My non-fiction reading during
March has mostly been to dip back into research books on Roman Scotland that I’ve already read
once through. Since I can’t recall exact details, I have to do lots of fact-checking as I do new writing set in late first century A.D. during the Flavian occupations of 'Scotland'.
However, one new research book read in March took me some time to read, in between many other pressing daily domestic and writing related tasks. Here’s the gist of it, and similarly the gist of some fiction also read during March.
However, one new research book read in March took me some time to read, in between many other pressing daily domestic and writing related tasks. Here’s the gist of it, and similarly the gist of some fiction also read during March.
This was recommended to me as the
‘go to’ book for studying Emperor Domitian A.D. 81-96. I requested the loan of
this book from my local library since the hardback copy was priced at £93.99 on
Amazon; paperback at £35.99; and Kindle at £26.99 - none of which I could
afford. I’m absolutely delighted to say that Aberdeenshire Libraries, and Kintore
in particular, did me proud by acquiring a paperback copy for me.
This gave me many some insights
about Domitian that I wouldn’t have managed to extract from other sources. I
particularly enjoyed the references Pat Southern used from contemporary and
later sources – poets and writers – which I personally can’t read in the
original Latin or Greek. These focused on an emperor who knew he was always going
to come to power after the successful
careers of his brother Titus, and father Vespasian. Whether, or not, he had
anything to do with the early demise of his brother Titus, it was an onerous
task to assume the mantle of the emperor during the expansion of the Roman
Empire when there were many other ‘power hungry’ military commanders with
multiple Roman legions backing them.
I didn’t learn very much about
Domitian’s policies regarding Britannia but reading between the lines of Pat
Southern’s text, Domitian had to concentrate on the insurrection that was
closest to Rome
Fiction read in March included:
Once again Ms Davis did not
disappoint! I read a number of L. Davis’ books during the 1990s and then had a
period of catch up more recently. I love her casual chatty detective mystery
style of delivery – albeit all set in Ancient Rome. I sussed out the
perpetrator quite early on but that didn’t detract from the very engrossing read.
This was an entertaining quick read.
There were a few references to historical timeline events and use of particular words ( US versus British English) which I
wondered about as I read that had me making a search for details. Since I was
reading what was essentially a Regency style novel, they seemed 'not quite right' but fortunately they didn’t stop the
flow of my read.
This was a really enthralling
read which had me desperately wanting to solve the mystery. I love the chatty
style of writing though, admittedly, the changes of tense took me a short time
to acclimatise to. Isabel is one of the few heroines I’ve read about recently
that I truly would like to get to know in a downtown coffee bar in the wilds of
rural US. Her aging mother sounds like a great character to meet as well though
only if you have a squeaky clean police record.
I look forward to reading more
entertaining stories involving Isabel Long.
From this short update, I really can see that I need to find more leisure reading time during April to ensure that I can fulfill my reading targets on Goodreads and Wendy's Reading Challenge on Facebook!
Slainthe!
Slainthe!
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