My Reading Rainbow

All my life I've been an avid reader.  That's not an exaggeration.  Before I could read myself, I made my mother read to me for hours and hours.  Then I learned myself and books and I have never been parted since.  I now have one of those fancy book readers, a Nook, which fits perfectly in my purse and travels with me everywhere.  I think I may have spent more hours with my Nook than with my husband, but only because my Nook didn't have to move to Abu Dhabi for work nine months before I came over.

I also have the best in official Nook accessories.  Pictured:  Nook bookstand in Panda and waterproofing bag by Ziplock

My normal reading list usually consists of fantasy novels, and I have quite a collection, both of books made out of paper and ethereal ebooks.  Recently, I've gone through a phase of reading books about things that could have happened.  Many of these books are called "Historical Fiction" and have lengthy author's notes, either at the beginning or the end, regarding all the in-depth research they did to make their novel as accurate as possible.  Then there's the disclaimer that the events are fictional, thus rendering the lengthy description of the author's research moot.  Nevertheless, I still enjoy the stories, since I prefer fantasy, and sometimes there is something to learn.

The Stolen Crown is about the Duchess of Buckingham Catherine Woodville (though the author spells it Katherine and refers to her mainly as Kate) during the War of the Roses or something.  Very little is really known about the woman's real life, so the author took a few historical details and wrote a novel detailing her feelings about her marriage as a child, her husband becoming a traitor and eventually beheaded, and her possible adventures. 

What I learned from this book (and other historical fiction written about England):  History for children in Britain must be terribly hard.  Seriously, there only seem to be about a dozen names to choose from, everyone is related to everyone else, and there are like a thousand years of wars and monarchs to learn about.  Compared to that, American history is pretty damn straight-forward.  We came, we saw, we killed the indigenous people, then each other in the Civil War, then we got into global politics in World Wars I & II, and now we dominate everything, as is evidenced by the fact there is practically no where you can go on the planet without seeing a McDonald's.

Foreign franchises have improved on the menu.

Pope Joan is based on a medieval folk tale about a woman who poses as a man so she can become a scholar (only available in monasteries at the time) and then rises up to become Pope. 

There are actually some historical clues that support the possibility of a female Pope.  The most compelling being the genital test for Popes, which might or might not be urban legend.  The author's notes for this book actually have me convinced it's a possibility.

More historical proof!

Alias Grace takes the few details surrounding a famous murder in 19th Century Canada and expounds on them, telling the detailed story of the murderess, though never establishing her guilt or innocence.

It's by Margaret Atwood (of The Handmaid's Tale fame), and I wish there were more books like this.  There are tons of great stories of murders in the 19th century that should get the novel treatment, not just Jack the Ripper.  Ever heard of H. H. Holmes?  He owned a hotel in Chicago during the 1893 World's Fair, and many people checked in to his hotel, and very few ever checked out.  Those that did told horror stories of screaming and smoke and blood, and years later H. H. Holmes had a very public trial and couldn't even estimate how many people he had killed.  Call me morbid (because I am), but I would read the hell out of a novelization of his life.  I don't really want historical accuracy in my books, I want drama and entertainment.

But I like accuracy and fact in TV documentaries. I wish The History Channel still did that.

My vacation from fantasy novels is now over.  I guess it was just a summer fling, and I'm back to my usual fare.  What am I reading now?  A novel about Scottish witches who bent time and space to travel to a new planet populated by fairies and other mythical creatures...

Flying horses anyone?

...where magic is actually possible and war breaks out between the creatures of the land and sea.  I'm sure it's entirely historically accurate and well researched.  Or not.  It honestly doesn't matter to me.