There are some songs that once you hear them, they stick in your mind for ages.  AGES even.  I've had one such song stuck in my head for two weeks now.  For this, I blame Herman's Hermits and my Aunt Marcia.  A few weeks ago, we were talking about our book club and she suggested that we read The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.  A historical novel based on the life of Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn, who of course was the second wife of Henry VIII.  Which obviously means the song stuck in my head is "I'm Henry The Eighth, I Am."  You're welcome, so glad I could share.  [Editorial note: you MUST watch the video link, it's required even if you don't read the book. But if you watch it at work, wear headphones.]

Back to the book.  Please join me, my Aunt Marcia and Herman's Hermits (not really joining) in reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.


Described as a tale of sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl follows Mary Boleyn's life in the court of King Henry VIII.  I will admit to not knowing very much about this time in history, and purposefully stayed away from book descriptions that spelled it out for me.  I mean, nothing can spoil a good fictionalized account of history like the actual facts.  Unless of course, it clears up the confusing bits.

Reviews from people we don't know:
On the positive side:
"I'm not into the 'bodice-ripper' genre or historical fiction for that matter. But two friends recommended this book to me, and I thought (what the heck) I'll read it on vacation. While the dialogue is fairly low-brow and the exposition at times veers dangerously into 'bodice ripper' territory, I was hooked from page one. I sped through this book, unable to put it down, and found myself racing to the finish line at 1 a.m. This is a terrific, fun read, on a fascinating topic: the court of Henry VIII. I was delightfully surprised by how much I enjoyed this book." - A busy NYC mom

"When this book was picked for my book club I dreaded reading it. I has no interest in history and it was sooo long. However, I absolutely loved it!" - Donna

On the negative side:
"While the Boleyns' story is fascinating, Gregory's writing made me cringe. The prose is strictly pulp fiction-esque: shallow, trite, repetitive, uninspired, unoriginal ('His eyes never left her' 'He looked as if he could eat her up' 'He cupped my chin in his hand' 'I was weak in the knees' 'I trembled' and on and on until I thought I would throw up). Gregory can't even come up with a variety of trite phrases -- she uses the same ones repeatedly. So, although the material is interesting, it was very hard for me to get past the terrible writing enough to really enjoy it. If you're looking for good literature, don't look here." - Maxie

"If you like good literature, this is not for you, if you like cheap stories like Hollywood gossip style then OK. This book focuses on the a dysfunctional love of a family and between 2 sisters, 600 pages of this gets tiring, if you know the outcome of this historical event, this book does not take you anywhere new. I think the author took this story from the middle-ages and put modern words in the mouth of the characters and that is where she missed the opportunity to really take us in this period of time with all the beauty, the real intrigues, all the grace of that period. Reading this story in that fashion remind me of a bad case of a gossip column of a trashy newspaper." - Antoinette-Marie
[Editorial note: Why does this negative review make me want to read this book?]

To select this month's wine pairing, I did a little research to try to figure out what might be the best fit for this book.  According to my extensive research (okay, I looked at two sites), I found that spiced wines were supposedly popular in Henry VIII's court.  Even though I could not locate a recipe for spiced wine that WAS used at that time, I'm certain that if Henry VIII were looking for the recipe today, he'd turn to Oprah for her opinion.  So this month, find some time to read and brew up a batch of Alpine Hot Spiced Wine.  Unless it's too hot where you are, then you might want to omit the spice and heat portions of this recipe, add a little fizz and turn it into a cool, refreshing pitcher of sangria.  Which, of course, has nothing to do with the book, but doesn't it sound delicious?