Cleopatra’s life can put a soap opera to shame. She lost her throne, snuck into her own palace into Caesar’s room, and had a love child with Caesar while married to her brother. That’s just the beginning of her rein as queen of Egypt.
In Cleopatra: A Life Stacy Schiff digs deep into historical texts and puts together a fascinating biography of one of the most famous queens in history. Our bloggers were equally enthralled by Cleopatra. Today From Left to Write members share their take:
- Brittnee Henry of BrittneeHenry imagines a powerful political couple .
- Tiffany from Lattes and Life homeschools herself too.
- Eunice C at Random Walk Down Mommy Street wonders how Cleopatra could have left her children behind.
- Taylor of The Quiet Moments, Page 2 is obsessed with her (Julian) calendar.
- Rachel from A Little Each Day ponders if we really have a better life than the ancient Egyptians.
- Emily at Mama Sick wants to be remembered her way.
- Amy of Occupation: Mommy enjoys bringing history to life.
- Karen from Time Crafted reminds us to tell our story.
- Helen P at Milf Alert hesitates to define herself by her new responsibility.
- Emily of West of the Loop connects to the ancient world through grief.
- Joy Weese Moll from Joy’s Book Blog compares different movie versions of Cleopatra.
- Brenda Bartella Peterson at Grit and Grace shares lessons learned from Cleopatra.
- Nicole Moore of What Dreamers Do wonders what kind of legacy she’ll leave behind.
- Elaine from Connor and Helen Grow Up! knows how important is to be the storyteller.
- Patty at Year of 4s is no Cleopatra.
- Amy of Oh What a Life is impressed by the ancient Egyptian’s knowledge of the world around them.
- Tracy from Tracy’s Nook Tracy’s Nook visits ancient Egypt via The Field Museum.
- Susan at AwwwTrouble confesses her guilty pleasures.
- Meg Smith of Fox and Bunny and Woodpecker Stew shares her take.
- Alicia S from Titere con Bonete pretended to be Cleopatra as a child.
- Michele Spring Fajeau at Alas, I digress knows a thing or two.
- Karen Sweitzer of A Magical Mommy is a woman, hear her ROAR!
- Brandi from Mama Knows It All speaks of snobs and sluts.
- Melanie at tales from the crib wonders what exactly is “normal.”
- Lisa of Hannemaniacs acted like Cleopatra.
- Julie from A Good Joe is fascinated by history, politics, and sex.
- Thien-Kim at I’m Not the Nanny knows Cleopatra was a feminist.
- Cindy Fey of We All Fall Down compares Cleopatra’s actual life to her movie life.
- Nicole Pelton from Not Just a Working Mom compares her son’s education to Cleopatra’s.
- Leticia Barr at Tech Savvy Mama offers online resources to teach your kids about ancient Egypt.
- Carie of Making Lemonade has a misadventure in the library.
- Sandie from Urban Mama shares her husband’s thoughts since he stole her copy of the book.
- Michelle at Honest & Truly! wonders where you’d like to time travel.
Visit Stacy Schiff’s website to check out her tour schedule. You can pick up a copy of Cleopatra: A Life and see for yourself what kind of person Cleopatra was.
by Lev Grossman is the second in a planned trilogy; the first was 2009′s novel 
. If I had to characterize them, I’d say they were sort of “Harry Potter meets Narnia for grown ups” – they follow a quartet of friends on their adventures in magic school, a fantasy realm, and places in between. Grossman writes with wit and sarcasm, yet manages to bring raw emotion and characters that are easy to relate to. The Magicians was playful, edgy, and engrossing, and I don’t doubt that the follow up will be just as entertaining. I cannot wait to check this one out of the library (although I’m sure my husband will beat me to it).
, which is about the investigation of an ancient murder. I’ll be following this one with 
, a novel about an allegedly possessed girl and the ill-fated love affair between her and her supposed savior, the priest who comes to oversee her exorcism. I love Garcia Marquez’s work – Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude were so deeply moving and well written I’d read them both again in a minute. The two novels on my list now are both relatively short (both are fewer than 150 pages) but promise to bring all of his considerable writing prowess to the table.
by Tom Standage comes to me highly recommended by my husband. Standage tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century as seen through the glasses of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. I’m a history nut, and this promises to be an interesting way to see how these beverages have played a role in human events.
by Nancy Millford. I can’t even begin to list the reasons I’m excited about this one – I love Millay’s works, I love biographies, I love the title Millford chose. I’ve read nothing but excellent reviews of this book, and really cannot wait to get started on it. At 509 pages in paperback (550 including the notes and index) the book promises to deliver on information and insight.
by Suzanne Lebsock. This is an account of gender and racial politics and murder in the South at the turn of the twentieth century. It also happens to take place about five miles from where I live, which is very interesting.
by Umberto Eco is one I started awhile ago and loved, but didn’t finish. Eco’s books require more focus than I could put into a novel just after my son was born. I’m excited to jump back into this, though. It’s the story of what happens to an Italian man who has a stroke, wakes up, and remembers nothing of his life; he does, however, remember every book he’s ever read (and every bit of poetry and literary quotes).
by Nicole Krauss. This was a last minute addition – I honestly had forgotten I bought this book (see – this is why I make lists!). I shared an amazing quote from it on the From Left to Write Facebook page earlier this week, which prompted me to go find the book on our shelves and put it on the stack! The quote was “Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.”
