Monthly Reading: November'09

Woah! Have I really only read 2 books this month?! I hope I didn't forget anyone... :o(

Why so little? Too much work, too much "life", too little reading time! :p

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

Gregory seems to have decided it's not worth writing about Jane Seymore (the Queen who finally gave Henry VIII what he wanted: a son!) since this book follows her previous novel The Other Boleyn Girl and we appear to have skipped a Queen! It starts out with the impending departure of Anna of Cleves (wife #4) for England, with Jane Boleyn's (the Boleyn sister-in-law who accused her husband and Anne of...) hopes of returning to court to attend upon the new Queen and silly Kitty Howard's dreams of dresses and boys. With 3 narrators, it was hard to keep track of who's story it is we're reading! Each new chapter I had to double check who's the one whose supposed to be talking... A bit bland and confusing, but it's got me looking forward to the Tudor's take on young Kitty Howard after the holidays!... And I couldn't help feeling sorry for Anna of Cleves who was completely clueless as to what was expected of her and how to please the crazy English monarch! ;o)

Iacobus by Matilde Asensi

A Spanish historical mystery novel set in the early XIVth century. A knight of St John (old rivals of the Templar Knights) with someithing of a reputation as a detective (il Perquisitore) gets sent on an assignment by Pope John XXII to find out if the Templars were really responsible for the death of his predecessor Celement V as well as the French king Philippe IV (historical background: both were cursed -to their 13th generation- by Jacques de Molay, Preceptor of the Templars, after the order was disbanded as "heretics" when he was being burnt at the stake... all died within a short period of time under mysterious circumstances, and all the king's offspring fared badly as well... ending up in the 100 years' war between England and France), as well as what happened to their treasure that was never found in their main fortress in Paris. The mission will take him from Spain to Avignon to Paris and then back down to the Pyrenees to follow the greatest pilgrimage route of Medieval Europe: el Camino de Santiago all the way to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. (mental note: I want to walk that -or part of it- some day!) 

A pretty good thriller with some mysterious characters and a thrilling period of history as a background. I zipped right through it! :o)

How's your Spanish? You can download first chapters of any of her novels here.

Have also read a Star Wars novel from the Legacy of the Force series (#2 - Bloodlines), but am saving up talking about those as a group once I'm done with all 9. ;o)