100 All-Time Best Historical Fiction Books

One of the Google Alerts I have set up is for the phrase Historical Fiction, mainly so I can collate the HT News posts I do over at Historical Tapestry.

Today, one of the links that came through was to a list of the 100 All Time Best Historical Fiction books. You know that I can't go past that without having to comment on it! What I don't know is how this list was collated, who were the judges etc, but it's still a fun exercise to look at! I have commented about the books that I have read in purple

Interesting that Philippa Gregory is apparently the only Tudor author worth reading!

How many of these have you read? Are there any must read HF books that aren't on the list? Are there any books on this list that you can't believe I haven't read yet? Let's talk the best historical fiction novels you have read.

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Ancient & Prehistoric Go way back in these books from prehistoric and ancient times.

1. The Penelopaid: The Penelopaid offers a rewriting of the Odyssey, Odysseus, Helen, and life in Hades.
2. Death Comes as the End: Agatha Christie’s novel is set in Thebes in 2000 BC.
3. The Clan of the Cave Bear: The Clan of the Cave Bear is about the interactions between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. (Can't wait to read the sixth book in the series which is out early next year! Have been reading these books since my late teens)
4. Centennial: Read Centennial to trace the history of northeast Colorado from prehistoric times to the 1970s.
5. The Secret Magdalene: The Secret Magdalene challenges views of historical events in the New Testament.
6. The Red Tent: In The Red Tent, you’ll find a retelling of the story of Dinah from the Bible. (This is the book that started me on my blogging journey. I just had to talk to someone, anyone about it when I read it!)
7. Earth’s Children: The Earth’s Children series is set in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic era, discussing the co-existence of Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals. (See comment on 3 above)
8. London: Edward Rutherfurd’s novel begins with the birth of the River Thames to present time.
9. Sarum: Sarum follows the story of England from prehistoric times to the creation of the country of England.
10. The Bull from the Sea: The Bull From the Sea follows the story of the mythological hero Theseus in Ancient Greece.
11. Pharaoh: See the stresses and threats that culminate in the fall of Egypt’s Twentieth Dynasty and the New Kingdom in this novel.
12. The Egyptian: This classic recreates Egypt in the 14th century.

Roman Empire
You can study the Roman empire in these novels.

13. I, Claudius: I, Claudius covers the life of Claudius and the Julio-Claudian Dynasty of the Roman Empire.
14. The First Man in Rome: Colleen McCullough’s novel shares the history of important figures in the late Roman republic.
15. Masters of Rome: Masters of Rome is set during the last days of the old Roman Republic.

Medieval & Middle Ages
In these books, you’ll learn about medieval times.

16. The Deryni Novels: Katherine Kurtz’s series is set in a medieval kingdom similar to the British Isles of the 10th and 12th centuries.
17. The Mists of Avalon: The Mists of Avalon follows the life of a priestess working to save her culture.

1000s to 1400s
These novels will take you all the way to the 15th century.

18. The Physician: Noah Gordon’s novel is about a Christian boy on a journey across Europe to study medicine with the Muslims in the 11th century.
19. Ivanhoe: Ivanhoe is responsible for an increase in interest in the Middle Ages during the Romanticism era.
20. Pope Joan: This novel follows the life of medieval legend Pope Joan, who dresses as a man and eventually becomes the pope. (I thought this was on okay read, but not spectacular)
21. The Pillars of the Earth: Ken Follet’s popular novel, The Pillars of the Earth, is about the building of a 12th century cathedral’s construction in Kingsbridge, England.
22. The Journeyer: Study the life of Marco Polo in this historical novel.
23. The Name of the Rose: Italian author Umberto Eco’s murder mystery combines learning in an Italian monastery in 1327.
24. Katherine: Anya Seton’s novel tells the story of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt. (Classic historical fiction if there is such a thing.)
25. The Sunne in Splendor: Follow King Richard III from his time as a young boy to his defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field. (My first Richard III novel, and still the best)
26. The Agony and the Ecstasy: Irving Stone shares this biographical novel about the sculptor Michelangelo.
27. Princess Mononoke: This period drama follows fantastical Japanese elements.
28. The Historian: Check out The Historian for the folklore of 15th century Vlad the Impaler.

Tudor
The Tudor era is studied in these novels. Haven't read The Boleyn Inheritance, but have read the others.

29. The Constant Princess: Philippa Gregory’s historical novel follows a fictionalized story of Catherine of Aragon’s life.
30. The Queen’s Fool: The Queen’s Fool discusses the lives of Mary I of England and Elizabeth.
31. The Boleyn Inheritance: The Boleyn Inheritance is all about the fourth and fifth marriages of King Henry VIII.
32. The Other Boleyn Girl: Learn about the life of 16th century aristocrat Mary Boleyn.

1500s and 1600s
Check out these novels to read about the 16th and 17th centuries.

33. The Last Light of the Sun: This fantasy novel draws heavily on the Viking invasions of Saxon England.
34. The Drawing of the Dark: A 16th century Irish mercenary soldier is the focus of Tim Powers’ book.
35. The Scarlet Letter: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work tells the story of an adulteress who gives birth in 17th century Puritan Boston.
36. Forever Amber: In this novel, Amber St. Clare sleeps her way up through the ranks of 17th century English society. Another classic.
37. Year of Wonders: Year of Wonders is based on a small village in Derbyshire trying to survive the Plague. (Loved this book, except for the very strange ending!)
38. Shadows on the Rock: 17th century Quebec is discussed in this novel by American writer Willa Cather.
39. City of Dreams: City of Dreams tells the story of early Manhattan. (I really liked this one too. It covers a long period of time and a lot of action, but is a very interesting read)
40. The Three Musketeers: Alexander Dumas wrote this novel about inseparable friends in the 17th century.

American Frontier
These books offer the stories of the American frontier.

