Faster; Cecily Neville

 

Okay, still trying to get used to this new Blogger format. It's a little weird. 

First up: "Faster" by Neal Bascomb. Set in the 1920s and 1930s, it covered the competitive early years of car racing. The German Mercedes dominated the field, and German race car drivers were considered the elitist of the elite. Driver Rene Dreyfus was Jewish, and therefore not welcome on most teams during the rise of the Third Reich. He partnered with an American heiress and a French car manufacturer and against all odds beat the Mercedes in a few key races. It was interesting and I learned a lot about early Grand Prix auto racing and how insanely dangerous it was. 

                                                                                                                                                                       Another Richard III book, this one about his mother, Cecily Neville, the Duchess of York (I'm also reading a book about his father, Richard, Duke of York, so the two intertwined quite a lot. At least until he died). Cecily and Richard were married when they were children, so it took a long time before they were living together as husband and wife and having kids, but once they started they didn't stop. Cecily had at least 12 children that we know about. Six died in infancy, making the future King Richard III the baby of the family when his little sister died. Not much is known for sure about Cecily Neville, even important women in Medieval England didn't get much documentation. Hers had to have been a sorrowful life at times, though, losing her husband and second son, Edmund, fighting the Lancasters. Even when her eldest son, Edward, was King, he was married to a woman she didn't like. Her son George so envied his older brother he tried to depose him and take the crown himself. And then there was poor Richard. Cecily lived for about a decade after Richard was murdered at Bosworth. In her will, she left a prayer book that most likely belonged to her youngest son to Henry Tudor's mother (and her cousin) Margaret Beaufort. I had a good laugh at that. The irony! John Ashdown-Hill also mentioned that the bones that are generally believed to be those of the Princes in the Tower most likely aren't: since finding Richard's bones, we know he had a full set of normal adult teeth. The bones that are often touted as his nephews' show a genetic dental deformity that for many years scholars thought they had inherited from Cecily Neville's line. But Richard didn't have it, so it makes the idea that those bones belonged to his nephews that much less likely. Interesting, as all Ashdown-Hill's books are. 

The Virgin Widow; The Children of Richard III; It Had to Be You; Richard III: the Maligned King

All right, some terrific books over the last few days about one of my favorite subjects, Richard III. Can I just say how much I wish there were more great fiction titles about him and Anne like "The Virgin Widow"? I'm amazed I haven't read this one before, since it was published in 2011. I somehow missed it.
At any rate, told from Anne's point of view, this was great fun, I loved it. O'Brien made Anne very spunky and determined, and her Richard...oh, her Richard! He was ambitious and courageous and just a teeny bit naughty, which I don't think I've seen before. It makes sense if you think about it: we're talking about a guy who had two acknowledged illegitimate children who were born to him most likely while he was still in his teens.
Anne develops a crush on her older cousin when he comes to live and train to be a knight at her father's castle. Richard teases her but they do become friends and when Anne's father announces his decision to marry his girls to the King's younger brothers, Anne is not unhappy at the thought of marrying Richard. Then of course the Earl turns against Edward when Edward marries Elizabeth Woodville in secret and makes an alliance with Margaret of Anjou. He marries Anne to her son, Edward. Anne and Richard eventually make their way back to each other, and marry in secret--good thing, too, since Anne is pregnant (tsk, tsk, Richard). The book ends with the birth of their son, Edward. It was a lovely story, nicely done, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

While I wait for some more Richard fiction that I've had to order, I turned to the shelf of books I already do own and read "The Children of Richard III" by Peter Hammond. There is, unfortunately, not a lot of information out there about Richard's children, not even his one legitimate son, Edward. No one is even really sure when he was born: it could have been as early as 1472, or as late as 1476. During his lifetime, he acknowledged two illegitimate children: a daughter named Katherine and a son named John. There have been rumors of others over the years, but we'll never know for sure. Edward of course died in 1484 during his father's reign as king. Richard made a good marriage for Katherine, who most likely died before her father, although of course we can't be sure. Her husband was described as a "widower" during the reign of Henry VII, and never remarried. Richard made his son John captain of Calais, a post he held until Henry VII had him executed.

I took a quick break from Richard to finish up the last Gossip Girl book, "It Had to be You". It was actually a prequel, set in sophomore year. Same old, same old: Serena and Blair are both fighting over Nate, who just wants to smoke weed and get laid. Nate is, quite possibly, the most realistic teenage boy I've ever seen in fiction. He's dumb as a post, can't make up his freaking mind about anything, and thinks about sex all the time. In the end Serena takes off for boarding school rather than be around to watch Nate and Blair be happy.
I'm glad I'm done with these books.

