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What Are You Reading? July 2012

For discussions of historical fiction. Threads that do not relate to historical fiction should be started in the Chat forum or elsewhere on the forum, depending on the topic.
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Nefret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2994
Joined: February 2009
Favourite HF book: Welsh Princes trilogy
Preferred HF: The Middle Ages (England), New Kingdom Egypt, Medieval France
Location: Temple of Isis

Post by Nefret » Thu July 26th, 2012, 2:52 am

[quote=""princess garnet""]Madame Serpent by Jean Plaidy (reissue)[/quote]

When was it re-issued? I have been wanting to read that.
Into battle we ride with Gods by our side
We are strong and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
WE´LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell!
- "Into Battle"
{Ensiferum}

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Margaret
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Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Thu July 26th, 2012, 3:03 am

Madame Serpent by Jean Plaidy (reissue)
I'm reading this, too, about 3/4 of the way through now. I'm finding it very enjoyable. It's interesting how very different Plaidy's novel is from Chris Gortner's The Confessions of Catherine de Medici and Jeanne Kalogridis's The Scarlet Contessa. All three novels are good (though The Scarlet Contessa was a little over the top for me), and all three can be read and enjoyed without getting the feeling that they are too repetitious of each other to be interesting.

The reissue from Touchstone just came out this month (July 3).
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

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lauragill
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Posts: 352
Joined: July 2011
Location: Southern California
Contact:

Post by lauragill » Thu July 26th, 2012, 4:15 am

Reading some historical non-fiction: Dawn of the Gods by Jaquetta Hawkes, an oldie about the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Some of its hypotheses have been debunked, but some of it is still valid and very interesting.

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Berengaria
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Posts: 307
Joined: July 2010
Location: northern Vancouver Island, BC Canada

Post by Berengaria » Thu July 26th, 2012, 7:13 pm

Have started to read The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian. I knew nothing about the Armenian genocide, until I was prepping a unit for my new Social Justice course I was going to teach. Because the Ottoman Empire and the German Empire were allies in WWI, some German soldiers who later became leaders in Hitler's Third Reich, got to see the methods used by the Turks to get rid of the Armenians, e.g., the cattle cars.
Image My 4 girls!


“No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. She will not want new fashions nor regret the loss of expensive diversions or variety of company if she can be amused with an author in her closet.” ~Lady Montagu

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Nefret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2994
Joined: February 2009
Favourite HF book: Welsh Princes trilogy
Preferred HF: The Middle Ages (England), New Kingdom Egypt, Medieval France
Location: Temple of Isis

Post by Nefret » Thu July 26th, 2012, 8:13 pm

Pride and Prescience by Carrie Bebris
Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (beach book)
Last edited by Nefret on Thu July 26th, 2012, 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Into battle we ride with Gods by our side
We are strong and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
WE´LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell!
- "Into Battle"
{Ensiferum}

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EC2
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Posts: 3661
Joined: August 2008
Location: Nottingham UK
Contact:

Post by EC2 » Thu July 26th, 2012, 10:47 pm

[quote=""Madeleine""]I think the section in France is the weakest part. I did like the section set in the US, where Diana takes Matthew to her home and we get to meet the aunts - they're great, and the house is almost a character itself. Wish I had a house which added it's own rooms - a library for instance![/quote]

Yes, I'm on the bit in France and nearly wall-banging, so its good to know it gets better. I will persevere. It's a self indulgent 'what I would love to do on a weekend away' world-building wish-list at the moment with lots of descriptions of nice cups of tea, fluffy towels, crisp linen sheets and glossy perfect horses, but not a lot going on!
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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Susan
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Posts: 3746
Joined: August 2008
Location: New Jersey, USA

Post by Susan » Thu July 26th, 2012, 11:29 pm

[quote=""EC2""]Yes, I'm on the bit in France and nearly wall-banging, so its good to know it gets better. I will persevere. It's a self indulgent 'what I would love to do on a weekend away' world-building wish-list at the moment with lots of descriptions of nice cups of tea, fluffy towels, crisp linen sheets and glossy perfect horses, but not a lot going on![/quote]

I'm a bit into the France part. Perhaps the purpose of the France part is to learn more about Matthew's background. I'm having a good time doing a bit of research on the real people mentioned in the novel. I do like the world-building and I am glad that it is not gory. I hope that continues to be "goreless."
Last edited by Susan on Thu July 26th, 2012, 11:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/

annis
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Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Fri July 27th, 2012, 12:10 am

Whew! Christian Cameron has whirled me through the Battle of Marathon and I've just realised I've been holding my breath the whole time :) Looking forward to the next in the series, Poseidon's Spear.

Only question- how often can Cameron reprise the worldly-wise older warrior/hero retelling his story to wide-eyed youngsters as a literary device before it gets old? Also seen recently in his novel of Alexander the Great, God of War.

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Berengaria
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Posts: 307
Joined: July 2010
Location: northern Vancouver Island, BC Canada

Post by Berengaria » Sat July 28th, 2012, 4:38 am

For those who read Lionheartby Sharon Kay Penman, an interesting article in the Daily Mail about gold found in Crusader's castle. Hope I can link it up!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -more.html
How exciting is that?
By the way, did anybody read the other Lionheart? I believe it was translated? :)
Image My 4 girls!


“No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. She will not want new fashions nor regret the loss of expensive diversions or variety of company if she can be amused with an author in her closet.” ~Lady Montagu

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Madeleine
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5860
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Sat July 28th, 2012, 11:01 am

I'm just about to start "Immortal Beloved" by Cate Tiernan, urban fantasy but the main character is 400 years old, so perhaps there'll be some history in there!
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

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