Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2017

December 30, 201618 Comments

When I first started blogging I could never resist the temptation at this time of year to sign up for as many reading challenges as possible. Recently, though, I have been restricting myself to one or two year-long challenges, preferring to have more freedom in my reading choices and more time to take part in shorter reading events.

The Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Passages to the Past is one of the few challenges I still like to participate in. It’s perfect for me as I read a lot of historical fiction anyway so don’t need to make any changes to my reading habits, but can still enjoy linking my reviews to the monthly challenge posts, seeing what other participants are reading and discovering new historical fiction novels and bloggers.

The rules are the same as in previous years. The challenge runs from January 1st to December 31st 2017 and there are six different levels to choose from:

20th Century Reader – 2 books
Victorian Reader – 5 books
Renaissance Reader – 10 books
Medieval – 15 books
Ancient History – 25 books
Prehistoric – 50+ books

Any type of historical fiction is accepted including sub-genres such as Historical Romance, Historical Mystery, Historical Fantasy and Young Adult.

In 2016, I successfully completed the challenge at the Prehistoric level (if you’re interested, you can see the list of titles here) so I’ll be aiming for 50+ books again this year.

I’ll be keeping track of my progress on this page.

If you’re interested in joining the challenge too, please see the sign-up post at Passages to the Past!

Ready for R.I.P. XI

September 2, 201614 Comments

(Thanks to Abigail Larson for the banner)

It’s September, which means it’s time for one of my favourite reading events of the year – R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril. R.I.P. is hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings and is now in its eleventh year!

As always, the idea of R.I.P. is to read books from one or more of the following categories during the months of September and October:

Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Gothic
Horror
Dark Fantasy

There are different levels of participation to choose from and I am signing up for Peril the First:

Read four books, of any length, from the very broad categories earlier defined as perilous. They could all be by the same author, a series of books, a random mix of classic and contemporary or whatever you like.

Here are some of the books I currently have on either my shelf or my Kindle which I could choose from for this event:

Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham
The Dead in their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin
The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe
The Red House Mystery by AA Milne
Savage Magic by Lloyd Shepherd
The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters
The Plague Charmer by Karen Maitland
The Protector by SJ Deas
Blood Harvest by Sharon Bolton
The Strangler Vine by MJ Carter
Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor
A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey

I certainly don’t expect to read all of these, but it’s nice to have a good choice. I could also end up reading books which are not on my list, if I come across other suitable R.I.P. reads as the weeks go by!

Will you be participating this year? What will you be reading?

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2016

January 2, 20167 Comments

One thing I have learned in more than six years of blogging is that the only type of reading challenges I actually like taking part in are the ones that aren’t really ‘challenges’ at all! That’s why the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Passages to the Past is perfect for me. I never have any trouble completing it as I already read so much historical fiction anyway, but I still enjoy linking my reviews to the monthly challenge posts and seeing what other participants have been reading. It’s a great way to discover new historical fiction novels and readers.

The challenge runs from January 1st to December 31st 2016 and there are six different levels to choose from:

20th Century Reader – 2 books
Victorian Reader – 5 books
Renaissance Reader – 10 books
Medieval – 15 books
Ancient History – 25 books
Prehistoric – 50+ books

Any type of historical fiction is accepted including sub-genres such as Historical Romance, Historical Mystery, Historical Fantasy and Young Adult.

I’ll be joining at the Prehistoric level again. In 2015 I read 72 historical fiction novels (you can see the list of titles here) so I’ll be aiming for 50+ books again this year.

I’ll be keeping track of my progress on this page.

If you’re interested in joining the challenge too, please see the sign-up post at Passages to the Past!

It’s time for R.I.P. X

August 31, 201510 Comments

Banner by Abigail Larson

R.I.P. (R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril) is one of my favourite reading events. I have taken part in it every year since 2010, with varying levels of success, and it’s now something I automatically associate with the beginning of September and the shortening of the days. The challenge has previously been hosted by Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings but this year (the 10th anniversary) it is being hosted by someone else: Andi and Heather of The Estella Society.

