Historical Fictionistas discussion
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What are you reading? 2024 Version
Just finished The Serpent and the Wings of Night and wow what a great book. I think this one got lost or pushed aside due to the Fourth Wing but I loved this one. My review -> https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I am reading Mary Stewart’s next-to-last novel, The Prince and the Pilgrim, set in the Arthurian era (basically, the sixth century). Just finished reading Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley, which is really quite an extraordinary dual biography—more worth reading to my mind than our recent group read, Her Lost Words: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley.
I'm into the Calleshire Chronicles by Catherine Aird. Pretty good little cozy mysteries.
Finished The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. Rated 5 stars and a new favorite read! Heartwarming fantasy that is full of wonderful magical characters and the caseworker who learns to love them and in the process love himself. Delightful audio narration by Daniel Henning.
About to complete Enchanteé (All That Glitters) and looking forward to picking a new book!
Just finished "A Persistent Echo", by Brian Kaufman. excellent read! Halfway through, I realized I was not going to put it down until I crossed the finish line.It’s clear why Brian won the 2023 AWA award for Historical Fiction. It’s beautifully written and, ultimately, a story about a turn-of-the-century quest to understand the truth about many things—not just unidentified flying machines.
Brian has an amazing talent for metaphors and dialogue twists; each produced a delightful mental image for this reader and appreciation for a unique way of thinking about what are often run-of-the-mill subjects. Several examples:
“ ‘Are you with the press, then?’ MacGregor asks. ‘No’, August says. ‘I’m an honest man.’ ”
“His goatee, white as Galveston sand…”
“The jam is thick, tart, and sweet.”
“ ‘You are not a spiritual man, MacGregor?’ ‘I call on God when the bullets fly, same as any man.’ ‘Amen,’ August says.”
“ ‘I’ll sit here and wait for you. If you don’t get back, I’ll come looking with a shovel in my hand.’ ‘To defend me or bury me?’ Ackerman nods…”
“The mood simmers like the pot roast Nadine prepared.”
“ ‘I was over a stove, giving a pot of soup a third pass.’ ‘What kind of soup?’ The kind of question an old friend asks.”
“Morning arrives like a shovel to the head.”
“The words are soft gravel.”
“Destinations are not as important as the ride.”
A Persistent Echo is an entirely believable yarn, set in a hot, barren landscape sure to induce a thirst for a short glass of Hanson’s Mercantile whiskey, followed by a chaser of the protagonist’s favorite, Dr. Pepper.
The author’s postscript is a must-read. Eye-opening in some ways, as the reader has just finished the story, convinced of its reality—and then Brian confirms the true nature of many of the events. Historical fiction at its absolute best!
Britney's The Woman in Me was my first 5-star and favorite of the year.Alongside the monthly group read, Lady Tan's Circle of Women, I'm deeply enjoying Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman.
I've also managed to track down the stage adaptation (by du Maurier herself) of Rebecca!
I've currently dipped into these three. I always seem to have at least 3-5 books going at a time. Will Poole's Island
by Tim Weed
The Planters of Colonial Virginia
by Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker
Into the Wilderness
by Sara Donatti
Just finished First Lie Wins and what an extremely fun ride this was. Had me guessing and wanting to know what was going to happen from beginning to end. Totally recommend it as it was a quick and fast read. My review —> https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive WomanAn interesting insight into the life of an amazingly successful woman who wrote like a machine. My review below.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Enjoyed this sequel to the Emily Wilde series. A great read for cosy fantasy fans, but in the right series order.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished Death Below Stairs by Jennifer Ashley and very much enjoyed it. I liked our main character Kat Halloway a lot. Lots of spunk. Also enjoyed of cooking techniques in 1881. Looking forward to reading book 2 in the series.
Finished Victoria and Albert by Evelyn Anthony. Rated 4 stars. Historical fiction. An interesting look at the relationship between Queen Victoria, her husband Prince Albert and the historical events that transpired in England during the mid 19th century.
Just finished an amazing fast-paced classic from the British Library:A Coin of Edward VII - A Detective Story
by Fergus HumeHere is my 5 stars review :
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Completed The Alice Network by Kate Quinn ||The Alice Network was real. Louise de Bettignies, (code name: Alice) its leader and her fate during World War I were too. As is the martyred French village Oradour-sur Glane still stands today.
The author uses this true life war heroine’s story to spin a dual timeline narrative. Two women. One haunted and searching for someone during time as a spy in WWI France. The other searching for her missing cousin post WWII. Both find strength, and search for absolution.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've been re-reading Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe books after a long, long while, and have rediscovered why he was considered a very fine writer, one of the best of the 20th century (I do go back to the 1930s myself.) His handling of the language in that series of books beginning with The Big Sleep is truly fine, and young writers of today could learn a lot by reading him.
A Grave for a Thief by Douglas Skelton, is another swashbuckling episode in this historical mystery series. review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A couple of chapters in to A Gentleman in Moscow, can’t wait to get into it properly!
Finished Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball by Luke Epplin. Non fiction. Rated 5 stars.Link to my short review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Spy Coast, by Tess Gerritsen, is a new ensemble piece about five spies who have tried to retire quietly to a small town but discover it's not that easy. The author was inspired by real life circumstances near her, which made it even more interesting to me.
