Quotes Magotes #2

Happiness is the one thing we queens can never have.

-Katherine de' Medici, Reign

week summary and sunday reads

Well, I have had a very stressful week. My oldest daughter was to have her Remicade Infusion on Friday, but started coming down with a yucky cold on Monday. After a lot of back and forth doctor phone calls, I made the decision to postpone it until Monday, to allow her to have more time to heal over the weekend. Then, my poor sweet little lady woke up yesterday morning with pink eye. That meant a trip to the much hated walk in clinic. I am always so filled with anxiety in medical facilities. There is just so many sick people that do not cover their mouths. While waiting to be called, another lady was checking in and I overheard her saying she had been diagnosed with walking pneumonia. And where did she decide to sit in this tiny cramped room? Directly across from my oldest, heaving and struggling for breath. Why she didn't just go to the ER, I don't know, but I had to get both my girls up immediately and move across the room. Glad I did, because she started coughing a lot, not covering her mouth. I will never understand how a grown person feeling so ill doesn't care if they spread what they have to others, including children. I get so frustrated at these people.

My daughter was tested for strep, which she didn't have, and they tested her breathing, which was fine. She did, of course, have pink eye, which is always unmistakable. We got medication for her cold and drops for her eyes, so hopefully by tomorrow she will feel a ton better so that she can get her Remicade.  

Now onto some bookish things. I was planning to relax all day yesterday and get some reading in. With the trip to the walk in clinic, I pretty much didn't get anything else done. I haven't been sleeping well, so I was really looking forward to that relaxation, and maybe a nap or two slipped in along with it. So, that will be my day today... reading and snoozing, with a bit of fun tv thrown in the mix. I have been wanting to read some short stories out of The Short Story: 50 Masterpieces. This is one of the library books I got for free from our base library closing. I really love short stories and don't have anything in my book collection like this. 

I am also a bit interested in reading this book, Sounding, by Hank Searls. This was another one of the free library books I got, though was a mistake! While I was browsing, I had picked this book up to peek over it and was not interested, then started talking to the woman who had organized the library books giveaway. I didn't realize until I got 

home that I had slipped it into my bag of books! I am glad for it though, upon reading the summary now, I am really interested in it. It is apparently from the point of view of a sperm whale, and the author also wrote Jaws books. It sounds pretty neat. Whales and stellar sea lions are my most favorite ocean creatures.

Another book might get thrown into my agenda today, but as of now, these two are much on my mind!

my 5 favorite book covers

I wanted to put together a post today of my top five favorite book covers. Here they are, in order starting from my most favorite:

Wildwood by Colin Meloy. I just adore this cover. It makes me smile. It is so...full and folksy.

The Secret Magdalene by Ki Longfellow. This is just a beautiful cover for a beautiful book.

Three Theban Plays by Sophocles. Even though this is not my favorite translation, this is by far the best cover. It is just gorgeous.

Le Morte D' Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table b Sir Thomas Malory, this rendition by Keith Baines. This is the most striking cover I have seen for this book. How can you not want to crack it open?

The Official Quotable Doctor Who: Wise Words From Across Space and Time. I can't say why I like this cover so much. I just think it is so crisp, clean, and neat. My only complaint is the pop of red. Why the red? It makes no sense. A red Tardis? They should have had the pop of color be a bright blue instead, it would have enhanced this cover a lot.

And there you have it, my most favorite covers of the books I own. what about you?

Quotes Magotes #1

Every woman should marry for her own advantage since her husband will represent her, as visible as her front door, for the rest of his life. If she chooses a wastrel she will be avoided by all her neighbors as a poor woman; catch a duke and she will be Your Grace, and everyone will be her friend. She can be pious, she can be learned, she can be witty and wise and beautiful, but if she is married to a fool she will be "that poor Mrs. Fool" until the day he dies.

