Tudor History Lovers discussion
Tudor Book Recomendations
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Lets fatten up our TBR list! Recomend a book chain
Thats a shame !!!I have allot of her books except the non royals ones.
For all her flaws and lack of accuracy she is a page turner...Except i didnt like The Other Queen.
The Other Queen was a very very slow read for me to...
I enjoy her books as well, but not the non royal ones...
My favorite by far is The Other Boleyn Girl
I enjoy her books as well, but not the non royal ones...
My favorite by far is The Other Boleyn Girl
Yes i think thats my favourite one too :)
What other Royal History books do you enjoy?
Off the top of my head I loved Innocent Traitor and The Memoirs of Cleopatra. I sadly havent done allot of reading this year. I own lots of books on royals so i really need to get my butt into gear and read more. Check out my Tudor and Royal folders and see if any catch your eye :)
Will do!
I've been looking for the book about Marie Antoinette for ages... I'd love to read more about her
I've been looking for the book about Marie Antoinette for ages... I'd love to read more about her
I have the non fiction one by Antonia Fraser. I think this was the one that was dicussed not long ago over at A History of Royals. She is a fascinating woman !! A fiction one would be good but ive not heard of one.
I'm looking for the one by Fraser :)
If you're looking for HF on Marie Antoinette, I only know of a couple...- The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette Carrolly Erickson (I've read it and didn't love it but a lot of people have enjoyed it)
- Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette Sena Jeter Naslund (I haven't read it but heard great things about it - I think the movie with Kirsten Dunst was based on this one)
Really enjoyed Heartstone, the fifth Matthew Shardlake. (My copy had "Shardlake Goes To War!" on the bottom of the front cover, which much amused me.)
Thank you so much for those recommendations Jennifer !!! Susannam, ive heard great things about Mr Matthew Shardlake. I have the first book in the series.
Nearly finished After Elizabeth: The Rise of James of Scotland and the Struggle for the Throne of England - and curently reading Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen
Bit late to convo, but Niecole and Kate the non fiction book about Marie Antoinette (The Journey) done by Fraser is PHENOMENAL. I didn't enjoy the beginning too much, but once it started talking about her in France, I couldn't put it down.
Hurray I'm caught up with this group again!!! FINALLY! And speaking of Fraser, when I was in New Orleans last week I came across this awesomely cute bookshop that sold super old books and I came across a book about MQoS that she wrote waaayy back when. Unfortunately, not a first edition, but it is an embossed hardcover from the '70's which is still pretty cool. And yes, I bought it!
That's great, Aly!
I just got Giles Tremlett's new biography of Catherine of Aragon today. Catherine of Aragon: The Spanish Queen of Henry VIII
My first post on these forums so I hope i'm doing it right!One of my favourite books is 'Henry VIII: King and Court' by Alison Weir which I find is a great source of information about the workings of the Court and the costs etc. to run and maintain it. It's definitely a recommended read if you're interested in that side of things.
Kymberleigh, my copy of that book suffered some horrible water damage and instead of drying out like I hoped it molded :( It is a good book, rather dry but with some good info.
Anyone read Bess of Hardwick: Empire Builder? She was considered "one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in England, second only to Queen Elizabeth I." Great read!
I just found the whole C.J. Samson Tudor trilogy for under thirty bucks!!!! Im super excited!
It's five books now! The fifth isn't out in the US until the new year, though. The fourth is Revelation and the fifth Heartstone. They are all great reads in my book.
Oo! I didn't know that! Ill have to check them out. Thanks!!
Thanks for that -- I've heard a lot about CJ Sansom. Sounds like he is writing similar novels to mine The Marlowe Conspiracy
I'll check it out.
I found the first three of Sansom's in hardcover which I was super excited about LOL. I'm kind of neurotic about having my books all uniform hehe!
I have very recently finished the first CJ Sansom book Dissolution I'm still not sure whether I liked it or not. I must admit to being very criticial regarding a story's historical details. I found this one had a few too many flaws early on and that may have set my mood. Parts of the story were very well done, and on reflection as a debut novel it was suffiently satisfying that I took out the second in the series.
Historian David Loades' The Tudors For Dummies is now available for preview on Google Books, I noticed tonight. It looks to be quite entertainingly written.
Aly wrote: "I found the first three of Sansom's in hardcover which I was super excited about LOL. I'm kind of neurotic about having my books all uniform hehe!"I think that goes for most of us ;)
Just finished and enjoyed Unicorn's Blood by Patricia Finney. It was very different from anything else I've read but I liked it. Has anyone read it or the first in the series, Firedrake's Eye? I haven't read the first one yet but I don't think you have to in order to read the second.
I have read both Firedrake's Eyeand Unicorn's Blood I found both to be a very different style of Tudor period novel. In fact I find that description is woefully inadequate, they are possibly the best elizabethean mysteries I have ever read. Finney's style of writing leaves the pallis modern mystery /murder novel behind. As for her research I found it excellent and she really brings the Late tudor period to life. If you liked them I recommend the PF chisholm Sir Robert Carey novels!
Has anybody read The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty? I saw it at the bookstore and contemplated getting it, but wondered if it would just be a summary of basic information I already knew.
Haven't read it, sorry, Darbus.
I have just put up an article on my blog around the theme of headless tudor covers this time how not to chose a cover for your best selling novel! Keep safe this snowbound yuletidehttp://prognosticationsandpouting.blo...
*A Cover a Cover my kingdom for a Cover!!!
