Louis XIV was pretty well known for his many romantic liaisons. He was married to Maria Theresa of Spain. Together, they had six children, with one surviving to adulthood. He seemed to care for her a great deal, but was never faithful to her. He took a second wife after her death. He took a slew of mistresses, including Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan. He had multiple illegitimate children with these women. His second wife was actually a caregiver for Athenais' children, which is how he came to know her. The lives of the women were really interesting to read about. The only one that I was familiar with was Athenais.

I enjoy Antonia Fraser's work. I have all of her books, except one. She always does a tremendous amount of research into whoever she is writing about. I always learn new things when I read her books, and this one was no exception. I enjoyed learning about these women and what court life was like in the time of Louis XIV. Fraser always writes in a way that tells the facts and a story that isn't boring to read. I liked this book a lot. 

 Princess Victoria Mary of Teck was born in London in 1867. Her father was Francis, Duke of Teck. Her mother was Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. She grew up in Kensington Palace, and was educated there by a governess. She became fluent in French, German, and English. She loved traveling, and enjoyed visiting any type of museum or art gallery. She became engaged to Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Avondale and Clarence in 1891, but he died before they could be married. She ultimately wound up marrying his brother, Prince George, Duke of York. The two of them had six children, one of which would become King George VI. Her granddaughter would become Queen Elizabeth II. She had a pretty remarkable life, dying at age 85, a few weeks before Elizabeth II would have her coronation.

This book was exceptionally well written, in my opinion. I enjoyed learning about Mary of Teck, because I had only known about her through portrayals on The Crown and Downton Abbey. I found this book in the middle of watching The Crown, and was excited to learn more about the actual person behind the character. The research that was done for this book must have been a massive undertaking. There is so much information about her, and other members of the royal family in this book. This was a really good read. 

 Abraham Lincoln's choices throughout his professional and personal life are looked at deeply in this book. I bought this book simply for the biography part, without realizing it had such a heavy focus on his personal morals. This was a pretty comprehensive look into Lincoln's personality.

Overall, it is a decent biography of President Lincoln as a whole. He did a lot of things during his life, aside from the presidency and Civil War. He is a very interesting person, and it was really neat to see how he strived to be scholarly while also remaining as fair and as decent as he could be. 

 Joseph Bologne was born December 25, 1745 in the French West Indies. He was the illegitimate child of his father, Georges Bologne de Saint-Georges, and his slave, Nanon. Joseph was sent to France at age 7 and enrolled in a Jesuit boarding school. As he grew up, he excelled in horsemanship and fencing. He was made a Chevalier in 1761, afterwards being known as the Chevalier Saint-Georges. He had an amazing affinity for violin, creating wonderful compositions and playing with some well-known musicians of the time.

I had heard of this man on a history podcast that I had listened to, and familiarized myself with some of his works. I love violin and string quartet music, as well as opera, so this seemed right up my alley. The book was interesting, informative, and well written. It was not boring or dry like some biographies tend to be, but I am sure all of the interesting things that Chevalier de Saint-Georges did in his life helped make that easy for the author. This was a great find at the used bookstore, and I am really glad that I got it. 

 The shootout at the O.K. Corral was the result of a long-lasting feud between the Earps, who were lawmen, and the Cowboys, who were miscreants. The Cowboys were into cattle rustling and horse thievery, among other things. They did not appreciate lawmen in general, but especially disliked the Earps, as they were from the North and not ingrained in the Wild West lifestyle and mindset. Eventually, threats and other issues came to a head on October 26, 1881, when the two groups faced off.

One of my favorite movies is Tombstone. In fact, I have the Funko Pop's of the Tombstone characters...including all three versions of Doc Holliday. I have always wanted to visit this site and other notable sites in the American West, but have not yet had the chance. I enjoyed another book by Jeff Guinn, and I had high hopes for this one. His research was on par with his other work, and I liked that he included personal letters and quotations from those involved in the event. This was a tremendously detailed book for a shootout that only lasted thirty seconds. If you are a fan of the movies or Western history, this would be a wonderful book for you 

 Lisa Beamer, the widow of Todd Beamer, recounts her experiences on 9/11. Todd was on United Airlines Flight 93, flying for work. Unfortunately, that plane was hijacked by terrorists who had planned coordinated attacks on different points in the United States. Todd and other passengers were able to make some phone calls to loved ones before executing a plan of their own to attempt to thwart the hijackers. The plane was diverted towards Washington, D. C. by the terrorists, with the presumed target to be either the White House or the Capitol building. The actions of Todd and the other passengers caused the plane to crash into a Pennsylvania field, killing everyone on board. If the plane would have reached the target, they all would have died regardless, but so would many more people. The actions of the passengers surely saved a lot of lives. Lisa's thoughts about her husband and his fellow passengers on Flight 93 are very evident in this book, and her words are very encouraging and can be applied to anyone going through some type of loss.

