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Mar. 18th, 2006 11:27 pmI haven't mentioned any book reviews for awhile, but I'm still keeping track for this year. Here's what I have so far.
January
To Shield the Queen by Fiona Buckley - A mystery novel set during the time of Elizabeth I, involving a widowed gentlewoman hired by Robert Dudley to wait on his wife Amy (and also convince her that he's not trying to kill her.) Not bad. The prose felt kind of anachronistic, but it was forgiveable. I might read more of the series.
The Queen of Subtleties by Susannah Dunn - Dual plots about Anne Boleyn and the Henry VIII's court candy maker. The candy maker falls in love with Mark Smeaton, who is eventually falsely accused and condemned to death for screwing around with Anne. And another complaint about the language: I'm not picky, I'm not expecting iambic pentameter, but the language felt way too modern. Basically, it was written in chicklit. I suppose that was the writer's take on the subject as a way of making it her own, but it was very distracting and frankly, annoying. Also, Anne was a major bitch.
February
The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir - Weir's written a tonne of books about Tudor history and she's very readable, so if you're looking for something on the subject, I'd probably recommend her first. I enjoyed this biography a lot.
Murder Most Royal by Jean Plaidy - This combines the two stories of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, cousins both married and beheaded by Henry VIII. I have no idea why Three Rivers Press chose to reissue this book when they've already reissued Lady in the Tower about Anne, and Rose Without a Thorn, about Catherine. And they're both by Plaidy. (Plaidy was apparently so prolific, she felt the need to tackle the story at least twice.) Still, it's Plaidy, so I had to read it anyway. Murder Most Royal was still a captivating read although the only major difference between this and the other books is that it's written in the third person instead of first and it maybe goes into a little less detail.
Something I'd like to point out is that while Plaidy's version of Anne Boleyn does some (okay, more than a fair share) bitchy things, she's not inherently a bitch and Plaidy as a writer shows demonstrable sympathy for her. That's something that's lacking from modern reads like The Queen of Subtleties or Phillipa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl. Their Anne(s) are so unsympathetic that when she finally does get her head cut off, you pretty much feel she had it coming. Gregory goes so far as to suggest that Anne maybe did commit incest with her brother. The problem with this approach (or twisting history, in Gregory's case) is that by giving him justification for his actions, they let Henry off the hook for being the murderous asshat that he was. This is why I prefer Plaidy since she obviously recognizes that Henry's an annoying bastard.
< /off soapbox>
Liquor by Poppy Z Brite - Out of Tudor England, at last. I much preferred this to Brite's horror novels. It's set in New Orleans as a pair of cooks set up their own restaurant with the entire menu themed to alchohol. It's really fun and quite a page turner. Also, it made me really, really hungry.
Darkness, Tell Us by Richard Laymon - Creepy hijinks ensue after college kids mess around with a ouija board and then get chased around the woods by freaky perverts. Weird.
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale - YA novel fairy tale adaptation. Cute fantasy. Not quite up to par to Robin McKinley, but still fun.
Ruslan by Barbara Scrupski - reread. Fast becoming one of my favorite historical novels, evah.
Time of the Ghost by Diana Wynne Jones -another reread. Sometimes I just get in one of those moods for nothing but YA fantasy. DWJ is good for that.
Now that I've finished that, I'm off to webshop. Yesterday, I bought a cupcake necklace from Pancake Meow. Dessert and jewelry, my two loves. I couldn't resist their combined power.
January
To Shield the Queen by Fiona Buckley - A mystery novel set during the time of Elizabeth I, involving a widowed gentlewoman hired by Robert Dudley to wait on his wife Amy (and also convince her that he's not trying to kill her.) Not bad. The prose felt kind of anachronistic, but it was forgiveable. I might read more of the series.
The Queen of Subtleties by Susannah Dunn - Dual plots about Anne Boleyn and the Henry VIII's court candy maker. The candy maker falls in love with Mark Smeaton, who is eventually falsely accused and condemned to death for screwing around with Anne. And another complaint about the language: I'm not picky, I'm not expecting iambic pentameter, but the language felt way too modern. Basically, it was written in chicklit. I suppose that was the writer's take on the subject as a way of making it her own, but it was very distracting and frankly, annoying. Also, Anne was a major bitch.
February
The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir - Weir's written a tonne of books about Tudor history and she's very readable, so if you're looking for something on the subject, I'd probably recommend her first. I enjoyed this biography a lot.
Murder Most Royal by Jean Plaidy - This combines the two stories of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, cousins both married and beheaded by Henry VIII. I have no idea why Three Rivers Press chose to reissue this book when they've already reissued Lady in the Tower about Anne, and Rose Without a Thorn, about Catherine. And they're both by Plaidy. (Plaidy was apparently so prolific, she felt the need to tackle the story at least twice.) Still, it's Plaidy, so I had to read it anyway. Murder Most Royal was still a captivating read although the only major difference between this and the other books is that it's written in the third person instead of first and it maybe goes into a little less detail.
Something I'd like to point out is that while Plaidy's version of Anne Boleyn does some (okay, more than a fair share) bitchy things, she's not inherently a bitch and Plaidy as a writer shows demonstrable sympathy for her. That's something that's lacking from modern reads like The Queen of Subtleties or Phillipa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl. Their Anne(s) are so unsympathetic that when she finally does get her head cut off, you pretty much feel she had it coming. Gregory goes so far as to suggest that Anne maybe did commit incest with her brother. The problem with this approach (or twisting history, in Gregory's case) is that by giving him justification for his actions, they let Henry off the hook for being the murderous asshat that he was. This is why I prefer Plaidy since she obviously recognizes that Henry's an annoying bastard.
< /off soapbox>
Liquor by Poppy Z Brite - Out of Tudor England, at last. I much preferred this to Brite's horror novels. It's set in New Orleans as a pair of cooks set up their own restaurant with the entire menu themed to alchohol. It's really fun and quite a page turner. Also, it made me really, really hungry.
Darkness, Tell Us by Richard Laymon - Creepy hijinks ensue after college kids mess around with a ouija board and then get chased around the woods by freaky perverts. Weird.
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale - YA novel fairy tale adaptation. Cute fantasy. Not quite up to par to Robin McKinley, but still fun.
Ruslan by Barbara Scrupski - reread. Fast becoming one of my favorite historical novels, evah.
Time of the Ghost by Diana Wynne Jones -another reread. Sometimes I just get in one of those moods for nothing but YA fantasy. DWJ is good for that.
Now that I've finished that, I'm off to webshop. Yesterday, I bought a cupcake necklace from Pancake Meow. Dessert and jewelry, my two loves. I couldn't resist their combined power.
