History: Actual, Fictional and Legendary discussion

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran

I just finished The October Horse and started Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough. I have been reading this series so long that I'm not sure what I'll do when I finish this final volume.

Tim

I'm currently reading The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White. This is a re-read of a favorite. I'm planning to make an illustrated list of the places I've already visited on my life list-I refuse to call it a bucket list. Selborne was on the list at least 15 years before I got to visit it in 1996. Thinking about the project made me decide to re-read the book.

Just started A World Lit Only by Fire. It's my current audible listen for my commute. Pretty interesting so far.

Dena, thab book,The Natural History of Selborne, brings back memories. My son wrote about that book when he was in school, and so one summer we visited Selborne and walked around the gardens. Beautiful area! We drove around and stayed at bed and breakfast inns. Pretty close to Pooh habitats also and...... What memories!

I will now start A Child al Confino: The True Story of a Jewish Boy and His Mother in Mussolini’s Italy. A GR friend was so kind to lend it to me for two weeks. Those are the Kindle rules.

Chrissie wrote: "Dena, thab book,The Natural History of Selborne, brings back memories. My son wrote about that book when he was in school, and so one summer we visited Selborne and walked around the..."

I didn't realize we could lend kindle books. I wonder if that applies to kindle on iPad which is what I use. I'm very reluctant to lend my pbooks but I wouldn't mind so much lending an ebook.

Dena, an American can lend their Kindle books once for two weeks. They can only lend it to a European if the ebook is available for purchase in Europe. Europeans cannot lend the Amazon ebooks. There is a group called Kindle Lending. The person lending the book cannot read it for that two week period.

I think it's a very new feature, lending on Kindle.

Susanna, it is a new feature! Here is the link to that lending group:

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/4...

Chrissie wrote: "Susanna, it is a new feature! Here is the link to that lending group:

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/4..."

This sounds like a great idea. I checked on Amazon and kindle for iPad books can be loaned. It doesn't look like the recipient has to have iPad any kindle reader will work. I'm not positive about that. Turns out I own 3 books that are lendable.

Dena, may I ask you what three?

Dena wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Susanna, it is a new feature! Here is the link to that lending group:

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/4..."

This sounds like a great idea. I checked on Amazon..."
Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D. E. Stevenson cozy fiction from the 1930's
Walking into Murder and Wading into Murder by Joan Dahr Lambert
I can't really reccommend the last 2. I bought them because of their settings. A walking trip in the Cotswolds and Bath.
I haven't figured out how to link the book titles yet, sorry.
None of these can be called history except that the D. E. Stevenson depicts its time.

I have the Kindle app for my iPhone so I could conceivably lend & borrow books, too? I don't have many on the Kindle app (I like page numbers!!). I would be happy to lend them if I could figure out how! LOL

Martha, go to that link I put for the Kindle Lending Group here at GR. There is a thread that explains everything. Or go to Amazon and see if you can get help at the Kindle pages. It is a piece of cake to lend using the Kindle 3, but there has to be an explanation for iPhones also. Another idea is to join the lending group and ask someone!

Dena, the link is simple! See the words "add book/author" at the top middle of the comment box? Click on that. Then write in the title or author and you will get a link when you choose add! Play around with it. If you seach for an author and then click on books, you get the author's books. Nice, huh?! I added this for youMrs Tim of the Regiment. Also if you click on the title you can read the book description. Play with it a bit and then erase what you have done.

Martha wrote: "I have the Kindle app for my iPhone so I could conceivably lend & borrow books, too? I don't have many on the Kindle app (I like page numbers!!). I would be happy to lend them if I could figure out..."

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. Some of my emails got sent to bulk mail yesterday and I just found out. Thanks for the tip.

Tim wrote: "I just finished The October Horse and started Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough. I have been reading this series so long that I'm not sure what I'll do when I finish this final volume.

Tim"

Antony and Cleopatra is the only book in the series, I haven't read. I loved the whole series. As good as historical fiction gets.

I will now start Smuggled. Why? Well because the book description drew me in. It also has a cool cover. I know this is particularly stupid since I am reading an egalley, but you sell a book by its cover too. It does play a role. Cross your fingers for me. Will my hunch prove right?

What's an egalley?

An egalley is like an arc, but in the form of a ebook, not an paper book. Changes will occur before publication. There may be misspellings and punctuation errors that should be/will be fixed before the final publication. I am wondering myself how I am suppose to judge this book. I guess I am not to get upset by such errors...... but I don't know what will be fixed, so it makes it difficult to write a review.

I will start Running in the Family b/c I love memoirs, love learning about different countries, in this case Ceylon, and b/c it is short. I prefer reading on my Kindle.

I will now start The Kitchen House. Everyone has read it. Some love it, and I think for me this will be something to sink into.

I am currently readingThe Invention of Scotland: Myth and History, a history book by Hugh Trevor-Roper.

As an Englishman, Trevor-Roper uses the traditional English designation of the inhabitants of Scotland as Scotch. Most inhabitants of Scotland prefer to be called Scots and consider Scotch a bottle of whiskey. Since I know some Scots, I understand why they feel the English name for them is insulting.

This book is still very interesting. It ascribes political motivations to various Scottish historians and explains the political context of each historian.

I have just been reading about how Highlanders became "noble savages" in the late 18th century. Yet at the same time the Greeks of Homer were criticized for their manners using phrases that sound Victorian to me. That's very strange.

Sounds very interesting! I'm adding it.

I'll never forget his "autheticating" the so-called "Hitler Diaries." An interesting but controversial historian, H.R. Trevor-Roper.

