History: Actual, Fictional and Legendary discussion

Once you loose your curiostiy you are dead.

Dena, I love that story!! I have a lot of trouble walking due to joint problems. But I was still at a track & field competition on Saturday with my group of 30 athletes!! Thankfully, we had several coaches this year. We had such a great time. I'm usually wiped out afterward, but in many ways they keep me young and it is always worth the pain I experience later! :-)

Martha wrote: "Dena, I love that story!! I have a lot of trouble walking due to joint problems. But I was still at a track & field competition on Saturday with my group of 30 athletes!! Thankfully, we had several..."

I understand completely. I struggle with a chronic illness which slows me down but for things that are really worthwhile I choose to accept the inevitable payback and enjoy the moment.

Now I will startThe Oriental Wife. Why? I don't know. It just plain looks interesting. I am reading an egalley. I am a little worried how any book can possibly compare to the one I have just read?! This is what is so delightful with books. Each one is so different. Here we have two from Nuremberg, Germany, who meet up in the US and something from the past plays havoc with their future. What? I don't know. That is why I must read the book!

Biltmore is gorgeous - it's handy living only about 45 minutes away from Asheville. Which is a very neat town, by the way.

What I saw of Asheville in the short time I was there I enjoyed. I hope to go back. The scenery is gorgeous even in town. I live in the midwest ... lots of flat farmland so I'm a sucker for beautiful scenery!

Now I will start The Forgotten Highlander. Everybody else is reading Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption but I am guessing that Urquhart's book is more to my taste. Both have the same subject matter. One is a biography and the other an autobiography. I also want to read The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. If I haven't had my fill by then I can read Unbroken. My husband got to The Forgotten Highlander before I did. He said I really should read it. He is an even pickier reader than me!

Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family by John H. Davis

Chrissie wrote: "Now I will start The Forgotten Highlander. Everybody else is reading Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption but I am guessing that Urqu..."

I've read both Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption and The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. Both were memorable, but for different reasons. When I read Unbroken, I was compelled to stop and update my husband every so often--it wasn't a "keep quiet and read alone" book. The Rape of Nanking. . .it haunted me for months afterward.

Tina, perhaps I was unclear. I definitely want to read The Rape of Nanking. What I was comparing is Unbroken versus The Forgotten Highlander.

Sorry, my "add book/author button" is on the blink..... I only get a black page!

Chrissie wrote: "Tina, perhaps I was unclear. I definitely want to read The Rape of Nanking. What I was comparing is Unbroken versus The Forgotten Highlander.

Sorry, my "add book/author button" is on the blink...."

Lol, maybe I shouldn't respond to posts before coffee? I would say have fun reading, but that would seem highly inappropriate given the title and the content. . .can't say enjoy either. . .ummm, I think I'll go start the coffee pot now.

Tina, join the club, lots of us are half awake when we first look at GR in the morning...... And look we are all here for fun so please it doesn't matter at all!!!

I really do think you should read The Forgotten Highlander. My frinds and I are having an intersting converstion about it. Join us if you like. Here is my review page with the comments: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... . It is so nice talking about books as you read them. I love GR.

I do, too, Chrissie. I've added The Forgotten Highlander on your recommendation. I do look forward to reading it, but won't be able to get to it for awhile. Have so many others to read first.

I love GR too & go to it first thing (while the coffee is brewing)!

Martha, first I shower to wake up, then get brakfast, but I drink my coffe in front of the computer.

I only have a chapter left of The Forgotten Highlander. Yes, I will give it five stars. I don't think I could have gotten through this book if Alistair hadn't depicted not only the horrible but some outstanding people that helped him too, Dr. Mathieson in particular. You think things cannot get worse, but they do. This book not only has an important story to tell but it really shows that some people have tremendous strength. It has a bit of a lesson to teach - if you think you have it bad..... well read this! You realize one has no right to gripe.

I am going to start The Free World. I have read intriguing reviews about the author's writing skills. His characters are said to be multi-layerd. I read a bit and was immediately hooked. It is historical fiction.

Chrissie wrote: "Tina, join the club, lots of us are half awake when we first look at GR in the morning...... And look we are all here for fun so please it doesn't matter at all!!!

I really do think you should ..."

Glad I'm not the only one that GR is the first stop for in the mornings :)

Crissie, you've sold me on The Forgotten Highlander I've added it to my shelf and hopefully will get time this summer to read it! Thanks for recommending it!

