Tagged by April!

This is a really interesting tag. You're supposed to grab the nearest book, go to page 123, find the fifth sentence, type it onto your post, and then tag five friends. So here it is:

"It was indeed a wonderful song that he loved to sing: lilting, mournful, yet soothing."

When I can find possibly find a second to rec. read, I read Sarum by Edward Rutherford. It's about religion and how it fits into history, more specifically, the history of the area where Stonehenge is located in England. I think it's a fascinating book. It starts at the end of the Ice Age, around 10,000 BC, and although the characters of the book are fictitious, the historical events are accurate. Rutherford creates a family tree and constructs a world around these families, giving the reader a true sense of what it might have been like to live during each dispensation that he writes about. Sarum shows how the Pagan religions developed into what we know of Christianity, and how powerful authority figures used religion and fear of the "gods" to control people. Later, during the years of King Henry VIII, people got so crazy about religion that they persecuted and murdered each other--all in the name of religion. The Protestant and Catholic monarchs were in constant battle. We aren't just talking about beheadings, either. Around 300 people were burned at the stake during Queen Mary's reign, and she beheaded countless others. The people lived in fear and they had to constantly change their beliefs to match whichever monarch was in power. I can't imagine having to live like that. God Bless freedom of religion!! Now THAT'S a cause worth dying for!

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, but the book's best feature is that it has something ridiculous like 1,050 pages, so I can't get through it in one night. I really hate when I find a great book and it's too short. Right now I am on page 751 and the families are living in Sarum (the area around Stonehenge) during the reign of Bloody Mary and her sister, Queen Elizabeth. It was a crazy time to be alive. I would never have wanted to live in that time period, but I LOVE reading about it.

Oh yeah! I forgot to include that ANYONE who wants to can consider themselves in the cool club and be "tagged" to do this post. I am supposed to pick 5 friends, but that's just silly.