About Me

I've loved to read ever since I was little, and because I'm also super competitive, I had to be the BEST reader who read the MOST books. More than once I got in trouble for having a book out in math class, but who needs boring numbers when you have such beautiful words?

My personal reading preferences cover a wide range of non-fiction topics. I tend to gravitate toward history, particularly that of Roman Britain through the Elizabethan Age and everything in between - Anglo-Saxon England, the Viking raids, the Norman invasion, and the Plantagenet and Tudor dynasties. I am open to reading anything that catches my interested however, and do not limit myself to just these topics or the United Kingdom.

Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of my heroes and I've read nearly every non-fiction book about her that I can get my hands on. Thank goodness for a library system that can get me a book from anywhere in the country (for a cost shipping of course - WORTH IT!), in a reasonable amount of time. I am also particularly intrigued by Boudicca and the Iceni; how frustrating it is that we know so little of her - if she really existed even. I always joke that my daughter is lucky I discovered Eleanor of Aquitaine BEFORE Boudicca, or her name might be very different - literally.

I am trying to get more interested in World War I, though it is slow going. I am not one for military history and much more enjoy the human aspect, the social and cultural impacts of the wars. I care little for battle plans and weaponry. I find myself most interested in the catalyst, Gavrilo Princip. You may not know the name and I did not, either. In every history class and most WWI books I have read, he is simply referred to as the assassin who killed Ferdinand and started World War I. But he has a name and like so many others I am interested in, much of his life remains a mystery.

When I was younger I was quite nearly obsessed with World War II and the Holocaust. While I am still slowly but surely making my way through The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, I just can't read about these atrocities anymore and it is a wonder I ever could.

I am also incredibly interested in reading about the Bible and biblical times, in addition to the Bible itself. Biblical archaeology is fascinating to me and I'd love to one day see so many of these places in person. Jerusalem is so full of history, I can't even fathom. As is my theme of mysterious figures in history, St. Patrick and his life's work are another favorite topic. I've read his Confession many times - how amazing it is that it has come down to us intact through the centuries, surviving the Dark Ages of all things.

Miscellaneous topics I enjoy learning about include the Romanov dynasty, assorted US history (I have a kind of obsession with the biographies of cities), and the Civil War. Again, not so much the battles and such, but the human interest aspects.

Happy Reading!

Sarah