Books I've bought in the month of May

I did a bit of book buying this past month. Not as many as in April though.


Sigurd and Gudrun is the latest book out by J.R.R. Tolkien. The actual text is written in the form of Norse poetry, but there are large sections of commentary on the poems, and also selections from Tolkien's lectures on the subject. I'm enjoying reading it, but I do find it slow going at times.

The Snow Queen, by Mercedes Lackey. I read this book back when it first came out in hardcover, and I finally got around to buying it. This is the most recent title in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series.

Fortune's Fool, also by Mercedes Lackey is another book from the Five Hundred Kingdoms series. Light, fantasy romance, based around well known fairy-tales, they're good books for cold, rainy days when you want a happy ending. This is another book I read back when it first came out, but that was a couple of years ago now.

Twilight of Avalon is the first book in Anna Elliott's new Trystan and Isolde trilogy. I found it reminiscent of Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, and really enjoyed the read.

Impressionism is a book about that period of art. I'll be honest and admit that I didn't buy this book for reading. I bought it because the pictures are all as large as they can be within the confines of the page, and as far as I can see, having flipped through the book several times, they are all in color. I love impressionist art work, and this has several of my favorite artists featured. I'm hoping to try and improve my own artwork by copying some of these in various media as a learning experience.

Greek Fire, Poison Arrows and Scorpion Bombs by Adrienne Mayor is turning out to be another fascinating read. The author has examined in detail various incidents from historical accounts to look at the ancient and medieval use of chemical and biological weapons. It's certainly a different perspective on history.