Historical Fictionistas discussion

I've started reading Lilac Girls. I feel a bit put off because the author was narrating fiction in the historical past and then made a reflection that is based in the present about the historical past. I hope it gets better.

I started The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor, so far I am loving it.

Finished and enjoyed The Stolen Marriage

My Review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/2078846969

I finished "Jane Eyre" and starting "Thirteen Reasons Why"

Where the Trees Were ("were" being the operative word) by Aussie author Inga Simpson should embarrass all thinking Aussies.
4★ Link to my review

Just finished The Midnight Rose. I read it because I read a book (The Orchid House) by the same author that left me thinking about it for several weeks after reading.

I much prefer The Orchid House, but it was a nice read nonetheless.

Finished Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Read for one of my challenges and also because I'd heard so much about it. Turned out to be a wonderful book absolutely deserving of 5 stars! My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick – 5***** and a ❤
What a treasure! This inventive, unusual novel in words and pictures, won the Caldecott medal for illustration. The book is intended for children, but will delight adults as well. The story of Hugo, Isabelle and Papa Georges is enthralling, and kept me guessing. But the drawings … oh, the drawings! The reader really needs to spend some time pouring over these intricate illustrations.
LINK to my review

I've just finished Belgravia by Julian Fellowes of Dounton Abbey fame. An excellent complex plot and comment on British society and clas structure set in the 1840s

Back to South America I'm reading open veins of Latin America by

Back to South America I'm reading Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano

Loved Frank who saves people with music - vinyl only! - in The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce, who is well-known for another favourite of mine and others, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I'm happy to say Frank and his friends are equally wonderful characters.
4.5★ Link to my review of The Music Shop

If you're interested in Harold Fry, I gave him 5★
Link to my review of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

I read The Captain's Daughter (English French Edition illustrated): La Fille du capitaine, set in 18th century Russia.

Had a couple of good reads recently, but this wasn't one of them. Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker. It did fill a challenge slot, though. :)
3★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Am enjoying [The Cry of the Fish Eagle] by Peter Rimmer.

I've been writing, so not much pleasure reading, but finally creeping up on the end of Dictator. I've very much enjoyed this series about the life of Cicero. Knowing how it turns out just makes the ending that much more poignant.

Erin wrote: "Currently reading The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile! Got it as a great Goodreads deal and I am almost finished. This book has had some great character developments fro..."

I loved that I learned so much about Spanish history through the novel - a solid 4-star read for me.

Another new favourite. Romance, but not soppy. Julie Cohen has put a couple through quite an obstacle course in Together 5★
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The ScandalJust finished Beartown otherwise. Known as

My Review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/2112814517

Enjoying a historical mystery by Deanna Raybourn

Just finished My Cousin Rachel, by Daphne Du Maurier.

My Cousin Rachel

It was pretty darned good. Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished "Thirteen Reasons Why" and starting "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" by John Boyne

Sept 17 - Currently Reading

TEXT – Lamb in His Bosom / Caroline Miller
AUDIO in the car – Blood, Bones, and Butter / Gabrielle Hamilton
MP3 Player AUDIO – Dreams of Joy / Lisa See

Book Concierge wrote: "Sept 17 - Currently Reading

TEXT – Lamb in His Bosom / Caroline Miller
AUDIO in the car – [bookcover:Blood, Bones, and Butter|845..."

I'll be curious to see what you think of the Lisa See novel. I have thought of picking that one up.

Finished Sargent's Women: Four Lives Behind the Canvas

My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/2095917657

I'm done with fantasy for a bit. Finished Legends of the Nameless Dwarf: The Complete Saga. On to 17th Century Amsterdam and The Coffee Trader.

Elinor wrote: "Just finished My Cousin Rachel, by Daphne Du Maurier.

My Cousin Rachel

It was pretty darned good. Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show......"

I watched the new movie while flying home from Europe. It said it was based on the book, but it didn't seem like what I remembered. I loved the book and will now go back and re-read it.