41. Mr. Tucket: Gary Paulsen’s novel is about Francis Tucket, who strays from his family’s wagon on the Oregon Trail.
42. My Antonia: See life from the perspective of an immigrant girl on the Nebraska plains in this novel.
43. Cenceit: Conceit shares the story of Peggy Donne, who is the daughter of poet John Donne.
44. Silence: Silence is a historical fiction novel about a Jesuit missionary in 17th century Japan.
45. Girl with a Pearl Earring: Girl with a Pearl Earring recreates the setting in which the famous Vermeer painting was created. (None of the Tracy Chevalier books I have read since have lived up to the enjoyment I got from this book!)

1700s and 1800s
In these novels, you’ll go from the 18th century to more modern times.

46. Rob Roy: Rob Roy takes place in the time of the Jacobite Rising in Scotland.
47. Roots: Study Kunta Kinte’s life and resulting family in Roots.
48. Outlander: Read this novel series that highlights Scottish clan life in the 18th century. (Jamie and Claire. Jamie in particular. Sigh.)
49. The Talisman Ring: The Talisman Ring is a historical romance novel set in the Georgian era.
50. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories: This collection of eight short stories are written in 18th and 19th century England.
51. Arthur & George: Read the stories of two very different men brought together in late 19th century Britain. (Really didn't enjoy this one all that much.)
52. Henry Paget Flashman: Flashman is a an antihero of the 19th century. (I've read one of the Flashman books. It's very politically incorrect, but a lot of fun.)
53. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: In this novel, you’ll find an alternative history to 19th century England.
54. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: See the lives of women in 19th century China in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. (I have enjoyed all of Lisa See's historical fiction novels.)
55. Wuthering Heights: Wuthering Heights is set in northern England’s Yorkshire moors in the 1800s.
56. Alias Grace: Alias Grace discusses the 1843 murders of Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery in Canada.
57. Lonesome Dove: Follow retired Texas Rangers from Texas to Montana in Lonesome Dove. (It's nearly time for me to read this book again.)
58. Les Miserables: Victor Hugo’s novel depicts the lives of poor French characters in the early 19th century.
59. The Count of Monte Cristo: The Count of Monte Cristo takes place in Europe during the 1800s.
60. The Last Empress: Anchee Min’s novel shares an account of Empress Dowager Cixi’s life.
61. City of Glory: City of Glory discusses New York during the War of 1812. Another Beverly Swerling novel that I enjoyed immensely
62. Death Comes for the Archbishop: In this novel, Willa Cather writes about a Catholic bishop and priest establishing a diocese in New Mexico Territory.
63. One Thousand White Women: One Thousand White Women writes the story of May Dodd and other pioneer women who intermarried among the Cheyenne Indians.
64. The Alienist: Caleb Carr’s novel studies murder in 1896 New York City.
65. The Angel of Darkness: The Angel of Darkness is a sequel to The Alienist, sharing the mystery of Senora Linares’s missing child.

1900s and 2000s
Study more recent history in these novels.

66. Teito Monogatari: Read this book to see the history of Edo from an occultist perspective.
67. The Good Earth: Pearl S. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize for this book about the family life of a Chinese village before the 1949 Revolution. This was a very interesting read that I read with an online book club a number of years ago.
68. The Color Purple: The Color Purple shares female black life in the South during the 1930s.
69. Ragtime: Ragtime is a mix of American families and historical figures in important American events, set from 1900 until 1917.
70. Middlesex: Middlesex tells the story of Greek immigration to the United States. Fascinating book. Listened to it on audio years ago, and it is still one of the best listening experiences I have had.
71. A Thousand Splendid Suns: Learn about the lives of Afghan women in their lives from the 1960s to 2003. Excellent book. Historical fiction though?
72. Snow Falling on Cedars: Study a murder case on the Washington coast in 1954 on Snow Falling on Cedars.
73. The Grapes of Wrath: John Steinbeck’s award winning novel tells the story of sharecroppers in the Great Depression.
74. The Joy Luck Club: The Joy Luck Club looks into the lives of immigrant Chinese women in the United States. I read this book years ago.
75. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn follows three generations of an American family beginning in 1912.
76. Water for Elephants: Water for Elephants focuses on a traveling circus in the time of the Great Depression. Another excellent read
77. The Thorn Birds: The Thorn Birds follows the Cleary family in the Australian outback from 1915 to 1969. Wow. What a book! I remember watching the mini series when I was a teenager and being shocked, and then reading the book. Need to revisit this one.

War
A popular subject, these novels are set in times of war.

