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It's June, what are you reading this month?

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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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 » Tue June 3rd, 2014, 8:42 am

[quote=""LadyB""]I'm reading The Winter Sea (also published as Sophia's Secret) by Susanna Kearsley.

The setting is just around 25 miles north of where I am, so the local backdrop makes it an even more interesting read :) [/quote]

I read this recently and enjoyed it, lucky you being so near. There are some lovely photos of the area on her website too.
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

User avatar
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 » Wed June 4th, 2014, 11:06 am

I've just started "Lake of Dead Languages" by Carol Goodman.
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

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Ludmilla
Bibliophile
Posts: 1346
Joined: September 2008
Location: Georgia USA

Post by Ludmilla » Wed June 4th, 2014, 12:43 pm

Just started The Drums of Winter by Sandra Paretti.

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Misfit
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 9581
Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Wed June 4th, 2014, 2:34 pm

Fortune's Bride by Roberta Gellis.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

SCW
Avid Reader
Posts: 286
Joined: October 2010
Preferred HF: Lately World Two or the time immediately before and after this period
Location: Australia

Post by SCW » Thu June 5th, 2014, 3:22 am

Just finished East of Eden by John Steinbeck and enjoyed this, despite the fact that one character gave me nightmares. I remember loving the movie when I saw it on television. (Best film James Dean did, in my opinion)

Now I'm three chapters into Devil Water by Anya Seton and it's really engaging. However, the novel's foreword is written by another author who warns prospective readers that they might find some parts of Devil Water unsavoury due to possible incest implications. Seeing as this writer once wrote an entire trilogy based around incest, I found this cautionary note rather strange.

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Lisa
Bibliophile
Posts: 1153
Joined: August 2012
Favourite HF book: Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
Preferred HF: Any time period/location. Timeslip, usually prefer female POV. Also love Gothic melodrama.
Location: Northeast Scotland

Post by Lisa » Thu June 5th, 2014, 8:38 am

[quote=""SCW""]Now I'm three chapters into Devil Water by Anya Seton and it's really engaging. However, the novel's foreword is written by another author who warns prospective readers that they might find some parts of Devil Water unsavoury due to possible incest implications. Seeing as this writer once wrote an entire trilogy based around incest, I found this cautionary note rather strange.[/quote]

...don't forget the author's dramatic incestuous relationship between two major historical siblings. Ok I know they weren't the first to come up with that, but they just had to use it :rolleyes:

I tend to ignore forewords or introductions to books nowadays and just read them at the end if I'm still interested. I read a couple that contained storyline spoilers for the book they were introducing, and enough was enough!

SCW
Avid Reader
Posts: 286
Joined: October 2010
Preferred HF: Lately World Two or the time immediately before and after this period
Location: Australia

Post by SCW » Thu June 5th, 2014, 11:25 am

[quote=""LadyB""]...don't forget the author's dramatic incestuous relationship between two major historical siblings. Ok I know they weren't the first to come up with that, but they just had to use it :rolleyes:

I tend to ignore forewords or introductions to books nowadays and just read them at the end if I'm still interested. I read a couple that contained storyline spoilers for the book they were introducing, and enough was enough![/quote]

I think I know the story you're referring to. Is it TOBG?
Apparently every one of Anya Seton's books has a foreword/afterword by this author.

User avatar
Lisa
Bibliophile
Posts: 1153
Joined: August 2012
Favourite HF book: Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
Preferred HF: Any time period/location. Timeslip, usually prefer female POV. Also love Gothic melodrama.
Location: Northeast Scotland

Post by Lisa » Thu June 5th, 2014, 11:54 am

[quote=""SCW""]I think I know the story you're referring to. Is it TOBG?
Apparently every one of Anya Seton's books has a foreword/afterword by this author.[/quote]

Yep, that's the one. The Anya Seton books I own are all 1970s Coronet paperbacks, so I've avoided all of those forewords. It may sound catty but I can't imagine they add much :p

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Misfit
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 9581
Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Thu June 5th, 2014, 12:26 pm

[quote=""SCW""]I think I know the story you're referring to. Is it TOBG?
Apparently every one of Anya Seton's books has a foreword/afterword by this author.[/quote]

I think those wards are only in the Chicago Review Press editions? Those I found very insulting, especially the one in Devil Water. I'm only grateful they didn't have her write a forward for My Theodosia, since there is a very close father/daughter relationship in that book.

Skimming like mad on Fortune's Bride by Roberta Gellis.I am so bored.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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

Post by Susan » Sun June 8th, 2014, 1:26 am

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow; I really meant to read a Deanna Raybourn novel that I borrowed from eLibrary NJ, but I opened this novel on my Kindle and it hooked my right away.
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/

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