Review- The Heretic Queen-ABC Historical Fiction Challenge

My latest book review for the letter H in the ABC Historical Fiction Challenge, is The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran.

From Historical Tapestry's Blog
Each fortnight you have to write a blog post about an historical fiction book of your choice (it might even be something you already read before), but it MUST be related to the letter of the fortnight.

Yes, I have been absent for a few weeks and I will post something a little later to update everyone. Until then, please read this book if you haven't. I can't wait to read my other two books on the shelf by Michelle Moran. Her writing just transported me to the world of Ancient Egypt with such detail and clarity. Awesome!!!


THE HERETIC QUEEN
MICHELLE MORAN, May 2008, $24.95,HC,400pp, 978-0307381750.

The Heretic Queen, Heiress of Misfortune, Pharaoh’s Beloved, made me fall in love with Egypt with the eager fascination of my childhood all over again. If I could, I would hop on a plane and visit the pyramids, monuments and country that served as this novel’s setting. Instead, I found myself searching the internet for video, artwork, and anything of interest that would enhance my schema about Queen Nefertari and her love, Ramesses II, the King of Egypt.

The Heretic Queen is the story of Nefertari, the beautiful and intelligent niece of Nefertiti. Her gift is her brilliance as a linguist and her ability to translate and speak numerous languages. She loves Ramsesses, but must compete for his time with Iset, his other wife. Fortunately, Woserit, his aunt takes Nefertari under her wing to groom her for a life as Chief Queen. Henuttawy, hs other aunt, is an evil viper with other ideas, and she serves as adviser to Iset plotting to ruin Nefertari. They rely on the public’s long memory of the past and perpetuate the gossip of the masses to ensure she never gains status as Queen. Nefertari is a dramatic presence in court and consistently shows her value to the king with daring courage and nerve. The king’s desire for Nefertari becomes an insatiable need that reeks havoc with Henuttawy’s passionate plans to promote her own power.

The plotting and intrigue will capture your attention as the battle for Ramsesses attention is played out between Nefertari and Iset as they vie for Chief Queen. This is a deadly race with jealous players cautiously planning each maneuver to gain points. For a while you may feel sorry for Iset, but had she not followed the evil path laid forth, her life may have been different. Woserit and Henuttawy serve as advisors, although sisters, they are a conflicting pair, and the juxtaposition in personality, good versus evil is classic.

I couldn’t help feeling a sense of doom as this story unfolds, nervously trying to guess the outcome. This is a mysterious and masterfully told story that will keep you on edge, rooting for Nefertari, hoping all will turn out right. No spoiler here, you will have to read this one to see if it has a happily ever after ending.

Disclosure: This book was sent to me by the publisher.

2009 Challenges

Sookie Stackhouse Challenge 2009

The Rules:

1. Between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010, catch up on Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series. No matter if you're starting with book 1 or book 8, you have a year to read all about Sookie. Read Sookie in print, listen to the audio, read an eBook -- format is not an issue.

2. Sign up using Mr. Linky. Put your name in the top box. For the bottom box, please use the URL that links specifically to your blog post about this challenge, not to your blog's home page.

3. After July 4, I'll create a post with another Mr. Linky where you can link your reviews so everyone can read them track your progress.

4. If you don't have a blog and want to join in, sign up in the comments here. Later, let us know about your progress by leaving comments on the review link page.

EDIT: You can join any time during the course of the challenge.

The Books:

Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone

Book Buddy Blogger Challenge 2009

Hosted by Wisteria



My List of 10
1. The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner from Lesa @ Lesa's Book Critiques
2. The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran rom Krishna @ S. Krishna's Books
3. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie from Iliana @ bookgirl's nightstand
4. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry from Michelle @1 more chapter
5. Sunflower and the Secret Fan from Naida @ The Bookworm
6. The White Mary from Marie @ Boston Bibliophile
7. Kushiels Mercy, by Jacqueline Carey from Medieval Bookworm
8. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver from Naida @ The Bookworm
9. The 19th Wife, by David Ebershoff from Medieval Bookworm
10.Persuasion, by Jane Austen from Naida@ The Bookworm

Thanks to all my book buddies for the great list I now can add to my TBR pile for 2009.

