MAILBOX MONDAY/IT'S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Mailbox Monday  hosted on the Mailbox Monday blog. The books that came to me are

Elizabeth George is always a huge surprise for me. I never know where I am going and the size of the book is always huge!!! not always but very often anyway. 800 pages this one but I love it.

I've read Donna Leon before (Acqua Alta) and found the Venetian background and description fascinating. Brunetti helps as well (shades of Lynley from above!) Suave, sophisticated and loves his food - you need anything more????

Julian Barnes's Arthur and George - shortlisted for the 2005 Booker Prize. (I will get to them all eventually I know. In my part of the world it just takes time!)

 

 

Four days away from home and office and back late on Monday evening. So many things to catch up with. The good news is that the rains have started, hopefully not to end in floods but its raining!!!!

 

NEFERTITI by MICHELLE MORAN

 

 

It is the 14th century BC and the search is on for a wife for Pharoah - the young ambitious Pharoah who wants to just "get rid" of the elder his father in fact and rule on his own. His brother has also died in suspicious circumstances.  He wants the shortcut method not the wait and see one and he finds his soulmate in the equally ambitious family of Nefertiti and Nefertiti herself who supports and encourages her husband in his quest to be an immortal human being - almost a god on earth.

 

The story centred around not just Nefertiti but her equally clever sister Mutny - the healer, the more rational one in the family but one nevertheless who will support her sister and the family against all odds and against all others.

 

An impetuous girl Nefertiti has also got a bad temper and Mutny is sent along to be the saner counsel and the eyes and ears for the family who know that Nefertiti tenure as a favourite wife is only as long as she can control the young Pharoah Amunhotep - a law unto himself.  Wanting to be an all supreme being he discards the old gods, creates temples to the new one and his visage and that of his wife (who he also declares as Pharoah) on all temple walls. His increasingly erratic behaviour seems to indicate trouble ahead not just for his own family but for the entire country whom he bankrupts as a result of the constant building he undertakes.  At the installation of himself and his wife as Pharoah a plague descends on the city and decimates the population. The people themselves revolt against a King who has said he is God but one who cannot protect his own. The destruction of the temples and the poverty stricken state of the population bring down the downfall of both the Pharoah and his wife in extremely tragic conditions.

 

The serene life of Mutny who achieves this after a heart breaking incident caused by her own family is the joyful part of the story. Her happiness as a wife and a mother are complete and a complete contrast to her sister who seemed to have everything and ended up with nothing.

 

As usual Michelle Moran has spun a tale of fantasy and fact into a beautiful whole.

 

 

 

THE GREATEST KNIGHT by ELIZABETH CHADWICK

 

 

 

How and why I never got to this author before is a mystery. I wish I had. The story of William Marshall who served a king loyally and then swore allegiance to his sons one after another, none of whom deserved such a loyal servant is a masterful story telling which will keep you enthralled and wanting more.

William Marshall joins the king's household as a very lowly squire.  He is not very popular with his colleagues but he does the job that he has been entrusted to him wonderfully. It is his skill with the horses and jousts that make him come to the forefront amongst all the other knights. His victories at the tournaments brings him fame and some returns and this helps him to make his fortune as well as establish his reputation as one of the most skilled horsemen of his time.  The history of the period of Henry II was bloody and what followed was even worse and it does make for fascinating reading. The politics of today seems to be so mild in comparison to what went on in those days - all with the idea of maintaining control, keeping the estates intact and hang mankind in general. The poor had a lot to contend with - and no recourse to any authority because the King was the final word and if you had an autocratic one you were more or less doomed.

The other story telling which was different from other historical fiction books is the personal life of William Marshall which forms an integral part of the story. Married to Isabelle who was 20 years his junior, William wanted Isabelle from the first moment he saw her but had to bide his time to even approach her for her hand in marriage. Isabelle went into the marriage not knowing whether it was going to be another marriage of convenience and one of aggrandisement and a way of protecting her own dower lands. She did not expect to fall in love and to have compassion and tenderness and much sensuality in her marriage. For Isabelle this was a bonus of an unexpected kind. In the face of so much infidelity and flouting of conventions, Isabelle and William had a beautiful marriage which was envied by many. This part of the story was so good because you constantly had other royal marriages as part of the background and believe me they were ugly and strained. full of every vice known to man.

This story is heavy on the description - from the food, weaponry, the domestic details of running a castle and in Isabelle's case several homes, the furnishing of not just comfort for your own family and William and she did have a large one, but also seeing to the needs of all the domestic servants as well as soldiers who formed part of your estate was an enormous amount of work and this is very interesting to read.  Even description of battlefields was minute and brought the scenes very much to life however gory it all was.

This was a read of the Middle Ages in both England and France. My knowledge of this era was skimpy at best so I did enjoy learning about the period. I am looking ever so forward to finishing the sequel to this book The Scarlet Lion.

