I'm getting a wee bit bored now to be honest. There's only so much interest to be had from reading about Mary being moved from castle to castle.

Hmm, not sure John Knox would have called someone a 'hooligan'. I think it was another three hundred years before the word came into use. 

I think the biggest problem for authors writing about Mary is the fact that just about every other woman involved in her story is also called Mary. 

Happy Publication Day Margaret George!

What makes The Confessions of Young Nero by Margaret George work is the fact that it is about a young boy caught up in intrigues and machinations from his very birth. The first person narrative through his eyes initially sets up a sympathetic character. What also makes this book work is the detail with which the ancient Roman world is described. Never take historical fiction for being history, but let yourself indulge in this story that completely submerges you in its world.

Read my complete review & listen to Margaret George speak about Emperor Nero at Memories From Books - The Confessions of Young Nero

Reviewed for NetGalley.

I had planned on writing out my reading plans for February last week. Then the flu decided to rear its ugly head and tear through my house like my four olds tore threw Christmas presents. Of course the one time a year I happen to get sick also happens to be the time the other adult in my house decided to have dental work done. If I'm praying to the porcelain god and he's delirious from the pain medication, who exactly is watching our children? A Kindle and some Legos watched my oldest. Twin B was worshiping next to me. Twin A was hanging out outside of the bathroom door crying because we put her twin in quarantine. Where's a grandma when you need one? 

Anyway enough about my problems. Let's talk about my books! I am off to a great start this year. My personal reading goal for the year is 75. That's a bit under last year's goal of 175 but last year I was at home all day, every day with my kids until I decided to start working again in December. I've also recently become part of a crusade to get a referendum passed so my children can go to school in a building that doesn't have condemned classrooms and fungal issues. I've been spending a lot of my spare time consuming massive amounts of wine after explaining to people why they should care about the future of their children's education. Apparently around here we are suppose to care more about the future of old bricks and concrete than the flesh and blood and brains inside said bricks and concrete. Ugh. 

Seriously, I ramble. I can't help it. Those of you who take the time out of your day to stop and read this are the closest thing I get to adult interaction sometimes. I work at an elementary school. Sure there are adults there but who has time to talk to them? 

Anyway. Really this time, I'm going to tell you what I want to read in February.

At the beginning of the month I wanted to finish Martyr by Rory Clements. By the time I've gotten around to writing this post, I've finished. It checks of one of my Monopoly spaces.

-Side note: Over at Goodreads, I'm a member of a Historical Mysteries group. For 2017 we are playing Historical Mystery Monopoly. Want to join us? Come on over! 

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/18382705-historical-mystery-monopoly-2017---rules-questions

This month I also desperately want to finish Mary Queen of Scotland and The Isles by Margaret George. I have been reading this book since the end of August 2016. It's not that I don't like George's work. I loved her novel about Henry VIII. It's just that I have such a hard time with Mary, Queen of Scots. She is just not very bright. I spend a lot of time wanting to throw my books. It's a pretty big book so I should probably avoid throwing it. 

Carrying on with the theme of finishing things, I am also looking to finish Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey by Nicola Tallis. So far it is excellent. At times, I have to remind myself I'm reading non-fiction. I'm pleasantly surprised by the author who is said to have honed her craft at the feet of Alison Weir. 

Finally, I want to finish The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey and The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley.

Hopefully by the time I am done finishing books I will have time for some new books. 

Some of those books I hope to read include:

The Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters (my next Monopoly square)

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

A Perilous Undertaking by Deana Raybourn

The Flame Bearer by Bernard Cornwell