When I was a freshman in high school, PBS aired The Six Wives of Henry VIII – a one-hour segment for each wife over the course of six weeks. I do not remember why I watched the first one – it could have been because one of my folks turned it on, although neither of them were big history buffs. It could also have just been a happy accident – by the end of the first episode, I was completely hooked. That was the day that my interest in the Tudors was born. About a year later, Masterpiece Theatre showed Elizabeth I, another six-part series. Glenda Jackson was fabulous in this. It was also about this time that I saw Anne of a Thousand Days. Any time I think of Anne Boleyn, I also see Genevieve Bujold in my minds’ eye. Even when I hear this:
I would not call myself an expert in Elizabeth or any of her Tudor relatives, but I’m pretty sure I know more than your average Joe. I remember being amazed when one of my Metro State professors, who I’ve always thought was just the smartest guy ever, didn’t know the order of the six queens. Didn’t everybody know that. Guess not.
Six, a musical that is currently playing on Broadway hasn’t piqued my interest yet – I still have to get around the weirdness of having a lot of singing and dancing based on what are almost all pretty tragic stories. Truly, Anne of Cleves (#4) was the only one of the six who managed to come out ahead of the game. I know a few people who have seen the musical and they say it definitely is good but I’m not ready yet. Maybe one of these days.
Yesterday, in 1558, Queen Mary passed away and Elizabeth came to the throne. I thought I’d mark the occasion by reading Elizabeth I CEO: Strategic Lessons from the Leader Who Built an Empire. It isn’t a new book but I’ve avoided it because “CEO” and “strategic lessons” aren’t on my favorite words list. For some reason this week I’m thinking I might enjoy this – maybe give me some insights that I haven’t considered before. We’ll see.
When was the last time you pushed yourself to read a book you weren’t sure about? And how did that turn out?
Trail Baboon 
Not a very interesting answer, I’m afraid, but I’ve never warmed to novels by Haruki Murakami. I don’t know exactly what it is and he’s certainly a well-considered author, but his voice just puts me off. Some authors are like that. Nevertheless, I had an opportunity to pick up an ebook version of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World, so I thought I’d give him another try. I don’t think I made it to page 50.
Another book that was a bit of a struggle was Nose Dive by Harold McGee. It presents itself as “a field guide to the world’s smells”.
I had heard McGee in an interview and I thought his book might be interesting. It was, in a way, but it was over 600 pages long and, for me at least, some of the chemistry got a little deep in the weeds. It didn’t help that a lot of the information was presented in chart form and I was reading it as a Kindle book. The charts were too small to easily read. I stuck with it and retain, I guess, the basic premise but I wouldn’t reread it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m not Murakami fan either. And I’ve never heard of Nose Dive, but I’m kind of at a place in my life where a 600- page book pretty much has to walk on water for me to be interested.
LikeLike
April of this year. I was scheduled to be interviewed with another author by the host of a local cable access show, so I read her one book. She’s not a mystery/thriller author (the main focus of these shows), which was unusual. She’d written a memoir about her son’s addiction to heroin. I’m not a memoir reader at all, but I wanted to read her book to at least say I’d read it, and hopefully be able to discuss it a little bit with her and ask a few appropriate questions.
I expected it to be a “typical” woe-is-me, but then-I-figured-it-out-and -survived type of book. *Yawn* Everyone has troubles. We all struggle. Deal with it.**
But the writing was outstanding, and the story was quite compelling. I was positively surprised. We had a pleasant chat about her book and somehow found some similarities between her book and the one I was promoting on that show—Straight River.
The upside, she was really impressed that I’d bothered to read her book. And I may actually read another memoir before I die. 😉
Chris in Owatonna
LikeLike
Sherrilee, did you ever read Green Darkness by Anya Seton? It’s a fantasy and something of a romance but I remember reading it back in the ‘70s. It’s set among Henry VIII’s children and was quite good as I remember. I don’t read much Tudor stuff I’m afraid.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I did read it when I was in college. I should probably reread it because I don’t remember too much about it except that oh my gosh, how many characters in one book can make so many bad decisions in one lifetime. And back then the whole jump between two different times wasn’t as prevalent as it is now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Bhagavad Gita was a challenge.
