Favorite Thing #19: The Historian

Although it was published in 2005, I just recently read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova at the recommendation of both my sister and the D-Train. Since they both recommended it within the span of two days and both mentioned the word Vampire when describing the book, I figured I would give it a try.

The novel is narrated by a female character whom the reader never really gets to know. But through her, we learn about her father's quest for the real truth behind the Dracula legend. Dracula in this book was theorized to have been a real person, Vlad the Impaler. The book is told through a series of letters written by the narrator's father and her father's mentor Professor Rossi as they attempted to learn about the significance behind a book containing only a dragon and the word Drakulya. I would consider the book Historical Fiction as a lot of the research that the narrator's father and Professor Rossi unearth about Vlad the Impaler is historically accurate or could be historically accurate. In ways, it reminds me of the Da Vinci Code as it attempts to fictionally explain a common myth through actual historical facts and artifacts.

The book was not only an interesting read but it kept me on the edge of my seat. (It even caused me to have a nightmare that Dracula was in my spare bedroom coming for me when I fell asleep reading it in a sick stupor). Its also a nice departure from the normal vampire=tortured romantic hero books. I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to be on the edge of their seat, and learn a little in the process. Obsession with all things vampires not required

Favorite Thing #18: The Amelia Peabody Series by Elizabeth Peters

After reading A Wiseman Once Said’s blog on her “literary crack” books, I thought about what my literary crack books are. If I were to pick, I would have to go with the Amelia Peabody Series by Elizabeth Peters. If I were to be a crackhead, which I am not, I would imagine that the feeling I would get would be similar to the feeling I get reading these books. The first time/book, you don’t know what to expect, but you are pleasantly surprised. After that first one, you find yourself re-arranging your schedule so you can get to Borders/the street corner to pick up the next installment, which doesn’t satisfy your thirst and results in you going back and stocking up with the remaining 17 installments so that you don’t have to anxiously await your next fix anymore should you finish the previous one after hours.

The Amelia Peabody series follows Amelia, an amateur archeologist,, her curmudgeonly archaeologist husband Emerson and their family in what is, in my opinion, the golden age of Archaeology in Egypt - the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. This is the time of the greatest and/or most famous names of Egyptian archaeology. I say and/or because some historical figures of this time (*cough, cough* Wallis Budge *cough cough*) are famous but not necessarily “great” because they spent most of their career smuggling antiquities out of Egypt and writing horrible textbooks on hieroglyphs and the Egyptian Book of the Dead which are still inexplicably in print today. Some of the greatest finds also took place during this time period: Belzoni entered the second pyramid of Giza and found Seti I tomb in the Valley of the Kings, numerous cache’s of royal mummies, the discovery of Tell El Amarna, and perhaps the most famous of them all, the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb by Howard Carter. Each book focuses on a different expedition as Amelia solves a new mystery, whether it be a mummy that has seemingly come to life and is haunting the dig, the disappearance of an archaeologist or the theft of a certain antiquity. The books are light reads, but they are all page turners. Part of the reason I love these books is that Peters (a pen name – the author is really Barbara Mertz, an Egyptologist holding a Ph.D from the famed University of Chicago), fills each book with accurate historical events and descriptions of the time period. Also, since a pet peeve of mine is when random people with no educational background in a subject write a historical fiction book, I enjoy the fact that Peters is an actual practicing archaeologist who has excavated in Egypt. In all honesty, half of the things I know about ancient Egypt, I have read in one of these books and then have either done research on or obtained additional non-fiction books about.

If you have a lot of time to spare, I suggest you check these books out. (you need a lot of time since there are 19 books in the series and if you are anything like me, you will be hooked and do nothing but read this series for about 3 weeks straight) The first book in the series is The Crocodile on the Sandbank, and as I have already completed my yearly reading of the first few books in the series, I’m willing to lend it out to anyone interested. However, be prepared for me to then force the remaining 18 books as well as my slowly growing library of non-fiction books concerning ancient Egypt upon you.

Favorite Thing #2: Le Petit Prince

I first read Le Petit Prince, a children's novella by French aviator turned author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in high school French class. It was love at first read. Though technically billed as a children's book, the theme behind the book is distinctly adult. Le Petit Prince tells the story of a downed air pilot in the Sahara who comes across a strange little boy from a far away planet, B612 where he spent his days taking care of a rose that he comes to love very much. He leaves his planet and travels to different planets to see what the rest of the universe is like. Through the stories that the little prince tells about his travels and the people he has come across, Saint-Exupéry reveals the mistakes that adults often make and the things that they forget after they cease being a child. My favorite line of the story (so much so that I now have it permenantly etched on my back for all time) is "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." Roughly translated it says : One can not see well except with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes. What makes the book even better to read are the little illustrations and drawings by Saint-Exupéry himself throughout the book. Don't worry if you don't speak French, the book has been translated into more than 180 languages, and to date is the 3rd on the worlwide most published book list, behind the Bible and Gone with the Wind. Give it a read. It won't take to long, and you just might love it as much as me!