When Are You Now? 2013

In 1907 Pittsburgh fighting a flood and trying to solve The case of Jennie Brice

It's 1120 and I'm in Normandy wondering what happens When Christ and His Saints Slept.

I guess Limbo, since I'm not reading or writing right now - forced sabbatical to get my muse revved up and to prevent burnout.

I'm in 1830 in NYC at the very beginning of Forever a Lord.

14th century with the traveling actors in Morality Play by Barry Unsworth.

Somewhere on the oceans, in the 1790s, with Mr. Midshipman Hornblower.

I'm growling at the narrator in Midnight's Children.

Okay, NOW I'm in First Century Palestine with Borg's Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time

15 century France with Quentin Durwood and King Louis XI. I love me some Sir Walter Scott and this one looks like another good one.

Hungary, 1956 with Kata and Itsi as they travel from place to place with their father in The Swimmer by Zsuzsa Bank.

I'm in 1665 with Samuel Pepys and his famous diaries. I'm reading a biography about him by Claire Tomalin that is fascinating. What amazing times he lived in! The Plague, War with the Dutch, The Great Fire and all are mere backdrops in the much more energetic and dramatic life of Pepys!

In upstate New York during the French and Indian War with Hawkeye, Uncas and the Munro sisters in Last of the Mohicans

Jumping back and forth between modern times and the Jacobean rebellions in The Winter Sea.

I'm going back and forth between 1976 in California and antebellum Maryland, 1815 in the last trip back, in Kindred.

At Erebor (The Lonely Mtn) w/ Bilbo & the dwarves & The Battle of 5 Armies is about to commence! 8^)

I have just boarded the Nonsuch with now Commodore Hornblower and about to set sail for the Baltic theater in The Commodore by CS Forester...why I have never read this character I will never know, the detail rivals Bernard Cornwell (or perhaps it is the reverse)...This is out of series...but that will be rectified later :)

Im on an island adventure in swiss family robinson

I have just left the British 70's. I finished Sweet Tooth, the latest from Ian McEwan.

I'm in 1863 in Leicester in The Duchess War.

I'm ion 1812 London in What Remains of Heaven.

I'm going back to 1327, Florence for a major rewrite of The Legacy requested by publisher.

I am in England in 1850 with The Woman In White

Have loaded Freedom's Cost, a Historical Novel of Scotland in my Android Kindle. Not sure what else I will be starting. Having trouble moving non-amazon items from my computer Kindle to my droid. Any ideas?

England, early to mid 16th century. I'm finally getting a chance to read Hillary Mantel's Bring up the Bodies.

Os.

#25 us the kindle android app. that works fine for me. Otherwise, kindle books have the wrong DRM.

On a Mississippi Delta Farm, in 1946, with Laura as her husband and brother in law are burying their father in Mudbound by Hilary Jordan.

I am working my way through the 20th Century with Lillian in Lillian's Story: One Woman's Journey through the 20th Century, currently in 1956.

>Fiona, would that be Lillian Hellman? I read Pentimento last summer - fascinating.

I'm in 1804 in The Garden Intrigue.

Hi Betty, no it's Sally Patricia Gardener. Lovely story, just like talking to my Nana. I will put a short review on the book title.

Okay, I get a bit lost on how to do these reviews so will give that a miss for now :o)

I am in Australia, jumping backwards and forwards from 2005 to 1976 to 1930, soon to head back to England to the beginning of the 1900's in The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

>33 FionaWh:. I have read and really liked The Forgotten Garden. I actually have all of Kate Morten's books as she is one of my favourite authors.
I am currently in Australia (home) too, jumping between 1923 and 1965 in Absolution Creek.

I'm right there with you MarysGirl. The Winter Sea has been a difficult one to put down :)

In Scotland, 1296, in Freedom's Sword: A Historical Novel of Scotland by J. R. Tomlin. It's been raining a lot.

In a new mining town in the early 1900's with the Daughters of Buxton.

Hi Ro, I think she may become one of my favourite's too. A friend put me on to her and I think I'm hooked.

New Orleans, July 1904, with Myron Guideau as he tries to find the jazz cylinder he has lost in Tiger Rag by Kit Read

I've just escaped Restoration London in the plague year in A Plague of Sinners by Paul Lawrence. I regret the time I spent there; this one might be for you if a) you don't care much about a coherent plot and b) have a very strong stomach. This is one of the ugliest stories I've ever finished.

