books

She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth – Helen Castor She-Wolves examines the lives of the women who ruled England before Elizabeth I. It’s a composite biography of six women, so don’t expect too much detail on one woman. The information is interesting, though I didn’t learn too much new information. But I’ve also…

Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt – Barbara Mertz This book is a solid overview of the ancient Egyptian world. Barbara Mertz was an Egyptologist by education and wrote the Amelia Peabody novel series. Her writing is very easy to read and peppered with witty remarks and dry comments. I enjoyed…

Travel season made a dent in my reading time. Between early mornings, late nights, and hours of driving, I wasn’t getting a lot of reading done. But here’s what I did read! The Siege of Fort William Henry: A Year on the Northeastern Frontier – Ben Hughes If you like “The Last of the Mohicans,”…

I wound up skipping an August edition of Recent Reads because I spent most of the month finishing one book. After I slugged through that, I’ve picked up the reading pace a bit. Here’s what I’ve been reading. Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs – Kathleen Brown This is another women’s history work and…

First Generations: Women in Colonial America – Carol Berkin This is another book examining women’s history in early America. It breaks down women into white women in the northern colonies, the middle colonies, and the southern colonies; slave and African-American women; and Native American women. It was fairly well-written, but I had read most of…