I list all my books on Goodreads, but I want to be able to ramble on my thoughts about why I'm enjoying (or not) any particular books. So here they are - my ramblings that is lol. Rather than backtrack and list all the many books I've read I am going to just give a brief overview of the last couple that have really led me to this point and my current reading. Bear with me whilst I build up this page won't you x
MAY 2011 - ETA Neither Goodreads or this page are currently up to date but I'm thinking that life's too short to worry about it and maybe sometime I'll get back to it.
24th September 2010 - Gosh I have been somewhat remiss in my updates on here haven't I. I did manage to finish 'The Reckoning' quite a while ago now and, as will all of Sharon Penman's books this one was wonderfully written with characters that you continue to grow on you. I do intend to read the rest of her books but for now I've taken a break from the historical novels and am trying to work my way through the stacks I have. I'll try to remember what I've read and recap, starting with the latest.
I've really been bitten by the Stieg Larsson bug. My sister loaned me the first of his Millennium Trilogy 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' and I was hooked. As you work through the early chapters the main characters evolve and grow on you, ultimately becoming friends. The storyline hooked me too, but then I am easily hooked, a bit of a sucker for a good mystery. I loved the book and the pace it sets is brilliant and the very last page leaves with a 'pang' so sharp it almost hurts. I couldn't wait to get started on the second 'The girl who played with fire' This follows directly on from the first and develops the characters really well in addition to introducing new ones. Again it sets a fast pace and was a joy to read. The cliffhanger at the end meant that I had to rush to the library to grab the third and final book 'The girl who kicked the hornets nest' I'm only a third of the way through this one at the moment but once again its brilliant. What a shame that the author didn't live to see the hit his books have become :-(
Alone in Berlin - now this was a little different from my usual reading. Pete had requested this book and had enjoyed it. It was written a number of years ago in Germany and only recently seems to have been translated into English. It's the second book I've read that gives a view of life during Hitler's reign from inside Germany, and once again Hitler's visions are not shared. The story is certainly different and is based on true events. In part it gives you hope that merest mortal CAN make a difference but ultimately this book left me feeling a little 'down' so much effort unappreciated at the time! It's different, read it.
During the holidays, as always, I worked my way through quite a few books. Right now I am struggling to remember them all but I'll get there. Firstly we have:
The Island by Victoria Hislop - This book had been recommended by a few folk especially as we were taking our main holiday in Crete this year. Somehow I didn't get around to reading it before we went away but in the end reading it for the first time whilst we were in Crete was inspired. The book is beautifully written and captures the essence of Crete as a whole and of its people. The story is heartbreaking in parts and weaves its way between the present time and the 1930's and 40's wonderfully. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and I do have her next one 'The Return' waiting in the wings.
2nd July 2010 - The Dragon Keeper took me a while to get through, not entirely sure why as I've always loved Robin Hobb's books. It's possible that I've just had so much going on that any reading was bound to suffer. I did enjoy it, although as it's the first in a trilogy (and the others are not yet available) the characters took a little while to grow on me and then, bang on que, just as you've warmed to them the book finishes. I must admit though that this one felt like it ended all of a sudden and if read completely in isolation you'd be very disappointed in the ending, especially if one hadn't realised that it was part of a series. I will read the next one but it needs to warm up quickly I think.
I have now started the third and final Sharon Penman book of my latest historical trilogy - The Reckoning.
I have been so behind with my reading that I threw this one at my Mom first as I just wasn't getting around to reading it and she loved it - made her cry though, oh dear tears ahead then. Enjoying it so far but then I really have only just got going. It takes up a few years after the end of Falls the Shadow and does, initially at least, focus upon Simon De Montford's children as well as King Henry's. Henry himself has yet to make an appearance but as any references to him have referred to him as ailing I guess we will switch across to him at least for his death - how dreary am I! So I'll crack on with this one as I still have another two library books to read and I've already renewed them on-line once already lol.
