What's the best book you've read this year?

[Perdita]

I hope this is the right place to put this, but if you had to pick just one book that you've read this year, which one stands out the most?

For me it's The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters.. a ghost story set in the 1950's. It was fabulously creepy and well written, and just about HF I think!

[Misfit]

Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch.

Close runners up To Defy a King by our own EC, Beyond all Frontiers by Emma Drummond, The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley and The Black Madonna by Stella Riley.

[MLE]

I've read many books I liked, and more that I didn't. (Okay, I admit to an extreme difficulty to please and literary pickiness.) But for sheer fun, pulling me in and keeping the pages turning and the mind speculating on what would happen next, it was Paths of Exile by Carla Nayland. And to think I ignored it because it was a small-press work! Glad it got onto the book of the month roster.

In retrospect, the novel felt very much like Mary Stewart's or Rosemary Sucliff's early-Britain stories.

But I would also give honorable mention to Stephen Lawhead's Byzantium.

[Lucy Pick]

Mantel's Wolf Hall, hands down.

I read Wheel of Fortune many many years ago and liked it.

[Ash]

Wolf Hall, Legacy, To Defy a King

[javagirl]

Always so tough to just choose one, but I'm going to go with ...

"Gone with the Wind".

I read it for the first time this year and it certainly was among my several 5* reads for the year.

Although I could give honorable mentions to about 10 others , I'll mention one not because it was necessarily better than the others but because I think it might not get as much attention as it deserves ....

Selden Edwards - "The Little Book"

The review here (http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/ec-aug-2008.htm) is where I learned about it.

[Margaret]

Oh, gosh, I don't think I can boil it down to one. My list of "Best I Read in 2010" is going to have 15 straight historical novels on it this year, plus 5 mysteries. It will go up in December. I'm going to try to get it posted before Christmas this year. (I did put up an updated version of my "How to Choose a Gift for the Historical Fiction Fan in Your Life (http://www.historicalnovels.info/historical-novels-blog.html)" article today.)

At the top of the list (because one of them has to go first) will be Jane Smiley's Private Life (see review (http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Private-Life.html)). The setting is the first half of the 20th century, and it's a character-drive literary novel about a woman's domestic situation, so it might not appeal to everyone. But I found it utterly mesmerizing. Curiously enough, several of the novels that are going to be on my "Best of" list this year are about characters who have to deal with narcissistic husbands or fathers. Wonder if there's a rash of that going around? Or went around a couple of years back when these novels were just getting off the drawing board.

I read Wolf Hall last year. Wouldn't mind reading it again.

[emr]

I'm staring at the books I gave 5 stars to this year on goodreads and I can't pick just one :D There are 2 or 3 I'd demote to 4.5 if I could... hm
Right on the top are Mariana, For the King. To Defy a King and The World the Flesh and the Devil. I loved Joan Wolf's trilogy.
The rest of the list tells of the discovery of (new for me) authors that I'm going to read to their last lines like Christian Cameron, Judith Merkle, Will Thomas or Elly Griffiths..
But I can still read around 10 more books this year, who knows... :D

[Vanessa]

Selden Edwards - "The Little Book"

The review here (http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/ec-aug-2008.htm) is where I learned about it.

I bought this last month! Glad you enjoyed it so much - very encouraging! It sounds very different.

There are a few which I've very much enjoyed this year - London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins, The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley, Stone's Fall by Iain Pears, The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, Paths of Exile by Carla Nyland, Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C W Gortner, The Swan Maiden by Jules Watson, Wedlock by Wendy Moore, Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati....... it's very difficult to choose which would be my favourite!

[Madeleine]

Ooh I think "Into the Wilderness" would be top of my list, with "The Little Stranger" and "Dark Fire" battling it out for the runner-up places!

[Susan]

My 2010 Five Star Books:

Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran
For the King by Catherine Delors
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W Gortner
To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick
Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell
Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin


I am just finishing up The Bells by Richard Harvell which also may be a five star book. It's difficult to pick one, but I'm leaning towards Watermark because of its uniqueness.

[MLE]

he World the Flesh and the Devil.
Wow, I forgot about that one. I really loved it. Scratch the other two and put that in first place.

[Ash]

I read it for the first time this year and it certainly was among my several 5* reads for the year.

