March Reading Reflections

It's been a busy month here at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader. It is still a surprise to me to get emails saying that I have received a comment from that blog name, after having been Reading Adventures for so long, but I like it! Not only was there the makeover here and at Historical Tapestry but we also managed to get a few days away. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will get a few photos up. Maybe.

Reading wise, I continue to surprise myself by managing to read more than the eleven or twelve books that I figured I would be able to read each month when I was looking at my goals for the year in January. This month I managed a respectable total of 15 books:

Lord Sunday by Garth Nix (4/5)
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (4/5)
Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer (5/5)
Dance of Seduction by Elle Kennedy (3.5/5)
The Struggle by L J Smith (4/5)
Then Comes Seduction by Mary Balogh (4/5)
Tempted by PC Cast and Kristin Cast (4/5)
Dance Upon the Earth by Nora Roberts (4/5)
The Champion by Elizabeth Chadwick (4.5/5)
A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James (4.5/5)
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (4.5/5)
The House on Tradd Street by Karen White (4.5/5)
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen (4/5)
Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff (4/5)
The Stolen Crown by Susan Higginbotham (4/5)

I actually managed to read quite a few books for challenges this month, so let's see what progress I made, or didn't make as the case may be.

Yet again, I made no progress with the Period Drama Challenge or with the Harry Potter Reading Challenge. The Pacific is about to be shown here though so I am going to make a special effort to watch that, which will count for the first of those two challenges! The other challenges I made no progress with were the French Historical Reading Challenge (although quite a bit of The Champion was set on the tourney fields of France so I did think about counting that book for the challenge), the Art History Reading Challenge, the Tudor Challenge, In Death Reading Challenge, the Ireland Reading Challenge, but I should be able to do something with those in the not too distant future...hopefully. The Champion does however qualify as a chunkster so I am now half way through the Chunkster Challenge.

Another challenge that The Champion qualifies for, along with Susan Higginbotham's The Stolen Crown, is the Tournament of Reading. In theory I have now met the challenge requirements for this challenge, but I the first book I read for it only just qualified (should have a medieval setting where medieval is quantified as occuring between 500-1500 AD) I might read another book just to be sure!

The Struggle is the second book in the original Vampire Diaries series, which means that I am halfway through The LJ Smith reading challenge. This book and Tempted also counted for the Vampire Series Challenge, so I am third of the way through that challenge now.

Lord Sunday is by Australian author Garth Nix, so that book counted towards the Aussie Authors Challenge, which I am have now read 5 out of the 8 books required to finish this challenge.

The book that I have used as my Year of the Historical read for March was Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer, which is also the book that I reviewed when the Classics Circuit came to visit earlier this month. This book also qualified as a read for the Romance Reading Challenge, along with Dance of Seduction, Then Comes Seduction, Dance Upon the Air, and A Duke of Her Own. I only have two more books to read before I have completed the Romance Reading Challenge.

Another challenge that I only need to read another couple of books before I can say I have completed it is the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. This month The Champion, The Book of Unholy Mischief, The Postmistress, The Stolen Crown and Fireworks Over Toccoa all counted towards this challenge. Those last three book were all published this year and so also count towards the Pub 2010 Reading Challenge as well.

The new challenge I joined this month was Once Upon a Time IV, and The Girl who Chased the Moon qualifies for that challenge, so I am on the way for that one too!

Phew! That's a lot of books for challenges, or challenges for books, whichever way around you want to see it! All that is left is to update my progress on the 100+ Reading Challenge (I have read 42 out of the 100+ I am aiming for), and the Support Your Local Library Challenge where I have read 35 out of the 100 books I was aiming for.

On Sunday I will be posting about Reading Our Own Bookshelves, which is going to put a bit of a dent in my library reading, but I am very excited about participating in!

