5 Dec 2009

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)


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)

12 comments:

  1. (mental note: I want to walk that -or part of it- some day!)

    Once you have a mental note to walk el camino, you already have one foot on The Way!

    Buen Camino peregrino!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gracias!

    Algún día... some day! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gosh, I'm having a hard time fitting in books, too! I finally finished #2 in a 3 parter... Off to the library for #3!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous6/12/09 16:28

    Hi Cris! I'm so behind on my reading too...I go in phases it seems! I read a book called "House: the only way out, is in."....LOL....I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. You know I like the eerie stuff! :) Hope all is well with you! We got our first snowfall today! Yey! PS: I just joined facebook, was wondering if you were a member?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I liked The Boleyn Inheritance, but when I got to The Other Boleyn girl, I was really disappointed...it seemed vulgar to me in a lot of ways. Of course, I could re-read it later and have a completely different opinion so don't let me put you off the reading. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Aaaand as a side note, I just got the first chapter of Iacobus and I have to say - criminiddly! My Spanish is much more limited than I thought...however, I can "gist" most of it. Maybe I'll just start translating it. I need the practice anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I read the first one. I was hooked with Anne Boleyn, now I'm hooked on the Showtime series The Tudors. Netflix just informed me Season Three would be out on December 15th - I have been on the waiting list for a year!

    The second book sounds great. I've noted it, and once I'm through the stack of books I just ordered from Amazon - I'll get right on it. Thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Rain: Oh, I've done that to myself on more than one occasion... staying up all night until I finish a book?! :o) And yup, I'm on FB!

    Nicky, I don't remember the Boleyn Girl well enough other than the vulgarity which did surprise me. I'm like "The Queen's Fool" the best so far! (am 1/2 way through it). Translating Iacobus?! Woah!

    Nancy, I hear you! The Tudors are addictive! I've got the Season 3 dvds on my Xmas wishlist and am looking forward to Season 4 which should start in a couple of months! I do hope they continue it on past Henry VIII!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Just checking in to see how everything is going. When do you leave to go home. Should be pretty soon.

    ReplyDelete
  10. in exactly 1 week! and am going nuts trying to get everything done that needs to be done before then! :p

    thx!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I know your a one busy gal, just wanted to drop in because after all, it's Friday!

    The countdown has begun!

    ReplyDelete
  12. busy indeed! last night I was at a friend's making paella for 10 people and today I'm off to Bruxelles for the day, and tomorrow I'm off to a brunch with another group of friends!

    trying to pack in as much as possible in my final week! ;o)

    thx for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete

Hey there! Yes you! The quiet one in the back... I'd love it if you hung out for a bit and shared your thoughts!

I might stop by your place with an answer, but I'm more likely to reply right here so click on "email follow up comments" if you'd like to see what I and others have to say and come continue the conversation! ;o)