Hi everyone,

So I finally read the novel Q, which I quite enjoyed. When I finished it I looked over my shelf and I had an unread hard copy of Mantel's Wolf Hall. Turned out to be a lovely coincidence.

It was a treat to read Wolf Hall after Q, with the broader perspective on the Lutherans and Anabaptists sorta illuminating some of what went down with Henry VIII. I had tried to crack Wolf Hall a few times in the past but this time it was like instant - oh yeah!

Wolf Hall and the sequel Bring up the Bodies are truly fantastic, I devoured both of them. Can't wait for the third and final instalment in the Cromwell trilogy (out hopefully this year).

Then I went on to the massive and super addictive Autobiography of Henry VIII, which was less engrossing than Mantel's books, but then that's to be expected (not every novel can be a Booker prize winner, after all).

Am now reading the Six Wives of Henry VIII, which I am finding a bit annoying (lots of super moralistic and finicky comments about women's appearances, this by a woman author is just ugh) but I can't get enough of this time period and am generally enjoying this book. It's not a novel though, so that might be part of my dissatisfaction...

Not sure what I'll read next, or whether I'll stay in 16th Century or move on out, but it's been a great year for historical fiction (and non-fiction) thus far!