Wow, for the first time? I read that in Jr Hi and it became a reread many times over by the time I hit college. I loved the movie, but it left out so much of the book (like Bonnie Blue's two siblings), that it didn't do the book justice. There's a sort of parody of it in The Wind Done Gone, but its not all that well done (Mitchell's estate sued the author but lost. Avoid the sequel that the estate approved, its pretty bad).

If you saw the movie you might You might check out Carol Burnett's skit , Went With the Wind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH6TBEbP77Q

[Misfit]

I read it for the first time this year and it certainly was among my several 5* reads for the year.

Wow, for the first time? I read that in Jr Hi and it became a reread many times over by the time I hit college. I loved the movie, but it left out so much of the book (like Bonnie Blue's two siblings), that it didn't do the book justice. There's a sort of parody of it in The Wind Done Gone, but its not all that well done (Mitchell's estate sued the author but lost. Avoid the sequel that the estate approved, its pretty bad).

If you saw the movie you might You might check out Carol Burnett's skit , Went With the Wind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH6TBEbP77Q

Oh thanks for that I think. I can see wasting my whole day watching videos from that show. What a cast that was...

[Ash]

This is the second part, with the famous curtain dress scene. Loved the ending

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjhtxfSMIWk&NR=1

[Ariadne]

Selden Edwards - "The Little Book"

The review here (http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/ec-aug-2008.htm) is where I learned about it.

Cool, that's my review! Glad you picked up Little Book because of it -- I agree it hasn't gotten as much attention as it deserves.

For my own picks, I'll list four:

Kathleen Grissom, The Kitchen House (http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/2010/05/l-is-for-lavinia.html)
Dana Hand, Deep Creek (http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/2010/03/book-review-deep-creek-by-dana-hand.html)
David Mitchell, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/1400065453/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books)
Kate Morton, The Distant Hours (http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/2010/11/look-at-kate-mortons-distant-hours.html)

[LoobyG]

I've read so many good books this year it's hard to select one! I think the top three of this year for me would be 'Forever Amber' by Kathleen Winsor, the first Angelique by Sergeanne Golon and 'Yankee Stranger' by Elswyth Thane. All three definitely re-reads for me in the future :)

[eddieo396]

best book this year was city of dreams by beverly swerling.....

[Michy]

It's too soon for me to pick my best book of 2010 since there is still over a month and many more (hopefully!) books to go. That being said, two really stand out for me; it will take a mighty good book between now and December 31 to displace them as best reads of the year. They are: Zemindar by Valerie Fitzgerald and Bloodroot by Amy Greene.

[fljustice]

My top spot would go to A Mercy by Toni Morris with Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell and Little Dorritt by Charles Dickens very close seconds. All were "challenging" reads...in a good way...made me think. Many other books had good stories and fun characters, but these three both stretched my reader's muscles and excited my writer's envy.

[Ash]

best book this year was city of dreams by beverly swerling.....

I read that book years ago, bought it in NYC in my first visit. Absolutely loved it. Wish I liked the sequels more. But this one was just perfect for me, and gave me a better understanding of that great city.

[Katherine Ashe]

I don't know that I can call it THE best book I've read all year, but The Real History of the End of the World by Sharan Newman is the funniest thing I've read since Eats Shoots and Leaves. Each item in End of the World gets about four pages of her humor and research, and has an extensive bibliography and footnotes for the serious minded. It's a mini scholarly compendium of every end-of-world belief from Gulgamesh to 2012. Newman is also the author of The Real History Behind the da Vinci Code and The Real History Behind the Templars. A useful author to know about.

[Kasthu]

Some favorites this year include (I can't pick just one!):

The Road to Jerusalem, by Jan Guillou
A Hollow Crown, by helen Hollick
Of the Ring of Earls, by Juliet Dymoke
The Creation of Eve, by Lynn Cullen
Paths of Exile, by Carla Nayland
Gildenford, by Valerie Anand
Legacy, by Susan Kay
The King's General, by Daphne Du Maurier
Henry of the High Rock, by Juliet Dymoke
Penmarric, by Susan Howatch
The Distant Hours, by Kate Morton
The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough

And then pretty much all of the Elizabeth Chadwick books I read this year...

