Eleanor of Aquitaine - Alison Weir

Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of those rare queens in history. She has been both Queen of France and Queen of England. She divorced the King of France in order to marry the King of England. Already in her 30's she went on to have ten children, three of which would sit on England's throne. She stood in for her husband in his absence and looked after her own regions. Oh, and she helped her three sons rebel against her husband. After ten years of captivity she became more active in politics through helping her son keep his Kingdom together. She even lived to the ripe old age of 82 which is rather unusual in the 12th century.

I have been wanting to read more on Eleanor of Aquitaine ever since I read She-Wolves by Helen Castor. It was such a fantastic book but it was limited on the time it could spend on Eleanor because it was covering other powerful Queens. This one was a little disappointing at first. It lacked the passion behind Castor's work. As a result I found it difficult to engage with at first. I persevered with and the next minute I am half way through and finding it difficult to put down. Maybe passion would have been hard to keep up and so slow and methodical worked better.

The main thing is I learned lots of new facts about Eleanor. What I loved about Weir's book is that she didn't just include the facts. She included rumours and theories that have cropped up about Eleanor ever since her reign. Even well into the 19th century. She would then dispute why they might or might not be true. If left me feeling like I not only had a better idea of Eleanor but an idea of how her life has continued to influence people. In fact until recently she wasn't seen in a particularly good light. It's only now that people see beyond  the stories of her 'wicked' ways and see her as rather intelligent, strong and politically knowledgeable.

One of my favourite chapters was more about life in England than about Eleanor herself. At this point she had married King Henry and was about to arrive in England for the first time (she actually spent more of her life in France). At first I was a little frustrated by it as I wanted Weir to continue with Eleanor's story but I was soon caught up by the interest of it. Plus it made sense to show the differences that Eleanor would face. One example is that gang crime was a problem in London back then. To the extent that no one would leave their homes after curfew. I was intrigued by the reference to King Arthur. Even in those days the courts of Europe were fascinated by him. In Eleanors day the stories were seen more of as spoken history than myth.

Other than my interest in Royal history the whole point in reading this was for the Mixing it Up challenge. This was for the history category. History isn't exactly out of my comfort zone which is why I picked an author who is. I have a mental (book snobbery) block when it comes to Alison Weir. Years ago I had a friend who loved her books and despite enjoying history I was wary. I couldn't see how someone who produced so many books on so many different historical figures could be accurate. Then she began bringing out historical fiction which just added to my wariness (and yet people who cross fiction genres don't bother me). So this was my attempt to get over it and I am glad to say that it worked. It's not the best history book that I have ever read but I still enjoyed it. There were a few things I felt were missing and it focused almost too much on Henry II and their sons. I have to put that down to lack of information from that time though. I would definitely read more by this author though.

The Mixing it up challenge is organised by Ellie of Musings of a Bookshop Girl. You can see the other categories I am going to take part in and have covered already in my first post here.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday is a book meme by Sheila of Book Journey. It a way for book blogger to share their reading week.

Again just the one book for me this week. It was a non-fiction book so I am a little surprised that I did get it finished.

This week I read;

Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir. This was for the History category in the Mixing It Up challenge. I have still to review it so won't say too much. It was good although not the best history book I have ever read.

Just now I am reading;

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. I am reading this at home as it's a fairly large hardback. Loving it so far and it's very different to his previous book.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. I am reading this for the League of Extraordinary Gentleman challenge. This is a re-read for me. I love this book. Everyone should read this at some point in their lives. Will probably finish it today.

Next up is;

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I picked this for the classics challenge since I am reading Tom Sawyer just now. Sadly I have never read Twain's probably most popular book. Will be fixing that this week hopefully.

Empire State by Adam Christopher. This is for the sci fi challenge. I have been wanting to read it since I saw it reviewed in SFX. I can't remember the details of it and it's too far away just now to pick up and glance over the back. From my vague recollection it's an alternate universe with superheroes and the Empire State is central to the story. Looking forward to it.

Last week I signed up for Dewey's Read-a-thon too. You can sign up here if you want to take part. I will try to post my reading list for it this week. If I can finally make up my mind.

How has your reading week been. What's your favourite book from March?

March Overview/ Month Ahead

Yet another quiet month. My book stats are dropping. I have had essays and exams last month and have more this month. There was also a chunkster in there that I took my time with.

This month I read only 6 books;

1. Ghost Town - Rachel Caine
2. The Kraken Wakes - John Wyndham
3. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
4. The Black Angel - John Connolly
5. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
6. Eleanor of Aquitaine - Alison Weir (which I have still to review).

My favourite is the one that took me almost the full month to read - The Three Musketeers. Full of adventure but it had a more serious undertone in there too and in the end it was actually quite sad. My least favourite was The Black Angel but only because it was a little disappointing. Otherwise I enjoyed all of the books I read this month.

Challenge Overview

 I just managed to do my challenges this month although I did enjoy them. For the sci fi challenge I went with my own title rather than the group choice. I went for Wyndham's The Kraken Wakes. I love Wyndham and I this book did not disappoint. Just good classic sci fi. The group choice for this month is Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear. I've read him before and I do like him but I am trying not to buy any books this month. I might read Empire State by Adam Christopher instead.

 For this I read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. There is now just one book on this list that won't be a re-read. I love Jules Verne. He's another author who can write a fantastic adventure story. Plus this book is the best Vintage Classics cover I have came across to date. I see me reading more of him in the future. Next up (and I started it last night) is a re-read and it's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. I loved this book when I read it the first time and I am loving it all over again.

 My favourite book for this month and also the largest and the longest time I have spent on a book. Which is of course The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. I already mentioned why I loved it so won't repeat myself. It's a bit surprising as growing up I avoided adventure books. Since I am reading Tom Sawyer for The League challenge I thought I would read The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn for this one. I haven't actually read it before so I am looking forward to it as it's supposed to be better than Tom Sawyer.

For the Mixing it Up Challenge I read for the history category. I picked Alison Weir as an author I had never read before and the book was Eleanor of Aquitaine. I enjoyed it but I'm not going to say too much about it as I have yet to review it. Next is the contemporary fiction category. Again not a challenge for me really since I love contemporary fiction so I will be reading an author new to me. I have picked out Freedom by Jonathan Franzen but I'm on the fence. That might change.


Out of all my plans for this month I did manage most of them. I have started Nick Harkaways Angelmaker but have still to get round to reading the third book of Murakami's 1Q84. I make no promises for this month.

I do expect my reading list to be slightly larger this month as I am taking part in Dewey's 24hour read-a-thon. I haven't yet made up my mind what I am going to be reading but I promise to post a pic as soon as I decide. I have a tentative list but keep swapping the books. The only one that has stayed is an Agatha Christie. Good old Poirot saw me right last time.

I've also set up a sponsor sheet for taking part. Money is going to Crohn's and Colitis Uk. So if anyone has any spare pennies and would like to sponsor me I won't say no :D http://www.justgiving.com/Karen-Sime1

How has everyone else's reading month been? How does your month ahead look? How are you getting on with your challenges?

Dewey's 24hr Read-A-Thon

Yep, I worked it out and I will be able to take part this time. I have a bit of time in between assessments and since life can't be just about study I have decided to sign up. For those of you are unaware it's a non-stop reading event for a 24hr period. Starts on the 21st April and ends on the 22nd. Each time zone has its own starting time so that we all start at the same time. Here in the UK it's 12pm. There are usually lots of prompts and people cheering you on. You can even become one of the cheerleaders. There is also no pressure to take part for the full 24 hours. I know I napped briefly last year. If you want to know more about it head over to the blog here.

Last year I said that if I managed it I would try to get some sponsorship next time. Basically I thought it would be a good event to raise money for a charity. So I have signed up to raise money for Crohn's and Colitis UK. Crohn's is an incurable disease which effects the entire digestive system. It can be quite debilitating for sufferers. I picked this one because a friend of mine is a sufferer so I know (as much as any outsider can know) what the condition can do to people. Sadly though it doesn't get much limelight and with raised funds there is hope that a cure might eventually be found.

So I now have a page on the Just Giving site should anyone, very kindly, wish to donate anything. Even the littlest amount would be appreciated. I still plan to enjoy this event and I promise I won't go on anymore about the charity in detail (although I am sure I will put in a wee reminder with a link).

http://www.justgiving.com/Karen-Sime1
Also on facebook.

I will open my twitter account for that weekend too as I interacted with quite a few people taking part that way last time. It really is good fun. Part of that of course is choosing the books. Anyone else planning on taking part? Decided what you are going to read yet?

The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

D'Artagnan leaves his home town for Paris where he hopes to prove himself as one of the Kings famous Musketeers. He has almost nothing but an odd looking horse, a few coins and a letter of recommendation. However, along the way the letter goes missing and he clashes with a man he soon comes to think of as his genius enemy. On reaching Paris he is a little disheartened to discover he must prove himself before he can become a Musketeer. He soon makes friends in the form of Porthos, Aramis and Athos. Together they help defend the Queen from the evil plots of the Cardinal.

This small paragraph doesn't actually do justice to what this book contains. The book is long but the chapters are short and it's just one adventure after another. One reason why it took me so long to read.

Here is the main reason - d'Artagnan! He is young, impetuous, eager, easy to work up and well (again) just young. He requires a lot of energy just to read. He's like one of those puppies that are cute and fun but sometimes you just need a little time out. Which is why I was constantly reminded of this;

Does anyone remember the cartoon Dogtanian? Dogtanian was played by a puppy (or close to a puppy compared to the others) and now I can actually see how apt that was. Basically, whilst he was good fun he was also hard work.

