I thought I'd get us started this month.  I'm currently in the middle of The Secret Magdalene, which is alternately very fascinating to me, but sometimes hard to get into.  I'm hoping to finish it up by tomorrow so I can start The Snow Fox (this month's HF BOM) on Monday and keep up with that this month! 

Happy Reading to all in November!

I'm reading Vivaldi's Virgins by Barbara Quick, and enjoying it so far. I'm also going to start the BOM later tonight.

I am still reading The Autobio of Henry VIII by M. George.  I've put it down three times to read something, but I'm deteremined to finish it this.  It's good, it's just long and I'm tired of the Tudors.  This is the 6th Tudor book since I joined PBS in June; I'm reading to move on.

I just started In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant.

Valli - I liked Vivaldi's Virgins a lot -- much more the the Rosalind Laker book (title of which I forget) which also featured students of the Venice Ospedale. 

I am finishing up Brief Gaudy Hour by Margaret Campbell Barnes.  I couldn't get into it when I started it back in March/April, so it sat on my shelf until I tried it again.  Liking it quite a lot, except I don't understand why she has Anne Boleyn's mother as dead and a stepmother in her place.  Odd to me. 

I am also working my way through the Phryne Fisher mysteries set in 1920s Australia.  They're fun, fast reads.

I am reading The Memory Palace by Christie Dickason and I am not really loving it. It just has that feeling that something is going to happen so I keep reading but  nothing great yet, we will see. Before this I read The diary of Mattie Spenser and the Jubilee Trail. They were both about the American west. I enjoyed both but I am not sure if it was b/c they were both good books or if it was the change in subject since I don't generally read books about the old west.

I couldn't wait!!

  I had to start the Plantagenet Series of Jean Plaidys!!!  I am on #3 Heart of the Lion even tho I am still missing Vow on Heron & Red Rose of Anjou. 

Hopefully I find those (for a reasonable price) before I need them!!!

I'm reading an Ann Rule book.

Okay so I was reading The Favored Child by Philippa Gregory but that one didn't grab me like the first one did so now I'm reading The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares and then when I finish the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants books I think I'll give Favored Child another try.

I'm on vacation this week so I hope to get lots of reading done!  Right now I am reading #3 in the Alexander the Great series by Valerio Manfredi The Ends of the Earth.  This one is about the part of Alexander's life and battles that I am not at all familiar with and I am really enjoying it.

I was home sick last week, and had finished Empress Orchid, liked it enough that I went and ordered its sequel, The Last Empress.  Then, worried that it would take me all month to read it, I started The Snow Fox, only ended up being sicker than I'd realized and out another day...so finished that already. Then read The Other Queen, from dear friend Jennifer W (thanks, pretty good PG read, but still a PG). Am currently reading Tipping the Velvet, been on Mt TBR forever.

Colleen - I loved Empress Orchid and The Last Empress.  Tipping the Velvet has been on my TBR pile forever, so I'll be looking forward to hearing how you like it.  I finished up the first section of The Snow Fox last night, so I'll post some discussion thoughts this evening - you are a tough act to follow, so please pipe in with your thoughts on those discussions as well!

I'm also halfway through A Year of Wonders, but put it down to read the BOM.  It's a short one, so I'll wrap that one up soon and am trying to decide where I want to head next. 

I am reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. A fantasy novel, the first in a trilogy. I am really enjoying it so far.

I'm reading The Monster of Florence, which is a true crime book by Douglas Preston.  It's really good, but everyone is related, so it's hard to keep the names straight.

Michelle-  if you like Ann Rule, you would probably like it.  (I'd send it on to you , but it's an eBook).

Update from me - I finished The Secret Magdalene last night and started this month's BOM, The Snow Fox.

Michele, I like Ann Rule.  Which one are you reading?

Hi all! I'm reading the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series now... can't seem to stop! Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

I'm about 30 pages into Caroline Levitt's Girls in Trouble.  Then I'll probably pick up the BOM.

Mimi-

Are you enjoying Girls In Trouble?   It's on my TBR stack....

Yes, very much so. I put away a good chunk of it last night.  There are several things that strike me as anachronistic, but the storyline is interesting.

Im currently reading The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette by Carolly Erickson but I will mosl likely finish it today, but I'm not sure what I'll get to next.

I just finished #4 of the Ladies Detective Agency The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith and will probably tackle #5 next since I already have it on my TBR shelf. 

Michelle--I really really liked Tipping the Velvet, finished it last night. Was one I couldn't put down....found myself sneaking it in my purse into the ladies room at work to get a quick fix, LOL---anyone else do that?? I'm a total addict, I know. You should move it up on your Mt. TBR.  TTV is very well-written--the kind of well-written that feels like someone is telling you a story when you read it, it just flows and is very natural, in the main character's own voice. TTV has much to offer on many levels--it's a great LBGT story/statement, it's historical aspect is up to snuff, and it's theme, about maturing enough to know what you want in love and then finding it, is universal.

I'd read Fingersmith before this, and I liked that a lot too. I think Waters is an author I will continue to read.

I haven't started it yet, but went, for a complete change to choose The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn by Janis Hallowell. Not sure what to expect, dust jacket looked interesting at our at-work book exchange shelf, so I borrowed it. I am hoping for light and fluffy, before I start back in on more serious HF.

C.

PS--thanks for your kind words, I hope I'm not off-putting in being a "tough act to follow"--I just love to read and dicuss books. I adore Holly's theme for Jan BoM already, having a tough time choosing among the kings and queens!

Colleen - no, you're not "off-putting" at all, I think you did a great job!  As long as no one expects the same from me, LOL!!  I don't know what's going on here at work, but things are getting crazy.  All of the countries I work with are trying to use up their remaining defense budgets by the end of the year before they lose it!

I'll have to pull out Tipping the Velvet...I can't wait until the holidays when I have some downtime to get in some reading.