Alphabet in Historical Fiction: Leonardo's Swans by Karen Essex

At the end of last year I was chatting with Allie from Hist-fic Chick and we agreed to set each other a book to read. This book was the book that she chose for me. In many ways I was quite lucky because Allie chose a book for me that was set in an era that I already know I enjoy! It is also a perfect choice for the letter E in Historical Tapestry's Alphabet in Historical Fiction. 

Here's what Allie has to say about why she chose this book for me.

Back in September during Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I was interviewed by Marie of The Burton Review. During the interview, I was asked all sorts of questions about my preferences in historical fiction, one of which asked "What are some of the periods/eras that you have yet to read about but are very interested in?" Part of my response indicated that, while I am fascinated by The Wars of the Roses, I have yet to actually read any historical fiction that takes place during that action-packed period. So Marg issued a friendly "challenge" to me: to read the epic 944 page volume The Sunne in Splendour: A Novel of Richard III by Sharon Kay Penman. In return, I was to choose a book for her to read. But this proved to be a daunting task, as Marg has been blogging about historical fiction and books in general for much longer than I have, and has thus already read many of the recommendations I came up with! My go-to recommendation is usually the Josephine Bonaparte trilogy by Sandra Gulland, and sure enough, she'd read it! So I thought back further through history a little bit and recalled another one of my favorite subjects, Leonardo da Vinci.

Readers who aren't as familiar with Renaissance Italy are usually surprised to learn that Leonardo was the quintessential Renaissance man; not only an incredibly talented painter, but also a philosopher, engineer, scientist, inventor, and mathematician, patronized by the greatest rulers of his day not just for his artwork, but for his genius war machines that were centuries ahead of their time. Back in the 15th century, he was even mapping out sketches of "flying machines" (helicopters) and submarines! Needless to say, Leonardo da Vinci has always been a fascination of mine. And I knew that Marg had enjoyed Robin Maxwell's Signora da Vinci, which told a fictionalized account of da Vinci's mother Caterina. So I had to recommend that she read Leonardo's Swans by Karen Essex, a book that takes place later on in his life and tells of Leonardo's time at the court of the Duke of Milan, delving a bit further into Leonardo's obsessive nature as an artist and thinker who sought perfection and beauty in everything he applied himself to. I really learned a lot about history and about da Vinci's character by reading this book, and it encouraged me to research and find out more about him. I hope reading this book has inspired Marg in a similar way!

You can read Allie's review of this book here. Thanks Allie for challenging me to read this book.

Worldly and ambitious, Isabella d'Este is a legendary beauty and when she weds the Marquis of Mantua all her dreams seem to come true. Superior in looks and intellect to her sister, Beatrice, Isabella believes she is destined to rule the courts of Italy. But when Isabella meets her sister's betrothed - Ludovico, the Duke of Milan - she finds herself unaccountably drawn to this charismatic, dangerous man. The two sisters fight for Ludovico's affections and to be immortalised by his court painter, Leonardo da Vinci. But in a treacherous political climate, immortality through art becomes a luxury, and the two sisters must choose between loyalty and survival.

Over the last few years, I have read a few novels that are set in the Renaissance and feature some of the more interesting names from history - Leonardo da Vinci, the Borgias, the de Medicis, the priest Savaronola to name a few. It is interesting to read each novel which are usually featuring different main characters and have them comment on the same events.

In this book, the main characters are Isabella d'Este, her sister Beatrice and her husband Ludovico Sforza (known as Il Moro), as well as many appearances by Leonardo. Isabella is the oldest daughter of the Duke of Ferraro, one of the key families of Renaissance Italy. She is widely acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful and intelligent young women of the day. Her younger sister Beatrice is a spirited and impulsive tomboy, nowhere near as charming or attractive, especially in Isabella's eyes. Both girls are engaged to be married. Isabella is thrilled to be engaged to Francesco Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua, whilst Beatrice is not quite so eager to be married to the much older Ludovico Sforza (known as Il Moro), destined (kind of) to be Duke of Milan. Isabella has fallen in love with her husband and she is determined to propel Mantua to the forefront of the political and cultural landscape. It is only when she actually meets Ludovico that she realises that her sister has made the better match in terms of power and influence, even though Beatrice is unhappy, unable to draw her reluctant husband away from his mistresses.

