Philippa Gregory Books

I love the books about the wives of Henry VIII by Philippa Greggory. She really brings the queens to life and makes you relate to them. I don't know what order they were published in, but I recommend reading them in chronological order:

The Constant Princess

This is the sweet, sad story of Katherine of Aragon, a princess of Spain who first married Henry VIII's older brother Philip. When Philip died, she hung around England until she managed to marry Henry and become queen. I loved reading about Katherine's love story with two brothers and her quest to be England's queen.

The Other Boleyn Girl

This book focuses on Anne Boleyn's sister Mary, who was one of Henry's mistresses before Anne lured Henry in and convinced him to divorce Katherine and separate from the Catholic church. Even though its a little long, the book is sooooo good! The author really brings out the relationship between the two sisters and the king and the struggle of the Boleyn family to rise (and stay) in power. So so so good.

The Boleyn Inheritance

This picks up after Anne Boleyn is killed and after wife #3 (Jane Seymour) dies in childbirth. Henry picks wife #4, a German princess, from a painting and when she shows up, he does not like her at all. So then Kitty Howard, Anne Boleyn's cousin, flirts her way on to the throne instead. Its written from the perspective of wife #4, wife #5 and Anne Boleyn's sister-in-law. Very interesting (although a tad long). It really makes me think Henry VIII was off his rocker toward the end of his reign. Too much power.

If you read these, let me know what you think!

After these books, read The Queen's Fool (about Henry's children and their ascent to the throne), then The Virgin's Lover (about Queen Elizabeth, I'm reading this right now) and then The Other Queen (about Mary Queen of Scots, this one is still on my list to read).

Dewey

My mom and Brian both gave me this book for Christmas because I had been wanting to read it so badly. My grandma was raving about it over Thanksgiving and Dewey's face on the cover is too cute. I flew through the book, which read a little bit more like a memoir of the head librarian than I expected (although I don't know why I was surprised - its not like you can fill 200 pages with silly cat stories and make the best seller list). Cute, touching book overall.

Plot: Kitten is dropped in library drop box and brings together a small town in Iowa.

Read: late January 2009

Next Up: The Virgin's Lover

Breaking Dawn

Um. Wow. I loved this one the most even though it was so long. It felt like two different books (maybe even three) since the plot was so intricate. And I think there is room for a sequel...or at least a follow-up even if the main character was different.

Plot: Bella and Edward get married...and I can't spoil the rest because its too good!

Read: Jan. 2 - 29

Next Up: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

Eclipse

Well, I did not end up reading The Virgin's Lover next. After seeing the Twilight movie, I had to go get the last two books ASAP! I found them at Half Price Books in perfect condition. I was not as impressed with Eclipse. To be honest, the plot of this one sort of dragged. I wanted to read it so that I would know what happened, but I just could not get into it as much. Maybe that was partly because I tried to read it during a really busy time at work and over the holidays so I never had the opportunity to read a whole lot at once? I don't know. Still worth reading if you have read the rest (especially becasue the last one is SO good!!).

Plot: Something to do with an evil vampire chick and an army of newborns. I won't spoil it for you.

Read: Dec. 8 - Jan. 1

Next Up: Breaking Dawn

New Moon

This was even better than Twilight. The storyline really picks up, and the author developed Jacob's character really well. I don't want to spoil anything, but it was definitely a good sequel! Maybe even better than the first one. I think I read it faster anyway. Now I just have to track down my own copies (I borrowed the first two) of the last two books. Hopefully they are just as good!!

Plot: I can't give anything away!!

Read: Nov. 17-30

Next Up: The Virgin's Lover (another one by Philippa Gregory)

Twilight

I was skeptical about reading a vampire novel. I hate all things scary/gory/gross. But this, I liked. It was much more about an unlikely love story than about gross vampirey things. The book reads very quickly. Try it!

But beware...there are four in the saga and they will suck you in!

Plot: Bella Swan falls in love with her soul mate Edward, who happens to be a vampire.

Read: Nov. 6 - 16

Update: I saw the movie with my sister-in-law (who read all four Twilight books in about a week) and I thought the movie was almost as good as the book. It was good in its own way without deleting too many important parts or changing the story. Now that I have read all the books, I'm really curious how/if they will do them all as movies.

Next Up: New Moon (the 2nd book)

The Queen's Fool

I adore Philippa Gregory books. I love learning about the Tudor monarchy. After reading the description of this book, I felt sure it wouldn't live up to her other books. But I was very wrong. This one begins shortly after Henry VIII dies and covers the reign of his son Edward, the coup d'etat of the Lady Jane Grey, and the sad reign of Henry's daughter Mary. It also gives you an idea of how Jews lived through the tumultuous Tudor times. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one.

Plot: Hannah Green, an undercover Jew, becomes a Fool in the Tudor court and witnesses the rise and fall of Edward, Lady Jane Grey, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.

Read: October 2008

Related Books: The Virgin's Lover (next chronologically) and the Boleyn books, which come before it

Next Up: Twilight