Recent Reads {Mr Darcy's Diary}

Mr Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange - Yet another in the growing list of Pride and Prejudice off-shoots... this was a very quick read, I finished it in one day and found it interesting to speculate on Mr Darcy's point of view.  I'd call it a good "beach read" for anyone familiar with the storyline of Pride and Prejudice.  And I must admit that the Mr & Mrs Darcy mystery series will be coming up soon on my to-read list, as I seem to be in an Austen-exploitation-lit phase.  ;-)

Recent Reads {The Dead Travel Fast}

The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn - Quite some time ago, I read the Lady Julia Grey mysteries by Deanna Raybourn and enjoyed them.  Then a few weeks ago I spotted this new title by Raybourn and picked it up.  It's a vampire story!  After laughing at myself for my recent dive into reading about the "undead" I decided I would give this one a try too.  At first attempt, I found it difficult to stay engaged with the book and set it aside after the first chapter.  It's possible I was just too distracted at the time to focus on reading, because when I picked it up and restarted it several days ago, I found it to be another light read with an unconventional heroine and mix of mystery and folklore.  So after a false start, I did actually enjoy this book and will keep an eye out for more by this author.

Recent Reads {Mr Darcy, Vampyre}{Pride and Prejudice and Zombies}

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange - after reading (and loving!) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies I couldn't resist checking out some other tangents to the Jane Austen classic.  This one was a quick, light read; and just like the zombie version, it's surprising how well the characters and storyline lend themselves to these "monstrous" adaptations! 



Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith - I decided to just include this one here too, since it's the same general idea - take a classic piece of literature and adapt it as a cheap horror thriller.  LOL  We chose this as our book club pick several months ago and all enjoyed it immensely.  We followed up the reading by watching one of the movie versions of Pride and Prejudice (the one with Colin Firth, we all agreed it was our favorite of the movie adaptations) and imagined the zombie appearances where they showed up in the book.  Great fun!

My apologies to the Jane Austen "purists" who are properly horrified at these treatments of her work, but I thoroughly enjoyed both of these, and am planning to read similar works such as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters...  :-)

Recent Reads {The Queen's Lover}

The Queen's Lover by Vanora Bennett - Having read at least one of Bennett's books previously and enjoyed it, I picked this one up on a whim.  Historical fiction/novelizations always seem to catch my eye.  This one focuses on Catherine of France - a generation before The White Queen.  Catherine, a Princess of France, is brought up in a chaotic and odd royal family - her father, King Charles VI of France is mentally unstable and her mother has a reputation for scandal; the children are left to fend for themselves for long periods without anyone assigned to make sure they are properly clothed and fed.  An English delegation comes to negotiate a marriage between the English King Henry V and Catherine, and she meets Owain Tudor.  Eventually Catherine and Henry do marry and have a son who will be heir to both the thrones of England and France.  Unfortunately Henry dies while his son and heir is still an infant, and Owain Tudor is called into service again as part of the royal household.  Years later, of course, Catherine does marry Owain, giving the Tudor descendents their claim to the English throne after the Wars of the Roses.  Bennett tells her version of the story in a compelling way, keeping me turning pages even though I know from my history books what the outcome will be.  I enjoyed this book and think that anyone who enjoys historical fiction probably would as well.

Recent Reads {The White Queen}

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory - Another book club choice, this happens to be the first novel by Philippa Gregory that I've read.  I like historical fiction and I usually like biographies, so a novelization of a historical figure is very likely to get the thumbs up from me.  This book definitely met my expectations.   The title character is Elizabeth Woodville,  who married Edward IV of England in 1464 towards the end of the War of the Roses.  In many accounts, and in all of the other historical novels I have read, Elizabeth Woodville is characterized as a grasping, vindictive, power-hungry schemer.  In fact, she is presented as one of the 'bad guys'.  As we should know by now, there are usually two sides to every story, and Gregory presents this time period as it might have been seen from Elizabeth's point of view.  Not surprisingly, many of the things Elizabeth and her family did take on a slightly different flavor when one considers that her actions may have been motivated by love of her husband and children, fear for the safety of her family, and self-preservation; and not purely from greed or a thirst for power.   The White Queen is the first in a new series by Gregory, and I noticed that the second installment, The Red Queen, will be released soon.  I plan on reading it, and will be adding Gregory's other works to my "plan to read" list as well.