Kath's 19 & 20
angelicus, can you add "popular history" to the tags, please? Thanks, babe!
Number 20 was popular history. Four Queens by Nancy Goldstone.
From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. The four beautiful, cultured and clever daughters of the Count and Countess of Provence made illustrious marriages and lived at the epicenter of political power and intrigue in 13th-century Europe. Marguerite accompanied her husband, King Louis IX of France, on his disastrous first crusade to the Holy Land, where straight from childbirth she ransomed him from the Mamluks. And with her sister Eleanor, queen of England, Marguerite engineered a sturdy peace between France and England. Ambitious Eleanor walked a narrow line while she struggled to build her own power base without alienating her cowardly husband, Henry III. Beatrice's coronation as queen of Sicily was the culmination of her long, hard-fought campaign to earn respect from her world-famous, mightily accomplished older siblings. Sanchia wed one of the richest men in Europe, but her reign as queen of Germany, brought her only misery. On Goldstone's (coauthor of The Friar and the Cipher) rich, beautifully woven tapestry, medieval Europe springs to vivid life, from the lavish menus of the royal banquets and the sweet songs of the troubadours to the complex machinations of the pope against the Holy Roman Emperor. This is a fresh, eminently enjoyable history that gives women their due as movers and shakers in tumultuous times.
I was a little disappointed in this book. I was expecting something more from the Eleanor of Aquitaine's of the 13th century, but they so didn't live up to Eleanor. The book was actually pretty much mostly about all of their husbands, and there was just various pieces of speculation about how they might have reacted to whatever it was that was happening to their husbands, or sons, or neighbours. It was a well-written, quick read, and I learned more about Henry III of England and Louis IX of France, but all in all, not what I wasn't that impressed with the Provence sisters.
Book 20 was a lot more rewarding. It was the newest one by Emily Giffin, pretty much my favorite "chick lit" author. It was called Love the One You're With. I love her books because she doesn't shy away from her protagonists behaving stupidly, which somehow makes them more real, if sometimes quite unlikeable.A chance encounter with an old flame in Giffin's bittersweet, sometimes mawkish fourth novel causes Ellen Dempsey to consider anew what could have been. Shortly after marrying Andy, Ellen runs into Leo, her intense first love. Leo, a moody writer, has secretly preoccupied Ellen ever since he broke her heart, so after seeing him again, Ellen wonders if her perfect life is truly what she wants or simply what she was expected to want. This scenario is complicated by Ellen's past: the early death of her mother and subsequent disintegration of her family have left Ellen insecure and saddled with unresolved feelings of guilt. These feelings intensify when Andy's career takes the newlyweds from Ellen's beloved New York City to suburban Atlanta. As Ellen's feelings of inadequacy and resentment grow, her marriage begins to crumble. The novel is sometimes bogged down by characters so rooted in type that they, and the story line, can only move in the most obvious trajectory. However, Giffin's self-aware narrator and focus on troubled relationships will satisfy those looking for a light women's lit fix.
As usual, I inhaled this. I found some of Giffin's insights into what women are supposed to want from relationships, and what they DO want, to be dead-on, as usual. On occasion I wanted to throttle Ellen, the lead, but, in the end, I think she made the right, realistic choice. But Giffin doesn't shy away from making her entirely unlikeable in the meantime. Anyway, another great read. Loved it almost as much as Baby Proof. I sometimes wonder if this woman is semi-eavesdropping in my brain regarding what I think about a lot of things.
Number 20 was popular history. Four Queens by Nancy Goldstone.
From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. The four beautiful, cultured and clever daughters of the Count and Countess of Provence made illustrious marriages and lived at the epicenter of political power and intrigue in 13th-century Europe. Marguerite accompanied her husband, King Louis IX of France, on his disastrous first crusade to the Holy Land, where straight from childbirth she ransomed him from the Mamluks. And with her sister Eleanor, queen of England, Marguerite engineered a sturdy peace between France and England. Ambitious Eleanor walked a narrow line while she struggled to build her own power base without alienating her cowardly husband, Henry III. Beatrice's coronation as queen of Sicily was the culmination of her long, hard-fought campaign to earn respect from her world-famous, mightily accomplished older siblings. Sanchia wed one of the richest men in Europe, but her reign as queen of Germany, brought her only misery. On Goldstone's (coauthor of The Friar and the Cipher) rich, beautifully woven tapestry, medieval Europe springs to vivid life, from the lavish menus of the royal banquets and the sweet songs of the troubadours to the complex machinations of the pope against the Holy Roman Emperor. This is a fresh, eminently enjoyable history that gives women their due as movers and shakers in tumultuous times.
I was a little disappointed in this book. I was expecting something more from the Eleanor of Aquitaine's of the 13th century, but they so didn't live up to Eleanor. The book was actually pretty much mostly about all of their husbands, and there was just various pieces of speculation about how they might have reacted to whatever it was that was happening to their husbands, or sons, or neighbours. It was a well-written, quick read, and I learned more about Henry III of England and Louis IX of France, but all in all, not what I wasn't that impressed with the Provence sisters.
Book 20 was a lot more rewarding. It was the newest one by Emily Giffin, pretty much my favorite "chick lit" author. It was called Love the One You're With. I love her books because she doesn't shy away from her protagonists behaving stupidly, which somehow makes them more real, if sometimes quite unlikeable.A chance encounter with an old flame in Giffin's bittersweet, sometimes mawkish fourth novel causes Ellen Dempsey to consider anew what could have been. Shortly after marrying Andy, Ellen runs into Leo, her intense first love. Leo, a moody writer, has secretly preoccupied Ellen ever since he broke her heart, so after seeing him again, Ellen wonders if her perfect life is truly what she wants or simply what she was expected to want. This scenario is complicated by Ellen's past: the early death of her mother and subsequent disintegration of her family have left Ellen insecure and saddled with unresolved feelings of guilt. These feelings intensify when Andy's career takes the newlyweds from Ellen's beloved New York City to suburban Atlanta. As Ellen's feelings of inadequacy and resentment grow, her marriage begins to crumble. The novel is sometimes bogged down by characters so rooted in type that they, and the story line, can only move in the most obvious trajectory. However, Giffin's self-aware narrator and focus on troubled relationships will satisfy those looking for a light women's lit fix.
As usual, I inhaled this. I found some of Giffin's insights into what women are supposed to want from relationships, and what they DO want, to be dead-on, as usual. On occasion I wanted to throttle Ellen, the lead, but, in the end, I think she made the right, realistic choice. But Giffin doesn't shy away from making her entirely unlikeable in the meantime. Anyway, another great read. Loved it almost as much as Baby Proof. I sometimes wonder if this woman is semi-eavesdropping in my brain regarding what I think about a lot of things.