What Are You Reading Right Now? ( Hwæt béon ðu bocrædung?) Showing 7,201-7,250 of 10,105

[Simona]

I didn't like Druon that much, personally.

[Kimber]

Oh no Simona! I loved Druon's Accursed Kings series! If you do try Druon start with The Iron King. Because he is a French author and translated into many languages his books are often difficult to link but he's easy to search so... Maurice Druon :D
I haven't read any Scarrow and only one of Iggulden but I hear the
War of the Roses series he does is quite good. I guess it just depends on whether you'd like to read about the French and the English from the English point of view (Iggulden] or the French (Druon]. Forgive me, my close parentheses button is kablooey on my computer. It's hard living with out the match to this ( and without zeros. Especially since my email addy has a zero in it. *sigh*

[May]

I'm reading Book 3 Of James Aitcheson's trilogy. Norman Knights and Saxon locals in the years just after 1066. Enjoying them immensely!!!

[happy]

I finished Tipping Point - I liked it except for the ending. It's a modern Naval Thriller set on a cruiser during rising international tensions including a war between Pakistan and India. Capt Poyer ends this one with a cliffhanger - a war between the US and China is just beginning - I guess that means there will be at least on more entry in the series :)

Currently reading something that might be of interest to some here - a newish (copywrite 2009) biography of Edward I (Longshanks of Braveheart infamy)

[Gretchen]

Finished The Winter Mantle. I'm still listening to The Goldfinch. It's going to be a rough listen. (view spoiler)[ Theo's dad came to take him to Vegas. The voice the narrator is using for Xandra is hard on my ears. (hide spoiler)]
I started Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois. I'm pretty excited for it. I don't really know why there isn't any more written about Catherine d'Medici and her brood. There certainly was enough drama.

[Jane]

Children of Earth and Sky

[Kimber]

Gretchen wrote:
I started Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois. I'm pretty excited for it. I don't really know why there isn't any more written about Catherine d'Medici and her brood.


If you're interested in more d'Medici you can give
Catherine de Medici 1-3: Madame Serpent/The Italian Woman/Queen Jezebel series a try.

[Gretchen]

Kimber wrote: "Gretchen wrote:
I started Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois. I'm pretty excited for it. I don't really know why there isn't any more written about Catherine d'Medici and her brood...."

I adore Jean Plaidy. She's what got me started with historical fiction. I have been wanting to read her Catherine de Medici books for a long time but I am having a hard time getting a hold of any. I was hoping when they started re-releasing her books with updated (but not better) covers, they would be easier to find. That's not really turning out to be the case.

[Marilyn]

Just finished Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem. OMG! Soon good! I feel so strongly the need to share with everyone. I had come across a the title before but never got around to downloading it to my Kindle. Left a review if anyone is interested.

[Kimber]

Gretchen wrote: "Kimber wrote: "Gretchen wrote:
I started Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois. I'm pretty excited for it. I don't really know why there isn't any more written about Catherine d'Medici..."

I won't tell you how easily they are found on kindle :D

[Ace]

Marilyn wrote: "Just finished Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem. OMG! Soon good! I feel so strongly the need to share with everyone. I had come across a the title before but never got around to downloading it to ..."

Looks good Marilyn (and Jane, great review). Have added as Mr Ace and I will both enjoy this one.

[Gretchen]

Plaidy is the one author I absolutely cannot buy digital copies of. I already have quite the dead tree collection including some first editions I received from my grandma's collection.

[Kimber]

Gretchen wrote: "Plaidy is the one author I absolutely cannot buy digital copies of. I already have quite the dead tree collection including some first editions I received from my grandma's collection."

Gotcha. I have certain authors I won't buy digitally either. Plaidy is just dang hard to find...even from the big sellers.

[Shannon Elizabeth]

Kimber wrote: "Gretchen wrote: "Plaidy is the one author I absolutely cannot buy digital copies of. I already have quite the dead tree collection including some first editions I received from my grandma's collect..."

The best Plaidy copies are found from UK sellers where her books have been released many times over. I have some really nice copies of the Plantagenet saga and the French Revolution trilogy from Arrow books which is a UK based publishing house. They all have really great covers too, which is always nice (my Plaidy shelf is probably the most aesthetically pleasing, lol). I don't know why her books are not being re-published here in the US considering they sold very well every time they had been previously released.

[May]

You are so right... Jean Plaidy was recommended to me years ago. Finding her books (in the US) has been a real challenge !!!

[Allison]

I have yet to read any Plaidy :/
Even though I own all of the books in her Tudor Saga series and her two Lucrezia Borgia books. I really would like her whole Plantagenet series and Norman Trilogy!

