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  Historical Fiction - Love it or NOT??

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  I'm curious if the members of our group generally like historical fiction and seek it out or not?
  
  If you like it, what book "turned you on" to the genre?
  
  If you don't, did you read a book that "turned you off"? Or do you just like other things so much better? Or do you find it boring?
  
  

  againstthetide started this discussion 5 years ago. ( reply | permalink )

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  krisT J 

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  I love it. I think I first got into it when I read Jean Auels Clan of the Cave bear series. It was just facinating to me. I did read Little house on the praire books as a kid and so it was not new to me but it captured me in a different way.
  
  I also think over time the writing of historical fiction has gotten so much better and less text bookish! Books like Philippea Gregorys "The onther bolyn girl" is just so absorbing even if the facts are not so true it makes for a good story.
  
  I definately Love it!

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  clockstein 

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  I love it! I'm a big fan of Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody series and Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series. I tend to favor literary mysteries that take place long ago.

  posted 5 years ago. ( permalink )

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  Ladyslott 

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  I answered this in another thread. The book that really got me into HF was My Enemy the Queen by Victoria Holt. It was my first novel about Queen Elizabeth I and I loved it. I've read quite a bit of it over the years.

  posted 5 years ago. ( permalink )

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  Connley S removed this reply 5 years ago.

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    RamSam 

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    Oops! I replied and didn't realize I was logged in as my son. So please disregard Connleys car.... hahaha
    
    I was saying that I enjoy Historical Fiction if it is well written, and the history is woven into the story. It is like having a history lesson sneak up on you. I remember reading a book called "Household Gods" that forever opened my eyes to old Rome.... that kind story is so fun and enexpected.

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  maggiethecat74 

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  I am a lover of HIstory, but I don't seek out Historical fiction. I do really enjoy books that take place in depression era America, Civil War or WWII novels. So it if fair to say this was a great tag for me. I'm going with A Thousand SPlendid Suns because it popped up under the tag and is on my TBR list and I've just finished Reading his previous title, The Kite Runner.

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    mandypandy 

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    I'll be interested to hear what you think about A Thousand Splendid Suns as it's also on my TBR list....I loved The Kite Runner so much that when this second book of his came out...I bought it on the release date...and never actually sat down to read it...seriously..am I the only one who buys way too many books?lol

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    maggiethecat74 

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    There is another thread I posted about what I thought about this title. I think it is under the heading about what we are each reading this month. I LOVED this book and can honestly say I have NEVER been so emotionally distressed when reading a fiction book. I think everyone should have to read this!

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  Julie 

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  I'm slightly obsessed with hist/fict (just check out my historical fiction tag in my shelves) and started about 11 years ago when I read Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George. That hooked me up to Elizabeth I which hooked me up to Henry VIII which hooked me up to the Plantagenets and it just snowballed from there! I'm a bit of an anglophile, but I also love novels about Colonial and Revolutionary America.

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  Katy (Formerly Not Rory) 

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  I guess I'll be the first person in this group to come out and say that I don't enjoy historical fiction. :( I try reading it, but for the most part, if the book doesn't take place during the 1970's or later, I'm not very interested. There are some exceptions where I have really enjoyed the book - such as Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. I read that book in grade school and really wasn't looking forward to reading it, but to this day it remains one of the best children's books I've read.

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    Katy (Formerly Not Rory) 

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    I forgot to answer the second part of this question. I've never read something that turned me off from this genre. It's just that I really like other genres a lot better. Plus, I do find it a bit boring. :(

    posted 5 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Shilo 

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    I'm with you! I just do not really like historical fiction. The first historical fiction book that I read and loved was The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory and that was just last month! I am going to try to read others by her and see how well I do.
    
    I also agree with the second part of your answer... I just prefer other genres.

    posted 5 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Julie 

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    I agree that historical fiction isn't for everyone. Some of it can be long and dry and some is very entertaining a la Philippa Gregory. I wanted to tell you that if you do like Philippa Gregory, you might also like Carolly Erickson (make sure you get the fiction, not the non-fiction) as she's also been pegged as 'historical entertainment.'

    posted 5 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Robert of Ravenclaw 

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    Oh read Forest Gump ,if that book does not make you hate historical fiction. thene no other book will . Wait do not read that book , it could make you hate reading .

    posted 5 years ago. ( permalink )

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  greenmom 

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  Well, in general, I love historical fiction. Reading it fits right in with my multi-tasking personality--I am entertained and enlightened at the same time. That being said, the story has to be a great one too, to love it. I have read historical fiction that is really boring, but I am typically drawn to it as a genre. I was reading HF before I knew what is was

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  Cave Canem 

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  Obviously I am a big fan of historical fiction, since it is my tag pick! :-) I seem to always have enjoyed this genre - there hasn't been one book that served as a "eureka!" moment for me. I will say, however, that The Other Boleyn Girl got me re-hooked.

