A History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade

Susan Wise Bauer's first volume in her opus work of world history was a brick. It took me about two months of renewals to get through it, and I've been eagerly awaiting this volume since.

This one isn't as big, not having quite as long a span to cover, but is just as comprehensive and features the same type of timeline at the end of each chapter. The timelines make it easier to see what's going on in various parts of the world in relation to each other (who was the emperor in the Eastern Roman Empire during Chandragupta's reign?).

In other news, if you are the sort of person who cares who was the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire during Chandragupta's reign, this is your kind of book. Go get the first one, now; I've rarely encountered a history as well-written, and none that were also as comprehensive. Usually, you get one or the other (or neither). This is history for casual history buffs and historians interested in broadening their scopes, not for people who just want to gain enough base overview knowledge to get by in conversation.

A purpose

I've had a few, failed, personal blogs before. I post a lot when my husband is away, then let it fall by the wayside in the daily grind of family, work, and classes.

The constant, though, is that I read. I am usually in the middle of several at any given time (having finished several this week, I am currently only reading Revolutionary Road), and I find myself wanting to talk about the books I read. 

I won't promise that all the books I talk about or review here will be great books, or even good books. The only commonality may be that I have read them.

A few of the books I'm looking forward to reading (when they are released) in the next few years:

• A Resurrection of Magic: Sacred Scars, Kathleen Duey (01Aug2009)
• Catching Fire (second in The Hunger Games trilogy), Suzanne Collins (Sep2009)
• The History of the Medieval World, Susan Wise Bauer (I've seen a release date next year, but I don't think that's firm)
• A Dance With Dragons, George R. R. Martin (date unknown).
• The trilogy that will make up the last Wheel of Time book (because I've stuck it out this far)
• An Echo in the Bone, Diana Gabaldon (22Sep2009)