78. Captain Alatriste: Arturo Perez-Reverte’s novel series follows the adventures of a Spanish soldier in the 17th century.
79. Gone with the Wind: This romantic novel is set in Civil War and Reconstruction Georgia. Another classic!
80. Slaughterhouse-Five: Slaughterhouse-Five is a World War II-era science fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut.
81. Sharpe: Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series is all about Sharpe in the Napoleonic Wars.
82. A Tale of Two Cities: Charles Dickens set this novel in London and Paris during the time of the French Revolution.
83. The Corps: WEB Griffin’s series wrote this series about the Marine Corps in the years surrounding World War II and the Korean Conflict.
84. Horatio Hornblower: Horatio Hornblower’s series follows a junior Royal Navy Captain on a mission in Central America during the Napoleonic Wars.
85. War and Peace: The epic novel War and Peace discusses the details of the events leading up to Napoleon’s invasion of Russia.
86. The Book Thief: The Book Thief explores Death in WWII Germany. Loved this book when I read it a couple of years ago.
87. Memoirs of a Geisha: Arthur Golden’s book tells the story of a Kyoto geisha during the time of World War II. Not so fussed about this one. It was good but I didn't think it was great. Maybe it had been overhyped to me by the time I got to it.
88. Tales of the Otori: Lian Hearn’s historical novel series is based on feudal Japan.
89. King Rat: King Rat is set in a Japanese POW camp in 1945.
90. Doctor Zhivago: See the story of a man torn between two women in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War.
91. The English Patient: You will learn about the histories of a series of men living out World War II in an Italian villa.
92. The Killer Angels: The Killer Angels is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the Battle of Gettysburg.
93. Number the Stars: Number the Stars is a historical fiction about the Holocaust in WWII.
94. Cold Mountain: Charles Frazier’s story discusses a wounded deserter from the Confederate army.
95. All Quiet on the Western Front: German veteran Erich Maria Remarque shares the stress of World War I in this novel.
96. The Shadow of the Wind: Just after the Spanish Civil War in Barcelona, a young writer is mysteriously approached to write a book. One of my favourites!
97. The Fiery Cross: The Fiery Cross features the politics and turmoil of the American Revolution. Part of the Outlander series. Surprised to see this one make it into the list when others didn't!
98. Like Water for Chocolate: See love, longing, and magical realism in this Mexican Revolution novel.Another one that I read years ago that I would like to revisit.
99. World Without End: Check out Ken Follet’s novel with a plot incorporating the Hundred Years’ War and the Black Death.
100. Tales of the South Pacific: James A. Michener’s collection of short stories about World War II won a Pulitzer Prize.

TSS: Define book blogger

Last week I announced the Australian Book Blogger Directory so this week's TSS is going to be a bit of an update on that project, but the main focus for today is going to be around definitions. Does your blog have to be all books all the time to be considered a book blog? How about author blogs? Their focus is on books, admittedly usually only their own books, but still?

First up though an update! After one week we have nearly 50 Aussie book blogs registered which is totally awesome, and a fantastic start! My plan is to spend tomorrow getting all the entries I currently have up on the blog.

Some of the most pleasing aspects of this first week is that after the first few days it was probably 50/50 in terms of the numbers of new to me blogs versus the Australian blogs I already knew about. My Google Reader isn't thanking me, but I am loving finding all these new blogs. Now I just have to carve out more blog hopping time to keep up with them.

The other pleasing thing was that I was able to see new connections being made between people who hadn't discovered each other's blogs before, finding other people with similar tastes in reading. That was one of the aims I had for the directory so I am very hopeful that this will continue.

Before I move onto definitions, I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who posted about the Australian Book Blogger Directory. I don't want to forget anyone so I am not going to name names, but thank you for your support! I really appreciate it, and also to Violet for making a button for the directory.


So this leads me to my questions for today.

When I announced the creation of the Book Blogger Directory I got a couple of emails in particular asking what kind of blogs can be included. Which really is what is a book blogger? Here's a quote from one of those emails:

I would love to spread the word but need to know what your criteria are for "book blog". I am on an Aussie writer list and am happy to tell them about it. Some review books so that's easy. Some review books and write about writing. Some review books occasionally. Some don't review books but they write books! Are you happy to let them decide if they belong to the book blogging fraternity and apply to join the directory? I do think of myself as a book blogger, but also an education and parenting blogger. I have several Australian followers who are mombloggers. If they review books sometimes, can they join?

For the purposes of ABBD, I am really interested in connecting people with similar interests and who will be keen to meet up with other book bloggers in future, so I suspect that my definition might be a bit looser than some other peoples might be. Personally, if someone wants to call themselves a book blogger (and there is some bookish content on their blogs) then I am happy for them to join up, but then again, I actually don't see ABBD as my blog, but rather a community project, so will be happy to discuss other blogger's ideas.

So, what do we all think? Is an author a book blogger, or do they need to at least be chatting about other people's books as well as their own to qualify? What about other types of bloggers who occasionally talk books? What about blogs that are attached to bookstores? Often there are reviews amongst their posts, but really the aim is to try to get people to buy from the store.

Is there a definition somewhere of what a book blogger is or isn't? Does anyone who has signed up for the ABBD have strong opinions as to who should and shouldn't be included?

So, my question to anyone who wants to respond is "How do you define the term book blogger?"

Weekend Cooking: or perhaps that should be Weekend Eating

I haven't posted a Weekend Cooking post for a couple of weeks, mainly because I have been too busy enjoying foodie related events, rather than thinking about or reading them.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when a couple of friends and I got together on the Friday night for dinner and drinks. The major reason for this get together was to share a bottle of wine that my friend's dad had sent over to her. I think it is fair to say that it is the most expensive bottle of wine that I have ever partaken of!

She cooked us beautiful steak and vegetables, and we drank the wine with dinner (having already started with a different bottle before dinner!). I love eating steak, but I don't think I do a particularly good job of cooking it, so it is very enjoyable when other people cook it well for me!

I am not really a wine expert. I drink red wine, but generally prefer white, and so when we were discussing the wine as we were drinking it I was having to read the description off of the bottle - long, silky tannins, aged in new French oak etc. It was very nice, but I don't often have a spare $150 lying to spend on one bottle of wine.

It was a great night though, followed by a cafe breakfast the next morning. I could totally get used to other people cooking for me all the time!

My friend has photos and if I can get them off of her, then I will add them to this post later.

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the Good Food and Wine show that was on here in Melbourne. I have actually been to a few of these shows. The first time I went was when I lived in Sheffield in the UK, and the show was being held in Birmingham. Once we got on a train going in the right direction, my friend and I had an excellent day.  The second time I went from Sheffield to London with different friends.

Since living in Melbourne I think it is the third or maybe fourth time that I have been, but this is the first time that I didn't have my son with me, so it definitely felt like there was more good wine this time as opposed to good food! I was very careful to plan my day so I didn't have to drive at all, because you only get little tries of each type of wine, but you try so many so you really have no idea how much alcohol you really have had.

