reading this forum I realize most have come to love HF/HNF by reading TOBG or history classes not braodening their time frames enough for the students. Thats somewhat amazing that so many students would enjoy history if they didn't focus on american wars so much,I was the same but my English teacher told me to find what I wanted elsewhere and I did as all you others have done.

That's a really interesting observation Nona! I completely agree with you. I think it's not just the american wars either. The classes seem to like to focus on wars and conflicts in general (I just remember the French and Russian revolutions being thrown into my classes as well). I think if they focused on people and how they lived and similarities to our own lives, then a lot of people wouldn't dread history classes. I love history, but I really don't care about battle strategy! I know there are people who love that, but so many more people would love history if they made it relevant to everyday people and not just military buffs.

well I remeber taking a history class in college that was supposed to be world history and I thought I'ld love it. wrong the first three weeks was world then the rest of it was americanized, or what I call the average american attitude 'all about us and what we did'. I passed the class with a grudge that I'll never take a history class again without looking at the agenda first. I told the counselor 'if I had wanted american history I could have taken it' he just laughed at me. So I gave up education and history combined and now it's just pleasure, and I love it!

Yes, history tends to be taught wretchedly in our schools. And Americans try to teach our kids a lot of our own history; I guess it creeps in even to the non-American history, by analogy if by nothing else.

The battle stuff may be an attempt to make it more appealing to the boys; I dunno. Or the instructor has a thing for it.

You're less likely to get the battle-heavy stuff if you take a social history course - but you're only likely to have such a class in college, and as an upper classman at that, after most people have given up interest.

It's one reason I think historians are so wrong-headed about denegrating history written for a popular audience. They particularly seem to hate the ones written by "amateur" historians like Barbara Tuchman or Antonia Frasier.

Hi everyone, I'm new to this group so I just wanted to introduce myself! I'm excited to read some of your suggestions since I am an avid reader of historical fiction. :)

Name: Sierra
Where you're from: California
Where you live now: Washington State
Birthday: February
Family: Just me :)
Job: Sales
Hobbies: Reading, Music, Dancing, Travel, Politics, Cooking
Favorite:
Book-- I can't pick just one, there are too many!
Movie-- I'm more a fan of TV shows than movies-- my current addiction is Gray's Anatomy
Song-- Girl Eyes by Eve 6 and Gracias Por Tu Amor by Banda el Recodo
Food-- Ice Cream! And anything my mom cooks :)
Smell-- Freshly cut grass in the sun
Sport-- Soccer
Any websites you want to share:
How you became interested in historical fiction (or non!): I've always been a history buff-- it was one of my favorite subjects in high school and college. I love to learn about the women behind and beside the men we all learn about in history class-- the people who are usually not the main characters and those that history has typically misunderstood or overlooked.

Welcome to the group Sierra! I'm glad you found us!

Name: Lauren
Where you're from: Long Island, New York
Where you live now: Rockville, Maryland
Birthday: November 13
Family: Husband, and 2 girls (2.5 and 4)
Job: lawyer
Hobbies: reading, shopping
Favorite:
Book: Not sure... I guess Gone With the Wind because I read it 95 times between the ages of 12 and 14. As a grown up, some favorites have been The Physician by Noah Gordon, Katherine by Anya Seton, and anything by Sharon Kay Penman (Here Be Dragons has a slight edge)
Movie: Gone With the Wind
Song: Depends on my mood!
Food: Indian (especially dal or chana masala), Mexican
Smell: Lavendar
Sport: Um....
Any websites you want to share:
How you became interested in historical fiction (or non!): I was always a history buff. History was my favorite subject in high school. As a child, my favorite books were the Anne of Green Gables Series. Then moved on to Gone With the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Madame Bovary. Once I read Dangerous Liaisons and Jean Plaidy's Royal Road to Fotheringhay, I knew that I prefered historical fiction - better than the "classics."

Name - Wanda
Where you're from - York, PA
Where you live now - York, PA; moving to Fort Benning, GA in June, 2009
Birthday - May 14 (I am older than dirt but still younger than God)
Family - Married - 13 years. Husband - Joe - U.S. Army Soldier; Son - William - 10 yrs. old
Job - Legal Secretary in a medium-sized law firm in Lancaster, PA
Hobbies - Reading, cooking, crocheting, knitting
Favorite:
Book - Pillars of the Earth; World w/o End; The Secret Lion; The Shell Seekers
Movie - Under the Tuscan Sun; The Ten Commandments
Song - The Broken Road by Rascal Flatts. Usually I listen to classical music when reading so I adore Mozart and Pachelbel, too.
Food - Anything that is on my plate! I am an equal opportunity eater.
Smell - Sandalwood, Frankincense, Myrrh and new babies
Sport - Could reading be considered a sport? Seriously, I love football!
Any websites you want to share: I don’t have my own website or blog but I know a great recipe website - myrecipes.com - a compilation of recipes from Cooking Light, Southern Living, and others.
How you became interested in historical fiction (or non!) - I have always been drawn to historical fiction. My sister and I used to walk to the book store - she would buy Danielle Steele (sp?) and I would buy something with knights, queens and kings on the cover.

