Tudor Queens Book Tag

Posted August 27, 2020 by elzaread in Uncategorized / 13 Comments

I’m sooooo glad that I managed to convince my Mommy to start blogging again.  I am just as glad that I stared at her and tapped her ever so gently on the hand when she created Elza Reads. She really does need to learn to watch the cat from the tree (it’s an Afrikaans expression) before she leaps. And those alluring ducks, she needs to get them in a row. That’s why I am supervising the blog this time around. Cats are known for their patience and thoroughness. Okay, I’m rambling here. Thanks to me, Mommy has a blogroll and if I didn’t create that, she never would have stumbled on this amazing book tag!

On our Wednesday Wisdom Meme a couple of weeks back, we told you about Mommy’s friend who inspired her to start reading voraciously again. The first books that Esther gave to her, were the Tudor Novels by Philippa Gregory. She devoured them all. So yes! This book tag will be great fun to do. It was originally hosted by Jess from Jessticulates and she would love a ping-back on this.
Without any further ado, let’s introduce you to the Tudor Queens and their book companions:

Elizabeth of York

 

Elizabeth of York became the first Tudor queen when she married Henry VII in 1486, a marriage which brought an end to the Wars of the Roses. Even though their match grew into a genuine love match, Henry had to kill Elizabeth’s own uncle, Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth to become king. 

 
Choose a book with a complicated family. 

 

Book companion – The woman in the window by A.J. Finn Which family is real? No one and nothing, in either of these families, is who or what they/it seems.

Anna Fox lives alone, a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine, watching old movies, recalling happier times and spying on her neighbours.
Then the Russels move into the house across the way; a father, a mother, and their teenage son. The perfect family. 

Katherine of Aragon

 

Katherine was the first of Henry VIII’s six wives(and my favorite of the half dozen), and when Henry sought to divorce her, she fought until the bitter end to remain his queen. It was a battle she ultimately lost.

 
Choose a book you forced yourself to finish, even though you weren’t enjoying it. 

 

Book Companion – A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara This book had a huge impact on me. I did finish it. Took me months. It was sooooo heavy in every possible sense. Heavy to read, heavy to hold, heavy subjects….. I still gave it 5 stars though.

Brace yourself for the most astonishing, challenging, upsetting and profoundly moving book in many a season. An epic about love and friendship in the twenty-first century that goes into some of the darkest places fiction has ever traveled and yet somehow improbably breaks through into the light. 
 

Anne Boleyn

 

 

Henry was so enamoured by his second queen that he broke away from Rome and founded his own church just so he could marry her, but when she didn’t give him the son she promised, he send poor Anne to her death (Off with her head!).

 
Choose a book you used to love, but wouldn’t love as much if you read it again now.
 

 

Book Companion – The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory  Interesting choice for this book tag. I know. This was my first introduction in the Tudor saga. I read night and day and at that stage, I didn’t have a kindle yet, but read with an iRiver. Something went wrong with my download and I didn’t have the last couple of chapters. I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE!!! Can’t even remember how it got sorted, but it did. Most probably my awesome husband at the rescue again. But, after reading the rest of th series, this one wasn’t all that good…. I just know I won’t enjoy it again.

Jane Seymour

 

Queen number three was only queen for a year and a half. She gave Henry the son he longed for, but died days later. (I’ve always been wondering about her hair. Do you think she had pretty hair? Do you still get Jane Seymour shampoo?)

 
Choose a book that was short and sweet. 

 

Book Companion – The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain Does 208 pages count as short? This is easily one of the sweetest books I’ve ever read. I still want to use if for a Wednesday Wisdom too.

Dining alone in an elegant Parisian brasserie, accountant Daniel Mercier can hardly believe his eyes when President Francois Mitterrand sits down to eat at the table next to him.
Daniel’s thrill at being in such close proximity to the most powerful man in the land persists even after the presidential party has gone, which is when he discovers that Mitterand’s black felt hat has been left behind.
Of course it’s a perfect fit…. 
 
 

Anne of Cleeves

 

 

Henry chose to marry his fourth queen after only seeing a portrait of her. (He sure did start a trend there that are still alive and well in current society.)

 
Choose a book you bought / read because of the cover. 

 

Book Companion – Slade House by David Mitchell That cover is so alluring. It might be exactly the plan to draw you in. No, I haven’t read  it yet. I might leave it for Halloween this year.

Down the road from a working-class British pub, along the brick wall of a narrow alley if the conditions are exactly right, you’ll find the entrance to Slade House. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. At first, you won’t want to leave. Later, you’ll find that you can’t. Every nine years the house’s residents – an odd brother and sister – extend a unique invitation to someone who’s different or lonely; a precocious teenager, a recently divorced policeman, a shy college student. But what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it’s already too late…. 
 

Kathryn Howard

 

 

Henry’s fifth queen was the youngest of his wives and the least experienced for life at court. When she was accused of adultery, Henry sent her to the block. Off with her head!

