Re: Little, Big – I’ve picked it up and put it down about five times over the last few years. I haven’t made it past Smoky and Daily Alice’s wedding.
The book is charming, but I’m not feeling compelled to read it straight through. I think that’s okay. It feels like that kind of book. Read for awhile when you’re in the mood.
When the next Amazon order arrives, I’ll probably put Little, Big aside again, but I’ll finish it someday.
This wasn’t to me, but, yeah – I’ve never seen any fiction by Weir. Dang. I dislike fictionalized biography, so I won’t be reading this, and I would really have enjoyed reading a bio of Lady Jane by Weir.
She does. I hear her read a few chapters of it at the Hay Festival last May. Historical fiction with the flavor of a trashy romance novel. Vintage Weir.
I’ve “discovered” Erik Larson. After just finishing Thunderstuck, a meticulously researched, but very readable book about Crippen (the killer) and Marconi (of wireless fame), I’ve now moved on to The Devil in the White City his earlier book about a serial killer in Chicago at the time of the World’s Fair, and the architect who was responsible for the fair’s construction
I highly recommend Larson.
i’m just about to begin the first of the dresden files books: ‘storm front.’
i just finished book five of the weather warden series by rachel caine.
I think Dumas invented the “historical novel.”
Finished reading Seize the Hour: When Nixon Met Mao by Margaret MacMillan and On Royalty by Jeremy Paxman.
Right now, I’m into chapter three of Michael Dobbs’ latest, First Lady. I hope they adapt it for TV like what they did with his Francis Urquhart books.
I just finished The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger last night. Not at all what I expected from the first chapter or two - I was thinking gooshy romance, and set it aside for a bit, but got bored and picked it up again, then couldn’t put it down. I am not sure if I was fascinated by the story itself, or by the storytelling.
I read Fannie Flagg’s Can’t Wait To Get To Heaven a couple weeks ago. It’s about characters that have been in previous Flagg novels, that I just adored, so that was marvelous.
Next up… again… I am going to try to get past the first two chapters of Bangkok 8. This was a gift from a friend who told me I would love it. Unfortunately, it arrived just before my Mom died, and what I have read so far I read in hospital waiting rooms. For some reason I’m not all that eager to get back to it, though I promised my friend I would.
She wrote The Memoirs of Cleopatra, too. It’s my second-favorite of hers, following Henry VIII. I generally have a big problem with authors who take “liberties” with history, but dammit, George does it so well.
I love fictionalized biographies! If they’re done well, they can be just as fascinating and informative as non-fiction.
As for biographies of Lady Jane, the pool is shallow. This is one of the more recent offerings, and I was quite dissapointed with it. (As you can see from my review, second one down.) So little is really known about her short life that there really isn’t a lot of material for a biographer to work with.
Fans of historical fiction and fictionalized historical biography might find my Amazon list interesting. I try to keep it updated with my recent reads in these genres.
Thanks for sharing this. I’ve read a few of the books on your list. I started and stopped The Burning Times just last week because I thought it was going to get romancey, but if you say it’s not, I’ll give it another go.
I’m tickled pink to see that The Egyptian is still in print. Although when I think about it, it should be. Great book.
All semester I’ve been reading off and on The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, by Edward Kennedy. Kind of required reading for people in my field, but I’m just reading it for fun.
Ah, the joys of being a history/international relations dork.
Nah, I wouldn’t consider it “romancey”. I’ll put the rest of my comments in a spoiler box.
There is a love story involved, but it’s not the focus of the novel. The main plot revolves around how Sybille learns of her destiny as part of a magical twosome which has a special role in the eternal struggle of good-versus-evil.
As I said in my review, it’s a really odd book and if magic and supernatural themes turn you off, you won’t enjoy it. If you can suspedn disbelief, you may enjoy the tale.