Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitane

Once I got into it, I very much enjoyed this novel by Alison Weir about Eleanor of Aquitane. I did have a hard time warming to the characters - they initially seemed a bit too bodice-ripper and not enough historical fiction, but that was remedied after the first few chapters.

Eleanor was a pretty powerful woman for the 12th century. She was married to King Louis of France (Louis VII I think), but when they didn't produce any male heirs the marriage was annulled and she married Henry of Anjou, who would go on to become King Henry II of England. With Henry she had a slew of children, including two future kings of England. But this novel focuses most on the passionate and volatile relationship between Eleanor and Henry.

There's a lot going on in this novel, and we meet some historical heavyweights like Thomas Beckett and Richard the Lionheart. And it's a long novel - 500 pages or so. But I felt like I learned a lot about historical figures that I'm not really familiar with - I tend to focus more on British history a couple hundred years after this. And Weir writes a great afterword that nicely wraps up the novel. I'll definitely look for more of her work.

Captive Queen

Catching Fire

This is the second book in the Hunger Games series, and I honestly think it's better than the first. I plowed through it in two days or so, I just had to know what happened next.

Katniss and Peeta won the Hunger Games in the first book, so now they're supposed to be happy and well-fed and never have to work again. But on their victory tour they see signs of unrest in some of the districts - and signs of the Capitol clamping down on that unrest. Most disturbing to Katniss is that it seems that she (and her mockingjay symbol) has been the spark that ignited the unrest.

The next Hunger Games is the Quarter Quell, a special version that happens every 25 years. When the announcement is made that this year the tributes from each district will be picked from the previous winners, Katniss knows that she and Peeta will be headed back to the arena. What happens then had me riveted.

I just put book three on reserve - can't wait to see how everything works out.

Catching Fire

A Fierce Radiance

Sorry I have been off the grid. With the holidays and all, and I started reading The Art of Choosing but just couldn't get into it - though I think the author is one of the most amazing people ever - and I had a little family thing, but anyway. I loved, loved, loved this book! I admit it took me a bit to get into it - maybe a chapter or so - but once I did I couldn't stop pressing the button...  er, turning the pages (sorry, read it on my nook). I had initially thought it was a non-fiction account of the development of penicillin but was pleased to find it was a novel centering on penicillin, and with a bit of romance and intrigue thrown in to keep the story moving

Claire Shipley is a photographer with Life magazine who is sent to do a story on a new medicine being tested at the Rockefeller Institute at the beginning of the American involvement in WWII. She meets the handsome doctor James Stanton and her life is never the same again. Both Claire and Jamie become intimately involved with the development of penicillin as they become more intimate with each other.

This isn't just a romance novel. There is murder, science, war, really a little something for everyone. The characters (fictional) are believable and likeable. And the non-fictional characters - Henry Luce, Clare Booth Luce, and New York City - are beautifully drawn, deeply detailed, and just wonderfully rendered. This is a great book, and I'm thinking it will make a great movie....maybe with Claire Danes as Claire Shipley???


A Fierce Radiance