One of the highlights of going to these shows is that you get to see some celebrity chefs. In the past I have seen Donna Hay, who is probably one of Australia's best known cooks, and Ainsley Harriott who is an English chef who puts on such a great all round show rather than just a cooking demonstration. This year we got to see a French/Australian chef Manu Fieldel do a demo. He has risen to prominence this year in particular as he has been co-hosting one of the reality TV cooking shows, along side another chef, Pete Evans, both of whom are very easy on the eyes! Being French, there is the gorgeous accent, and lots of jokes about loving women, using just a little bit of cream (as he pours entire cartons in), and a fair bit of a naughtiness (oh Manu!). It was fun especially as he had a bit of a circus theme because he was in the circus for a couple of years as a youngster.

As his demonstration, he made two dishes. The first was a seafood sausage which I can not imagine eating but it is apparently one of his best selling dishes at the restaurant he runs in Sydney, called L'Etoile. It involved white fish, cream, herbs and scallops and then made into a skinless sausage (cue jokes about firm sausages, and appropriate french noises!).

The other dish he made was Apple Tarte Tatin (or as it is described on the menu for his restaurant Le Tarte de Tatin de Maman - Mum's caramelised apple tart with sour cream) , and I have to tell you that I have been craving this all week just to try. It looked fantastic, and it didn't look THAT difficult to make, so I have found a recipe online, and I am going to give that a try tomorrow I think. I did try another recipe tonight which I will probably post about next week.

I have decided though that you really need to go to this event twice. One day is a walking around and trying food and wine day and buying lots of things, and the other is a day where you go and attend some of the classes that are run (like the cheese experience, or cooking with herbs classes). The other thing I would like to do next year is eat in the restaurant that is there that some of the chefs cook for. Oh, and I would try and go on a Friday in the hope that there wouldn't be quite so many people around. It was busy!

I didn't think that you were allowed to take photos, so I didn't, but for a run down of someone else's day at the Good Food and Wine show including photos, check out this post from Kimba's World Kitchen. She lives in Melbourne, and does amazing looking food posts!

I picked up quite a new full sized cook book, and a couple of mini books, and a few bargains, which is another of the highlights of the show too, and tried a whole heap of different foods. It's a bit strange really. You walk around the show, and at one stall you might try divine fudge, and then next stall might be duck, and then some salsa, then some berries etc. You don't so much eat as graze intermittently.

Here's just a brief sample of Manu's gorgeous accent, and he is very cheeky as well!



As if that isn't enough foodie events, I also went out for dinner on Sunday night to one of the local restaurants for my birthday! I had stuffed Petto di Pollo which is Chicken breast, stuffed with sun dried tomatoes, bocconcini  and pesto drizzled with a Napoli & cream sauce. Yum.

And then dessert was a tasting plate that consisted of banana crepes and brandy snap basket filled with mascarpone and fresh berries. I was a bit worried about them being on the same plate. They were both nice, but I would have been happy with the brandy snap basket dessert on it's own. Years ago I made a dessert which was poached pears with mascarpone which I loved. Will have to look through my magazines to see if I can find it again because I remember it being so good!

So there you have it, two weekends of foodie experiences, with more to come next week! I will try to get into the habit of taking photos of my food before I start eating it!

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.

World Cup 2010 is here!

I was talking to my boss yesterday and told him that I possibly should have mentioned when he hired me that I am going to be a bit of a zombie for the next month or so. I actually was exaggerating a little bit. If it wasn't for the time zones which mean that most of the games start either around midnight or at 4.30am, I would probably end up watching a lot more of the World Cup than I am going to. When you add in that Wimbledon is in a couple of week (on overnight) and Tour de France as well as the normal Australian winter sports, then there is a lot of spectating going one during the month of June!

My enjoyment of soccer is one of the few legacies left from the five years spent in the UK back in the late 90s, unless you count my son of course, and the occasional Thorntons toffee when I can get it.

One of the best things about the World Cup is getting to see Lucas Neill (Socceroo captain) on the news all the time! Yep, it doesn't take much to keep me happy!

Go Socceroos!

Photo credit

Library Loot: June 9 to 15

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and myself that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had a book still on my library list that I was sure I had returned. Things came to a head last week when it couldn't be extended any further. If the librarian hadn't been busy I would have actually gone through the process of declaring the book lost as I had checked the car, checked the shelf where I keep my library books and checked everywhere. I said that I would do it next time, so came home, and promptly found the book on the floor near my shelf! Apparently I had a boy look!

Here is the loot I borrowed from the library this week

Serpent in the Thorns by Jeri Westerson - I read the first book in this series a while ago, and never thought to check if my library had the second one until the other day.

Emma Vol 4 by Kaoru Mori - I posted about the first three volumes earlier this week, and I am pleased to get hold of this next book in the series.

Twilight: the graphic novel by Stephenie Meyer/Kim Young - why not. Just to have a look at really.


What loot did you get out from the library this week? Leave your link in Mr Linky below so we can all stop by and have a look!

Teaser Tuesday: The Brothers of Gwynedd by Edith Pargeter

Sorry for the radio silence this week so far. I have a house guest and so have been busy, busy, busy. I have also been starting to get some of the entries up at Australian Book Blogger Directory! Need to spend some time catching up on blog hopping later this week!

My teaser this week comes from The Brothers of Gwynedd by Edith Pargeter. I have teased from the first part, Sunrise in the West, a couple of times at the beginning of May, and now this teaser comes from the second part,  The Dragon at Noonday. I am taking four sentences from page 360:

As for thinking of what I had left behind me, or of what I had to tell, I thought not at all. I could not. Everything I had seen, and suffered, and done, was live within me, and I so full of it there was no room for thought. I lived and acted, and that was all.

Teaser Tuesday is host by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Head on over to find out all about it, and how to join in!

TSS: Announcing.... something for the Aussies

I've been working on a new project for the last little while, and today is the day that I can share the details. First though, I thought I would talk about the whys and then give the detail.

