Historical Fictionistas discussion
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Mod
If you're looking for a place where you could post any reviews you've written on Goodreads, I would say to create a folder in the Personal Goals thread - and still mark spoilers, or at least advise in the thread title that there may be spoilers and to read at one's own risk.
Recommendations would go in the Recommendations folder.
I have a few suggestions to mention. I do apologize if these ideas have already have been mentioned. Babies do not allow sometimes to scan quickly over all the suggestions. At least that is my excuse. The first one is I suggest we compile a list for recommended books. The topics on them are good, but often times lost on the more popular threads they get lost. Example is World War I and II Books has 159 posts or 4 pages to look for them. Is there any way to get a thread to have all the books suggested on the first page or have a thread of its own. A moderator would update every time someone adds to the list. Only a moderator could edit the list and that way it is one neat area. I would hate for new members to get bogged down and never find what they are looking for.
Example: Genghis: Lord of the Bow- Asian Influence, 14th c.
Coffee Trader-European-Dutch-17th c.
Another suggestion I have is could we start a 2nd book along with the 1st book. The first book would be the usual topic of books we have picked for the month or two months. The 2nd book would be Historical Fiction series we could read. Example Genghis is a trilogy, we could've read the whole series over what 6 months that way it does not interfere with our current main read.
Gabriel, I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for but GR has a feature on the side panel called 'Books mentioned in this topic' and 'Authors mentioned in this topic' which gives a list of the books mentioned in whatever thread your in. For example, these are the books mentioned in this thread: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/mentio...The only hitch to that is that people have to remember to use the 'add book/author' link and it's not nicely categorized by time period.
As for the other suggestion that's something we can consider if others are interested.
On the first one, it would look something like this...Historical 1-1500AD
Arthurian Novel-Mercedes Lackey-Great Britain-
8th century- 700-799
9th century- 800-899
Pope Joan- Donna Woolfolk Cross- Europe/Rome-
Saxon Stories- Bernard Cornwell- England- 9th c. -Vikings
The Last Light of the Sun- Guy Gavriel Kay-England-
10th century- 900-999
The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson-
Byzantium- Stephen Lawhead Ireland/Byzantium/Scandinavia-
11th century- 1000-1099
The Physician by Noah Gordon
Raven King Trilogy-Stephen Lawhead-Wales-
Celtic Crusades- Stephen Lawhead- Scotland/Holy Lands/Constantinople-
I only took a snippet of what I finished. It would be its own folder called Suggested Books. I am sure a better name can be introduced. The list is just compiled of all books suggested by people in our group. I just put them together so people can look at them in one place instead of scrolling through people's 60 comments of suggestions, of dialogue between people about a certain book, etc. Any time someone adds a new book to the recommended list the Mod would update it list it's appropriate spot.
The 2nd idea I had would I just make a poll asking people about it or would you? And it would be awesome to discuss series of historical novels like Penman's books about Henry II's kids or Elizabeth's Chadwick's Marshal novels.
i am brand new and i do not want to come storming in here telling y'all how to do things....but just off the top of my head, following a stroll through the various threads, one thing jumped out at me...
you have a great deal of content here...even for a speed reader such as myself, it was a bit daunting, and along the way, i ran across several threads that had been locked, many that never really went anywhere or were the genesis for later threads that better address the associated topic....
my suggestion is a sweep-through to remove some of these defunct threads, which would streamline those threads that are viable and active...it might make it a lil easier for people like me, who are new and trying to familiarize themselves, to find their way through and perhaps not be so daunting a challenge to do so...
Hi and welcome Pip :)The only way to remove those threads is by deleting them, which we don't want to do. Some may contain information that others find useful and the defunct ones can be revitalized if someone posts in them.
hi Jackie...thanks for the welcome...yeah, i considered that too....i wish that GoodReads would update the system for group forums a bit and include a way to archive those kind of things for easy access without having them in amongst the viable topics...
amongst other suggestions i could make to them to streamline the forums structure...
but i digress....
the only suggestion i could make to get around that issue, is the creation of a related page or blog site that could be pinned here on the forum board to allow a place to store archived topics...
and, of course, it is not a deal breaker or anything, it was just something that occurred to me as i was making the rounds...don't get me wrong, i think what you have created here is really fabulous, it was just a lot to take on initially and i wondered if others without my determination and fortitude might be put off by the epic amount of content to sort through...
was wondering...is there a spot where i can post a GR group i started that is holiday-related?...just a fun lil thing i thought i would throw up to share recipes and such through the season...
didn't want to clutter in the wrong place or outside of group rules...
