Lacey Baldwin Smith (LBS) is one of the “big name” historians, and for good reasons. His research is meticulous and his analysis is often profound. His book on Henry VIII is one of the most cited and significant works on that King. Thus, when he wrote a book about Anne Boleyn I scurried over to… Read more Lacey Baldwin Smith’s book about Anne Boleyn
When I found out that Susan Bordo had a book on Anne Boleyn coming out on the 9th of April I did a snoopy dance of happiness. I am an ardent intellectual admirer of Dr. Bordo. As an student in anthropology I read several of her books about the cultural reflections of the body; they… Read more Dr. Susan Bordo’s new book about Anne Boleyn!
I must confess that I am becoming a hardcore fan of Susan Higginbotham. Since I liked Higginbotham’s book, Her Highness the Traitor, so much I thought I would read some more of her work. Her first novel, The Traitor’s Wife, was on sale on Amazon Kindle so I decided to read it next. It had… Read more The Traitor’s Wife
I decided to review Hilary Mantel’s books Wolf Hall and Bringing Up the Bodies together in order to avoid redundant comments. Eschew redundancy and don’t repeat yourself, I always say! I liked both these books much better than I should have, taking into account the things I didn’t like about them. For one thing I… Read more Wolf Hall & Bringing Up the Bodies
I stumbled upon the concept of Melungeons many years ago when I read Kentucky author Jesse Stuart’s renowned work Daughter of the Legend. In the book, the hero falls in love with a Melungeon heroine, and endures all the prejudice from former friends that comes with following his heart. Melungeons are/were a group of people… Read more Getting My Melungeon On
The best thing about being an author is that other people will read your writing and some of those people will really like your work and give you a four or even five star review, which will make your heart do the Snoopy Dance of Much Happiness. You will think those people are wonderful and… Read more The Lone Star State of Mind
I am always a bit tentative when I read a book by an author I have never read before. I am such a raging bibliophile that I get easily bored and/or frustrated with writing that doesn’t enthrall me like I want to be enthralled. This wariness is multiplied exponentially when it is a book of… Read more An Incredibly Good Historical Read
I love to read historical fiction. My favorite kind is the type that has fictitious characters (or at least historical people about whom little is known) that occasionally interact with famous historical people, which allows an easy suspension of disbelief and lets me sink into the story without being jarred out of the narrative by… Read more Historical Accuracy in Historical Fiction
I am currently re-reading the book Eric Ives wrote about Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen of England for nine days after the death of her cousin, Edward VI. The rule of Queen Jane ended when Edward’s half-sister, Mary I, seized power as the oldest living child of Henry VIII. The reason I like the… Read more The Murder of the Nine Days Queen
I confess! It is true. My favorite historical information to read are works containing details of how the bourgeois, or middle-class, people in England lived rather than the royalty. The lives of the nobility and gentry always seem too fantastical to be relatable to me, and they were only about 5% of the population. I… Read more The Magnificence of the Mundane