As usual, the idea of R.I.P. is that during the months of September and October we will be reading books that fit one or more of the following categories:

Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Dark Fantasy
Gothic
Horror
Supernatural

There are different levels of participation to choose from, but I am signing up for this one:

Peril the First: Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (the very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. It could be King or Conan Doyle, Penny or Poe, Chandler or Collins, Lovecraft or Leroux…or anyone in between.

Part of the fun of R.I.P. is making a list of books you could read. I don’t expect to read all of these – and I usually find that once I’ve made a list I end up wanting to read something else entirely – but here are a few possibilities.

From my Classics Club list:
The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe

For my TBR Project:
The Bones of Avalon by Phil Rickman

Next in a series:
The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters
Sovereign by CJ Sansom
The Lady of Sorrows by Anne Zouroudi
The Dead in their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley

First in a series:
What Angels Fear by CS Harris
The Queen’s Man by Sharon Penman

Books left over from previous R.I.P. lists:
Blood Harvest by Sharon Bolton
Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor
Ten Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler
Savage Magic by Lloyd Shepherd

Are you taking part in R.I.P. this year? What will you be reading?

Once Upon a Time IX

March 21, 2015March 21, 201511 Comments

(Art by Kimberly Kincaid)

Spring is here at last – and so is the start of this year’s Once Upon a Time reading challenge, hosted by Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings. The challenge is in its ninth year but this is the first time I’ve decided to take part.

The event runs from 21st March (today) to 21st June and involves reading books (or watching films or playing games) that encompass four categories: Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology. There are different levels of participation and as this is my first year – and these are not genres I read very often – I’m signing up for The Journey level. This is perfect for me because it means I don’t need to commit to any specific number of books, as long as I read at least one.

I already own several books that would count towards this challenge, including these:

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay
Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Have you read any of these books?

Will you be taking part in Once Upon a Time?

Forgotten Histories Reading Challenge

February 21, 2015February 21, 201513 Comments

I have been trying not to sign up for many reading challenges this year, but I really like the idea of this one – and it overlaps with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge that I’m already taking part in.

The Forgotten Histories Reading Challenge is hosted by Jess at Curiouser and Curiouser in partnership with Amy at Passages to the Past (the host of the Historical Fiction Challenge) and any books read can count towards both challenges.

The rules:

The challenge will run from the 2nd-29th of March and each week will feature a different theme:

Week 1 – Read an alternate history book (e.g. Dominion by C. J. Sansom)

Week 2 – Read a book with a non-white protagonist (e.g. The Queen’s Secret by Victoria Lamb)

Week 3 – Read a book with an LGBT protagonist (e.g. Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters)

Week 4 – Read a book that is NOT set in Europe (including Britain) or North America (e.g. Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin)

As you can see, the aim of Forgotten Histories is to encourage people to read more diversely within the historical fiction genre, which I think is a great idea. I don’t know if I’ll be able to read books from all four of these categories in March, but I’ll read as many as I can. I’m already looking at my shelves to see if I have something to fit each category – any recommendations are welcome!

2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

January 6, 2015January 6, 201510 Comments

I’ve been avoiding the temptation to sign up for any reading challenges for 2015 as I want to keep things simple and free of stress. However, I’ve been awaiting the announcement of this year’s Historical Fiction Reading Challenge as it’s one challenge that I always like to participate in and don’t find stressful at all!

This challenge has previously been hosted by Historical Tapestry but there’s a new host this year – Amy at Passages to the Past. Amy is very active in the historical fiction community and I’m sure she’ll be a great host.

The challenge runs from January 1st to December 31st 2015 and there are six different levels to choose from:

20th century Reader – 2 books
Victorian Reader – 5 books
Renaissance Reader – 10 books
Medieval – 15 books
Ancient History – 25 books
Prehistoric – 50+ books

Any type of historical fiction is accepted including sub-genres such as Historical Romance, Historical Mystery, Historical Fantasy and Young Adult.

As such a large proportion of my reading is historical fiction anyway, I know I will read more than 25 books so although I might not reach 50 I’m going to aim for the Prehistoric level.

I’ll be keeping track of my progress on my Challenges page.

If you’re interested in joining the challenge too, please see the challenge sign-up post at Passages to the Past!