I figured that everyone would soon be heading out to amass their own stockpiles of Kit Kats and reading material just in case the big storm hits (fingers crossed that it actually doesn't). I thought I would offer some suggestions for your reading pleasure.
Michelle Moran's Nefertiti and The Heretic Queen are two of the best books that I have read in a long time. Both are historical fiction stories set in Ancient Egypt. There are only a handful of women who are remembered in Egyptian history. Nefertiti and her husband Ahkenaten set Egypt down a road of religious upheaval in the first book while Nefertari (Nefertiti's niece and the wife of Pharaoh Rameses the Great from Exodus in The Bible) is left a generation later to deal with the aftermath of her relative's actions.
Note that I said historical "fiction." What usually turns me off about historical fiction is that the author writes their own stories about real people, completely ignoring the facts about their lives (i.e. a certain story about Anne Boleyn that was recently made into a movie that made me scream "NO, NO, NO! THAT'S WRONG!" in the theater).
However, these two books are different. Nefertiti and Nefertari were real queens of Egypt but we have very little specific information about them. When she set down to write the stories, Michelle Moran actually went to Egypt to dig up as much information on them as she could find. She freely admits that in many cases, she had to connect the dots to tell the stories but she tried to keep the stories as true to life as possible. Their clothing, food, household items and religious rituals are true to life.
The stories are so enthralling that you forget that they are fiction. It is very easy to believe that this is exactly what these women were like. Loved them, loved them, loved them! It only took me about 3 hours apiece to read them. Needless to say, the next time I'm within stopping distance of a Barnes and Noble, I'm going to pick up Ms. Moran's 3rd book, Cleopatra's Daughter.
Gah! These look AMAZING!!! There are so many good books out there that I haven't heard of. Man, I love those historical fiction books, and Egyptian stuff is crazy cool. I will definitely have to check these out. :) I don't want an ice storm, but I would love more time to read. It seems I don't get it near as much as I'd like. :(
ReplyDeleteI read more than I should (if there is really such a thing). There are times when I should be doing things like...oh I don't know... grading papers and making lectures but a good book just keeps calling my name. Especially if I'm at the end. I went to get her 3rd book and they didn't have it. I was bummed but I filled in the emptiness with the first Artemis Fowl book. I liked it even if it was for a middle grade audience.
ReplyDeleteThese better be as good as you said they were. I started them last night!
ReplyDeleteI loved them! They are fast reads and even though there's a lot of historical Egyptian terminology, it's not confusing. Both books contain a glossary for anything that you can't figure out.
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