My review of The Spy Coast
Finished Evan Help Us #2 Constable Evans by Rhys Bowen. Rated 3 stars. Very entertaining contemporary cozy mystery set in Wales. Read this on Libby Kindle. #1 isn't available at our library but found out I can read it with Kindle Unlimited so I've signed up for 1 month free. Looking forward to continuing this series with it's cast of likeable, quirky characters.
Struggling young author Junie is accused of racial passing, known as Yellowface, by social media critics in R.F. Kuang's novel. Good story - glad I'm not a publisher!
My review of Yellowface
Starting Water for Elephants today! This has been on my shelf for YEARS and I'm excited to finally be getting to it :)
Finished Sea of Treason
. Another tale of iron men and wooden ships in the British Navy's days of sail. Bermuda, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden are the venues. Some little known history during the Napoleonic wars. Three stars.
Tripped over a copy of Sink the Bismarck!
. A quick read by author C. S. Forester who puts you on the WWII ships involved. Four stars.
Just finished
as of last night. Found it to be veery fast paced. I liked it but wasn’t a fan of the ending —> https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Starting to reread before donating The Lion In Glory
byShannon Drake takes place during the reign of Robert the Bruce.
Just finished Lady Tan's Circle of Women and thoroughly enjoyed the attention shown to historical details along with the story. My Review —> https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Coming out in March for Kylie Minogue fans is another addition to the Little People BIG DREAMS series by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara. The popular 'Neighbours' actress became a singing superstar with chart-topping albums five decades in a row.
My review of Kylie Minogue with several illustrations
An Enchanted Moment on Ever After Street by Jaimie Admans
I read romances mainly when this author writes them. She creates settings like no one else. Found a new favourite from her works.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Going to do a quick reread of the lovely Foster by Claire Keegan for my reading group, then embark on Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris.
Catching up on posting my recent reviews to groups. Murder by Candlelight is a mystery set in the Cotswolds in 1924 with the kind of bright, eccentric characters one expects in such novels. My **** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Grave for a Thief fits into the swashbuckler genre. There is a mystery here, but it's not solved so much by careful investigation, but by Flynt's willingness to leap into potentially explosive situations and fight his way back out of them. My *** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January historical mystery series is a favorite of mine. Given that The Nubian’s Curse is the twentieth volume in the series, it must be a favorite of a good many others. The series is set in the mid 18th Century, primarily in New Orleans. January is a free man of color with a wide range of life experiences. He was born a slave, then was purchased by his mother when she became a placee (a sort of mistress/concubine) of a wealthy white man. He's a gifted musician; he's also studied medicine. He's lived in both slave-holding and free states; he's also lived in France. This novels brings characters from January's past in France to his life in New Orleans. My **** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Silver Bone, which is being marketed as the first volume in a new mystery series is set immediately after the end of WWII in Ukraine. These years were chaotic for Ukraine, with multiple rebellions and invasions. The Silver Bone has definite strengths: its absurdism, a particular touch of magical realism, and characters and relationships that seem set to develop in engaging ways in future volumes. And I know I'll be reading future volumes in the series, but... The Silver Bone is less a mystery novel and more a very time and location specific dark comedy. I'm hoping that the plotting of the actual mysteries will become more complex in future volumes. My *** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I requested a review copy of The Wharton Plot because—Edith Wharton as a detective? I needed to see what the author did with that set-up. What the author did is write an interesting novel that hovers at the intersection of fictionalized history and mystery. This isn't a novel that blew me away, but it did keep me reading. My *** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The World's End Bureau Victorian mystery series is a favorite of mine, peopled with an unusual cast of characters who are all quite engaging and whose different skills are usefully complementary. There is an interesting mystery at the heart of this The Stranger in the Asylum that involves a wild mix of characters, but the primary action focuses on the journey to, in, and from France. I admit that I grew somewhat tired of repeated rounds of our-heroes-escape-to-x-only-to-find-their-nemeses-still-in-pursuit. Chase scenes can be exciting, but they can't really carry a novel. My *** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm always up for a new historical mystery. They're my bread-and-butter reading: not "high" literature, but yummy enough. There are several series out there that feature Shakespeare as detective. The Sister Queens, however, stood out to me among this group because of the complexity of the central problem and the fact that Shakespeare's life may depend upon it in a very real way. My **** review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I would call Katherine Arden's The Warm Hands of Ghosts a "Faust variation," but that label doesn't begin to do it justice. It's an exploration of life in the midst of war time and the turbulent reshaping of our world by WWI. The devil is necessarily present, along with futile struggles for mud-soaked ridges, nurses working endless shifts in field hospitals at risk of bombing, and the millions mourning the losses that war inflicted on them. My ***** review (my first for 2024!): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Historical Fictionistas
Books mentioned in this topic
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The Dark Library (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Rhys Bowen (other topics)Alan Brennert (other topics)
Erin Crosby Eckstine (other topics)
Alba de Céspedes (other topics)
Richard Paul Evans (other topics)
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Tell us what you are reading in 2024.