Reading This Month: June

The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin
This has been on my wishlist for a while now and it was a very readable book. I enjoyed it well enough, but I can't say that I particularly warmed to any of the characters as I was so often frustrated by them!

It's based on the true story of the visit of the Austrian Empress Sisi to England in 1875, where cavalry officer Bay Middleton became her pilot during the various hunts. Bay is engaged to heiress Charlotte Baird, but is overwhelmingly attracted to the Empress.

 I think the main reason I couldn't totally fall in love with this book is because Sisi is a pain in the backside - so focused on maintaining her legendary beauty that she'll sleep in a leather mask stuffed with veal and hang her ankle length hair from the ceiling to give her scalp some relief. From there I was mystified by the attraction Bay felt for her - yes, she's beautiful, but she's also pretty boring - and Charlotte's devotion. But, all of that is pretty accurate for the time.

Warpaint by Alicia Foster
The story of four women artists, doing their bit during the war to create a record and keep the spirits up.

A totally easy read and very interesting in parts - especially as the more outlandish bits are based on fact! But it did find the characters a bit faint. Dame Laura Knight is drawn in broad strokes, but I feel there was a lot of opportunity for depth missed with her and Cecily Brown felt totally superfluous. Still, a quick and easy read and I am always fascinated by the secret goings on in the Second World War, so I enjoyed that.

The Great Harry Potter Re-Read
In order not to spend a fortune on Kindle - easily done in my case - I decided to re-read my Potters. Rich was away, I'm feeling a bit worn out, so retreating into a familiar world was comforting and relieving.

I'd forgotten what quick reads the first two are. I'm just coming to the end of The Goblet of Fire, which will no doubt result in tears, it always does. I think I'd quite like to re-watch the films too, especially after having been to the Studios.

I do love re-reading books. I'd like to dive back into A Song of Ice and Fire when the next book comes out. And I quite fancy refreshing my memory on The Mists of Avalon.

What are the books you like to return to?