Hello friends and enemies, today we will be discussing The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson. I have had a totally mind consuming fascination with Ancient Egypt since I was about 6 years old. I remember that was when I first read the children's book The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. I quickly tried to rope all of my friends at school into forming an Egypt Game like the one in the book and it lasted about ten minutes because Titanic had just come out in theaters and that is all anyone cared about (how the fuck was I supposed to compete with 90's Leo????). It didn't really matter though because once I lock on to an obsession I absolutely will not let it go and by 1996 Ancient Egypt was a done deal for me, I was totally in. My moms friend who babysat me and my sister sometimes knew I was a nerdy little bookworm from early on and used to take me to our local used bookstore where I picked out several books on Ancient Egypt that I was way to young to even begin to understand. Again it didn't really matter, I could look at those kick ass pictures of Nefertiti and those ancient tombs all damn day.
A few years later The Mummy, staring Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser (my husband) came out and I was finally able to convince some of my friends that devoting all of our spare time to Ancient Egypt was a really cool idea. The Mummy and its sequel furthered my obsession and my childish research. I got older and tried to cool it a little and not nerd out on all my friends all the damn time but my interest never faded, it just grew more sophisticated, or so I like to tell myself.
The brings us to The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson. I have read a lot of books about Ancient Egypt but this one is the one I recommend to everyone I talk to. I love this book because it gives a comprehensive overview of the history of Ancient Egypt and can easily get anyone started in understanding just how expansive this history is. This book covers it all from A to Z without going off down too many rabbit holes. I was able to share this book with my dad who is also a huge history buff but not as big of a reader as I am. Its super easy to get through and it almost reads like a novel, the flow and the pace are excellent! If you guys have even a mild interest in ancient civilizations I highly recommend this book. I happened to pick up my copy at The Tattered Cover which is my favorite bookstore in Denver, Colorado but I know this book is available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
Alright now time for the booze, the drink I recommend to accompany this book is a Hibiscus Tea Cocktail. Hibiscus tea is super easy to find and make and once you have that just add some vodka, pineapple juice, a little bit of sugar and some mint sprigs and you are good to go!
This post is dedicated to the love of my life, Brendan Fraser. Brendan if you're out there, hit me up.
It should be noted that I am pretty drunk right now.
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