Once I got to the half way point though things seemed to change. D'Artagnan himself seemed to grow up a little. It wasn't obvious until near the end that the events of the book actually occur over a few years (not obvious to me anyway). I don't think I can pinpoint the exact moment when that seemed to happen. Possibly during the war with France but certainly at the end of the book d'Artagnan was no longer a boy. It actually made the ending a little sad in a way. In fact I wasn't expecting to feel quite so sad when I got to the end of the book. It certainly felt like the end of an era and not just with d'Artagnan. For this reason I think I don't just see it as a tale of adventure but a coming of age story too.

I read this as part of the Classics Challenge hosted by Katherine of November Autumn. You can see my answer to this months prompt here and you can read what others have been reading for it here.

Top Ten Tuesday - Books I'd Play Hooky With (otherwise known as skiving)

Noticed TTT had a new logo and as I liked it thought I would use it. This is a weekly book meme over at The Broke and The Bookish. This weeks list is books we would play hooky with. If you are Scottish that's either sciving or taking a sicky. Anyways, I went with mainly chunksters. I have a fair few on my tbr pile and sciving might be the only way to get through them (not that I would do that). Very few of them are re-reads. I've started off with the re-reads otherwise they aren't in any particular order.

1. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck. I would love to go back and read this again. Actually I would love to go on a Steinbeck kick and re-read all the ones I have so far. Have fond memories of this one although East of Eden is my favourite.

2. The Pern series - Anne McCaffrey. After she sadly passed away I meant to go back and revisit them. I loved these books. Would like to read them all over again or even just one or two of my favourites.

3. The Women of the Otherworld series - Kelley Armstrong. This series is ending soon and whilst the last few haven't been that great I would like to revisit the earlier ones.

4. London - Edward Rutherfurd. After reading New York by the same author I have been dying to read others by him. I have this one in my pile but it's a beast at 1328 pages. I want the time to just enjoy it too.

5. A Feast For Crows - George R. R. Martin. Plus the next one two which I also have sitting there. It's a good series and I don't want to leave it too long in case I forget anything.

6. Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume1. Another beast of a book but not one that I would want to read all at once.

7. A Suitable Boy - Vikrim Seth. A chunky one but the truth is I have been putting off reading this book because the edition I have (the one above) is just so pretty. Too pretty to unwrap from it cellophane cover. I know defeats the purpose. If I can justify buying myself another, less pretty, edition I would want some time to just enjoy it.

8. The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber. I have been wanting to read more historical fiction and this seems ideal.

9. The Dreaming Void - Peter F. Hamilton. One of my favourite sci fi authors but he writes such huge books and there are three of these bad boys in this series.

10. Villette - Charlotte Bronte. Thought I would end with a classic. I am actually going to read this in the next few months (sciving or not). Looking forward to it too.

What books would you like to take some time off for?

Classics Challenge - March Prompt

I am a little behind on my challenge reads just now. Mainly because the classics one took me almost a month to read. I have never taken so long to read a book. It was a good one though so despite how it sounds I don't actually begrudge the time. As a result I am also a bit late with this prompt. I just managed to complete it within the month.

This challenge was set up by Katherine of November's Autumn. This months questions are about setting. You can see what others have posted here. In case you don't know I was reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. I'll post a review of the book tomorrow hopefully.

I think it's safe to say that anyone who has heard of this book knows that it is set in Paris and the book describes it well (well enough for someone who has never been there). There are some obvious buildings I could choose for setting such as the famous Louvre Palace or the Bastille. However, the building that really set the book for me was the home of M. de Tréville. He is the Captain of the famed Musketeers and it is at his home that d'Artanagn met his soon to be friends. It sets the scene and feeling of the book well. The Musketeers are clearly a close group and they all spend a lot of their time hanging around the Captain's home (when they aren't getting themselves into bother). The home was described only to show how the Musketeers spent their time whilst waiting  for the Captain. One scene particularly stands out and that was three Musketeers fencing on the stairway as d'Artagnan tried to make his way past.

I got this image from a travel blog but it doesn't actually say what the building is (just that it's a typical French Mansion). I actually imagined the building to be a little longer than this and that it was surrounded by other buildings. Picture Musketeers standing around the steps and possibly even calling out from some of the windows. It was a great place for the setting as it brought d'Artagnan together with his friends. It also gave the reader an idea of what the Musketeers are like in general. It was also brought in again and again as the Musketeers regularly went to M. de Tréville for advice.


It would depend on how the setting was changed if it would have an effect on the story. Possibly if it was set in a pokey little office it would change the atmosphere of the book. It would also change the meeting of D'Artagnan, Porthos, Athos and Aramis (although Aramis is only mentioned in that first visit and d'Artagnan meets him after he leaves). In that case it would change greatly. Plus, it would take away that view of rich and luxurious Paris.