Nicholas and Alexandra

I just finished the excellent faux biography called Lady Sings the Blues. There's a movie by the same name, I am piqued enough to seek it out. Between LSTB and Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I need an upbeat African American book for a change. Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart probably won't help. My new two books I've started reading simultaneously, and almost accidentally. One is called Conquistador by Buddy Levy. It should be boring, but reads like a thriller. There are throwaway gems, like a dog abandoned a year ago, which comes back barking while people are landing near the Aztec city Tenochtitlan, and the fact that Cortes' team demolished the local gods on the temple and installed a cross on the same day. But most random find is Nicholas and Alexandra, by Robert Massie. The movie was shown on Bangladesh Television, I don't remember if I watched it. The book is emotional and dense, and humane. Years of Russian history presented in a nice manner. I hope I get to finish it this week.