For quite a long time, I have been thinking about Aussie bloggers and wondering about how many there are and how to connect with more. Some times I have been reading a blog for a few weeks and then suddenly they will post something and the penny will drop and I realise that they are an Australian! I am sure that there are loads of Australian book blogs that I either don't realise or Aussies or who I haven't come across before!

Reading about all the fun that everyone had in New York connecting with each other in real life at BEA was the next prompt, as was the acceptance that there appeared to be from the big published house towards bloggers at BEA.

So, an idea was born.

Today, I am pleased to announce the creation of

Australian Book Bloggers Directory

The idea behind the directory is that it is a place where people can register their blogs, plus a few details like what genres you like to blog about, and a general idea of location. Then hopefully we will be able to easily find other Australian bloggers with similar reading interests that you might not already know about, or other bloggers who may live in your area.

The second aim in setting up the directory is with a view to starting to get blogger meet-ups happening, at this stage probably in the capital cities, and maybe aligned with some of the major bookish festivals. In due course, assuming enough interest, we will look towards trying to set up a national book blogger event.

The third aim in setting up the directory is to try and raise the profile of Australian book blogging with some of the major publishers here. I don't know if I am just not aware of it happening, but I can't think of many examples where Australian publishers are working with book bloggers in the same way as it happens in other countries.

So are you an Australian book blogger? If yes, and it doesn't matter if you are a kids lit book blog, or a romance blog, or YA, or any type of book blogger really, head on over and add your details. Hopefully you will be able to connect with other bloggers who share your interests.

I would really appreciate people would help spread the word, to try and make the directory as comprehensive as possible. Also, if anyone has any graphic skills and would like to make some kind of badge that we could use both on the website and maybe to display on our blogs let me know! I do not have any skills in that area at all. Finally, if anyone has any suggestions on how to make the directory better, then I will be glad to hear them.

I would like to say specific thanks to Kerrie from Mysteries in Paradise, Amanda from Desert Book Chick and Kat from Bookthingo who were all very helpful in checking out the site and giving suggestions to help make it as easy and user friendly as possible.

Alphabet in Historical Fiction: Emma series by Kaoru Mori

The Alphabet in Historical Fiction challenge being hosted by Historical Tapestry continues and this time I want to focus on a manga series that is set in Victorian England - the Emma series by Kaoru Mori. So far I have read three of the books in this series, so I thought I would do mini reviews of those three books.

I have read very little manga, but when I heard about this series, I was interested enough to give it a go, mainly because it was a way of being introduced to manga but without going too far out of my comfort zone given the historical setting.

One of the interesting things about this series is that in a way it seems to be a series of entertaining vignettes within an apparently slow moving storyline, and yet there is humour, there are historical details and there are  amazing images that convey a very colourful storyline, all in black and white. The class distinctions between our two main characters might not always at the very forefront of the storyline, but it is always bubbling away in the background, none more so when the two characters are portrayed in their own individual environments.

The characters are all visually appealing and very much fit into the setting of the novels, without losing the 'manga' style.

I have only read the first three in the series so far, but I have every intention of reading more. Below are the covers and synopses, and just a couple of highlights from each novel that I have read.




An upstairs gentlemen and a downstairs servant share a secret love.

The saga begins. In Victorian England, a young girl named Emma is rescued from a life of destitution and raised to become a proper British maid. When she meets William, the eldest son of a wealthy family, their love seems destined. But in this world, even matters of the heart are ruled by class distinctions.
Emma is the maid to the former school teacher of a young gentleman, William. They meet when he comes to visit his former teacher, and there is an immediate attraction. Like the setting, the courtship such as it is, is very understated and gradual, that is until William's friend arrives from the continent complete with his entourage of dancers and elephants, and he too is attracted to Emma.

London's elite society places great importance on class differences, unlike William Jones. He regards Emma as a beautiful, charming young woman and not merely a servant. After their first real date, things seem to be going in a positive direction for them. But the leisurely pace of the growing relationship between them ends suddenly when disaster strikes at home.

Whilst in the previous book, the class differences between the two characters were present, it is in this book that the consequences of going against societal norms come to the fore.

A chance meeting leads Emma to a new situation ... and new challenges

One the train back to her hometown, Emma meets Tasha, a maid working at a wealthy family's mansion in the country. This fateful encounter leads leads to Emma finding employment with the family as well. But despite her years of experience as a maid for Mrs Stownar, living in a mansion filled with servants is something for which she is not prepared.

Circumstances have changed for Emma,and it is only as a result of a fortuitous meeting on a train that Emma finds herself employed in a large house, part of a large group of household servants, and that we therefore get to see more of life downstairs, including a really fun scene where the servants get to celebrate with a party.

Meanwhile William is trying his hardest to meet his family's expectations.

Here are the remaining covers from the original series. There have now also been a further 3 books released which tell the background stories of some of the secondary characters.

For other opinions on this series check out the following links. A couple of them includes some examples of the art.


Things Mean a Lot
In Spring it is the Dawn
Bold. Blue. Adventure
The Written World

The third volume also counts as my read for the Year of the Historical Challenge.

Awesome book trailer

Wow! This is very cool! I just saw this trailer for Kate Morton's next book at Readin' and Dreamin', and really had to share, firstly because it is awesome, and secondly because I have really liked Kate Morton's books and so I am looking forward to this book!

Uncertain Magic by Laura Kinsale

A man damned by suspicion and innuendo

Dreadful rumors swirl around the impoverished Irish lord known as "The Devil Earl". But Faelen Savigar hides a dark secret, for even he doesn't know what dreadful deeds he may be capable of.

A woman cursed by the gift of "sight"

Roderica Delamore fears no man will ever want a wife who can read his every thought and emotion, until she encounters Faelan. As the two find their way to each other against all odds, Roddy becomes determined to save Faelen from his terrifying and mysterious ailment. But will their lvoe end up saving him ... or destroying her?