Mod
I have a question. Group rules ask for Add Book/Author format when mentioning books. I rarely use a regular computer yo post - just my Iphone or my Amszon Fire. I cannot find how to do this on either app - can someone help?
Mod
My suggestion: That the mods not mass mail members. I was getting way too many group emails from all groups, so I turned them all off, but I am still getting a lot. Or do you maintain a list of do not email people?
Mod
Group broadcasts go out to all members in the group. We have no way of altering that or removing certain people from the messages. Broadcasts are the only way of announcing information to everyone in the group, including polls, since poll invites are limited to 1000 members, and we have four times that many members.
I don't like excessive group messages either, so we try to limit them to important info and poll invites - usually about 1-2 messages per month, and combine them as much as possible. I realize that there were more than that in November and December, which was due to some changes in the group and nominations and poll notices, so that's an exception rather than the rule.
Where can I find this groups definition of historical fiction? For example would Dan Browns work be considered historical fiction or mystery/thriller?
Generally, an historical fiction is a story written about a period at least 50 prior to the date it was written, and I believe this group follows that rule, at least it does for the Degree challenges found at http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1.... So, for example, writing about Vietnam would now be considered historical fiction. I reckon Dan Brown's books are mystery/thrillers as they are set in the present. They review/discuss history, but are not in an historical setting.Edit: I meant to say Korean War. The Vietnam war is still too near to today to be considered an historical fiction.
Mod
I'm sure this is asked all the time, but I couldn't find it in any searches....How do you classify a book is historical fiction? I read in the challenge that it has to be 50 years after at least half of the events take place, but does it have to have real life characters? Does it have to have that genre listed in Goodreads somewhere? How can I tell before I read a book if it is HF or not? Life's too short to read non-HF novels!
Mod
This is different than historical novels --- which were contemporary when published but are about a past time period. An example of this is Pride and Prejudice; many of this type are now considered classics.
In this group we tend to talk about both of these types of books, but use the historical fiction definition above for many of the challenge tasks (however, some challenge tasks are open to any genre).
The genre listed in Goodreads (on the book's main page) is determined by how many people shelved a book with that particular name so it doesn't really cover the stricter definition (case in point -- Pride and Prejudice is listed as historical fiction).
If the back of the book doesn't give you a sense of time setting, than it is probably not a historical novel. There are a ton of recommendations in this group which will fill up your TBR for years to come!
I was wondering- Historical Fiction spans such a wide group of genres. I enjoy the western/American 17-1800's, but also enjoy the darker side I have found in books like Affinity and An Inconvenient Wife. If I was to search for those type of HF books in particular what would they be considered? I would like to know if anyone knows all the side "genres"?
Darcy wrote: "Generally, an historical fiction is a story written about a period at least 50 prior to the date it was written, and I believe this group follows that rule, at least it does for the Degree challeng..."I am about to embark on research for a novel set in Vietnam, but haven't decided on a time frame yet. It's a very tricky region to be dealing with, as so many wars and occupations have taken place there. If anybody can recommend any books HF or not I'd be very happy to hear them.
Mod
I have a question. Not sure where to ask this. Due to hard times, I am forced to sell some books on ebay. I was wondering if I could post my links somewhere. I am selling my Twilight Saga, "His Dark Materials trilogy", "Emma", and a copy of "The Red Queen".
Mod
Dear HF fans, as promised I have put up a review of member, Terry Spring's book, Transported on Amazon. Go to Amazon as well, to read a member's review of my book, 'Halfway Human'.
Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "I have a question. Not sure where to ask this. Due to hard times, I am forced to sell some books on ebay. I was wondering if I could post my links somewhere. I am selling my Twilight Saga, "His Dar..."Since I inherited 16 or so 1st editions of signed Nicholas Sparks books I'd be interested in how that turns out. Let us know how that turns out.
Did you go over to the Front Parlor?
Mod
Tony, this type of post is not appropriate for this thread. This thread is for group related comments and questions, not advertising - even for others' books.
Hi Marie. We usually classify HF as works that have been published 50 years after the historical event. It can have elements of romance, but it shouldn't be the main focus of the story. For challenge purposes and group reads we usually don't count historical fantasy as HF unless we state otherwise.
Marie wrote: "Hey, I have a pretty ridiculous question - what exactly do you classify as historical fiction? Is it merely a fictional story set in the past, regardless of it's elements (romance, fantasy, etc.)? ..."Jackie is correct, usually at least 50 years after the characters in the book would have lived. Also, there are a number of subgenres in historical fiction - mystery, romance, fantasy, adventure, military.