Name: Elina
Where you're from: Turku, Finland
Where you live now, Turku
Birthday: 31.12.87
Family: mom and dad
Job: cook
Hobbies: reading, horseback riding
Favorite:
Book: The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice
Movie:Lord of the Rings
Song: Drawn Together by Sentenced
Food: lasagne
Smell: no idea
Sport: riding
Any websites you want to share: -
How you became interested in historical fiction (or non!) Always were interested in history in school. Started reading Kaari Utrio's books which are from finnish/nordic history

Welcome to the group Elina! Do you know if Kaari Utrio's books have been translated into English? I'm part Swedish and those books sound like they would be interesting.

I'm pretty sure some of her books has been translated but I don't know which ones

Hello everyone! My name is Alisa Libby and I've been lurking on the fringes of the European Royalty group for some time now. Thanks to you my reading list has probably doubled, but sadly I'm not good at keeping up with the monthly book club reads. Still, I've been meaning to say an official hello for a while. Also - I hope it's okay that I posted my book-signing this Saturday to this page. I had just read a post about Anne Easter-Smith coming to the Wellesley Booksmith next month and it occurred to me that I'll be there signing my new book, The King's Rose, tomorrow! So I wanted to let you all know. Needless to say, I'm not a natural at self promotion.

Now, for the getting to know you part:
I'm from Massachusetts and still living here now. I work in Boston at the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science, and I work with fantastic people. I live in a small, cozy house with my husband and our aging basset hound. As you've guessed, I like to write and I have two young adult novels published: the first one, The Blood Confession, is historical fantasy inspired by the legendary "Blood Countess" Bathory. The new book, The King's Rose, is historical fiction about Catherine Howard.

Favorite book? I loved The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George; Beloved by Toni Morrison; Endless Love by Scott Spencer; Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov; Dracula by Bram Stoker; Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut; Ghosts by Marsha Parker...my favorite YA list is a whole other matter, including Fade by Robert Courmier and the Dangerous Angels series by Francesca Lia Block. And a million other books I'll think of once I post this message.

If you're interested in my books, please visit my website for more details: http://www.alisalibby.com. I also have a blog: http://alisamlibby.wordpress.com/

I became interested in history in general when I took a course in college with a teacher who told us history as a story, with all of the gorey details intact. Instead of just a dry recitation of names and dates, he showed us history that was full of life and urgency and peopled with complex and fascinating characters.

I hope that helps as a belated introduction. I know it is short notice, but it would be wonderful to see you tomorrow at my signing. I also have other Mass events coming up, listed under "appearances" on my website.

My best,
Alisa

Welcome Alisa! Thanks for posting about your book signing here! If I lived closer I would definitely go.

Alisa,
Your books sound like so much fun! I love the idea of Historical fiction for young adults - doesn't seem like there's too much of it out there.
Your website is fun!
The Countess of Bathory sounds fascinating - I'd never heard of her! I'm off to see if I can find some adult historical fiction about her! Any suggestions?
Welcome to the group :)

There's a Best Children's Historical Fiction list over on Listopia.

Hi Mandy!

Yes, Countess Bathory was fascinating to research - but tricky, since so many details about her are legend. As for adult fiction, The Blood Countess by Andre Codrescu was quite fascinating. And for non-fiction I liked Countess Dracula by Tony Thorne.

:)Alisa

Hi! I'm new here as well and found this as I was browsing the group links. :)


Name: Robin

Where you're from: Dacula, GA

Where you live now: Loganville, GA

Birthday: June 19

Family: my hubby, Johnny, and my 18mth old boy Logan

Job: SAHM, but formerly a HS English teacher

Hobbies: reading, cooking, scrapbooking, playing World of Warcraft lol

Favorite:
Book: I, Elizabeth by R. Miles
Movie: Star Wars
Song: right now, "Chicken Fried," Zac Brown Band
Food: Mexican, Italian, good Southern cookin'
Smell: my boy after a bath, hubby's soap, cake :)
Sport: NASCAR, NFL, Braves' baseball, UGA football

Any websites you want to share:

How you became interested in historical fiction (or non!) I think the first book I read in the genre was probably I, Elizabeth, though I'd been fascinated with British history before that through Arthurian legend. Now I can't get my hands on enough historical fiction.

Robin wrote: "Hi! I'm new here as well and found this as I was browsing the group links. :)


Name: Robin

Where you're from: Dacula, GA

Where you live now: Loganville, GA

Birthday: June 19

Family: my hubby, ..."

Hi, Robin. Welcome to the group. We have a Loganville in PA, too. It is about 5 miles from where I am sitting in my kitchen in York, PA. Soon, I will be driving through your area on my way to Columbus/Ft. Benning (our big move). Welcome!

Alisa wrote: "Hi Mandy!

Yes, Countess Bathory was fascinating to research - but tricky, since so many details about her are legend. As for adult fiction, The Blood Countess by Andre Codrescu was quite fascin..."


Another good Bathory book is Bathory: Memoir of a Countess by A Mordeaux it's in somewhat of a diary format and sometimes its a little sadistic but very good considering the subject her husband plays a big part in her 'past-times' it's amazing how little is known about her when you get down to her story.

sorry I replyed before reading all the posts, my bad.

