Reading Update #44

 I will probably do one more this year, but not sure I'll be doing book updates while deployed.

Bill of Wrongs by the late lamented Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose was excellent.  It was everything you expect from Molly.  Definitely recommend. 

Vanished Arizona  by Martha Summerhayes is a good book.  It's written by an Army wife from New England who gets posted in AZ in the Indian Wars days.  It is an excellent book, but quite depressing, as her early Army experiences were quite bad. 

I Married a Soldier by Lydia Spencer Lane is much more upbeat, similar to Katherine Gibson's With Custer's Cavalry. 

Cotillion by Georgette Heyer, I LOVED.  However, this shouldn't surprise any of my fellow Bujold fans, who know I am a huge fan of Ivan.  Freddy is one of his spiritual ancestors.  Kitty was quite entertaining as well.  It was a good romp, although I did call the end fairly close.  If you haven't read it, and you like the Regency at all, you should.

 And now I want another Vorkosigan book with Ivan and capital intrigue.  Byerly can be in it too.

 Moscow 1812 by Adam Zamoyski took me quite awhile to read.  It is definitely a heavy read, with a good emphasis on the military tactics, without neglecting the political and diplomatic.  It's also a reminder that war has a way of bringing out both the best and worst of the human race, sometimes within the same five minutes.  I'd rec it if you're interested in the subject or time period.

Thanksgiving 101 by Rick Rodgers was pretty good, although I didn't use any of it this year, and won't be using next year either.  Emphasis on planning and cooking. 

Creation in Death by JD Robb has already been reviewed in a separate post.  If you like the series, it was good, but it's not a good jumping in point.  The "Eternity in Death" novella presented in Dead of Night was also quite good.  I liked the ghost story one better, though.

Richard and John, Kings at War by Frank McLynn was a decent book, but not very readable, IMO.  It has taken me quite some time to read.  The writing could be tighter - there is definitely a problem with the author using ten-cent words when they aren't needed, and the style just sort of drags.  I couldn't really put my finger on it, but it was sort of a challenge to read.  However, if you like the subject, it's pretty good.  Much partiality to Richard on the author's part, but that's pretty easy to understand.

 I also read a bunch of Regencies and YA stuff, but nothing really stands out.

 DV