[Leo62]

The Little Stranger was one of my fave books of last year, and haven't read any fiction to equal it since. Hasn't been a vintage year for me in terms of HF. Not terrible, just nothing outstandingly memorable. So my best book this year is non-fiction: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

[Telynor]

2010 was a bumper crop for me with books -- there were quite a few that got top marks from me:

http://www.epinions.com/review/To_Defy_a_King_epi/content_512126062212 -- To Defy a King -- To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_This_Body_of_Death_A_Novel_Elizabeth_George/content_509552725636 -- This Body of Death by Elizabeth George (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_Major_Pettigrew_s_Last_Stand_Helen_Simonson/content_508218281604 -- Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_The_Girl_Who_Kicked_the_Hornet_s_Nest_Stieg_L arsson_2049432032/content_513631555204 -- The Girl who Kicked a Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_The_Confessions_of_Catherine_De_Medici_C_W_Go rtner/content_523265609348 -- The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_The_Lonely_Polygamist_A_Novel_Brady_Udall/content_521586249348 -- The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/For_the_King_epi/content_521016086148 -- For the King by Catherine Delors (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Becoming_Queen_Victoria_The_Tragic_Death_of_Prince ss_Charlotte_and_the_Unexpected_Rise_of_Britain_s_ Greatest_Monarch_epi/content_527190494852 -- Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams (nonfiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_The_Courtiers_Splendor_and_Intrigue_in_the_Ge orgian_Court_at_Kensington_Palace_Lucy_Worsley/content_523905699460 -- The Courtiers by Lucy Worsley (nonfiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_Empire_of_the_Summer_Moon_Quanah_Parker_and_t he_Rise_and_Fall_of_the_Comanches_the_Most_Powerfu l_Indian_Tribe_in_American_History_S_C_Gwynne_2051 061709/content_519640288900 -- Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne (nonfiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Susan_Holloway_Scott_The_Countess_and_the_King_A_N ovel_of_the_Countess_of_Dorchester_and_King_James_ II_epi/content_528706932356 -- The Countess and the King: A Novel of the Countess of Dorchester and King James II by Susan Holloway Scott (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Lois_McMaster_Bujold_CryoBurn_epi/content_528988278404 -- CryoBurn by Lois McMaster Bujold (fiction) 5/5

[Perdita]

Mantel's Wolf Hall, hands down.

I read Wheel of Fortune many many years ago and liked it.

Wolf Hall would be runner up.. I loved it! I read somewhere there would be a sequel. Fingers crossed :)

[EC2]

I wouldn't say it was a particularly brilliant year for me in the fiction reading stakes but two that stand out from the rest for me have been:
I'm just off to my badly kept reading diary to see if I read anything else to add to this.

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Edited to add Sovreign by C.J. Sansom
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
Perfumes The A-Z Guide (non fiction) by Lucca Turin and Tania Sanchez

[tsjmom]

The absolute best novel I read this year was 'Saving CeeCee Honeycutt' by B. Hoffman about a young girl with very messed up parents who goes to live w/ an aunt in Savannah GA. The characters touched my soul. Very few books become part of my soul ('The Glass Castle', Katherine', and 'The Book Thief' are the others) like this one has.

[N. Gemini Sasson]

A Dog's Purpose, by Bruce Cameron. If you're a true dog person, this one will stay with you for a long time and make you look at your dog a little differently.

[Divia]

Louisa May Alcott: The woman behind little Women (AMAZING!)
My name is Mary Sutter

[wendy]

Hard to pick just one but the most memorable in a while is probably "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay

[Ludmilla]

I can't choose just one, as I read from a variety of categories usually and it's too difficult to pin it down to one or even just a few. Below are probably my highest rated reads for the year from various categories (in no particular order):

Read 10 books by Rosemary Sutcliff, all good, but my top three favorites are Mark of the Horse Lord, The Lantern Bearers and Sword at Sunset.

Loved Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief series, but my favorite book in the series is The King of Attolia.

Best Children's Historical: The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy (WWI, Hungary... made me sniffle at the end)

Other great reads:
A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka
Night Soldiers by Alan Furst
The Great Maria by Cecelia Holland
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
Black Silk by Judith Ivory

[Sharz]

Best book has to be Dracula by Bram Stoker. Totally blew me away.

Honorable mentions to:
Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati
Falcons of Montabard by Elizabeth Chadwick
Born of the Sun by Joan Wolf
Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.

