ccookie - Time Travels

January 2012 - theme - Book with a number in the title

1. One for the Money - Janet Evanovich



February 2012 - Time Period - The Gilded Age (1870-1900)

2. The Alienist - Caleb Carr
3. The Gilded Age - Mark Twain



March 2012 - Theme - Medicine/Illness

4. Changing My Mind - Margaret Trudeau
5. Lethal Secrets: The Shocking Consequences of Donor Insemination- Annette Baran
6. Nurses Three: First Assignment - Jean Kirby
7. One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest - Ken Kesey
8. What Nurses Know ... Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Lorraine Steefel

Feb to March 2012 - Chronological RTT Challenge - Pre-history

9. Clan of the Cave Bear Jean Auel
10. Promise of the Wolves - Dorothy Hearst



April 2012 - Medieval Times (500 AD to 1500 AD):

11. Black Horses for the King by Anne McCaffrey
12. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green

April to June 2012 - Chronological RTT Challenge - Ancient and Biblical Times:

13. Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
14. Pontius Pilate by Paul L Maier - completed June 30



May 2012 - theme - Historical Crime

15. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (completed July 31)



June 2012 - Time Period - French Revolution Theme

16. The Queen's Confession ( completed July 31)



July 2012 - Theme - Witchcraft

17. Dime Store Magic by Kelly Armstrong Completed July 30
The Witches by Roald Dahl Completed Sept 3

July to September - Chronological RTT Challenge - Arthurian Britain

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley ongoing/b



August 2012 - Time Period - Ancient Rome

First Man in Rome - Colleen McCullough (ongoing)



September 2012 - Theme Read - Seasons

The Winter King -by Bernard Cornwell



The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (ongoing)
First Man in Rome - Colleen McCullough (ongoing)
The Winter King - by Bernard Cornwell (ongoing)

April 2012 - Time Period: Medieval Times (500 AD to 1500 AD)

My planned reads:
Black Horses for the King by Anne McCaffrey Finished April 20
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green Finished April 27

March reads: Just finished re-reading Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel which I read when it was first published over 30 years ago. I remembered it as being one of my favourites and I was not at all disappointed in the re-read. I am going to start Valley of the Horses immediately with the plan being to read them all in sequence. One and two will be re-reads but the rest will be brand new.

Ooh, shiny graphics!

Copied the idea from someone else. I liked it! I'm a 59 year old child!

I love your graphics too, and so does my 7 yo daughter. She can't wait to see August - her birthday month! It must be the 7 yo in you coming out :-)

I like your graphics, too! I think we all have a 7 year old child inside us.

April Read - Medieval Times

I am literally slogging through Roger Lancelyn Green's book King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table which I am determined to finish and absolutely hating.

At the same time I was reading Black Horses for the King which I really loved. I just finished it.

Anne McCaffrey does a wonderful job describing the life of 5th century Britain at the time of King Arthur (in this case, Lord Artos, The Comes Britannorum).

This is the story of a young man, Galwyn, who comes into Lord Artos' service as a translator and helps him purchase horses to take back to Britain to train as strong mounts for the armored warriors to fight the Saxons.

Written for young adults, but equally enjoyable for this 59 year old, it depicts Galwyn's training as a farrier and the realistic issues of the early development of horse sandals (horse shoes) to protect the delicate hooves of these Libyan beauties.

I love Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels and found her writing here to be equally captivating. I really wanted to see what happened to this young man and the horses he is responsible for. There is one nasty character in the book, an 'enemy' of Galwyn and I really enjoyed the way that Galwyn deals with him close to the end of the book.

Do not read this looking for knights of the round table or Guinivere and Lancelot. This is about a young man's love of horses his care for them and for the master that he serves. (4 stars)

I managed to finish King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table but I did not enjoy it at all. I literally slogged through most of it.

I think it was partly the old style English. The brevity of the stories bothered me. Each chapter is devoted to one mythological episode such as 'Sir Tristam and the Fair Iseult' or 'Sir Gawain and the Lady Ragnell' and these stories, to my mind, all run together with not enough character development to make me actually care about what happens to any of them. Each one basically involves one Knight killing another Knight, usually by beheading, to save the lady.

I know this is written for children but I can't imagine being able to get through this until much later in life.

There is one thing that I enjoyed about this book and that was the wood-cut illustrations which were, I thought, quite unusual

Aw, sorry it was a dud. Better luck next time!

First line:
~ Although extraordinary valor was displayed by the entire corps of Spartans and Thespaians, yet bravest of all was declared the Spartan Dienekes ~

I finished Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield at the end of April.

Pressfield did some pretty heavy research about the Spartans and their warfare tactics. I understand it is pretty accurate.

However, reading this just confirms for me the tragedy of war. I can't imagine the life that these men and their squires lead. I am taken by their discipline and commitment. However, I am saddened as I am any time that I read about war and, what I believe to be, the senseless loss of lives. And so many lives were lost at this battle.

I don't think I would read this again but I did enjoy it. (3.5 stars)

full review can be found here:
http://www.librarything.com/work/3251965/reviews/84034294

My planned reads:

A God Against the Gods by Allen Drury abandoned in June
Pontius Pilate by Paul Maier completed June 30

My planned reads:

April to June 2012 - Chronological RTT Challenge - Ancient and Biblical Times:
God Against the Gods by Allen Drury - abandoned
Pontius Pilate by Paul L Maier - completed June 30

Historical Crime theme (May)
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - Completed July 31

French Revolution Theme (June)
The Queen's Confession - Victoria Holt - Completed July 31

Planned for July - Witchcraft

Dime Store Magic by Kelly Armstrong Completed July 30
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Winter King -by Bernard Cornwell
The Witches by Roald Dahl Completed Sept 3

I love your sparkles. You are very clever.

> Ro, not really very clever. I just cut and pasted from someone else's thread! But it is fun!

You are giving me ideas. I may have to give it a try too! I'll keep you pasted (lame joke, sorry).

Well, yesterday I finished Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong which I really enjoyed. Just a fun read. I will post a review soon.

i am afraid that I did not make it through:
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Winter King -by Bernard Cornwell
The Witches by Roald Dahl
but I will carry them into August and September.

I look forward to reading your review of Dime Store Magic. What an interesting title!

Finished The Witches by Roald Dahl which was one of my reads for July's theme of Witchcraft

At the end of July I finished
The Queen's Confession- Victoria Holt for the RTT French Revolution Theme (June): Review is here:
http://www.librarything.com/work/68044/reviews/83601991 (3.5 stars)