Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I

I have always been a reader even when I was a tiny human. So, imagine my surprise when I read Queen E's letters and I'm flash-backing hardcore to my childhood. "Why?" you ask? Because Elizabeth's letters remind me of the greatest books of my youth. The Royal Diaries series. And isn't it just a pretty damn good coincidence that I thought of that because guess who is one of the royals that starred in this series?

That's right, ladies and gents! Childhood meet Real Life. 

Now, it's been YEARS since I've read the Royal Diaries but I still was feeling some pretty strong nostalgia. 

The Royal Diaries are complete tonypandy. Sure, it's historical fiction so there's obviously some things that have been moved around a bit to fit the mold. But it's also historical fiction catered to children and young adults. That series laid a foundation for my reading habits and interests as I became older. I wouldn't have developed a love for Cleopatra if I hadn't read her Royal Diary. Same for Anastasia, Marie Antoinette, Mary Queen of Scots, etc. etc. etc.

There is no way to know what these young women thought when they were in their tweens but they plant a seed for kids to find out more.

So Queen E's letters were like candy for my inner child. But instead of complete tonypandy, these letters are R.E.A.L REAL!! Like, actual facts from the woman herself. Actual words! HNNNGHHGH I LOVE IT!

But what makes these letters even more awesome than they already are to me, is that we finally get a "voice" to this historical figure. We can listen to her talking when she's young, old, being a bad-ass, or trying to save her ass. We get a sense that she is a human being that we can tangibly see actually existing.

Obviously, Richard III existed. And obviously so did Caesar, but to see real paintings of Elizabeth and also read her speeches and private letters add a more colorful dynamic to her character that makes her more real. yes Yes YES! And now for my favorite E meme:

The Big Bad: Who Is It?

Okay, guys, we made it! No more Shakespeare for the rest of the semester! But since we are still discussing Julius Caesar, I find that I have an issue with this play.

Who is the villain?

Many of us enjoy villains. They are what make and break a movie, show, book, etc. etc. etc. So the fact that I can't figure out who the centralized villain is is disconcerting.

I'm not sure who we are really supposed to be rooting for in this whole thing. 

Are we rooting for Brutus because he's a great candidate as a protagonist and we follow him through the entire play?

Are we rooting for Marc Antony, Cassius, Caesar (although that would be short-lived)?

WHO ARE WE SUPPOSED TO HATE AND WHO ARE WE SUPPOSED TO LIKE!?

That's what, to me, makes this play infuriatingly frustrating and also infuriatingly likable. 

It has me in knots because as soon as I make up my mind on who fills the role as the protagonist/antagonist, the roles switch or something new comes into play to mess with me. It kept me guessing trying to figure out which direction the characters would go. 

As a lover of history, I knew Shakespeare wouldn't deviate too far from the truth.

I knew that Caesar would die... and that Brutus would die... and that Rome was pretty much up for grabs for Octavian to come in and snatch it up. But even in this story rooted in fact, I can't discern who the good guy is. I know a lot of people in here are bad... but who is the main Big Bad?

Usually, in a piece of entertainment, the villain and the hero are pretty obvious. 

Harry Potter vs. Voldemort

Jamie & Claire Fraser vs. Black Jack Randall (**Side note: Anyone find it odd that Tobias Menzies played Brutus in Rome AND BJR in Outlander? Coincidence? I think not)

Snow White vs. The Evil Queen

I'm curious to find out who you guys fill the roles as "hero" and "villain" in this play because, to me, Shakespeare has put me through the ringer trying to figure this out!!

Caesar: The Man.... And Other Things

As I was reading the texts for this class, I took some notes on my thoughts and, since this is a blog post, thought I would share them.

Before reading the PDF and Plutarch, I had already known a lil' somethin' somethin' about our guy, Caesar. Cleopatra holds a huge place in my heart and her interactions with both Caesar and Antony made me develop an interest in them, as well. I have also watched HBO's Rome a million times and have a ton of non fiction on Ancient Rome (Read SPQR by Mary Beard. It's amazing!)

