The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory was published 2005.

A highly fictionalized version of the life of Catherine of Aragon and her rise to power in England.

Catherine was the first wife of Henry VIII, divorced after 20 years of marriage. Daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon.

My fear is that history is boring. That royal intrigues are boring.

Not so in the case of this book. It’s very fast paced. Most entertaining.

It’s part of what the author calls the The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels.

Though Philippa has a PhD in history, another of her books seemed to me more Romance / Bodice ripper.

The Other Boleyn Girl (2001) was not as good, IMHO.

But the plot still fascinates. Instead of focusing on the 2nd wife of Henry VIII — Anne Boleyn — the lead character is her younger sister — Mary Boleyn.

The other Boleyn girl.

In fact, Mary was the king’s mistress while Catherine was his wife. Though little of accuracy is known about Mary, she did have a roller coaster of a life. Mary died aged 43–44.

King Henry had Anne beheaded at the Tower of London at age 28–35.

In any case, if you like historical fiction — check out Philippa Gregory.

I recommend this book.

A fictional account of a looming pandemic.

I got hooked from the start where a couple is enjoying Vietnam on a guided bike tour.

This is Bohjalian’s 21st book, though I can’t recall hearing the name. He’s Armenian / Swedish. Several of his works have been adapted for TV and film.

Amazon.

John recommend this book — comparing it to The Road, a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by Cormac McCarthy. 

It’s very good. Though — like The Road — depressing.

Parable of the Sower is a 1993 dystopian novel by Octavia E. Butler, the first in a two-book series.

Set in the 2020s where society has largely collapsed due to climate change, growing wealth inequality, and corporate greed, Parable of the Sower centers on a young woman named Lauren Oya Olamina who possesses what Butler dubbed hyperempathy or “sharing” – the ability to feel pain and other sensations she witnesses. …

When Lauren‘s home is destroyed and family murdered, she travels north with other survivors. 

The young woman evolves a new belief system, which she comes to call Earthseed. Her goal to build a community based on those beliefs.

Sadly, Octavia Butler died age-58 at her home in Washington State. A multiple recipient of both Hugo and Nebula awards, she influenced many other writers.

I’ve always been anti-war.

Citizens should do everything they can to avoid war.

That said, the allies response to Hitler’s invasions and the attack on Pearl Harbor were justified.

Even Gandhi supported the allies in WW II.

Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian (2008) is the story of a journey in the waning months of World War II.

A Prussian family flees west ahead of the advancing Russian army. They bring a Scottish POW that had been working on their farm. En route, they are joined by Uri Singer, an escaped Jew posing as a Nazi officer.

At the same time, Nazi work camp prisoners are being marched west.

It’s all horrible.

War is Hell.

When Lee Child announced his retirement after the 25th novel in the Jack Reacher series, fans like me were disappointed.

The 26th book is The Sentinel (2020) co-authored by James Grant and his younger brother Andrew Grant but published using their respective pen names of Lee Child and Andrew Child.

Sounds like the much younger brother did most of the writing.

He’s taking over the franchise.

Happily, Sentinel is excellent.

In this one, Reacher battles those behind a ransomware cyber attack in a small town a couple of hours out of Nashville.

related – A bad review of the book.

Sue Grafton (April 24, 1940 – December 28, 2017) was an American author of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the “alphabet series” (“A” Is for Alibi, etc.) featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California.  …

Grafton described Kinsey Millhone as her alter ego, “the person I might have been had I not married young and had children.” …

The first book in the series is easy reading.

Her style has been described as “laconic, breezy, wise-cracking”. It reminds me a bit of the Harlan Coben books featuring crime solver / sports agent Myron Bolitar.

Not literature.

In “A” Is for Alibi (1982) Kinsey, age-32, investigates the death of prominent divorce lawyer eight years earlier. His wife was convicted of murder.

When the wife is released on parole, she hires Kinsey to find the real killer.

Good stuff. I recommend it.