Audrey Jane’s Comments (group member since May 27, 2014)

Audrey Jane’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Quick heads up, my sister is visiting for the weekend so might not have time during the day but will most likely post my discussion questions tomorrow evening (CET). In any case, looking forward to read further ! I'm enjoying Shelley Puhak's way of bringing history to life.

DQ1 - Chapters 1-9

1. Just a general question for warming up: do you like reading non-fiction-history books in general? If yes, any specific eras you are more interested in than other?
Yes, I love it. History was my favourite subject at school and studied Cultural History at university afterwards. Always happy to give a free history lesson when asked :)
Before I was mainly interested in the Victorian era/19th century and WWII. However the last couple of years I tend to gravitate towards 'micro history' books or 'history from below' in the sense that I rather want to learn about a specific event, subject or about common people's lives etc.
I enjoy reading primary sources as well (chronicles, memoires, correspondence, etc).

2. Are you familiar with the time/historical setting of the book?
Yes, learnt about it at school & university. It's also part of Belgium/France's national history so that might explain why.

3. Which historic fact did you find the most interesting or the weirdest so far?
The Salic law and the system of the wergeld is quite interesting indeed. Anything could be settled with wergeld. However as I'm familiar with the events, the most interesting/weirdest parts are yet to come.

4. Do you think the author manages to bring these obscure characters into life? What about her writing style?
I agree with what Melinda wrote. I wasn't familiar with the "narrative non-fiction" style either until I read The Burgundians: A Vanished Empire. I was kind of on the fence about it at the beginning as it seems that there's a lot of speculation involved however I'm all for making history more accessible to a wider audience. So yes, copy/paste what Melinda said.

5. Concerning the poisoned dagger episode, which was one of the high points of this part (at least for me): did you think they would manage to pull it off?
I'm trying to recall what my inital reaction was when first hearing about this particular incident but all I can remember is that I was absolutely revited from beginning to the end. But I'm not surprised given all the events leading up to this. It's just one scheme/double crossing after the other. However I'm always amazed at how blindly loyal some people are, even at the costs of their own lives. Or Fredegonde has some amazing persuasion skills.

Works for me as well :)

I'm also in ! When my medieval history professor started to tell this story I thought at first their quarrel somewhat petty, borderline hilarious and then suddenly it took epic proportions...

The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak

Brunhild was a Spanish princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet—in the 6th-century Merovingian Empire, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport—these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms for decades, changing the face of Europe.

The two queens commanded armies and negotiated with kings and popes. They formed coalitions and broke them, mothered children and lost them. They fought a years-long civil war—against each other. With ingenuity and skill, they battled to stay alive in the game of statecraft, and in the process laid the foundations of what would one day be Charlemagne’s empire. Yet after Brunhild and Fredegund’s deaths—one gentle, the other horrific—their stories were rewritten, their names consigned to slander and legend.

In The Dark Queens, award-winning writer Shelley Puhak sets the record straight. She resurrects two very real women in all their complexity, painting a richly detailed portrait of an unfamiliar time and striking at the roots of some of our culture’s stubbornest myths about female power. The Dark Queens offers proof that the relationships between women can transform the world.

I'm done with my reading as well. I've updated the spreadsheet yesterday with my book. Unfortunately I didn't have much reading time this round due to the end of year rush at work and at home :)
I'm ready now for Christmas and the festivities!! Happy to have been able to participate to this round of Wheels. See you all around :)

Heather, how was The Skeleton Key ? I've been meaning to add it to my TBR.

Oh, thank you, Karolyn ! I completely missed that. I will just participate to accumulate participation points for the next team challenge then ;) I will add my books to the spreadsheet for round 5 tomorrow.

I've added my last book for round 4 yesterday (Nettle & Bone).

Quick question. Nettle and Bone is a BOM, can I still claim participation points even though I've already finished it before the start date ?

Robin wrote: "Heather wrote: "Karolyn wrote: "Thanks y’all! His surgery went well, now the fun of rehab is starting!

Is everyone having a good/acceptable Monday? Anyone have big plans this week (US Thanksgiving..."

Interesting ! You wonder why he wrote the book in the first place. What was he expecting ? It seems like he regretted it a bit afterwards :D

I'm currently reading a French academic publication about history of celibates - singlehood is actually a better translation as they still might have sexual relationships (however in French if you're not married, you're legally 'celibate' = celibataire. Weird how the meaning of the word differs in English). The book discusses historical figures in a chronological order. It starts with the daughters of Charlemagne. I really like that they shed a light on this topic.

I've finished my second and last book for this round. Spreadsheet updated.

@Karolyn: I hope you ever get the chance to visit the Loire valley. It's beautiful ! My favourite castles are the Chambord and the Chenonceau :) I've been visiting the region since I was a child, it's the reason I studied history.

Wishing you a pleasant week with your family at Disneyworld, Laura !

I'm currently enjoying some much needed vacation at my sister's place in the Loire Valley. I was getting overworked and quite irritable at work so I figured it was about time haha.

Last weekend we got stranded in Paris after a major power outage at one of the main train stations. After 4 hours of hopeful waiting, we were asked to evacuate the premises and informed that all trains for that evening were cancelled. We had not other choice to stay at a cheap hotel near the station (with paper thin walls !) and take the first train back in the morning. We were so glad to be home ! Luckily we can laugh about it now and look forward to our next visit to Paris :)

DNF a book is definitely allowed. I've done that in the past as well and try to do that more often lately instead of skimming through which I used to do. Why waste precious reading time ;-)

I've finished Dragonwyck by Anya Seton and was pleasantly surprised. At first I was a bit worried that it would read like one of Georgette Heyer's books, luckily it didn't. It's a gothic novel/dark romance. I tend to pick up these kind of books for the setting and the atmosphere the story evokes. I want to read Katherine by the same author next.

Laura, for me both covers seem blue enough at least on my phone.

Safe travels Karolyn ! Hope everything went smoothly.

I won't be able to finish my current book before this round ends. I don't think it would help out with any letters of our letters either. Will log it in for round 3 on the spreadsheet. Wishing you all a pleasant weekend !

I've finished my book Ashes of Honor and updated the planning spreadsheet. It's currently marked down for the letter O but it can also work for the letters D or E.

I've started The Maiden for a green cover bonus however I don't know yet for which letters it could work (only 30 pages in). Will check and update later.

Anyway I'm enjoying a day off today so lot's of reading planned !

I'm reading two books simultaneously; one ebook and the other one is a hardcover. I'm enjoying both at the moment but will finish my ebook first as I tend the read faster on my ereader.

Heather wrote: "Welcome Audrey, thank you for linking your shelf. The Maiden looks like it is green enough and very interesting, I hope you enjoy reading it.

Also yes the character October Daye would work for O or D.

We have a tracking Spreadsheet please pop over and add the books you plan/ are reading for the challenge. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/..."

Thanks, Heather ! I thought I've added my book to the spreadsheet already but can't find it back. Will add it again :) And I hope you feel better soon !

Captains, I plan to read Ashes of Honor in order to help with the letter "O" in the spell it out (main character: October Daye).

Edit: I've just read Karolyn's post about the unlimited green cover bonuses - if that's the case, is this green enough ?