The Content Reader

In 2012 the skeleton of Richard III was found under a parking lot in Leicester. The event started an interest in me to know more about him and the discovery. I read two books connected to Richard III; The Search for Richard III - The King's Grave by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones and Richard III and the Princes in the Tower by A.J. Pollard. It also generated a visit to Leicester and Richard III's tomb ,  as well as a reading of Shakespeare's Richard III . There was something missing though. One question was never answered; why was there not more written about Richard III's claim that he was the legitimate heir, since Edward IV was already married to Eleanore Talbot, when he entered into matrimony with Elizabeth Woodville. There were parliamentary documents which showed that this was the case. But how are they to be interpreted? As always it is a complicated political matter. Richard III's ascent to the throne was surrounded by chock and a lot of resista...

Believe it or not, but I managed to finalise this month´s spin. My number 9 was Richard III by William Shakespeare. I am not good at reading Shakespeare, but this seemed easier to approach. The reason being that I have recently read quite a lot about this time, in connection with the finding of his bones in Leicester.  The drama is not a very long, I read it as an e-book and it went rather smoothly. The beginning was a little bit confusing, including a lot a characters I do not remember. Ideally, one should look them up and check up the history.  However, I am travelling and there was no time. ( Many Books Net) Time has shown us a development in the interpretation of historical events, and this is also the case here. Partly, t he drama felt a little bit out of date, but it is a drama after all.  It was written during Tudor times (during the reign of Elizabeth I) and the first Tudor, Henry VII, beat his enemy Richard III at the battle of Bosworth.  But a classic is a...

The Classic Club spin # 18 has taken place. This is a recurring challenge which you can join. Create a post with your list for twenty classics you want to read (before August 1 this time). On August 1 the spin took place and up came number 9. My spin list for August 2018 is: 
 1. Washington Square by Henry James 2. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Carter 3. New Grub Street by George Gissing 4. Karin Lavransdotter by Sigrid Undset 5. Shirley by Charlotte Brontë 6. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce 7. Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence 8. Child Harold by Lord Byron 9. Richard III by William Shakespeare 10. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 11. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway 12. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James 13. The Taming of a Screw by William Shakespeare 14. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen 15. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding 16. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain 17. Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton 18. The Divine Comedy by Dante 19. Forever A...

Many important, high ranked and famous people spent time in the Tower, either to be released later on or go directly to the executioner. Many of them wrote poems to describe their peril. Here is one very touching from a Chideock Tichborne, a young gentleman writing to his wife. My prime of youth is but a frost of cares, My feast of joy is but a dish of pain, My crop of corn is but a field of tares And all my good is but vain hope of gain; The day is past, and yet I saw no sun, And now I live, and now my life is done.   My tale is hear and yet it was not told, My fruit is fall’n and yet my leaves are green My youth is spent and yet I am not old,  I saw the world and yet I was not seen; My thread is cut and yet it is not spun, And now I live, and now my life is done.   I sought my death and found it in my womb, I looked for life and saw it was a shade, I trod the earth and knew it was my tomb, And now I die, and now I was but m...

Most popular blogging event I started blogging in November 2012, just before I went into an early retirement. Obviously, the first feeble attempts of blogging were just feeble. With the years and inspired by the blogging community, your posts develop and varies (hopefully!). Here, let's say, three years later my my posts are more frequent and covers more than books, although books and reading are the two main ideas with this blog. A couple of days ago, I received an e-mail from Pinterest with a summary of what the audience I have, most like to check out and pin. The areas were: Travel, Healthy Snacks and DIY Crafts! Travel I have and I do have boards for Decorating ideas and Cleaning, but Healthy Snacks? Did they really check out my boards? Miramar, Archduke Ludwig Salvator's home in Majorca

On the top of my list of visits during my stay in England, was a trip to Leicester. The city has often been in the news during recents years, due to the discovery of the remains of Richard III. It is indeed a great story, and it has been very interesting to follow the developments through books, news and studies ( England in the time of Richard III  with  Future Learn ). So, one sunny morning I took the train from St Pancras to Leicester. About two hours later I reached the city in quite an exciting mood. I had done a little bit of research in advance so I knew more or less where to go. Once you exit the railway station, you don't have to worry. There are signs to the most popular places and it was no problem at all to find the area. I had a nice walk through an almost empty Leicester, at least in comparison to London. Just to be sure, I passed by the tourist office and got some more information.

Yes, you read it right! I have downloaded a couple of e-books to enlighten my stay in Mallorca. I am going there tomorrow. Being alone for the first few days, I will enjoy the freedom to read most of the days. Having been busy lately with visitors, I have not been able to read as much as I would have liked. So, promise that there will be a few reviews coming up here. So, what has inspired me to buy books again? First, having started to watch the BBC drama Poldark , based on the books by Winston Graham, I had to buy the first four books. I read the first two, when I was young (many years ago now, and quite forgotten, although I remember loving them). The first four are Ross, Demelza, Jeremy and Warleggan. I also found for free from Endeavour Press , To Be a Lady: Biography of Catherine Cookson  by Cliff Goodwin. I remember reading a lot of her books as I was younger (!!don't worry, I am not going back to my childhood memories yet, although it might seem so). Also found on YouTub...

I have enrolled in an on-line course with Future Learning at the University of Leicester. The theme is England in the Time of King Richard III . The course will explore 15th century England through archaeology, history and literature. You will also learn how people lived at the time. It also includes the discovery of his grave and the reburial that will take place in March. Just started today and since it is on-line it gives the participants an opportunity to exchange views and ideas. Just great. I still think you can enroll if you are interested (see link above). Why Richard III? Well, it is a story where real life exceeds fiction. He has a very bad reputation to his name, and it is only recently that the research about his life and deeds has produced more diverse views. And you know what it is like sometimes when you hear a name or a place. Once you hear it, it keeps popping up all the time. With Richard III it started with Josephin Tey's  The Daughter of Time. A detect...

I think most people love a mystery. Right? When this mystery is a real, life, historical mystery, I am just asking, how good can it be? It can be as good as this book and its fantastic story of finding a long, lost grave of a King! To make it even better, the story happened recently so it is really hot stuff! The last entries in the book was made in March this year. I feel I know a lot about Richard III now. First I read The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey about a inspector "solving" the crime of the "Princes in the Tower" from his hospital bed. A very enjoyable read. This book is a 'real' look into the mystery of Richard III and the search for his grave. But it is also a quest to try to find out who he was and try to find a more nuanced picture of the man and his deeds. His bad reputation, which was emphasised by Tudor propaganda at the time, and the still not solved mystery of who killed the "Princes of the Tower".

I have heard of this book for some time and was eager to read it. It did not disappoint me, it is a fantastic book, just my cup of tea! If you love history and murder mysteries this is a book for you. Josephine Tey is a pseudonym for Elizabeth Mackintosh born in 1896 and died in 1952. She is Scottish and wrote mostly mystery novels, but also some plays with a historical theme. Her most famous book is The Daughter of Time which was selected by the British-based Crime Writers' Association as the greatest mystery novel of all time. I can only agree. Her  The Franchise Affair  ended up on place 11 out of 100. The story is about Alan Grant, a chief inspector at the Scotland Yard, who after an accident ends up in hospital. He is bedridden for some time and his friends tries to give him books to read to make time go. However, none of the books are to his liking. He is interested in faces. His actor friend Martha gives him pictures of paintings. Going through the paintings he finds ...