Historical Fictionistas discussion

The Rules for my Reference:

Level 1: Countries
-Create a list of countries all from all over. This list can be as short as long as you want. If you only want to read through five countries, go for it. If you are feeling extra ambitious and you want to read through 50 countries, go for it.
-The goal is to read a work of historical fiction that takes place in all of the countries on your list. You can count the modern day country. Example - If you are reading a book that takes place in what was referred to as Czechoslovakia but is now the country known as Slovakia, you would count Slovakia as the county listed in your challenge. If you read a book that takes place in what was once the USSR but the primary setting is now known as Armenia, you would list Armenia as the country on your challenge.The only requirement is that more than half of the book’s setting is the country listed on your challenge. Example- If a book starts in Poland during WWII but within the first chapter the setting changes to England, the book would count as taking place in England. Not Poland.

-Level 2: Time Periods
-Using the list from level one, your goal is to read a book set in a different time period for each country.. Example- If England is one of your listed countries, you can choose a book from WWI. However, once you have used WWI for a country, you cannot use it for another country. Additionally, the used time periods should not be the same as your settings in level one. Example -If you read a book about Germany during WWII for level one, you can’t read another book about Germany during WWII for level two. Dual timeline stories will not count for this challenge. Books used for this level must completely take place in the time period you have selected.

-Level 3: Authors
-Again using the list you created in Level 1, you must now read a book by an author from each of those countries. The author does not have to currently live in the country listed. If an author was born in Germany but now resides in the United States, you can count their work for either Germany or the United States. You have to be able to prove the author lived in the country you have listed at some point. The book you read does not have to take place in the same country. If you read a book by a German author the book can take place in South Africa. These books do not have to be historical fiction.

-Level 4: Nonfiction
-For the final challenge level, you will use your original list and read a nonfiction book from each of your listed countries. These books do not have to be historical. Just nonfiction. They can be biographies. They can be about wars. They can be about modern politics. It doesn’t matter as long as they are nonfiction works and they are about the country from your list.

If you want to start your challenge with a list of books you plan to read, that’s fine. If you just want to find books as you go, that’s fine too. The only requirement is that you have to finish one level before continuing on to the next.

There’s no limit to the number of challenges you can do. If you want to start small and only read through two countries and all four levels for a total of eight books, go for it. If you want to read 34 books from level one and not move on to any other levels, do it. This challenge is meant to be customised. If you finish a challenge and want to move on to a new one, please make sure to start a new thread to track the new challenge.

Hmmm....tricky. Maybe if I work on the idea of reading 2 books a month towards this challenge....that would be 24 books....divided by 4 levels.....that means choosing 6 countries to work with:

Level One: Countries

1. England
(Feb) + (Time Period)

The White Mare by Jules Watson
(1st Century AE)

2. France
(Feb) + (Time Period)

The Princesse de Clèves by Madame de La Fayette
(16th Century AE) (Finished Feb 25th)

3. Italy
(Feb) + (Time Period)

The Vatican Princess: A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia by C.W. Gortner
(15th Century)

4. United States
(Feb) + (Time Period)

Tidewater: A Novel of Pocahontas and the Jamestown Colony by Libbie Hawker
(17th Century) (Finished 17th February)

5. India
(March) + (Time Period)

The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley
(20th Century)


6. Ireland
(March) + (Time Period)

The Girl on the Cliff by Lucinda Riley
(20th Century)