History, anyone?

I hate Sejarah and Malaysian Studies. Though I never scored anything less than an A, I hated these subjects. Not only were they as interesting as watching Hang Seng stocks, I couldn't put them to any use.

My conclusion was this: history is dull.

Now, I say: Malaysian history is dull.

History is mind-blowing. And history stirred emotions I didn't know I had in me. And,

I'm in love with Philippa Gregory.

Oh? Who is she?

After the success of the movie The Other Boleyn Girl (TOBG), who can say they do not know her? Ok, those who are ignorant maybe don't. But I'm sure everyone knows Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana. How can you not know them???

Yes, Philippa Gregory is the author of The Other Boleyn Girl and all her books are about modern history especially on the Tudors of England. Seriously, never before have I been so avid over an author's books. So if you decided you liked TOBG's movie, I would suggest you read the book. READ THE BOOK, I DON'T CARE. Read the book then tell me you're not blown away because as always, the movie has a slightly different storyline *%$#@!^&*


After you read TOBG, then you might want to consider The Constant Princess (TCP) and The Boleyn Inheritance (TBI). Forget I said consider, READ THEM. TOBG told the story of the two Boleyn sisters, Anne and Mary while TCP captured the life of Catalina Of Spain, Katherine of Aragon- Queen of England. The same queen Anne Boleyn had replaced. TBI on the other hand was told from Jane Parker, Lady Rochford, George's (brother to Anne and Mary) unbeloved wife's view, when she was assigned the task to assist Katherine Howard, a lady-in-waiting of the Queen, in her attempt to charm King Henry and gained the throne.

In fact, read them in order. From The Constant Princess, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Boleyn Inheritance.

All of them attempted to be Queen. Either they ended up in the Tower, or they ended up on the throne, sitting next to the King. A battle of life and death.

And oh, the movie made King Henry looked like a tame kitten.

Ok.

Next is....

Michelle Moran. The author of Nefertiti.


You'll get a glimpse of the lives of Egypt royalties and yes, that includes Pharaoh Amunhotep II and Pharaoh Nefertiti. She succeeded in making herself Pharaoh, ruling next to Amunhotep and making her daughter the heir of Egypt when she couldn't conceive a son. She also got rid of Kiya, the First Wife to Amunhotep.

Then there's Elif Shafak. Author of The Bastard Of Istanbul.


History of Turkey. The storyline was pretty dull along the way but when you reach its ending, wham! you wouldn't believe what had hit you. The ending made up for the story itself, it's brilliant.

Lastly, Jean Sasson. Author of Princess, Daughter Of Arabia and Princess Sultana's Circle on the royalties of Saudi Arabia.

She's also the author of Mayada.

A story based in Iraq. It proved that no matter how important you were, no one was guaranteed their safety. Saddam Hussein himself threw and tortured her in his dungeons for no apparent reason. She was released and thus the existence of this book.

All these books have one thing in common: The peril of absolute male authority in royal households.

I could say that among all, I like the Egyptians the most. Of course, like every other country, the birth of a son as an heir was a must but in Egypt, daughters were not denied their rights. Nefertiti had had 6 daughters and still, Amunhotep loved them to bits. So yeah, even though he was not a good ruler (he was said to be mentally unstable), he was a good father.

And the best part is? These books were all based on true stories and facts.

So ditch Meg Cabot and Sophie Kinsellia. I wouldn't even scream in protest if you guys ditched Harry Potter =)

Dah. I'm tired of writing.

Happy reading!