The Eight

I am currently reading a book called The Eight by Katherine Neville. It is kind of a Da Vinci Code type book, which refers heavily to chess and the French Revolution. It is good, but I became irritated because there were so many typos in the first section, to the extent that I thought there might actually be a secret code within the book. I haven't noticed a pattern, but who knows what will happen when I get to the end of it. Anyway, if you like chess, you might enjoy this because it links chess with music and maths, and refers to chess moves and magic squares. The descriptions of the French Revolution are quite gruesome, but it is a good read.

The Historian

Last month, I read The Historian written by Elizabeth Kostova. It was described as a story about Dracula coming after librarians. Being a librarian, I was naturally interested ;-) But the reviews didn't do the book justice. I thought that it was a really excellent book. It was very well written, with beautiful descriptions about Romania and Turkey. Although it is being marketed as a popular book, which for me usually means quick and easy to read, I found that it was full of really interesting historical information. The descriptions of Dracula's lair were wonderful, and it was a really enjoyable book.