The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau

This book has literally been on my currently-reading shelf since...February. Oh, dear. *smacks forehead* And it wasn't even long and boring. Actually, it was rather exciting, so it's kind of strange that it took me so long.

But I finally finished it! And I'm certainly glad to have done so.

In lieu of a summary of this book (since it's a non-classic), I'm going to direct you to this great video where Nancy Bilyeau gives a better explanation of it than I could:

(I apologize for the music in the video...it's awfully ridiculous to have elevator music going on while an author explains her historical fiction thriller. Hmph.)

Anyway. There were a lot of things I liked about this book, but also a few that irked me. So here's a handy-dandy bullet list:

The Importance of Being Earnest, and Taking a Sick Day

I recently re-read The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. As usual, I laughed my head off. If you haven't read this marvelous play, you should...even if you've seen the movie. It's different from the movie (as books usually are).

I was going to write a review on it, but I read in an introduction to the play that Wilde himself said it was meant to show people that they should treat trivial things seriously, and serious things trivially. I suspect that Wilde's play, though it may seem rather trivial, is actually a serious thing, and to treat it seriously would be against the author's intent.

You might be shaking your head in disbelief at me, but seriously. Wilde wanted the play to be laughed at, and although there's certainly plenty for English majors to debate over all day, I'm not sure that's what he really would have wanted. And I've already done more debating over the social issues raised in the play in my English classes, so I certainly don't want to beat the poor thing over the head with it in my blog.

Besides, I have lots of other books to think and write about today! I am taking a sick day. And let's be real--a stuffed-up head and a sore throat are a small price to pay for the chance to sit in bed all day and read.