European Royalty discussion

***YOUR CHOICE - EUROPEAN ROYALTY***

***ANY EUROPEAN COUNTRY, ANY TIME PERIOD, FICTION OR NON-FICTION***

Sorry this is up so late - I had some serious personal matters to take care of over the last couple of months and have not been able to be on Goodreads much. Things seem to have settled down, so I should be able to participate more in the upcoming months.


Okay everyone, it's that time of the month - time to nominate! Anyone who would like to nominate one book may do so in this thread.

The theme this month is YOUR CHOICE - EUROPEAN ROYALTY (any European country, any time period, fiction or non-fiction). Keeping the theme broad seems to be working fairly well right now (there has been a decent variety of books selected over the past few months). If we start getting too many of the same type of books as group reads (like a ton of Tudor books in a row), I'll certainly tweak the next theme so that we maintain some diversity.

Since this group has read SO MANY books together, I'm only going to exclude the last two years of books that this group has read from being nominated (so books we read together more than two years ago are now okay). A list of every book this group has read together in the last two years is at the end of this post (alphabetically by author, then by title if we've read more than one book by that author), so please try not to nominate a book from this list.

Please try to check amazon or some other site to make sure the book is easily available - the last thing we want is to nominate some great book that no one can get! If you nominate more than one book, only the first book listed will make it into the voting poll (so save additional books for the next months!). Also, if the book doesn't fit the theme, I won't add it to this month's voting poll, but I will carry it over to the next theme that it does fit under if you would like.

Feel free to nominate one book of your choice in this thread until I close the thread (scheduled to close December 14th, 9pm Eastern).

At around that time, I'll make a voting poll and list all the nominated books in it, and people can vote in the poll until the poll closes (set to last through December 18th). Discussion will start on January 15th.

Happy Nominating!



BOOKS WE HAVE READ AS A GROUP IN THE LAST TWO YEARS (PLEASE DON'T NOMINATE):

For the King’s Favor (aka The Time of Singing) by Elizabeth Chadwick

Three Maids for a Crown: A Novel of the Grey Sisters by Ella March Chase

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

A Venetian Affair: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in the 18th Century by Andrea Di Robilant

To Be Queen: A Novel of the Early Life of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Christy English

From Splendor to Revolution: The Romanov Women, 1847-1928 by Julia P. Gelardi

The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George

We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill

The Lady Queen: The Notorious Reign of Joanna I, Queen of Naples, Jerusalem, and Sicily by Nancy Goldstone

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner

Gone with the Windsors by Laurie Graham

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

Sex with the Queen: 900 Years of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers, and Passionate Politics by Eleanor Herman

The Queen of Last Hopes: The Story of Margaret of Anjou by Susan Higginbotham

The Traitor’s Wife by Susan Higginbotham

The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick

The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis

The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici by Jeanne Kalogridis

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert Massie

Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran

Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O’Brien

Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman

Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman

When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman

Victoria Victorious: The Story of Queen Victoria by Jean Plaidy

Sarum: The Novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd

Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith

The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great by Eva Stachniak

Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir

The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir

The Brothers of Gwynedd Quartet: Comprising Sunrise in the West, The Dragon at Noonday, The Hounds of Sunset, Afterglow and Nightfall

Bridget wrote: ""

YEAH....I just bought this book and I can't wait to read it. This is my nomination.

We read that one in the last 2 years, it's on the list of books not to nominate. Just letting you know because the nominations closes tomorrow so if you want to nominate something else instead, hurry! :)

Oh sorry I skimmed and didn't see the list caption. In that case I nominate:The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg

I'm a bit obsessed with the Russians.

Bridget wrote: "I'm a bit obsessed with the Russians."

Nothing wrong with that!

Sorry about that I got so excited that I did not check to see whether "From Splendor to Revolation was on the list. Below are my nominations

The Queen Mother: The Official Biography
Alexandra: The Last Tsarina, by Carolly Erickson

I'd like to nominate The Sister Queens.

I'd like to second the last days of the romanovs :) I've been obsessing over the Tudors and need a change!!

George III: America's Last King (Jeremy Black)

Gives interesting insight to the man and the English government during the 18th and early 19th century.

I'm normally a Wars of the Roses and Plantagenet fanatic... but the Romanovs sound quite interesting as well.

Still, I have a nomination as well: Her Highness, the Traitor by Susan Higginbotham

I nominate Sarum: The Novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd

Jrockne77 wrote: "I nominate Sarum: The Novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd"

Sarum is on the list above, but that is actually my bad - it shouldn't be on the list anymore, so this nomination is fine.

The From Splendour to Revolution book should still be on this list, but you guys took care of that already and nominated new books. :)

Beve wrote: "Sorry about that I got so excited that I did not check to see whether "From Splendor to Revolation was on the list. Below are my nominations

The Queen Mother: The Official Biography
Alexandra: Th..."

I'm only going to put The Queen Mother into the voting poll (I try to limit it to one book per person for nominating and if more than one is there I just go with the first one), but please feel free to nominate the Alexandra book next time!

Nominating is closed! Time to vote! Lots of great choices!