Okay, and finally, "Richard III: the Maligned King" by Annette Carson. Carson beautifully dismantles every negative thing said about King Richard, deftly taking on the Princes in the Tower, the rumors of his desire to marry his niece Elizabeth, and the notion that he was a tyrant. Richard's greatest downfall was how badly he underestimated his enemies. He kept putting faith in people who betrayed him, and when he would try to reconcile, they would betray him again. She made some wonderful points about all the good he did in such a short time on the throne, the laws he made that benefited the common people and angered the nobility, who sought to take him down, so eager to get rid of him that they backed a usurper with literally no legitimate claim to the throne. It was wonderfully done and extremely persuasive.
I'm enjoying seeing the rise in interest about King Richard III since the discovery of his bones back in 2012. Hopefully more will come to light about who he truly was and he'll gain the reputation and popularity he so richly deserves.

How I Got This Way; I Will Always Love You

Aw, poor Regis. RIP. I always enjoyed watching him and Kathie Lee, and later on Kelly Ripa. He seemed so high energy and full of fun. He wrote this book right after he retired in 2011, talking about the great people he had in his life and the lessons he learned from all of them. It was a terrific, uplifting, positive book and I enjoyed his nuggets of wisdom.

Book 12 of the Gossip Girl series. Technically the last one, but there is a prequel I'm slogging my way through. I really didn't enjoy these as much as I hoped I would. I guess the whole Nate/Blair/Serena love triangle just didn't appeal to me. I kept screaming at him to just MAKE UP HIS MIND ALREADY. Jesus. And what was wrong with those two girls?! Sure, Nate is hot but come on. He's a commitment phobic jerk. I've dated enough of those to know what to expect. They both deserve better.
The only nice thing about this book was that Chuck finally got a decent part and wasn't a complete weirdo like he was in all the others. Of course Blair broke his heart to go back to Nate (ughhhhh).

Lonesome Dove; Don't You Forget About Me

I watched "Lonesome Dove" on TV a few weeks ago, which led to the inevitable reread, ignoring the 1,000,000 books I have bought but not yet read.
I have no regrets.
I love this book. It's one of my all time favorites. I love rereading it, it's like visiting old friends and hanging out on the porch. Drinking whisky, and maybe kicking a pig or two :)

Book #11 of the Gossip Girl series. Blair and Nate are back from their month long trip to sea. Blair's mom is planning a big going away party for her, and Blair is busy making plans for when she and Nate get to Yale. Nate, of course, hasn't told her that since he ran off with her on the boat, he won't be getting his high school diploma and so he's not going to Yale after all. Once he finally does tell her, it doesn't go over well. Shocking.
Dan's mom comes for a visit and is thrilled that Dan is gay (or at least he's pretty sure he is) and throws him a big coming out party, but when his boyfriend, Greg, shows up, Greg only has eyes for Chuck. Vanessa's sister is getting married, and she asks Dan to write a love poem for the ceremony.
Serena is still confused about her feelings for Nate, and when they get together and talk about it, they end up going to bed, which really doesn't clarify anything (except that she's a terrible best friend and he's an even worse boyfriend). Nate is so confused he doesn't know what to do, so rather than face the two and make a decision, he takes off on a sailboat around the world. Blair goes to Yale, Serena stays in New York to make another movie, Dan decides he isn't gay after all and he and Vanessa get back together before he drives to his college in Washington.

Hidden Valley Road; Prophetic City; The Golden Thread; Would I Lie to You

First up, "Hidden Valley Road" by Robert Kolker. The Galvin family had 12 children: 10 boys and 2 girls. Six of the ten boys ended up with schizophrenia (or bipolar disorder, in one boy's case). At the time the boys started being diagnosed, there was a raging debate over nurture vs. nature: no one was sure if it was genetics that caused these illnesses or their upbringing. Genetic and other types of tests of this family have been the backbone of most of what researchers know about schizophrenia today. It was fascinating and sad.

I'm not into sociology: it's interesting, don't get me wrong, but it's never been my thing. I read this book because it's about Houston, and I read a lot of things about Texas. Klineberg has been studying Houston and its residents for forty years now, and he's found an interesting pattern: Houston is a little ahead of the curve of the United States as a whole. It seems wherever Houston goes, the rest of the country soon follows. 

"The Golden Thread" was about the history of fabric. Which, on the surface, sounds very dull, but it really wasn't. St. Clair looked at how fabric has been made over the years (not much has changed, honestly) and its different purposes. How fabric has always symbolized a person's wealth and status. How certain fabrics were only for the very rich or royalty. People have made clothing from spiders' webs and snails...whatever it is snails produce :) 

I had to take a break from the Gossip Girl books because I felt like my soul was dying a little. Book #10, "Would I Lie to You", takes place in the summer following high school graduation. Blair and Serena are staying in the Hamptons with Bailey Winter, a fashion designer. Nate is living next door and working for his coach so he can get his diploma, but when the coach's wife starts making advances, Nate picks up the girls and they bail back to the City. It's Serena's 18th birthday, so they go to Connecticut to her parent's country house where her brother Erik throws her a party. She overhears Nate tell Blair he loves her, and she realizes she loves him, too.
Whoops.
Meanwhile, Dan meets a guy at work who seems like he's pretty cool, and they decide to start a literary salon. They get drunk and Dan makes out with him. Whoops.
Vanessa leaves her nanny gig and comes back to the City after accidentally lusting after Chuck.
Whoops.
Chuck is probably still in Bailey's pool with his pet monkey.

