- Hardcover: 368 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (November 1, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0316001929
- ISBN-13: 978-0316001922
Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; assassination was a family specialty. Cleopatra appears to have had been with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and–after his murder–three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends.
This was our book club read while I was in Honduras. I had the best of intentions to read it before I left, but life happenings, a very sick dog, and hard decisions made that… ummm… not happen. Upon my return from Honduras I connected with a couple of the girls in the group and they shared not only their thoughts… but also pictures!!!
We were all surprised by the role of women in Egypt during this time. They had so many rights and were held in such high esteem. They were able to own land and many riches and sometimes the husbands were the ones left at home weaving by the loom. We wondered what created the shift in our culture to relegate women as so far beneath men that we had to struggle in the last century to get some of our rights back. One of the questions in the discussion guide asked if women could ever go backward in rights again and all of us believed it would not happen to us again.
While we still do not know a lot about Cleopatra even after reading the book, what we did learn was fascinating. She was very rich and slightly manipulative. She was charming and even (look at the pictures in the book) kind of ugly.
The Bookies advice to me.. dont bother reading it. Most of the girls did not finish it, finding it hard to get into. However I was also told it is not as long as it looks.. the last 60 pages are pictures.
Overall with 8 Bookies in attendance, the book rating was way below average.
The food however – was fun:
and finally – Amy was our very own Cleopatra:
Which leads me to burst with pride for our AWESOME book club! As I sit here and write this review I am prompted to jot down a few (ok maybe more than a few) reasons I enjoy the Bookies so much:
1. We go the extra mile to make the reviews interesting
2. Special event months like our Summer Queen event, Classic Hat and Read month, and Christmas party
3. Digging deep for bonus info on books and authors
4. We value each others opinions
5. We agree to occasionally disagree 😛
6. Food that is prompted by the books we read
7. An amazing and passionate group of girls that have turned from a group of book lovers to friends
8. Stretched to read books and genres I may not have chosen but found out I enjoyed
9. It’s ok to not read the book. 😯
10. 10+ years of Bookies, started in August 2001 with 3 girls and now 10 years later we have 14.
Book Journey 
Your book club really takes the prize!
Even when the book isnt the greatest… our reviews usually are 😀
I think your book club is awesome! Love the food, etc. Wish I could be there! lol
I wish you could too Laurel… you would make a lovely addition 😀
You do have an amazing book group. I didn’t make it through this book either, but my mom really liked it.
I think I would have liked the history behind it…. but if it dragged as bad as they said it did….
I probably would have had the figs too. 😛
I started to listen to this one on audio and it bored me to death! lol It looks like the Bookies had a great time though!
We usually have a good time if the book is good or not…. the bad ones are fun to discuss too 😀
Of course the food and the occasional surprise of a dressed up host doesnt hurt either 😛
Wow, I’m surprised – I really liked this book!
I also worry that women will slip backwards and lose rights. Our reproductive rights, especially, are constantly under attack.
Your book club looks like a lot of fun. I’m currently book-club-less, which makes me sad! I miss talking about my reads. Blogging helps, but it’s not the same as getting together in person with a group of friends.
My copy of the book is currently loaned out to a fellow Bookie but I think I may give it a “skim” when it comes back….
I have read a bit on Cleopatra in the past and found her fascinating…
And so sorry you are book club-less! You need to fin that – books and friends and staples of life 😀
Your book club sounds fantastic! I wish I knew enough readers in IRL that love to read as much as I do. Too bad that Cleopatra was such a bust.
I wish you had a reading group too… mine is a great fix for monthly eye to eye book discussions 😀
Your book group rocks – Fig Newtons, Greek yogurt, and a hostess that dresses like Cleopatra – wow!
I did enjoy this take on Cleopatra (which, admittedly had a lot of holes, because there are so many holes in the historical record).
They make me proud to be one of them Dawn 😀 For December we are reading The Christmas Wedding by Patterson… I wonder if someone will dress a bride….
hmmm……
Not me! I haven’t been able to fit in my wedding dress since two years after I got married (that’s what kids do to you!) I’ll dress up as…the wedding photographer! 🙂
Honestly Angie… and this is pretty sad… I have no idea where mine is…. 😯
Amy makes a beautiful Cleopatra!
She does – and she is crazy like me so that helps 😀
I love that your book club is so enthusiastic, flexible and fun! The book club I am in is awesome, but attendance has been way down lately (several months of just three people). But since we’re usually in a coffee shop gabbing for hours we still have a fantastic time.
I am glad your group is fun Alyce! For awhile we were at 18 and we had a hard time finding places to meet where we all fit and where we could all be heard.
We are not always consistent attenders, but even those who can not attend the meeting usually email their thoughts on the book so that is cool 🙂
We read this in my Book Group too, and we all hated it, it will be our worst read of the year I am sure. Very disappointing!
We actually do a recap each year for best Bookie read – and the worst… I think this may be in the running for the worst for us as well.
Bummer. And it was a Pulitzer winner too.
Right! I dont get that…..
I love your book club!! What a great blessing to find a group of women that go beyond the call of duty to make this club great!
They are so awesome Staci 😀
This book club sounds awesome, I really wish I could find one in my hometown. Reading reviews online is fun, and finding sites where discussions are going is fine too but nothing beats social interaction.
That is so true – they take me to the next level.
I’ve been quite enjoying this read, actually, though I’m a bit more of a sporadic reader in this case. Definitely planning to finish the read though.
I am glad Elena…. when I get my copy back I will take a peek at it… 😀
Wow….what a great book club.
I heard the book wasn’t that great. 🙂