Tina, I am sure you will be glad you read it. It should be required reading for all. It is not a dry history book. It is more a horrible "adventure" story, only it is terribly true. In this way the truth will come to the forefront. People should know and dam it all the Japanese should admit their crimes. And yet I love Japan, its arts and gardens. Putting these two different aspects of Japan together is the only honest thing to do.

Along the same lines as "The Forgotten Highlander" (which I already have in my library after hearing a BBC radio interview with Mr. Urquhart a year ago), I'd like to recommend the following book ---

The Will to Survive by Arthur Godman

"Taken prisoner after the fall of Singapore in 1942, Arthur Godman spent the next three and a half years on the Burma-Siam railway, living in camps along the River Kwai. Like other POWs, he experienced disease and malnutrition and witnessed the painful deaths of many of his comrades. Yet somehow he retained his sense of humor and perspective, recalling, among the casual cruelties inflicted by the Japanese, small acts of kindness between guards and prisoners which enabled him to retain his faith in humanity. In order to survive he attempted to achieve a relationship with his captors based on their common experience of adversity; learning Thai, teaching bridge, and stealing food. This glimpse of the terrifying world of the POW includes pictures by two other famous artists who were captives."

KOMET, thanks for the tip about this completely new book. Hmm, no kindle version?!

I am starting Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus. Well, to make a long story short, I was curious to know more about the Oedipus myth and Victoria Grossack, one of the authors wanted my opinion of her book. I must say I was flattered! I liked the bit of the excerpt I had read at Amazon, the reviews were very complimentary, even by my favorite, Kirkus, and on top of all this Victoria offered to lend me a Kindle copy for two weeks. I am really looking forward to reading this. This is my lucky week.

Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates
I'm liking it so far. Ah, if only pirates were dashing romantic figures like Errol Flynn!

Still on a "Princes in the tower" kick. No, not something new, but Alison Weir's 1995 paperback. Funny how many times I can re-read a book and still get lost in the history.The Princes in the Tower

I've heard that is really good. I'm going to be starting The White Queen this week.

Oooh, Elizabeth Wydville, mother to the Princes. Let me know how you like it, okay?

I'm so excited about it. I will let you know. I have The Red Queen, too & I understand the 3rd in the series is coming out soon. Love to read about British royalty ... any era really, but find this period fascinating.

Just finished John Adams & loved it. Will be reading The White Queen and Jefferson's Great Gamble: The Remarkable Story of Jefferson, Napoleon and the Men Behind the Louisiana Purchase next.

Finished The White Queen. It started slowly, but got to the point that it was hard to put down. I love that in a book. Now back to some American history with Jefferson.

The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (ebook)

I'm currently reading Pere Goriot by Honoré de Balzac



I don't know how many Balzac fans there are in Goodreads, but I found the early part of "Pere Goriot" hard going, for it was largely told in the narrative voice.

While the narrative voice has its place (in giving the reader a tangible sense of the story’s ambience and character history/background/backstories), I don’t like it when a writer pours it on too thick. My attention begins to wander and I ask myself: ‘Should I go on reading this book?!’ I love to be plunged into scenes where a story’s characters (major and minor) come into play. I want to HEAR and SEE them in action. And if they capture my interest, I will stay with the book through its denouement and close. Too much narrative voice gives a novel the attributes of a polemic or essay, which is not what I want. I want the writer to give me, the reader, access to setting(s), mood, and the characters. For me, that is what helps to make a novel worth reading.

I couldn't agree more.

I have started The Old Capital, historical fiction that takes place in Kyoto, Japan. I think the author won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1968. Not sure of the date.....

Having finished Moloka'i, I should go back to The Old Capital, but do you remember how I loved the book A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan? This book made me want to know more about the Shia-Sunni split. I love books that start you on a trail for more information.... I knew I had a book about this. I knew it was on my GR shelves, but I simply couldn't remember its title. My GR friend John, he had read the book... He found it for me in my shelves :0) Thank you John. Then I tried a sample on my Kindle..... These samples are very dangerous. If they are good, you feel you must read the book immediately. This is the book:After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam. It reads like fiction, but is in fact non-fiction. I dare you to try it and not be pulled to read this book. And we all ought to understand this split in Islam.

I am really breaking my rules. I have told myself to alternate between DTB and kindalized books. Bad me! Oh, I hope I come to better understand this split that is so important to the mess we are in today. Think if this split had never occurred. History would have been completely different.

