Debating whether to do fiction or non fiction this month
Debating whether to do fiction or non fiction this month
On our way to NYC to see an exhibit at the MOMA of Georgia O‘Keefe‘s NY paintings, etc. 👏🏻😀🖼️
🪴My most healthy habit is having a good work-life balance and spending lots of time reading, gardening and sewing💚
🍰My most unhealthy habit is a love of cake and bread!
📚I love historical or literary fiction the best
Thanks for the tag @Eggs
#WondrousWednesday
Happy reading everyone
“So now get up.” #firstlinefridays
Decided to finally give this one a try, only to discover two different copies in my tbr pile!
After I got used to the quirks of Mantel's writing along with the fact that every other person in the book is either named Thomas or Mary, I was way more into this book than I ever thought I'd be. Especially considering that it's history, and I already knew what was going to happen. "Omg, will Anne Boleyn become queen?? What is going to happen to Thomas More??" I'm excited to read the second one in the trilogy.
I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join in if you want!
#ABookADay2023
Right now, these are two series I want to read & finish for #serieslove2023
I am starting with book #1 of the Wolf Hall Trilogy, and book #10 of Maisie Dobbs Novels. I think there are 8 left for me to read.
A veritable bargain for those in the U.K. today. All 3 books in the Wolf Hall Trilogy available for £1.99 from Audible, that‘s a lot of listening.
I loved these as audiobooks.
A really beautiful episode on BBC2 tonight from a series a few years ago to remember Hilary Mantel. Such a lovely woman with a fascinating life and mind. It was wonderful to hear her talk about her life, processes and influences as well as hear others talk about the affect of her work too. It will be on BBC iPlayer for catch up. RIP Dame Hilary Mantel ❤️
R.I.P. Hilary Mantel.
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/british-author-wolf-hall-saga-hil...
Hilary Mantel died - I loved this series by her, and never realized that she also lived with chronic illness and pain. I need to read more of her work. 💛
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/23/books/hilary-mantel-dead.html
RIP Hilary Mantel 😢
Sad news 😭 Rest In Peace 📚
Terrible news to begin the day. But the Wolf Hall trilogy is quite a legacy.
Wow! This is a shock and a big loss 😢 RIP Hilary and thanks for the great books you have left us with.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63007307
I recently posted The Guardian's 50 novels for the Queen's Jubilee. The Times has a different take on it (a bit more interesting I think)
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/f0c6c664-db58-11ec-8de3-573a6521e09e?shareTok...
I love historical fiction and I‘ve gone through a couple different Tudor-obsessed eras in my life (might have a third coming on now), so I was expecting to love this book. At first, I struggled with the writing style/narration, but when I got used to that, I just sort of slogged through. I appreciate the novelty of this story through Cromwell‘s eyes, but there was so much to this and it moved SO slowly. Not sure I will continue the series.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
This certainly kept me occupied ?. What a fascinating character Thomas Cromwell is! I had moments of confusion (does "he" refer to TC or the person he's talking to? I wonder if HM is deliberately wrong-footing me here.) and felt that something about the writing style was holding me at arm's length throughout (my default position for *people* but I like my books closer!) but it was thoroughly absorbing and I enjoyed it very much.
#12Booksof2021
#January
I read some other good books in January, including a biography, Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer by Christopher S. Celenza, and a terrific novel, Real Life by Brandon Taylor. But also I reread Wolf Hall.
thanks @Andrew65 for kicking this off.
To see my #review of #hilarymantel‘s #wolfhall, check out this link to my bookstagram account: https://www.instagram.com/p/CV0EOS2FaGn/?utm_medium=copy_link #wolfhallhilarymantel #hilarymantelwolfhall #hilarymantelbooks
I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it. Some will be old, some will be new - don't judge me, I have a lot of books.
Day 113th
Join the fun if you want!
#tbrpile
Trying to finish this book this week - I've been reading it on and off since January! This is my favourite mug because the cat looks a bit like my ginger Jaffa! #steamygiveaway @BennettBookworm
This read started very haltingly for me, but once I got used to the over usage of “he” and the large cast list, I was hooked. I am not much of an Anglophile, but when I dive in I always end up enchanted. Mantel is a brilliant writer; the detail and historical research that went into this is astounding. Cromwell is a fascinating historical character, and Mantel brought humanity to this enigmatic man. Looking forward to finishing the trilogy! 4⭐️
It is all very well planning what you will do in six months, what you will do in a year, but it‘s no good at all if you don‘t have a plan for tomorrow.