I'm in 1914, somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in The Lifeboat.

I have just returned to the estate of Commodore Hornblower and watched him kiss his wife and hug his child after a successful 8 month mission in the Baltic Sea during Bonaparte's attempt to conquer Russia in the book The Commodore . I will let him rest and recuperate before I investigate the first books written about him

I am reading an article in the "Daily Witness" in Montreal, calling for volunteers to form the Northwest Mounted Police in April 1874 in The Great Adventure: How The Mounties Conquered The West by David Cruise.

I have a special interest in this as my great grandfather tried to join the NWMP in Winnipeg but failed (not tall enough and could not ride a horse) as a 17 year old gardener I am sure he was looking for adventure....they accepted him as a wagon master instead and went with Steele to found Fort McLeod. I don't expect to find him in this book but he was a colourful guy who also fought in the Riel Rebellion with the Winnipeg Rifles as well.

#43 Hi Lynxear, isn't it great to know about your family history, I just love finding out about any family details, exciting or mundane, and find it just as interesting as reading books!!

In Sarum now, when I'm not reading about God's War.

> 44 FionaWh

Yes it is interesting, I am trying to find out as much as I can about the Canadian West. Lots of historical fiction written on the American West but other that Pierre Berton I haven't found much on the Canadian side of the border. I am about 100 pages into David Cruise's book and just learned a lot about Jerry Potts who eventually will be the NWMP guide...an amazing character...I would love to read more about this guy ...either as fiction or fact.

I was lucky to buy an old book The History of the North West Rebellion of 1885 by Charles Pelham Mulvany. He was embedded with Middleton during the rebellion and after it was over published a 400+ page book with illustrations three months later...an incredible accomplishment itself. I found one of the first 8000 books published for sale in a flea market 6 years ago for $20...I checked now and this book is worth $165... :-)

#46 Although I tend to lean toward British and European history as my heritage is English and Scottish, I love all aspects of history, and just keep adding books and authors to my list as LT members discuss them.

I have finally left behind jumping from 2005 to 1975 and 1913 in The Forgotten Garden.
Not sure where I'm headed next.

I am in 1924, with George Mallory, who despite promises to his wife, has decided to join the group climbing Mt. Everest. It will be his third time in Above All Things by Tanis Rideout

Moving along in Sarum.

I am on the run with Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps

>45 EllenLEkstrom:,49
"Sarum" is on my list of all-time best. I'll have to read it again someday. Perhaps when my to-read pile drops below 500 works!

s

Sarum is one of those that I keep a bookmark in, moving it a few pages along every once in a while. Rutherford is a master of historical fiction.

Sarum sounds fascinating, have added to my list!

I'm reading God's War by Tyerman, too, so I'm going from the sublime to the really intense.

I'm in about 1863 if I've kept track correctly in A Kiss for Midwinter.

I'm in 1502, Italy, trying to unravel the mystery of who murdered Juan Borgia in The Malice of Fortune.

#53-Fiona Edward Rutherford has done several in addition to Sarum. Actually, I enjoyed Princes of Ireland even more than Sarum.

Thanks Betty, and the list keeps growing......... :o)

I am nearing the end of the trek of the NWMP across the prairies in 1874 in The Great Adventure: How The Mounties Conquered The West by David Cruise.

The title is a sarcasm IMHO...the trek is a comedy of errors that had the Indians laughing as they watched their efforts...how they were not attacked and scalped baffles me. Not a bad book written on the basis of diaries of some of the troopers and other sources. No real story, just a page or two of anecdotes...page after page after page of them about lives of whiskey traders, Indians such as Jerry Potts who eventually sets them straight as a guide and of course the NWMP itself. Lots of writing material in there for fleshed out novels of the side stories. Not the book I expected...

>57 Betty30554:,58
My personal recommendation for reading Edward Rutherfurd:

Sarum
London
The Forest
The Princes of Ireland
The Rebels of Ireland (the sequel to 'Princes')
New York

There's also Russka, which I've not read, and don't know where it might best fit.

Chronologically, 'Princes' might fit better between 'London' and 'The Forest', but being the first of a 2-work series, I'd recommend reading 'Princes' when you're prepared to then read 'Rebels'.