About halfway thru our book of the month:
It's finally picked up! I've been reading it since the end of January.

[Kimber]

I looked into ordering the entire Plantagenet Saga by Plaidy through Amazon and then through some side sellers [Abe Books, etc. ] and it came to around $175 USD for the whole series and shipping. 'Free shipping' through Amazon but the book prices were higher, cheap books but high shipping through the affiliates. I asked Abe's if i could get a deal on shipping due to the size of my order but they said that Amazon determines their shipping rates and they aren't allowed to change them. Don't know if that was BS or not but it definitely has made it more difficult to find authors that are predominantly from the UK over here in the States.

[May]

Whoa!!! That is a big order!! Although I may spend that much on my books in a year... I do it a few at a time, so my budget doesn't notice!!

[Miss M]

Kimber wrote: "I looked into ordering the entire Plantagenet Saga by Plaidy through Amazon and then through some side sellers [Abe Books, etc. ] and it came to around $175 USD for the whole series and shipping. '..."

Hi Kimber - if you're willing to get used books, have you tried thriftbooks.com? They're a consortium of a lot of the 'penny' sellers you see on amazon or abe, like Hippo, Sierra Nevada, etc, but if you buy from their site directly they have free shipping for orders over $10, plus some other specials for larger orders...So you don't pay the mandatory shipping per book Amazon insists on.

I haven't used them in a while now, trying to stick to e-books, but they were pretty reliable when I did. The wiki shows who their sellers are:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrif...

[Diego]

Hello everyone! It's been a while since my last post!

So the books I've read since then I believe were:

World Without End

The Plague Lord

Inferno

Very curious how these three books were randomly picked from my shelf and they were all related - without my knowledge - with a common subject: The Black Death.

I will be starting The Emperor's Tomb. Odd enough, Emperor Qin's Tomb was also a major part of the plot in the The Plague Lord.

Is this an omen of things to come...?

[Gretchen]

Just finished The Goldfinch and Duchess of Aquitaine: A Novel of Eleanor. Both books were pretty bad. I need to find something enjoyable again so I am moving on to what is proving to be a reliable series, The Merchant of Death.

[May]

AMONG THE TREES by Gail Matelson. Fun!!

[happy]

I finished the biography of Edward I I was reading



I thought it was a rather sympathetic look at the man. Prof Morris makes a point of judging Edward by the mores of his time rather than modern ones. I rated it a solid 4 stars

One more non fiction read to catch up on before another HF, I'm reading Antony Beevor's new take on the Battle of the Bulge

[Bobby]

May wrote: "AMONG THE TREES by Gail Matelson. Fun!!"

[May]

And, I hope you enjoy the sequel...

[Shannon Elizabeth]

Diego wrote: "Hello everyone! It's been a while since my last post!

So the books I've read since then I believe were:

World Without End

[bookcover:The Plague Lor..."

I love when I find a random theme to the books I'm reading! It doesn't happen very often, but it's fun when it does. Sometimes it even spurs me on to read something about the common theme. And I find pandemics to be very interesting and relevant (albeit depressing) reading.

[Shannon Elizabeth]

Kimber wrote: "I looked into ordering the entire Plantagenet Saga by Plaidy through Amazon and then through some side sellers [Abe Books, etc. ] and it came to around $175 USD for the whole series and shipping. '..."

Have you checked eBay? I managed to get books 4-7 of Plaidy's Plantagenet saga along with the Catherine de Medici trilogy for a reduced bulk rate through a seller there. Sellers seem to have more wiggle room on shipping costs in comparison to Amazon. In fact she was so happy to unload so many books at once that she gave me an entire list of books she was hoping to sell and told me to take my pick for $0.25 each. When I made that purchase, there were quite a few sellers with several books of the many different series with an "or best offer" tag on their pages.

[Allison]

happy wrote: "I finished the biography of Edward I I was reading
..."

Already had Edward I in my tbr but adding your other book now, thanks! I really need to get to some of his books soon.... and NF in general. Sigh.

[Linda]

THE EMPTY THRONE by Bernard Cornwell. (Sorry about the book/author thing. It will not work on my Nook. It worked on the ASUS until the Twinplets 'worked on' my tablet.)
I am havimg trouble getting into this book. There seem to be more 'Aethels' than before. This Uhtred must be our beloved Uhtred's son.

[Mark]

Linda wrote: "THE EMPTY THRONE by Bernard Cornwell. (Sorry about the book/author thing. It will not work on my Nook. It worked on the ASUS until the Twinplets 'worked on' my tablet.)
I am havimg trouble getting ..."

