I started The Mirror & The Light weeks ago, not long after we began our SAH lives. I couldn't 'settle' to read then, but now I'm two-thirds of the way through and reading only 15 minutes at a time by choice.

Of course we know Cromwell's fate, but Mantel increasingly foreshadows his fall. I almost said 'fall from grace', but the ruined, morally untethered Henry is as far from that as a current overlord, whose image is in the corner of my eye as I read.

I have sympathy for Henry. He was an athletic young man, tall for the time (6'2"), with a 35" waist and broad chest (measured from his jousting armor). His life changed forever after he was struck in the forehead during a joust and pinned under his armored horse. He had migraines. A leg wound never healed; wept continually. He couldn't exercise. He weighed nearly 400 pounds at his death. (We should spare some sympathy for his six wives!)

The story is dense with the sycophants around the king -- their ambitions observed and managed by Cromwell, yet not foreign to his own. The dialogue is a treat -- ready for scripting.

A little and a little...so much to reflect upon.

Just finished reading The Family Lawyer by James Patterson. Honestly, this book was easy for me to read, which made me feel so much better about reading again. I must check out the Hilary Mantel trilogy mentioned above. I don't believe I have read the books, but am going to check. I know I did not see the BBC series, and that makes me sad. I love British movies and TV series; one of the reasons is that the actors are usually so great. I also admire very much that most of them don't artificially "whiten" their teeth; makes them seem so realistic to me.

I really do plan one day to read Wolf Hall and or some of the others mentioned here. I adore that time period, and used to read lots of historical fiction set in that era. The only problem I have, and it's definitely gotten worse, is that I barely retain any of the history so each time is like the first time. lol. I just don't have the focus currently to stick with a long book but I have definitely made note of it and appreciate the mentions.

I just finished Holy Ghost by John Sanford and I really enjoyed it. I think it was such a change from my usual that I really appreciated it and was entertained by it. It was refreshing in this day where everything is so heavy.

I think someone here mentioned The Mother In Law by Sally Hepworth.

I put it on hold recently and it is now available via kindle at the library so perfect timing; hope to start it later today.

I finished The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies that I mentioned above. A really, really good book, I thought. 4 different stories about Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans' experiences over the last 150+ years.

I’m reading The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes. It’s my book club pick. We meet by Zoom. I’m very much enjoying the book. I’m glad we are reading a book that’s a fairly easy read but an interesting story. It’s just right for my state of mind. It’s about women in Kentucky who have a traveling library. A lot of the book addresses the lives of the women. I recommend it.

I just started "The God Whistle" It was a free E-book mentioned on Facebook. It's really good so far.

Thanks Dedtired.I had that book (A Giver of Stars) on my list but it fell by the wayside. Back on now. Excellent!

dedtired... Our book group is discussing The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek tonight about a woman in the 30s who's the librarian on mule back for the rural poor in the mountains of Kentucky.

Just started What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon. I'm doing free reading from PRIME READING. It's steeped in Irish history. Pretty good so far. Has some Outlander elements although it is set in the 1920s.

Annie, will have to look for,that one and see if they are very similar. The traveling library was a WPA project started by Eleanor Roosevelt.

Started reading, "Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel early this morning before falling asleep. It's about a flu pandemic. I kept reading until almost 7 am before my eyes wouldn't stay open anymore.

Hmmm I read that Station Eleven a few years ago and all I remember was it being pretty good but so not my cup of tea. And I added Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek to my want to read list.

I just devoured The Mother In Law by Sally Hepford. It was great- great characters, superb story, and then had some amazing twists. (Can you tell I was impressed?). I think it would be an excellent book club pick . I would give 4.5 to 5 stars.

Relieved to report that I broke my no reading streak and finished The Words I Never Wrote by Jane Thyme. I liked the author's approach of telling a World War II story in two plots which are connected- one set in current time and the other during World War II. The main characters are two sisters separated by war and their own preconceptions, perhaps naivete and youth.

I enjoyed BookWoman and learned a bunch.

I was lucky that all my holds came through at the library prior to the closings. Next up arranged by due dates are: The Dutch House by Anne Patchett; The Whole Town' s Talking by Fannie Flagg; The Lake House by Kate Morton; The Poppy Wife by Caroline Scott; What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon; The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick.

I want to say how much I enjoy this monthly thread. Thanks to all the participants.

Dedtired and skibby, Giver of Stars was one of my favorite books of the past year. I will have to look at reading Bookwoman if it is similar.

I can’t imagine reading a book about a flu pandemic at this time. I’m in a super suggestible state. I just read Brooke Baldwin’s account of her battle with Coronavirus and I literally felt sick and had to go lie down.

I finished The God Whistle. it was very good, not real churchy either but it is a Christain book.

I finally finished a book, The Feather Thief by Mark Wallace Johnson. Did I hear about this book here? It’s not one I ever would have picked up on my own but I really enjoyed it. It‘s a pretty quick read - only about 250 pages. What an interesting “true crime” story and who knew that “fly tying” was such an obsession?

