Beginning When We Were Gods : A Novel of Cleopatra by Colin Falconer.

I read A Marriage of Lions by Elizabeth Chadwick. It was excellent set during the reign of Henry III. She is one of my favorite HF authors.

I am currently reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.  I loved the mini series!

Hello! Not much new for me to report.  I'm currently reading City of Glory by Beverly Swerling, which I am just about done with, and listening to The Mercies, which is technically a good book, I suppose, but very dour and depressing, which I guess shouldn't be surprising given that it's set in Norway.  LOL!  No offense to the Norwegians - I am over 80% Norwegian by ancestry - but I do not think that Norwegians of the older days were known to be merry rays of sunshine.  

I admit to being sidetracked from HF reading by non-fiction.  Some self-help stuff and craft stuff.  I recently purchased The Country Diary of An Edwardian Lady, which, truth be told, is definitely historical, althouth not fictional.  It is a GORGEOUS book.  In 1906, Edith Holden, a woman in her 30s living in England, kept a nature journal, which she illustrated with charming (and very good) drawings.  She never meant for it to be published as a a book, and, in fact, she never showed it to anyone during her lifetime.  After her death in 1920, the book languished undiscovered until someone found it on the shelves of an English country house and realized that it was a gem of a thing that should be shared with the world.  It was published in the 1970s I believe.  

I am endeavoring this year to keep my own nature journal (as nature inspires my arts and crafts, as well as me in general), so having this book to serve as inspiration is so amazing.  I highly recommend it to anyone interested in historical things and nature. I would offer to post it to someone when I am done with it, but I do not plan on ever parting with this book.  I picked up a used copy on Alibris, but I plan to keep my eye out for a more deluxe edition.  

As I wrap up When We Were Gods : A Novel of Cleopatra by Colin Falconer I picked up and began Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini.  From the description it is a sad book.  We'll see.  The author of Cleopatra did an awesome job of making all the historical people come alive.  After all the research he did the ending was awesome.  Such sensitivity.  It felt so real.  Very well done.

I am reading The American Adventuress by C.W. Gortner. The books is about Jenny Jerome, Winston churchill's mother. She lead an interesting life.

Alice

Hello!  I finished City of Glory by Beverly Swerling.  Eh.  It was pretty good.  Getting near to the end of listening to The Mercies, but it is a bit of a slog as it is one of the most depressing books I've ever read.  So far nothing really good or happy has happened.  Going to start Delia's Shadow by Jaime Lee Moyer this evening. 

Finishing Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini.  What a story!  The author researched a little recognized resistance circle known as the Rote Kopelle operating in Germany.  Have read many books about WWII but this one is one of the most fascinating i've read about this era.  The author researched the backgrounds of many of the individuals involved in this group.  Only one was fictional which she felt she needed for the story.  Many, including almost all the Germans, were executed for their involvement. 

I finished Our Last Days in Barcelona by Chanel Cleeton. Great book set in 1936 and 1964. Love this series. Good history of Cuba and Spain

Am working on A Single Thread: A Novel by Tracy Chevalier about a woman who lost her oldest brother and fiance in WW!.  Interesting to see how she is coping with life on her own.  Lots of information about embroidery stitches if anyone is interested in that sort of thing as well as bell ringing in cathedrals.  

Hello!  I finally finished The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave yesterday.  Yes, technically I suppose it was a good book, and I didn't dislike it.  My issues were: 

It was very depressing all the way around.  I understand that all books can't and shouldn't be shiny, happy things, but a little bit of happiness or brightness would've been appreciated. 

Only 3 of the more main characters were even slightly likeable.  Every other person in the book was pretty much horrible.  

It was a bit of a slog (perhaps because once I realized that the whole book was going to be pretty dark and depressing, I was hard pressed to want to pick it up), but it did get better towards the end. Not that it got any less dark and depressing at the end, but more started happening and the story move along much more quickly.  I wish the author would've given us more of a glimpse into what life was like in the tiny village in the far outreaches of Norway prior to the main event from which the book grew.  What I really wanted to know was - was everyone as depressed and sour then?  LOL! 

Anyway, currently thinking of starting my next audio book soon, but we shall see.  I find my "listening" time is often given to podcasts.  When I do start a book again, I believe it will be Tears of Amber by Sofia Segovia.  I LOVED her book The Murmur of Bees.  

R E K - Okay, I am an embroidery enthusiast, and I generally like Tracy Chevalier's books (her The Lady and the Unicorn is one of my top 10 books for sure), so I will definitely be checking the one you mentioned out! 

Hello!  Back with another finish - Delia's Shadow by Jaime Lee Moyer.  It was pretty good. 

So, I started two new books.  I'm listening to Tears of Amber by Sofia Segovia on Audible, and I'm reading The House is On Fire by Rachel Beanland, which is a new 2023 release.  

Well, I quickly finished The House Is On Fire by Rachel Beanland.  Really good!  

I started Ahab's Wife last night (which has been on my bookshelf for a loooooong time), but eh . . . . it's a long book and the writing style is different than the usual and possibly something that won't be good for bedtime reading, which is some days the only time I read during the day.  I'll try a bit more of it and see how it goes.  It's possible I might set it aside and try again in the summer when I do more reading outside during the daytime.  If I really can't get into it, I will start The Wonder.  The movie version of it is on my Netflix watchlist, and I'd like to read it before I watch it. 

By the way, does anyone use a book reading/tracking/inventory app?  I wanted a list of my books somewhere accessible that I always had with me to avoid buying something I already had and to keep track of what I've read, when and what I thought of it.  I do have a journal where I keep that information, but I've always wanted something I had with me at all times.  I did a lot of research and couldn't decide.  In the end, I went with an app that was only listed in one of the recommedation articles I read, and so far I love it!  It's Bookmory.  Sure inputting all one's books takes time, but that's going to happen with any app.  With this one, I can add books by either scanning the barcode or by doing a manual search.  So far I have all my Audible and Kindle books added and have now started working my way through the physical books.  You can create tags to make finding particular books easier.  I've made tags like "HF," "paper", "Kindle", "Audible", "Classic", "Business", "Self-Help", "Science/Nature."  You can also use the timer function to keep track of your reading time, there is a calendar section that shows you what you are reading on any given day, a list that tracks all the books you've finished, the ability to note if you've loaned a book out or borrowed the book from someone.  There is also a section where you can rate a book and make notes. You can even keep track of where and when you purchased a book and the date.  It is a fabulous app!  My only complaint is that I wish there was a way to have a separate list of books that you want to read but don't actually possess.  Hopefully that feature will come in a future update.  The really nice part is that it's FREE.  Sure you can upgrade to a paid version, but from what I can tell, that would only open up features like being able to change the theme of the calendar, change some of the display colors, etc.  Basically just cosmetic things.  Highly recommended!