Lately, I’ve noticed a bit of a slump in my reading pace, so I thought I’d try and do a weekly blog post about books, the whole books, and nothing but the books! XD
Usually, when it comes to reading books, I am your typical “one book at a time” kind of girl; however, since the end of last year, I’ve had at least SIX books that are active on my reading list. When reading, I can usually stay focused on the one book or series, but not this year! With that being said, let’s take a look at my current, active reading list, shall we?
First up, Kings & Queens of England, a Dark History: 1066 to Present Day by Brenda Ralph Lewis. I would consider this to be your basic coffee-table book. The information in the book for the most part gives a decent general overview; the “dark” history aspect isn’t anything surprising, just the usual sex, power-plays, and murders we’ve all heard and know about (Henry VIII beheading two of his wives, the Princes in the Tower, and so on). One thing that was pleasantly surprising were all the images and illustrations; there were many I hadn’t seen before, and I think that this engraving by H.C. Austin of Isabella of France is my favorite.
If you just want to get an overview of English royalty, with a focus on some of the darker aspects of their reigns, then this book is for you!
The second book on the list is The Demon’s Brood: A History of the Plantagenet Dynasty by Desmond Seward. This book is a specific focus on the Plantagenet Dynasty, who ruled England longer than any other royal family; they were on the English throne from 1154 starting with Henry II, to 1485, with the death of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field.
The Plantagenet line originated in Anjou, in France, and if you’re familiar at all with British or French history, this is one of the reasons why these two countries were always fighting. As the kings of England were descendants of French heritage, they believed themselves to be the King of France, as their birthright, and were constantly trying to take back French lands. These constant raids from 1337 to 1453 is better known as the Hundred Years’ War; there were some major royal expeditions, and the most famous, I think, would be Henry V my bae, who had the most success, beating the French at Agincourt, eventually creating the Treaty of Troyes, where Henry married Catherine of Valois, daughter of King Charles VI of France. As a result of this marriage, Henry then forced terms that he would be Charles’s heir over Charles’s own son, the Dauphin, and then Henry and Catherine’s children would succeed Henry to the French throne. This never happened as Henry died about two years later, leaving his barely one-year old son as his heir, which was one of the contributing factors to the start of the disastrous War of the Roses.
From the Plantagenet line, there are two branches; the House of Lancaster and the House of York. These cousins, and their vying for the English throne, is one of the main factors that resulted in the War of the Roses. The reason it was called this is that Lancaster was associated with the red rose, while York was with white. This is best seen in the Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens by Henry Arthur Payne.
When Henry VII came to the throne, he merged the two roses together to create the Tudor rose, which was symbolic as he was associated distantly with the House of Lancaster through his mother, and he married Elizabeth of House York, to bring the two warring houses together.
I think if you have any interest in this specific period of British history, this book would be awesome for you. It’s a very easy read, and Seward breaks his chapters up by each king, whom is given a descriptive name to further characterize their chapter. My favorite? “The Gleaming King – Henry V”, of course. ;p
A swift shift in topic is the third book, The Amazing Book is Not on Fire: The World of Dan and Phil by Dan Howell and Phil Lester. Dan and Phil are YouTubers, and this book is literally their videos in printed format! XD
The book doesn’t read like a traditional biography, which is totally cool, but it does follow the path of hitting main lifetime points; literally starting with their births, as shared by their mothers, moving on through childhood, and onto school & university, and what led them to start YouTube, to where they are now. Sprinkled in-between are many anecdotes, trivia & facts, and some how-to’s. In fact, while composing this post, I picked up the book to give a look through as to what I’ve already read, as a refresher, and just ended up finishing the book! So now, I can go ahead and mark that one complete (finally!), which is pretty good timing, since they just released Dan and Phil Go Outside!
