Cousins War Series

I have fallen in love with the Cousins War Series by Philippa Gregory.

This series has six books that cover the War of the Roses in England, from the perspective of six different women involved over a period of about 75 years. You see three different generations of women coming of age in various stations of life, but all circled around the great throne of England. The War of the Roses was a 30 year civil war of sorts between the Lancaster and the Yorks - two houses that descended from Edward III.   Both the York and the Lancaster families felt truly that they had a right to the throne, and the Tutor family felt their claim was divine.

Philippa Gregory is a decent writer and an actual historian.  She has taken her background in history and spun some fabulous tales about what could have happened given what we actually know.  She refers to real places and times and battles and characters, but fills in the details with fiction making it a fabulous read without being pure brain candy.

Unlike The White Queen TV series, on which is based on the books, the novels are not overly sexual but they are romantic in nature. There is love, there is lust, there is heart break and deception, but it isn't dirty and over-the-topic graphic. The TV show is very sexually graphic so be forewarned!

I love the interplay between the books as they refer to many of the same events, but from a completely different perspective. A character that is minor or even incidental in one book may be main character in another book. Information and situations that are hinted at in one book are given full attention in another. Reading the books from the perspective of various characters one can see how really difficult this time was for the whole of England. I recommend reading them in order published as listed below. You can click on the titles directly and it will take you to Amazon.

The Lady of the Rivers (2011)

The Red Queen (2012)

The White Queen (2013)

The White Princess (2014)

The King's Curse (2015)

Maybe it is because I was just in England, maybe it is because I am a romantic at heart, maybe it is because I love reading a good story and learning about real stuff at the same time... for whatever reason I have really enjoyed these books and I hope you will too!

Happy reading and thanks for stopping by!

Villainous Vegas Vacation

I recently spent a long weekend in Las Vegas, on The Strip, with my 12 year-old son.  This was not my first (or second or third) choice of venue, but we were traveling with his team for a soccer tournament.  After Facebooking (can I make that a verb?) my awesome Blessed is She sisters in the Southwest Region, I had enough tips for the trip to feel adequately equipped to deal with our trip to Sin City.  Las Vegas is a beautiful place surrounded by snow tipped mountains and blue sky.  The Strip was less beautiful and provided the backdrop for a lesson on the various dangers of gambling, lust, greed, gluttony and general hedonism. Places like Las Vegas prey on the weak.  They provide the invitation to sin, not just normalizing but encouraging immoral behavior.  Think of their slogan “What happens in Vegas stay is Vegas” - it is a statement of permission that normal rules (and morality) should be suspended. Although surroundings can encourage and facilitate sinful behavior, the evil driving our own sin comes from within each of us. 

In the book of Mark (7:23), Jesus instructs us that evil comes from within, not from outside.  

“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.

From within the man, from his heart,

come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,

adultery, greed, malice, deceit,

licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.

All these evils come from within and they defile.”

Places and situations are not responsible for our sins – WE are. WE make the choices to engage in the sinful behavior that is harmful to our souls.  If we can accept that we are personally responsible for the choices we make, and that the evil comes from within, not outside, then we are intellectually and emotionally better equip for battling that evil. 

Surrounding ourselves with people and situations that will help us in our battles against sin is helpful and prudent, but it is not the only way to deal with the evil within.

The Real Story: Hysterectomy

Photo Credit: Matthew Wiebe

I woke up writing this post in my head which is a pretty good indication that I am officially on the mend. I am starting this post 1-week post surgery but finishing it over the course of the whole month. In some ways the recovery has been textbook, but in other ways it rocked me. There are a few different ways to have a hysterectomy, and different things to take out (depending on the reason for the hysterectomy), so I can only speak to mine. Given the fact that there are about 600,000 hysterectomies performed each year and it is the second most common surgery for reproductive aged women, I figured it would be good for me to share a bit of my experience.  Besides, I am a blogger and that is just what we do!   Warning though - there may be parts of this post that would qualify as TMI.

Well, let's get on with it then...