrior-princess sharing a dangerous, colourful epic road trip over the Roof of the World, through the unforgiving Taklamakan Desert to Xanadu in the thirteenth century - what's not to like?

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Sat December 3rd, 2011, 12:42 pm

"The Magicians' Guild" by Trudi Canavan.

scubachick420 · Post by **scubachick420** » Sat December 3rd, 2011, 12:54 pm

King of the Wood by Valerie Anand

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Sat December 3rd, 2011, 1:23 pm

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak...it's the shortest book that I currently have on my Kindle and I have only one book more to read before I meet the goal for my total books read this year on Goodreads. I have been waiting to accomplish that goal and will reward myself by reading Sharon Kay Penman's Lionheart (my cherished signed copy!) next.

annis · Post by **annis** » Sun December 4th, 2011, 7:57 pm

Just finished James Wilde's Hereward, another in the recent slew of novels set around the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Many of these historical adventures have a common tendency to degenerate into blood-fests rather than focusing on character development, and this is no exception. Wilde's Hereward does show signs of promise here and there and definitely improves as it goes along, but doesn't quite manage to rise above the swamp of gore galore. I don't feel that anyone has really portrayed Hereward the Wake to my satisfaction to date, though Jack Ogden's Brainbiter came close. Wilde's version is at least several notches above Stewart Binns' dire novel about Hereward, Conquest, which has become my default measure for historical fiction awfulness (as in, "How bad is this book on the Conquest scale?")