The Pulitzer & an Academy Award...

I picked up "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham outside my bank. There are always a few tables set up with used books, and I love to peruse the $1 paperback section. Even if a book is horrible, it was a dollar, you know!? I picked up "The Hours" remembering when Nicole Kidman won the Oscar for her performance in the film and thought I would read it, then maybe rent the movie.
After finishing the last Potter book, I embarked on a completely different journey. The story of three women-- how their lives connect, how they impact each other's lives without ever even meeting. The story is centered around Virginia Woolf's book, "Mrs. Dalloway;" Mrs. Woolf herself being a central character- one of the three women. It was beautifully constructed- incredibly tied together, reiterating that it doesn't matter the time period, the social constructs, the style or monetary accomplishments-- we're still just people; people dealing with the same thoughts, the same fears, the same questions.
I immediately went out and rented the film. Amazing. One of the most incredible casts including Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris... the list goes on and on of truly phenomenal actors that brought this Pulitzer Prize winning story to life. I recommend you read the book and see the movie-- though, I would say read first.
There is nothing more wonderful than finding a cheap book one day strolling through the city running errands and you find a gem; a story that changes your life forever.

Next by Michael Crichton

Welcome to our genetic world. This is not the world of the future-it's the world right now.
Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps; a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars; test our spouses for genetic maladies and even frame someone for a genetic crime. We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes. . . .

The premise of this book is SCARY!! How much is true and how much is fiction? What does happen to all the residual "stuff" from a hospital visit...blood, etc. I remember before my heart surgery in 2005 when I knew the surgeon was going to remove the "left atrial appendage" during surgery, if he could keep it for me...I wanted to see what a piece of my heart muscle looked like. (Didn't get it.) I know there are a lot of genetic tests available, such as the blood test I had a couple of months ago for the Jak 2 gene because of my high red cell count. Or for breast cancer. And what if your insurance company finds out what you could be medically predisosed for...does that mean its a pre-existing condition and they won't cover it? ANYWAY, there is a lot of technical language in this book and to many characters with their plots going on which all come together rather unbelievably for me at the end. Hmmm. There seems to be a pattern here...I was going on about all the architectural detail in The Pillars of the Earth. Can't people just write books with one interesting plot and use lots of adjectives and not write a boring technical manual...unless of course it involves numbers or maps, which I like.

I Love Harry Potter

Ok, Obviously I can't say or give anything away. I finished it at 3 am this morning. A day and a half of hard reading, but I've read almost all of the books that way. Marathon!

I will say, that the story makes complete and utter sense...Ms. Rowling is happy with it and so am I.

Mother, when you finally catch up and have read the end then please post a discussion so we can actually talk about it. (She's so far behind! Only on book 5!!)

Happy reading! :)

New Title Alert!

This just in from B&N....a NEW Gregory Maguire book is coming out September 11, 2007.

Title: What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy.

OMG it's going to be agony waiting for this to hit paperback...

A good dose of medicine...

First in a new series set in Roman-occupied Britain, military medicus (army doctor) Gaius Petreius Ruso, newly divorced and stuck with debts of his late father, transfers to the 20th Legion where he finds filthy, vermin-filled quarters, miserable weather, and a lack of supplies. Immediately, he is called upon to examine the corpse of a young woman who drowned, tend to the sick, and eventually rescues an injured slave girl. Gaius also becomes a sort of detective when two young females from the local brothel turn up dead. In the meantime, he is writing a first-aid guide, sharing residence with another doctor, and more mice than can possibly be counted. Filled with period detail, suspense, and humor.

The Pillars of the Earth

All I can say is, PG (praise God) I was not alive 900 years ago!!! I would have either had to die at a very young age for wanting to be a boy instead of a girl or join a convent! Engaging story from the beginning. Even though the characters are fictional, the realities of the life back then are vivid. I too enjoyed the age progression of the characters. Could have done with a little less details on the building procedure since I'm not an architect or a mason and can't really appreciate them...just put a picture in. A good read...pretty quick for 900+ pages, especially if you have a couple of days for serious reading without interuption.

I'm Henry the Eighth, I am!

Ok, so ya'll forgive me ya'll b/c I've been reading CrazyAuntPurl ya'll and she say's ya'll like every other word/sentence!!! But she's so DAMN FUNNY! OMG, I want to be a crazyblogwriter just like crazyauntpurl! And I might have to reinvestigate knitting.

Ok, so anyways...I'm not sure what the love will be for this book for those of you who didn't watch The Tudors this past spring on Showtime. For me however, who did watch the Tudors b/c they are fascinating and I swear I'm descended from royalty somewhere down the line and o-m-g the costuming for it ya'll is AMAZing, I really enjoyed it.

It's told from the point of view of Cathrine, wife number 6?8? She wasn't super clear, but anyway obviously the last one...and it's told from when she was a child. Apparently she grew up sort of in/around his court to begin with and ended up marrying him much later on when he was old and going downhill but he sort of trusted her b/c he'd known her a long long time.

But, try it and see if you like it. Trust me tho the Tudors sort of helped with the explaining who everyone was and gave me a pretend face for them b/c the author didn't really describe the side characters much. Oh, and I can't WAIT for season 2....they always leave off somewhere dramatical.

