EReader

So, I am getting an eReader. I still have a lot of paperbacks to read, but I'm thinking that the eReader will be good for when I am travelling, so I won't have to carry as many books around (they can be pretty heavy). I am hoping that it's all it's cracked up to be, and that I didn't waste money (as well as my parent's money). Time will tell.

I don't know why I got the eReader though. I have an iPod Touch which can do the exact same thing as an eReader, only on a smaller screen. I should've been happy with that, but NOOO being me, I always want more.

Either way, I will let you know how it goes.

The Virgin's Lover (~)

I've finished another book. Not a Harry Potter book (I doubt Harry Potter would've taken me this long to finish). It's The Virgin's Lover by Phillipa Gregory. I bought this book when I was going on my trip to Europe (so waaaay back in 2006) and I only now decided to continue reading it. It's alright. I don't think I'd re-read it, but I am going to keep it only because it's by one of my favourite authors and I want to get a collection of her novels. I enjoyed learning more about Elizabethan times, seeing as most of Gregory's novels focus on the Tudors. It just seemed to long and tedious. Queen Elizabeth I was a real pain in the ass, very wishy-washy never sticking with a firm decision, and very dependent on others to make her decisions for her. I don't know if it's because of everyone's expectations of her as a ruler at the time (women were thought to be crappy rulers), or if she actually really was like that.

This book is about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and her finding a proper suitor and dealing with impending war with the French. She falls in love with Sir Robert Dudley who is a reformed traitor and a childhood friend. Dudley is married however, and so Dudley tries to convince Elizabeth to grant a divorce (she was the supreme governor of the church of England). She doesn't. Elizabeth's advisor William Cecil believes that Dudley is rising well above his ranks and that England will revolt against the queen if she does marry Dudley and so Cecil and Elizabeth plot the murder of Dudley's wife as a way of slandering Dudley so that he falls below his ranks and is able to never rise above them again due to the scandal.

I learned a lot more about the scandal surrounding Queen Elizabeth (surprise surprise, another royal with scandal). While reading this book however, I'm curious to know whether Elizabeth was actually in love with Dudley, and whether Dudley was in love with Elizabeth, or whether he just wanted to gain access to the throne regardless of Elizabeth. I am also curious as to what the country would've been like if Dudley and Elizabeth had married. Would England be the same as it is today, or would it have been different?

Funny how history plays out...

Anyway, I don't know what I will be reading next, but until next time, Happy Reading!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (~)

I finally finished Harry Potter! Only the first one of course: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I don't need to put the author mostly because EVERYONE should know the author's name without me saying it...I realized from this book how simple the first few novels were and how simple the storyline was. It's not until I'll get to the other novels that they will become more complex. Not harder to follow of course, but just more complex.

This book is about a boy named Harry Potter who finds out that he is actually a wizard, and is packed up and moved to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He then has a few mini-adventures, until he has to battle a teacher in order to gain control of the Philosopher's stone in order stop Voldemort (the man who tried to kill him and who killed his parents when he was only 1) from growing stronger again.

Sorry for giving away the whole plot, but honestly, who hasn't read Harry Potter?! Or seen the movies?!

Alright onward to the next one! Until next time, Happy reading!