The Empty Throne

[Bobby]

and

[Gretchen]

Linda wrote: "THE EMPTY THRONE by Bernard Cornwell. (Sorry about the book/author thing. It will not work on my Nook. It worked on the ASUS until the Twinplets 'worked on' my tablet.)
I am havimg trouble getting ..."

I've missed your weather updates.
All the Uhtreds come from the beloved Uhtred. The book gets better. It was my favorite of the series until I read Warriors of the Storm.

[Gretchen]

Finished The Corpus Conundrum: A Third Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger.
Jane I must confess that Pliny is growing on me. I like him much better after the third book than I did after the first.

Starting on the group read Lord of the Silver Bow

I should get lots of reading done the next few days since I'm quarantined with a sick child

[Linda]

Thank yoi, Gretchen, for the weather comment. We are getting a subtle feeling of spring in the air.

Mr. Cromwell confused me. Thank you for the help.

Congrats on your new position on Goodreads.

[Pamela]

Now reading by Elizabeth Fremantle. Penelope Devereux, sister of Essex, makes a very lively and engaging central character.

[Gretchen]

Pamela wrote: "Now reading by Elizabeth Fremantle. Penelope Devereux, sister of Essex, makes a very lively and engaging central character."

I love Fremantle's work. I'm so excited for her book on Arbella Stuart coming later this year.

[May]

I do not know Elizabeth Fremantle? Can you share more about her & her novels?

[Gretchen]

Absolutely! Here is her author pages on Goodreads.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

So far her published worked is all Tudor-era but she is not another Philippa Gregory. I would caution you to buy an extra box of tissues if you read any of her work. Some of it, especially Sisters of Treason, is gut wrenching.

[Pamela]

I did enjoy Sisters of Treason but am liking this one even more. Penelope is a tough heroine.

[Gretchen]

I started The Rival Queens: Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Ignited a Kingdom today. I think all other books are going to be shoved in a corner and ignored until I am finished with this one. So far it's great. My favorite footnote of all time was found about 30 pages in. (view spoiler)[ The author is discussing the sex life of Catherine de Medici and her husband Henri. Henri's mistress suggests a specific position to try. The author lists the position by it's French name with an asterisk. When you go to the asterisk, it simply says "Look it up." I didn't look it up but I just about snorted coffee all over my library book because I was laughing so hard. (hide spoiler)]

[Shannon Elizabeth]

Gretchen wrote: "I started The Rival Queens: Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Ignited a Kingdom today. I think all other books are going to be shoved in..."

Ha!! That's too funny! I've been wanting to read this book since it came out, but it has been consistently checked out of the library. *pout*

[Shannon Elizabeth]

Just finished Pilgrimage by Lucy K. Pick. It was fantastic. Really true to the period (early 12th century Flanders) and should be added to the TBR list of anyone who is really loves this time in history. Now I'm on to Marrying Mozart by Stephanie Cowell.

[Bobby]

[Kimber]

Shannon Elizabeth wrote: "Just finished Pilgrimage by Lucy K. Pick. It was fantastic. Really true to the period (early 12th century Flanders) and should be added to the TBR list of anyone wh..."

I've got Marrying Mozart on the TBR mountain. Definitely throw your thoughts into the Art and Artists thread on this one. I'm waiting for a sale but if it's a good read I'll buy it full price. :D

Bobby - I also put the western you recommended on there. Even though Americana is not my cup of tea it looks excellent. Looking forward to it.

[May]

Just retrieved my copy of LORD OF THE SILVER BOW" from my husband... my turn to enjoy. I cannot wait to dig in!!

[Mark]

May wrote: "Just retrieved my copy of LORD OF THE SILVER BOW" from my husband... my turn to enjoy. I cannot wait to dig in!!"

Enjoy it May.

[Bobby]

Kimber wrote: "Shannon Elizabeth wrote: "Just finished Pilgrimage by Lucy K. Pick. It was fantastic. Really true to the period (early 12th century Flanders) and should be added to..."

Hope you enjoy it, Kimber. A bit rough and vulgar in places but in my estimation that added to it's authenticity.

[Jane]

The Empress / Meg Clothier

[Pamela]

Really enjoyed Watch the Lady - the best of the trilogy in my opinion. Review is here

[Gretchen]

The Strangler Vine- a mystery set in British-ruled India during the late 19th century

Finished with SPQR II: The Catiline Conspiracy yesterday. I just don't know if I can continue the series. I am constantly comparing Decius to Gordianus and Decius just doesn't match up.