A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories of History’s Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes and Emperors: by Michael Farquhar

“All I say is, kings is kings, and you got to make allowances.” -Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry FInn Continue reading

And the Mountains Echoed: by Khaled Hosseini

People who were a little too squeamish to read ‘The Kite Runner’ but heard the hubbub, or were not as crazy about ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’, rejoice. Hosseini’s newest novel ‘And the Mountains Echoed’ is a stirring, uplifting book; and not in the way that your soul is wracked with grief and the only thing left for you to do is tell people it was inspiring.
What I like best about Hosseini’s writings is two part. First he teaches me about Afghan history and culture in a way that humanizes the people. Continue reading

The Sisters: The saga of the Mitford family by Mary S. Lovell

It’s a good thing I bought this completely clueless of it’s content at the bookstore because I’d be headed back out to go buy it right now if not. Who were the Mitford sisters and what is their place in history? I had never heard of these women who were talked about world-wide in the periods before and after the second world war, but immediately upon delving in I couldn’t put it down. It is hard to believe these women from the same family were at the crucial points in history that fate placed them. They each took the restraining leash on women of their time and broke it to suit their own personalities. What follows is a quick run-down of four of the sisters paths. The rest as they say, is history. Continue reading