THE SCARLET MANSION. Eckert, Allan W. March 2000.

I read this in April 2012.  Again, this was a book club selection for the First Tuesday Book Club I participate in. 

The entire time I was reading this, I thought I was reading a biography of Herman Mudgett, alias Dr. Henry Holmes, the notorious serial killer (one of this country's first) who supposedly killed over 130 people throughout the latter half of the 19th century.  The non-fiction book, DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY (which is a better book than this one) is based partly on the murders Holmes committed in Chicago before and during the 1893 World's Fair. 
This book, however, is actually a novel based on fact.  It reads like a case history or biography though.  Having learned it was actually a novel, I thought less of it.  Some liberties are taken with Holmes' inner thoughts and of course, conversations that witnesses never heard, but I feel they could have been handled in a more intimate, creative way than those details are handled in this book.  The book again, reads like a case history, and therefore, it's tone is very dry and completely chronological. 

Other than that, Holmes' = who basically made his living swindling people, then killed many of them - including their children, just for kicks - story is a fascinating, albeit highly disturbing one.  I actually stayed up late a couple of nights reading this. 

However, I only recommend this to hardcore fans of serial killers, or late 19th century crime stories.  Read DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY by Erik Larsen instead.  The latter is truly a fascinating, rich book. 

Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt. Hoffman, Beth. October 2010.

I read this in March 2012.  This was a First Tuesday book club selection. 

Cee Cee Honeycutt survives the tragic death of her mentally disturbed, yet free-spirited mother, only to be separated from her father to go live with her elderly aunt in Savannah Georgia in the 1960s.  There she meets and befriends many older women, all free spirits in their own way.  

This is an okay novel.  I was thoroughly engaged with the story while reading it, and read it quickly, but felt like it was geared more toward young adults, and even then, felt there is too much of a Pollyanna undertone to the some of the more serious situations in the story. 

I happened to be vacationing in Savannah when I started reading the book, ironically.  Totally not planned on my part.  It did make reading the book much more interesting, having actually been in the city and neighborhoods described in the novel. 

Recommended only for those really interested in novels about Savannah.  Really. 

Cleopatra: A Life. Schiff, Stacy. Sept. 2011

Published around the same time as Adrian Goldworthy's biography of Antony and Cleopatra.  Between the two, I found this one more of an enjoyable read.  Many details and events in both Antony's and Cleopatra's life were filled in here, that had been absent from Goldworthy's bio.  Schiff also seems more sympathetic to both Cleopatra and Antony despite their many personal shortcomings and failures.
Recommended not only for history buffs...

Antony and Cleopatra. Goldsworthy, Adrian. September 2010.

I read this book around Christmas 2011.
After reading the novel about Cleopatra, I saw this book on the new books shelf at the library (although it's a couple of years old).  This is part biography of both Antony and Cleopatra, and part historical account.  First, the good - very in-depth portrayal of not only the events in both A and C's lives, but also of the social and political fabric of the Roman empire, both locally and abroad in their colonies.  I learned much about the Roman political system, that I never knew before, just reading this book.  The entire first third of the book discusses Julius Caesar in depth as well, as it's really impossible to understand the events surrounding Antony and Cleopatra without understanding the events surrounding Julius Caesar.

Now the not-so-good - the details of Antony and Cleopatra's time spent together and decades-long love affair seem simply glossed over and generalized.  I understood, before and while reading this book that not a lot is known about the two.  However, just after reading this, I read Cleopatra:  A Life, by Stacy Schiff, and many more facts were revealed about both.
Overall, though, this was a good read, and I also believe, despite the rushed gloss at the end, that this is how more history books should be written - with lots of details about the society and culture behind the politicians and politics of the day.