Let's discuss our September books

I finished Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn. I will pick up the sequal just to see where she is going with it . First novel maybe 6.5 out 10. Has potential though. I would like to see more history though

Alice

I'm reading "Call Each River Jordan" by Owen Parry, the third book in the series I keep raving about. Soon you will be sending me credits to get something else, just so I'll stop telling you how much I love Abel Jones.  Soon...

I'm also listening to "Nefertiti" by Michelle Moran, and enjoying it very much. 

I am reading Grania: She King of the Irish Seas. I am enjoying this tale of an unusual 16th century woman that prefers life on the open sea in international trade and piracy. The writing is good enough to keep me engaged, but not a 5 star read.

Vicky I read the first Owen Parry book. I really liked it. Good plot, charcaters and writing style. I still have book 2 on my shelf.

Alice

I finished Within the Hollow Crown (Margaret Campbell Barnes) and liked it.  4/5  My only real complaint is that the focus was too narrow, to the personal.  That was fine for the first half of the book, up to when Richard took the reins of government himself.  But after that, it needed to expand a little.  There was no sense at all that problems were building, and that his throne was in peril.  Which is fine for a portrayal strictly from Richard's perspective--I doubt he saw it coming!  But the READER should at least understand what happened and (the author's opinion of) why .  And I was not satisified with that at all. I would still recommend the book, but I will be looking for some other materials, fiction and NF. 

I started "Queen's Play" by Dorothy Dunnet this morning.  Too early to have any opinion about it yet except that I DO love her writing.

I'm down the home stretch with A Clash of Kings - about 150 pages to go. I'm enjoying it, but I liked the first book in the series better.

I'm heading to the shore for a few days at the end of the week, so I don't know what I'll read. Probably some trash that you all wouldn't be interested in.

My birthday was yesterday and I got  "Talking to Girls About Duran Duran" by Rob Sheffield.  I put aside "Vision of Light" to read about 3/4 of it last night, and will finish it up tonight, and go back to "Vision" which is quite good. 

LOL, Mimi!  I had never heard of that Duran Duran book, but it sounds awesome.  I love me some 80's music!  I've added it to my WL.

I too just finished reading Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn.   I found the characters very interesting and thought it good for a first novel.   Agree on more historical events/detail.    I'm looking forward to the next one.

Vicky - stop tempting me about new authors (Owen Parry)!

Mimi, I really like Vision of Light and I have the second book on my TBR shelves, which is unusual for me I usually read all the books in a series while the other book or books are fresh in my mind.

Jerelyn - I have the second on my WL, I am enjoying the storyline and will look forward to the continuation.

Christa - it's a really quick read, but pretty fun.  I'm also a huge 80s girl. 

After reading several fantasy and contemporary fiction books, I've returned to HF with The Historian.  I've put this off because of its size but I am finding that it flows well, I like the writing and the characters.  Looks like it will be a good read.  In addition, I found a couple oldies in an auction box that focus on US Civil War fiction.  Fun!  Nearly done with Losing Julia which I am reading for a goodreads HF read-along.  It's a most informative read - lots about WWI and a soldier's reaction to the war and the people involved with it.  Completed Anil's Ghost which focused on conflict in Sri Lanka.  It's a good read featuring four key characters.  I liked it - lots to reflect on.  

I am reading Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon.  I've got friday and monday off so I'll have plenty of time this weekend for reading :)

Holly and Ruth, You all are reading 2 of my favorite books. I hope you enjoy them!

Jewel of St. Petersburg hit the wall last night. I just got the last of Valerie Anand's Bridges Over Time series, The Dowerless Sisters, via ILL (with a whopping $15 handling fee) and starting shortly. The book is ruinously expensive used so I felt the $15 was a cheaper bargain, and I do want to finish the series and plan a blog post about it.

I'm on disk 9 of 22 for The Historian.  I'm liking it okay, although a lot of the descriptive stuff is overboard for me.  If it relates to the story, that's fine but there seems to be a lot of unnecessary info.  Or maybe I just don't know yet that it is necessary!

Reading In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Durant and LOVING it.

Looking for recommendations for American hist fic, 1700s/1800s along the lines of Jennifer Donnelly.

I'm back to reading and I finished Mary of Nazereth by Marek Halter.  It was a good book, but I found it difficult to see it as Mary's story.

I've been trying to read Queen Maker by India Edghill.  For some reason, it's not clicking for me.  I think reading the flap and seeing it was touted as being like The Red Tent has put my expectations too high.

I'm wild about The Historian. I read it in 2007 and then re-read it in 2009, and that's something I very rarely do.

I'm still reading Shogun and so far it is a terrific read. I can hardly put it down. I was sucked in from about page 3 and I've been hooked ever since. I hope everything James Clavell wrote is this good.

Happy belated Birthday, Mimi! How nice to treat YOURSELF on your special day!

Letty - I love your new Avatar! Very unique.

Kelly and Linda - Yep Cup of Ghosts (which I'm reading now) does clear up a lot going on in The Poison Maiden! lol! I think it's a great HF mystery. Thanks!

Yesterday I received Heartstone by C J Sansom in the mail so that read will be coming up real soon!!!

Thanks Jeanne, I just wish you could see the detail better,  I have always love sailing ships.

Jeanne - Thank you, it was a fun read. I'm back to "Vision of Light"

Merrill - one I read this summer and greatly enjoyed was Midwife of the Blue Ridge by Christine Blevins 

Miracle of Miracles, I, the MIA HF-er, have news to report!  Brace yourselves! 

I actually finished a book!!  I finished The Journeyer the night before last.  Yes, I loved every minute of it, and lack of interest was certainly not what took me a month plus to read it.  Granted, it IS a long book, but over a month is ridiculously embarassing!  Let's just say it's been a very busy summer with way less time for reading than I had hoped or planned. 

Gary Jennings is truly an imaginative and gifted author.  The Journeyer was an incredibly rich book.  I so loved Marco Polo!  However, if pressed, I would have to say that I liked Atec a bit more.  DH disagrees.  He preferred The Journeyer, but I'm sticking with Mixtli and his Aztec peeps. 

So, I'll cross the letter "J" off HF Challenge No. 2 and move on to the letter "Q."  I started The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman last night.  This should be a much quicker read as it is far less of a doorstop than The Journeyer. 

Jeanne - So glad you are reading & enjoying Cup of Ghosts. I've had an email exchange with Paul Doherty and he told me there is a fourth one coming! Third one is The Darkening Glass & the fourth one is apparently underway.

Arika - Yay!! for Clavell ... one of my all-time favorites & at the top of my recommended "must-read" list. Tai-Pan & Noble House absolutely measure up to Shogun - King Rat is a different cat altogether - Japanese POW camp at the end of WW II - somewhat brutal, but very much worth reading as long as the subject matter doesn't completely turn you off.

I finished Murderous Procession (Ariana Franklin) and enjoyed it - it is probably not my favorite of the series, but good nonetheless and I will definitely continue with the series. One really cannot talk to much about it without the risk of spoilers, so I shall just leave it at that.

Then I read Blind Justice, (Bruce Alexander) - the first in the Sir John Fielding mystery series - set in 1768 London. Fun, quick read, full of interesting details & characters. Recommend this series!

Now I'm sinking delightfully into the 2nd House of Niccolo book by Dorothy Dunnett - Spring of the Ram.  Just call me a happy girl.

Kelly