Within the last few years, the BBC (and PBS as a re-show) have been doing  The Hollow Crown, the Shakespeare History Plays done from Richard II to RIchard III.  The first 3 parts (bascially 3 movies) were shown around the time of  the London Olympics  and  then a year later in the U.S.  (Where my local PBS did not show Richard  II).  The second grouping with Benedict Cumberbatch as Richard III is 2016.  The original Hollow Crown,  was An Age of Kings, and was  done in 1960.  It featured, among others, Sean Connery as Hotspur. 

So why listen to this?

Because it goes one better.  Done in 1977,VR chronicles the throne from Edward II all the way to the birth of Elizabeth I.  The plays are not limited to Shakespeare, Marlowe is present, but in addition, some plays of unknown authorship are  used.  All plays date from the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I (VI).  

More importantly, are the actors cast.  If you saw An Age of Kings, you will have the pleasure of listening to Robert Hardy play Henry IV (he was Hal in Kings).  Derek Jacobi is Richard II.  

Oh, and Sir Richard Burton is the narrator.

Seriously, what more do you want?

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So, I have been horribly inactive on here lately because life has just gotten the best of me this month. I'll be posting a personal update later to get into the reasons for that, but long story short - the only reading I've had time for has been for school. And I haven't had time to post reviews for those books (again, because I have NO TIME). So I will be posting reviews later today because, for once, I actually have a bit of free time today to interact with all of you! 

One of the many good sides about going to grad school for a degree in library science is that, even though you have no life and have to read a lot, you have to read a lot of really good books. You also have to read a lot of scholarly articles, but seriously, I read picture books like every day - so fun! So these 10 books aren't even all of the books I've been reading, but they're the main ones that I have been assigned for school, so I chose to highlight them for this month's wrap up. 

Of these books, I think I'd have to say that my favorite was either Olivia or Yankee Doodle. I would consider both to be classic children's books - I actually read Yankee Doodle frequently with my mom when I was a kid, along with many of Steven Kellogg's other works. He's the best! As for Olivia, that book didn't come out until after I'd moved on from picture books to chapter books, but I think Olivia is ADORABLE and she's totally one of my favorite children's book characters now. 

My least favorite book was probably In the Plex. It's about Google and it's actually pretty interesting, especially if you're into techie things, but, well, I'm not, plus I had to write a paper on the book so that kind of turned me off from it a bit. But I've definitely read far worse!

Overall, I had a pretty good selection of books this month! I do wish that I had more time for fun reading - I didn't finish a single book that I selected on my own this month, which is super depressing  - but I have to say that if I have to be reading books that others choose for me, these ones have been pretty darn good. 

What books have you read this month? Have you read any of my selections?