Name: Suffiyan Saleem (a.k.a Saifee)
Where you're from :Faisalabad (Pakistan)
Where you live now :Faisalabad (Pakistan)
Birthday :December, the 1th, 1987
Family :single with 4 siblings 2 of whom are married
Job :no job.full time student
Hobbies :a music fanatic plus love reading
Favorite:
Book(s) : long list including devil wears prada, harry potters, davinci code, the boleyn inheritance
Movie :long list here too.titanic,a beautiful mind, philidelpia,forrest gump, raise your voice, the reader, benjamin button, vanity fair & all the chick flicks (lol)
Song: rehab by amy winehous, my life would suck by kelly clarkson and the list is everchanging and like very long!
Food: continental stuff.im sure you people won't understand if i wrote the name of local dishes which are my favourite.
Smell: the smell of 1st rain of the summer!
Sport: swimming and thats all!
How you became interested in historical fiction (or non!): after watching the other boleyn girl, i was intrigued that it was based on a book,then i started digging for the other tudor novels by gregory & now i'm in love with this genre!


@Nona

What are Equestrian sports?

Equestrian sports are those involving horses, usually.

thank you!

Ha, found it! I knew this thread was somewhere! All you newbies may like this! It's a little bit about some of the people here.

Name Wendy: (Wen to friends)
Where you're from: Native Floridian
Where you live now Still in FL for now
Birthday 8/24/70
Family One younger brother, Parents (alive and Still married), one teenage son (lives with me), 3 small dogs (Payton, Paisley and Chloe)and a cat that thinks he is a dog(Clark Kent)
Job I work from home and have a site where I sell jewelry I make from natural stones. I also make pet accessories from a sister site.
Hobbies Well the job is one of the hobbies too, I also crochet, sew and read read read
Favorite:
Book Oh so many so guess will pick recent one would be Brief Gaudy Hour by Margaret Campbell Barnes
Movie Somewhere in Time and Monty Pythons Holy Grail (I know way opposite ends of movie world)
Food Does Ice Cream Count?
Smell Pipe Tobacco (I dont even smoke) and Vanilla and Sandalwood mixed together.
Any websites you want to share: Will share mine with any interested but wont list since did this for fun not to plug my site
How you became interested in historical fiction (or non!) Well Read the Other Boleyn Girl after seeing the film. Got curious as to if what was written and shown on screen was close to right. Found differing oppinions on things and was hooked on reading about historical figures. Specially females since in school they tend to be glossed over.

Name: Susan C
Where you're from: Pennsylvania
Where you live now:still Pennsyvania, just a different area
Birthday: September
Family: Husband and dog
Job: Very good housewife
Hobbies: reading, making cards with rubber stamps
Favorite:
Book: The Counte of Monte Cristo
Movie: Always Famous
Song: anything from singer and songwriters from 60's and 70's. It drives my husband nuts because they were overplayed during the 70's (his decade not mine) I'm an 80's gal. Bad music!
Food: Chicken dumpling soup (homemade)
Smell: cherry blossoms
Sport: none
Any websites you want to share: www.fantasticfiction.com, you can find a list of your favorite authors books and series. The other www.paperbackswap.com, great way to get rid of unwanted books.
How you became interested in historical fiction (or non!) I honestly think the covers of so many of the books caused me to start buying and then I fell in love with the genre once I started reading.

Name: Emily
Where you're from: New Braunfels, Texas
Where you live now: Austin, Texas
Birthday: September, 1975
Family: Husband & two insane Welsh Terriers
Job: Yoga Therapist/Yoga Teacher
Hobbies: Yoga, Reading, Making Soap & other body products, spending time with family, friends & my dogs

Favorite:
Book - this is tough because there are so many: Memoirs of a Geisha, The Poisonwood Bible, Cleopatra by Margaret George
Movie: loved the English Patient even though it is very sappy
Song: I love music and constantly listen to it so it is hard to say. There are so many genres I like and so I cannot even narrow it down to a genre but I do love classical and electronic (they do not go together at all!)
Food: Mexican food
Smell: I dabble in aromatherapy and love many scents: rosemary, lavender, rose geranium and patchouli are some top favorites.
Sport: Water sports, skiing, canoing, swimming.
Any websites you want to share: Mine: www.sundarayogatherapy.com
How you became interested in historical fiction (or non!) Genetics - my father was a history student and later history teacher. My undergrad degree was in history as well.

Name: Laura
Where you're from: Minnesota
Family: Husband and daughter
Hobbies: Reading, scrapbooking, cooking and gardening
Favorite Book: Anything by Sharon Kay Penman, Desiree, Laurie King's Sherlock Holmes series
Movie: Gone With the Wind
Song: Don't really have one
Food: Mexican, Asian, Indian
Smell: Vanilla
Sport: The Vikings and the Twins
How you became interested in historical fiction (or non!): Always liked history as a child. Reading historical fiction was just a way to continue learning. Historical fiction brings the people to life - you just have to keep in mind that not all of it is true!