A breathtaking historical romance filled with poignancy, darkness, love, and an unexpected twist of Gaelic magic…

I am going to have to start this review with a bit of a rant! I really, really don’t like books where the hero refers to the heroine as little girl or little love or anything like that. Unfortunately, the author uses this as an endearment between our hero of this novel, Faelen Savigar, and the heroine,  Roddy Delamore,  and every time he called her that name I wanted to throw the book down and walk away. I was hoping that it would just be in the early part of the book, and that in due course Faelen would grow to see her as more than a little girl, but alas it didn't happen, at least in terms of endearments. To me, it just sounds so condescending and a little bit wrong. 

Now that that is out of the way a bit more about the book. Roddy has always been a little bit different, and she has always been aware that other people look at her a bit askance, a little bit fearful of what it is that is different about her. She can hear the thoughts and feel the emotions of humans and creatures near her. When she is at the races, she feels the pain of a racing horse, knowing that if it keeps on being forced to race it’s heart will give out. The owner of the horse is known as the Devil Earl, including that he murdered his father at a young age. He is a man who lives on the periphery of accepted society, and about whom many rumours swirl. He doesn’t really even trust himself as there are many occasions where he loses days, not knowing where he has been or what he has been doing. Amazingly for Roddy who wants a life away from her parents meaning marriage and children, he is also a man that she can’t get inside the head of, even if she tries, and that makes him attractive to her. She therefore suggest to him that perhaps he could court her.

Whilst her family are initially reluctant to agree to the match, Roddy convinces them that he is indeed the man she wants to marry and they agree. What follows their wedding is danger, intrigue, rebellion and mysticism with its heart in the Irish countryside. Faelen is hoping to rebuild his family’s crumbling estate, but before he can do that, his friend must move on the guns that he has illegally stored at the estate. It is however no easy matter to remove that number of weapons undetected by the English soldiers who are on the lookout for traitors, and feel no sense of injustice by destroying peoples homes and livelihoods in the process. From spectral haunting, to dangerous attempts to free people from jail, this book would seem to have all the ingredients for a cracking good read.

While all of this sounds very dramatic, I had trouble being interested enough in the storyline, and actually felt a bit lost at times as the mystical and then the temporal elements jostled for time at the forefront of the book.
I have liked the books I have read by this author before, but unfortunately this one didn’t work as well for me! Even by the time I got to the end of the book, I wasn't quite sure what at least two of the characters were and how they fitted into the big picture.

Whilst the paranormal elements in this novel were different from a lot of the books that are being released now, I do think that if you have been reading romance for a while you would recognise the style as a more older fashioned type of paranormal, which makes sense give that this book was originally published in 1987.


Thanks to Sourcebooks who provided me with a review copy of this book.

This book counted for the 2010 Pub Challenge, and the Romance Reading Challenge that I am participating in.

Rating 3.5/5

Library Loot: June 2 to 8

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and myself that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Eva's back! Yay! That means that this week's Mr Linky will be over at A Striped Armchair so head on over to share your loot.

I have had another pretty big week loot wise (for me anyway). Here's what I got.

Jaran by Kate Elliott - Amanda from Desert Book Chick recently talked about this novel as a must read sci-fi. I am not a huge reader of this genre, but it sounded interesting enough to capture my attention.

The Oak Apple by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - Reloot, yes again. This is the next book in the Morland Dynasty series and I really do want to read it.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier - Another reloot.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters - Reloot. I haven't read Sarah Waters yet. I have borrowed her books a few times but keep on having to return it unread.

Never Love a Lawman by Jo Goodman - Despite the fact that Jo Goodman has quite a large backlist, my library only has a few of her books. Not too long ago I borrowed Beyond a Wicked Kiss, but even just reading the first pages it was obvious that the book was part of a series, and I can't stand reading books out of order. I therefore returned that book and instead borrowed this one.

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber - When this book first came out I checked the library catalogue but there was no listing. I am not sure what made me check again, but now the book is in so I had to borrow it.

Island of the Swans by Ciji Ware - I started reading A Cottage by the Sea earlier this week, and before I was more than 50 pages in I was checking the library catalogue to see what other books they had by this author.

Coventry by Helen Humphreys - This is another book where it caught my eye when it was first released but I checked the catalogue and it wasn't there. I am glad it is now.

The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner - Reloot again. This time I will actually read it!

Teaser Tuesday: The Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware

I love a good time slip novel. The idea of being able to look back and experience life in the past seems like a really fun one to me. I don't think I actually remembered that this was a time slip novel before I started it, so it was a pleasant surprise when I realised that it was!

My teaser today comes from page 86:

As if conducting an experiment, Blythe rested her forefinger lightly on the glass that protected the genealogy chart itself. Then she whispered aloud her own name. Immediately she felt the same strange force as beginning to pull at her, almost as if she were hurtling down a steep incline on a roller-coaster ride that was traveling at a hundred miles an hour.

Teaser Tuesday is host by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Head on over to find out all about it, and how to join in!

Anya Seton Season at Historical Tapestry

We are very happy to announce that the beginning of June also means the beginning of Anya Seton Season at Historical Tapestry!

Over the next month there will be reviews, giveaways, guest posts and more! We hope that you will take the time to drop by and see what we have lined up.

May Reading Reflections

I haven't really been paying much attention to how much I have read this month, mainly because I got off to such a slow start due to having to slog through the first part of The Brothers of Gwynedd without being able to call it a book that is finished! So, I have started this post, and now I am going to check my spreadsheet and hope for a pleasant surprise! And the answer is .... no, not in terms of the number of books read, but looking at the grades it is probably my best month in ages!