   -The Other Queen, written by Philippa Gregory

historical fiction novels about England's royalty

It is not secret that I absolutely love anything related to England's royalty. I love any show, movie, book, especially when they are focused on the Tudors. One of my favorite shows right now is Reign, and even though the second season ended not that long ago, I found myself re-watching the first season last night on Netflix! It is such a great show! The premise of course attract me, but it is really such a beautiful show. I love the scenery, the clothing, the hair styles- love it! I have been wanting to get a book on Mary Queen of Scots (something that slips my mind until I am watching the show), which means it was on my mind last night. Since today was the very last day our bookstore was open, I decided to stop in and see if there was anything that might suffice. Why not if I can get it 50% off right now? While I would have preferred a nonfiction book, I did luck out and find a historical fiction book, so I thought I would write up a post about the few historical fiction books that I own base on England's royalty.

The first one is Queen of this Realm, by Jean Plaidy. This is, of course, about Queen Elizabeth I, someone I deeply admire. I lucked out and found this book when our base library was giving away all their books. They actually had a giant stack of Jean Plaidy historical novels, but being as I don't read these as much as I use to, I left all the others for someone else. I haven't read this one yet, but it is on my long list of books I can't wait to read!

The White Queen by Phillippa Gregory, the other author that excels at writing these types of novels (and the woman who wrote The Other Boleyn Girl that was made into a film), I purchased a while back after watching that tv show that was also about Elizabeth Woodville. The show was amazing, but I have only read a portion of this book. I still need to finish it. If you don't know about her, her story is really interesting.

The Other Queen, also by Phillipa Gregory, is the book I found today. I was actually surprised to find this! It is about Mary Queen of Scots, so I really lucked out. It is a used hardcover in great condition, and I paid only $4.50. I am super anxious to read this book. I normally read things from the view of Queen Elizabeth I, and the tv show is showing what unfolds between these cousins from Queen Mary's side- which I am finding really intriguing. I have mixed feelings about this, as I want to jump in to defend Queen Elizabeth, but am now super curious about things from Mary's side. It will be a neat read.

I use to read these types of novels all the time when I lived in Alaska. Since then it has kind of dwindled down to a rarity and find myself mainly enjoying the shows and movies- but these are three books I would like to give a try! What about you, do you like any of the historical fiction novels by either of these authors?

mythology and fairy tales

Last night I had a little bit of an itch to read some mythology, so I dug out my Mythology: Timeless Tales of God and Heros by Edith Hamilton. I haven't ever finished this book, and it had been so long since I read any of it, I decided to just randomly pick a section and enjoy. I settled on reading about Psyche and Cupid, which I found super interesting. First, the entire beginning of the story is extremely reminiscent of the fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon. I was actually quite surprised to discover this, as I have never found such a similarity between mythology and fairy tales. The beginning of the story unfolds with Psyche marrying a man she never sees, one who arrives only in the dark of night. She then tries to outwit him by lighting a candle after he has fallen asleep so that she might see him. This in a way causes trouble in their relationship with Psyche finding herself alone. She reaches out to Cupid's mother, who claims she will help her through all of these trials, and again...more similarities with fairy tales! Her first task? Separating and organizing a huge pile of seeds! Who helps her? Mice- just like in Cinderella! There are also many other tasks that could very well resembles parts of other fairy tales that I am unaware of, but then in her last task, Psyche finds herself in a deep sleep. Yes, just like Sleeping Beauty. How does she awaken? Her lost love Cupid finds her and takes the sleep from her eyes. I have to admit, I am kind of shocked to see so many fairy tale elements going on in this story! I don't know how, but I am sure it is significant in some way. I kind of love it! 

top 10 summer tbr

This topic is from the Broke and Bookish blog, and couldn't help but to join in after all of the books I have collected from our local bookstore closing sales. Here are the 10 books most on my mind to read or re-read this summer, in no particular order:

Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare

 

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

 

Brain Plague by Joan Slonczewski

Othello by Shakespeare

 

Grecian Holiday by Kate Cann

 

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

 

The Secret Magdalene by Ki Longfellow

 

Legacy of the Force: Betrayal by Aaron Allston

 

The Three Theban Plays by Sophocles

 

Wildwood by Colin Meloy