Whilst Isabella covets her sister's husband, and there is a definite mutual attraction that is acted upon, Isabella desires one thing above all else, one thing that her sister's husband has the power to give her - she wants her portrait painted by Leonardo da Vinci.The two sister's vie for the attention of Ludovico, and Isabella constantly tries to influence the Duke to allow Leonardo to paint her. Beatrice however is reluctant to agree as she knows that this is an honour that her husband has bestowed on his mistresses and she doesn't want her husbands feelings for her sister to be so openly acknowledged for all the world to see.

Over time though, Beatrice comes into her own, forcing her husband to treat her as his duchess and not just as a young girl for whom he only needs as mother of his heirs, but at the same time Isabella becomes increasingly disenchanted with her own lot in life. With the French King threatening to invade, Italy's political landscape also undergoes rapid changes with friends becoming enemies, loyal soldiers betraying their lords, and betrayal between allies, not to mention a terrible tragedy for the two sisters.

It is hard for me to imagine having such enmity between sisters. When we were younger, it is fair to say that my sister and I didn't really get along, but the older we got, the closer we become. Then again, given how little I like to have my photo taken, it's hard to imagine being so desperate to have my portrait painted! To be fair, it did seem as though the relationship between Isabella and Beatrice did evolve over time, and after some very rocky periods.

The portrayal of Leonardo daVinci was one of the more interesting parts of this book. He seemed to be a distracted genius - constantly juggling various commissions, and spending months studying just one aspect of an object so that when he did come to paint or sculpt, he would have a perfect understanding. I think it is easy for us to not realise that da Vinci was involved in so many different projects. He was responsible for the entertainment at major events hosted by his sponsors, painted and sculpted, and had many ideas about military defenses, and still had time for his own private studies. He did sketch Isabella (see image above), but never did paint her portrait.

Given the rivalry between the two sisters, it seems only fair to allow Beatrice some images as well.  Click here to see images of Beatrice's tomb.


I did find some of the use of tense and memories to be a bit off, and at times a bit distracting, and there were times, particularly in the second half of the book where the book floundered a little bit in terms of pace. The strange thing is that that is when the historical action heated up! Despite this statement, I would definitely say to other Renaissance fans to give this one a go.



I also counted this book towards my participation in the Art History Reading Challenge, the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and the Tournament of Reading (although it did only just fit into the time period given!). Have to love these multi challenge books!


Rating: 4/5

More Challenges - yes more!

The Chunkster Challenge is one of my favourite challenges, and this will be my third year of participating. I was really glad when Wendy decided to run the challenge next year. If she hadn't have volunteered, then I was definitely thinking about stepping up. All the challenge details can be found at the challenge blog. I will be signing up for the Mor-book-ly Obese level, which means that I am planning to read six or more books which meet the definition of a chunkster. This challenge runs from 1 February 2010 to 31 January 2011.

The Tudor Book challenge is being hosted by Benedictionary. I am only planning to sign up for The Commoner level, which is to read 5 Tudor novels. I was tempted to go for more, but in the end I decided to go for the lowest level in recognition of the fact that I am signed up to so many other challenges.

Like many other people, Meghan from Medieval Bookworm is one of my favourite Historical Fiction focussed blogs, so when she announced her A Tournament of Reading, I was pretty much instantly going to participate. Again, I am entering this one at the lowest level of Peasant, in this case not only because I have signed up for other challenges, but also, because as much as I love reading historical fiction set in this period, I am not in a hurry to read any medieval literature. Maybe there is something out there that I really should read though. Any recommendations?

And just because I can, have all you Richard Armitage fans out there seen the picture that has recently come out of Richard in his new role in Strike Back. Looking good as always! Thanks to the Richard Armitage Fan Blog for posting this!