Wednesday
My last "official" Mid-Winter HistMyst read in January is a novella. LONDON INTERLUDE by Tracy Grant. Technically .6 of 28 in series featuring Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch, a diplomat and his wife, beginning at the Congress of Vienna in 1814.
A year and a half after entering her unusual marriage of convenience to British attaché and intelligence agent, Malcolm Rannoch, Suzanne Rannoch pays her first visit to her husband's home. England: the country her husband fled for reasons she does not fully understand; the country Suzanne has secretly spent the last five years fighting against as a French spy. The trip takes Suzanne and her husband to the heart of London society — the world Malcolm grew up in. A glamorous labyrinth of unwritten rules and unvoiced codes. Yet the glittering ballrooms of London are not free of the intrigues of the Napoleonic Wars. The search for stolen papers that could tip the international balance of power pits Malcolm and Suzanne against each other. Suzanne faces a stark choice between her loyalty to her cause and her love for the man she married—in order to spy on him.
Published 2015, 69 pages. I'm doing some re-reads in this series in order to get up to speed from wherever I stopped several years ago, much like the Tasha Alexander and Rhys Bowen series. This is also going to count for a scavenger hunt prompt, "Give a series or book you DNFed, or was 'just okay' another try." The scavenger hunt is due on Sunday and I decided I didn't have time to devote to a whole book and sooner rather than later, right?
Also started SHAKESPEARE THE MAN WHO PAYS THE RENT by Judi Dench. Memoirs.
Taking a curtain call with a live snake in her wig; being painted green and cavorting naked through the Warwickshire countryside; acting opposite a child with a pumpkin on his head... these are just a few things Dame Judi Dench has done in the name of Shakespeare. In this book, Dench tells us about every Shakespearean role she's ever played. Written in dialogue with fellow artist Brendan O'Hea, she guides us through Shakespeare's plays with incisive clarity, reveals the secrets behind her rehearsal process, and invites us to share in her triumphs, disasters, and backstage shenanigans. As Dench herself says, 'Shakespeare is an international language, a beacon for humanity, and a bridge across cultures. Everything you have felt or are yet to feel is all in there in his plays.'
Published 2023; 400 pages. This will be published in the US in April, on Shakespeare's birthday but I had a gift card to Amazon UK and wanted to read it now. One of my 2024 goals is to read more nonfiction. I didn't get one completed in January.
Also starting ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART by Stephanie Garber. 1st of fantasy trilogy.
How far would you go for happily ever after? For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings... until she learns that the love of her life will marry another. Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic but wicked Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing. But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game—and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after or the most exquisite tragedy...
Published 2021; 403 pages. I prefer this cover, the UK version, so this is also a physical book from across the pond. This romantasy trilogy is one that younger readers are "OBSESSED" with.
Steve's got the gun range tonight. I need to do some yarn straightening, cooking a casserole for some Steve dinners, and reading.
Have a good day
Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster
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