I am currently reading Morgan's Run. It is not entirely pleasant, but I am learning a lot about the subject matter (the initial settlement of Australia with prisoners from England). It is very well written and researched.

Just downloaded and started The Varieties of History: From Voltaire to the Present by Fritz Stern. I was looking for another book of his Five Germanys I Have Known and found this one on kindle so I got it. I'll have to order the other one but this one looks interesting in the meantime.

Dena, I've had Five Germanys I Have Known for years. Don't know why I haven't read it. I'd like to hear how you like it. Thanks.

Anne wrote: "Dena, I've had Five Germanys I Have Known for years. Don't know why I haven't read it. I'd like to hear how you like it. Thanks."
Will do. I have to order it first, I'm much better at pushing the button and getting instant reading gratification than I am at putting in all the info needed for a mailed order. This book was on a list in a Wall Street Journal article yesterday. Several prominent Germans were asked for suggested books to help understand Germany. Angela Merkel suggested Faust but this book sounded more readable.

Dena, I found yesterday's paper with all sorts of articles on Germany but not the one to which you referred. Don't suppose you have a link or maybe the title of the article?

Anne wrote: "Dena, I found yesterday's paper with all sorts of articles on Germany but not the one to which you referred. Don't suppose you have a link or maybe the title of the article?"

I read it on my iPad and get the free version so I can't go back to yesterday's paper. It was in a section that runs on Mondays with several articles on one topic. Yesterday's topic was Germany. I had intended to save that particular article but apparently didn't. I apologize for my lack of information.

The Memoirs of Field Marshal Montgomery by Viscount Montgomery of Alamein



I'm about 2/3 through this book and I'm enjoying it very much, though there are some of Monty's opinions therein with which I strongly disagree.

Dena, thank you, I did find the article. I should have let you know.

Anne wrote: "Dena, thank you, I did find the article. I should have let you know."

Great! Sorry I wasn't more helpful. The brain fog is very thick today.

Dena wrote: " The brain fog is very thick today. "

You don't have to apologize to me about brain fog. I know all about it.

I will start The Hare with Amber Eyes A Family's Century of Art and Loss which is about a Japanese netsuke collection, the family that owned it and the history interwoven into their lives. It is about art, history and different cultures.

I have just begun Death and the Penguin, and I am already laughing. I am reading this book because I wanted to meet Misha, the penguin. I wanted something light having just struggled through The Hare with Amber Eyes A Family's Century of Art and Loss.

Hello - I am a recent newby to the group! An avid non-fiction history & biography reader already, I am however fairly new to the Historic Fiction genre. Not sure why it has never really crossed my radar before!

I have read a few HF authors so far, but have just finished my first Patrick O'Brian, namely Master and Commander.

Having read much praise in this & other groups I was expecting to be disappointed - but found quite the opposite. A splendid mix of fact & fiction, in a thunderingly good yarn!

Being from a nautical/naval background I cannot believe I had not discovered him before!

So inspired by the fiction, I am now motivated to read a non-fiction biography of Lord Nelson that was gathering dust on my shelves, vis: Nelson: A Personal History by
Christopher Hibbert who it would appear is another 'historical must'.

Phew! Who said history was boring?! Love it... :)

Strey wrote: "Hello - I am a recent newby to the group! An avid non-fiction history & biography reader already, I am however fairly new to the Historic Fiction genre. Not sure why it has never really crossed my ..."

Welcome Strey! Glad you like Aubrey-Maturin series. I only finished 3 books and can't wait to have another adventure with Jack and Stephen :)

Yes, the Nelson history looks wonderful. Adding it to my wishlist.

Many have praised Pope Joan. I have it sitting here on my shelf. Has there been a female Pope? I am not so sure that question will be solved by this book, but it looks like a fun read.

I just started Havana Real. This is more social commentary than history but it is such a fascinating book I had to tell you all about it. It is by the author of the blog Generation Y. Yuani Sanchez writes about the realities of daily life in Cuba. She uses the Internet as an instrument of freedom of speech and she is very effective.

Silvana wrote: "Strey wrote: "Hello - I am a recent newby to the group! An avid non-fiction history & biography reader already, I am however fairly new to the Historic Fiction genre. Not sure why it has never real..."

Thanks & Hi Silvana! Ah, so many books, so little time...

I am about half way through Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. It is quite interesting, but she is keeping it mysterious...