Historical Fictionistas discussion

Margaret wrote: "Now reading Before we were Yours by Lisa Wingate which was an author giveaway. Looks to be very good."

That is based on an actual event.

Margaret wrote: "Just finished Blood Moon by Ruth Chatlien a brilliant 5 Stars. Now I’m back to [book:"

I'm so pleased that you enjoyed it.

One of the best books read this year.

Castle Rackrent - by Maria Edgeworth. I'll confess that it has moments of interest but I'm feeling my way through...

A bunch of historical mysteries, namely the secret life of anna blanc




Death comes by sue hallgarth

What is forgiven by c.f yetmen

The samurai of seville

Completed A Knight of the Word. Onto the last of three: Angel Fire East.

I finished Dragonflight and starting "Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Just read Open Veins of Latin America by Galeano

About to start A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi. I loved her last book that I read called The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, so I can't wait to read this one.

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Finished reading I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You and starting Dragonflight"

Oh, I love Dragonflight. Most of her Pern books in fact.

Tony wrote: "Not fiction but it often feels like it. I'm re-reading The Gunpowder Plot by Antonia Fraser. I've read and researched lots of books about the Gunpowder Plot but this is ..."

Remember, remember
the fifth of November
gunpowder, treason and plot!!

Still working on Darconville’s Cat, and laughing like a crazy person at the chapter with the faculty party. It's like Dickens + Mervyne Peake + I don't know, William Faulkner or somebody? Scathing.

Michele wrote: "Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Finished reading I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You and starting Dragonflight"

Oh, I love Dragonflight. Most of her P..."

I didn't like it. I preferred the Harpers of Pern books the best.

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "I didn't like it. I preferred the Harpers of Pern books the best. "

Dragonsong and Dragonsinger were my favorites as well, though I did like all of them.

I really loved the Acorna: The Unicorn Girl series.

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "I finished Dragonflight..."

OMG, It's been so long since I read the Pern books, I assumed you were talking about a more recent book by another author. I loved the early books and (used to) regularly re-read both Dragonflight and Dragonsong. I recently had the itch to dig them both out for a nostalgia kick. My subconscious?

I finished reading The Orphan Tale by skimming the last 100 pages. I wasn't bowled over by this book although many loved it. I found the writing for a YA audience and boring.

I am reading Moonglow by Michael Chabon and so far am enjoying this title.

Nancy, "Moonglow" is really something else! I loved it and included some interesting links to Chabon in my review. I think you'd enjoy the interviews.

Nancy from NJ wrote: "I finished reading The Orphan Tale by skimming the last 100 pages. I wasn't bowled over by this book although many loved it. I found the writing for a YA audience and boring."

I loved the Orphan Tale

Faith wrote: "Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "I finished Dragonflight..."

OMG, It's been so long since I read the Pern books, I assumed you were talking about a more recent book by another author. I loved the e..."

I really enjoyed Dragonsong, Dragondrum and Dragonsinger. Dragonflight not so much.

Jayme - I read the Orphans Tale for a book group and listening to the author
Pam Jenoff speak T our Jewish Community Center. I think one of the reasons I didn't like this book is that I really dislike the circus. I also didn't really like the car actress and thought the writing could have been better. But that's me and I think most people really enjoyed this book.

Patty - so far I am enjoying Moonglow and hope this will push me to read more by this author. Have you read anything by his wife, the author Ayelet Waldman? My favorite book of hers for me is Love and Other Treasures.

Christine - I have The Poet's Wife and can't wait to read it base in your loving it.

Nancy, this is the only book I've read by this obviously talented family. I will have to check her out too,

I also hope you read books by Ayelet Waldman. She is quite an interesting woman. Educated at Harvard, she worked as a lawyer at first and then wrote a series about a young mom and lawyer who is also a private detective. I first read these books which I enjoyed. Once she established herself as a seasoned writer, she tackled more serious subjects.

This author also wrote a controversial article about being a mother and wife. She maintained if she lost one of her 4 children, she would grieve but it would be nothing compared to losing her husband. She received quite a lot of negative comments and reviews.

Several years ago, this author revealed that she suffers from bipolar disease.

Ok Patty - I need some encouragement. I have read 25% of Moonglow and I was getting itchy to put this book down. I have a thing with certain authors like John Irving and Joyce Carol Oates. That I won't be able to read their books. And after trying to read The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay instead unsuccessfully, I just assumed I couldn't read this author either. Then my book group chose to read Moonglow and I decided to be objective and read this book.

Nancy from NJ wrote: "Ok Patty - I need some encouragement. I have read 25% of Moonglow and I was getting itchy to put this book down. I have a thing with certain authors like John Irving and Joyce Carol Oates. That I w..."

I have a friend who feels the same way you do about Michael Chabon's books while I'm a big fan. So she and I have agreed to disagree about his books. I loved The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, was "meh" about The Yiddish Policemen's Union, and loved Moonglow almost as much as I did Kavalier and Clay.

As to the topic of "what are you reading" I'm working on The Gustav Sonata. I'm in the section pre-WWII, and I have a feeling I'm going to be learning a lot about Switzerland's "neutrality" in this section.

Patty - I must admit that as a reader I do one of the dumbest things possible. I usually read one star reviews which naturally are scathing. Now I open up the book and have a natural predilection to be very negative. When I used to read a book I would read the last page from rest. I trained myself to put a rubber band around the last 50 pages and it did work. Now how can I cure myself of reading 1 star reviews? Ha Ha

Did a quick re-read of Dragonsong. I was in love with this series and the Dragonrider books in my early 20's and re-read them a few times, but not in the past couple of decades. I've always recommended this book to teens and YA and now remember why. It does an excellent job of showing the feelings of alienation and confusion as young people try to figure out how they will fit into the world--especially when they don't fit into their natural communities. Anne McCaffrey does such a great job of SF/F world-building, that you sometimes miss the underlying universal humanity of her writing. Still highly recommended!