Mod
Becky wrote: "Well of course! We don't moderate wrong groups! ;)"For real! LOL
What are the rules for determining whether to have a run-off poll? October's poll showed that The Mists of Avalon won by 11 votes but yet there was a run-off with no explanation given for the reason. Looking back over past months I noticed that some had run-off polls and some didn't even though the votes were tighter. Thanks!
Maureen, if you're looking at past polls it depends who was handling it and what the rules were at the time. As the group grew larger we started structuring the nominations a bit more, so that is why there may not be much consistency if you look back. As the current Group Read Mod I usually just let what ever book gets the most votes win. However, as in the case of Mists of Avalon because it's such a large book I wanted to make sure people actually wanted to read and discuss it officially for October. I don't mind have a brick as a group read, but I've noticed that sometimes people vote for the most popular book on the poll and then they don't discuss it. I didn't want to waste a month if that was the case. I posted in response to some members in the comments of the first poll that I was thinking of doing a run off poll, but I didn't send out an official reason on why there was one.
Mists lost by only 2 votes, so my plan is to make The Ghost Bride the official October read and then open up a Buddy Read thread for those who still want to read Mists.
Jackie wrote: "Maureen, if you're looking at past polls it depends who was handling it and what the rules were at the time. As the group grew larger we started structuring the nominations a bit more, so that is w..."Thanks for the info! Out of curiosity do the longer books deter discussion? I would think yes because of the time necessary to read them and the likelihood that people would be at different parts.
It seems like few people are willing to put the time into reading longer books and when participation is low not many people will post. I've also seen many people start and then drop off mid-discussion.
Not meaning to be a nag, but will there be a group read for November?
Hannah wrote: "Not meaning to be a nag, but will there be a group read for November?"There will be :) Between this and that I forgot about the November poll. I'll be sure to put it up in the next few days.
What happened to the last series read? I don't seem to have received updates?
Margaret wrote: "What happened to the last series read? I don't seem to have received updates?"Which one Margaret? The group decided to move on, but I created a thread for people who wanted to continue on with the 3rd book in the Tea Rose series. That thread can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
The new series picked is Dissolution and that discussion can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Thank you I've picked up on it now.
Help.I can't find the nominations for November read, nor the poll. Have I missed it all?
Jackie wrote: "Hannah wrote: "Not meaning to be a nag, but will there be a group read for November?"There will be :) Between this and that I forgot about the November poll. I'll be sure to put it up in the next..."
I didn't see this post when I asked my question on message 292. I guess there is no interest in a book of the month for November and that is why there has been no nominations thread, no poll = no botm?
Sorry, Ella's Gran I didn't see your message until now. I seem to not be getting notifications on this thread.I missed November's poll and it's a little late to do one now, so I'm skipping it. There's still plenty to read though. Dark Fire- #2 in the Matthew Shardlake series is coming up. Plus, the other previous group read threads are still available.
There will be a group read poll for December, which will be coming up.
I am having a problem with my discussion boards. Somehow, while I as sleeping the order of my messages changed. In other words he messages which appear on the top are the most recent ones so I need to scroll own to see where the new message begin. I mush preferred when I clicked on the new messages they appeared at the bottom and then I could easily spot the progression of the discussions. This way I'm doing it backwards which isn't the worst thing but I am a creature of habit.Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
Now I see my most recent messages are being posted at the bottom of the page and not at the top.
I am having a problem with my discussion boards. Somehow, while I as sleeping the order of my messages changed. In other words he messages which appear on the top are the most recent ones so I need to scroll own to see where the new message begin. I mush preferred when I clicked on the new messages they appeared at the bottom and then I could easily spot the progression of the discussions. This way I'm doing it backwards which isn't the worst thing but I am a creature of habit.Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
Mod
I just replied to the PM that you sent (I saw that first), but try clicking on the "date" link at the top of the comments thread (right above the date of the first comment you can see). That should reverse the order of the comments.
Thanks so much Becky for answering my cry of help. Surprisingly when I went back to the Goodread groups, the problem rectified itself.How great it is to ask a question and a moderator doesn't leave you in the dark but answers immediately.
To all here, a happy Thanksgiving and Channukah. As we eat our dinner and light our menorah I will think of how blessed I am for my family, friends, books and good read group.
Historical Fictionistas
Books mentioned in this topic
The Tokaido Road: A Novel of Feudal Japan (other topics)The Women (other topics)
Homegoing (other topics)
The Violinist of Venice (other topics)
Dark Fire (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Elizabeth Freemantle (other topics)Katherine Longshore (other topics)
Jean Plaidy (other topics)
Kate Emmerson (other topics)
Alison Weir (other topics)
More...
I'm new and am reading Paris Wife, so look forward to the discussion.