Renaissance Festival Time!!

Fall might be my favorite time of year for many reasons.  Football season is starting (the Broncos are playing the Ravens tonight!!), the nights get colder and way better for sleeping, apples and pumpkins are coming into season AND it is time for the annual Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival!!  if you have never been there it is an awesome place to visit and I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in history, Game of Thrones or even dressing up in cool costumes!

There are four weekends left in the renaissance festival so enjoy it while you can!

If you are not able to make it to the Renaissance festival or you just want to immerse yourself into the 16th Century, the Library has some great books and movies.  Here are some of my favorites.

 Maid of Secrets by Jennifer McGowan.  After 17 year old Meg is caught trying to rob the Queen’s advisor, she is forced to work as a member of Queen Elizabeth’s secret Maids of Honor.  The Maids are her all female bodyguard team who protect and spy for the Queen.  meg’s first assignment is to spy on a handsome young Spanish nobleman.  The first book in a series, it is full of intrigue and action.

The Wicked and the Just by Jillian Anderson Coats.  Cecily’s father is moving her from their comfortable English manor to a small town in the wild Welsh countryside.  The story alternates points of view between Cecily and the Welsh servant girl (Gwinny) who has to serve her family.  There are hard feelings on both sides of the English-Welsh struggle.  This book is set a bit earlier than the other ones, but it still gives a good feel for medieval times.

 

  Matthew Shardlake series by CJ Sansom.  This series of historical mysteries features Matthew Shardlake, a hunchback lawyer in the time of Henry VIII.  he longs for a nice quiet life, but his sharp mind draws the attention of men like Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer.  These men force Shardlake to help them in their political dealings.  This series is a great introduction to the time of Henry VIII and Elizabethian England.