I liked this book for several reasons. One of those is that I haven't read a lot about Flight 93. I have read plenty of things about the WTC flights, but not this one. I learned a lot of details in this book that I didn't know before. I also liked the personal side of this account. I generally read a lot of impersonal historical books, so I always enjoy a personal account. 

 This book recounts the experiences of the author, Matt Lewis, who was a scientific observer on a deep sea fishing boat. The boat was working in the waters off the Antarctic coast, which is one place I would not ever care to be stranded. I am terrified of whales, and orcas frequent these waters. I would also be unprepared for that level of cold, especially soaking wet. It was interesting to see the things he observed about the ship and the crew before the storm hit them, and I have to admit that it would not have given me much confidence.

The fact that I have Covid and have no energy to do anything other than read has been very helpful in getting me to finish some books. This book is less than 300 pages, so if you are looking for a short one day read, here you go. I have a deep interest in disaster type books, therefore this one was a must buy for me. I appreciate personal accounts of disasters, and I can imagine writing through the experience and feelings might be very healing for some. I don't really have anything negative to say about this book. It was decent, especially for a used book price, and I don't like to knock people for conveying their personal experiences. It was easy to follow and gave plenty of facts and experiences. If you are into maritime books, this is a must read. 

 Henry VIII is often spoken about in terms of his wives, mistresses, and children. There was a lot more to this monarch that his appetite for women, though we know what a profound impact one particular relationship had on religion in England. This book discusses the last years of Henry VIII's life and the activities/legislation that he had part in during that time. That is often overlooked due to his romantic entanglements, as well as his staggering weight and illnesses in the last part of his life.

The description of this book said that it read like a nail-biting suspense...not for me. It did give a lot of insight into the ruthlessness of Henry VIII and how he went after his enemies. Court life was also presented in a more vicious and intriguing light than what I am typically confronted with, which I did enjoy. There are always people in proximity to leaders who are up to shady doings to further their own interests, and this certainly proved that about some of them. I did think the book was a bit one-sided, because it really portrayed Henry VIII as an absolute evil monster. While he did a lot of questionable and downright terrible things, I'm not sure that I would take it quite that far. The research was well done, and the book was well-written, but I found it underwhelming compared to the description and other highly praising reviews. 

 Joanna was born around 1325 to Charles, Duke of Calabria and Marie of Valois. Her grandfather was Robert the Wise, King of Naples. He appointed her his heir upon the untimely death of her father. Upon Robert's death, Joanna became Queen Joanna I. She married Andrew of Hungary, though she did not seem to care for him much. She controlled all of the finances, and banned him from entering her room without permission. They only met at state functions. There were a lot of conflicts during her reign, which I will not go into detail about here, but it was absolutely filled with drama and intrigue. She wound up marrying three more times after the death of her first husband, Andrew. Her death was a bit shocking to me.

I really enjoy Nancy Goldstone's works, and I also enjoy her social media presence. She does a great job on her research, and I like the way she conveys the facts into an interesting story. She makes these historical figures and their activities somewhat relatable as people, which is another thing that I really like. I hadn't learned much about Joanna I up to this point, so this book was exceptionally valuable to me. If you are unfamiliar with this author, I would strongly suggest checking into her work. 

 Anne Veronica Coke was born in 1932 to the 5th Earl of Leicester. Her father was the equerry to King George VI from the time of her birth until 1952. She was raised at Holkham Hall in Norfolk. Due to her father's position with the royal family, she was able to meet both Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. She served as a maid of honor at the coronation of Elizabeth II. Aside from her proximity to Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, whom she also served as a lady in waiting, she had a pretty interesting life. One of the most interesting things that I learned about her was that she was engaged to a man who would later be the father of Diana, Princess of Wales. His father objected to the engagement, due to Anne's ancestry. She was related to some relatives of Elizabeth II who were institutionalized, and he did not want any "mad blood" in his family. (Funny that his granddaughter would procreate with a member of the family anyway, adding the "mad blood" later on.) Anne wound up marrying Colin Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner, making her Lady Glenconner.

I looked Lady Glenconner up after I finished this to see if she was still alive. She is, and is currently 91 years old. I also looked up the relatives that were institutionalized and more about that, so if you have not heard of Katherine Bowes-Lyon and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon...do look into their stories. This book was really interesting to me, because I have a deep interest in family dynasties, royals, and nobles. I liked the first person perspective on several historical events and figures. This was a little more intimate than a lot of other books I have read about the royal family. I really enjoyed it