Jodi Picoult’s debut novel is not a particularly easy read. It doesn’t help that we have FIVE point-of-view characters, and that one of those characters – teenager Rebecca Jones – is telling […]
SONGS OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE by Jodi Picoult
A fascinating account that explains today’s troubles: (AMERICAN NATIONS by Colin Woodard narrated by Walter Dixon
I don’t normally read non-fiction, but my husband raved about this book and so I picked it up. It was absolutely fascinating. Mr. Woodard’s thesis is that far from being a confederation […]
HAMLET’S MILL by Giorgio de Santillana & Hertha von Dechend
As many have noted, HAMLET’S MILL is not an easy read. It is written by scholars who are fluent in many languages (French, German, Latin and Greek) and because this was published […]
Graham Anderson’s FAIRYTALE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
Did the familiar children’s fairytales of today exist in the ancient world? Were there ancient Cinderellas, Twelve Dancing Princesses, Sleeping Beauties and Pusses in Boots? The answer: Maybe. In FAIRYTALE IN THE […]
BABYLON: Mesopotamia & The Birth of Civilization by Paul Kriwaczek
I found this book both fascinating and inspiring. As someone who is NOT an expert on Mesopotamia, but looking for background material for a possible forthcoming novel, I found this volume to […]
WHORE OF BABYLON by Azaria Frost
I really didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this book. I hated the title, but loved the cover (designed by the author herself.) One thing I was curious about […]
THE SHIELD RING by Rosemary Sutcliff
This is the story of the last stand (or shield ring) that the Vikings made (with their Saxon friends) against the Normans who’d conquered England in 1066, and now wanted to make […]
THE ORACLE by William J. Broad
William J. Broad’s THE ORACLE is a fascinating look at the science behind the Delphic Oracle. Blending ancient history, recent modern history and the scientific disciplines of anthropology, geology and archeology, the […]
THE HORSE GODDESS by Morgan Llywelyn
It is 700 BCE. We are in what is now Hallstadt in what will become Austria. We are in a wealthy village of weapon-makers, traders who acquire luxury goods from what is […]
When women could be warriors…(UNDER HEAVEN by Guy Gavriel Kay, narrated by Simon Vance)
It took me a while to understand that UNDER HEAVEN was set in an alternate version of Tang dynasty China, so realistically was it told. Guy Gavriel Kay is not afraid of […]
The story of a disappeared state (TIGANA by Guy Gavriel Kay)
I love Guy Gavriel Kay’s writing. I loved the way TIGANA started with such a moving & provocative prologue, which segued into a day in the life of a talented 19-year-old singer, […]
Juliet Marillier’s CYBELE’S SECRET (WILDWOOD #2)
The sequel to WILDWOOD DANCING, this novel is in a very different key. The supernatural elements present in WILDWOOD DANCING are contained in CYBELE’S SECRET. WILDWOOD retells fairy tales, CYBELE’S SECRET is […]
Juliet Marillier’s WILDWOOD DANCING (WILDWOOD #1)
This is such a charming story, for both young folk and adult alike. Taking the well-known fairy tales of THE FROG PRINCE and THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES, author Juliet Marilier puts her […]
Juliet Marillier’s HEART’S BLOOD
HEARTS BLOOD by Juliet Marillier is her retelling of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, but she makes this story so much her own, I actually didn’t recognize the original tale, only learning that […]
EMPRESS by Shan Sa
This fictionalized biography of the Empress Wu (17 February 624 to 16 December 705 CE) aka Wu Zetian, Wu Zhao, Wu Hou (Empress Wu) or Tian Hou (Empress Tian) shows the unbelievable […]
FLAME OF SEVENWATERS (SEVENWATERS #6) by Juliet Marillier
I loved FLAME OF SEVENWATERS. Author Juliet Marillier did a wonderfully sensitive job with disability. If one is a differently-abled person it is more difficult to find the things in life that […]
HEIR TO SEVENWATERS (SEVENWATERS #4) by Juliet Marillier
HEIR TO SEVENWATERS is the fourth volume in what was originally meant to be the Sevenwaters Trilogy. But author Juliet Marillier created such an evocative landscape with such interesting characters that readers […]
Juliet Marillier’s CHILD OF THE PROPHECY (SEVENWATERS #3)
CHILD OF THE PROPHECY is the third book in the Sevenwaters Trilogy. Told from the point of view of Fainne, daughter of Niamh and Ciaran, it tells of a sad tale of […]
