Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England: by Alison Weir

How can you not be interested in a Medieval Queen nicknamed ‘The She-Wolf of France’? Queen Isabella was a model citizen and dutiful wife – until she wasn’t. Queen Isabella amassed herself an army and deposed her husband, King Edward II, in the first successful invasion of English shores since … Continue reading

The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: by Leanda de Lisle

Few today remember teenage royal Jane Grey when talking about history: ‘the nine days queen’, who was deposed by Queen Mary and soon thereafter beheaded for presenting a Protestant threat to Mary’s Catholic throne. Many that do remember see her as a tragic victim of Queen Mary. Even fewer today … Continue reading

Resistance: A Woman’s Journal of Struggle and Defiance in Occupied France: by Agnes Humbert, translated by Barbara Mellor

I haven’t had anything to read in weeks which is torture – the first phrase that came to my mind, commonly used by us for things like being thirsty or wanting a burger. However, what Agnes Humbert went through was real torture, and shed light on the little known perils … Continue reading

Front Row, Anna Wintour: The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue’s Editor in Chief: by Jerry Oppenheimer

Nearly 400 pages of scandal, intrigue and cat-fights! Well not quite. After watching The September Issue documentary which went behind the scenes of Vogue magazine for its biggest annual issue, I found myself in the mood to read fashion biographies and memoirs. Turns out those are few and far between … Continue reading

Out of Egypt: by André Aciman

Egypt in another world, Alexandria in a time that will never come again. André Aciman lays down an intricate web that covers four generations of a family that truly belongs nowhere, and struggles for identity as cultural and racial worlds collide. The term Jewish diaspora simply means the scattering of … Continue reading

Daughter of the King; Growing up in Gangland: by Sandra Lansky and William Stadiem

Well well well, I’ve finally read a current book, courtesy of my new library card. I’ve been liking biographies and memoirs lately so I thought the story of an American Princess, raised in secluded luxury oblivious to the dangerous world her gangster father kept from her would be an amazing … Continue reading

The Lady Queen: The Notorious Reign of Joanna I by Nancy Goldstone

In 1348 twenty-two year old Joanna, Queen of Naples (part of Italy at the time) and granddaughter of famed ruler Robert the Wise, stood before the Pope to answer the charges of murder in the brutal death of her husband, and it wasn’t the last time Joanna would have to … Continue reading

Sarah Morgan: The Civil War Diary of a Southern Woman: edited by Charles East

I’m sorry to report I can’t make it any further in this book presently because it’s draining my spirit. I’m only half-kidding. I ran out of batteries finally on page 208 out of 612 (!!) The problem here is that the diary was already published ages ago, edited by her … Continue reading