Tudor History Lovers discussion
Introductions
You're right, it definitely enhances our bond with each other. My husband's always asking me if I'm too tired to read. He'd love it, if I read to them every night. Fall and winter are better times since it get's dark earlier.
Susan C wrote: "You're right, it definitely enhances our bond with each other. My husband's always asking me if I'm too tired to read. He'd love it, if I read to them every night. Fall and winter are better tim..."Sounds so cozy! I wish my husband wanted me to read to him. I would love it. Mind you, he's pretty good when I get to a part that's too good not to sure and he asks all the right questions or makes the right comments. He's not a reader by any means but knows I definitely am so he gets to learn little tidbits of information through me :)
Maybe he'll come around. We've been married 15 years.
It will be 1 year for us next Sunday (Aug 23) so I guess I've got a way to go!
Our 15th was Aug.6,it goes by in the blink of an eye if it's good.
Sawyer wrote: "Thank you for all of the kind welcomes! I spend a lot of time browsing Amazon, and have noticed that this past year there have been an enormous number of new HF books about the Tudors. I read all ..."A LADY RAISED HIGH, by Laurien Gardner, is very good. There's no real conflict with THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL. I recently read THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HENRY VIII, however, by Margaret George, and it is a very different story re Mary. According to "Henry," Mary was an experienced courtesan in the French court and had been King Francis's mistress. According to historical sources, there were rumors that she had several affairs, but these rumors may have been untrue. Henry persuaded her to come to his court and be maid-of-honor to Catherine. There is NOTHING in George's book about family pressure on either Anne or Mary re the king. In this book, Mary didn't marry William Carey until AFTER the affair with Henry, during which she might or might not have borne him two children. Re Anne, Henry maintained throughout that she was a witch. SO.... I guess we just keep reading!
Re introduction: I'm 61, I write books for a living, I have three children and eight grandchildren, will have nine grandchildren in December! Big age range -- the oldest is starting college this fall at Kansas State, where his parents met, and the youngest is still a fetus.
I live in Omaha, in the former sexton's apartment in a 100-year-old church near downtown.
Mary - Just curious, if you don't mind my asking, what type of books do you write?
Lyn wrote: "Mary - Just curious, if you don't mind my asking, what type of books do you write? "Thanks for asking, Lyn. I have written a book that's basically a short course on business writing, but I most enjoy writing about spirituality, meditation, and prayer, for adults and children. (http://www.LifeIsPoetry.net)
Re other Anne Boleyn authors, after looking at reviews on Amazon, I went to eBay and ordered THE CONCUBINE by Norah Lofts. The reviews say that Lofts is sympathetic to Anne, and after reading THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HENRY VIII, in which, when "Henry" speaks of Anne at all, she is described in the vilest of terms, I need a refreshing point of view!
Margaret George wrote a wonderful book about Mary Queen of Scots. I had just finished a detailed history of Mary, Queen of Scots by Alison Weir when I read the Mary George book. The Margaret George book was accurate and a much easier read.
Hi..Im married and live in Australia. This is a great group. Ive been adding to my pile like crazy.Is there a September group read ?
Welcome Kate! It's definitely worth reading through old posts to get recommendations. There are Tudor self taught historians (my opinion) on here who you can rely on their suggestions.
Kate wrote: "Hi..Im married and live in Australia. This is a great group. Ive been adding to my pile like crazy.Is there a September group read ?
"
welcome. You will like it in this group.
I think we had decided to do the group reads every other month to make it where more people can participate. The next group read is set for Oct. If you go to the polls page can see we voted on Lady Jane G. and that the book be fiction this time.
Wen wrote: "Well guess I will do an intro too despite being on here for a little bit now. I am 38 (nearly 39 but will hang on to the 38 til the last possible moment). I am a single mom to an adopted teenage bo..."Hey Wen - I just stumbled on another author who writes biblical fiction about women from the Bible. She just joined one of my other groups. Her name is Eva Etzioni-Halevy and she has written ;
The Triumph of Deborah
The Garden of Ruth
The Song of Hannah A Novel
I haven't read any of them, but know you are into this type of fiction, so I thought you might check them out.
