Growing on me...

I read Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall when it came out (who didn't?), and I liked it well enough. Then recently I was finally edging to the front of the wait list for the sequel, Bring Up the Bodies (Bringing up the Bodies? Sh*t, you'd think I'd know since I'm reading it right now), so I checked out Wolf Hall to re-read so I'd remember what was going on in the story.

Helpful, since it's a dense story, and especially since after watching The Tudors, my view of that period, and the major players, is always going to be colored by the BBC / Showtime (not that I'm complaining; God, but I sweat Jonathan Rhys Meyers - have since I was a teenager - and Henry Cavill is not too hard on the eyes, either). Turns out that Bring Up the Bodies (or whatever - that sounds more like one of Mantel's chapter titles from Wolf Hall, so it's probably right, but Bringing sounds more like Bringing Up Baby, so obviously I love it...someone should do a screwcap [screwball + madcap = how is this not a real thing?] version of Henry VIII! Genius!) has a lot of explanatory stuff in the end, so I probably didn't need to.

But I still enjoyed it. Too much probably, because I'd curl up with it in bed and then go to sleep way too late (there were also only like, seven chapters in a huge book, so it was hard to find a natural stopping point). I didn't love the way it was written in so far as it wasn't always clear who was talking, or what was being said out loud versus thought, or who the "he" was in ever other sentence (generally Cromwell, not always), but I get that the kind of dense, occasionally crude text was a deliberate choice, and I can respect that.

Did make me wonder though, as most things about Henry VIII and his wives do - Anne always ends up coming across so badly, like a shrewish wh*re. Which, maybe she was, but there had to be more to it, no? I mean, Henry may have been king, but he was no prince. Everyone seems pretty clear that he screwed around on her. Then again, everyone seems pretty clear she did to, and possibly with her brother... I don't know. She probably was a huge raging b*tch, but when EVERYONE dumps on her, it makes me want to stick up for her, or read someone that does... I mean, was she just the Hilary Clinton that everyone got mad at because she wasn't a "nice" lady? And did crazy things like go after what she wanted and insist on being treated with the respect given to other leaders?

Anyhow, it was good, and i actually think I like it better than I did last time, which is very cool.

Cleaning house

The library needs three books back AND I need to get them out of my apartment so there's less stuff to drag to the new one in 3.5 weeks (and let the countdown begin!). So:

Equal of the Sun, Anita Amirrezvani (Scribner, 2012) - Good

The Orphanmaster, Jean Zimmerman (Viking, 2012) - Okay

The Age of Miracles, Karen Thompson Walker (Random House, 2012) - Fantastic

I've got to run some errands and get some lunch; hopefully more later, otherwise at least these are now listed...

Yay, Marla!

Firstly - finished the latest Inspector Lynley novel last night, will talk about it later (and then give it to Mom as a Mother's Day "gift" because I not the awesomest daughter ever - but I am going home a day early to keep her company, and running to the train after work, with just the briefest stop to pack, so I don't have time to buy something new, as planned!).

More importantly, there's a review by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich in the New York Times Sunday book review of Marla Miller's new book, Betsy Ross and the Making of America!  I'm so excited; I've been waiting for her to get that project into print since I was in grad school.  She was such a great teacher, and I loved The Needles Eye, so I'm as excited for her as I am excited to read it.  Not sure how I feel about the review, though.  On one hand, I think it's mostly positive, but Ulrich gets a little snippy towards the latter half, and suggests that Marla got carried away with the whole mystique of the thing.  I will need to read the book for myself of course, and certainly I have no doubt that Marla was mad enthusiastic about (and maybe even somewhat affectionate towards) Ross, but I suspect she didn't go overboard.  And some of it may be Ulrich, too.  She totally has her own slant towards women's history / material culture, etc., and it's not always quite in synch with Marla's, so I wonder if this is just a case of the classic academic "it's not what *I* would have written, so I think you're wrong / I'm going to criticize you" situation.  That said, I am super happy for Marla that the Times chose Ulrich to do the review, because just the name alone lends a certain gravitas to the review and, by extension, Betsy Ross.  Hmm.  Okay, just re-read the review.  And there are some nice bits.  But it's def a little snarky, and I am getting defensive, so before *I* start letting my own ax-grinding needs take over my assessment, I will stop :)

sad news

The library has recalled TWO books I was in the middle of & now I have to return both As If An Enemy's Country, by Richard Archer, and also The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, by Jack Weatherford.  I was enjoying both and am wicked sad.  But apparently Widener has wanted the latter back for a while, and now wants a "replacement" fee, so I didn't really have a choice.  Yet more overdue fines to ignore, oh well.  But I only have a week to do the revision of my paper, starting when I get the comments back tonight, so I guess fewer distractions are for the best. 

In other sad news, my baby brother just found out that thanks to his wicked low housing lottery number, he's going to be living in Sylvan next year, barring some miracle.  I actually tried to make him feel better by pointing out that "at least" he "will only be a rape trail away from" his friends.  Which came out wrong, needless to say.  Then I suggested maybe he try to split up two friends who were planning on living together in Grayson (where he wants to be for some reason - go O-Hill!), and swoop in and take their room; my great plan was to find two girls, tell each one that the other said she was a fat sl*t, and then wait for the fight to start.  Which didn't just come out wrong, but actually is wrong.  My final recommendation was to emulate our third, imaginary brother, who M & I told N lived under the stairs (and N was younger by enough years to believe us), and just squat in Grayson until he gets a room.  Clearly, it was time for lunch.  Am feeling much less evil-mastermind-y now that I've eaten.