Numero four is, Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman. I love, love, LOVE Gaiman’s writing. This book is comprised for 24 short stories, and so far, I am about halfway through. This particular book doesn’t follow your traditional anthology set up, where most of the stories revolve around a current theme or topic; instead Gaiman has provided stories that are sci-fi and contemporary, fairy tales and horror, pop culture and fantasy. It runs the total gamut and it works. They are all so different, but they all fit together. So far, my favorites have been “A Lunar Labyrinth”, “The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains”, “A Calendar of Tales” (May, September, November, & December, in particular.), “The Case of Death and Honey” [see an excerpt below], “Jerusalem”, and “And Weep, Like Alexander” (which actually, if truth be told, has nothing to with an Alexander! XD). I think that if you have come across any of Neil Gaiman’s work and were deliberating whether or not to start reading (you should, you totally should!), this book would be an awesome gateway book, to see how he writes (which is awesomely, btw!), and to give you a taste of what you can expect with some of his full length novels.
Cinqo de book is The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. Let me start off by saying that this book is GORGEOUS! I am literally the heart-eyes emoji when I look through this book. Hardback and about an inch thick, this book is jam packed with so many historical backstories and beautiful portraits and landscapes, it’s manna for a historical nerd like me (even if it is a history for a fictional world! XD) I am barely a quarter of the way through the book; there is just so much info, that I am taking my time to read and try to absorb it all. I’ve made it through the Ancient History and the Reign of the Dragons, and am about halfway through the Targaryen Kings. Moving ever so closer to Rhaegar and Lyanna’s story, but as the book is written in the voice of a maester to the king, we most likely won’t get the reveal that they are the parents of Jon Snow. (But that’s ok, because the show has practically already done that for us! XD)
Lastly, we have book number six, Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I by Peter Ackroyd. This is the book that I have been consistently reading as of late. As the name implies, it’s a coverage of the Tudor period, from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I. The Tudor dynasty actually started with Henry VIII’s father, Henry VII, who combined the houses of Lancaster and York, putting an end to the War of the Roses. Team Lancaster FTW! Henry VII’s story was covered in Ackroyd’s previous book, Foundation: The History of England from its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors. (Hot diggity dog, that title is a mouthful! XD) This book is the second in Ackroyd’s History of England series, and covers the four Tudor monarchs, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I.
I have made it through Henry, Edward, and Mary, and am just starting to delve into Elizabeth’s reign. So far, I’ve not really read anything I wasn’t already familiar with; most of the unknown came from secondary persons, and their stories, like the various bishops and priests, and their travails during the Reformation process. (Which let’s be real, was all about Henry VIII claiming all power and money, and nothing to do with Protestant/Lutheran beliefs.) I could honestly read about the Tudors all day, everyday! Good Queen Bess is my historical jam! XD
So that’s all the books that are currently on my active reading list! I’ve also read other books recently that didn’t spend as much time on my “currently reading” list, like Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, and Eat Smart: What to Eat in a Day – Every Day by Niomi Smart.
A special mention has to go out to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne, because ERMAHGERD NEW HERREY PERTER!!! I bought this book on July 31st when it was released, and had it read COMPLETELY the same day. In all fairness, this is in a play format, not a novel format, so it was a quick read through. There were pros and cons with this release; I love that it’s expanding the Wizarding World universe, but at the same time, it read like fan fiction. I love how boss Hermione still was, but didn’t feel that Harry and Ron were the same people as in the original series; they felt weaker, and at times, like completely different characters. I think the Albus & Scorpius relationship was adorable, and everything we could have had, if Harry & Draco had ended up as friends. While I am thankful for the script version (because I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see the play), I think it would be nice to have a proper novelization, to flesh it out a bit more. Plus, Rowling can write some awesome dialogue that’s always nice to read.
That’s it for my inaugural “What I Read Wednesday” post! Let’s see what progress I manage to make next week, if any! Blogmas is getting ready to start, so I have been prepping posts for that, but I am planning for all Wednesdays to be book posts! Also, feel free to friend me over at Goodreads, where you can see all kinds of bookish activity! XD Please share any recommendations, or books you are currently reading, in the comments!
Amanda Leigh 