Winter reading progress report

OK, since the weather down here in the so-called "sunshine state" is so dreadful, yours truly has been doing an inordinate amount of reading lately.

I sped thru my cousin's recent book mentioned in an earlier post ("Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon"). It was pretty good. Sometimes "way too much info" and other times a tad too sentimental. But, overall a pretty good book.

Now, as I have a pot of chicken stew started in the trusty crock pot, I am turning my attention to the next literary challenge: James Herriot's "All Creatures Great and Small." It's the first in a fairly long series about a veterinarian in the Yorkshire dales (the stomping grounds of my mom's ancestors). If I like it, I'll consider the rest of the volumes in the series.

But, I know the chicken stew is going to be the highlight of this chilly evening.

BRRRRRRR!

Another author in the family

There must be something in the Morgan genes that predisposes us to writing . . .

The most recent publication to hit the bookstores comes from our cousin Andrea de Robilant.

His Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon [ISBN 9781400044139] is actually a sequel to his very successful first novel A Venetian Affair.

I just picked up my copy yesterday, so haven't had a chance to finish reading the book. But, I can tell you the basics. It recounts the life of Andrea's 4th great-grandmother Lucia Mocenigo (1770-1854), a noblewoman from Venice, Italy, who moves to Paris, France, and rubs shoulders with a bunch of folks whose names you'd probably recognize from your history textbooks (including the Empress Josephine). She was an interesting person, to say the least. Unfortunately, she is perhaps best known as the much-despised landlady of Lord Byron.

Anyway, this book (besides being a very good read) is also serving as yet another reminder to yours truly that I need to get off my rear end and finish the sequel to my own recent masterpiece.