Anyone who's taught or had kids in primary school will recognise the school/family dynamics in The Teacher's Secret by Aussie author Suzanne Leal.
3★ My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Warrior Princess and Pope Joan

Monica wrote: "The Warrior Princess and Pope Joan"

I enjoyed Pope Joan, but never followed up on its historical accuracy. Will be interested to hear what you think.

Finished non-fiction title The Stolen Village: Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates, which is about the slave trade that thrived on the North African coast in 17th century Europe.

I gave it 3 stars as I found the book a bit dry and was under the impression that the author didn't have adequate recorded facts of the particular Baltimore incident to base his book on, and thus had to draw upon other similar incidents of the Barbary pirates' capture of white slaves to make up the story. I was glad, though, to have learned a bit about the history of the Barbary pirates and their slave trade.

I'm reading A Man without Breath by Philip Kerr

I finished "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and going back to "Salem Falls"

Faith wrote: "Monica wrote: "The Warrior Princess and Pope Joan"

I enjoyed Pope Joan, but never followed up on its historical accuracy. Will be interested to hear what you think."

I loved Pope Joan as well. I read a few biographies/nonfiction books on the subject, but it is difficult for people to really make a determination since the Catholic Church does not want to cooperate with an investigation leading that way.

Finished and ennjoyedThe Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau

My Review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/2072912183

Finally finished up two books that took me waaaay too long to finish, Dictator and Lawrence and the Arabs. Started The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende which I'm very much enjoying.

The Book of Lost and Found a comfy read.

Sept 23 - Currently Reading

TEXT – Living to Tell the Tale / Gabriel García Márquez
AUDIO in the car – Death on the Nile / Agatha Christie
MP3 Player AUDIO – Dracula / Bram Stoker

Nonfiction but may be of interest ....


The Zookeeper’s Wife - Diane Ackerman – 4****
When the Nazis occupied Poland during WW2, many Polish citizens helped to shelter their Jewish friends and neighbors. This is the story one of family, and the wife and mother in particular: Antonina Zabinski, the zookeeper’s wife. It’s a fascinating story, and well told.
LINK to my review

I just finished Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables - I wasn't expecting so much of a psychological read, but it really was spooky sometimes. A lot of very odd characters too, just helped to develop the eerie feeling. A good read.

Finished The 6th Lamentation -- WWII + present-day. Got a bit convoluted and Dickensian there at the end, but terrific writing and characters. Love Anselm.

Read a few unknown ones by classic authors that I love: The Glimpses of the Moon (Edith Wharton), Lady Susan (Jane Austen -- a bit like a milder version of Les Liaisons dangereuses!), and The Machine Stops (E. M. Forster).

The latter was disturbing in its prescience about modern-day interwebz. The part where everyone decides that direct experience/knowledge of X should be abandoned in favor of talking about what someone else wrote about what someone else thought about what someone else said about X hit a little too close to home in these days of alternative facts and truth being whatever the loudest people agree it is. Yikes.

Finished The Coffee Trader, started Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man.

Great to find a new crime series! Resurrection Bay by Aussie author Emma Viskic is #1, and #2 is waiting on my shelf!

My review: 4★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm currently reading The Dark Domain - weird, dark, wild tales by a Polish author, reminiscent of Robert Aickmann.

The Kind Worth Killing and Lizzy and Jane. Trying to catch up on my reading challenge

I'm just back from the library and can't wait to start Passionate Minds, a non-fiction title about Voltaire's love affair with French scientist Emilie du Chatelet.

Just finished Asylum (by Madeleine Roux). Not really historical fiction, but it does weave past and present together. Either way, I really enjoyed it!

Also not sure how to add links, or I totally would.

C.C.Webb wrote: "Also not sure how to add links, or I totally would. "

If you're on the phone, you can't (alas!). If you're on a computer, click the "add book/author" link right above the box where you type your comment.

C.C.Webb wrote: "Just finished Asylum (by Madeleine Roux). Not really historical fiction, but it does weave past and present together. Either way, I really enjoyed it!

Also not sure how to add links, or I totally ..."

I read this book for another challenge this season.

I'm reading "Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee