The Sisters of Versailles

The Sisters of Versailles is the first book in the Mistresses of Versailles Trilogy.  It is a fictionalized account of the true story of the 4 Mailly Nesle sisters who were all mistresses of Louis XV, both concurrently and sequentially, during a ten year period of time.

The chapters alternate between the stories of each sister from the time the oldest, Louise, left their childhood home to be married and eventually was sent to Versailles where she worked for the Queen.  There she met the King but did not become involved with him until his aides asked her to be his mistress as he was becoming bored with his wife. Their relationship was one of mutual love and respect. However, Louise was a meek and mild woman and was not prepared for the strong personality of her younger sister Pauline when she arrived for a visit.  Pauline took over at Louis' Court and pushed her sister out of the king's bedroom.

Pauline flirted with the king and he fell in love. Pauline would not sleep with him until he arranged a good marriage for her. Once the marriage took place the king scandalized the nation by supplanting the new husband on the wedding night. Pauline was more interested in obtaining political power and was not in love with the king. When Pauline died after the birth of a child the foolish Louise invited the next youngest sister Diane to visit. A mistake for sure but before Diane arrives another sister, Marie Anne, obtains a job as a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and moves to Versailles. She brings her married sister Hortense with her.

Louise gets talked into resigning her position with the Queen and Marie Anne soon has her banished from Versailles. Marie Anne is Louis' next mistress and then Marie Anne and Diane together as a threesome.  After the king falls ill and is expected to die he banishes Marie Anne and Diane so that he can confess his sins and receive the final sacrament. He recovers but does not ask for them back as his confession was published.

This story was well written.  I was engaged from the first page and could not put this book down.  Of course, the salacious material probably made it more interesting but the reader still needs good writing to stay engaged.

What confounded me was that all of these sisters had a religious upbringing.  I guess it didn't take as all but one was quickly willing to commit adultery with the king and didn't bat an eye about back-stabbing a sibling. In the beginning chapter when they were still together in the family home they seemed to be close. I guess that old adage that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" holds true here.

Will I read the next book in the trilogy? Absolutely! I look forward to it.

5 out of 5 stars.

Memento Mori

Memento Mori is Ruth Downie's 8th Gaius Ruso Medicus historical mystery. The series features protagonist Gaius Ruso, a Roman physician, and his British wife Tilla, an expert on herbs. Together they make up an amateur sleuthing team.

The story opens with the death of Serena, the wife of Ruso's former associate Doctor Valens, in the steamy waters at Aquae Sulis (now known as the City of Bath). Serena had been having an affair but the prime suspect is Valens himself according to her powerful father Pertinus. Valens goes into hiding but sends his friend Albinus to fetch Ruso to help him nail Terentius, the man Serena was having the affair with. Terentius is an engineer at the baths and is in charge of the bath plug. Ruso arrives at Aquae Sulis with his wife Tilla, baby Mara and the 2 slaves they purchased in Rome in the prior novel Vita Brevis and begins his investigation.

I am glad that the series is back in Brittania.  The sleuthing works best here. However, I am still unclear why the author is trying to get one of the main characters, Tilla, to change from being an independent woman to a submissive Roman wife. We readers came to love the Tilla character as she was in the first novel, brash and bossy. It's a bad idea to change the personality of a main character. Ruso has changed too but for him it has been more of a growing experience. Tilla just seems stunted from the earlier novels in the series.

The whodunnit aspect of the story was OK.  These two did not make sleuthing mistakes in the earlier novels but they have made them in the past two installments of the series. It doesn't sit well with me. I can't remember reading any other mystery novel where the amateur sleuth made a wrong decision on where to take their investigation. It isn't how mysteries are written.

I had a difficult time staying interested in the book. With a stunted Tilla and the team not really working together as they used to, it was somewhat boring. Memento Mori is the second book in a row from this series to disappoint me so I doubt if I will keep reading it.

Fear

Fear is veteran journalist Bob Woodward's 19th book.  It covers the final 4 months of the Trump campaign for the Presidency and the first 14 months of his administration.

Fear opens with a quote from Donald Trump that he made to the author and Robert Costa during an interview on March 31, 2016:

"Real power is - I don't even want to use the word - fear."

