literatehousewife's Blog

After having heard her speak at the National Book Festival, I'd be interested in reading Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos. Keep the suggestions coming in!

Sorry Guys, I tried to read the book but just could not get past the Brothel scenes with Luca being the same age as my son. It's not often that I stop reading a book but I just couldn't stomach the book. I'm more sensitive than most I guess! The Kite Runner scenes of abuse bothered me also but I finished the book. It was in no comparison to these scenes.

I hope that there is another book club as I would love to get through the book next time! I second the suggestions for The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters by Lorraine Lopez or The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry.

-redlady-bonnie

Don't feel you need to apologize for anything. Not every book is for every person. What bothers me to that level might not affect you at all. This is all about discussion and your feelings are valid and important additions. Thank you for sharing!

If you would like, please submit your reviews of Immortal or a link to your reviews here. I'd like to compile them in the first newsletter and it would be helpful to have them here if at all possible.

It's time to start thinking about our next book. Please reply here with your suggestions and I'll compile them into a poll. I think any genre is okay. What are your thoughts?

I would love to here what you think was the best and the worst parts of this novel. I know many did not like the brothel scenes. For me, I found Leonardo intolerable until he was an adult. What are your thoughts?

In that case, I'd sacrifice telling my mother I read those books before I'd ever let you! :) She wrote them under the pen name A. N. Roquelaure. Here's the wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Claiming_of_Sleeping_Beauty

My family and I are leaving this morning for our first camping trip. I'll be back on Sunday to read up on the discussions. Have a great weekend!

What are your feelings, if any, about the Wanderer. I don't like him. He feels like a heavy-handed plot device to get Luca from one place to the other. I am saying this not quite being finished, but I'd be interested in other people's opinions. I'm not worried about spoilers. I'll be finished very soon.

Bethany, that's so interesting that you grew up in Spain! I watch Almadovar films just to hear that Spanish accent. If you ever wanted to read the newspaper or something into a voice recorder, I'd love to here it. :)

Lisa, I hope that you really enjoy working on TLC. I'm excited to take part in it!

I haven't heard for Forever Amber, but I have a copy of the Crimson Petal and the White. I have been wanting to read that for a while now.

I haven't read Anne Rice with the exception of her naughty Beauty series. I still blush whenever I think of those books. Please don't tell my mother that I even know they exist! :)

I am looking forward to Margaret George's new book. I absolutely loved and adored The Autobiography of Henry VIII. Maybe she will be the author who first makes me enjoy reading about Elizabeth I as the main character. I've always enjoyed her in a supporting role, but not when she's entirely in the spotlight.

Dar, I agree with you about the parts about the paintings. I can really see someone having to do that to survive such a situation. I also just finished the section where he healed the boy's arm. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens from here.

I am at about the same place. Some of it has slowed down for me, but I'm also trying to read The Other Queen and Bad Monkeys all at the same time. Sometimes I can read more than one book at a time and other times I can't. I did have a hard time with the whore house section. I'm not sure if I can believe a place like that really existed. At the same time, I can't believe it didn't either. It just seems to me that people would have shut it down. Maybe I'm wrong. The topic about what was going to happen to the little girl about killed me. I'm thinking that I'm heading out of the plague darkness. I'm going to boldly carry on from here. :) Jen and Meghan really liked it, so I'm thinking it will pick up.

Boo! I hate it when a novel doesn't live up to it's potential.

Good topic! I haven't finished the book yet, but I've gotten to the point where Luca has met the alchemist. So far it's helped fill in a little of the mystery surrounding Luca's parents. I'll reply with more once I've finished it. I'm interested in what other's think about it.

I've heard iffy things about Galileo's Daughter. Did you like it, Nikki?

Welcome aboard to Bonnie, Dar, Amy and Marcia! This is going to be so much fun!

C.W. Gortner's next book is about Catherine Medici, so that will definitely be something to look forward to. I haven't read The Birth of Venus, but I have it, so that will be up higher on my TBR.

I have been collecting Jean Plaidy, but I haven't read anything of hers yet. Anyone else?

I'll have to go back through my LibraryThing for male narrators of historical fiction like Jen did. It's an interesting experiment. I may start tagging my books as male narrator or female narrator. It would be interesting to see which I seem to favor in general. Off the top of my head I'd say that gender doesn't matter. But, if you I think of what I've really loved in the past year, it's been novels with female narrators. When the narrator is male, like in The Gargoyle, a huge focus is on a female.

Has anyone read anything else about Florence? If so, did you enjoy it? What side of Florence life did it discuss?

Shana, we're in the same place. :) I posted one off-topic and I'm about to start another.

One of the first things that struck me about Immortal (and this is giving nothing away) is that the main character is male. There are (usually) only two options, so a male narrator is not a huge leap - but in the historical fiction I've read, it is. I'm thinking back on what I've read in this genre and, with the exception of The Autobiography of Henry VIII, they have all been about women. I'm sure that there are others about men. Don't get me wrong, but it seems as though most HF novels are about women. Why do you suppose that is? Do you think this is because there is so little non-fiction written about women in history? Are women just more interesting? I'm curious to hear what your opinions might be.

I was part of the original book club where, sadly, we slogged through some mediocre-to-terrible books. I'm really excited about Immortal, though, as it looks like a terrific book.

-blithebabbler

You are a brave, brave woman! I'm about a quarter of the way in and I can honestly say that this is the best of the three we've ever read. Thanks for jumping back in with me!

That's a good question. I know that many people have not started yet or are just getting started. Maybe we could discuss some more general things. What does everyone else think? I do have one topic I've been thinking about since I started reading the book. I'll post that and see where it goes.

Thanks for signing up! I just started reading the book yesterday, so don't worry about that. :)