The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn't enjoy this one as much as I was expecting.

Margaret Beaufort was just written so unappealing. I don't believe any person is that one dimensional. I get obsession, I get being religious, but she was written in such a way that that was the only two things she cared about - getting her son (who she really didn't even know) on the throne, and God.

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Innocent Traitor

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Alison Weir, though I haven't read nearly as many of her books as I would have liked to.

I actually started reading this book last year, and didn't finish it before I had to return it to the library. This time, I started again from the beginning & finished in just a few days.

This is the story of Lady Jane Grey, the very young, naive queen of just 9 days. Forced to live her entire life under the rule of manulative, even abusive, parents, she ended up marrying a man she didn't love (or even like) and worse yet, convinced to become Queen of England.

The book is told in multiple voices (a story telling device I do not like). Most of the book, this is fine, but I had issues in the beginning, with Jane's voice being very adult, even when she was only a few years old. Yes, she was supposedly very mature as a child, but it was hard to like her as a child when she spoke with such an adult voice.

The book is pretty factual - there are a few interesting speculations in the book that Weir concludes, but for the most part, this is pretty true historical fiction & Weir takes on a new genre well (this is her first historical fiction novel).

Jane's story is especially compelling at the end - even though I know how her tragic tale will end, you still hope that Queen Mary will pardon her on the same.

(library)
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The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have a love / hate relationship with Gregory's books.

I have always been fascinated with history - especially British history - and her books made me obsessed. Because of her books, I've spent hundreds of hours doing research, basically fact finding every book I've read of hers, and loving every minute of it. And boring my husband to pieces as I babble to him about the descrepances.

But that's exactly the fun of her books - you know the history is crap, and sometimes downright completely made up, but I've accepted that and can enjoy her books for what they are - a light, enjoyable, romp

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Daughter of the Reef by Clare Coleman

Daughter of the Reef by Clare Coleman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Daughter of the Reef shares the tale of Tepua, a chieftain's daughter, who's on her way to a different island to get married to a man she doesn't know, and ends up almost drowned. The book starts off nicely, with some background setting the scene and the characters, but ends up being too slow paced for me.

I didn't like the pacing very much the first half of the book, but enjoyed the story line enough to keep on going for the first half of the book, but by the halfway mark, I just wanted the novel to be over.

There was a little too much romance and not enough historical detail for me, and the pacing was just so slow, and I didn't feel the characters were drawn enough to really get to know them or care about their lives. I really wanted to like this book, as I really enjoy other, similar novels and I don't think I've ever read a novel set in Tahiti before, but I wanted to learn about the culture and the people, and that was sadly lacking.

---

I was asked to read and review this book by the publishing company, received a free copy of this book to review but was not paid for my thoughts or review

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Winter of the World by Ken Follett

Winter of the World by Ken Follett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I originally got this book from the library when it first came out, but only read the first few chapters before I had to return it, and I finally got around to re-requesting & reading it over the last couple of weeks.

Overall, I did enjoy the book, but definitely not as much as the first one.

There are too many characters to keep track of, and that was a huge turn off for me. Yes, there's a cheat sheet, but if there are so many characters in the book that the author feels there's a need for a cheat sheet, then that should have been his first clue that there are TOO many characters! Because there were so many "main" characters in the book, I felt like I didn't really get to know any of them & really didn't upset when any of them would get killed off (instead I felt relief that it was one less character). The book jumps from character to character (and as such, from different parts of the world) and was just one more thing to keep track of in this large volume (which for the record, I'm a HUGE fan of big books / big series).

Another turn off for me is that WWII events that the average American knows about - such as Pearl Harbor and the Holocaust - are barely mentioned in the book. This actually wasn't as big a turn off for me once I thought about it - I wouldn't have wanted to read a book that spent 100 pages on Pearl Harbor when I know a decent amount about Pearl Harbor. Instead Follett does a great job writing about the world's involvement in the war in general - which is exactly the point of this series, isn't it? So what started as a turn off ended up a positive.