Romance Reading Challenge 2009

Hosted by Naida @ the Bookworm




This is my list:
1.Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
2.Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
3.The Host, by Stephenie Meyer
4.Into the Wildernes by Rosina Lippi
5.Possession: A Romance by A.S. Byatt (1991)

Backup possibilities
+Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
+Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
+Stardust by Neil Gaiman
+Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

War Through the Generations WWII Challenge 2009

Hosted by Anna and Serena @ War Through the Generations



My List of Books

1. Citizen Soldiers, by Stephen Ambrose
2. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,by Jamie Ford
3. Skeletons at the Feast, b Chris Bohjalian
4. Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky
5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,
by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
6. The Irregulars, by Jennet Conant
7. The Sunflower, by Simon Wiesenthal
8. The Zookeepers Wife, y Diane Ackerman
9. Truman, by David McCullough
10. The German Woman, by Paul Griner
11. Flags of Our Fathers, Brady
12. The Good War, Studs Terkel

Pup Challenge 2009

Hosted by Anna and Serena @ War Through the Generations
Hosted by Michelle @ 1morechapter



Here are the 2009 rules:

1. Read a minimum of 9 books first published in 2009. You don’t have to buy these. Library books, unabridged audios, or ARCs are all acceptable. To qualify as being first published in 2009, it must be the first time that the book is published in your own country. For example, if a book was published in Australia, England, or Canada in 2008, and then published in the USA in 2009, it counts (if you live in the USA). Newly published trade paperbacks and mass market paperbacks do not count if there has been a hardcover/trade published before 2009. Any questions on what qualifies? Just leave a comment here, and I’ll respond with the answer.
2. No children’s/YA titles allowed, since we’re at the ‘pub.’
3. At least 5 titles must be fiction.
4. Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
5. You can add your titles as you go, and they may be changed at any time.

My List is as follows:

1. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, Fiction (Published 2-09)
2. The Scramble for Africa Darfur-Invertention and the USA by Steven Fake and Kevin Funk Non-Fiction (Published 2-09)
3. Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell Fiction (Published 1/20/09)
4. The History of Now by Daniel Klein Fiction (Published 2/09)
5. The Miracles of Prato by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz
6. Seducing the Spirit by Louise Young
7. The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown
8. Every Boat Turns South by Jay White
9. The Secret Keeper
10.Sweeping Up Glassd

ARC Challenge 2009

Hosted by The Literate Housewife

Here are the rules:

1. To sign up, leave a comment (here) and a direct link to your blog post about this challenge that includes your list from rule #2.

2. List all of the ARC’s that you have to read right now. Then throughout the year, you must continue updating that list as you receive more ARC’s. (This is important). You should also strike out the ones that you finish.

3 a. All of us who have or will have more than 12 ARC’s must read and review 12.
3 b. All of us who have or will have less than 12 ARC’s must read all of the ARC’s we have. Note, that if you have 11 ARC’s and then receive a 12th one you will be bumped up to category a.

4. You don’t have to make a list of which ARC’s you plan to read, but you can if you want.

5. Crossovers with other challenges are allowed and Audio-books are allowed as long as they are ARC’s.

6. Read the books and review them on your blog. If you don’t have a blog, you can post your review on sites like Powells, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. Leave a comment on this post with a link to each of your reviews.

7. Please subscribe to my blog, as I will be posting updates to the challenge periodically.

My Ongoing List:

Champlain's Dream
Mozart's Wife
The Mighty Queens of Freeville
Darling Jim
The School on Heart's Content Road
High Spirits
The Hunger Games
Journey to Tracer's Point
The Book of Night Women
Blond Roots
The School of Essential Ingredients
Red Clay, Blood River
Forgotten Patriots
Giants
Mistress Shakespeare
The Rose of Sebastropol
The Scramble for Africa
American Rust
ETTA
Mrs. Lincoln
Hidden Voices
Agincourt
The History of Now
The Mind of a Genius
The Sacred Well
Cutting for Stone
Drood
Yellow Knife
Big Boy Rules
The Color of Lightening
Canvey Island
The Miracles of Prato
The Commoner
Galway Bay
The Disappearance

100+ Book Challenge

Hosted by J.Kaye

48 / 100 (54.0%)

2010 Books Read List

January 2010

The Day the Falls Stood Still, by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Breakfast in Bed, by Robin Kaye
Jantsen's Gift, by Pam Cope

