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!

R.I.P. IX is here!

August 30, 2014August 30, 201420 Comments

It’s the first day of September on Monday and that can only mean one thing…the start of R.I.P. (R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril), my favourite reading challenge! R.I.P. is now in its ninth year and is again hosted by Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings.

If you need a reminder, the idea of R.I.P. is to read books that fit one or more of the following categories during the months of September and October:

Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Dark Fantasy
Gothic
Horror
Supernatural

As usual, there are different levels of participation to choose from – and I have chosen 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.”

I’m hoping to read some of the books below. I know I won’t have time to read all of these, but part of the fun of R.I.P. is compiling a list of possibilities! I find it difficult to stick to lists, though, so I might change my mind and decide to read something entirely different.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (The Estella Society are hosting a R.I.P. readalong)
The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters
The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe
Savage Magic by Lloyd Shepherd
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom
The House by the Churchyard by Sheridan Le Fanu
Vlad: The Last Confession by C.C. Humphreys
What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris
Blood Harvest by Sharon Bolton
Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor
The Dead in their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley

Will you be taking part in R.I.P. this year?

Completed Challenge: What’s in a Name?

August 16, 201414 Comments

I only signed up for two reading challenges at the beginning of 2014 and I’m pleased to say that I’ve now completed one of them! This was the What’s in a Name? challenge, hosted for the first time this year by Charlie of The Worm Hole.

The idea of the challenge was to read one book from each of five categories, plus an optional bonus category. The categories and the books that I read are listed below:

A reference to time:

The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley

A position of royalty:

Empress of the Night by Eva Stachniak

A number written in letters:

One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore

A forename or names:

Gretel and the Dark by Eliza Granville

A type or element of weather:

Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford

Bonus category – A school subject:

The True and Splendid History of the Harristown Sisters by Michelle Lovric

Thanks to Charlie for hosting this year’s challenge!

Have you read any of these books?

2014 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge…and wrapping up this year’s challenge

December 19, 2013December 19, 20138 Comments

This year I’ve been taking part in the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Historical Tapestry. I signed up at the Ancient History level, which meant I needed to read 25+ books, and as historical fiction is my favourite genre I actually read 32.

I’m happy to see that Historical Tapestry will be hosting the challenge again next year. The challenge runs from 1 January to 31 December 2014 and you can choose from the following levels:

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

I will be aiming for Ancient History (25 books) again but will see how close I can get to the Prehistoric level!

And now, to wrap up the 2013 challenge, here are the historical fiction novels I’ve read and reviewed this year.

1. The Florentine Emerald by Agustin Bernaldo Palatchi
2. Gemini by Dorothy Dunnett
3. The Forgotten Queen by D.L. Bogdan
4. The King’s General by Daphne du Maurier
5. Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
6. The Iron King by Maurice Druon
7. The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau
8. The Agincourt Bride by Joanna Hickson
9. The Master of Bruges by Terence Morgan
10. Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell
11. Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick
12. The Poisoned Island by Lloyd Shepherd
13. The Scent of Death by Andrew Taylor
14. Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle
15. She Rises by Kate Worsley
16. The Forbidden Queen by Anne O’Brien
17. The Memory of Lost Senses by Judith Kinghorn
18. King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett
19. Paris by Edward Rutherfurd
20. Midnight in St Petersburg by Vanora Bennett
21. The Sacred River by Wendy Wallace
22. Elizabeth I by Margaret George
23. Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
24. Post Captain by Patrick O’Brian
25. The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth
26. Wars of the Roses: Stormbird by Conn Iggulden
27. Dragonwyck by Anya Seton
28. Colossus: The Four Emperors by David Blixt
29. Hungry Hill by Daphne du Maurier
30. The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley
31. The Nine Day Queen by Ella March Chase
32. The King Must Die by Mary Renault

I enjoyed most of these books and I’m sure a few of them will be appearing on my best of the year list when I compile it later this month!

It’s time for R.I.P. VIII

August 27, 2013August 27, 201324 Comments

September is rapidly approaching, the nights are starting to get darker again, and that means it’s time for R.I.P. (R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril), the annual reading event hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings.

For those of you who are new to R.I.P. the idea is to read books that could fit one of the following categories:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

As always, there are different levels of participation to choose from and I am signing up for Peril the First, which means reading at least four books between now and the end of October.

I’ve listed below some of the books I’m thinking about reading for R.I.P. this year. I don’t expect to read all of them, of course, but I like to have lots of books to choose from!

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe
These first three books are all taken from my Classics Club list so I’m hoping to read at least one of them.

Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley – I loved the first four Flavia de Luce books and can’t wait to read this one.

What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris – These books have been recommended to me a few times and I’ve finally managed to get a copy of the first one in the series.

Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton – The only Bolton novel I still haven’t read.

Ten Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler – It’s been too long since I last read a Bryant & May book and this is the next in the series.

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill – This was on my R.I.P list last year but I didn’t have time for it so will try again this year.

Dragonwyck by Anya Seton – Another one I was hoping to read last year and never got round to.

The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters – Hearing about Elizabeth Peters’ death a few weeks ago reminded me that I really want to continue the Amelia Peabody series!

A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King – I’ve also been meaning to continue this series since reading The Beekeeper’s Apprentice more than a year ago.

The Asylum by John Harwood – I loved both of John Harwood’s two previous books so I’m looking forward to this one.

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield – I requested this book from Netgalley and can’t wait to start reading it. I’m sure it will be a perfect R.I.P. book!

I’m also planning to take part in the Mary Stewart Reading Week so will be reading one of Mary Stewart’s suspense novels in September too – I still haven’t decided which one yet!

Are you going to join in with R.I.P this year? What are you planning to read?

Turn of the Century Salon: January – An Introduction

January 15, 201312 Comments

During 2013 I am going to be taking part in the Turn of the Century Salon, hosted by Katherine of November’s Autumn. The idea of the salon is to read and discuss classics from the late 1880s to the early 1930s.

This month Katherine has asked a few questions to help us introduce ourselves…

What era have you mainly read? Georgian? Victorian? Which authors?

I’ve definitely read more classics from the Victorian era than any other period. I love Wilkie Collins, the Brontë sisters (all three), Thomas Hardy, Anthony Trollope, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens, Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Alexandre Dumas.

What Classics have you read from the 1880s-1930s? What did you think of them?

When I first saw this question, I could think of very few classics I had read from this period (the only one that came instantly to mind was The Great Gatsby). Then I had a look back at my list of books read since I started blogging and discovered that I had actually read a lot more than I thought I had! Here are some of the books from the 1880s-1930s that I’ve read in the last few years (I haven’t listed all of them):

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (published 1889)
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (published 1895)
Ann Veronica by H.G. Wells (published 1909)
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (published 1911)
The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West (published 1918)
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim (published 1922)
Orlando by Virginia Woolf (published 1928)
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (published 1929)

Name some books you’re looking forward to read for the salon.

I don’t really like making reading plans in advance as I never manage to stick to them, but here are some books I would like to read for the salon, listed in order of publication. I won’t necessarily read all of these and will almost certainly also read other books I haven’t mentioned here.

Germinal by Emile Zola (published 1885)
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (published 1886)
The Odd Women by George Gissing (published 1893)
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (published 1905)
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster (published 1908)
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford (published 1915)
The Painted Veil by W Somerset Maugham (published 1925)

Is your preference prose? poetry? both?

Definitely prose!