Irulan - I agree the Penman books are pretty good and I also have enjoyed the Shardlake series. I've not read anything by Bernard Cornwell yet though I have seen part of the Sharpe series - I will have to add him to my list.

It is nice to see what everyone is reading. I finally joined Good Reads the other day and am figuring out how it works. I read mainly classics and fiction - especially historical fiction, mysteries, fantasy/speculative/science fiction.