Reading: In the Shadow of the Crown

So, a few years ago…. my friend Namita and I saw Elizabeth, starring the then unknown (to me anyway) Cate Blanchett. I was struck by a lot of things about this movie:; 1) Joseph Fiennes is wicked hot in a pair of tights; and 2) it would be totally cool to have to power to say to/about a man who had broken my heart, “let him live;” and 3) my ONE required World History course in college failed to sufficiently educate me about certain things about European history.

Before seeing this movie, I knew King Henry had a lot of wives. I knew he beheaded Anne Boleyn. I knew there was a Queen named Bloody Mary. I knew that Queen Elizabeth witnessed the Golden Age during her reign. However, I did not know how these powerful people were able to change the face of England’s religious landscape which each new King or Queen. So, I decided to find out.

And thus began my sick fascination with the Tudor kings and queens. I recently read “In the Shadow of the Crown” by Jean Plaidy. The author, who died in 1993, has a PROLIFIC collection of work surrounding the royal families in England: The Tudor Queens, The Plantagenets, the Normans, The Stuarts….you name it. She wrote something like 90 books under three different pen names.

Here’s what I liked about this book: It is not often that you read a sympathetic account of Queen Mary, daughter of King Henry and Queen Catherine of Aragon. Most of what you read about her is that she burned “heretics” at the stake for refusing to say Mass. You also read that she was slightly crazy and imagined that she was pregnant twice before sadly admitting that she was too old to have a baby (and she probably had ovarian cancer). You read about her obsession over her unhappy marriage.

This book tried to make a case for WHY Queen Mary was so deeply unhappy. It focused on the fact that at age 12, she was declared a bastard by her own father so King Henry could marry Anny Boleyn and separate from the Church of Rome so he could legally divorce Queen Catherine. Mary was kept away from her family and friends until her mid-20s when King Henry wanted to reconnect with his children that he had previously denied.

During the course of her life, she was target of many assassination plots, probably at the hand of her own father. She was forced to name King Henry the head of the Church of England, when she was a devout catholic and believer in Roman rule. She was coerced by her father to claim her own illegitimacy, forgoing her rightful claim to the throne after his death.

I’m sure that growing up with that sort of stress would cause ME to go a little crazy. I don't know if I would burn people at the stake who disagreed with my religion.....but I'm not a religious person.

Here’s what I didn’t like about this book: It was pretty apparent that Plaidy is a superb historian, but not the best novelist in the world. As I was reading, I kept thinking to myself, “It’s like she has other things to do right now”….like write 89 other books apparently. The book was more than 400 pages and could easily have been cut down by a quarter if the author stopped repeating herself. I found myself reading the same sentence and same dialogue….over and over and over again.

I wouldn’t particularly recommend this book to anyone who isn’t as bizarrely obsessed with Tudor history as I am. The only other person who fits that bill is my sister, and she gave me the book, so.....I don't recommend it.

100 books

So, I have been seeing this meme around, and it was fun. It took a long time. Try it!

Books I believe I should read

1. The Celestine Prophesy (I like the cover a lot. It makes me feel serene.)
2. Anything by Suze Orman (I will admit that I watch her infomercials and like them a lot.)
3. The Fifth Discipline (It’s a work thing, but he’s wicked smart.)
4. Anna Karenina (I hear good things.)
5. Marie Antoinette: The Journey (The movie left me wanting more.)
6. The Bible (I have never read it cover to cover. Would like to know what all the fuss is about.)
7. On the Road (No reason, I just feel like it’s a Must Read.)
8. What to Expect When You’re Expecting (Just because Fiance and I are thinking about this stuff lately.)
9. The Prophet (Again, the serenity thing.)
10. The Alchemist (My friend Becky really likes this one.)

Books I wouldn't touch again with a ten foot pole

11. The Corrections (There was a chapter on POO, people.)
12. Angela’s Ashes (Yawn)
13. War and Peace (Who has that kind of time?)
14. Midnight’s Children (There were, like, 82 characters by page 16.)
15. A Million Little Pieces (I totally knew he was full of shit WAY before Oprah.)
16. The Lovely Bones (Freaked my shit out!)
17. Honeymoon with my Brother (See previous reviews of this horrible book)
18. Written on the Body (Totally did not get it at all.)
19. Tepper Isn’t Going Out (I got to page 8.)
20. Reading Lolita in Tehran (I thought this was going to be so different than what it was.)
21. Housekeeping (Again, got to page 8)
22. The DaVinci Code (Simply HORRID.)
23. White Oleander (Could one more thing have happened to that girl? Depressing!)
24. The Jane Austen Book Club (I can’t BELIEVE they are making a movie out of this shit.)

