Blogroll

So I’m playing around with the look of the blog, and it occurred to me that I haven’t updated my blogroll in forever.  Can you guys just take a quick look at the blogroll, and anyone who is not on it just comment letting me know?  Please don’t be shy – I’ve added a ton of blogs to my google reader but not transported them over here and I just don’t have the time to go through and double check and start adding that way.

So just speak up – let me know if I need to add you to my blogroll!  Thanks everyone!

WG – Historical Fiction

Let’s take a magical history tour this week, with a focus on Historical Fiction. That is, contemporary novels with a historical setting. I like to give choices, so here they are, pick the question(s) that appeal to you:

Is there a particular era that you love reading about? Tell us about it–give us a book list, if you’d like. Include pictures or some fun facts from that time period, maybe link to a website that focuses on that time. Educate us. 

Hmm, well I am quite a big fan of historical fiction, although I didn’t really know until a few years ago that I enjoy it as much as I do, so I don’t have a HUGE list of favorites like some people do.  However, I am partial to recent-ish history, like the World War II era, and I am also partial to multicultural historical fiction – books set in historical time periods but in another country other than the United States.  Hmm… let me give some examples.

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (my review)
• Atonement – Ian McEwan (my review)
• Nefertiti and The Heretic Queen – Michelle Moran (reviews here and here)
• The True Story of Hansel and Gretel – Louise Murphy (my review)
• Anything by Lisa See, especially Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
• Snow Falling on Cedars – David Guterson
• A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry

Do you have a favorite book that really pulled you back in time, or perhaps gave you a special interest in that period? Include a link to a review of it on another book blog if you can find one (doesn’t have to be a Weekly Geek participant). 

My best answer to this question would have to be The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.  I fell head-over-heels in love with that book, its characters, and its rich descriptions of the time period.  The book sparked my interest in reading biblical fiction, although I have yet to find anything in the genre even close to as good as The Red Tent.  Suggestions, anyone?

A member of your book group, Ashley, mentions that she almost never reads Historical Fiction because it can be so boring. It’s your turn to pick the book for next month and you feel it’s your duty to prove her wrong. What book do you pick? 

I would have to say The Other Boleyn Girl, even though I know that is a super cliche answer.  The reason I would suggest that is because it was one of MY first historical fiction books, at least that I consciously understood to be historical fiction before picking the book up.  It’s fun, it’s addicting, and I think it would help someone realize that the genre is anything but boring.  I know it’s not the *best* example of historical fiction, but it is certainly an enjoyable book.

How about you?  What historical fiction do YOU enjoy?  Or if you aren’t into the genre, why not?  Would you be willing to give one of my suggestions a try?

Review: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Title:  We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Author:  Shirley Jackson

Published:  1962

# of Pages:  160

ISBN:  978-0143039976

My Rating:  5/5

I loved this book.  LOVED it.  I was way surprised by my enjoyment of it, too, because I do not typically read books like this – but there you have it, I found it to be fabulous.  

I want to tell you everything about We Have Always Lived in the Castle, because it’s super awesome, but I think it’s better if you know very little about the book going in.  So I’ll just tell you what you learn in the first few pages – the book’s narrator is Mary Katherine (or Merricat – what a cute nickname, btw!), and she lives in her family’s huge, old house with her older sister Constance and their Uncle Julian who is wheelchair-bound and not all there mentally.  The rest of their family is dead. 

That’s all you get, that’s all I’m going to share with you.  Some other reviews I’ve read contain more spoiler-y synopses but I think you should just run right out and read the book instead of learning more about it.  The story is intriguing – Jackson keeps you guessing the whole way through, the ambiance is subtly creepy (not like stuff pops out at you or people die gory deaths, but like there’s this weirdness about the whole thing that you just can’t figure out), and the characters are AWESOME.  Awesome in creepy ways, in some cases, and awesome in that I love them, in other cases.  And the writing.  My goodness – Jackson is so freaking talented.  Every sentence, every word, is just perfectly placed.  Nothing is a smidgen out of place, the entire book just goes along so smoothly, it’s really remarkable.

And now I’m just going to stop gushing and strongly encourage you all to read the book for yourselves.  You won’t be disappointed.

More reviews:

• Jill at Fizzy Thoughts
• Eva at A Striped Armchair
• Care at Care’s Online Book Club
• Nymeth at things mean a lot
• Raych at books i done read