[annis]

My best read for the year to date has to be a relative oldie- Anthony Burgess' novel about Elizabethan playwright, Christopher Marlowe, Dead Man in Deptford (http://www.historicalnovels.info/A-Dead-Man-in-Deptford.html). I was blown away by Burgess' passion and sheer linguistic brilliance. I've got his Kingdom of the Wicked waiting on my TBR for the holidays, so I can enjoy it without the pesky interruptions caused by having to go to work :)

[Perdita]

My best read for the year to date has to be a relative oldie- Anthony Burgess' novel about Elizabethan playwright, Christopher Marlowe, Dead Man in Deptford (http://www.historicalnovels.info/A-Dead-Man-in-Deptford.html). I was blown away by Burgess' passion and sheer linguistic brilliance. I've got his Kingdom of the Wicked waiting on my TBR for the holidays, so I can enjoy it without the pesky interruptions caused by having to go to work :)

I also loved this one, it's one you can read about three times and always find something different. Nothing Like the Sun was also really good, written in the same Elizabethan idiom but this time about Shakespeare.

[CindyInOz]

My top pick for 2010 would be Confessions of Catherine de Medici by CW Gortner. I also loved Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and Susanna Kearsley's Mariana. Not HF, but Rocks in the Belly by Jon Bauer is a book that will stay with me for a very long time.

[wendy]

Best book has to be Dracula by Bram Stoker. Totally blew me away.

Honorable mentions to:
Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati
Falcons of Montabard by Elizabeth Chadwick
Born of the Sun by Joan Wolf
Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.

The original Dracula is far better than any of the Twilight stuff!

[Nefret]

The original Dracula is far better than any of the Twilight stuff!

That was why I read it.

[Frigate]

I have to laugh - I've been a bit AWOL lately (life, ya know) but popped back in, saw this thread and thought "what the hey" only to find the first book mentioned was my all-time favorite book this year as well! Go Perdita! I don't know what it was about that novel but I've been recommending it to everyone.

[TLee]

My favorite read this year was The Time of Singing by Elizabeth Chadwick closely followed by The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.

[tsjmom]

I have two actually. 'Saving CeeCee Honeycutt' by Beth Hoffman and 'A Vintage Affair' by Isabel Wolff. These are two of only a handful that have touched my soul. Highly, highly recommend!!!!

[rockygirl]

My Name is Mary Sutter

[Alisha Marie Klapheke]

Not new, but I really enjoyed Anne Easter Smith's Daughter of York. And may I just say that after reading all these posts I am A) so thrilled to hang out with people who know when women wore which type of headdress in the medieval period and B) I have about a billion books I want to read!

[JMJacobsen]

Was flipping through my records for the year and am amazed to find that despite primarily reading HF, most of my favorites didn't even fall into that genre. Go figure.

Anyhoo - favorite HF for me this year was Robert Perry's The Virgin and the Crab (self-published and one of the few sooooo worth the read....just as good as Wolf Hall, which I also loved), Alice I Have Been by M. Benjamin, and Helen Hollick's U.S. reprint, The Forever Queen. But the very best HF of the year for me was Emma Drummond's Forget the Glory, set during the Crimean War.

And for what it's worth, best book I read all year was The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. It's a fantasy book, and I don't ever normally read fantasy, but came highly recommended and I was absolutely blown away.

[Misfit]

But the very best HF of the year for me was Emma Drummond's Forget the Glory, set during the Crimean War.

That was good. I can't remember now why I only gave it four stars :o

[Elysium]

Can't pick just one book! Since I started reading EC and SKP this year. But here's some of the best:

Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
The Traitor's Wife by Susan Higginbotham
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The Greatest KNight by Elizabeth Chadwick
Mary Tudor: Englan'd First Queen by Anna Whitelock

[JMJacobsen]

That was good. I can't remember now why I only gave it four stars :o

I think you liked the other one better as I recall. :D

[Misfit]

I think you liked the other one better as I recall. :D

If you mean Beyond All Frontiers, yes. The two Crimean I liked equally well. Have another Drummond on the way soon. Woopee.