A "neutral" point I'd like to make is that Follett does NOT do a lot of rehashing of the first book like most series books do. Usually there's a little brief mention of a plot point or a little reminder of who the character is, and he doesn't do this. Usually that's a good thing, but again see my first point - there's a LOT of characters to keep track of, and a little bit of reminding would have helped. Not that you can't figure out who everyone is fast enough - the first mention of Maud made me go "who?" but within a sentence or two I remembered who she was, who she married & why she was living in a country that wasn't her own.

So what's good about the book? Well... this book quite neatly talks about so so many events & ties them together realistically. Yes, a few plot points you are going to see happening - which I won't give an example of for spoiling the book. But it's a historical fiction book & anyone who knows their history is going to see some of these plots happening. Follett is such an excellent author - and quite frankly one of my top ten favorite authors - that you want to read the next page, and the next, and the next.



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Written in My Own Heart's Blood

Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(you probably noticed all the non-fiction books I've been reviewing lately. It's because I've been reading this - I love her books, but they do take a while! And the non-fiction books are such quickies, sometimes I just need to finish a book!)

I love the Outlander series, and like everyone else, was eagerly waiting for this one to come out & as always, Gabaldon doesn't disappoint. As always, there are scenes I wish I had more of, and scenes I wish I had less of, but you just have to love Jamie & Claire's love affair, especially now that they are getting older. It's still unrealistic, this perfect love of theirs where one never really fights or gets mad, but that's why it's fiction. The last couple of books dragged for me a bit, but overall I liked the pacing and the plot of this book more.

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Edge of Eternity

Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the final book in the series overall.

Most of the book is set in the 60's - and most of that is spent talking about Civil Rights - which unfortunately, is what I know the most about during the time period. I was really hoping for more about Vietnam - even though one of the characters goes & fights in Vietnam, there's not a lot of time spent in Vietnam & I didn't really "learn" anything or "get" any new impressions.

I was also disappointed that there was so little that took place during the 80's, and other than literally ONE sentence, nothing was mentioned about the space race / going to the moon. I knew there wasn't going to be much mentioned about it, but I thought there'd be more than one sentence, too.

I didn't like the characters as much this time around - most of them just seemed very one sided, and none of them really grew, changed, or had any character development as time went on.

Bad things of course did happen to the characters throughout the book, but overall everything just seemed to work out a little too perfectly - I would have liked to have seen at least one truly horrific thing happen to one of the characters during the course of the 1200 + page book. Yes, there's things like violence, drug abuse, etc., but you'd think in a book revolving around Civil Rights, at least one of the Civil Rights characters would have died. I don't know; maybe I'm just too negative in general this go round.

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the Other Boleyn Girl

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a re-read for me, because I wanted to reread it before seeing the movie. I have to say, I definitely liked the book much better when I read it the first time, when it first came out. Now I know more about Tudor history, I was definitely disappointed. I think I've outgrown Gregory.

(library)

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Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Anyone who reads my blog regularly knows I love historical fiction, but you probably also know I read mainly British historical fiction. Ever since I read a review of this book on another blog, however, I've always wanted to read it. Why? Well, mainly because I know nothing about Madame Tussaud, & know barely anything about the French Revolution, which Tussaud had a bird's eye view of.

Did the book disappoint? Nope, not at all. The book blends perfectly details from Marie's personal life, from her long love affair with scientist Henri, to details about the French court, to the leaders of the French Revolution. The book is very well written, moves at a fast pace, & I think I read the book in just a couple of days (which for this year for me, is very fast indeed).

Technology is wonderful, isn't it? Not only did I read this book on the kindle, but I got the book for free from the library!

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Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alright, I finished rereading this last night and it's time to write out my thoughts!

It's a long, long book. Yup, all the Outlander books are long & yes, I love my big fat books, but this one was long. A lot happens, they bounce around all over the place, and once Claire goes back in time things pick up speed and they run around the globe chasing after people, things, etc. It's a lot to cram into a book, and all of the main action in the book takes place in about 5 months time.

