April's comments (member since Aug 29, 2008)

April's comments from the European Royalty group.

I can't wait for the discussions to begin on Here by Dragons! I read it last month, but I would read it again with you guys if I wasn't at the end of When Christ and his Saints Slept!

Misfit, Susan Howatch sounds interesting! In what order did you read her books?

Oh my yes! This forum opened me up to Penman and her Welsh trilogy is the best! ;)Here be Dragons has offically replaced Gone with the Wind as my favorite!
After finishing up the Welsh trilogy I read Katherine and it was wonderful! It took me a little bit to get into it and the type was annoying, but it was worth it! A true love story!
I wanted to start Penman's Eleanor trilogy, but I couldn't find it at Barnes and Noble so I ordered them online. I just got When Christ and His Saints Slept yesterday! I'm SO excited to start it!
While I was waiting to get that I started The Fool's Tale A Novel. It's about Maelgwyn ap Cadwallon (king of a small portion of Wales) and it's at the same time that Llewellyn (from Here be Dragons) was attempting to unite Wales against the English.
It's okay so far. I'm not sure how historically accurate it is because Penman's trilogy is the first I've read about Wales. I just loved Penman's Welsh characters so much that I can't stand anyone else's version! LOL! Isn't it funny how an awesome book ruins you in that way? ;)

Me too Emily! I was thinking my gosh this is slow and than BAM! It finally started to pick up!
I didn't know details of this time either and I didn't know exactly how anything turned out. I had to restrain myself from looking it up or reading the ahead. Hehe!

Okay! Thanks for the tip, Misfit! I'll try to stay away!!!

Wow freaky! I just finished Falls the Shadow last night! Thank goodness The Reckoning came in the mail the other day! I got lucky and found a 1st edition on Ebay!
My heart is in Wales right along with you guy's! I loved Falls the Shadow, but I have to admit that Here be Dragons is still in my top all time spot. Let's see if The Reckoning can knock it out! Llewelyn and Joanna are my all time favorite characters now. It will be hard to do! ;)

Okay freaky! I am obsessed with Rock Band! LOL I LOVE playing the drums AND I collect Barbies too! I have easily over 100!
Don't you think it's a little freaky how much we all have in common?
I have a blog too. It's aprilmassad.blogspot.com! I can't wait to read everyone else's!

Oh my goodness Laura! I can't put the book down! I have to put it out of my sight or I get nothing done! LOL
It's amazing how she brings so many characters in but somehow she does it so that I remember them all! I'm totally hooked!

Name: April Massad

Where you're from: Holdenville, OK

Where you live now: Tahlequah, OK

Birthday: April 9, 1979

Family: My hubbie and I are junior high sweethearts. We have been together for 15 yeras and we have been married 6. He's a dentist and we have a 3 year old son, Brodey!

Job: Professional Photographer, but I stay at home now with my son and do work for scrapbook magazines and teach classes.

Hobbies: reading, scuba diving, scrapbooking, and too many to add! ;)

Favorite Book: Gone with the Wind (I could read it a million times)

Movie: Too many to narrow down! LOL Pride and Prejudice, Sweetest Thing, Talladega Nights, Gone with the Wind, Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, oh too many!

Song: I listen to all kinds of music from classical to rap to pop

Food: I love food! I love to cook I love to eat! I am probably the least picky person ever. I love it all!

Smell: Clean clothes and my son!

Sport: I'll watch any sport! My dad had ESPN on 24/7. I'll even watch tough man competition or a lumberjack competition!

How you became interested in historical fiction (or non!): When I was young I was always drawn to books that were set in a different time period. I loved The Secret Garden and Behind the Attic Wall. I read Gone with the Wind when I was in junior high and fell in love! I went through a US History period, but when I read PG's TOBG I was obsessed with the Tudors! The rest is history! Hehe!

Yes I'm late to the game, too! I have been working my way to SKP's books and here I am! I started Here be Dragons yesterday. It was my son's third birthday so I only made it to page 40. I'm already hooked and have already shed a tear. Her writing is beautiful. If her other books are as good as these first 40 pages I'm hopping right on the SKP bandwagon!

