And now on to The Empress of Night, which is about Catherine the Great.

Have just started The Stone Boy by Sophie Loubiere and am finishing up The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan.

And I'm also reading The Pericles Commission (a historical mystery set in ancient Greece), because I have this commitment problem with books. (I finish everything eventually. Probably.)

Just started reading The White Princess by Philippa Gregory and I'm liking it so far! About 25% in now.

Pericles Commission was fun, and now I'm back to Empress of Night, which has a stream-of-consciousness narrative structure. I'm not sure how I feel about it quite yet (over 1/3 done, going on 1/2).

I'm reading Clara and Mr. Tiffany, by Susan Vreeland. I like it so far. It's about the guy who started the Tiffany Lamp Company, and a female employee of his named Clara. It's set in New York, circa 1895.

Just finished reading The White Princess by Philippa Gregory, and now working onfinishing The Help which I started on audio over a year ago (sheesh).

I finished The Ionia Sanction, the sequel to Pericles Commission, a couple of days ago, and had much fun.

I decided to read a historical mystery Shadow of the Alchemist by Jeri Westerson and see if I can get it read in my available time. I have read two in this series before and I was interested in the alchemy aspect. Since this book takes place in the reign of Richard II, I immediately wanted to know about Richard II's attitude toward alchemy. I found this very interesting [url=" http://www.historytoday.com/jonathan-hughes/richard-ii-king-white-hart"] Article on Richard II and Alchemy[/url]

This is my first URL in a Booklikes post, which is a milestone for me, but I really should not be researching a mystery when I should be working on a library school assignment. Sigh!

Shomeret

I've finished Shadow of the Alchemist and thought it was terrific. It's more of a whydunit than a whodunit, but the why is very interesting to me. If you're interested in alchemy, the reign of Richard II or just a compelling story, I'll recommend it. My only problem is that there's a deaf character who lipreads and apparently never misunderstands anything. This is extremely improbable. Any real life lipreader would confirm how challenging it is to do reliably.

Next up: Hangman Blind by Cassandra Clark, a Sister Hildegard mystery, also taking place in the reign of Richard II. I've never read Cassandra Clark previously.

Shomeret

Congrats on the URL!

Shadow of the Alchemist sounds interesting.

Unfortunately, I abandoned Hangman Blind. The protagonist Abbess Hildegard was showing character traits that made it unlikely that she would be a good investigator. I liked Cassandra Clark's prose, but I didn't want to read any more about Abbess Hildegard. Maybe someone else in this group who reads Cassandra Clark can change my mind.

Shomeret

Reading Mary Boleyn by Alison Weir now. Its nonfiction but very interesting so far!

Mostly on Elizabeth of York, by Alison Weir. Quite good so far.

ETA: Also non-fiction history. I read a lot of that!

I am reading this article on Edward II and Isabella and thought it would be nice to share.

[url="URL"]http://edwardthesecond.blogspot.se/2013/12/anniversary-and-wrongness.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+EdwardIi+%28Edward+II%29[/url]