I think I’m going to read What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon that was mentioned above, I’ve had this one on my TBR list and it gets good reviews. Hopefully it will draw me in quickly and hold my attention.

4kids - I read The Feather Thief and raved about it so you have have learned of it from me. I really liked it too. Hard to believe it was true crime!

I finished The Mirror and the Light. As expected it was an incredibly immersive and excellent reading experience. And as with a few other books I've read (A Gentleman in Moscow comes to mind) it will take me a little while to really absorb and reflect before I can dive into anything else. I miss Thomas Cromwell!

Here is a review that very neatly summed up what I loved about the book. The entire trilogy isn't light reading, but it is some of the finest writing I think I've ever experienced.

Just finished The Carousel by Rosamunde Pilcher, written in 1982 but I love her stories and writing style; and have started All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin.

For those of you with a Kindle or Kindle app, someone just shared this link with me for some free books today. A few of these looked appealing to me, so I thought I’d share here for those who might be interested. In honor of World Book Day: https://smile.amazon.com/article/read-the-world-2020?ref_=pe_170810_490069750_kdd_kc_WBD_KDD

THANK YOU 4kids! I meant to Google this earlier thinking surely there was something to commemorate the day!

If you like beachy books, I just read a good one. "Wish upon a shell" by Kay Correll.

I am now reading Brianna by Ralph Nelson Willet. Very good so far.

I recently listened to a very good audiobook recently - Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius. It's a true story about a normal and healthy 12 year old boy who developed a mysterious illness and became unresponsive, unable to communicate and was wheelchair bound. After many years, a caregiver noticed that he seemed to give slight indications of recognition, so advised his parents to have him tested. The book describes how his situation changed as he began to "awaken" and virtually claw his way out of his predicament. It also describes some of the disturbing ways he was treated while at a daily care home, and the devotion of his parents but most especially his father in keeping him at home despite what the doctors advised. It's a glimpse into the world of people who are unable to care for themselves or communicate but who depend on the mercy of caregivers. Ghost Boy.

Running, I’m coming down the homestretch with The Mirror and the Light. Anne of Cleves has just landed at Deal.

I read Beloved many years ago. For me it was unforgettable. In particular, I remember the matriarch on her deathbed requesting to taste the colors. It really struck me as a description of grasping for life.

I finished Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (as Told to Me) Story

Book by Bess Kalb It was a nice, sweet, sometimes amusing book. But not memorable.

We listened to most of “If You Tell” by Gregg Olsen yesterday and it is unbelievable. If youre a fan of true crime stories, you’ll probably enjoy it. It is about the abuse (psychological and physical) and murders Michelle and David Knotek committed near Tacoma in the 90s.

Bunny, the story really accelerates from that point on, till the shattering end.

I'm finding that, as I expected, I'm having a hard time picking up anything else to read right now after finishing The Mirror and the Light. Since the online loan is ticking away I started the latest Kathy Reichs thriller and yuck, what a mistake. Like going from the best meal you ever had at the finest restaurant to a cold takeout burger :(

So I downloaded Antonia Fraser's book about Henry's wives and at least it is giving me some good gossipy but fact based background on all the ladies!

I picked up Nobody Will Tell You This But Me when you first mentioned it, Mtn... I started it a few days ago and have been enjoying it. It's not a typical memoir.. but it's easy, interesting and fun. I am not looking for much more these days.

I am also reading The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler for a zoom book discussion.

I just finished "Evicted" by Mathew Desmond, published in 2016. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE This account of what goes on in the slums of a city, its poor, destitute inhabitants and the landlords that get rich off them. I have had the book for quite a while, putting off reading it, just couldn't get into it, but finely I made myself start...glad I did. Very eye opening!

Two books I finished this month and would recommend are:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert(Eat, Pray, Love). Follows the life of an intellectual woman in the 1800's.

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende. Follows a few families through the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's and into the unrest in Chile in the 1950's. I really like Allende's books. They are beautifully descriptive.

I loved the Signature of All Things.

I ordered a book from my local Book Store. Although they have curbside pick up she also delivers so I opted for that. The book is called The Operator by Gretchen Berg. Not my normal pick but it struck my fancy as something fun and light. It's about a telephone operator in a small town in Ohio in the 1950's who overhears some gossip about her own family. Great shenanigans follow. I'm looking forward to the frolic. Putting down O'Nan to do it. That says something.

Currently reading The Wives by Tarryn Fisher. It is hard to put it down and tend to the earrands and chores that need to be done.

I'm about 2/3rds of the way thru River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard. The only way that I will ever set foot in the Amazon rain forest is in air conditioned full body armor and with a substantial amount of money, in cash, as compensation. With a helicopter on standby to get me out of there. Quickly!

I just found another really good one. (beach type) It's free for Kindle and other devices "For Now and Forever" (The Inn at Sunset Harbor—Book 1) by Sofie Love Loving it!