Recent history - set in 1984


Karma – Cathy Ostlere – 3***
This young adult novel is told entirely in verse, making for a very fast read. While there is a “love story” in the plot, the book includes some pretty serious matter: religious strife between Sikhs and Hindus, civil and political unrest in India, and the treatment of women. Maya is a strong female lead, despite the trauma she’s faced and her withdrawal into herself.
LINK to my review

I just finished

Nancy - I also make a point of reading one-star and two-star reviews, and if I find a well-written one about a book I'm particularly interested in, I compare books with that reviewer. Then I get a sense of whether or not we have similar tastes.

It's not a matter of being a literary snob, but if someone likes only chick-lit and quick thrillers (or what used to be called dime novels in my American childhood), chances are they won't care much for my favourite authors or books. And I look to see if any authors I like are on their shelves.

It's not foolproof (I enjoy dime novels, too!), but it saves me from being swayed by those falling over themselves to give 5 stars to all of their advanced reader/reviewer copies.

Recently finished Alan Furst's latest: A Hero of France . He's a master in the genre I write in, historic spy novels, and I love his books. The plot, characters, and texture of A Hero of France were of the same wonderfully high quality as in his other novels; I thought he rushed the ending. A little too much deus ex machina -- or maybe machine gun.

I'm reading the nonfiction book Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, about the assassination of James Garfield. I knew a bit about Garfield's assassination before because of a historical short story I wrote, but this account is fascinating and reads well.

I'm also reading Nefertiti on my Kindle, and I'm listening to A Piece of the World on audio.

Patty - I would be interested to know some of your favorite authors. I think there's a way of doing this through Goodreads. And I know what you mean about being a literary snob. I used to love romance stories but at some point I stopped reading them.i remember some of these books fondly but don't miss the genre.

Hi all, I just finished Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. I think it was beautifully written. What a way with words! I'm now reading Beneath A Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan. Love it.

AliasGrace is going to be on soon, at one of the streaming channels.

I just watched up through episode 5 on Netflix last night. It is very good and follows the book closely.

Yes, Stacey. After I wrote this I saw Alias Grace was already on Netflix. I have never read anything by Margaret Atwood. I think she's a bit above my head and I could never get into her books.

I read a lot of Moonglow today and hope to finish this by Monday. But then I needed a little bit of a breather so I began reading Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart. I loved her book, We Were Liars, which had a great twisted ending. And this afternoon I picked up the following titles from the library - Turtles All the Way Down by John Green and The Light-Keeper's Daughter by Jean Penziwold.

Nancy from NJ wrote: "Patty - I would be interested to know some of your favorite authors. I think there's a way of doing this through Goodreads. And I know what you mean about being a literary snob. I used to love roma..."

Oh. gee. My tastes do change, Nancy. I've got a Favourites bookshelf and everything of mine is open to the public. Books I used to have fun with might exasperate me now. I grew up with my dad's library which featured American authors - Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway - and have fond memories of them all.

I'm not sure why I like Cormac McCarthy so much, but Elizabeth Strout is easier to explain -wonderful. I am not a fan of Jodi Picoult or Danielle Steel. Not sure that helps!

Started The Devil's Fire, a pirate tale. Unfortunately, it smacks of another such book I read awhile ago. Same starting plot. I probably will not continue with the series.

Patty - my father had an extensive library and I also read many of the classics- Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, Lawrence Durrell and lots of books on the Holocaust. I read a variety of authors which change over time. As a new mother I read all of Danielle Steel and James Patterson's books. I still do every once in awhile especially when I'm having problems concentrating or difficult times. I do read Jodi Picoult and love some of her books and not others. I also read mysteries - I really like the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. I find that if I read an author, I usually read all of their books but I sometimes leave a series without finishing all of the books. Of all the genres I read, I find I still enjoy books about generations of families and historical fiction.

I just finished David Copperfield. While it isn't historical fiction, it surely gives a wonderful window upon life in nineteenth-century England. To me, good historical fiction does exactly that - and who's more likely to get it right: the man who writes two hundred years ago, about what life was like two hundred years ago; or the man who writes now, about life two hundred years ago?

This is my favorite Dickens work, and that's saying something. I would have to say, I can't name an author who demonstrates better command of picturesque metaphor than Dickens.

Drums of Autumn – Diana Gabaldon – 3.5*** (rounded up)
Book number four in the bestselling Outlander series, has Jamie and Claire making their home in the mountains of North Carolina. I just love this series. Gabaldon writes compelling stories with characters I care about. Even the ones I hate (Brianna) keep me interested and engaged, and the action is non-stop.
LINK to my review

Rian wrote: "I just finished David Copperfield. While it isn't historical fiction, it surely gives a wonderful window upon life in nineteenth-century England. To me, good historical fiction does exactly that - ..."

I'm sure all of Dickens is historical fiction except for any news articles and the like he may have written. I think if a story takes place more than 50 years ago it can be called historical fiction, although it seems funny to consider a story that takes place in 1965 as historical fiction!

Would a moderator clarify, please?
UPDATE: See below for definition. Must be written at least 50 years after the event by someone who wasn't alive then.

I'm not a moderator but will agree when Patty says historical fiction should be 50 years ago and have some relevance today as it did then. First r instance the story of Mother by Duchess count, good vs. evil is timeless.

I read Home and A Mercy by author Toni Morrison. "Home" is set in 1950 and "a mercy" is set in 1690.