I still don't really care for this book in the series. I liked it more this time through, but I don't really care for it. A lot of that is all the action crammed into a short time period; a lot of it is the book really, really relies heavily on coincidences & I just feel like that is a cop out for an author to take. I don't really care for the ending, either, and as with all the Outlander books, this one just ends. They arrive in Georgia and boom! Book's done, and that's another reason why I don't care for this one. Another thing I don't really care for is how Jamie is so dishonest to Claire throughout the book and she doesn't even call him on the lies. "Oh, guess what I have a son I didn't tell you about & I didn't tell you about it 'cause I thought you'd be made, even though you left me to go back to your husband who you've been sleeping with for 20 years" and she's all like "Oh OK that's cool, you didn't tell me 'cause you thought I'd be mad".

And Claire is just so damned perfect throughout the book, killing me, getting injured, saving people left and right, and never reacts except one scene in the end where she cries for a night while Jamie holds her. And oh she's OK because she just happens to have enough pencillin left from the modern era to save her life even though she lost all her clothes and belongings several times over. Geez.

Still, I enjoy the series, though re-reading through the books I'm finding I like them so much less than I did say, ten years ago (if you are curious, I'm currently almost 39, and read them the first time in my twenties, where I was perhaps more sentimental & liked the romance bits more).

Oh, and one last thought: am I the only one who wonders if Claire is an alcoholic? Geez, in every scene she's drinking. Yes, I know water wasn't clean &/or easily available & everyone drank, but does she have to drink whiskey in every scene?

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Prairie Anna

Prairie Anna by Peggy House
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a children's book, similar to Little House on the Prairie, about a girl named Anna, who has to indure hardship kids today have no clue about. The story is very cute and is based upon a true story, and I think most kids would enjoy it. The illustrations are also very nice and go well with the story.

I had just a couple of little issues - both cars and telephones are mentioned here. I really struggle to believe that a family as poor as Anna's, who had to burn cow dung in order to keep their home warm, would be rich enough to own a phone and a car, a true luxury by any standards at that period in time. The phone quite easily could have been cut out of the story all together, and have a horse replace the car, and the story would have flowed so much better, but the vast majority of kids won't pick up on those facts, I'm sure.

My other interesting tidbit was the colony Anna's family ended up living with - I would have really enjoyed hearing more about it - I felt that whole section was a tease, but that's probably just my viewpoint as an adult.

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The Queen's Governess by Karen Harper

The Queen's Governess by Karen Harper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. I'm an avid Tudor history geek, but I admit I don't know a lot about Kat, and I was absolutely thrilled to get to know her better. The book is wonderfully well written, very well paced, shares details without being overwhelming, and does a wonderful job melding historical fact with a fictional story.

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Year of Wonders

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the book that got me back into reading. Not that I don't always read, so I should say, this is the book that got me back into actually finishing something.

I found the book well paced, though others have said the book was a bit slow at times, I found it flowed nicely. I had never heard of this story before, so I couldn't attest to how historically accurate it was, but it was one of those books that made you think a little.

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Dragonfly in Amber

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This has always been both my least favorite, and very favorite, of all the Outlander books. I loved the whole climatic ending with the final battle, but hated the fact that you start reading about present stuff and past stuff, and hated the whole living in France bit. Everything that happened in France just bored me silly, and everything was just way, way too neat/simple/polished/fell into place. Grr. I hate books like that. Yes, a lot of bad stuff happens, but in the end, Claire and Jaime love each other.

(own book)

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The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner

The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was very excited when I first heard about this book, and was thrilled when I received a review copy. The book sucks you into the drama of Brendan Prescott from the first page. Every time you "meet" a historical character for the first time in the book, such as Elizabeth or William Cecil, you get a little "thrill". It reminded me of when Star Wars was re-released in the theaters, and every time a main character entered the screen for the first time, the audience loudly applauded.

