Historical Fictionistas discussion

I am reading several books. I am enjoying "Flight Behavior" by Barbara Kingsolver.

I am currently reading My Fathers Paradise

I just finished reading "God of Vengeance" by Giles Kristian. Here's my review if you're interested! https://www.ericschumacher.net/news/2...

The FitzOsbornes in Exile – Michelle Cooper – 3***
This is book two in a series about the royal family of the fictitious island nation of Montmaray. It’s a fast read, an easy young adult novel about the beginning of World War II. The British social class of the late 1930s is described well, including the debutante season. I liked this one better than the first in the series. The characters are better developed, and I enjoy reading about strong, resourceful, intelligent young people.
LINK to my review

I am now reading the women of baker street by Michelle Birkby the sequel to the other book, and wow this is fun again am looking forward to the next book.... damn another author to make note of lol ( poor bookshelves)

The Key to Rebecca by Ken Follett. Just started, but I'm really into spies right now and the Egyptian setting is really interesting.

Finished and enjoyed The Velvet Hours

My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/1764120195

I am reading La Dernière odalisque set in Turkey and Tunisia during the first half of the previous century.

I am reading "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins. It was written in England in 1859. I am enjoying it.

I've finished The Lover by Marguerite Duras (not exactly historical, but set in early 1900s Vietnam). A very intense novella, not only about the eroticism, but also about family relationships.

My review:-

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Dem wrote: "When I read the following link http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic......"

What's the novel?

Nothing To Do But Stay – Carrie Young – 4****
The subtitle is “My Pioneer Mother,” and much of this memoir features Young’s mother Carrine Gafkjen Berg. But this is really the story of a family’s experiences in the early 20th century in North Dakota. Rather than a strictly chronological order, the book is divided into chapters by subject. All are full of wonderful, loving descriptions of life on a settler’s farm, some funny, some touchingly poignant.
LINK to my review

Just finished In the Hands of Providence which was about Joshua Chamberlain who won the medal of Honor at Gettysburg.
Next up is Scarlet pimpernel and then Pillars of the Earth by Follette.

I'm currently ready The Maltese Falcon and The Big Green Tent and enjoying both.

Book Concierge wrote: "Dem wrote: "When I read the following link http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic......."

Finished and enjoyed The Velvet Hours

My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/1764120195

Finished the wonderful marathon that is House of Niccolo Series .
Starting now Planetfall at the author's request. One other Goodreads author after that, also requested.

I just finished reading La Dernière odalisque, which is set first in Turkey during the last years of the Ottoman Empire and then mostly in Tunisia during the first half of the 20th century. I rated it 5 stars and reviewed it.

Finished March: Book Three, the third volume in civil rights icon John Lewis' graphic memoir about his early days in the movement leading up to the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. This is the longest of the trilogy and covers the shortest amount of time. It opens in September 1963 with the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham which killed four young girls. and ends August 6,1965 when President Johnson signed the 1965 Voting Rights Act into law. I highly recommend this series.

My full review here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Reading To Serve Them All My Days. This is the second book I have started in the last month that I have had trouble following. The reason here is that it almost feels like the author is speaking a foreign language there's so much British slang. Every other word I stop, scratch my head and wonder what it could mean. Getting close to setting it aside. Any Americans out there who have read this? Also reading Homegoing. Good so far.

Yes, I've read it. I really enjoyed it.

I finished "The Boelyn King and started "The Orphan Train"

I just started A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii written a group of authors calling themselves the H Team, so far so good...

Finished The Girl from the Metropol Hotel: Growing Up in Communist Russia
My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/1913569994

The Quiet American – Graham Greene – 3***
This has been cited as the quintessential book about Vietnam, especially the conflict begun with the French war. I don’t know if I would agree, but it’s definitely a good book about what was happening in the country during the mid-1950s. The reader gets some inkling of the politics of the era, but is more consumed by the personal drama of these two men and the Vietnamese woman they both say they love.
LINK to my review

Feb 25 - Currently Reading

TEXT - A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer
AUDIO in the car - Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan
MP3 Player AUDIO - Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag

I have also read all of Alyson Richman's books and have enjoyed them. Several other authors are also writing about this apartment in Paris and the woman who lived there and then abandoned it. A good book was The Paris Time Capsule and another one The Paris Apartment.