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  azrork 

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  I really enjoy historical fiction. My first dip into the genre was about a dozen years ago when I read "True Women" by Janice Woods Windle. Some of you may remember a very average mini-series by the same name. The novel was wonderful and I became completely obsessed with it. At the time I was living in Austin and so I'd take road trips every weekend to see places she writes about in the book. Since then I've read lots of Margaret George, Phillipa Gregory and Sandra Gulland.
  
  For me, Gulland's Josephine series is one of my all-time favorites. Maybe I should read it again...

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  punxsygal 

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  For me, reading historical fiction started way back in grade school. Out library had a whole series of books about famous people, kind of fictionalized stories about their lives--Old Dutch NY, George Washington Carver, Clara Barton, etc. Then there was a book I loved called They Loved to Laugh by Kathryn Worth, as well as the Laura Ingalls Wilder series.

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  bulphan 

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  History, yes.
  
  Historical fiction - not really my cup of tea...

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    againstthetide 

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    MMm . . .your comment makes me wonder if people who like historical fiction don't care for history books and vice-versa . . .I think I might ask that in a separate post. I bet you the answer is yes.
    
    I still hope you'll join in with us - - maybe pick one of the most historical "historical fictions" you can find. Michener's are pretty good, but they are really long. I loved the Covenant though which is the history of South Africa . . .his books are very accurate in their depictions.

    posted 5 years ago. ( permalink )

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    TheLibrarian 

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    I agree with bulphan - I much prefer history to historical fiction. But then I much prefer non-fiction of any sort to fiction.
    

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  Ange 

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  I love historical fiction. The writer in me loves to imagine in detail what things must've been like in a different time/place and I love reading others' imaginings on well-researched historical happenings.

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  Kathleen U 

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  Biographies and historical fiction are my favorite book categories. As Krist J states below, I know that I read the Little House books when I was very young. Next to P&P, my two favorite books as a teenager were historical fiction Desiree President's Lady. I thought of reading these two books again as this month's choice but I am afraid that I won't like them anymore and that would be so sad. On my list of things to do for the last 40 years has been to restore Rachel Jackson to the Smithsonian's display of first ladies (I also need to do my Christmas cards for 2006 and 2007) because of that novel. I stopped everything recently to watch a PBS show on Jackson (it was rather good) trying to see how historians now think of Rachel Jackson.

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    againstthetide 

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    I can commisurate with the fear of re-reading a beloved children's book and not finding it the same. I LOVED Black Beauty sooo much, but am totally afraid to even glance at a chapter for fear it will disappoint me now. Somehow from your note though, I'm missing the titles of the TWO favorites . . .can you please tell me them and the authors? I'd like to see them . . .because I don't think I've read them. It looks like one is President's Lady - - is Desiree the author? It's so annoying that there's no editing function here at Shelfari.

    posted 5 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Julie 

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    I think she's talking about The President's Lady by Irving Stone and Desiree by Annemarie Selinko. I have both of them, but haven't read them yet. Correct me if I'm wrong, Kathleen.

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    Julie 

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    BTW: Irving Stone is an amazing author. Another one of my favorite novels is The Agony and the Ecstasy, a fictional biography of Michelangelo. I also enjoyed Origin: A Novel of Charles Darwin.

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    Kathleen U 

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    Yep. Julie is right about the books and authors.

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    againstthetide 

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    Thanks Julie for specifying the titles; I'm impressed that you immediately knew of them. I actually have read a couple of titles by Irving Stone and LOVED them. The Agony and the Ecstasy was great. I recently picked up two more of his titles at a used book sale for like $0.50 a piece. Something to look forward to reading . . .

    posted 5 years ago. ( permalink )

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  Spedtchr30 

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  I enjoy most genres so have always enjoyed HF.
  
  I think the books that got me started on the genre, aside from the Ingalls books as a little girl, were the Kent Family Chronicles by John Jakes. If it weren't for those books, I may not have made it through American History in high school. I just wasn't able to memorize all the trivia but could if I could relate it to a particular family as they went through the various time periods.
  
  As an adult, I read The Thorn Birds and loved reading about life in another country. Later Michner and Vidal were interesting but I really loved Gabaldon's and Auel's series. I suppose I hate to give up stories so really like prolific authors who continue into sequels.