Oh, and a note about the author Carrolly Erickson...I think I may have to investigate her further b/c she is a crazymad non-fiction biography writer! Most on Cool Royal People like Bloody Mary, Mistress Anne, Great Catherine, Josephine, Alexandra, just to name a few from her title list. She also has another fiction that I'm going to have to find called The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette. Way Cool.

Do you like Sherlock Holmes? Irene Adler? Then read these!

Ok, so I've breezed through And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander in like a day and a half...I didn't even have time to post on here that I was reading it. I LOVED it...very unique. I can't wait to read the ones that follow. Great Mystery novel. I'm not going to do a synopsis since Mom talked about it some already. Thought it was great...kept me guessing...although I did figure out which beau was the 'bad' guy and which was the 'good' guy. :)

Also read Point of Honour by Madeleine Robins. Again, another great Mystery! This one really reminded me of the Irene Adler series...Have you read those Nat? They are sort of a spin-off of from Sherlock Holmes. Anyway, not going to super elaborate but I was very satisfied with the mix of strong female character + mystery + historical + romance!

Oh yes, I do have to say I also finished off the trashy romance novel A Wicked Gentleman by Jane Feather....it was pretty good...the plot was definitely different from the usual romance with a bit more of adventure thrown in. Also rather funny, I liked the old Duchess who makes a few appearances in the novel. Wouldn't it have been fun to be so imperious? :)

Also, in the way of drinks...try something Naked! So far I've only had the Mighty Mango...but I have Red Machine in my fridge to try. Refreshing, heavy juice flavor, medium priced (when you consider what we pay for coffee), 2 serv./bottle, claim is 1 lb. of fruit in every bottle!

The Historian...

The Historian is one of those rare finds for me- It is fiction (and an exciting fiction at that!) but also chopped full of so much historical facts that I have now learned more about the true Dracula than I ever imagined. The author, Elizabeth Kostova, tells the tale of the actual man, Vlad the Impaler, son of Vlad Drakul, Vlad Tepes Drakula. He was a man who tortured and killed, drove stakes through thousands, and has birthed a legend that is still talked of daily all the way in 2007. What intrigued me more than anything is that she actually possesses many of the documents she refers to- she is a women who traveled the world in research for this story and it shows. It's an extremely intelligent read. I loved this book, and I'm passing it along on Friday to Kim- I think Ms. Kar will adore it. I will be searching for other works by this author...

Strong, Intelligent Women

Lately, I've been reading a variety of books which feature strong, intelligent women in rather unconventional circumstances for their time periods: Tasha Alexander's two books (And Only to Deceive and A Poisoned Season) about a young widow named Emily, who decides to pursue a scholarly life while unraveling several suspicious murders along the way (set in England, Paris, and Greece); Madeleine E. Robins' two Sarah Tolerance mysteries (Point of Honour and Petty Treason) about a young "Fallen Woman" who decides she will do something useful and productive with her life by "making inquiries" (a private investigator) instead of becoming a whore--it also helps that she is quite skilled at fencing (set in London); Sybil Downing's Ladies of the Goldfield Stock Exchange (Women of the West series) in which 3 women on their own form their own stock exchange for the purpose of catering especially to women in a gold-mining town in Nevada in 1906 which is based on a true story [but I'm not recommending this one--had a very weak ending]; No Life for a Lady by Agnes Morley Cleaveland, a personal memoir of growing up with her brother and widowed mother trying to survive making a living on a ranch at the turn of the century in southwestern New Mexico...and that leads me to the current book I began last night....Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin.

Taking place in the year 1170-1171 in England, Dr. Vesuvius Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar of Salerno, Italy, (where women are allowed to study and practice medicine) is hired by King Henry II to find out who has brutally killed four children in Cambridge and absolve the accused Jewish population (the king wants the Jews protected because they provide 1/7th of his tax revenues). This book opens with a Canterbury Tale-like description providing an introduction to our cast of characters--an assortment of religious figures, two knights, and the female doctor with 2 male traveling companions. For those of you grounded in your English literature, I suspect you'll enjoy and appreciate this book.

Other books waiting to be read are: The Love-Artist by Jane Alison set in first century Rome about the poet Ovid's romantic relationship with Xenia, a young witch-healer who just happens to be the only literate person in her community; Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqui Village by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea which is an account of the author's two-year stay (which is also the first 2 years of her marriage) in a tiny village in southern Iraq in the 1950's where men and women live segregated lives; and A Bride Goes West by Nannie T. Alderson and Helena Huntington Smith which was published in the mid 1940's telling Nannie's story of her move from West Virginia to Montana in 1882 to start a little ranch.

Other series featuring strong, intelligent women with a sense of humor are Laurie R. King's 8-book Mary Russell series, Elizabeth Peter's 18-book Amelia Peabody series, Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart trilogy; Carole Nelson Douglas' 8-book Irene Adler series, and Alexander McCall Smith's 8-book No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.

Arrangement?

Ok, so what should we do when our 'recently read' list gets too long? I could make a links section of just the authors? or just delete them?