^ also I think Karen Swann has written a similar theme set around an unopened apartment and art and that sort of thing, that book intrigued me so will be fascinating to read these other books about/ or based on the same inspiration.

I'm not familiar with the author Karen Swann but am going to look her up now. Thanks.

she's not normally about historical fiction or whichever, I guess she is more modern romance chick flit, and normally I stay well clear but there is something about the story and how she writes which captivated me.

Monica wrote: "Dem wrote: "Finished and enjoyed The Velvet Hours

My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/1764120195"

I absolutely love Alyson Richman's book..."

Look forward to your thoughts Monica.

Have finished the further adventures of Sherlock Holmes the veiled detective by David Stuart Davies and am now currently reading (in the same series) Sherlock Holmes and the angel of the opera.... yes you guessed it a pastiche novel with Sherlock Holmes and the Phantom of the Opera.... it really isn't bad... quite alotbof gothic fun

I have that on my TBR list "Sherlock Holmes and the Angel of the Opera"

I'm currently reading Corrag which is set in late 17th century Scotland.

I'm reading By the Mast Divided by David Donachie. Love sea-faring stories even though I get seasick in a hottub...By the Mast Divided

Finished my commuting book, Neil Gaiman's collection of short fiction Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances which I very much enjoyed. As the title promises, these stories are mostly dark, but all sparkle with wit and originality even when dealing with such well-known characters as Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes, iconic fairy tale princesses, or Shadow from Gaiman's own American Gods. Gaiman never fails to surprise with a twist. Highly recommended.

Continuing with my Black History Month reading by taking up The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Off to a great start.

Finished My Father's Paradise and began Elinor Lipman's new novel On Turpentine Lane. I have read most of her books and find her witty with a bit of sarcasm.

Boy, Ali Smith knows how to write! Didn't realise a previous book had been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Loved her new one, Autumn - 4.5★

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

A Gentleman in Moscow is a new favourite. I don't know how Amor Towles manages to create such a full, busy world confined within a Russian hotel after the Russian revolution.

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

Started my Women's History Month reading of female authors primarily writing about historical females with Brigid of Kildare by Heather Terrell. She's a new author to me. I got the ebook through a promotion and--I'll admit it--the cover closed the deal. Off to a good start.

Ken Follett's Fall of Giants

I'm still reading Conquest of the Incas by John Hemming. It's not a quick read, well researched and fascinating though also shocking the way the a Spaniards treated the Incas and other local tribes in Peru. The insight into the Inca Royal family, empire, wealth religion and civilization is intriguing. I wish I had read this before I visited Peru.

Monica wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "A Gentleman in Moscow is a new favourite. I don't know how Amor Towles manages to create such a full, busy world confined within a Russian ...

But it's highly unusual in a small town like mine for a book about Russia to be this popular, so I suspect it must be special indeed. Can't wait to read it, one way or another. "

It's the characters and relationships and intrigue (and humour) that make the book. Russia and the effects of the revolution are pertinent but you don't need to know anything about it or be particularly interested to enjoy the story, Monica.

Finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/1923269815

Recently finished The Last Midwife by Sandra Dallas an excellent read combining historical fiction with little mystery

Am reading the drifter by christine lennon, the queen's maid of honor by michael stolle, and two others. Eagerly awaiting enemies of versailles by sally christie...

I finished "The Orphan Train" and starting Me Before You"

Just started The Conqueror's Wife: A Novel of Alexander the Great by Stephanie Thornton, definitely interesting...

Dem wrote: "Finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe..."

That one and The Magician's Nephew are my favorites in the series.

In the last month or so I've read Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, The Flame Alphabet, The Great Forgetting, and Fangland.

Last night I finished re-reading The Other Boleyn Girl (which was better than I remembered, and better than my mildly snarky review reflects). It left me with unsatisfied Tudor hunger, so am now re-reading The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers.

I'm taking a break from the Incas and have started Katherine by Anya Seton