A Good Chick Book

This novel follows the lives of four women as they face the challenges that come with being wives, mothers, daughters, and friends. They have been doing a book club since their kids were little and although they have known each other for years they find out there is still much to learn. It is a good look at how friendships give us strength, and good friends are priceless.

The Other Queen

While this book doesn't have the same level of intensity and scandal that was found in the Boleyn Inheritance and The Other Boleyn Girl it is still a wonderfully written account of the battle between Mary Queen of Scots and her cousin Queen Elizabeth. As the Queen of Scots flees her kingdom after a plot has left her a widow and her life is in danger she turns to her cousin the Queen of England who she believes will protect her. As power and wealth often do, Queen Elizabeth has turned into a hard women who thinks only of her own throne and protection and little of her kin. Queen Mary is a prisoner in the very country where she is the rightful heir to the throne. Gregory writes from three different perspectives in this novel. First, is the voice of Queen Mary, then her captor/ guard, The Earl of Shrewsbury, and finally his wife, Bess of Hardwick. Through each character you get a very different account of what really happened during the years that Mary was imprisoned under the care of the Earl and his wife. From each you get a varying look at Queen Elizabeth and what her rule over England was truly like.

Mary

Of course. The answer to this is simple. Bien sûr. No one must ever pity me. They can love me or hate me or fear me. But I shall never let anyone pity me. Of course, when they ask me, did Bothwell abuse you? I will answer nothing, not at all, never a word. A queen does not complain that she has been ill-treated. A queen denies that such a thing could happen. I cannot be robbed of myself, I cannot mislay my own divinity. I may be abused but I will always deny it. Whether I am seated on a throne or wearing rags, I am still a queen. I am no commoner who has to hope for the right to wear velvet or live out his life in homespun. I am above all degree of ordinary men and women. I am ordained, I am chosen by God. How can they be so dense as not to see it? I could be the worst woman in the world and I would still be queen. I could romp with a dozen Italian secretaries, a regiment of Bothwells, and write them all love poems, and I would still be queen. They can force me to sign a dozen abdications and lock me in prison forever but I will still be queen and anyone who sits on my throne will be a usurper. Je suis la reine. I am queen till death. It is not an office, it is not an occupation, it is an inheritance of blood. I am queen while the blood flows through my veins. So I know. So everyone knows. So even they know, in their faithless hearts, the fools.
If they want rid of me there is only one way, but they will never dare to take it. If they want rid of me they will have to sin against the order of heaven. They will have to defy the God-given chain of being. If they want rid of me they will have to behead me.

Think of that!

The only way I cease to be Dowager Queen of France, Queen of Scotland, and the only true heir to the throne of England is when I am dead. They will have to kill me if they want to deny me my throne. And I wager my title, my fortune, and my life that they will never dare to do that. To lay violent hands on me would be the same as throwing down an angel, a sin like crucifying the Christ again. For I am no ordinary woman, I am a sanctified queen, I am seated above every mortal; only the angels are my superiors. Mortals cannot kill such a being as I. I am anointed with holy oil, I am chosen by God. I am untouchable. They can fear me and they can hate me, they can even deny me. But they cannot kill me. Thank God, I am at least safe in this. I will always be safe in this.

Phillipa Gregory's books read like a story although they are infused with history. She is one of my favorite authors and continues to be. For those who enjoy historical fictions this is a must read. For those who have never read one of her books, you are missing out!

Meet Delores Price

"Mine is a story of craving; an unreliable account of lusts and troubles that began, somehow, in 1956 on the day our free television was delivered."

One of the best aspects of Lamb's writing is his ability to get his readers so intertwined with the characters that you begin to feel that you are a part of them. Delores Price is a sad, miserable person at times but you love her anyway and although I would have to say that this book brought me down so far at times that I really wanted to stop reading, I couldn't because I was so invested in the characters and their lives. Thankfully with all the bad that happens to D Lamb throws some beautiful, touching moments in there that let you know the world really isn't the cruelest place, and if you hang on through the end you will be rewarded.

"I uncap the Bic, meaning to rail about negatives: unfairness, infertility. But something different comes out, something I hadn't planned. I write: Love is like breathing. You take it in and let it out."

Here is a link to a discussion guide for this book. It would be a great one for a book club.

http://www.litlovers.com/guide_shesundone.html

Mother's Day

Since Mother's Day is tomorrow I thought I would post some great books chick books!

• 'The Heart of a Woman' by Maya Angelou
• 'Cane River' by Lalita Tademy
• 'Black and Blue' by Anna Quindlen
• 'The Time Traveler's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger
• 'The Secret Life of Bees' by Sue Monk Kidd
• 'Midwives' by Chris Bohjalian
• 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel' by Rebecca Wells
• 'The Mermaid Chair' by Sue Monk Kidd
• 'The Boleyn Inheritance' by Phillipa Gregory

Wally Lamb

This was the first book of his that I have read although he has been recommended to me several times. He is an excellent writer and one that I will definitely read again. I thought I would share a bit I read about the book from Oprah's website.

About the Book"It's not just a book, it's a life experience," trumpeted Oprah about her selection, I Know This Much Is True. Faithful readers familiar with her phenomenally successful book club read Wally Lamb's stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, back in February, 1997.

Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth-century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary reading experience that will leave no reader untouched.

"When you're the sane brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your hands — the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you're into both survival of the fittest and being your brother's keeper — if you've promised your dying mother — then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night. Grab a book or a beer. Get used to Letterman's gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the indifference of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uncrazy twin — the guy who beat the biochemical rap."

Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins Dominick and Thomas Birdsey are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas.From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness — and ultimately self-protection — in a house of fear dominated by Ray, their adoptive father, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man who abuses his power over his stepsons whose biological father is a mystery.