What I am reading in May...

Have just discovered a lovely meme hosted by Jules over on her fabulously named blog 'I need curtains for the window in my head'. She wants to know what we are all reading each month. Click on the button at the end of this post to find out what everyone else is reading and for more info if you want to join in :)

There is definitely an ancient feel to my reading material this month!

First up, indulging my inner geek with a fabulous book by historian Bettany Hughes that I found in my local library. 'Helen of Troy. Goddess, Princess, Whore' looks at the historical/archaeological evidence from Bronze Age Aegean in the search for the 'real' Helen - the high-born princess whose unrivalled beauty has made her an icon. This is a really detailed look at what life for Spartan woman over 3000 years ago would have been like and will be a great resource for the novel I am working on chronicling the life of another fascinating heroine from Greek Mythology - Medea. Might have to get this one for the shelf...

From Greeks to Romans and I have treated myself to the paperback edition of 'The Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles' by Rosemary Sutcliffe. We went to see the new movie version of this story recently as the Other Half's brother is in it (he is one of the original Ninth Legion soldiers that survived in the wilderness and fought to reclaim the Eagle. Quite strange seeing someone you know so well on the big screen :) ) The movie was very good of course, but I was left with the need to re-read the original story. I think I was about 12 when I read it last time and my recollection of it is slightly different to the movie version...