FREE/BARGAIN — Fiction (everything else)

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Today's 'Big Deal' at Amazon UK is most of the Tudor Court novels by Philippa Gregory at £0.99 each.

I've had my eye on these for a while as something that I would probably like. Has anyone read them? Are they good? Are they historically accurate?

I read The Other Boleyn Girl a long time ago and didn't like it. Didn't like it a lot, in fact. Gregory bent historical fact to serve her narrative, which involved a lot of projection verging on Mary Sueism. I can't remember the specifics at this distance, other than she made Mary the younger sister of Anne, which of course totally altered the dynamic of Mary's having been Henry's mistress before Anne came along. My reaction was that I'd never read another and I never have.

I'm persnickety about these things; one major factual error and I tend to be out, but remembering your reaction to Outlander, you may be also.

[Tarana]

Pre-order of Simon Scarrow's latest is on sale for $3.99. Blood of Rome, book 17 of Eagles series. Comes out Nov. 14.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MNFGRSC
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...he-empire-17-2
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the...=9781472258342

[sufue]

I think it's already out? At least at Kindle US, Blood of Rome shows a pub date of Nov 15, 2018, and the button is live right now...not sure about other formats or retailers...

ADD: Just to complicate things, I do see the next title, Traitors of Rome, as coming out on Nov 14 in the UK, but it's £9.99 there, not on sale, and I don't see Traitors listed at Kindle US yet at all.

Originally Posted by Tarana

Pre-order of Simon Scarrow's latest is on sale for $3.99. Blood of Rome, book 17 of Eagles series. Comes out Nov. 14.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MNFGRSC
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...he-empire-17-2
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the...=9781472258342

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by issybird

I read The Other Boleyn Girl a long time ago and didn't like it. Didn't like it a lot, in fact. Gregory bent historical fact to serve her narrative, which involved a lot of projection verging on Mary Sueism. I can't remember the specifics at this distance, other than she made Mary the younger sister of Anne, which of course totally altered the dynamic of Mary's having been Henry's mistress before Anne came along. My reaction was that I'd never read another and I never have.

I'm persnickety about these things; one major factual error and I tend to be out, but remembering your reaction to Outlander, you may be also.

Wow!! I adore Philippa Gregory's works; I've read the earliest 4 (lowest 4 as they come up on this link) and loved them. Who was Mary then, if not Anne's younger sister?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by issybird

I read The Other Boleyn Girl a long time ago and didn't like it. Didn't like it a lot, in fact. Gregory bent historical fact to serve her narrative, which involved a lot of projection verging on Mary Sueism. I can't remember the specifics at this distance, other than she made Mary the younger sister of Anne, which of course totally altered the dynamic of Mary's having been Henry's mistress before Anne came along. My reaction was that I'd never read another and I never have.

I'm persnickety about these things; one major factual error and I tend to be out, but remembering your reaction to Outlander, you may be also.

Altering the relative ages of the siblings in a historical novel definitely rules it out for me. Thanks for the warning.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Wow!! I adore Philippa Gregory's works; I've read the earliest 4 (lowest 4 as they come up on this link) and loved them. Who was Mary then, if not Anne's younger sister?

She was Anne's older sister by a couple of years, although there are no detailed records of her birth date or Anne's. So I suppose it's just possible that Mary was younger than Anne.

Hmm... it isn't as clear cut as I'd thought.

[badgoodDeb]

I have a mental impression (from reading only books like this) that Mary was older .... so maybe I read that into this book (The Other Boleyn Girl) or maybe I've changed from more recent reads. It's been quite a while, for this book.

[Fbone]

Pompeii by Robert Harris is $1.99 at most places.

https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=c0K07G7SYp4C

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Pompeii by Robert Harris is $1.99 at most places.

https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=c0K07G7SYp4C

Read that a few years ago and really enjoyed it.

Here's an Amazon US link for anyone that wants it: Pompeii by Robert Harris

[ZodWallop]

Journeyman by Erskine Caldwell is $1.99 at Amazon US.

The classic American novel of a philandering, murderous preacher from the national bestselling author of God’s Little Acre.

When preacher Semon Dye moves into the tiny Georgia town of Rocky Comfort, many of its citizens welcome him. After all, the only church in town is being used to store fertilizer. But sermons aren’t the first thing on the mind of the tall, magnetic, and utterly dissolute man. Other callings take priority: women, whiskey, gambling, and hiding from the law. Even as he seduces wives, cheats at cards, and provokes old feuds, Dye manages to cast a dark spell over all the people in Rocky Comfort.

[ZodWallop]

The Short Novels of John Steinbeck is $2.99 at Amazon US. It includes:

• Tortilla Flat
• The Moon Is Down
• The Red Pony
• Of Mice and Men
• Cannery Row
• The Pearl

I consider myself to be very well read on Steinbeck, but somehow I've never read Cannery Row or The Pearl.

Collected here for the first time in a deluxe paperback volume are six of John Steinbeck's most widely read and beloved novels. From the tale of commitment, loneliness and hope in Of Mice and Men, to the tough yet charming portrait of people on the margins of society in Cannery Row, to The Pearl's examination of the fallacy of the American dream, Steinbeck stories of realism, that were imbued with energy and resilience.

[tch65721]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The Short Novels of John Steinbeck is $2.99 at Amazon US. It includes:

• Tortilla Flat
• The Moon Is Down
• The Red Pony
• Of Mice and Men
• Cannery Row
• The Pearl

I consider myself to be very well read on Steinbeck, but somehow I've never read Cannery Row or The Pearl.

[sufue]

^^^

I had several of those independently, mostly from Amazon UK, but needed enough to make this worthwhile. Thanks!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I consider myself to be very well read on Steinbeck, but somehow I've never read Cannery Row or The Pearl.

The Pearl is skippable, but Cannery Row is key. IMHO, of course.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by issybird

The Pearl is skippable, but Cannery Row is key. IMHO, of course.

Funny, because The Pearl is a required school read in some places.

But just from the synopsis, Cannery Row does seem more stereotypically Steinbeck. I did see the movie adaptation as a kid, but at this point I remember nothing about it.