Oh Holly, what an honour to be mentioned in your post! I really did enjoy interacting with you on the Note that inspired this piece. My next step with the books I can't finish is this: What shall I do with them?! I have a horror of throwing books away, but don't really want to reserve space on my bookshelf for them! I suspect they will probably be someone else's treasure...
Me too! I went through a phase a few years ago of giving a load away, when I was deep in a minimalism hole (I'm still there, but realised that books add value to my life, so I keep them in abundance and keep other things minimal). I tend to keep them for a few years and then if I find they're taking up mental as well as physical space I'll give them away. I suspect though that at least part of me keeps them because I'm not quite ready to admit defeat...!
Ah, what would you like to know? It's going to be looking, broadly, at a group of high-status (but unnamed) women who travel from England to France and back again, and seem to bring a whole raft of social and cultural changes with them. I'm super excited!
I bail on books fairly often. Life is too short for bad books, and given that I generally get my books from the library, I can always come back to something I just picked up at the wrong time (like one I put down this week). I think I saw this book on the shelf at Barnes and Noble, was initially interested, then dismissed it when I saw it was by Philippa Gregory. I hated The Other Boleyn Girl and have been bored by (and not finished) every other books of hers I've tried. I love a good history about women before the early modern era, but the key word there is "good", and Gregory doesn't do it for me. I'm glad you put this one down instead of struggling through something you weren't enjoying.
To be honest, I bought it because of the media hype (I wanted to see what all the fuss was about). I thought it would be interesting to read something more non-fiction from her. I do enjoy her fiction work but I don't think about them too deeply: most of the time I listen to them when multi-tasking (driving to work, drifting off to sleep, etc.) so the quality doesn't need to matter too much.
I feel very free after deciding that it wasn't for me and putting it back on the shelf!
Thank you so much for including me in your post Holly ❤️! Since that chat on Notes, I've actually looked at my long list of half read books on my Kindle as less of a failure and more of, well they just weren't for me - so thank you for that. X
I'm glad that our conversation helped in some way! I realised when going onto my Goodreads that I have quite a few half-finished Kindle books and I think it might be time for me to finally let go of the dream that I might one day actually finish them...
What a great post Holly! I haven’t read the book but I love social history too! And your arguments make so much sense to me.
I studied history and social sciences in addition to a few other broader areas in my degree and somehow researched about migrant women and the discourse around them in the UK towards the end for quite a bit. I miss academia sometimes and still, I don’t think I’d want to go back. Guess that’s why I write here 😂 just haven’t found a way to include this part of my interests, too.
I'm so pleased you enjoyed it! Some people love the book so do have a read if it's your thing - it just really wasn't for me...
Oh your research sounds so interesting! My PhD is going to look at the movement of women in a much earlier time period: I think we don't look at the movement, the journeys, as much as we could. It's hard to know how much of our interests to include here, especially if we're trying to create a niche for ourselves. I'd love to write more on motherhood but it doesn't really fit with history (except, perhaps, if I looked at historical mothers...). That's where I love Notes!
I did share, thank you! I’ve wanted to do a PhD since I finished my BA (9 years ago) but it never worked out as I needed to be earning. I did a masters while I worked and loved it so thought I’d see if the PhD was an option… I couldn’t believe it when I got an offer! 😍
So exciting, truthfully! 3 of my close friends are finishing their PhDs currently all were lucky to get good scholarships and a bit of teaching work on the side. hope you’ll get that too! X
Oh Holly, what an honour to be mentioned in your post! I really did enjoy interacting with you on the Note that inspired this piece. My next step with the books I can't finish is this: What shall I do with them?! I have a horror of throwing books away, but don't really want to reserve space on my bookshelf for them! I suspect they will probably be someone else's treasure...
Me too! I went through a phase a few years ago of giving a load away, when I was deep in a minimalism hole (I'm still there, but realised that books add value to my life, so I keep them in abundance and keep other things minimal). I tend to keep them for a few years and then if I find they're taking up mental as well as physical space I'll give them away. I suspect though that at least part of me keeps them because I'm not quite ready to admit defeat...!
