The Queens Fool by Phillipa Gregorgy

I love this book.  At times it has been so slowwwwww but the story is so interesting and it's happening in the time of Queen Mary's rule in England.  I learned more about that time.  I already knew a lot about  Henry the VIII's reign and of course Elizabeth's reign but I was unaware of the religious persecution and related killings due to Mary's reign.  Bad girl your highness. 

The story of the "holy" fool and her arranged marriage is sad and sweet and complicated.  I will never understand why anyone would have wanted to be at court during those dangerous times of the 1500's. 

206 Bones by Kathy Reichs

This is a newer Reichs book.  I have read them all out of order trying to catch up.  I am also listening to this one on audio and the narrator has changed.  That is a little disappointing to me.  I am not sure I like the voice.  It is a voice in her 40's probably like Tempe is but she sounds even older than Tempe too me and definately not one to be attractive to "hot" detectives like Ryan.  Just my opinion of course. 

Ryan and Tempe are working cases but they are not involved any longer.  They are working a case where someone has accused Tempe of wrong doing in an autopsy.  It brings them to Chicago.  I love the descriptions of some of Chicago because it takes me right back there.  They both end up eating dinner at Tempe's ex-mother in law's who lives in Chicago.  The descriptions of the family are lovely and colorful. 

Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs

Tempe is working onsite at a convent in Quebec to discern whether or not bones buried are those of a sister that may be a saint.  In the middle of this process she is called out to work on bodies that have been burnt in a fire.  There are adults and two small children.  It looks like murder.  Her whimsical sister Harry decides to visit while taking a course on relationships. While she is investigating the murders she travels to an island in Texas and finds more bodies. 

I enjoy many small stories going on within a main story.  I suppose it's because I enjoy multi-tasking so much.  It's not so much having many irons in the fire for me, it's the completion of so many things at once that I really enjoy.  Tempe certainly has many irons in the fire. 

I simply enjoy the story telling of Kathy Reichs.  I enjoy a good spin while all the while learning about many fasinating details of the body and the world.  My husband tried to listen to one of my books on tape and he thought Reichs put too much time into the autopsy.  That is what I love about these books.  It's not just the science, it's the way Reichs writes about the science that I love.  I'm learning but to me it's not like reading a book. 

The only thing I didn't like about this book is the way some of the cases here were linked together.  I know it's a small world but all things linked is not realistic.  It doesn't have to all tie together for me.  We all have many things going on at once and they aren't related.  That's reality.  It doesn't bother me to have many story lines going while not being linked. 

I enjoyed this book.  I enjoy Tempe and Ryan in this book also.  In the future books sometimes Tempe is too bitter and angry for no reason.  She sometimes puts too much thought into her relationship with Ryan.  He likes her, she likes him, go with it already.  Anyway, I loved this book. 

The Face by Dean Koontz

I have read this before but it's been a long time so I can't remember much of it. 

The main character is a security person for a major movie star called "The Face".  Packages have been sent with apples and clues to a puzzle that must be figured out. 

"The Face" has a young son that spends most of his time alone.  It is very sad. 

Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel

I love historical fiction.  It is one of my passions and expecially history about Henry VIII.  This book starts out with a fierce battle between a son and father.  The innocent fighter turns out to be someone of great significance in history but he was a pitiful creature in his youth that people pitied. 

So far, I love the viewpoint of this book.  It is not a viewpoint I have read or even considered before but I am enjoying it.

Okay, so that was early on.  I really do NOT like this book.  It's just too hard to read.  It's a non-fiction book.  I'm not learning anything so I'm not going to struggle to figure out what is going on.  This book jumps around all over the place.  I don't have to have linear I just would like to have a story to follow.  The reader is supposed to have a real knowledge of all things Henry V III to read this book.  Very little is explained and the conversations are one sided.  We are supposed to assume the other side of the conversation and we are supposed to know who Anne is and all the other characters of that time. 

I do know most of the characters but the way this book was written I am not sure who is talking all of the time and at what point of time we are in.  I was so excited about this book at first because it is written about Thomas Cromwell and I was interested in his viewpoint of that time in history.  It has become a chore to read this book and originally I thought I would just skip ahead several chapters at a time to get to the ending but now I have started a new book and it is unlikely I will go back to finish this book. 

What a waste of good subject matter.  This is why I keep this blog so that I don't read authors like this a second time. 

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

A man in Wisconsin advertises for a reliable wife.  A woman answers the ad and when she gets in town she is not the plain woman in the picture but a more beautiful woman.  The man feels lied too and is upset.  He intends to send the woman away but on the way a terrible accident occurs and the woman nurses the man back to health.  The man wants company and the woman wants money but what they find is much than they bargain for. 

The premise for this book is very interesting and the way the author explores the inner thoughts of the characters is very interesting but too wordy.  Each character was filled with angst over their past lives but the authors choice to explore it into the ground bored me.  Several times I skipped three chapters at a time to be able to get past the characters exploration of their thoughts.  Their past lives were very interesting but the constant analysis of their current thoughts bored me to distraction. 

I did enjoy the book overall but I don't know if I would look for another book by this author.  At least I won't look for one anytime soon. 

The Rain Gods by James Lee Burke

Skip this book.  I tried and tried and tried to get through this book but it was a chore until I finally realized that I didn't like a single character in this book and Burke spends chapters and chapters developing character histories for characters that no one is going to care about. 

Don't bother.  I've paid the price for many!