I quickly abandoned reading it as a historical document and went to metaphor. That made it easier to understand (not agree with) some of the teaching. The owners of my apartment and also the owners of where I get dry cleaning done, are Hindi, so it is interesting to be somewhat conversant in their gods.
I’m unlikely to tackle the larger composition of which the Gita is a small part.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Rise and Shine, Baboons,
This topic of reading a book you might really NOT want to read arose yesterday at Blevins. I was talking about my decision ten years ago to cease reading books about WWII, simply because I cannot take any more of the suffering imposed by that terrible situation. And I was no longer interested in Hitler’s messes. Then along came “Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah. I enjoy much of her writing (although the much beloved Firefly Lane leaves me–meh). I gave in and listened to it on Audible. It was wonderful. Her latest book “The Women” is also a real achievement. It drew me in, causing me to reflect on the Viet Nam war in different ways. I cannot say I enjoyed that book because it made me sad and angry, but it was worth experiencing those emotions. In reading Nightingale I experienced feeling respect for the women in that book and how they coped where they were and in their daily lives. So it was worth reading, but I have now returned to my self-imposed ban on WWII books.
LikeLiked by 3 people
JacAnon
LikeLike
I am slogging through a gigantic 1270 page tome called “The World – A Family History of Humanity” by Simon Sebag Montefiore. It starts 70,000 years B.C. and ends with the election of Biden. After almost a month, I am a mere 120 pages from the end. He concentrates on the intimacies of the many families who have ruled the world for decades or centuries. The first nearly 500 pages were mind numbing – trying to follow the names and events was nearly impossible so I just tried to get the gist of the story. It got more interesting when I reached the 1500s. What I have taken away from this book is that history of humans is extremely violent, bloody, and that sex played/plays a huge role. The book is probably not the best choice during this past election cycle and outcome. I need to get back to more uplifting fiction and mysteries.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tenacity, thy name is K-two
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you for this info and re-cap, K-Two.
LikeLike
I’m a semi-big fan of the British monarchy. The abuse of those ruled is horrible but the history of the various Houses and Parliament is fascinating. I just finished watching Cromwell.
The early history shown on the series Vikings was great. My Scandinavian ancestors “left” their DNA.
The rich lived longer therefore left ancestral records. I can trace waaaaay back but those people left me nothing. Curse them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I think due to job stress and a host of other things. I stopped reading for pleasure 10 years ago after my parents died. I have started to get the urge to read again though, and will start with murder mysteries. I must get books through the public library because I don’t want to make for more things to move. L
LikeLiked by 3 people
Renee.. start with Still Life by Louise Penny. It’s the first of a series and it is a murder mystery but does not fit into the cozy mystery genre. I have a sense that you will probably like it a lot.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yes.
LikeLike
My mnemonic for the wives wa divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Though I get a little mixed up when I try to think who each one was. It was not helpful that there were multiple Catherines and Annes. I generally remember that Anne Boleyn was the first to be beheaded, and then Catherine Howard, and Jane Seymour died in between there. The other Catherines and Anne might get a little mixed up in my brain.
I am afraid I don’t wade too far into difficult literary waters these days. I am too frequently pulled away to attend to more urgent matters.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Catherine Parr.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My book club loves to read nature nonfiction, and I generally enjoy them. However, I have limited reading time lately, and a couple that I have entered into my list as “Partial” (partially read), were What an Owl Knows by Jennifer Ackerman, and Being a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz. Nothing wrong with these authors – in fact, I loved “On Looking: Eleven Walks…” by Horowitz. I just didn’t have the patience with the level of detail involved.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Years ago, a folk duo, Rich and Maureen Delgrosso sang this song and I’ve always remembered it.
LikeLiked by 5 people