Oh thanks again Sara! You are always so helpful! I'll check Amazon and Half.com!
So far The Kings Daughter is really good. I'm going to read To Hold the Crown by Jean Plaidy next! I think it's also about Elizabeth of York.

THANK YOU Sara!! I will see if I can track that one down! Hopefully they will publish it again! I would be interested to read about her then.
I read The Reluctant Queen and she doesn't stand out to me when I think of it. I'm going to go back and scan through that one again and see!

I have only given up on one book. It was The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn. I just couldn't get into it. I didn't like the writing style so I just stopped reading it.
If I get bored with part of a book I'll just skim until I get interested again. I have finished some books that way. I don't know if that counts as finishing it, actually! LOL

Okay I just finished Worth's Lady of the Roses. It was so depressing. I sat and cried after I finished it. My husband just walks in and he automatically knows I've been reading a book! LOL
If you are going to start any of Worth's books, I suggest reading Lady of the Roses before the three books on Richard III. I wish I had done that.
I am about to start Worth's new book The King's Daughter. It's about Elizabeth of York(Henry VII's wife and mother to Henry VIII)
Does anyone know if there have been any books written about Marguerite of Anjou(Henry VI's wife)? Lady of the Roses piqued my interest of her. She was a little crazy, but I would love to read more about her!

Nona I just finished that trilogy by Worth and it was so, so good. I am reading Lady of the Roses right now and I love it too! She's a wonderful author!
If you are interested in Richard III, I also I loved the two books by Anne Easter Smith and Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (thanks Donald!).
I'm about to tackle Penman's novels and I know she has at least one about Richard III. I've heard great things about them. Jean Plaidy has one called The Reluctant Queen about Richard's wife, Anne. It was pretty good. Not that best Plaidy, but good!

I am enjoying reading about Richard III too! It all started when I read The Reluctant Queen: The Story of Anne of York. I was instantly curious about Richard III and that whole time period.
I just finished A Rose for the Crown: A Novel and Daughter of York: A Novel by Anne Easter Smith. LOVED them both. I love it when I get so into the book and characters that I get emotional with them. (My husband will walk in and go "what's wrong!?!?", see the book in my hand, and know why I'm sobbing. LOL) I would love for her to come out with more novels. I really loved those two!
I am starting The Rose of York: Love and War by Sandra Worth. I just ordered The Rose of York: Fall from Grace, The Rose of York: Crown of Destiny, and Lady of the Roses: A Novel of the Wars of the Roses. I can't wait to get into this series. I also noticed she has a new book out December 2 called The King's Daughter about Elizabeth of York. I can't wait to get that one also!

I LOVE those three books by Karleen Koen! I found one at Sam's, read it, and couldn't WAIT to read the other two! I can't remember which ones I read first. They were so good I will probably read them all again when I make my way back to that time period!

Yes thank you Holly! I commented and will link!

Before my first Philippa Gregory novel all I read was American historical fiction. I credit her for hooking me into European royal history. Her novels were so entertaining that when I read the first one I thought "this can't be 100% accurate." I went on to read everything else she had out at the time. (I tend to do this when I find a new author LOL)
Once I was finished with her, I wanted to find out the truth. I guess it was like solving a puzzle for me. What was real and what was fictionalized. Once I started reading more historically accurate novels I truly fell in love with Euoropean royalty. I've been hooked ever since.
Maybe if PG's novels hadn't piqued my interest I wouldn't be reading what I do today! That would be terrible because I LOVE my European history! ;)
BUT Misfit, I know exactly what you mean. I cannot remember for the life of me what book she wrote an entry for, but anyway, I remember thinking who does she think she is? Wow.
I give her credit for helping popularize Eurpoean history and get people interested in it, but she is by no means a historian. Just like Sara said I hope people realize her books are fiction and that is what I appreciate them as. Fiction.

Oh I loved that one too, Emily!
I picked it up right after I read every Philippa Gregory novel I could find. I needed a good dose of reality and I'm glad I started off with that! ;)