The god of the hive by Laurie R. King
Book 10 in the Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes mysteries. I really wish that I had gone back and reread the previous book in this series before starting this. The language...
14 September 2010
An instance of the fingerpost by Iain Pears
ISBN: 009975181x Read with HistoricalFavorites Marco da Cola, gentleman of Venice, respectfully presents his greetings. This was a wonderful read. When I first started it I had no idea[1] what to...
12 September 2010
A civil contract by Georgette Heyer
by Georgette Heyer
The library at Fontley Priory, like most of the principal apartments in the sprawling building, looked to the south-east, commanding a prospect of informal gardens and a plantation of poplars, which acted as a wind-break and screened from view the monotony of the fen beyond.
Adam Deveril has just left the army and the Peninsular War. Not through choice, but because his father recently died and he must assume his family responsibilities as the new Viscount Lynton. Added to his problems is the fact that his father was not the most reliable with money, and Adam finds himself hugely in debt. He may even be forced into selling the family home, as not only does he have mortgages and debts, but he will also have to support his mother and provide for his two sisters. But he is also a man of principle and honour; he does not even consider his advisor’s opinion that he find himself a wealthy bride. But he forced to reconsider when the wealthy business man Jonathan Chawleigh suggests he marries his daughter.
14 August 2010
The help by Kathryn Stockett
9780141039282 ; Author’s site Read with HistoricalFavorites Mae Mobley was born on a early Sunday morning in August, 1960. The Help of the title refers to the black women domestics who...
13 June 2010
Victory of eagles by Naomi Novik
Author: Naomi Novik
Temeraire series #5
I hesitated before starting this book, wondering if I should reread the others in the series, it has been a while after all. But I have so many books waiting to be read that I decided to jump straight in and hope that it would all come back to me. And it did, almost the second I started reading the first page the whole world of Temeraire came back to me and I remember just how enjoyable these books are.
For those of you who have never read any of these books the first thing you need to know is that they are set in Napoleonic Europe, England. And have dragons. It is like Sharp meets Pern. Only better.
19 May 2010
Robin Hood dir. by Ridley Scott
Directed by Ridley Scott ; Screenplay by Brian Helgeland
You all know the legend of Robin Hood, he stole from the rich and gave to the poor, living in Sherwood Forest with his band of merry men, his main nemesis being the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. And there have been many version of Robin over the years. My personal favourite still remains the tv show from the 80s Robin of Sherwood. It managed to get the balance between myth and reality just about right, in my opinion, of course. But even Kevin Costner’s version was damn fine fun. This is not.
14 May 2010
The good man Jesus and the scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman
by Philip Pullman
The back of the edition of this that I read has only the words: This is a story. Interesting. Is that because the publisher’s don’t want to offend the ultra religious in the Christian world. Or is it a message from the author that the life of Jesus is a story. That the bible is a story.
Pullman, of course, is known for his ever so slightly controversial views on religion, he has used them in his fiction before. In that case it involved a worn-out god, and power-hungry angels. Here he revisits the myth:”(is a myth a religion we dont believe in?)”: of Jesus Christ and weaves a new story out of it.
7 May 2010
Black Hills by Dan Simmons
Author: Dan Simmons
I’d never read any of Dan Simmons work before picking this one up. I’d heard good things about Drood but that’s about it. So picking this up was a total impulse decision. I hadn’t heard anything about the book, and I don’t really trust blurbs.
In the opening sentence we meet our main protagonist, Paha Sapa, a young Lakota boy who has raced into the middle of the Battle of Little Big Horn in order to go counting coup, there he touches the dying George Custer, the infamous Long Hair, and from then on shares his mind with Custer’s ghost. The book shifts in time, usually within Paha Sapa’s life, but occasionally we get to hear from Custer. He usually talks about his wife, Libby, and the sex they had. To be totally honest this was the one bit I wasn’t that interested in. Okay, so he and his wife have a great sex life, and so…
The rest of the book though, well, it is one I recommend you take a look at.
6 May 2010
The game by Laurie R. King
Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes have returned home to Sussex in order to enjoy the new year, but soon enough they travel to London to visit Holmes’ brother, Mycroft, whose health is not the best. While there he suggests that perhaps they might look into a case for him. A possibly-missing person. In India.
Of course they head off, and the person they are looking for, none other than Kimball O’Hara, known to many from Rudyard Kipling’s Kim.
28 March 2010
Justice Hall by Laurie R. King
I do love these books.
This the sixth in the series returns our heroes to their present after the flashback that was O Jerusalem. That sentence doesn’t really make much sense, but figure it out, think of it as a challenge :) Holmes & Russell have just returned from The Moor and are settling back in at home when their comes a disturbance at their door. Ali Hazr has shown up, with a head wound and wanting their assistance. He needs their help with Mahmoud, his “brother”. Of course Holmes had already pointed out that neither of the two arabs they were travelling with were actually from that region, but it is, nevertheless, a surprise to learn where they come from and just what an aristocratic name both bear.
23 March 2010
O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King
I’m continuing to work my way through the Mary Russell novels; I slowed down a bit for two reasons. One, I don’t want to overload on the ‘verse. Two, the library ran out of the series. Well, it skipped the next so I took my time with O Jerusalem while I boughtJustice Hall for my own shelves. I will at some point go order all this series, I really do think that they are books you can very easily reread and enjoy time and again.
15 March 2010
Solomon Kane [based on character/stories] by Robert E. Howard. dir. by Michael J. Bassett
So y’all know that I luuurve James Purefoy, mainly because he was so great as Mark Anthony in Rome, but also so adorable in A Knight’s Tale so of course I was predisposed to like this. Then again I wasn’t too impressed with Vanity Fair so it doesn’t always follow that actors I like = good films.
22 February 2010
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