Lyn wrote: "Wen wrote: "Well guess I will do an intro too despite being on here for a little bit now. I am 38 (nearly 39 but will hang on to the 38 til the last possible moment). I am a single mom to an adopte..."Thanks for looking out for me but I have read the book about Hannah and Ruth and loved them and have the book about Deborah on my to read list. :D Good ones for you to check out too if interested.
Hi I'm Aly. I'm a 23 year old from Montana. Currently a senior at Montana State University, double majoring in Photography and History. Not married, no kids. I first became interested in Tudor history when the Other Boleyn Girl came out in theaters. I wanted to know the real story, so I started digging. Since then, I have added history as one of my majors and travelled to England just to see the Tower of London, Hampton Court, Hever Castle, and other various things associated with the Tudor period. The two most pivotal moments for me happened to be seeing Elizabeth I's tomb, and the "Jane" graffiti carved on the inside of the Beauchamp Tower in the Tower of London. I'm not a huge fan of Phillipa Gregory. I think she takes A LOT of creative license. If I didn't know the history though, I think I would like her books a lot more! And since studying more about the dress of the Era, the way that people talked, and the actual unfolding of the events, I can't watch the Other Boleyn Girl because I just nitpick at what is wrong!!! AA!!! I guess I'm kinda neurotic that way......
Wen wrote: "Lyn wrote: "Wen wrote: "Well guess I will do an intro too despite being on here for a little bit now. I am 38 (nearly 39 but will hang on to the 38 til the last possible moment). I am a single mom ..."i should have looked at your book list first, LOL. I have added them to my TBR. Glad you liked the ones you read.
Lyn wrote: "Wen wrote: "Lyn wrote: "Wen wrote: "Well guess I will do an intro too despite being on here for a little bit now. I am 38 (nearly 39 but will hang on to the 38 til the last possible moment). I am a..."That is fine. My book list on the To read ones is pretty long now. But if you like biblical fiction, I think you will like hers. Also others to check are Marek Halter and Rebecca Kohn.
Hi Aly - I think you'll come to learn that all of us are a little neurotic in one way or another. Check out the OCD thread if you haven't already :)You're going to love this group! It's fantastic.
Thought it only proper to introduce myself before I read too much about anyone else. Hi - I'm 31, dating someone for 5 years, no kids but we have a wonderful dog and a place near Chicago. Won't bore you with details of my job; suffice it to say it drives me to read more. I've always thought history made for the best books, because you just can't make up some of the things that have actually happened. It also is a delightful way to connect with things outside of my Midwest-31-yr-old self.I've been on Goodreads for a few months now, but never noticed this group because, to be honest, I didn't know that many people were interested in Tudors (so happy to find out I was wrong!).
My undergrad and MA are both in History - global/comparative - but have been interested in the Tudors ever since an entry level History course in college, and ever since I have been correcting people that the current Queen is not the only Queen Elizabeth! I'm also a bit of an Angliophile, so most things related to England's literature and history interest me.
Quick question - the book that is listed for August - is that currently being read? There is a copy at my local bookstore that I'm anxious to pick up tonight. If you are all ready to start a new book though, I'd be more than happy to grab them both! :) Thanks!
Paula wrote: "...Quick question - the book that is listed for August - is that currently being read? There is a copy at my local bookstore that I'm anxious to pick up tonight. If you are all ready to start a new book though, I'd be more than happy to grab them both!..."Welcome to the group Paula, you sound alot like me, lol! The August/September book is the the non fiction Edward VI book and we're just voting on the October/November read (but it will be a fiction novel about Lady Jane Grey).
Thanks Thalia! I will definitely get that book tonight so that I can start to follow/join the discussion!
Hello All, I just joined...I have 0 friends :) Trying to catch up on all the posts.
37 year old wife and mom of 2 teens, reading is my "Calgon".
So, this group will start reading A novel about Lady Jane Grey in October?