Only In Your Dreams; Apropos of Nothing; Midnight Sun

Okay, book 9! Dan starts dating a fitness buff named Bree that he meets while working part time at a bookstore during the summer before college. Vanessa is hired to work on Ken Mogul's new movie, but is fired after the first day and becomes a nanny to two little boys. Serena is almost fired from the same movie, but Blair helps her find her voice (Blair, being altruistic?! Uh oh. I'm nervous now). Nate's still bumbling his stoned way through life.

I got utterly and thoroughly sick of the Gossip Girl books (and the show, but that's another story). Since I had library books with due dates and holds, I decided to get through one. I'm a big Woody Allen fan, always have been. I like his quirky sense of humor. It's unfortunate that he had to devote so much of the book to defending himself, but I thought he did it in a very respectful way. He was nicer than I would have been, at any rate. He's led an interesting life.

And finally, "Midnight Sun" by Stephenie Meyer. A book many of us have been waiting for for a long, long time. Whenever I bring up "Twilight" at work, one of my librarian colleagues is very smug about how "proud" she is that her twenty-something daughter never got into them. Well, good for her, I guess. I'm not a book snob. Is "Twilight" great literature? No, of course not. But it's fun and I like it so there :)
"Midnight Sun" is "Twilight" told from Edward's POV rather than Bella's. So, basically, fan fiction. It was fun though and I enjoyed it. The best part was when Edward and his family are racing to the ballet studio in Phoenix to save Bella from James, and they have to steal a couple of different fast cars and cause a gigantic pile up on the freeway. Given how much Meyer loves cars, I'm sure she enjoyed writing that sequence, you could tell.
And I don't care what you read, so long as you read! I might not read it, but if you do and you love it, that's okay by me.

Because I'm Worth It; I Like It Like That; You're the One That I Want; Nobody Does It Better; Nothing Can Keep Us Together

All righty then!
Book 4. Nate meets crazy Georgie Sparks in rehab. Serena is asked to model during Fashion Week. Dan starts cheating on Vanessa with this weird girl named Mystery Craze. Blair almost has an affair with a married man. 

Book 5. Spring Break, and Blair goes to Utah with Serena's family and almost hooks up with her gorgeous older brother, Erik. Nate is there with Georgie, who seems to be there with the entire Dutch Olympic snowboarding team. Vanessa starts dating this dorky guy named Jordy, mostly to piss off her hippie freak parents. Dan's agent gets him an internship at a literary magazine and Dan makes a mess of it.

Book 6. Nate and Serena get into Yale (and everywhere else they applied) but Blair is wait listed and NOT HAPPY. Serena spends a wild weekend visiting all the colleges that accepted her so she can make a decision about which one to go to, but she spends all her time hooking up with random hotties. The lacrosse coaches from the different schools Nate got into come visit him and they're all female and try to come onto him. Jeez, ladies. Jail bait much? Blair reluctantly visits Georgetown, the only college that accepted her and ends us with a weird group of girls who seem a bit cult-ish. Jenny goes on a modeling job with Serena after a bad experience with a job that pretended to be for something other than what it was for. Dan moves in with Vanessa when her older sister Ruby goes to Europe and accidentally ends up the lead singer of an indie band called the Raves.

Book 7. Blair moves into the Plaza, now that her baby half-sister is born her penthouse feels a little crowded. Nate moves in with her briefly, but the intensity of the relationship get to him and he takes his parents' yacht on an ill timed joyride. Jenny is asked not to return to Constance in the fall after compromising pictures of her hanging out all night with the Raves appear in print. That's fine by Jenny: she wanted to go to boarding school and reinvent herself, anyway (and apparently got a spin off series of her own called "The It Girl"). Nate and Serena end up hooking up at a Senior Spa Weekend in the Hamptons. Blair moves in with Vanessa after Nate abandons her. Vanessa starts dating her stepbrother Aaron.



And finally (for now) book 8. Graduation! Blair moves into the Yale Club and meets a real British Lord. Nate gets in trouble for stealing his coach's Viagra (seriously?! He's seventeen. His parents should be worried about him). Vanessa starts cheating on Aaron with Dan, who has decided not to go to college after all in the fall. Blair gets into Yale. Serena is cast in a movie.