Yesterday I finished The Mirror and the Light. I agree with runninginplace, it was an utterly immersive and excellent reading experience. It was a little slow going for me at first, and then it picked up and I eventually could not put it down (at almost 800 pages, I'm glad it was a Kindle version). I already miss him, Cromwell, although he's been gone for nearly 500 years. I'm so disappointed in Call Me (Wriothesley). Riche, Norfolk, Gardiner, it was to be expected.

Mantel's writing is astonishing. The penultimate chapter, "Mirror. June-July 1540," is a masterpiece.

5 stars.

I borrowed The Radium Girls from my library ( ebook, obviously). I know I’m a couple years behind on this one. It is a riveting and horrifying true story. Not sure it is the best choice of book in the midst of a pandemic. There’s enough horror going on at the moment, but still I am thoroughly enjoying the story.

Czarina,

I'm reading A Long Petal of the Sea by Allende. I've read her before and love her work. At the Atlanta airport we ate in a (mediocre) restaurant that was inside a bookstore, and I was attracted by the lovely cover on the shelf across from me... then I saw it was Allende so I bought it.

I, too, finally faced reading the end of Cromwell in The Mirror & The Light. (Agree completely with the review linked by runninginplace.)

I'll recall one little bit towards the very end that endeared Mantel's Cromwell to me. She has him always thinking and considering what lies beyond the surface. It this instance he's in the Tower, distracting himself from his execution by looking at his book of etchings. He muses about Icarus and Daedalus, attempting flight with handmade wings. It's a wry comparison to his own daring and resulting disaster. Mantel has him think that, despite the fatal failure of those flights, there must have been wonderous reward in a man's realization that, "This is going to work!"

(Cromwell's success in promoting the Bible in English did 'work'.)

Just finished reading Dragonfly by Leila Meecham. With all the time on my hands staying in a self-imposed quarantine, I haven't felt like reading at all but picked this book up. It's not a Pulitzer Prize book but I really got into it. A story about World War II and the OSS. Glad I decided to give it a whirl.

I'm reading War and Peace and hopefully it will take me to the end of the distancing directive. I have pretty well read or decided against all the books that I got from the library before it closed but I have holds on both the audio and ebook versions of Evicted recommended by lgmd and will keep whichever comes first.

Ded, Radium Girls was most definitely a most memorable book. Not the most uplifting but so worth reading. What really got me, is that I had never heard anything of it. My husband's family was from that area in NJ ( Newark and Elizabeth) and from all that family no one ever mentioned this...

After The Mother In Law (which I really enjoyed- such a good story and a good read yes for book clubs to discuss)--- I read Peace Like A River. I wish I could remember who suggested it but somehow it was on my radar. It was a very well written book, more literature than most books I read haha and it was just a great capturing of growing up in rural America in the 50's. I have to say that as often happens with me I wish it had been about 50 pages shorter because I started to lose interest? patience? with it but I would still recommend it and think it would be a great book club read.

I was in a tizzy that I had nothing I WANTED to read when I finished it and then lo and behold this afternoon I got the notice from the library that Daisy Jones was available. I am looking forward to it as I expect it will be light and effortless (and I need that now).

I just bought The Mother In Law today on Kobo. I think I got for under $3. I look for the good deals almost every day. I have the worst time trying to borrow books on my Kobo from the public library because of an authorization issue. Grrr.

Salonva, I’m not sure if someone else recommended it prior to when I read it, but I just read Peace Like A River in January and loved it. I really enjoy those types of nostalgic books with well drawn characters.

I just finished What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon yesterday. Set during the Irish War of Independence in 1921, the plot was fairly good but about 2/3 it got romancey and was a bit too schmaltzy for my taste but I still managed to enjoy the novel. I’ve had such a hard time getting into books since being stuck at home, but this quickly drew me in and took my mind of present day affairs.

A friend just left me a copy of American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. I know there’s a ton of controversy around it, but figured I’d make my own decision about it.

I've had trouble concentrating enough to read but finished "Where the Crawdads Sing" in two days.

Thanks 4kids- my guess is it was you.

Now as to kobo- I think I will be starting a new thread about ebooks because I do have some more questions.

Happy Reading All!

I've started His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis. Not very far into the book--seems to be focused on the personality of the first president.

Read a few books so far, but not as much as normal as the whole family is up about 30 minutes to an hour later than normal so less time to read before I pass out. I finished the below ones:

The sun-down motel by Simone St James which I really liked even though it had some elements that I normally would not pick the book for.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris which was really good and is in part based on real people. Such a hard topic though. Now I'm almost finished with a little lighter reading

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney which had lots of twists and turns and was a good psychological thriller

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides - Started this one about a month ago and had dropped reading it twice, but finally got through it. For me it needed me to get about half-way through it and then it got interesting. Another psychological thriller.

Now almost finished with a little lighter reading with the latest book by John Sanford in the Lucas Davenport series: Masked Pray. Only have about 20 or so pages left, but it has been an easy read and interesting as it relates a bit to the current political climate, but not one of the best in the series.