Looking for a good book

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What books are you reading?

My students gave me a Barnes & Noble gift card for Christmas; I’d like to use it for something non school related.

I don’t care for science fiction. I do like historical fiction.
 
The Spear by Louis de Wohl (actually, any of Louis de Wohl’s novelizations of the lives of saints are good, but start with this one!)

Aimee and David Thurlo’s Sister Agatha mystery series (*Bad Faith, Thief in Retreat, Prey for a Miracle, False Witness *and The Prodigal Nun)

I like memoirs and Mary Higgins Clark’s (Kitchen Privileges) and Stephen King’s (On Writing) are both really good.
 
Historical fiction:

When Christ and His Saints Slept, Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow, The Reckoning, and The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman.

Katherine by Anya Seton.

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (it has a smattering of SF, involving time travel, but much of the book takes place in medieval England — have Kleenex on hand, though!)

Ok, I’ll stop for now 😃
 
I like historical fiction too! Some of my favorites:

The Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy by Sigrid Undset. This is a book about the life of a woman in medieval Norway. Undset was a convert to Catholicism and the book is very “Catholic” so to speak. It deals with themes of sin, redemption, and love. A really fantastic book that just pulled me in from the start! Be sure you pick up the “new” translation by Tiina Nunnally. It is much easier to read than the old one.

Mistress of the Sun by Barbara Gulland. A novel about Louise de la Valliere, the first mistress of Louis XIV. If you are wary of the subject matter, there is nothing vulgar in it and Louise is portrayed very sensitively. I was surprised at the positive portrayal of the priests and nuns in the novel, and Louise’s religious yearnings (she became a nun after leaving the court). Sometimes historical novels can be very hostile towards the Church, but this one was good.
 
Wolf of the Plains, by Conn Iggulden

This is a wonderful piece of historical fiction, chronicling the rise of Genghis Khan and the Mongol empire.

Synopsis (from author’s website)

“Wolf of the Plains” is the much anticipated beginning of the “Conqueror” series on Genghis Khan and his descendants. It is a wonderful, epic story which Conn Iggulden brings brilliantly to life. “I am the land and the bones of the hills. I am the winter.” Temujin, the second son of the khan of the Wolves tribe, was only eleven when his father died in an ambush. His family were thrown out of the tribe and he was left alone, without food or shelter, to starve to death on the harsh Mongolian plains. It was a rough introduction to his life, to a sudden adult world, but Temujin survived, learning to combat natural and human threats. A man, a small family, without a tribe was always at risk but he gathered other outsiders to him, creating a new tribal identity. It was during some of his worst times that the image of uniting the warring tribes and bringing the silver people together came to him. He will become the khan of the sea of grass, Genghis.
 
you may have already read them, i think most folks have, but my two favorite books are *to kill a mocking bird *and the old man and the sea. both very good.
 
O’ Brien’s Trilogy - "Strangers and Sorjurners: (I cried like a baby at the end of this one… “The Plague Journal” and “Eclipse of the Sun”.
 
Thank you! I’ll read reviews of some of these titles and perhaps buy myself book to read during Christmas break.
 
aggiecatholic05 said:
you may have already read them, i think most folks have, but my two favorite books are *to kill a mocking bird *and the old man and the sea. both very good.
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I also love To Kill A Mockingbird. My 8th graders will read it in the spring 👍 .
 
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothey Dunnett good historical background of 16thc France, Scotland and England, superb plotting and storytelling, compelling characters
 
I adore Alison Wier, who is an English historian. I read her non-fiction stuff, but she recently came out with her first novel. It’s called Innocent Traitor, and it is about Lady Jane Grey, sometimes known as the Nine Days Queen.

Another good historical fiction author that I have read is Robin Maxwell. I have read two of her books: *The Queen’s Bastard * (the life story of the child Elizabeth I was rumored to have had by Lord Robert Dudley) and The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn.

Can you tell I am a Tudor freak? I love that period and will read just about anything on it. 😃

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant is a fictionalized history of Jacob’s wives and his daughter, Dinah. I personally adore the book, but if fictionalizion of a Bible story will offend you, especially as there is some pagan content, then I would steer clear of this one if I were you.
 
I’m getting the Duggar’s book for Christmas and also Jon and Kate’s book for Christmas and can’t wait to dive into both. Right now we’re reading Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover”. twk
 
If you like historical fiction, Phillippa Gregory has some great books – “The Constant Princess,” “The Other Boleyn Girl,” and “The Boleyn Inheritance.” – those are about Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn and Mary Boleyn. She has a new one out about Mary, Queen of Scots; but I can’t remember the name of it.

I’m currently rereading the “Outlander” series by Diana Gabaldon because the new book is due to come out next fall. They’re very interesting; but people either love them or hate them. There’s very little in between.

If you’re interested in a good laugh – with some tears thrown in – “Marley and Me” is a great book. I can’t think of the author right off hand.
 
There is another kind of historical fiction…

Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite.

I just re-read The Count of Monte Cristo, the unabridged version.

Charles Dickens. My favorite is Nicholas Nickleby. And, of course, A Christmas Carol.

If you like mysteries, Sherlock Holmes. And Doyle also wrote some good historicals.

Howard Pyle is considered a children’s author, but I still love Men of Iron and Otto of the Silver Hand. I think Dover puts out his books with his wonderful illustrations.

R.L. Stevenson is also considered a kid’s author, and wrote some great historicals, like the Black Arrow.

One reason I like the older “children’s” authors is - no sex scenes.

Have fun book shopping!

God bless,

Ruthie
 
I’d recommend Man’s Search for Meaning. It’s a very moving.
 
You could try “Callista,” by John Henry Newman (that is, by Cardinal Newman, and probably to be Saint Newman in some years.) It is a novel Cardinal Newman wrote about an early Chistian woman, finally martyred under to Romans. I much appreciated reading it. If it isn’t in a local book story, many of them will order a book for you (and also it is on amazon.com).
 
I just finished the Best American Short Stories of 2008. I like to read those anthologies each year. The selections were pretty good.

I also just finished the Ms. Hempel Chronicles. Kind of sad, funny at times, but very well written.

On the desk to be read:

The Cure for Grief (in the middle of this, oh, it is sad. I think I’m still reading to see what else can happen to this family!)

The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage

The Black Death

If you haven’t read them yet, try reading Flannery O’Connors collected letters, “The Habit of Being”. I love her writing, and her letters are a wonderful peek into her daily life. Of course her collected stories are great too, and I would take them to a desert island.

If you like historical fiction, the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is very addictive. There’s a whiff of science fiction, but it’s mostly historical.
 
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