I’ve read all her Tudor book series in chronological order (not publication order which is different) bar one. I love her but some better than others. Alison Weir is great too, she writes historical fiction and non fiction
I read mostly nonfiction … well, unless you count manga. =) Actually there are nonfiction manga, like Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story.” That’s my favorite way to absorb and revisit tidying. I’ve read all her books.
“The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” by John Mark Comer was a transformative book for me in 2022. Full disclosure, Comer is a Christian pastor.
I also read Walter Isaacson’s “The Code Breaker,” about Jennifer Doudna, CRISPR, gene editing, and the future of the human race. =)
I don’t buy from Amazon, but I’ve found that AbeBooks.com is amazing for used books. For example, in the U.S. at least, you can get the Marie Kondo manga for $5, shipped. After you read it, you can always donate it to the PPs, the local library, or the local bookstore. Oh! Or any little free library!
I am just about finished Denali, by outdoor photographer/climber/surfer Ben Moon. It is tells the true story of Denali, a rescue dog, who helped Ben while he was going through cancer treatments and a divorce. Their bond was really inspiring. Once I finish it, I plan on rereading Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer
@geoff.hom I love the Take a book leave a book libraries! When I travel and see one I always stop and check them out. My coolest find was from one in Alaska on our way from Fairbanks to Denali. It was a book about famous women pilots throughout history and had beautiful photographs too. I am a flight attendant so I find the aviation industry fascinating.
Even dogs have their own take one leave one libraries
Ooh title please. Love flying too
@geoff.hom
thanks for the recommendations of Abebooks.com and the little free library. I have bought some books at charity shops in England and I plan to donate some of them to local libraries here. It’s great to recycle books - I have always been a hoarder but from now on I will keep less and donate more, especially as I am currently a nomadic cat sitter. I don’t want to fill up my storage locker in London with books
@Julie_A LOL I love the dog library!
@Kelownagurl I am currently reading Spare too and also The Beach House by Beverley Jones.
@Kelownagurl @Samox24
Is Spare the book by Prince Harry? What do you think of it?
I used to read biographies from time to time but I did not read one for ages, can’t even remember the last one I read. Maybe it was the Keith Richards autobiography titled Life which I enjoyed but that was about 10 years ago.
A biography I would like to read is a biography of Thomas Cromwell by Caroline Angus (info in s/shot) as it would tie in well with Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy
@cat.tails Yes it is, I’m currently only 78 pages in but it’s an interesting read so far…
The biography of Thomas Cromwell looks good too.
Yes, I just finished it. It was an interesting read, but sad. Some of it I’d heard already from watching the documentaries, but there was a lot of new info as well. The death of his mother had a terrible impact on his life, and I can understand why he has pulled his family out of “the system”. I wouldn’t want to be a royal for anything.
I’ve been reading like crazy and the author of choice right now is in the fantasy realm. Joe Abercrombie has an amazing gift for making his characters feel incredibly real. Well worth the read if you enjoy fantasy.
@Amparo I’m actually flying at the moment and not home to check on the book title, but I will once I’ve returned to San Diego
haha right? I thought the dog library was so cute. I wonder what a cat library would have
I really enjoyed the Netflix docuseries “Harry and Meghan.” I wasn’t expecting to; I normally avoid celebrity gossip. I enjoyed both when Meghan spoke and when Harry spoke. Would you recommend “Spare” in my case?
Finished reading Pigs Have Wings. I think Wodehouse is/was a wonderful genius of a writer and his intricate plots are almost like thrillers. Not sure if there is a genre called comedy thriller
I think so. He recounts his life, primarily from when his mother died, up until the Queen’s death. He doesn’t sugar coat things and admits his own mistakes. Clearly it’s his own point of view so it’s biased in that way, but a very interesting inside view of the Monarchy.
Thanks! I’ll add it to my reading list. Yeah, I definitely learned a lot from the Netflix docuseries. I had no idea that the British tabloids were so intertwined with the Monarchy. (I was born and raised in California, and I’ve lived only in the U.S.)
This month I read A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin (ie Book 1 of the series) and I just finished A Clash of Kings (Book 2 of the series).
Martin is a good writer, but so wordy! I sometimes skip reading his long lists of things such names of knights, castles, ships etc but I do enjoy the lists relating to food served at meals. Martin is probably incapable of writing shorter novels.
I think I got to the point where I am less interested in the Bran and Daenerys chapters but I like some bits (eg the direwolves) in Bran’s sections. Having watched the TV series, knowing what happens in the end spoils it quite a lot but even though Bran and Daenerys (among others) are important characters, I find them a bit dull so far. Also, Martin brings in so many minor characters, I find it overload with all the names (especially all the knights, Ser this and that).
I read two different novels/writers in between Book 1 and 2 - that is probably what I will do with the rest of the GoT books. To read them all back to back would diminish my enjoyment of them.
@Julie_A I just love this!