Books 6-15
15 / 50
(30.0%)
Pray Goddess that the LJ cut spirits are with me this time. I don't want to kill anyone's Flist.
Book #6 was The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory
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This is the latest in Gregory's series about the Tudor women, which I have eaten up since discovering them through this community two years ago. I was really excited when I found out this one was about Mary Queen of Scots, with whom I'm fascinated but about whom I know less than I might like. I actually paid for this one in hardback, I was so eager to read it -- after being on the waiting list at the library for two months. It's not my favorite of the Tudor books, but I do think it was strong. I like the shifting narrative perspective Gregory uses, telling the story from several different standpoints. She doesn't use it as effectively as she does in The Boleyn Inheritance, but it works. Mary's voice is especially believeable. Where this book falls down is that the ending seems rushed. This book is more concerned with the early days of Mary's imprisonment, and while (presumably) all of Gregory's readers know how the story eventually ends, the ultimate climax of the story is tacked on as almost an afterthought. I don't know enough about Mary Queen of Scots to know where Gregory took liberties with history, so I cannot judge the book on those points. I can say I tore through it, and enjoyed Gregory's vision of an England long gone and her portrait of people enmeshed in conspiracies both of their own and of others' making. I hope she continues with this series -- I'd like to see something from the standpoint of a young Mary Tudor. I read this one right after reading Alison Weir's The Lady Elizabeth, so it was a Tudors kind of time at my place.
Book #7 was The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
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I had a hard time getting into this one at first, I'll admit. Alessandra, Dunant's narrator, takes a bit to warm up to. The first few pages of her narrative, after the story's been set up by a historical anecdote, feel forced. This is Dunant's first historical novel, and you can tell at first. But as you get to know Alessandra and her family, you get a feel for how much Dunant loves Florence, and you are drawn into the world. This is an absolutely beautiful novel -- painful at times, and sometimes predictable, but beautiful. It's very sensual -- reading it is almost like eating a peach, its so succulent and textured. I knew next to nothing about fifteenth century Florence, and Dunant does a fine job of enmeshing her character in larger historical events. Her portrait of Savarola is chilling and really conveys the absolute religious fervor and terror that simultaneously gripped the city. I devoured this book in a couple of days -- once I got into the story, I didn't want to pull myself out. There are times when her dialogue is a bit forced, but times when it rings true, and in all of it Florence is a main character. Definitely worth a read if you love historical fiction and are looking for something new.
Book #8 was In The Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant
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I was so impressed with The Birth of Venus that I had to read more Dunant, so I found this one at my local library. Wow is all I can say. Dunant creates a wonderful narrator in Bucino. He is funny, tart, honest, and you don't always like him very much but there is still part of you that is rooting for him. His account of the horrors of the 1521 sack of Rome is vivid and believable, and it is almost as if you are down near the ground -- Bucino beng a dwarf -- seeing things from his perspective. Dunant's descriptions of Venice are also gripping. This story has more adventure and more intrigue than Venus, and if you start it you should be prepared to stay up all night finishing it. I will definitely be hunting down more of Dunant's work after reading these two back-to-back
Book #9 was Sex with the Queen: 900 Year of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers, and Passionate Politics by Eleanor Herman
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This was, in a word, fun. I was hoping for something a bit more academic about extramarital sex in European culture. While the book disappointed on that level, it was a fun romp to read. Herman has found tales of many prominent European women -- not just queens -- who had lovers outside of marriage and managed to get away with it (most of the time) A fun, breezy read if you're interested in the history of sex and sexuality, or if you just want something to bolster your Trivial Pursuit score. I do wish she hadn't chosen to focus solely on heterosexual adultery -- she makes no mention of Catherine the Great's lesbianism, for instance -- but perhaps that's another book :)
Book #10 was Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
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This was the first book in a three-book Geraldine Brooks binge. It is stark, beautiful, and haunting. Brooks has an eye for detail and a talent for dialogue that is impressive. She really captures the horror and the dispair of the plague year, and at the same time is able to convey the absolute beauty of people coming together. Anna, her heroine, is convincingly written and you truly suffer and grow along with her over the course of the novel. I am interested to look more into the historical events that inspired this novel, and into the period itself.
Book #11 was March by Gerladine Brooks
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Brooks won the Pulitzer for this novel, and its easy to see why.Taking the absent father from Little Women as her narrator, Brooks draws a picture of the horrors of the Civil War and the crises of faith that surely visited more than one person on both sides of the war. Her picture of antebellum America is complex and haunting -- I can see the influence of her husband Tony Horowitz here -- and draws you into the world, the hearts and minds, of the characters. An amazingly fast read, this leaves me wanting to revisit Little Women, which I haven't touched in probably 20 years. I admire Brooks's bravery in taking that classic of American literature and wanting to imagine what must have been happening for Mr. March while his women carried bravely on back in Concord.
Book #12 was People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
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Teri Gross at NPR did a show about this book about a year ago, and I was intrigued. While not as strong as March or Year of Wonders, this is a beautiful book. Brooks was a correspondent during the Yugoslav war of the 1990s, and you can see her intimate knowledge of the region and its politics and personalities well. Jumping back through the history of the Sarajevo haggadah, this books takes the reader through five centuries of zealotry, anti-Semitism, war, love, family, hope, and faith. She has creatively imagined the life of the Sarajevo haggadah -- a real book whose actual history is shrouded in mystery -- in a way that is convincing, heartwrenching, and lovely. For days after reading this book I had dreams of hiding from the Nazis and the Inquisition, which means she really got in my head. She writes with a clarity and yet a sensitivity that is a pleasure to read and creates a story that is hard to shake..
Book #13 was Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis
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This book, about a young research assistant working for a crotchety American historian, was supposed to be my escape from my job -- as a research assistant to a crotchety American historian. Willis pegged the travails of the research assistant who is given such vague instructions as "Find a speech he gave sometime in 1882 about corn" perfectly. The story is bizarre, as Willis's stories tend to be, but I was immediately sucked in. I literally could not put this one down. It's a quick read, fortunately, otherwise I'd have gotten no work done that week at all. She leaves you without closure, which is another Willis trait, and which sometimes frustrates me. We never do find out exactly what the hell was going on. But her story is imaginative and moving. Willis really is one of the best storytellers in the sci-fi genre -- in any genre really -- writing today. Lincolns' Dreams is no Doomsday Book, but is a compelling read that showcases Willis's skill.
Book #14 was The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
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Meh. This one left me cold. I read it quickly mostly because I wanted it to be over. I actively wondered if Sebold was using coke again while writing this book. It's just not her best work. The story itself is an interesting one, but I don't think she does enough with it. And her narrator is totally unlikeable and unrelateable. I'd skip this one and go right to The Lovely Bones.
Book #15 was The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
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If you're not reading Sherman Alexie, you are missing out! This is one of the funniest and at the same time most real things I've read in a long time. Alexie might not be funny or relatable to those unfamiliar with reservation life, but if you've lived on the rez or been close to people who do, this one will alternately split your sides and break your hear. Ellen Forney's illustrations are fabulous and make this really seem like a diary that you picked up off the floor of a teenage boys' room. The characters are so vividly drawn with Alexie's prose and Forney's illustrations of Junior's cartoons, you feel like you know them. Alexie is perhaps the foremost voice of Native American writing today, and that position is well earned. Definitely worth your time, but be prepared to laugh outloud. I'm sure the people on the train during my commute thought I was nuts.