Friday, August 16, 2013

Book Of The Week 8/17/13: The White Princess by Philippa Gregory


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On my way home from Wilmington I finished listening to the last book in Philippa Gregory's series called "The Cousins War".  The title of the novel is The White Princess  and is about Henry VII's wife and Edward IV's daughter who was one and the same - Elizabeth.  And of course that also made her Henry VIII's mother.   This novel moves on from the same time frame that the first five books of the series cover to new events.   The back ground on Elizabeth's mother was covered in the novel called The White Queen and the back ground on Elizabeth's mother in law was covered in the novel The Red Queen.  The novel The Lady of the Rivers was about her maternal grandmother.   The Women Of The Cousins War was a non fiction book that tries to sort out the known facts from Philippa Gregory's historical fiction novels and The Kingmaker's Daughter covers history just prior to where The White Princess begins.   While The White Princess was not my favorite novel of the series I will read or listen to more of Philippa Gregory's novels.   King Henry VII was a real Debbie Downer as was his mother the Lady Margaret.  And they were prime examples of how people have historically used their belief systems to justify bad behavior.   Most of the book was King Henry VII struggling to maintain his throne from uprisings and describing his failures as a leader and Elizabeth's struggle to remain loyal to him when he was such an ass.   It makes clear how little choice and how little power women had in that time frame.  I am sure that this series will make my top ten list for 2013 but this novel is not my favorite of the series.   I am glad I listened to it though and while I intend to tear myself away from Philippa Gregory's works for a bit I will return to another of her series in the near future.  Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow the links to learn more and enjoy the video that follows.


Thursday Night Was A Movie Night: Argo

Whether it was the costuming,  the events portrayed or the music played,  this movie threw me back to 1980 in a heart beat.  If you have not seen this film yet you need to.  Learn more about the movie and the current events of 1979/1980 described in it HERE and HERE and enjoy the trailer below.   This is a must see movie!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Book Of The Week: 8/11/2013 - The Postmistress by Sarah Blake



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The August selection for my library reading group is The Postmistress by Sarah Blake.   I finished reading it last night and it is a book that asks lots of questions.  Such as: Is life a mere series of random events that we have no control over?  Do we have a significant responsibility to make a difference to others and participate and steer events?  Sarah Blake offers no answers to the questions that she raises within the context of her story. We will not run out of topics during reading group on this one. The time frame of the novel is WWII.  There is a cast of characters with various outlooks and life experiences.     This was a story that it took me awhile to get into.  The book is very well written but it is written in a tone that did not click with me. Perhaps it was just my lack of focus but I had trouble keeping the various characters straight.  In addition the settings jumped around a lot and I felt I never really arrived at any of the locations.   Please click on the title and author's name above and enjoy the video below.   While this book will probably not make my top ten titles for 2013,  I am glad I read it and it was an enjoyable read.