Last year, right around this time, my escape from all the poetry and poetic things I had to read for school -- mind you, I loved this reading, but everyone needs a brain break -- was Alison Weir's "The Life of Elizabeth I". This book was a generous gift from my good friend Kara. I in-turn sent her a fictionalized tale of Elizabeth's life before her ascension, also written by Alison Weir.
This year? Well, this year, the third season of the Tudors has started, as I blogged previously. I also still need a break from the poetry based reading. And the third thing is that I'm a little frustrated that I can't recognize the figures that the show alludes to, assuming that we are Tudorphiles and already know who Sir Francis Bryan is once we see an nasty hearted fellow with an eye patch.
Well, no, actually. I don't know who he is. I have to go to imdb, find the thumbnail photo of the actor playing Sir Francis (um, hel-LO Alan Van Sprang! Zing!) then google the name of his character, read up on Wikipedia, varify -- as EVERYTHING FROM WIKIPEDIA MUST BE VARIFIED on the UK monarchy website and such and then have a better idea of what's going on, plot wise.
So, to give myself a heads up, I'm starting in on a book I borrowed from my mom, "Henry VIII: The King and His Court" by Alison Weir. Reviews and commentary to follow...