Ok.. Honestly I'm reading textbooks for school (History of Ancient Greece). But I'm also reading on the side The Collected Works of Elizabeth I (it's a good read, with LOTS of her letters and such), and I'm going to read Eclipse again, as the movie is coming out and I want to refresh my memory.

I'm also reading alot of mythology anthologies, as I want to add the information to my big brain. LOL Between Photoshop projects and remembering which philosopher said what, I'm trying..

Ian Mortimer, The Perfect King. A biography of Edward III.

I'm currently (still) reading The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George. I have a whole pile of books left over from Christmas and birthday to get through but I think the next one on my list will be Skulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days by Derek Landy. The Skulduggery books are mostly written for kids but they're so quirky and sarcastic, I love them!

 *raising hand* Total book geek too (and movie geek as well). As far as what I'm reading: a friend gave me the most current translation of Tolstoy's War and Peace for Christmas, and I finally decided to take it on! (It was on my Amazon wish list, so it's not like she pulled the book out of thin air). I had read Anna Karenina and The Brothers Karamazov by the same translators, and figured that it was time I take on one of the biggest epic novels of all time. I'm 100 pages into it, and thoroughly enjoying it, and thanks to having seen the 1960's Soviet production that runs about 9 hours; the 1970's BBC miniseries, and the 1950's movie, I know all the characters and situations (which helps).

If I need to take a break from “everything Russian,” my free copy of Lady in the Tower just arrived from my new membership to the Book of the Month Club2. I may not be able to resist my new Tudor book.

I'd love to start reading Karen Harper again — it's been awhile since I read any of the books in her Elizabeth Mystery series. And that Red Queen's Daughter that HannahL mentioned sounds interesting. Honestly, I haven't read a book of Tudor fiction since Alison Weir's novel on Elizabeth, and I'm afraid that reading ONE book by Philippa Gregory was enough (a Scottish friend sent me the one about Elizabeth and Dudley as a gift, and the author's portrayal of Elizabeth seemed so far off the mark IMO that I've avoided anything else she's written…although her latest about Margaret Beaufort sounds interesting).

TinaII2None said:

I read The Autobiography of Henry VIII ages ago. What section are you on right now and what do you think of it up to whatever point you're at?

Hi 🙂 I'm up to Catherine Parr, so not long to go now. I like it in general, but there are parts of it that bug me. I still find it incredibly hard to like Henry though! I will finish it one day!

Hehe, thanks I appreciate that 🙂

I read in your earlier post that you got put off Philippa Gregory from just one book. Was it The Virgin's Lover by any chance? That's the only book of hers I've read and didn't like. I recommend The Other Boleyn Girl  even though it's full of inaccuracies. It really sucks you in to court life. Also The Constant Princess, which gave me a greater respect for Katherine of Aragon. That is if you ever feel inclined to read Philippa Gregory again!

Since many of us either are currently tackling books about the Tudors or have in the past, I'm wondering if any of you have read these:

Crown in Candlelight by Rosemary Jarmin — the fictionalized story of the lives of Katherine of Valois and Owen Tudor. I found this book back in the Seventies through a second-hand book catalog and bought it without knowing much about it at first. I not only fell in love with Wales, but with the whole Welsh side of the Tudors. The final scene with Owen Tudor still chokes me up.

The Nonsuch Lure by Mary M. Luke — I was familiar with Ms. Luke because I had read her Tudor non-fiction trilogy when I was in high school (Catherine the Queen; A Crown for Elizabeth; Gloriana). This one has a bit of everything — reincarnation and regression hypnotism, Henry VIII, a missing object belonging to Catherine of Aragon, a portrait by Holbein, a silver-haired beauty, curses from beyond the grave, and how it all ties into Henry's fabulous Nonsuch Palace. I still own the (pristine) paperback copy I bought back in the Seventies, and every 5 years or so, I pull it out and reread it. Elizabeth has a cameo appearance and Henry makes a larger than life but brief one too.

The Ivy Crown by Mary M. Luke — this is her novel about Katherine Parr, my second favorite of Henry's wives, from childhood until her untimely death.

 I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles — about…well duh. LOL I read this years ago and I can't really remember anything specific that I liked or disliked. Not sure what that means but after reading over some reviews on Amazon, they may have hit the nail on the head as to why it's not completely memorable.

I've also read Weir's The Lady Elizabeth and own (but haven't yet read) her Innocent Traitor; The Autobiography of Henry VIII; the first 3 books in Karen Harper's Elizabeth Mystery series; and bought something called The Tudor Rose at a book sale — thought it was going to be about Mary Rose (Henry's sister), but turned out to be about Elizabeth of York instead! Had mixed feelings about that one.

Bella44 said:

The only ones of those that I've read are the Alison Weir ones.  'Innocent Traitor' was the better of the two, for some reason I just couldn't warm to her Elizabeth!  I don't think Weir is that great a novelist, maybe it's because she writes in the first person which I tend not to like so much and its a pity but there seems to be a fashion for that in historical fiction at the moment!

I've never heard of Mary M. Luke before but 'The Nonsuch Lure' sounds really interesting and mysterious.  Might have to try and get a copy sometime  

I'm tired of first person, but  that's my personal preference. Seems I've been reading first person since Jane Eyre and that's a while back LOL When I read historical fiction, I'd much prefer third person because it gives one a chance to “hear” what each character is thinking. The other way always felt so limiting (and I always get such a kick out of the heroine trying to describe herself without sounding too full of it if she's attractive). Anyway…

Mary Luke was the first historian I ever read when it came to the Tudors, but if you do read any of her histories, remember that she was writing in the 1960's and into the early 1970's and many of her sources are from the 19th century, so we've learned a good deal since her research. But even after reading Plowden and Weir and Erickson and Starkey and others, I have a soft spot for Ms. Luke. Her Prologue alone to A Crown for Elizabeth said what it often takes some Tudor historians chapters to express: that the children of Henry VIII were unique in their own way, and held the throne and their Crowns in great esteem. She was the first to make the Tudors fully alive for me, so I still admire her writing.

Do try to find The Nonsuch Lure if you can — I think Amazon.com had it not long ago. Not giving anything away, but one of my favorite scenes is when Henry — who has already decided to raze her home for his new palace — meets the silver-haired heroine (in the 16th century part), Chloe Cuddington as she pleads for her family's estate, their little villlage and the monastery. You can almost “see” Henry's gears turning: wife or mistress? Mistress or wife?