19th May 2010 - Falls the Shadow has finally been completed. This was a little harder going for me that the others have been but towards the end I really got back into it and was so upset when the inevitable happened to Simon de Montford - guess that's the downside of history, not often a happy ending! Blimey though, wasn't Henry the Third a waste of space as a king. Great book again though and I'm really looking forward to the next and final part of this trilogy. I decided that I'd read something different in between and so I've started on Robin Hobbs 'Dragon Keeper'
I have read a fair few of her books before, quite a while ago though, and I've done what I try to avoid doing - the third and final part of this trilogy hasn't been written yet, it'll end in tears I know it will lol. Belonging to the 'fantasy' genre, this book sort of follows on from a series I read years ago about the Liveship Traders. I am enjoying it, it's nice to get back into some fantasy stuff and I'm just at the stage where the key characters are known to me and are already becoming 'friend' or 'foe'.
MAY 2011 - ETA Neither Goodreads or this page are currently up to date but I'm thinking that life's too short to worry about it and maybe sometime I'll get back to it.
24th September 2010 - Gosh I have been somewhat remiss in my updates on here haven't I. I did manage to finish 'The Reckoning' quite a while ago now and, as will all of Sharon Penman's books this one was wonderfully written with characters that you continue to grow on you. I do intend to read the rest of her books but for now I've taken a break from the historical novels and am trying to work my way through the stacks I have. I'll try to remember what I've read and recap, starting with the latest.
I've really been bitten by the Stieg Larsson bug. My sister loaned me the first of his Millennium Trilogy 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' and I was hooked. As you work through the early chapters the main characters evolve and grow on you, ultimately becoming friends. The storyline hooked me too, but then I am easily hooked, a bit of a sucker for a good mystery. I loved the book and the pace it sets is brilliant and the very last page leaves with a 'pang' so sharp it almost hurts. I couldn't wait to get started on the second 'The girl who played with fire' This follows directly on from the first and develops the characters really well in addition to introducing new ones. Again it sets a fast pace and was a joy to read. The cliffhanger at the end meant that I had to rush to the library to grab the third and final book 'The girl who kicked the hornets nest' I'm only a third of the way through this one at the moment but once again its brilliant. What a shame that the author didn't live to see the hit his books have become :-(
Alone in Berlin - now this was a little different from my usual reading. Pete had requested this book and had enjoyed it. It was written a number of years ago in Germany and only recently seems to have been translated into English. It's the second book I've read that gives a view of life during Hitler's reign from inside Germany, and once again Hitler's visions are not shared. The story is certainly different and is based on true events. In part it gives you hope that merest mortal CAN make a difference but ultimately this book left me feeling a little 'down' so much effort unappreciated at the time! It's different, read it.
During the holidays, as always, I worked my way through quite a few books. Right now I am struggling to remember them all but I'll get there. Firstly we have:
The Island by Victoria Hislop - This book had been recommended by a few folk especially as we were taking our main holiday in Crete this year. Somehow I didn't get around to reading it before we went away but in the end reading it for the first time whilst we were in Crete was inspired. The book is beautifully written and captures the essence of Crete as a whole and of its people. The story is heartbreaking in parts and weaves its way between the present time and the 1930's and 40's wonderfully. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and I do have her next one 'The Return' waiting in the wings.
2nd July 2010 - The Dragon Keeper took me a while to get through, not entirely sure why as I've always loved Robin Hobb's books. It's possible that I've just had so much going on that any reading was bound to suffer. I did enjoy it, although as it's the first in a trilogy (and the others are not yet available) the characters took a little while to grow on me and then, bang on que, just as you've warmed to them the book finishes. I must admit though that this one felt like it ended all of a sudden and if read completely in isolation you'd be very disappointed in the ending, especially if one hadn't realised that it was part of a series. I will read the next one but it needs to warm up quickly I think.
