I’ve just spent a wonderful weekend cuddled up with my cats and dogs, under a blanket with my trusty Kindle, reading Robert Parry’s “The Arrow Chest”. I enjoyed it so much that I have made it The Anne Boleyn Files Book of the Month and I have written a glowing review of it over at our Tudor Book Reviews site – see The Arrow Chest by Robert Parry. I’ve also added it to our Anne Boleyn Fiction Page.
Over on our Anne Boleyn Files Facebook page, I asked people what Tudor history themed books they had enjoyed reading in 2010 and here is what they came up with. I’ve added links if I have reviewed them:-
Fiction
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
- His Last Letter by Jeane Westin
- The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell
- Threads by Nell Gavin
- The Lady Penelope by Sally Varlow
- Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
- The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
- The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
- Virgin and the Crab by Robert Parry
- Murder Most Royal by Jean Plaidy
- The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
- The Lady and the Poet by Maeve Haran
- The Virgin’s Lover by Philippa Gregory
Non-Fiction
- 1536: The Year that Changed Henry VIII by Suzannah Lipscomb
- The Lady in the Tower by Alison Weir
- The Sisters Who Would Be Queen by Leanda de Lisle
- The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
- Royal Heritage by J.H.Plumb and Huw Whelden
- Elizabeth’s London by Liza Picard
- The Uncrowned Kings of England: The Black History of the Dudleys and the Tudor Throne by Derek Wilson
- Virtuous Prince by David Starkey
- The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives
What books did you enjoy reading in 2010 and what are you looking forward to reading this year?
Hi!
I really enjoyed the novel “King’s Fool” by Margeret Campell Barnes. It tells the story of Will Somers, Henry’s fool, and the events at court from his point of view.
A non-fiction book I also liked was “Children of England” by Alison Weir. At the moment I’m reading “Jane Boleyn” by Julia Fox.
All the books are an easy read for someone like myself who’s native language isn’t English.
I forgot to say that the books “the Virgin and the Crab” and “1536” are next on my list.
What didn’t I read this year!
The Red Queen- Philippa Gregory
The Tudors- G. J. Meyer
The Tudor Chronicles- Susan Doran
Murder Most Royal- Jean Plaidy
Wolf Hall- Hilary Mantel
The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn- Robin Maxwell
The Wives of Henry VIII- Antonia Fraser
The Autobiography of Henry VIII- Margaret George
The Last Wife of Henry VIII- Carolly Erickson
Brief Gaudy Hour- Margaret Campbell Barnes
Anne Boleyn- Howard Brenton
Royal Gambit- Hermann Gressieker
Doomed Queens: Royal Women Who Met Bad Ends- Kris Waldherr
Many thanks to you Claire, for recommending several of these books!
I almost forgot! Divorced, Beheaded, Survived The Life and
Death of Anne Boleyn- Eric Ives
In 2010 I enjoyed reading:
1. Murder Most Royal
2. The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn
3. Pleasures and Pastimes in Tudor England
4. Henry VIII: Man and Monarch (good coffee table book! Strikes up interesting convos!)
5. The Lady in the Tower
6. Life and Death of Anne Boleyn
I also re-read The Other Boleyn Girl & The Boleyn Inheritance while working out during the summer of 2010. When you have an interesting book to read, it makes working out more fun! 🙂
And I look forward to reading ALOT (and I mean alot) in 2011, but I have a few that I’m reading at the same time at the moment:
1. Divorced, Beheaded, Survived (during my lunch hour)
2. Mary Boleyn (by Josephine Wilkenson–I love her writing style!!) Reading it while I’m working out and the minutes just fly by!!
3. The White Queen
And about to start:
4. David Starkey’s Six Wives of Henry VIII (also love his writing style!!)
I also really would like to get started on Henry VIII bio by Margaret George. But I want to finish the four that I’m reading haha!
auto bio not bio by Margaret George 🙂
I read Alison Weir’s ‘The Lady in the Tower’ early last year and it’s definatly my favourite non-fiction book recently! Fiction wise, ‘The Virgin’s Lover’ by Phillipa Gregory was very good, and both the Tudor fiction books by Alision Weir, again; ‘Innocent Traitior’ and ‘The Lady Elizabeth’.
None of the Tudor books! My favourite book, which has just pack-backed in the UK, was “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot.
The book by Eric Ives was the best one that I read on your list. I am sorry to say I wasted time reading the two Phillipa Gregory books but even when I did not know much I could figure out that parts of those books just seemed silly. They no longer reside with my other booksl
I’m must say the book I found most informative was “The Autobiography of Henry the 8th” by Margaret George because I went to look up something in the book – the date when Anne became the Marquis of Pembroke and found this website!!!!!
I read the Other the Boleyn Girl (and hated it) but I liked the Boleyn Inheritance. I just picked up her The White Queen. Haven’t started it yet. It was on the clearance table at the local bookstore and unbelievably so was Katherine the Queen by Linda Porter!!!! I just finished reading it and it was excellent.
I have The Arrow Chest on order and I can’t wait to read it 🙂
Robert Parry is a great writer. Virgin and the Crab was on my best of 2010 top ten list. One of the best historical novels I’ve read. I can’t wait to read The Arrow Chest. I have it for review and I’m looking forward to reading it.
I usually do not touch fiction outside of sci-fi and fantasy. But loving Tudor history and enjoying your own review of the book, I gave in and bought it! It came in Monday afternoon and I finished it Tuesday night. A fantastic read! The subtle hints, the ghostly echoes… its all there!
A worthy pick for book of the month!
I LOVED LOVED LOVED Threads, that was such a good book! It was one of the first I bought for my E Reader. Wolf Hall had a great payoff in the end, but it was a hard read. Very good though. I read 1536 the Year That Changed Henry. That was really good. Gosh, I have read so many, I can’t remember them all. I read Tudor Queens and that was really good. I got Bloody Mary for Christmas in 2009 and read it in early January. So good! I was not a fan of Mary Tudor until I read that book. I felt so much pity for her. Such a great read. Oh and I read The Sisters of Henry VIII. I like it, but I was kind of bored with the parts about Margaret, LOL. I couldn’t follow all those Scots! haha. She had so many husbands and they all seemed to be not very good ones. It definitely is worth the read though because it gives a lot of context to the young life of Henry VIII and all the intricacies into his relationships with his sisters.
The Queen’s Governess, by Karen Harper
Mistress Shakespeare, by Karen Harper
The Virgin Queen’s Daughter, by Jeanne Kalogridis