Hi Carmen! Sent you a friend request so you'll have at least 1 :DThere's lots of posts to read on her and they're lots of fun to read! Hope you add some comments on old topics and get them active again. We do love to talk.
Every other month we're doing a group read. The mods make up a list of people we can vote on to read about (Tudor-related of course) and then we voted on fiction or non-fiction. So far it looks like it's going to be Innocent Traitor, which is fiction and we just finished the book on Edward VI, which everyone (I think) found very informative and a good read. I for one though am so glad we're taking a non-fiction break :D
Carmen wrote: "Hello All, I just joined...I have 0 friends :) Trying to catch up on all the posts.
37 year old wife and mom of 2 teens, reading is my "Calgon".
So, this group will start reading A novel abou..."
Welcome! I highly recommend reading past posts and checking out the OCD thread.
I joined my sister and her kids on Goodreads this summer (my 3 friends)but just got around to looking at groups and here I am!The personals--I'm 54 years old and live in the Philly suburbs with my husband and 4 cats. I'm not sure but I think my love affair with the Tudors started the "The Six Wives of Henry VII" on TV when I was in high school. I went on to Jean Plaidy (I still have these!!!)--and then I bought Mary M. Luke's "Gloriana: The Years of Elizabeth I" and it went from there. It's wonderful to find this group where I won't get a blank stare when I admit to collecting biographies of her--the general reaction being "you read one, what do you need with more than that?"
At the moment I'm laid off and feeling poor :) so I decided to revisit my collection, so keep an eye on my booklist!
Welcome Karen! Since you live in PA don't forget about your library for books. They belong to a system (ILL) where they can get a book from anywhere in the state, if they don't own a copy themselves.visit the OCD site you'll fit right in!
Welcome Karen and Carmen. This is a great group. Hope you enjoy it. I agree, it is fun to have a place where the people are as Tudor fanatic as I am.
Hi everyone! Welcome to the group :)It's a fantastic group with fantastic people! You'll love it. Who knew there were so many of us Tudor lovers?
Hello all! I just recently joined this group. I am the 24 y/o mother of a 5 m/o wonderful baby boy and the step-mother to a beautiful 9 y/o girl. I work in a collegiate library and thankfully my job affords me much time to read and research books I would enjoy. And sometimes they even buy them! Ha Ha. My home life is utter chaos from the time I get home until the kiddos go to bed. Once they are in bed I have a precious hour or two to read. Reading is probably my favorite past time. I’m always looking for and trying out new authors. My favorite genre is Historical Fiction; with an emphasis on Tudor history. I first became interested in the Tudors, ironically, by a song called “I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am” by Harry Champion. Odd, I know, but my mother explained that it was sort of a play off of Henry VIII the old king of England. I think I was in 6th grade at the time and quickly became engrossed by the Tudors. However, many of my teachers didn’t approve of the subject matter so I let it go by the wayside. I didn’t really look at the Tudors again until I was in my college history class. I have been obsessed ever since. I’m very happy to have found this group! I just placed my order for Innocent Traitor. I just wish I had any kind of book store here in my very small (5,000 or so people) town. I’m really bad at writing these intros. I know I’m rambling, I apologize.
My copy of "Innocent Traitor" just arrived before work this morning! I'm so excited to go home now! Sara - welcome! I love that you referenced that song! When I first told my boyfriend that I joined this group he sang the song. He's full of random musical memories and I was just proud that he picked the right king to sing about : )
Paula wrote: "He's full of random musical memories and I was just proud that he picked the right king to sing about : ) "That's just awesome. My husband thinks I'm completely crazy for being obsessed with the Tudors. He's very much an "in the now/future" type. What can I say opposites attract!
Hi Sara! Welcome to the group :)My friend sings that song to me too. And I think most people in my life think I'm totally crazy for being Tudor-obsessed as well!
Sara wrote: "Paula wrote: "He's full of random musical memories and I was just proud that he picked the right king to sing about : ) "That's just awesome. My husband thinks I'm completely crazy for being o..."
