What Are You Reading? July 2012

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Fri July 20th, 2012, 3:37 am

After my diversion into some YA Rick Riordan books and the plague in an English village in 1666, it's back to Thomas Cromwell in Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Cromwell.

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Fri July 20th, 2012, 1:00 pm

Currently on a comtemporary crime novel: Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes.

Tanzanite · Post by **Tanzanite** » Fri July 20th, 2012, 1:26 pm

Finished reading The Lute Player by Norah Lofts. Kind of unusual telling of Richard I and the crusade - some good parts, some boring parts. Following up with John Gillingham's bio on Richard.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Sat July 21st, 2012, 4:39 am

I got Blue Asylum from the lib and I'm soooo excited

A friend loaned me her copy of Blue Asylum and is eager for me to read it. My reading schedule is so jam-packed, I haven't gotten around to it yet, but it looks like I should move it higher up in the stack.

Right now, I'm in the opening chapters of Jean Plaidy's Madame Serpent, about Catherine de Medici.

LoobyG · Post by **LoobyG** » Sat July 21st, 2012, 11:04 am

Just dipping in and out of the Beatrix Potter biography at the moment and now ploughing through 'Women and Children First' by Gill Paul, a fiction book about the Titanic sinking, am finding it so-so really.

Berengaria · Post by **Berengaria** » Sat July 21st, 2012, 7:53 pm

Re-reading EC's To Defy a King to connect to the era I've been reading in Lady of Hay I would love to write an historical novel, but live too far away to do a hands on research. Sigh! Are there enough resources on the internet for a thorough research?

Mythica · Post by **Mythica** » Sun July 22nd, 2012, 9:09 am

Dance with Dragons (finally)!

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Sun July 22nd, 2012, 12:36 pm

[quote=""Berengaria""]Re-reading EC's To Defy a King to connect to the era I've been reading in Lady of Hay I would love to write an historical novel, but live too far away to do a hands on research. Sigh! Are there enough resources on the internet for a thorough research?

[/quote]

Answer is yes. It's never been easier to do the research, but you do need an in-built crap detector to know what's good research and what's not. Also you should be able to get hold of the research books that enable you to build your story. Going to places is useful and sometimes specialist libraries can only be got at on the ground, but providing you do the research thoroughly in other areas, this should compensate. Get your basics together and get started! That's what I did when I wrote my first one.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Mon July 23rd, 2012, 12:34 am

I've actually read some HF for a change--Nancy Moser's How Do I Love Thee? (Elizabeth Barrett Browning) and Robert Alexander's Rasputin's Daughter. The Moser was entertaining but a little slow (I would have liked to see more of Elizabeth's interactions with her family and less of her dithering over whether to leave her room). As for the Alexander book, I finished it in a few hours and was truly reluctant to put it down.

rockygirl · Post by **rockygirl** » Mon July 23rd, 2012, 12:54 am

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]I've actually read some HF for a change--Nancy Moser's How Do I Love Thee? (Elizabeth Barrett Browning) and Robert Alexander's Rasputin's Daughter. The Moser was entertaining but a little slow (I would have liked to see more of Elizabeth's interactions with her family and less of her dithering over whether to leave her room). As for the Alexander book, I finished it in a few hours and was truly reluctant to put it down.[/quote]

I liked the Alexander book, too. In fact, he's done three that are Romanov related, and I liked all three.

I'm currently reading your book, and I like that it's told from the point of view of the mothers. Frances Grey is coming across as much more likable than the usual depictions of her.