 

Three books in one - Light, funny and just right!

This was a bonus read. Three delightful authors and books in one go. Jill Mansell was new to me. I thought this was a bit unrealistic. Single mother two delightful kids, wonderful relationship with her ex-husband. So much so, I really thought at the beginning that she still had feelings for him thataway!
and that she would be getting back to him. Anyway she fell in love with her boss (how mundane could that be) and ends nicely with all ends neatly tied.


In our second book - Second Honeymoon by Joanna Trollope Edie our housewife is an empty nest syndrome mother but one who still yearns for the joys of having her children under her roof and she just cannot get used to the fact that her youngest preferred to flat share with his girlfriend and most importantly her mother preferring their cramped house to his own home.  Edie's husband looks on the empty nest as a way of getting Edie to himself again after a long time but his hopes are thwarted because one by one the children return, all with grown up problems of their own and the resulting story is one which is a good lesson to all mothers - empty nest or otherwise!!!!


Again a new author for me Alexandra Potter brings Heather to life in this one.  Heather just wants something to go right in her life. Little things and wishes it could come true. After getting a bit of white heather from a gypsy strange things do come right for our Heather.  I liked Gabriel and Jess and the humour was so good.

This triology was good for me. After a lot of heavy stuff - murder and mayhem, historical fiction with its fair share of bloodshed this was just right.

MAILBOX MONDAY/IT'S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?

 

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, a meme started by Marcia and hosted on the Mailbox Monday blog for now.

 

After two weeks I received three books from a friend. The first

 

 

A rags to riches story - romance and all!

 

 

A continuance of the first story - we have William Marshall, mature together with his wife facing all adversaries head on!

 

 

 

This one has to be splendid - from Confucius to Mao to the development of the capitalist system in China this has to be an enthralling read.

 

 

This is the next meme I always follow!

 

This week I was away from home for three days and only returned Monday afternoon. I did get a fair amount of reading done though reviews were all put aside as lack of internet connections where I go.

Apart from that we had the excitement of the finals of the T20 cricket match - Sri Lanka vs the West Indies. I feel that there are lots of Sri Lankans (me included) whose loyalties get a teeny bit divided as the West Indian boys are so very popular here particularly the one shown below.

 

We lost the finals totally due to our own shortfalls so all congratulations to the West Indian boys!

The books I read were Nefertiti by Michelle Moran (loved it) the triology by Jill Mansell, Joanna Trollope and Alexandra Potter (loved that as well) The Greatest Knight (loved that one too!!!).

I still did not get on to my Indian sagas!  Maybe I needed something light - the Mughals are anything but light so maybe it should go on my list this week.

Starting work in office late on Monday so playing catch up.

 

OOH LA LA A FRENCH ROMP by ANN RICKARD

A mix of a travel memoir of an Australian couple who very courageously undertake to be tour operators for a group of people in a village in France introducing them to a very French way of life complete with chateau visits, lots of wine tastings, plenty of french cookery classes and a lot of ambiance. Their meeting with Amanda who was already a fixture in this village helped them to set out to achieve beautifully what they intended to do and reading about the initial set up, the pitfalls
they faced, the unexpected problems that come about as a result of living with strangers and the ability to live and let live are a part of this beautiful story

The part that I did not like was the emphasis over and over again on their host's Amanda's sexual exploits, her various escapades with different young men and the almost blatant boastfulness of it all. This was for me jarring as it could have been mentioned once or twice if necessary but not at all necessary to bring it to the fore over and over again.

The story set in Provence in an 18th century cottage amidst almost unchanged village life was idyllic and I liked both the setting and the manner in which two novice tour operators handle eight guests and handle them very well. The tours and itineraries planned to cover all interests was great reading for someone like me for whom travelling to Provence is just a dream. 

A very good travel memoir of Provence.

MISSING MARK by JULIE KRAMER

A bit off my usual track of reads but one that was a simple mystery and an easy read as well.

Our detective/inquisitive news reporter is in a bit of a slump. She is not getting the juice news reporting neither is she being allowed to follow her own leads on what she thinks is good news. An advertisement for a bridal dress "never worn" makes her scent out a story. What happened? did the bride die, or did the bridegroom disappear and this is how the story evolves from there.

We have a very rich, socialite family and the bride, a bridegroom from nowhere and an unlikely story of how and why people fall in love!

Our reporter Spartz is good at her job though she does tend to go head first into situations and then think it through afterwards but it all works out in the end!

I am trying to keep up with my reviews - I do keep reading at a good pace but somehow the reviews are getting later and later to put down. I cannot claim too much of work, I just think its too much of this.

We are in the midst of a T20 worldwide cricket tournament right here in Sri Lanka and every day from 3.30 pm till around 10.30 pm it is only cricket that has hypnotized the nation including yours truly, specially when we have a star class bowler like Lasith Malinga playing!!!!