So Many Books, So Little Time......

My earliest memory is of my Mother reading to me.  The stories took me to far away places to meet exciting, and sometimes scary, exotic characters. That time, curled up next to my Mother as she read, started my love of books.

I enjoy many different subjects and categories of books; however, my favorites have to do with historic Egypt, England or Rome.

For fun reading on the topic of ancient Egypt I have enjoyed the mysteries of Lauren Haney , P.C. Doherty  and Lynda S. Robinson .  These authors take me to the dry desert of ancient Egypt to solve murder mysteries that involve historic personalities, like Pharaohs Tutankhamen , Hatshepsut, or Tuthmosis. 

Barbara Mertz, aka Elizabeth Peters, has kept me entertained for many many hours with her Peabody mysteries that take place in Egypt during the Victorian era and later.  These stories are exciting in the fact that the author brings to life the celebrated archaeologists of the times, Auguste Mariette , Gaston Maspero , Flinders Petrie , Wallis Budge , Howard Carter ,Arthur Weigall , Theodore Davis , and many more.

Don´t think that all I read is fiction.  I have a large collection on non-fiction on the subject of ancient Egypt.  Books written by Richard Wilkinson , Joyce Tyldesley , Barbara Mertz , Wallis Budge  and more.  I have biographies on Henry Salt, Flinders Petrie, Amelia Edwards, and Howard Carter,  to name but a few and I have many books on Ramses The Great, Amenhotep, Hatchepsut , Tutankhamen  , Tuthmosis , and Akhenaten.

Reading about such an exotic place made me want to go there, so in December 2001 and January 2001 I spent some time in Egypt.  It was a trip of a life time, because Barbara Mertz, aka Elizabeth Peters, was on the trip with me!  Dreams do come true!

I have a weakness for good mysteries.  They are my stress release, fun, no-thinking, light, reading.  For ancient Rome mysteries, I enjoy books by Steven Saylor, John Maddox Roberts , Lindsey Davis , and David Wishart .  Through their creative writing, I get to hang out with the likes of Cicero , Julius Caesar , Crassus , Augustus , Livia , Catilina , Clodius and Milo .  I get to experience the corrupt, decadent, and arrogant life the rich ancient Romans lived.  Through Rosemary Rowe  I get to visit Roman Britain to see how Saxons lived under the Roman rule.

I also read non-fiction on the subject of ancient Rome and the history of Italy.   My reading once again, turned my thoughts to the desire to see the places I have read about.  In January, 2004 I visited Rome and Pompeii.  But that didn´t quench my thirst for the area, I will be returning to Rome in November 2008!

The Italian Renaissance is also a time period that I enjoy.  In November 2007 I spent a week in Florence, Italy enjoying the art and architecture from the Renaissance.  A great source of information for this trip was Art & Architecture of Florence.  I also took a class from the Teaching Company called Great Artists of the Italian Renaissance taught by William Kloss.  This is a wonderful class to take if you are going to Florence to see the art.  It really helped me enjoy what I was seeing and gave me a bigger and better understanding of Florence as well as the art.

                 

My next reading passion is on England´s history.  More specific the Tudor period but not limited to that period.  I enjoy the time frames from 1066 to 1700.  I love castles and all that goes with them!  Stories of Kings, Queens, Knights and Villains.

Fiction that I enjoy that falls into the Tudor period are written by Karen Harper , Philippa Gregory , Fiona Buckley , Edward Marston , Robin Maxwell , Jean Plaidy, and Philip Gooden . 

       

Some mysteries that I enjoy that take place earlier than the Tudor period are written by Michael Jecks, Jeck's Character is a Templar turned crime solver. Margaret Frazer, Ms Frazer's nun sleuth solves medieval murder mysteries.  Bernard Knight Sir John De Wolfe is a county coroner in 1195 England.  Ellis Peters has a created a very likable Brother Cadfael who solves mysteries in twelfth century England.  And Peter Tremayne´s Sister Fidelma series takes me on mystery solving trips through Ireland and England.

I have a large library of non-fiction books on England´s history.  This library ranges from the Norman Conquest of 1066, Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine,  Queen Isabella, Richard III, War of the Roses, Anne Neville, Elizabeth Wydville, Roger Mortimer, Warwick the King Maker, Henry VIII and all his wives, Mary I, Edward VI, Elizabeth I and all her courtiers , James I as well as books on castles, palaces and stately homes.

Do I need to say it?  My reading gave me a strong desire to see, for real, the places I have read about.  I have visited England on many occasions, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006 (Scotland), and 2007.  Needless to say, I want to go again and again. 

Some of my favorite places (so far) in England are:  Warwick Castle  , Kenilworth Castle  , Burghley House   , Syon House  , Hampton Court  , Tower of London  , Westminster Abbey  , National Portrait Gallery , British Museum , and Greenwich .

By now you are probably thinking that I only read about the past. Not, true.  I have some favorite writers that write in the here and now, such as:  Ian Rankin  , Peter Robinson   ,   Kate Ellis  ,  Deborah Crombie , W. J. Burley , Steve Berry  ,  Donna Leon ,  Iain Pears ,  Susan Wittig Albert  ,  Rita Mae Brown , Clive Cussler , Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child , Julie Smith , J A Jance

I try to read some of the classics as well, to round out my literary education.  Some of the classics authors I have read are; Jane Austen, Alexander Dumas, William Shakespeare, Ann Radcliffe, Henry Fielding, Josephus, Edgar Allen Poe, and Herodotus.

Reading for self betterment is also important to me.  I read books and articles on self growth, good business practices and what is currently going on with the real estate market.

Most of my reading transports me to a different time and place to experience things outside of my reality.  It helps me grow and widen my experiences of the world and the people in it.