February 2010

Black Hills, by Dan Simmons
Daughters of the Witching Hill, by Mary Sharratt
Mark Twain's Other Woman, by Laura Trombley
Etta, by Gerald Kolpan
Making Rounds with Oscar, by David Dosa, M.D.
Bloodroot, by Amy Greene
Mistress of the Revolution, by Catherine Delors

March 2010

The Ninth, by Harvey Sachs
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, by Kelly O'Connor McNees
The Lotus Eaters, by Tatjani Soli
Pieces of Sky, by Kaki Warner
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, by C.W.Gortner

April 2010
The Captive Queen, by Alison Weir
The Heretic Queen, by Michelle Moran
The Language of Secrets, by Dianne Dixon

May 2010
the map of true places, by Brunonia Barry
The Postmistress, by Sarah Blake
The Go Between, A Novel of the Kennedy Years, by Frederick Turner
Original Sins, by Peg Kingman
A Cottage by the Sea, Ciji Ware

June 2010
Diamond Ruby, by Joseph Wallace
The Sundance Kid, by Donna B. Ernst
The Alchemy and Meggy Swan, by Karen Cushman
A Fierce Radiance, by Lauren Belfer
The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende
An Eagle Named Freedom, by Jeff Guidry

July 2010
Days of Grace, Catherine Hall
The King's Mistress, Emma Campion
The Prince of Mist, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Lady of the Butterflies, by Fiona Mountain

ABC Historical Fiction Challenge

From Historical Tapestry's Blog
Each fortnight you have to write a blog post about an historical fiction book of your choice (it might even be something you already read before), but it MUST be related to the letter of the fortnight.

You have several possibilities:
- the first letter of the title
- the first letter of the author's first name or surname
- the first letter of a character's first name or surname
- the first letter of a place where an historical event took place


You just have to choose one of them and participate.

Please check our blog each 1st and 15th of the month to find out our new letter, and then link your post (not your blog) back to our page through Mr Linky (see below). Then come and check to see who else has posted and visit their blog to find out all the details of the book they were reading.

This month the letter is:


(original image by Leo Reynolds under the CC license)

The book I am reading is: Etta, by Gerald Koplan



The book I am reading for F is Mistress of the Revolution, by Catherine Delors.


The book I am reading for G is The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, by C. W. Gortner.




The book I am reading for H is The Heretic Queen, by Michelle Moran.






For the letter P, my choice is Darcy's Voyage, by Kara Louise. The reason I have selected this book is that the setting takes place on the ship Pemberley's Promise, and is a retell of Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Bookworm's Dinner Top Pics for 2010

Thank goodness for snow days in New England to give me some extra time to catch up on my to do list.   I am excited to share my favorites for 2010 with all of you.

Top Pics for 2010

Fiction

A Fierce Radiance, by Lauren Belfer

The Day the Falls Stood Still, by Cathy Marie Buchanan

For the King's Favor, by Elizabeth Chadwick

Mistress of the Revolution, by  Catherine Delors

The Gift of Rain, by Tan Twan Eng

Lady of the Hay, by Barbara Erskine

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici,  by C. W. Gortner

Bloodroot, by Amy Greene

The Forever Queen, by Helen Hollick

Lady of the Butterflies, by Fiona Mountain

The Heretic Queen, by Michelle Moran

My Name is Mary Sutter, Robin Oliveira

Wicked Company by Ciji Ware

The Captive Queen, by Alison Weir

Song of Slaves, by Alan Cheuse (HNR February 2011) (Review to follow upon publication)

Non-Fiction

Little Princes, by Conor Grennan

Young Adult

The Alchemy and Meggy Swan, by Karen Cushman 

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2011]. 

Bookish Mad Libs

I saw this meme posted on Bookgirl's Nightstand and then I saw it over at The Bookworm. It was so fun reading their responses, so I thought I would see what I came up with.

In school I was: The Language of Secrets

People might be surprised I’m: Lady of the Butterflies

I will never be: The King's Mistress

My fantasy job is: Breakfast in Bed

At the end of a long day I need: The Sundance Kid

I hate it when: Making Rounds With Oscar

Wish I had: A Cottage by the Sea (Same as Iliana)

My family reunions are: A Fierce Radiance

At a party you’d find me with: The Heretic Queen

I’ve never been to: Heartbroke Bay

A happy day includes: Pieces of Sky

Motto I live by: a map of true places

On my bucket list: Diamond Ruby

In my next life, I want to be: All That is Beautiful

I enjoyed completing this meme. How about you? What would you say?