The War at Troy by Lindsay Clarke

Is it historical fiction, or history?

Ed wrote: "Tim wrote: "I just finished The October Horse and started Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough. I have been reading this series so long that I'm not sure what I'll do when I finish this final..."

Thanks, Ed, I agree completely. I finished Antony and Cleopatra today. It was not quite as exciting as some of the other volumes of the series, but still informative and entertaining. I do recommend it.

Tim

I am reading Valeria's Last Stand. I must say - I am kind of struggling. I was hoping it would have the charm of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, but it doesn't.

Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson
I'm half done and loving it so far.

Sounds great, Moony! I've added it.

I will now start Babette's Feast. It is written by Isak Dinesen, although she also writes under the name Karen Blixen. Most of you have read or heard of Out of Africa, by the same author. I am reading this b/c it is short and hope to soon start a borrowed Kindle book and because I hate cooking. This book shows the beauty of cooking and what can be achieved through it. At least, that is what I have been told by a Spanish friend. She adored cooking. I enjoyed the movie which I saw years ago, but it was in Danish and French. I didn't understand all parts because I do not know Danish. In pronounciation it is not that close to Swedish. I was at that point beginning to learn French.

Chrissie wrote: "I will now start Babette's Feast. It is written by Isak Dinesen, although she also writes under the name Karen Blixen. Most of you have read or heard of Out of Africa,..."

Did you give up on Valeria's Last Stand? I enjoyed it. It reminded me of the H. E. Bates stories about the Larkin clan.

Dem, I stuck it out with Valeria's Last Stand. I rarely quit a book....... however I only gave it 1 star. In the thread called Member's Reviews I linked to my GR review. I explained why I disliked it. OK, I liked the potter and Valeria, but the villagers, the chimneysweep the mayor, Ibolya, and others were drawn up in a cartoonish manner. If I had liked the humor of the book maybe I could have enjoyed it more. It was very slapstick. Just not to my taste. There were some good thoughts and some funny lines, but not enough to outweigh all the other garbage I had to get through. That is only my opinion. To enjoy this book you must like slapstick humor. I do not.

Chrissie wrote: "Dem, I stuck it out with Valeria's Last Stand. I rarely quit a book....... however I only gave it 1 star. In the thread called Member's Reviews I linked to my GR review. I explained why I disliked ..."

I asked my question before I saw that you had reviewed the book. I've since added a comment to your review. I read Valeria because you mentioned it. I've gotten several good reads from your lists.

Dem, that is what is so wonderful about GR. We all help eachother find interesting books. It is also nice that you enjoyed Valeria's Last Stand more than I did. You saw it with different eyes than I did. I think we all approach books differently depending on our past experiences. You explanation to what you got out of the book, let me view it in a manner I hadn't seem before - although I still cannot give it more stars. I too found interesting elements, for me it was the way the potter looked at art and his relationship with Valeria. Talking about the book is fun too.

I have wanted to read The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe from the moment it caught my eye. I have received an egalley. I am really excited to start. It is a memoir about a family living in Afghanistan when the Taliban took over. It is a true story.

I'm reading The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. It's about two men--the man who built the World Fair in Chicago, and the serial killer who was loose on the city at the same time. I'm only 8% into it (kindle version), but so far it's really interesting. It's my first Larson book, but from what everyone has been telling me, he's contagious and I won't be able to stop at one of his books!

Tisha, I adored the book you are reading, not for the bits on the murders, but more for the information about Chicago and the fair. Learning about Olmert was so interesting. I mean they guy who also planned Central Park in NYC. I might be spelling his name wrong....
I think I have another one of his books sitting on my shelf here.

Frederick Law Olmstead designed Central Park.

I also enjoyed the part about Burnham more than the part about the serial killer.

Another book about a world's fair of the period that I really liked was Eiffel's Tower: And the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count.

Susanna, thank you for the correction. Olmstead, not Olmert.... I got the first syllable right! I knew it was Olm - something!!! I never can remember names correctly. Anyhow, didn(t you find him fascinating? In that book, he was the guy I most enjoyed learning about.

Olmstead is very interesting - one of his gardens is near here, at Biltmore near Asheville, NC.

I agree about OlmSTEAD. I am trying to hammer that into my head.

Now I will start The White Woman on the Green Bicycle. Will I get get an interesting love story and learn about Trinidad? I am hoping for culture and history and interestng people.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America was good, but I agree with Chrissie and Susanna, the part about the White City was more enjoyable than the part about the "devil". I think that the book could have supported itself without it.

Anyway I'm on to The Killer Angels(about the Battle of Gettysburg) now. I can't believe it's taken me so long to get around to read this--it's been on my shelves forever, I just haven't taken the time to read it.

The Biltmore is wonderful .. quite an experience. I sat in the grape arbor for a long time and got some wonderful pictures of the garden & the arbor.

I would certainly love to see the Biltmore with my own eyes....

It is beautiful. I went with my sister-in-law who is in much better shape than I am. I stopped to rest in the grape arbor while she went on. I heard a dove & found it was right above me ... got some great close-ups of what turned out to be two doves. It is definitely worth the expense. They are continually working on restoring more rooms. The library is definitely one of my favorite rooms. :-)

There is so much I haven't seen.....

The important thing isn't to see everything but to still have lots of places you want to see.
My role-model is a German friend who had been a ballerina. When I saw her on crutches with a caste I thought she had probably gotten unstable with age and tripped in her home as many older people do. Not her! She had tripped while touring Machu Pichu. I believe she was 85 at the time. It wouldn't be pleasant to break a leg anywhere but if I do I'd rather do it in Machu Pichu than my living room.