The White Queen; Rhino Ranch

Two new fiction titles from two of my favorite authors. First up, "The White Queen" by Philippa Gregory. This is the story of Elizabeth Woodville, Queen to Edward IV and mother of Elizabeth of York, who became King Henry VIII's mother. Elizabeth Woodville was also the mother of the infamous Princes in the Tower, so called because after her husband's untimely death his brother, Richard, took the boys under his protection into the Tower of London where they were never seen nor heard from again. Richard went on to declare them both bastards and himself as King Richard III. Over the centuries Richard has been much maligned as a murderer, which I don't believe, but that's for another book. This one focused on Elizabeth and Edward's loving marriage, their large brood of happy children, and the end of the Wars of the Roses. It was very good, even if Gregory does take historical facts lightly in some spots. It's the beginning of a new series, so I'm excited for the next one. I really liked the way she wove magic into historical events, and at the end when Elizabeth puts a curse on whoever was responsible for the death of her boys so that his male line would die out--does that sound like someone we know? A king who was so eager for a living male heir that he divorced and killed numerous wives? Hmmm :-)
"Rhino Ranch" by Larry McMurtry was disappointing, but I kind of expected it to be, so I wasn't too upset. This is the fifth and final (thank god!) book in the series that started with two of my favorites by McMurtry "The Last Picture Show" and "Texasville". The last three have just been too sad for my taste. After all the fun characters died off in "Duane's Depressed" there really didn't seem to be much use in writing this series anymore. They're semi-autobiographical, I know, and I'm sure it's hard for McMurtry to give up this character. Anyway, in this one Duane has divorced his young new wife Annie and moved back to Thalia, Texas, where a billionairess named K.K. is starting a wildlife reserve to save the black rhinos. There were very little laughs and even fewer memorable characters.