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Down with History 2023
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Thanks to this group, I have recently discovered a deep enjoyment of (good) historical fiction. It will be good if I can discover 15 good books this year. I think I want to try to find as many different time periods and countries as possible..
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Down with History:
Read 15 books that are classified as historical fiction that cover as many different countries or time periods as possible
Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
✔ 1. Of Mice and Men: California, 1930s
✔ 2. Colombiano: Colombia, mid-1950s?
Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
✔ 3. The Giver of Stars: Kentucky, 1930s
✔ 4. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Brooklyn, 1912
Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
✔ 5. The Forgotten Home Child: Canada/England, 19th and 20th century, most of this story took place in the 1930s-50s.
✔ 6. The Forgotten Garden: Australia and England, 20th century
✔ 7. Sula: Ohio, 1920s - 1965
Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
✔ 8. Night: Internment camps, holocaust, WWII
✔ 9. Cannery Row: Monterey, CA, Great Depression
✔ 10. Sweet Thursday: Monterey, CA, post WWII
Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
✔ 11. Pachinko: 1920s-present, Korea/Japan
✔ 12. Go Tell It on the Mountain: NY, 1930s
✔ 13. The Grapes of Wrath: CA, 1930s
✔ 14. What the Wind Knows: Ireland, 1900s-2000
✔ 15. Big Lies in a Small Town: NC, 1940, 2018
Mod
Level 1: Ancient Ancestors
1. The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle
2. Romola by George Eliot
Level 2: Medieval Mayhem
3. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
4. The Little Duke: Richard the Fearless by Charlotte Mary Yonge
Level 3: Days of Empire
5. The Sand Fish: A Novel from Dubai by Maha Gargash
6. Züricher Novellen by Gottfried Keller
7. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Level 4: Wars of Old
8. Cinco esquinas by Mario Vargas Llosa
9. Les Défricheurs d'éternité by Claude Michelet
10. The Time of the Goats by Luan Starova
Level 5: The past is the past
11. The Scholars by Wu Jingzi
12. Hope Leslie: or, Early Times in the Massachusetts by Catharine Maria Sedgwick
13. Poison Island by Arthur Quiller-Couch
14. Master Skylark: A Story of Shakespeare's Time by John Bennett
15. Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
Challenge completed on October 26.
The 2020 Reading Challenge Group2020 Maxi Challenges > Down with History 2020
January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020
Historical Fiction for our purposes is defined as anything set in the past, in a time that the author did not directly experience.
You can choose to complete this challenge a few different ways:
- Focus on a single time-period
- Focus on a different time-period for each level (your choice)
- Read anything you want as long as it's historical
Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
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Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
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Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
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Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
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Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
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15.
Mod
Historical Fiction is one of my absolute favorite genres! I'll be choosing to focus on a different time-period for each level Level 1 - TBD
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Level 2 - TBD
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Level 3 - TBD
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Level 4 -TBD
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Level 5 - TBD
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Start: January 1st, 2020Finish: December 31st, 2020
Books completed:
Different time period for each level
Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
1.
2.
Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
3.
4.
Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
5.
6.
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Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
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Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
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I'm definitely up for this, but will keep it real and try for level 3,and allow anything as long as it's historical.
Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
1. The Royal Physician's Visit by Per Olov Enquist finished 3/29
2.
Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
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Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
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Yes, this is a great challenge so I’m in for different time periods for different levels:Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors
1. - The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - publisged 1860
2.
Level 2. - Medieval Mayhem
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4.
Mod
I just finished round 1 (see message 2) and will start a new round. :)
Mod
Thanks, Rosemarie! I'm getting ready to start In the Time of the Butterflies because my sophomore is reading it for school and she actually likes it a lot and said she thought I would like it too!
Mod
Rosemarie wrote: "I read a while ago. It is good."That's good to hear!
Historical Fiction for our purposes is defined as anything set in the past, in a time that the author did not directly experience.You can choose to complete this challenge a few different ways:
- Focus on a single time-period
- Focus on a different time-period for each level (your choice)
- Read anything you want as long as it's historical
Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
1. Pachinko
2. A Long Petal of the Sea
Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
3. Nefertiti
4. Circe
Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
5. The Help
6. A God in Ruins
7.
Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
8.
9.
10.
Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Finished: 2023/07/201. Einsteins Hirn: Roman by Franzobel ✓
2. Feldpost by Mechtild Borrmann ✓
3. Ilias by Homer ✓
4. Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart ✓
5. Lichte Tage by Sarah Winman ✓
6. Das Café ohne Namen by Robert Seethaler ✓
7. Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh ✓
8. Eine Frage der Chemie by Bonnie Garmus ✓
9. Stone Blind – Der Blick der Medusa by Natalie Haynes ✓
10. Zeitenwechsel by Marc Freund & Jonas Maas ✓
11. Finsteres Hochland by Marc Freund & Jonas Maas ✓
12. Das Geheimnis des Alchemisten by Marc Freund & Jonas Maas ✓
13. Tod der Königin: Oscar Wilde & Mycroft Holmes by Jonas Maas ✓
14. Durch das große Feuer by Alice Winn ✓
15. Fünf Winter by James Kestrel ✓
I am really keen to do this challenge. A little embarrassed to see that in 2020 I expressed interest but did not actually finish any part of the challenge. will try again!evel 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
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Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
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Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
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Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
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Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
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I will participate. I feel a little confused about the titles, but will ask and let you all help me to know where to place it. For example would Don Quixote or Foucault's Pendulum be a historical fiction?Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
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Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
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Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
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Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
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Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
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I've never done this before, but know that I have read plenty of historical fiction in the past especially in 2022, so I will give it a try.Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
1. Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn 1/10/23
2. Hell Hath No Fury by Annabelle Anders 1/30/23
Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
3. The Footman and I by Valerie Bowman 3/24/23
4. The Women's March: A Novel of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession by Jennifer Chiaverini 4/12/23
Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
5. The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of World War II by Madeline Martin 4/24/23
6. Once Upon a Duke by Erica Ridley 4/26/23
7. Kiss of a Duke by Erica Ridley 5/3/23
Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
8. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn 5/10/23
9. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann 6/9/23
10. An Indiscreet Princess by Georgie Blalock 6/11/23
Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
11. The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis 6/25/23
12. The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline 7/11/23
13. Rules for Being a Mistress by Tamara Lejeune 7/20/23
14. The House I Loved by Tatiana de Rosnay 7/22/23
15. The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes 9/26/23
16. The Liberation of Paris: How Eisenhower, de Gaulle, and von Choltitz Saved the City of Light by Jean Edward Smith 10/15/23
COMPLETED 9/26/23
Down with History 2023Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
1. Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton 21/1
2. House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson 6/1
Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
3. Raft of Stars by Andrew J. Graff 20/1
4. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid 6/2
Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
5. Radium Girls by Cy. 13/2
6. Absent by Katie Williams 12/4
7. Salt Magic by Hope Larson 12/4
Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
8. Elektra by Jennifer Saint 19/4
9. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett 8/5
10. Medusa by Jessie Burton 23/5
Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
11. For He Can Creep by Siobhan Carroll 13/6
12. A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus 6/7
13. Refugee by Alan Gratz 13/7
14. Iqbal by Francesco D'Adamo 13/7
15. The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 17/7
Love this! Any book posted has been read. Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
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Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
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Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
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Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
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Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
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15.
Doing this challenge opened my horizons so I'm in again!Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
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Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
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Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
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Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
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Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
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Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)1. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
2. The Lily Brand
Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
3. The Postmaster's Daughter
4. The Book Woman's Daughter
Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
5. - News of the World
6. - Horse
7. - Death Comes As the End
Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
8. Foster (not sure if this really is historical fiction but it's tagged as that on GR)
9. I Could Not Do Otherwise: The Remarkable Life of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker
10. Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial (although the trial is recent, the author goes into historical detail on the hog industry)
Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
11. The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
12. Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club
13. Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love
14. A Rip Through Time
15. Mistress of the Art of Death
The Reading Challenge Group
Books mentioned in this topic
Mistress of the Art of Death (other topics)The Liberation of Paris: How Eisenhower, de Gaulle, and von Choltitz Saved the City of Light (other topics)
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club (other topics)
Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love (other topics)
A Rip Through Time (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jean Edward Smith (other topics)Brianna Labuskes (other topics)
Tatiana de Rosnay (other topics)
Tamara Lejeune (other topics)
Alix E. Harrow (other topics)
More...
Historical Fiction for our purposes is defined as anything set in the past, in a time that the author did not directly experience.
You can choose to complete this challenge a few different ways:
- Focus on a single time-period
- Focus on a different time-period for each level (your choice)
- Read anything you want as long as it's historical
Level 1 - Ancient Ancestors (2 Books)
1.
2.
Level 2 - Medieval Mayhem (4 Books)
3.
4.
Level 3 - Days of Empire (7 Books)
5.
6.
7.
Level 4 - Wars of Old (10 Books)
8.
9.
10.
Level 5 - The Past is the Past (15 Books)
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.