The books I finished in May were:

Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati (5/5)
To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick (5/5)
The Fury by L J Smith (4/5)
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (4/5)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (5/5)
Uncertain Magic by Laura Kinsale (3.5/5)
Hero at Large by Janet Evanovich (4/5)
The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton (4.5/5)
The Knife of Letting Go by Patrick Ness (4.5/5)

So time for an update on my challenges!

Year of the Historical Challenge - Into the Wilderness was a reread for me. As I was reading The Endless Forest at the end of last month, I kept on thinking how much I really wanted to read through the series again, so I did speed my way through the first book, and enjoyed every moment of it!

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - Into the Wilderness, To Defy a King, Shanghai Girls, The Help and The Winthrop Woman.

Chunkster Challenge - Into the Wilderness was also my final book for the Chunkster Challenge for this year.

Pub 2010 - To Defy a King and Uncertain Magic.

LJ Smith Reading Challenge - The Fury

Romance Reading Challenge - Uncertain Magic and Hero at Large

Once Upon Time IV - The Fury

Vampire Series Challenge - The Fury

100+ Reading Challenge -Read 60 out of the 100 required to meet this challenge.

Support Your Local Library Challenge -Read 41. It's going to require a big effort to get to 100!

Challenges that I didn't make any progress on this month - Period Drama, Harry Potter, Aussie Authors, Tudor Reading Challenge, In Death Reading Challenge, Terry Pratchett Reading Challenge, Art History Reading Challenge, French Historical.

TSS - Getting voice right

Before getting into my post proper, I want to quickly say thank you to the bloggers who got together and organised Armchair BEA. I had so much fun over the last week, and I know that I still have a ton of posts to read from the event! I really hope that we get to do it all again next year!
 
Now, to what I wanted to talk about today. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

In the author's note for that book, Kathryn Stockett wrote:

I was scared, a lot of the time, that I was crossing a terrible line, writing in the voice of a black person. I was afraid I would fail to describe a relationship that was so intensely influential in my life, so loving, so grossly stereotyped in American history and literature.

and further on

What I am sure about is this: I don't presume to think that I know what it really felt like to be a black woman in Mississippi, especially in the 1960s. I don't think it is something any white woman on the other end of a black woman's paycheck could ever truly understand. But trying to understand is vital to our humanity.

Reading this book had me thinking about voice, and what it is made up of. Firstly, when you are reading a book where there are different types of voices, there could be differentiation in terms of the words that are used, the spelling and grammar which could be used to indicate race or ethnicity or level of education, but other factors that go into giving a character voice, and in particular in giving the reader a sense of authentic voice can also include attitude. As much as we like 21st century attitudes is it realistic to expect to see that attitude in a 19th century woman. Usually not. This is an area that does tend to crop up particularly in relation to those feisty women who defy convention in fiction, but in reality there were so few women who did act against societies norms. The ones who did are exceptional and it is fantastic to read about them, but the numbers of those type of women portrayed compared to the number of women who would have actually acted in this way is definitely disproportionate.

Often times some of the biggest pitfalls relating to voice can come from trying to write a nationality other than your own. There may be certain words that people from certain places are expected to say as a result of cultural stereotypes, but in reality that could be something that isn't every day for every person. Seeing that mentioned several times could be jarring to the reader.

Let me give you an example. One of the things that have been used to promote Australia and that we have a kind of stereotyping about is that we all call everyone mate, as in 'G'Day Mate'. I can't remember the last time I said that to someone. Even just using the word mate is not something that I would use regularly. I remember having a conversation with Heather from Tales of a Capricious Reader not too long ago where we talked about this, and she used the example of the word Y'all, as in 'howdy y'all' and having a similar reaction. Now to be fair, there are some Aussies for whom calling someone mate is a part of everyday idiom. I used to work with a man who called everyone mate. The interesting thing is that he had immigrated to Australia as a teenager, and had lived in a couple of other cities, so maybe it is something that he had more exposure to than I did. So if I read a book where there is an Australian who constantly calls everyone mate to me it doesn't feel genuine at all.

Another example is accent. For example, when I hear that famous line from the Meryl Streep movie Evil Angels/A Cry in the Dark, where she proclaims that 'a dingo took my baby', every time I hear that it is jarring and I think that so does not sound like a genuine Australian (see the video below). Having said that, if you can find audio of Lindy Chamberlain talking, she has a much broader accent than I do so maybe regional differences account for at least some of this difference of opinions.

My point about all this in relation to The Help in particular is that I thought that Kathryn Stockett did a really good job in giving the white and black characters in distinctive voice by using different spelling, grammar, intonation and and in conveying their attitude. The thing is though, my impression is based on what I have seen in movies, in what I have read in other books, and not from personal experience. A quick glance at Amazon shows a small minority of one and two star reviews, and a lot of them talk about not liking the dialect and so obviously their personal experiences have obviously bought influence to bear upon their reading experience.

For me it felt authentic, and I thought it was an excellent read.

Do you read Patricia Cornwell?

A friend of mine is looking for recommendations. His wife wants to read some Patricia Cornwell and so he asked me on Facebook

You're the book whiz :) have you read any of her books and if so, would you recommend them?

Once I got over the warm fuzzy book whiz comment, I had to admit that I couldn't help. Unfortunately I have only read one Patricia Cornwell book, and I really, really didn't like it, so I said to him that I would ask some other people who might be better! So now, blog readers, I am asking you all.

Would you recommend reading Patricia Cornwell. If yes, which book should my friend's wife start with?

Armchair BEA/Book Blogger Convention

Today is the final day of Armchair BEA, and I have had a lot of fun participating! Today if you were lucky enough to be in New York, it would be Book Blogger Convention day. The topics that are being discussed at BBC include Professionalism/Ethics, Writing/Building Content, Marketing and Social Responsibility. I thought that I woulld concentrate on Writing/Building Content, and talk about ways to avoid book blogger burn out.