Darbus, I bought the Tudors book quite awhile ago and haven't had time to sink my teeth into it. It looks good, but I too have put it off partly because I'm afraid it's a summary of what I've read before.
I haven't read that but it does look intersting.
Lindsey wrote: "My favorite is also Legacy by Susan Kay. Threads: The Reincarnation of Anne Boleyn by Nell Gavin is also good. Threads The Reincarnation of Anne Boleyn"
I have just finished Threads and LOVED it! I am currently reading
One of my very favorite books is: The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will SomersIt's a bit long (932 pages), but a really wonderful book that gives you some possible ideas and/or a different way to look at HVIII.
One of my favourites hs to be Alison Weir's 'The Lady in the Tower' - it's a detailed biography of Anne Boleyn's last days in the Tower of London before her execution. I haven't come across another book that solely focuses on this before, so i really enjoyed it.
Charli and Heather, both of those are awesome books!!! The Autobiography is one of my favorite books of all time.
No, I haven't read death and the virgin queen, but I've just added it to my 'to read' shelf because I heard it was pretty good!
MAP wrote: "I was actually not a huge fan of Alison Weir's novels. I felt that she seemed to lack an understanding of motivation of her characters, especially with the characters in Innocent Traitor. I was s..."I'm surprised to see that there are people who dislike Alison Weir's novels. I absolutely love them. I am coming from a history background in school and so perhaps that is why I am irritated by historical fallacies in historical novels. I think Weir hits the perfect balance between historical accuracy and an interesting plot. Different strokes! I love many of the other novels suggest here also. I've relaxed my standards regarding historical accuracy in the past year. It is FICTION after all!!
Susanna wrote: "I'm currently reading a biography of Marie Antoinette (Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette The Journey ), and finding it excellent."I agree!! The Journey is fabulous!
Marissa, I completely agree with you re Alison Weir's novels. I love how she obviously knows the history, and of course embellishes, but it doesn't leave me feeling like she was trying to change the story at all. Of course, in the Lady Elizabeth she adds some stuff that probably didn't happen, but I love her author's note at the end explaining why she did what she did.
Did anybody else notice that in The White Queen, P.G. started forgetting one of Elizabeth Woodville's daughters half-way through? She also once referred to one of her Grey sons as the uncle of one of her daughters by Edward IV (but he was obviously her half-brother.) I found that this novel was not edited very well. I read and re-read it, convinced that I misunderstood but no, PG mentions the birth of Mary Plantagenet and then omits her from the rest of the story. Elizabeth Woodville gave birth to 7 daughters, one of whom died in infancy. So there were 6 girls and PG mentions the birth of seven, the death of one and then suddenly starts saying she has 5 daughters (where she should have six left.) Mary did die at the age of 15 but PG doesn't refer to her death and starts omitting her from the story long before the girl would have been 15. I know it's hard to keep all of the children straight when there are so many but it broke the spell for me. [DISCLAIMER: I don't have a copy of the book anymore so my complaint is very vague here but when I did have a copy, I had all the pages marked and all the errors bookmarked with post-its] I don't normally notice things like this and it was just as much out of surprise as annoyance that I kept track of the errors. I thought about emailing Simon and Schuster about it but then decided to just let it go.
Marissa wrote: "Did anybody else notice that in The White Queen, P.G. started forgetting one of Elizabeth Woodville's daughters half-way through? She also once referred to one of her Grey sons as th..."I didn't notice Mary being removed, but I did notice the Uncle/Half-brother thing! I re-read it a few times as well thinking I had misunderstood. Nope, chalk it up to poor editing.
Angela wrote: "I was wondering if anybody has read, Death and the Virgin Queenby Chris Skidmore?"I haven't read it either but I did read his other book, Edward VI: The Lost King of England and I thought it was excellent. He really did his research and I learned a lot about Edward VI that I hadn't known before. I'll definitely check out Death & The Virgin Queen.
Aly wrote: "Marissa, I completely agree with you re Alison Weir's novels. I love how she obviously knows the history, and of course embellishes, but it doesn't leave me feeling like she was trying to change t..."I love when authors do this. Fabricate information if you feel the need, but at least make a note of it! It keeps up your credibility :)
The King's Rose by Alisa M. LibbyInteresting book about Kathryn Howard, who in my opinion, is the most enigmatic of all of Henry's wives. She was so young, and either a complete harlot, or totally naive, depending on who you read or talk to. Also, she is the only one of his wives to not have a portrait painted. This book takes the naive young girl story line, and as such, only adds to the mystery of KH in my opinion. I find it interesting, too, that the only two of Henry's wives that were beheaded were both Howards.
Jennifer wrote: "Angela wrote: "I was wondering if anybody has read, Death and the Virgin Queenby Chris Skidmore?"I haven't read it either but I did read his other book, Edward VI: The Lost..."</i>
I will definitely have to check out Edward VI: The Lost King of England.
I also just purchased the book [book:Aristocrats and I was rather surprised at how well it was compiled. It offers a lovely behind the scenes glance at the monarchs.
Tudor History Lovers
Books mentioned in this topic
An Inconvenient Wife (other topics)Wolf Hall (other topics)
The King's Curse (other topics)
The Mirror & the Light (other topics)
The Song of the Jade Lily (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Matthew Reilly (other topics)Anna Whitelock (other topics)
Hester W. Chapman (other topics)
Fiona Buckley (other topics)
Peter Ackroyd (other topics)
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I want to start collecting all my favorite PG books :)