One thing I kept thinking of while reading about him for this class is that everyone knows this guy's name. Throughout these past couple of thousand years, we have made him immortal. Sure, he's a brilliant man and an excellent politician. But what I think gets lost in translation along the way, is that Caesar was just a man. He was a father, a husband (a couple of times), a womanizer, and a fierce friend. He was extremely ambitious and made it to the top and stayed there for quite some time. He made mistakes but also did great things. Now, I'm not saying everything he did was admirable but as someone who is human, I can see some areas where he made decisions for survival and some for politics.

Another thing that blows me away every time I think about it is that only a small percentage of ancient texts have survived. We may think we know everything about the ancient world, but the fact is that we don't. So much gets lost through years and years of war, fires, weather issues, etc. Every television show and movie portraying ancient Athens or ancient Rome may only be getting a small idea of what really went on. Could you imagine what the world would be like if we didn't have to study just the couple of ancient texts we have? What if we had a plethora of works that were still available to pour over instead of just guessing over ancient life like we do when read Homer? It seriously blows me away how much we don't have and what pieces of history we are missing as we move forward with our own history.

Lastly, since I'm a huge speculator on back stories (Come on guys, I mention this like every blog post), I can't help but think that either Caesar has got shitty friends or he was clueless about the people he surrounded himself with. I know he's not perfect and that there were some huge disagreements between him and Pompey even after Caesar gave him his daughter to marry. I mean, these best buddies went to war! Like, whaaat? And let's not even get me started about Brutus. Anyone else feel not a twinge of sadness when Brutus off'd himself after battle? No? Just me then? But I wish I could get a glimpse at Caesar's, the man not the ruler, mind as all this was going on. Did he feel betrayal? Or did he have a growing sense of impending doom? Or was he just "la-dee-da"-ing all over the place and was just focusing on the next best thing?

We'll never know but it's fun to speculate about!

Reading with Media

Hey Everyone!
Welcome Back!

Okay, so obviously our generation is obsessed with social media. Now, I'm talking about Twitter, Facebook, SnapChat, Pinterest, Instagram, Vine.... Literally everything popular now is considered a media.
But really social media is just a bunch of people being nosy. I know a ton of people who still have their ex-boyfriends/girlfriends as "friends" on social media and all they do is just snoop their photos and newsfeed to see what they're up too. Then, of course, there are the obligatory individuals who use social media as a platform to promote THEMSELVES rather than an idea or a cause. And we all have those other types of people who use social media to bash others in a bullying setting.
No matter what platform you use, there will always be the stalkers, the selfish, and the self-absorbed.

I'm guilty of it too! I can't resist a good selfie but I draw the line at keeping "friends" just because they passed through my life and are now irrelevant to who I am now. I, like everyone else, also have an opinion but I also draw a very dark line at overstepping my bounds on the Internet and becoming a keyboard warrior.

Now, the social media I'm a part of, I use for other things rather than myself and my family. I use it for reading.

I don't use Twitter to tweet about my mocha frap I just got at Starbucks. Because no one cares.
I use Twitter as a way to talk to people I wouldn't normally have the chance to talk to, like... Authors.

Yup. I'm one of those. After I'm done reading a great book or a not so great book, I'll tweet the author and let them know what I think. In my opinion, reviews from the NY Times can only really get you so far as a writer. I would want to know the opinions about real people reading my books. If you don't like something, tell me why. If you did love it, tell me why. I think that offering direct feedback to someone based on something of their's that I read does a great service to them.

I'm a huge Pinterest-er. But, again, I use it for reading. You can not believe how many interesting things about books are on Pinterest. I've found Pinterest boards dedicated to fashion surrounding books, tattoos (my favorite), quotes, book lists, TBR journals, literally everything!