Being called "The Tudor Secret" obviously the book had its secrets & mysteries. I was hoping for a little more romance & magic that I love to find in historical fiction books, but the characters are well written.

I received a copy of this book to review from the author.

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Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox

Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford by Julia Fox
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I heard about this book recently somewhere? online, & immediately requested a copy from the library, Tudor crazy buff that I am. I've always been especially a little obsessed with poor Jane Boleyn - can you imagine, this poor woman, marrying into the crazy Boleyn family (no choice there, but to do what one was told), only to end up having a QUEEN as a sister in law, having to obey her every command, & then to lose your husband as a supposed traitor? Only to end up going on to serve, as lady in waiting, another three queens, only to end up losing your own life in the end? Truth is stranger than fiction, 9 times out of 10, & this book was no exception.

It's well written, very clear, & very through. Of course, there's a big chunk about Anne Boleyn, how could there not be? There is some speculation, & I wish that Fox went into more detail about the events that led Jane to her death - this was really what I was reading the book for, & there's really not much "meat on the bones" there, but of course, history doesn't leave us much details, either.

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Mademoiselle Boleyn by Robin Maxwell

Mademoiselle Boleyn by Robin Maxwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was published in 2007 & I am rather surprised that it took me this long to read it. I guess I'm rather late to the game.

This book is a rather decent historically accurate (and the biggest things that Maxwell takes liberties with, she tells you about in the back of the book) book about Anne Boleyn before she becomes infamous, told from her point of view. It's rather different than other Tudor stuff I've read, & I rather enjoy how different the tale is. Anne is seen first as a young, confused child, who later grows into a strong, beautiful, powerful individual, who has learned to take control of her own destiny.

The book has a few adult scenes in it, which I wasn't expecting, but considering the court & the times, I guess I should have seen them coming. Most of it "fit" and wasn't an explicit scene just to have an explicit scene.

All in all, I liked the book - why only 4 stars? I love Anne Boleyn; she's my favorite of the 6 wives, and she's the one I enjoy reading about the most. But the Anne of this book, as much as I enjoyed reading it, I couldn't really fall in love with.

I got this book from the library.

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Royal Harlot: A Novel of the Countess Castlemaine and King Charles II by Susan Holloway Scott

Royal Harlot: A Novel of the Countess Castlemaine and King Charles II by Susan Holloway Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book!

This was the first time reading a book by Susan Scott, and it won't be my last. I am a huge fan of history, especially British history, but I admit I don't know a lot about this particular time period, so I don't know how historically accurate any of this book actually was. I've heard of Barbara Palmer, the infamous whore of Babylon, of course, but had no idea anything about her.

The book was very well written, very well paced, and I think touched upon the "adult" nature of Barbara & the king's relationship very well, without being over-the-top graphic, a balance that I personally prefer. There were times when I would have liked to have heard more about the historical events going on, but since the book was about *Barbara* and not the time period, I do understand why the author chose to write the book the way she did. All in all, a very good, engrossing book, that I managed to finish in just a few days.

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The Pleasure Palace by Kate Emerson

The Pleasure Palace by Kate Emerson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book, for the most part, and would recommend it to other fans of historical fiction, especially other Tudor fans like I am.

That being said, though I did love the main character, Jane, I felt the "big mystery/secret" was very obvious, from the very first time it was hinted about. The series being called "Secrets of the Tudor Court", I was looking for secrets, plural, and the only other "secret" was a pretty silly, no one really cares kind of secret. I was definitely disappointed in that aspect.

My other big disappointment is from all of the reviews I had read about this book (reviews read after I bought the book), I was really expecting to get swept away in the historical narration & details, and I actually found them extremely lacking. If it wasn't for the historical names thrown about & the names of various castles/locations, you wouldn't have had any idea that the book took place during the Tudor court.

Otherwise, the book was a fast read, and I mostly likely would read the next book in the series, but I wouldn't rush to read it, either.

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