Day 2: From what I've read of the book, Thomas Cromwell could #motivate because he bounces back and just tries even harder after the setbacks.
#maycharacters @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
If you can get past the writing style, where the use (overuse?) of “he” is the narrator referring to himself, then you come upon another stumbling block, the characters. Aside from Wolsey and Mary they felt like names on a piece of paper. I felt compelled to like our narrator but the narrative style didn‘t work for me. Wolf Hall has all the makings of a devious cobweb of delectable misery but for me it failed to connect.
#bookcupidswap
Happy Valentine‘s Day!
Thank you so so much @BookNAround for this book & all the yummy chocolate! I cannot wait to start this series. ❤️💜💚🧡💙
A special thank you to Brooke @candority for organizing this swap.
This series has been on my TBR for quite some time and I made it a 2021 goal to finally read it. I‘m also using this one for West Europe in the Reading Around The World Challenge. #bookspinbingo
Reposting my February #bookspin list. Looks like I‘ll finish an extra book in January and I have a few holds finally coming in from the library I‘d like to include. As always, thank you for hosting, @TheAromaofBooks
This is a reread for me from ten years ago. This time I‘ll continue through the whole trilogy. It was special to revisit. The amount of factual detail is simply wonderful and lets the book drive itself. But also it has that atmosphere of partial remove, touch and distance at the same time. And, the prose is rather stunning when Mantel gets going. A 5-star reread.
"The route out of the city was running thaw water, and in copses shielded from the sun the standing pools were still iced. A weak sun blinked at them as they crossed into Hertfordshire, and here and there a ragged blackthorn blossomed, waving at him a petition against the length of winter."
For passages like this it is worth reading Wolf Hall all over again, although I am told the next one is better. Loved. ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5.
For once my #bookreport matches my #weeklyforecast @Cinfhen! Week 23/1/21
Completed The Nickel Boys, The Garden of Evening Mists and The Plot to Betray America.
Working my way through The Italian and Wolf Hall.
More than halfway through! I am having to read this with a dictionary at hand because there are many words I am unfamiliar with, and some that apparently don't even exist. 'Waffeting', I am looking at you.
What incredible writing. I heard Mantel interviewed on CBC The Next Chapter and she is brilliant.
It did take me a while to get started and figure out what the heck was going on. Now I am all in! May the #conqueringcromwell continue...
#joyousjanuary @Andrew65
My goals:
Make a large dent in the tagged book
Finish reading The Nickel Boys
Finish listening to The Garden of Evening Mists
Possible addition if I complete these:
Read Piranesi!
#weeklyforecast @Cinfhen
Finish 1st read of You Were Born For This (it's a good book but will need multiple reads to get the most of it)
Finish The Nickel Boys and The Book Thief
Continue The Italian
Start Wolf Hall.
I finished my 7 of ♥️ pick for #tbrdeckofcards last night. (Prompt was Moira vs. Town Council - politics)
I went into this one having little knowledge of Thomas Cromwell. Had I known more it would have been easier to follow, but I still enjoyed the glimpse into this episode in history. Mantel is a good storyteller, though her overuse of "he," with few context clues, didn't help with my occasional confusion. Overall a pick.
@Clwojick
The seven of ♥️ prompt for #tbrdeckofcards was season 2 episode 6 of Schitt's Creek, Moira vs. The Town Council, which I am interpreting as politics. Lots of political shenanigans going on in Wolf Hall, which I started listening to yesterday.
Side Note: Henry (5) asked what I was listening to, and now when he sees me with the earbuds in, he howls at me. 🐺 awoooooo!
@Clwojick
I'm very excited for my first #bookspinbingo board. I have already read the tagged book; finished a little before midnight last night during my 24-hour readathon with #VSBC on GoodReads. The Color Purple and One Time the official #bookspin and #doublebookspin picks for the month.