Historical Fiction Challenge 2012 discussion
What are you reading for the Challenge?
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Peggy
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Jun 24, 2012 02:07PM
Yay! I made it to Book #20.
This book has dual, intertwined stories; 1923 Kashgar and modern day London. I didn't care much for it. Oh, well... For more, see my review on my blog: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
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Read Book #21:
Thanks, Wanda, for recommending this one! A mystery series set in Russia in the 1870s. Erast Fandorin, the youngest member of the Moscow Police CID, is allowed to investigate the public suicide of a young aristocrat. What he uncovers puts him in over his head. A really great read for historical fiction mystery fans. See my blog for more: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
Finished book #22 "The House of Velvet and Glass" by Katherine Howe. Set in Boston, 3 years after the sinking of the Titanic, it follows the Allston family as they try to cope with the loss of Mrs. Allston and the youngest daughter. Be prepared for a slightly dark side with seances, opium dens and an expulsion from Harvard. All the surviving members of the Allstons have their secrets! See more on my blog: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201... The House of Velvet and Glass She also wrote "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane", a terrific split-time book about the Salem witch craft trials.
Book #23 is a period murder mystery:
. It's your standard murder mystery. What makes this more interesting is the setting: a rural Maine Shaker community in the late 1790s. Will Rees visits the Zion community in search of his runaway son, and is asked by the Elders of the community to stay on to investigate a murder there. For more, see my blog post: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
I've finished Book #24.
If you're a fan of Steven Saylor's Roman detective, Gordianus the Finder, this novel fills in his back story as he embarks on a youthful Grand Tour of the Seven Wonders with his tutor/companion Antipater of Sidon, the renowned poet. But Antipater wishes to travel incognito and fakes his own death. Gordianus finds a mystery to solve at each site they visit, but almost misses the one right under his nose. An entertaining read. See my blog post: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
Book #25. The Orphanmaster This is Jean Zimmerman's first novel, but a couple of years ago I read her fascinating "The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty". She's used her research on Dutch colonial New Netherlands to write this mystery. Orphans are going missing in New Amsterdam in 1663, but no one seems to care much except for newly-arrived Englishman Edward Drummond who has his own secrets, and she-merchant Blandine van Couvering, who is asked by the African community to investigate the disappearances of some of their children. Far too many suspects, and one of them is the Indian flesh-eating demon of legend, the witika... Warning! Not for the squeamish! For more, see my blog post: http://www.my-book-diary.blogspot.com...
I'm reading Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. 1/1
Book #26
I've been waiting to read this book for a year. It's the sequel to "A Discovery of Witches" which you should consider required reading before tackling "Shadow of Night". This one takes Diana Bishop & Matthew Clairmont back in time to find a rare manuscript in Elizabeth I's London. Almost all the action takes place in 1590 - 1591 around Europe. For more, see my blog post: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
I've just gotten started on the challenge so I'm way behind. But right now I'm reading
and
Haven't posted in a while, but I read The Swiss Family Robinsonand Catch-22 as books 7 and 8. Now I'm reading The Epic of Gilgameshas number 9 of 12.
Book #27 by one of my favorite authors: Lindsey Davis:
This stand alone novel covers the reign of the Emperor Domitian, told through the story of a most unlikely couple: Flavia Lucilla, an imperial freedwoman and successful court hairdresser, and Gaius Vinius Clodianus, former legionnaire & vigile, now reluctant Praetorian Guard. How these two first meet and then are later linked together through a lease on a shared Roman apartment is told against a backdrop of court intrigue and paranoia, yet with Davis' wit and humor to bring first century Rome alive. Will these two ever get together? For more, see my blog post: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
Book #28
. I've enjoyed Ms. Balogh's previous Regency romances, but I found this one overlong and the dialogue stiff(!) and preposterous in places, especially in the steamy sex scenes. Not to my taste. The main characters didn't like each other, and I didn't either. Oh, well... See my blog if you want to read more about it: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
Book #29
The first novel in a trilogy that begins (sort of) with Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, and her improbable romance with a former African prince and slave which ends in a clandestine marriage and a child. I won't be reading the rest of the trilogy, if that tells you anything. For more, see my blog posting: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
Book #30
This is Count Axel von Fersen's story told as a memoir with his sister Sophie filling in the missing parts. It starts like a tabloid telling of life on the Grand Tour and the French Court, but as soon as Axel is in a relationship with the French Royal family, the narrative seems to lose its steam. It tells the facts of what happened on that doomed attempt to escape France that he masterminds and recounts the politics that lead up to Marie Antoinette's execution. Once he hears that news, it's off to his mistress and life in the Swedish Court until he himself dies at the hands of a mob. I didn't feel any emotional connections here. For more, see my blog: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
Book #31