[Matt Phillips]

I'm glad I introduced myself to Cornwell's Starbuck series this year. I was skeptical about the idea of a Bostonian joining the Confederate Army, but Cornwell pulls it off credibly. Rebel was a great read: fast-paced, vivid, funny, richly detailed and with well-drawn characters. Looking forward to the rest of the series, which I hope he finishes at some point!

Also want to toss out a mention of David Liss's The Whiskey Rebels, which I'm listening to on a well-narrated audiobook (Christopher Lane). Liss hits the 18th century voice spot-on and spins his tale with a dry humor and flair for intrigue that go really well together.

[kauldron26]

1. The Source by James Michener
2. Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
3. Roma by Steven Saylor
4. The Passage by Justin Cronin
5. Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson
6. Genghis Khan trilogy by Conn Iggulden
7. The Void trilogy by Peter Hamilton
8. Replay by Ken Grimwood
9. Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
10. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell & The Chronolith by Robert Charles Wilson (tie)

[Misfit]

One last honorable mention for me,

Guests of the Emperor by Janice Young Brooks.

Civilian women held in Japanese POW camps in WWII. Chilling stuff.

[Ash]

I posted earlier, then realized that I posted two books I'd read the previous year, but reread this year! That doesn't count (well for me it doesn't :)

its impossible to lise one book. I can list one or two in each of my fav genres, however:

fantasy: George RR Martin's Storm of Swords (and the next three books).

HF: Douglass's Women Jewell Parker Rhodes
To Defy a King by EC
The Last Queen by CW Gortner

SciFi: Poul Anderson There Will Be A Time

Best seller: Girl with a Dragon Tatoo

classic: Queen of Hearts by Wilkie Collins

History: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Travel: AA Gill is Away

[Margaret]

10. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

An absolutely amazing novel. Not historical fiction, but would appeal to a lot of people here, I think.

I really must read The Little Stranger. I enjoyed Fingersmith, which richly proves Waters can do gothic atmosphere, but I think I would probably like The Little Stranger better. I used to love ghost stories, which seem to have gone out of style. Maybe Waters will bring them back.

I did finally post my "Best of 2010" list (http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Best-Historical-Novels.html).

[Telynor]

The Sparrow is one of those books I beg people to read. there's not a lot of books that make me cry, but that one does.

These are the ones that I really got a kick out of for 2010 releases:
http://www.epinions.com/review/To_Defy_a_King_epi/content_512126062212 -- To Defy a King -- To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_This_Body_of_Death_A_Novel_Elizabeth_George/content_509552725636 -- This Body of Death by Elizabeth George (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_Major_Pettigrew_s_Last_Stand_Helen_Simonson/content_508218281604 -- Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_The_Girl_Who_Kicked_the_Hornet_s_Nest_Stieg_L arsson_2049432032/content_513631555204 -- The Girl who Kicked a Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_The_Confessions_of_Catherine_De_Medici_C_W_Go rtner/content_523265609348 -- The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_The_Lonely_Polygamist_A_Novel_Brady_Udall/content_521586249348 -- The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/For_the_King_epi/content_521016086148 -- For the King by Catherine Delors (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Becoming_Queen_Victoria_The_Tragic_Death_of_Prince ss_Charlotte_and_the_Unexpected_Rise_of_Britain_s_ Greatest_Monarch_epi/content_527190494852 -- Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams (nonfiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_The_Courtiers_Splendor_and_Intrigue_in_the_Ge orgian_Court_at_Kensington_Palace_Lucy_Worsley/content_523905699460 -- The Courtiers by Lucy Worsley (nonfiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_Empire_of_the_Summer_Moon_Quanah_Parker_and_t he_Rise_and_Fall_of_the_Comanches_the_Most_Powerfu l_Indian_Tribe_in_American_History_S_C_Gwynne_2051 061709/content_519640288900 -- Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne (nonfiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Susan_Holloway_Scott_The_Countess_and_the_King_A_N ovel_of_the_Countess_of_Dorchester_and_King_James_ II_epi/content_528706932356 -- The Countess and the King: A Novel of the Countess of Dorchester and King James II by Susan Holloway Scott (fiction) 5/5
http://www.epinions.com/review/Lois_McMaster_Bujold_CryoBurn_epi/content_528988278404 -- CryoBurn by Lois McMaster Bujold (fiction) 5/5

[Ash]

Despite the quibbles I had with Sparrow, I too loved it, and had tears streaming down my face when I finished it.