Elizabeth's comments (member since Oct 14, 2008)

Elizabeth's comments from the European Royalty group.

I concur with Donald...If it is poorly written I can find no reason to hope for a good experience. I will put up with the mixing of history for a good story,(although I prefer my known history to be accurate) However, I will never tolerate a poorly written book, whether it is the author or very often, a poor editing job that is at fault. There is no excuse for a book going to print with poor spelling, or poor grammar!
However, if that isn't the problem I will put a book down up to THREE times and try to come back to it if it generally should be a story I would typically like. I have found that my frame of mind my be the cause, or the writing style of that particular author just doesn't flow for me at that time..However, on more than one occasion I have gone back to a book that I have put aside and have gone on to love it upon another try. Therefore, I always give it more than 2 tries but never more than 3.

Oh that is a GREAT one Sara! I would Love to meet Richard III also and FINALLY put an end to the truth or rumor question! Definitely! I put him on my list of LOVE TO MEETS! I also think Elizabeth I and ask her the very personal question...Is she or isn't she the VIRGIN QUEEN?? I know it's a tad personal, but if I'm going to meet her, I think it's a must ask! LOL

Well certainly now I MUST add THE EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES to my TBR MOUNTAIN! With great pleasure! THe pleasure and pain of these posts...always getting NEW wonderful books to pine for! So many books so little time! I am sure that ALL of us here give up hours of sleep to the joys of becoming lost in our temporary and often changing new worlds we visit through the pages! We are all addicts! Isn't it wonderful!?

Hi Mandy, I read The First Princess of Whales a few years ago and I remember that I put it down a few times before I could really get into it. That may be I think, because I tended to compare too much to other HF and it was more of a lighter read than other HF/HR? I don't know. However once I did commit to it I enjoyed it.

Koens THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY and DARK ANGELS I thought were terrific, NOW FACE TO FACE was also great but not as...I don't know why it just didn't touch me as deeply.


For those who have not read SKP's Welsh trilogy it is truly terribly sad...when they end! I wanted to live with Llewelyn forever....Between Llewelyn and William Marshal..if I could go back and meet a figure in history, I would be hard pressed to choose between these two men...now there is a question to ask? Who would you meet if given the chance?

Hi Donald, I recently had the pleasure of reading the wonderful REMBRANDT'S EYES...what an investment in time but so worth it! A giant gorgeous book! Simon Schama has a wonderful wit, although his sense of humor wasn't as evident, I felt in these pages. The book is one that needs to be given time, it isn't a book that can be read through like a novel.

Another really terrific book on the History of New York, which is so much the beginings of American History, I don't know if it was mentioned,I would imagine it has but a GREAT book on early New York is

City of Dreams: A Novel of Nieuw Amsterdam and Early Manhattan
by Beverly Swerling
What a GREAT book this was! Wow! At first I didn't think I liked it..hmm I am seeing a pattern here...Because, just as you start to KNOW the characters it goes to the next in line..but Swerling does a great job with all of her characters and I found myself loving them all! June of 1661 to June of 1798...over 130 years of history. The next book in the series City of Glory, was okay, however not nearly as good.(IMHO)

Metropolis by,Elizabeth Gaffney...
I couldn't remember the title at first and instead of looking endlessly thru my books I went and looked up the history of what I have bought online..and lo and behold for a well spent $1.99...I remember that this book started off slowly for me but once I was adjusted to the ways of this author I had to keep reading and I really did like this book..I loved the period facts it gave me of New York about the gang life as well as the building of the Brooklyn bridge..it was like no other book that I have read at the time.....it was entertaining and educational.


A bit from the B&N synopsis..
Epic in sweep, Metropolis follows our hero from his arrival in New York harbor through his experiences in Barnum's circus, the criminal underground, and the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and on to a life in Brooklyn that is at once unique and poignantly emblematic of the American experience. In a novel that is wonderfully written, rich in suspense, vivid historical detail, breathtakingly paced, Elizabeth Gaffney captures the wonder and magic of a rambunctious city in a time of change. Metropolis marks a superb fiction debut.