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  candace_redinger 

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  Historical fiction is my favorite genre but hasn't always been so. I read Laura Ingalls Wilder when I was young, but then a few years ago I picked up Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and from then on was hooked! I prefer European history to American but do have a few favorite American history books. I love the midevil times and books about the Plague always intrigue me. I read Household Gods by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove (?) and that was really good and opened my eyes a little to Roman times. Most of my favorites are historical fiction though and I have many many more on my 'to read' list. Some of my favorites are:
  Katherine by Anya Seton (the only book by her I've actually enjoyed, I might add)
  Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
  Outlander (and the series) by Diana Gabaldon
  Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
  The Red Tent by Anita Diamont
  Kindred by Octavia Butler (american black history)
  Household Gods (as I've mentioned above)
  City of Dreams by Beverly Swerling (American History in early Manhattan)
  and my most recent is To Dance with Kings by Rosalind Laker. (a story of Versaille)
  I also like Phillipa Gregory but haven't read that many of her books yet.

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    Julie 

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    You've read a lot of great books! I also read Household Gods as a kind of introduction to Roman hist/fict and Beverly Swerling is one of my favorite authors...not too many people have read her books. Have you read the sequel, City of Glory?

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    candace_redinger 

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    I have (read City of Glory) but I didn't think it was as good as City of Dreams, but it was still good! And I recommended Beverly Swerling to all kinds of people when I first got on shelfari. City of Dreams is a book that just sticks with you forever!

    posted 5 years ago. ( permalink )

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  Joanne N 

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  i actually prefer watching movies that are historical fiction... because i love the costumes, the dresses, the scenery, the old-fashioned houses and furniture etc. loved "Elizabeth~ the Golden Age", and can't wait to see the movie "The Other Boleyn Girl" based on Phillipa Gregory's book.
  of course i love to read books, but usually go for other genres... thrillers, comedy, horror, chick-lit, true stories etc.
  having said that... i have read hundreds of Catherine Cookson's books, this historical fiction author writes in a style that makes it a "light read", (or i should say "wrote" seeing she died... but it seems her family are still publishing her latest works).

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  HBee 

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  I love historical fiction. I began reading it when I was in 8th grade with Jan Plaidy. We were studying English History in school and the Tudor period had caught my interest.

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    HBee 

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    Spelling correction: Jean (not Jan)

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  The Book Guru 

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  hi. the reaosn why i enjoy historical fiction is coz it has facts n that, n it's interesting and yet at the same time it has soemhting else, usually it is romance. so hsitorical romances fiction. yeah, i love it. i recently read a song for summer by eva ibbotson and it tells u a great deal of stuff about WWII and different viewpoints. that's what i like most. usually, you get to hear it form different sides. my fave historical book ould have to be i, coriander by sally gardner. it is one of my absolutle fave books. it is so beuatifully written, and althoguh i was not studying th eking at that time, my friend read it at the exact tiem which we were studying about and she found that it really helped her.
  
  well byeee. :)

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  Robert of Ravenclaw 

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  I like Historical Fiction, but it does depended on my mood .

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  Joanne N 

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  i also forgot to add that i prefer to read historical fiction about everyday working class people, and the hardships they went through in previous centuries, more so than about the kings and queens.
  i also like recent historical fiction eg. England during WWII, or Australian Outback 1950's.
  Also love historical fiction stories about more unusual cultures, eg. Aztecs, Egyptians, etc.
  I do love Tudor and Victorian historical fiction, but like i said above, prefer to watch the movies for the costumes and scenery.

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  hipchikjah 

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  I'm a fan of historical fiction...I have read quite a few of Phiippea Gregory's books. Thanks for the the Carolly Erikson suggestion. I'll give her a try.

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  DeSeRt RoSe 

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  Historical Fiction is from my favorite genres.. I'm reading (The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory)) right now and enjoying every moment of it !!
  Thx for the tag !

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  Hilary 

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  I generally don't seek out HF unless it is something that has been recommended to me by someone whose opinions are trustworthy. Plus, the book topic has to be something that interests me. Usually, things that are about the Roman Empire, Ancient Egypt, or feudal Japan are things that I'll pick up. I can't think of anything that "turned me off"; I guess I just like other things so much better. Still, this tag has given me a chance to really explore HF to a degree that I wouldn't have before.

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  Shan 

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  This tag has actually sparked an interest in HF for me. I read The Book Thief for my tag book, and am now reading The Tea Rose (which is hard to even put down to make dinner and do laundry) and I'm moving on to Snow Falling on Cedars after that. I now have alot of historical fiction on my TBR shelf. It's been a great tag for me!

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    Ladyslott 

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    Three of my favorite books!
    
    The Tea Rose has a sequel, The Winter Rose which was also very good. Glad you found that you enjoy HF.

    posted 5 years ago. ( permalink )

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