Oh, I'm pretty sure that's the extent of his knowledge. :) He's not sure why I'm interested in anything that occurred "sooo long ago." :)
I don't feel nearly as alone anymore. You all are wonderful and very welcoming.
Sara wrote: "Hello all! I just recently joined this group. I am the 24 y/o mother of a 5 m/o wonderful baby boy and the step-mother to a beautiful 9 y/o girl. I work in a collegiate library and thankfully my..."Welcome. You will like it here. Nice bunch of folks.
ON the Henry VIII song... isn't that the one Patrick Swayze sang over and over to Whoopie Goldburg in Ghost to pester her into helping him???
Welcome Sara. Glad to have you in the group. Like you, I am a HF lover in general, but especially love the Tudors. This group is a great bunch, lots of good recommendations, discussions, group reads, etc. Showing my age, when I was about 10 (way back when) the group Herman's Hermits had popular version of "I'm Henry the VIII, I Am" on the radio. I still have that version on my MP3 player today.
And I don't even think my hubby knows who Henry VIII is (Just Kidding), but I bet he can't name any of his wives, or children!!
Lyn wrote: "Showing my age, when I was about 10 (way back when) the group Herman's Hermits had popular version of "I'm Henry the VIII, I Am" on the radio. I still have that version on my MP3 player today. "I'm pretty sure that's the same song. Herman Hermits covered Harry Champion's version if I am not mistaken.
HiI just recently joined this group, i love all books related to history, but especially those that are related to the tudors, my favorite tudor is Mary , and Catalina de Aragon.
My favorite author is Jean Plaidy and Margaret George, im looking to get to know you all, and the autors you my recomend me
Welcome to the group Lina_mp.As you can see for the October group read , we are doing Innocent Traitor, Alison Weir. Hope you can join us :)
Kate wrote: "Welcome to the group Lina_mp.As you can see for the October group read , we are doing Innocent Traitor, Alison Weir. Hope you can join us :) "
thnak you, yes i have the book ready to start reading
Lina_mp wrote: "HiI just recently joined this group, i love all books related to history, but especially those that are related to the tudors, my favorite tudor is Mary , and Catalina de Aragon.
Hello Lina_mp. Welcome! These people are really nice. Nice to have you on board!
Welcome Lina - this is a great group. Can't wait to discuss with you.
Hi, I'm Cheryl. 53, married with a cat and currently unemployed like half of the state. I'm also addicted to everything Tudor, Plantagenet, or anything else pre-1700s British Isles history - fiction and non-fiction. So my question is this. WHEN WILL SUSAN HIGGINBOTHAM and ELIZABETH CHADWICK be available on my Kindle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Just devoured Wolf Hall and moving on to Threads by Nell Gavin. Then may take a break for a good cozy mystery.
Hey Cheryl - welcome. I am about the same age, but retired (my word for Unemployed!). I love everything Historical, especially the various royalty/ruling families throughout history. I look forward to getting to know you.
Hi Cheryl! Looking forward to chatting with you :)
Hi my name is Julie - I just found Goodreads yesterday and can't believe I have been missing out! I'm 32, live in Watertown, MA and work for an investment firm. I did my graduate work in Tudor history (Mary Tudor is my favorite) but don't do anything with it currently (see job at investment firm) so I like to keep my toes in the water and talk with other Tudor fanatics :)
I just bought Wolf Hall for the Kindle and can't wait to read it! I am also going to find some time to read Linda Porter's bio of Mary.
Hey Julie!!! I was going to recommend Linda Porter's book on Mary before I saw you mentioned it!! I had a hard time reading it because I don't really like Mary, but it was still good to get some perspective on her situation! Welcome to the group!
Thanks Aly! Mary isn't always the most sympathetic of the Tudors that's for sure - and that husband - he really wasn't all that great either!!
Tudor History Lovers
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We read all the Harry Potters and are..."
That sounds wonderful! I think books really have a way of bringing people together and it's fantastic that you are able to connect with your husband over them. I can imagine that even after reading for 15 mins. you have much longer conversations about the books?