Emily Paull

I've long been a fan of Phillipa Gregory.  I started, as most readers would, with her novel The Other Boleyn Girl in 2007- before it was made into a film starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson.  I believe that this was the beginning of my love affair with Tudor history. In 2008, after reading nearly all of Gregory's Tudor Court novels, I wrote an Original Solo Peformance for my TEE drama exam in which I portrayed all six wives of Henry the Eighth.  In 2010, I watched all four seasons of Showtime's The Tudors.  I read Booker Prize winning "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel. But what is it about these long dead royals that have us so captivated?  And why, in our modern representations of them, do we feel the need to make their lives so... sexy? I believe there are several factors, first among them being that sex sells.  Of course, movies like the Other Boleyn Girl and shows like The Tudors show us a clean, exorbitant world in which sex is pleasurable...

Happy Birthday, Arthur Golden, I just finished your book. That is, if your wikipedia page is correct and it is in fact your birthday. I have a lot of respect for this book.  First of all, it seems authentic to me.  I did ten years of Japanese language study through school, none of which has survived three years of non-practice except perhaps a few very basic phrases.  And last year, I did a Modern Japanese History unit at Murdoch which was actually wonderful context for reading this novel.  The author says in his acknowledgements that any errors are his own.  I like that.  I like that he's covering his bases, just sticking it out there and saying "hey guys, I did ten years of research for this book, talked to everyone I could, but just in case I got it wrong, oops.  And Sorry."  Particularly considering my own research looks something like this. > Goes to Library.  Searches 'Perth social history.' ...

You may remember that I did a series of not-quite-book-reviews at the end of 2010.  If not, let me refresh your memory by linking you to one of my more popular reviews (meaning more than just myself and my grandparents read it...) here . Because this year I pledged myself to read 100 books on Goodreads, and then when that was too hard and obviously not going to happen, lowered that number to 60, I thought maybe I would review a few of the books that I read this summer.  Any of you looking for something to read, or looking for a debate are welcome to weigh in. Last night I finished Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm, which was given to me by my grandparents a few Christmases back.  Having just finished The Help, which was amazing, I was feeling that floundering falling without a net sensation of weaning myself away from a very good book.  I had no idea what to read next.  I didn't want a heavy classic.  I didn't want fluffy romance.  I had no idea wh...