I have now started the third and final Sharon Penman book of my latest historical trilogy - The Reckoning.
I have been so behind with my reading that I threw this one at my Mom first as I just wasn't getting around to reading it and she loved it - made her cry though, oh dear tears ahead then. Enjoying it so far but then I really have only just got going. It takes up a few years after the end of Falls the Shadow and does, initially at least, focus upon Simon De Montford's children as well as King Henry's. Henry himself has yet to make an appearance but as any references to him have referred to him as ailing I guess we will switch across to him at least for his death - how dreary am I! So I'll crack on with this one as I still have another two library books to read and I've already renewed them on-line once already lol.
19th May 2010 - Falls the Shadow has finally been completed. This was a little harder going for me that the others have been but towards the end I really got back into it and was so upset when the inevitable happened to Simon de Montford - guess that's the downside of history, not often a happy ending! Blimey though, wasn't Henry the Third a waste of space as a king. Great book again though and I'm really looking forward to the next and final part of this trilogy. I decided that I'd read something different in between and so I've started on Robin Hobbs 'Dragon Keeper'
13th May 2010 - Currently I'm reading my third Sharon Penman book and the second in the trilogy of The Welsh Princes - although I have to say they haven't figured much in this one. The main characters are Simon de Montford and his wife Nell, sister to King Henry. I don't feel quite the same level of 'friendship' with these as I have in the other books. I'm not sure if that's just me or the way it is written.
I've never studied history and so it was a bit of a surprise to me when I realised that I was after all quite interested in it. It started, I think, when I saw the material Emily would be studying if she chose History at GCSE. At a bit of a loss how to go about 'learning' some history I started to look at historical novels. Whilst reviewing some novel or other I came across mention of 'The Sunne in Splendour' by Sharon Penman. The praise for this, including references to its accuracy, prompted me to get hold of a copy and rather than buy it myself I managed to source it via our local library.
I absolutely loved this book, it was one of those that when I'd finished I felt bereft - like I'd lost my best friend. It's a massive 900 plus pages of tiny, tiny text but it is so very good. Being historical there are so many characters included that it can be a little confusing at times but gradually you become familiar with those that are important and they become wonderful new friends. In this case my best friends ultimately were King Richard the Third and his wife Anne Neville, although he was a mere child when the story begins and there are many more key characters to love and hate. Take a look on Amazon, you can read the first couple of pages on-line, I can guarantee you'll be hooked. The way in which the author tells the story allows you to read it as a novel whilst still 'learning' the historical facts - sheer brilliance.
I desperately wanted another historical as soon as I'd finished this one and so after researching Sharon Penman's other books here, I requested the next set from my library again. The library are brilliant, none of my recent books have been available at my local library - some have been available in the borough others, like 'Sunne in Splendour', have to be shipped in from other areas - Hereford in one case, and all for the pricey sum of 40 pence each! You just can't beat that for service.
And so I started on the trilogy mentioned earlier with 'Here Be Dragons'. Again there are a plethora of characters to get to grips with, and you don't always realise just who your best friends are going to be until some way into the book. This time it was Llewelyn the Great and his wife Joanna, the illegitimate daughter of King John of England, although it has to be said that a good part of the novel does tell the tale of the reign of King John. I also found the links to Europe, and France in particular, fascinating. I don't think I'd realised just how closely linked our histories are until now. It was wonderful when recently in Chinon to be able to recognise large numbers of the French monarchy purely from my recent reading.
And that's where I'm leaving the start of this entry, not at the beginning but hopefully with enough information to move on from here with. I need to finish 'Falls the Shadow' and then I have 'The Reckoning' (the final in this trilogy) already waiting. Plus I have the 'Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt', 'Hyddenworld' by William Horwood and Robin Hobb's 'The Dragon Keeper' all from the library sat here waiting for me to get to them, and that's on top of the 3 piles of paperbacks that still await my attention lol.