The book ends with the resignation of his attorney John Dowd who had been representing him in the Mueller investigation. Dowd had made the conclusion that his client could not testify before Mueller's team because as Dowd said to himself "You're a fucking liar."  Trump was unable to give the same answers to questions Dowd posed to him.  When Trump decided that he would testify in front of Mueller's team, Dowd withdrew as his attorney.

The book goes into great detail describing the events of each month of Trump's Presidency showing the chaos and efforts made by every aide of his to prevent him from harming the nation. Even though there were 2 warring factions in his employ, they seemed to agree basically on those things that were bad for the country. It seemed amazing to me that aides who I have listened to on TV supporting him from the time of his campaign knew that implementing the policies he advocated during the campaign were bad for the country and they tried to dissuade him from implementing them.

Another unusual thing that I noticed was the absence of the Vice President at all of these meetings at the White House.  Pence claims to spend 6 hours a day with Trump but the author's research does not place him near the action in the White House. He is only mentioned at 2 meetings where nothing particularly weird happened.  So, what does Pence do all day?

Fear is an eye opening view of the Trump Administration as well as Trump himself. While most of the juicy parts of the book were already discussed in the media before I could get it at my library, it was still an interesting read.  This obviously was a highly anticipated book as I waited two months on a waiting list at the Chicago Public Library to get it. When I put the book on hold I was number 597 in line!  I have never seen any book hold like this before. This is a new record.

Definately 5 out of 5 stars!  I think Fear will be read for generations to come as an insight to this most unusual period of American history.

Commenting Problems

I just found out that Blogger was not notifying me when a reader posted a comment for review. I had a long list of comments to approve this morning. Hopefully, the changes I made to my settings have remedied the problem. My apologies to all.  

Making a List and Checking it Twice

I am busy this week writing in a notebook all of the books that I might want to read for the challenges that I signed up for.  I have a separate page for each challenge noting how many books I agreed to read but also how many I really expected to read when I signed up for each challenge. I lowballed my sign-ups since I didn't meet my required number of books in 2018. Hopefully, being more organized about my reading plans will help me get more reading done next year.

2019 Christian Reading Challenge

My Top 10 Books From 2018

Below is a list of the best books that I read in 2018.  Note that they may not have been published in 2018 but I read them in 2018.

10.  The Romanov Empress by C. W. Gortner

9.  The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis

8.  Deadly Cure by Lawrence Goldstone

7.  The Painter's Apprentice by Laura Morelli

6.  Story of a Sociopath by Julia Navarro

5.  The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

4.  Sabrina by Nick Drnaso

3.  Brazen, Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu

2.  Berlin by Jason Lutes

1. White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht

2018 Reading Statistics

I read 52 books this year, down from the 81 books that I read last year. I struggled hard with my reading this year and I don't know why.  Perhaps it is due to that unknown reason why I stopped reading entirely from my usual 120 books a year 5+ years ago. I never did figure that one out either.

2019 may be the last year of this blog before I change it to a genre specific blog. Historical fiction seems to be my primary interest so I may go that route.

While I still love graphic novels, I have caught up on the older books. I am now only reading certain authors that I like and they do not produce annual novels like traditional authors do. Mysteries, which had been my favorite genre ever since I began reading, just aren't catching my attention anymore. Part of the reason was that I read political and spy thriller subgenres. These novels are just too much like being on the job for me and I can't bear to read them. My 29 years in a government job has killed my love of these subgenres. I have lived through more on this job than has ever been written in a thriller and, no, I won't be writing about it.  I don't want to die.

On to 2019!

2019 Series Challenge

I have a couple of lengthy series that I need to work on. I am not sure that I will have time for more than one of them. Laura Joh Rowland's series on feudal Japan is a favorite and probably will be the one that I will read next year.  I believe there are 18 books in the series and I have only read 2 of them.  Ms. Rowland is no longer writing this series. She has begun another one set in the Victorian era.

The Sharon Kay Penman medieval fiction series is another option. Again, I have only read 2 of her books but there are many more for me to catch up on.

