Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

So you all know that I love reading about the Tudor’s so of course, when I heard about Wolf Hall, I had to check it out. This book takes a slightly different approach – instead of focusing on Anne Boleyn or King Henry VIII or even Queen Elizabeth I, this one focuses on Thomas Cromwell, a man who was an advisor to King Henry. Cromwell’s rise to power was interesting, to say the least. He came to the Kings attention because of his role as advisor to Cardinal Wolsey. Once Wolsey was killed as a traitor, yhou would expect that anyone he was protecting, or anyone who was loyal to him, would be taken down as well. But somehow Cromwell made himself ever more useful to the King and Court. This book covers a point in time from when Henry is first thinking of divorcing Katherine, to right after Anne’s first miscarriage. We never see her downfall, or Cromwell’s, for that matter. But that doesn’t make this book any less interesting and intriguing.

The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry

Cotton Malone strikes again! I love these Steve Berry books because they’re easy to read, there’s always a bit of history woven in, so I feel like I’m learning something without having to try, and they’re entertaining to boot. The Paris Vendetta was no different; this time Cotton and Henrik Thorvaldsen, his Danish billionaire friend, uncover a plot to disrupt the world’s financial systems. At the same time, Henrik has discovered exactly who was responsible for his son’s murder, two years earlier. At the same time, we learn about a quest to discover the treasure Napoleon supposedly smuggled out of his island prison on St. Helena and which was discovered and subsequently lost by the Nazi’s during WWII. These books are relatively fast paces and always entertaining.