Books on my bedside table

25. In the Shadow of the Crown (About the life of Bloody Queen Mary)
26. Lonely Planet’s Italy (Honeymoon!!!!)
27. The Best Life Diet, by Bob Greene (I am WAY into it!)
Books on my TBR list
28. Fast Food Nation (I have a feeling I’m never eating out again.)
29. The Agony and the Ecstasy (I can’t wait. About the painting of the Sistine Chapel.)
30. Brick Lane (No idea what it’s about, but I really liked the cover.)
31. The Great Fire (I have no idea why I bought this book, b/c I can’t even remember what it’s about.)
32. The Memoirs of Cleopatra (We’ve been watching Rome on HBO, which prompted me to read this.)
33. 1906 (I like books about San Francisco.)
34. A Prayer for Owen Meany (KK and Namita keep telling me to read it.)
35. The Last Days of Dogtown (by the same author as The Red Tent, which I love)
36. Ella Price’s Journal (originally printed as a series of letters in Redbook magazine in the 70s, supposedly it’s still relevant today)
37. What to Drink with What you Eat (Trying to learn more about wine pairing)
38. Mastering the Art of French Cooking (I have Italian and Mexican food pretty well baked, should probably branch out to French now)
39. Geek Love (Cuz I’m a geek and I’m in love.)
40. Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason (Because it’s about the history of gin…..my favorite drink!)
41. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Every reviewer is freaking out about this book.)

Books I’ve only seen in movie or TV form

42. Cold Mountain (I love this movie. I watch it EVERY time it’s on.)
43. Mansfield Park (How I love thee, Jonny Lee Miller.)
44. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Ex-boyfriend made me watch)
45. Lord of the Rings: The 2nd one (I actually liked this one.)
46. Lord of the Rings: The 3rd one (Oh my god, Frodo and Sam are SO GAY.)
47. The English Patient (Sigh. So tragic.)
48. Harry Potter and … (BORING.)
49. The Forsyte Saga (A MASTERPIECE. Seriously.)
50. A Room with a View (Simply gorgeous.)
51. Gone with the Wind (I kind of don’t get what the fuss is.)
52. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Mos Def is adorable and so is the guy from the British version of the office.)
53. The Outsiders (Worth a peek to see what Tom Cruise used to look like.)
54. Dune (Don’t remember a thing about this movie except the blue eyes thing.)
55. The Thorn Birds (When I was a 13, I was seriously rooting for Meggie and Father Ralph. Now I just find it disturbing.)
56. Interview with a Vampire (I think that’s when Tom Cruise starting going a little crazy.)
57. The House of Mirth (A serious downer.)

Books I count among my favorites

58. Alias Grace (Read it, NOW!)
59. Poisonwood Bible (Definitely worth a re-read.)
60. Angle of Repose (It’s like poetry, it’s so beautiful.)
61. In a Sunburned County (One of the few books that has made me laugh out loud.)
62. Diary of Anne Frank (Reading this as an adult is amazing. She was extraordinary.)
63. In Cold Blood (I have read it again and again and again.)
64. I Know This Much is True (I stopped talking to family and friends for a week while I was reading this book.)
65. My Antonia (A must read for every woman.)
66. Daughter of Fortune (See my previous review.)
67. A Woman of Independent Means (This book made me cry and think about my gramma every single day.)
68. Hawaii (I read this book during a break-up and it kept my mind occupied for 3 weeks. It was fascinating.)
69. The Nudist on the Late Shift (Again, another book about the Bay Area.)
70. In the Time of Butterflies (I knew very little about Trujillo and it was really an eye opener.)
71. The Mists of Avalon (I have a weakness for Arthurian Legend.)
72. The Barbary Coast (Another San Francisco book.)
73. The Secret History (Couldn’t put it down.)
74. Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family (This family was WACKY, every single one of them.)
75. The Other Bolyene Girl (This book was DISHY and silly and my book club loved every page.)
76. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (Again, I knew very little about Mao and Communist China, and I felt very informed.)
77. The Time Traveller’s Wife (A lot of people didn’t like it, but I was fascinated!)
78. Middlesex (Who doesn’t love a hermaphrodite?)
79. Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell is This? A Biography (Poor Dorothy Parker….she was SO depressed.)
80. The Red Tent (Another Book Club favorite!)
81. Pride and Prejudice (Yes, I’m one of those girls who has a crush on that Mr. Darcy.)
82. Life of Pi (I still am not sure what happened there, but I talked about the end for days with anyone who would listen.)
83. Memoirs of a Geisha (I could read about kimonos for weeks on end.)
84. Clan of the Cave Bear (pages and pages of hot caveman sex!)
85. Galileo’s Daughter (I read a lot of books about Italian history, don’t I?)
86. The Giving Tree (An Oldie but a Goodie.)

Books I've heard of, but haven't or won't read

87. Love in the Time of Cholera (I’ve heard so many good things about it that it can’t possibly live up to its expectations.)
88. The Secret Life of Bees (I hate the title.)
89. The Master in Margarita (You can’t make me!)
90. The Kite Runner (I have no reason, it just doesn’t interest me)
91. Sports Writer (I have picked this up several times and I just can’t get into it)
92. Cryptonomicon (or however it’s spelled. There is A LOT of math in this book.)
93. Guns, Germs and Steel (My ex-boyfriend INSISTED it would change my life. It didn’t.)
94. Ruby Fruit Jungle (It’s been in my bookcase for about 7 years and I have never picked it up)
95. Prodigal Summer (Such a disappointment after Poisonwood Bible)
96. Their Eyes Were Watching God (Another one I just cannot get into and everyone LOVES it)
97. Tuesdays with Morrie (I don’t do Touchy Feely)
98. The Notebook (I don’t do Romantic either)
99. The Five People You’ll Meet in Heaven (I don’t do Heaven.)
100.The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Travelling pants? What?)