 
Choose a book with a forbidden romance. 
 

 

Book Companion –  All the Ugly and Wonderful things by Bryn Greenwood As forbidden as it comes.

As the daughter of a meth dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. Struggling to raise her little brother, eight year old Wavy is the only responsible “adult” around. She finds peace in the starry Midwestern night sky above the fields behind her house. One night everything changes when she witnesses one of her father’s thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold, wreck his motorcycle. What follows is a powerful and shocking love story between two unlikely people that asks tough questions, reminding us of all the ugly and wonderful things that life has to offer. 
 
 

Katherine Parr

 

 

Katherine has long been remembered as Henry’s sixth wife, but what she should be remembered for is being the first woman to publish an English book in England under her own name.

 
Choose a book about books. 

 

Book Companion – The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon I have used this book for so many posts already and I will continue using it. One of the greatest books about a book, ever. It’s the first in a series called The cemetery of forgotten books. 

 
Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son, mourns the loss of his mother and find solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. When he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets – an epic story of murder, madness and doomed love. 
 

Lady Jane Grey 

 

 

Poor Jane was forced onto the throne to prevent her Catholic cousin, Mary, from taking charge in what had become a Protestant country. Mary brought and end to her reign after only nine days, and poor Jane paid the ultimate price for the position she’d been put in by the men around her when Mary send her to the block.

 
Choose a book that ended too soon. 

 

Book Companion – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Please hear me out here. I was rather content when the Harry Potter series finished (1 – 7). When The Cursed Child came out, I realised that I wanted more. And no, it just isn’t enough. I love Fantastic Beasts and where to find them. It offers a glimpse into Harry’s world long before he was even a twinkle in James Potter’s eye. It doesn’t take anything away, it simply adds to the magic. I think we need to know more about what comes after. Even the grandchildren will do.

 
 
 
 

Mary I

 

 

Commonly known as Bloody Mary, Mary restored England to Catholicism and, during her four year reign burned over 300 Protestants at the stake. (I wonder what she did with books that went against Catholicism?)

 
Choose a book you would burn every copy of.

 

Book companion – Lord of the Flies by William Golding  I am so getting burned at the stake for this one myself. I know I am… But first hear my out! This wasn’t prescribed reading at school and I’ve never read this during the age that I should have read it. I read it the first time in my late thirties. Good grief!! How on earth was/is that book prescribed reading for school children! It’s horrible!! I was shocked for days and had many sleepless nights.

Yes, I loved the TV series Lost and it was probably much worse. But this is CHILDREN. And yes, I know how horrible they truly are. The problem with the burn-at -the-stake attitude I have with this book, turly is an age thing. If I read it at age 13 – 18, I would have been fine with it and just accept it as the norm. Now that bothers me as well…. Okay, you can burn me now.
 

Elizabeth I

 

 

Though Anne Boleyn failed to give Henry a son, the daughter she gave him would rule England for 44 years and bring about what was known as the Golden Age. (Shakespeare and all his great plays.)

 
Choose a book with a Royal main character 
 

 

Book Companion – The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope An oldie, but such a goody. This and Rupert of Hentzau are books that I will read again and again.

Rudolf Rassendyll bears a striking resemblance to Rudolf Elphberg who is about to be crowned King of Ruritania. When the rival to the throne, Black Michael of Strelsau, attempts to seize power by imprisoning Elphberg in the castle of Zenda, Rassendyll is obliged to impersonate the King to uphold the rightful sovereignity and ensure political stability.
 
 
 
This was great fun! It was the first Book Tag we’ve done on the new blog and I’m sure I’ll be able to convince my Mommy to do some more.
Who feels like joining? Just remember to give a ping-back to Jess. She really worked very hard on this.
Elza & Mareli 
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13 responses to “Tudor Queens Book Tag

  1. I could have sworn I commented on this, and I've just realised I didn't like a completely terrible person! Thanks for much for doing my tag. 😀 The Shadow of the Wind has been on my TBR for YEARS–I need to read it asap!

    • Hi Jess! Your tags are the best! Do make a new one soon… I love taking part. If I have time!

      The Shadow of the wind is an absolute favorite. I still want to read the next one in the series as well.

  2. I love this tag!! The only book I've read from your list is The Other Boleyn Girl but I'm a major history buff and Tudor history is a favourite so I'm totally going to do this tag sometime soon. 🙂

    • Hi Nicci! I'm also a huge history buff and this type of book tag is right up our alley!

      Please share your tag with me, would love to see it.

  3. Hi Anouk! Yes! It's one of those books I can never stop talking about.

    I'm so glad I saw this on your blog! Yea to blogroll and great bloggers!

  4. Hi Dedra, All the Ugly and Wonderful things is a great, great book. I still think about it. Disturbing, but yes, the author did a magnificent job!

  5. What a great tag! I really need to brush up on my Tudor Queens!! I’ve sent you a message on FB messenger re: my blog template – just send me a message if you need anything else – it’ll come through in my proper name – Heather Duff!