Goodreads.com is my life. Goodreads is a social media site where you can let your "friends" know what you are reading and your thoughts on a certain book. You can rate it, review it, recommend it, buy it, join a discussion, join a book club, and even keep track of your books throughout the year. It's such a great resource to track your reading and find something new to read. But it's also a great place for like-minded individuals. Everyone there loves to read so it's highly unlikely that you'll find a mean spirited individual unless YOU are the one completely bashing a book someone else loves. But, what I like about it is that everyone is respectful of the other's opinion. Such a great tool!!! I'm seriously on it all the damn time. It's a problem.

The last social media outlet that I use to interact with individuals surrounding a love of reading is BookTube. Yup. It's a community on YouTube that centered their content on reading. BookTube really opens up a flow of conversation regarding different types of books. The majority of content creators on the site are Young Adult readers but I'm subscribed to people who read and review romances, non-fiction, and adult fiction, as well as the young-adult crowd.
The comments section really opens up the discussion between content creators and viewers, so like with Twitter, the people making the videos can interact with the people watching.
BT also has a variety of content available to it. If you like to see people "hauling" (see what they've just bought) then there's that. People "un-haul" (give away), make TBR's (To-Be-Reads) for the month, do tag videos, collaborations with other creators and authors, and even just do discussion videos. It's really addicting and opens up a new world of reading and content that I would have never have found and experienced if not for the good ol' web. :)

I use Facebook and all the other social media sites just like everyone else, but I'm not so consumed with the media that I lose focus with reality. Or maybe I am because reading itself is losing touch with reality in a way.
I support the media because of the impact it can make and the way it can open someone's mind to new opinions and ideas. Freedom of speech is a great thing but I think people need to use their speech to be open to new things and to voice their opinions in a respectful way. Using social media for a specific cause, like reading, helps me focus on what I consider important and not be wrapped up in the dark side of the net.

Good/Bad Richard III: Will We Ever Know?

Here we go! Another semester, another blog post!

Last semester, I read Beowulf and I was quite irritated at what little back-story was given regarding the "villain" of the story, Grendel. In my head, since nothing was given in the pages, I made up some pretty elaborate back stories regarding who he was as a character and why he was the way he was. What we were given was that he was a cruel monster who was cast aside with his mother and who also happened to wreak all kinds of havoc on the local populace. Was he truly a monster or was he misunderstood? Maybe he was the bastard son of the local king and only killed a ton of people because he was pissed that he was cast aside because of his birth. I used to think like this all throughout reading that story and I was very happy to do it again with our most recent reading.

Richard III.

Not much is really known about him. And like with Beowulf, that irritated me. However, DoT really delves into the possibilities of his history. Was he a cruel uncle who had his two goons slaughter his sons? Maybe. Was he really in love with his wife (and cousin) Anne or was he just using her for her fortune and knew he needed a queen for his impending rule? The mysteries are endless and I'm LOVING IT!!! I mean his motto is Loyalty Binds Me. Even his friggin' MOTTO is mysterious!!

There's no clear cut answer! Was he a villain or not? Was he a loyal brother or was it a facade to cover up his scheming plots? Did he mourn the loss of his nephews' disappearance or was he celebrating in the royal chambers? WE HAVE NO IDEA!! And while this is frustrating as all hell for historians (and me, let's be honest), I can't seem to help but love the mystery this book brings to life.

However, I just about threw the book across the room when Grant kept reading Sir Thomas More's work. And he read it for FOREVER. I kept screaming (in my head, ofcourse, I'm not crazy) at Grant that More was during Henry VIII's time NOT Richard III. You guys will have no idea how happy I was when Grant came to the realization that what he was reading was a farce. Here's what I imagined:

The fact that there was no "current" historian in Richard's day was immensely puzzling. Where did Edward's historian go? And why didn't he stick around to document Richard's life? And HELLO how about the huge elephant in the room regarding his remains!? What's the deal with that?! How did he friggin' get buried under a parking lot!?UGH! Too many questions not enough answers but I feel like that just opens up the mind for us to make our own predictions.

Loved the book and I can't wait to keep reading and finding out more mysteries regarding Richard III.