I have a 3rd option and it is a 6 book graphic novel series called Beardo. I have read the first 2 in the series but since there is only a 3 book minimum for the challenge of any genre this option will work.

2019 Library Love Reading Challenge

This challenge is new to me.  The challenge will be in its 3rd year in 2019. Since I am a big user of my public library it would be foolish for me not to enter this challenge. The requirement is to read a minimum of 12 library books of any genre in the 2019 calendar year.  Easy peasy! Of course, you can read more than 12 if you wish.  I am looking forward to meeting more bloggers through this challenge. 

Wrap Up of 2018 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

I read 18 books for the Historical Fiction challenge this year. I signed up to read 25 books so I fell short of my goal. Here us what I read:

The Court Dancer by Kyung Sook Shin
The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis
Deadly Cure by Lawrence Goldstone
Vita Brevis by Ruth Downie
The Abbot's Tale by Conn Iggulden
Death in St. Petersburg by Tasha Alexander
The Painter's Apprentice by Laura Morelli
City of Ink by Elsa Hart
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
Heretics by Leonardo Padura
The Romanov Empress by C.W. Gortner
Death on Delos by Gary Corby
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht
Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
The White Mirror by Elsa Hart
Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford
City of Masks by S. D. Sykes

Favorite Book:  White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht

Second Favorite Book:  The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

Least Favorite Book:  Death in St. Petersburg by Tasha Alexander

Wrap Up of 11th Annual Manga/Graphic Novel Reading Challenge

I read 16 books for the 11th Annual Manga/Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.  I signed up to read 24 books at the Bronze Level so I fell short with this challenge.  Below is a list of the books that I read:

Portugal by Cyril Pedrosa
Sabrina by Nick Drnaso
Berlin by Jason Lutes
The Arab of the Future 3 by Riad Sattouf
Leaving China by James McMullan
Zahra's Paradise by Amir Khalil
Rosalie Lightning by Tom Hart
Brazen by Penelope Bagieu
Palestine by Joe Sacco
The Photographer by Didier Lefevre
March-Book 1 by John Lewis
March-Book 2 by John Lewis
March-Book 3 by John Lewis
Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle
Poppies of Iraq by Brigitte Findakly
Brew Harder by Dan Dougherty

Favorite Book:  Berlin by Jason Lutes.  This book is simply a masterpiece.  It tells the story of the fall of the Weimar Republic from 1928-1933.  The City of Berlin is the protagonist of the story.

Second Favorite Book:  Brazen, Rebel Ladies who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu.  This book was very inspirational to me.  It contains mini biographies of 30 women from antiquity to the present who changed their society.

Least Favorite Book:  Rosalie Lightning by Tom Hart.  This book was too depressing for me. It did give an accurate depiction of parental grief over the death of a child but having never been through the experience, it was too dark.

Wrap Up of My Kind of Mystery 2018

I read 15 books for the My Kind of Mystery challenge this year.  Below is a list of the books that I read:

City of Ink by Elsa Hart
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
Origin by Dan Brown
Plum Tea Crazy by Laura Childs
Shot in the Dark by Cleo Coyle
Death on Delos by Gary Corby
The First Family by Daniel Palmer
The Demon Crown by Dan Silva
I've Got My Eyes on You by Mary Higgins Clark
Beyond the Ice Limit by Preston and Child
Queen Anne's Lace by Susan Wittig Albert
Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford
City of Masks by S. D. Sykes
Story of a Sociopath by Julia Navarro
The Vineyard Victims by Ellen Crosby

Favorite Book:  Story of a Sociopath by Julia Navarro.  She gets the sociopath down right!

Second Favorite Book:  Death in Delos by Gary Corby. Each successive book in his Ancient Greece series is better than the one before it.

Least Favorite Book:  I think there is a 3 way tie for this award. I did not like Origin, The Essex Serpent and Plum Tea Crazy. It is unusual for me to not like a mystery but it happened often this year.  Dan Brown's Origin was not his usual treasure hunt and it seemed like he didn't write it himself. Plum Tea Crazy is part of a long series by Laura Childs where the last several books were very similar. She is publishing 3 books a year for 3 different series and the writing is suffering.  The Essex Serpent was a slow moving story with a small plot.