The second book in Hilary Mantel's trilogy about Henry VIII's fix-it man Thomas Cromwell. Told from Cromwell's perspective, she's made him into a real person for readers, not a cardboard villain. Even better than Wolf Hall! For more, see my blog: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
Book #32
P.C. Doherty writes a mean historical mystery, whether it's one of his medieval series, or ancient Egyptian. The Templar Magician is a stand alone mystery set in the Holy Land during the Crusades, when a Templar who may be a warlock or socerer is rumored to be responsible for the assasination of Count Raymond. The truth must be followed to an England in the middle of a brutal Civil War between Mathilda and King Stephen. Lots of red herrings, and meticulous research. See my blog for more: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
Bok #33 is the first book in a series set during the Napoleonic Wars:
. Will Laurence, captain of the HMS Reliant, captures a French naval vessel and discovers that it carries a dragon's egg as cargo, an extremely valuable prize of war. Before Captain Laurence can get it safely back to England and turn it over to the Aviator Corps, the egg hatches and Termeraire bonds with him. For the good of the country, Laurence does his duty and joins the Aviator Corps himself, a big step down careerwise, and loses his chance to marry, but he gains a powerful and intelligent new friend. A cast of wonderful characters, including the dragons themselves, and a last ditch effort to save England from an invasion by Napoleon and his troops. See more at my blog posting: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
Book #34. One of John Maddox Roberts' popular SPQR series,
I like Decius Caecilia Metellus' slightly cranky, opinionated character. His family's influence is ebbing as his wife's uncle Julius Caesar is gaining power. Decius has to get some additional military service under his belt before moving up the next step of his career ladder. Pirate chasing off Cyprus will do the trick. He doesn't count on adding a young Cleopatra and her ships to his fleet, or solving the murder of his host. For more, see my blog posting: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
Of the books I've read:"Doc" by Mary Doria Russell was outstanding!
"Carter the Great" was very good but perhaps more towards my personal tastes due to a background in theater arts.
"The Defense" was enjoyable from a chess/history perspective.
"The Sisters Brothers" was award winning, quick read, and crude, for those that like it real and earthy this is what the hired gun was more like.
Then there is my own work that is being released on Henry L. Pittock the newspaper tycoon. See http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/PwrPen
Pittock was intensively researched and lists dozens of wonderful non-fiction history books that were read in order to provide the most overall account of Pittock's life.
Just joined the group. What I've read so far this year:The Silver Spoon
The Dressmaker
The White Monkey
Rules of Civility
Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow
The Eleventh Man
11/22/63
The Rose Garden
Colorado Dawn
What Happens in London
Beautiful Days
Requiem for a Mezzo
Bright Young Things
Murder Your Darlings
The Help
Crocodile on the Sandbank
The Winter Garden Mystery
Compromised
The Borgia Bride
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel
And Then There Were None
Fellow Travelers
Evergreen Gallant
You Might As Well Die
The Red Queen
Why Shoot a Butler?
Death at Wentwater Court
Book #35 "The Jacobites' Apprentice" by David Ebsworth
This political novel deals with the question of loyalty in a divided Manchester, England leading up to the Rising of '45. Some crude language, but a most intriguing villain! See my blog posting for more: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
Book #36 is a pre WWII spy thriller:
Unrolls in your mind like the very best black & white classic movies! See more at my blog posting: http://www.my-book-diary.blogspot.com...
Book #37 is one I've been eagerly awaiting:
. Ms. Moran brings to life a lesser known historical character: Napoleon's second wife, Marie-Louise the mother of his only son. Really enjoyed this one! See my blog posting for more: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/201...
For 2012, I wrote/read http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16... Pittock the Voice of Portland.I have read: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14... and http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14... and http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14... only to better understand the male rancidity of the 1800s. Cussler's http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41... and http://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=... were particularly inspiring due to the nautical fiction I wished to add to my own works. From the NW I sort of liked http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/98... while http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45... added the turn of the century mystic flavor I was looking for. But with out a doubt, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89... ruled for dialog!!!
Currently I'm into the http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...
I'm back with books #38, 39, 40 & 41! Not crazy about Someone Knows My Name
but two excellent mysteries: Anne Perry's annual Christmas novella A Christmas Garland
and The Incense Game (did not figure this one out!)
, and something a little different in which fate can be foretold through the cards The Stockholm Octavo:
. For more about all four of these books, see my book blog: http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com
Historical Fiction Challenge 2012
Books mentioned in this topic
Someone Knows My Name (other topics)A Christmas Garland (other topics)
The Stockholm Octavo (other topics)
The Incense Game (other topics)
The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court (other topics)
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