*******************

Hang around in blog land long enough, and you are bound to see a post about blogger burn out in one guise or another. It could be that the blogger is feeling overwhelmed by ARCs, or perhaps they are feeling isolated and alone, or perhaps one or more of your favourite book bloggers have just disappeared without a trace. I don't profess to know all the answers of how to avoid this feeling, but I have been there a number of times, and yet here I still am, more than four and a half years later, so I thought I would offer a few thoughts on ways to avoid the dreaded blogger burn out.

Believe me when I say that I have my own issues around blogging to deal with and by no means do I have all the answers. For example, I have really gotten out of practice at writing reviews, and so now I can find them really difficult to write. And who knows, this time next month, I could be struggling in other areas, but in this post though, I thought I would share a few thoughts about avoiding book blogging blues.

Don't over commit yourself

There's something so great about receiving a lovely new book, and when it's free...bonus! As tempting as it is to say yes to everything it can however become completely overwhelming if you are looking at a shelf of ARCs that you have said you will read and review, and you just can't see how you will get them all read. Then there are all those books that you are going to get to read the books you spent your hard earned cash on - the books that you wanted to read badly enough that you bought them.

Be realistic about how many books you can accept. I know that a couple of bloggers have said that they can accept x number of books for review each month, and once the schedule is full, that's it. No more. The down side to this is that some times there are books that you were offered and said no to and then you start seeing around and think should have accepted that book. Happens to me all the time, but you know what, if I really want the book then chance are my library will have it, or I will want it enough to buy it.

If you do have to a review a book by a certain date, make sure you have that date recorded somewhere. I have all mine listed on the same spreadsheet as my library books due dates, so that I can see in one place which books I should concentrate on in the next week or so. Last minute panic reads are never fun, and writing those reviews in a rush isn't necessarily going to reflect all that well on you either.

Feeling overwhelmed by challenges? Drop some of them. Yes it is disappointing to not finish something you started, but if all you are getting out of challenges is pressure, then they aren't working for you. I always try to only join challenges where I already have books to read for. I don't like to have to add yet more books to the toppling TBR pile in order to meet  challenge requirements.

Try something new 

This year I have started participating in a couple of new things (being Sunday Salon and Weekend Cooking). I can't tell you how freeing Sunday Salon in particular has been for me because I have now got the room to post about a particular topic without it having to be a review. It could be something completed unrelated to what I am reading. In most cases though I find that my post for the week is related to some thought or another I have had about the book that I am reading. I am also conscious though that with both of these posts that if I don't get to it, it really doesn't matter.   Maybe you have another hobby you could post about as well to give yourself a little variety. Post some music, do some posts about where you live, or perhaps you want to do a focus on books set in your town, or by authors who live near you or whatever you like. It is your blog, and you can therefore put whatever content you like on it. I would suggest posting regularly, but it doesn't have to be every day. Chances are that if you like something enough to post about it, other people will like it enough to read it.

Work out a schedule

Maybe you are one of those types of people who works best with a little structure. If that is the case, then work out the structure that works for you and go for it. For example, each week I am participating in Teaser Tuesday because I really enjoy that meme (I know that not everyone does but that's okay), and then on Wednesday's I co-host Library Loot. Come the weekend then I will most likely post something for Weekend Cooking and Sunday Salon, and then I can fill in the gaps with other content. Mind you I am not suggesting that you lock yourself into a schedule that is so rigid that you feel you must only post this type of post on this day but it can help not to be looking at whole week and think what the heck am I going to write about?

Participate in the book blogging community

Participate in events such as Armchair BEA, Book Blogger Appreciation Week or the read-a-thons. Reach out to other bloggers. If there is a blogger that you think you would like to connect to a little more, send them an email and say hi. Maybe suggest doing a joint review or co host an event. For example, if you have an author that you love and you know that there is another blogger who loves them too, suggest doing a guest post swap about that author. If you see challenges or events you think you would like to participate in contact the host. Some times it won't be possible but often you will be made welcome.

When you feel inspired .... write

Some days I could quite easily sit down and write 4 or 5 different posts there are so many thoughts running around in my head. If you have days like that - write. You don't have to post straight away and you can always go and tweak a post in draft before you do finally post it to your blog. Have a few posts saved in draft that you can post in those weeks when it looks like your content is going to be a bit light on. Or perhaps schedule a week and then use that time to write some more posts to have in advance.

It's okay to take a break

Some times we all need to have some time off. Try not to do so without at least putting a post up so that people who know you will know that you are okay and they don't worry. It doesn't have to be a 'I hate blogging right now' post. Put up a vacation photo, or a gone fishing sign or something.  And you know what, it's okay to press Mark All As Read in your feed reader when you come back. Yes, you might have missed out on something good, but is it really worth feeling so overwhelmed? This is one that I need to remind myself about all the time.

Back to basics

Why did you start book blogging in the first place? Chances are it was because you love to read and you wanted to tell someone, anyone about it! Or perhaps you were aiming for a reading journal. Are the reasons you continue to blog still the same or has your blog evolved to something more? Sit down and look at what is or isn't working for you anymore. My own blog started as a review blog only. All reviews, all the time. Over the years it has become more of a general book blog. For a while there I posted about craft (but I haven't done any of that for an eternity), and there have been times when I have struggled with what to do next, but four and a half years down the track, blogging is something that I still enjoy and I miss when I am away from the computer. I am not sure that that would be the case if I stuck rigidly to reviews only. Chances are that if you are getting down about blogging you need to change something.

Blogging for most of us is a hobby. It should be something that you get enjoyment and fulfilment from. You should be in charge of your blogging. It should not be ruling your life to the point that you start to not want to do it, or that you are feeling so overwhelmed by it.

Do you have any other tips that you think help avoid book blogger burn out? Feel free to share them in the comments.