I have boxes of them in my garage! I think it's time to find them loving new homes!
Subscribed! I want to hear more about this PhD project . . .
Thanks for subscribing!
Ah, what would you like to know? It's going to be looking, broadly, at a group of high-status (but unnamed) women who travel from England to France and back again, and seem to bring a whole raft of social and cultural changes with them. I'm super excited!
Yikes! I’m usually a Phillipa Gregory fan, but maybe I’ll leave these 684 pages at the bookstore
You may enjoy it but I was so disappointed… I think I didn’t even make it 100 pages!
I trust the vibe of your review! And I also have 7892 other books I know I want to read, so…
Haha that sounds like my TBR pile at the moment…
Thanks for the shoutout 🤗
Thanks for the shout-out in this post, Holly, and brava for DNF-ing!! Doesn't it feel so good to banish a disappointing book!?
It feels so good!
I bail on books fairly often. Life is too short for bad books, and given that I generally get my books from the library, I can always come back to something I just picked up at the wrong time (like one I put down this week). I think I saw this book on the shelf at Barnes and Noble, was initially interested, then dismissed it when I saw it was by Philippa Gregory. I hated The Other Boleyn Girl and have been bored by (and not finished) every other books of hers I've tried. I love a good history about women before the early modern era, but the key word there is "good", and Gregory doesn't do it for me. I'm glad you put this one down instead of struggling through something you weren't enjoying.
To be honest, I bought it because of the media hype (I wanted to see what all the fuss was about). I thought it would be interesting to read something more non-fiction from her. I do enjoy her fiction work but I don't think about them too deeply: most of the time I listen to them when multi-tasking (driving to work, drifting off to sleep, etc.) so the quality doesn't need to matter too much.
I feel very free after deciding that it wasn't for me and putting it back on the shelf!
Thank you so much for including me in your post Holly ❤️! Since that chat on Notes, I've actually looked at my long list of half read books on my Kindle as less of a failure and more of, well they just weren't for me - so thank you for that. X
I'm glad that our conversation helped in some way! I realised when going onto my Goodreads that I have quite a few half-finished Kindle books and I think it might be time for me to finally let go of the dream that I might one day actually finish them...
Yes, I think I will join you Holly - a spring clean so we can get rid of the old ones and bring in some new ones!
What a great post Holly! I haven’t read the book but I love social history too! And your arguments make so much sense to me.
I studied history and social sciences in addition to a few other broader areas in my degree and somehow researched about migrant women and the discourse around them in the UK towards the end for quite a bit. I miss academia sometimes and still, I don’t think I’d want to go back. Guess that’s why I write here 😂 just haven’t found a way to include this part of my interests, too.
I'm so pleased you enjoyed it! Some people love the book so do have a read if it's your thing - it just really wasn't for me...
Oh your research sounds so interesting! My PhD is going to look at the movement of women in a much earlier time period: I think we don't look at the movement, the journeys, as much as we could. It's hard to know how much of our interests to include here, especially if we're trying to create a niche for ourselves. I'd love to write more on motherhood but it doesn't really fit with history (except, perhaps, if I looked at historical mothers...). That's where I love Notes!
Yess trying to figure out what to use notes for and what to write about and where and how everything else can come together.
Congrats again on the PhD place I think you shared it the other week right? Such an incredible opportunity and a wonderful project 📚
I did share, thank you! I’ve wanted to do a PhD since I finished my BA (9 years ago) but it never worked out as I needed to be earning. I did a masters while I worked and loved it so thought I’d see if the PhD was an option… I couldn’t believe it when I got an offer! 😍
So exciting, truthfully! 3 of my close friends are finishing their PhDs currently all were lucky to get good scholarships and a bit of teaching work on the side. hope you’ll get that too! X
Ah me too! That would be the dream!