Just my 2-cents.

s

#60 Thanks Osbaldistone :o)

I'm in early 5C Britain joining Arthur's warband in Hawk of May.

Glasgow, 1494 w/Gil & Alys Cunningham solving some very strange murders in The Fourth Crow. Vanye 8^)

I've left Sarum - it was bogging down. Now I'm in 1320 at the Cathedral of the Sea.

I always appreciate his books, but Rutherfurd is a slow read. Just picked up Sarum myself for $1 at the library sale, I'll give it a shot eventually.

>65 Cecrow:
Yes, you do have to live with Rutherfurd for awhile when you take on one of his tomes. But one of the pleasures I find in that is that when you finish, you feel like you're leaving behind a family. The way he ties together the generations (artificially, yes, but it is a novel) helps to build strong connections between the reader and the characters, at least it does for me (Ahh...this is Hubert's great-great-grandson!). And I find the pure sweep of long periods of history (and pre-history) quite captivating, even though I also thoroughly enjoy a good work focused on just a few years of history (for example, just finished Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies).

Os.

65, 66: I will return to Sarum, I'm sure, just as I returned to When Christ and His Saints Slept and Wolf Hall. I received Bring Up the Bodies as an ARC and I didn't give it a favorable review. Maybe I should give it another chance.

In Portland, Maine in the 1890s with Cordelia Underwood

Bjace: I love that name and title - Cordelia Underwood we're talking about how important titles are to a book at Hobnob with Authors.

>67 EllenLEkstrom:
Well, one thing these all have in common, I believe, is a quite a bit of focus on settings, characterization, and relationships, far more so than action sequences. If such writing doesn't pull you in, you aren't going to stick with them (especially the 600+ page works of Mantel and Rutherfurd). Nothing wrong with that.

I found that such works didn't work for me back about 20 years ago, but now I very much enjoy them, so perhaps they should go on the long-term 'to read' list.

Of course, you know better just what worked or didn't.

s

I am in the East End of London in the 1950s doing the rounds with Jennifer Worth in Call the Midwife, feeling extremely thankful I had my children in the 1980s & 90s!!

I'm in 1932 London in Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen.

1838 Singapore right now in River of Smoke, but I know I'll be seeing a few other places before the book is finished

I am moving through time with Underworld London; Crime and Punishment in the Capital City, beginning in the 11th Century and moving through to present day.

Currently I am in the 17th Century - gruesome!!

Just left coastal Maine in 1896 with Cordelia Underwood

Lion of Ireland by Morgan LLywelyn. Story of Brian Boru. Just started this morning.

Taking a break from reading to rest and sleep - most certainly want to be anywhere but here at the secular job.

About 950 A.D. with a young Brian Boru in Lion of Ireland by Morgan Llywelyn.

I am in Ireland in 669AD in the story Dancing with Demons by Peter Tremayne (a pseudonym of Peter Berresford Ellis). With Sister Fidelma and companion Brother Eadulf, we shall try to solve the mystery surrounding the death of the High King of Ireland - King Sechnussach

I'm with Wanchese and Manteo and the English soldiers at Roanoke in 1586. Learning more about the Native American culture. Reading now "The Head in Edward Nugent's Hand" by Michael Leroy Oberg.

I have moved through the 19th Century, finishing with Jack the Ripper and Dr Crippen, and the establishment of Scotland Yard. Now I am in the early 21st Century following the beginnings of the East End gangs and drug dealers in Underworld London: Crime and Punishment in the Capital City

I am now also in the early 1800s with Pip as a young lad in Great Expectations on audio book.

I'm time travelling with two books. Fighting/singing for my life in 1C Rome (Mistress of Rome) and fighting for my King/Empress in 12C Britain (A Place Beyond Courage.)

I am around in the 1800s with Mark Twain's collection of short stories, The $30,000 Bequest

With Brian of Boruma, as he leaves his brother Mahon, king of the Dal Cais, and sets out on his own to fight the Northmen.

In between books and not knowing what to read next.

1852, Virginia, on a failing tobacco farm with the young slave Virginia, as she vows to run away after her master slaps her in the face in The House Girl by Tara Conklin

I just picked up some Sharpe series books by Bernard Cornwell from a closeout of a used bookstore and was wondering from those who like the series if they should be read iin order.

88>

you will absolutely get more out of the books by reading them in order starting with Sharpe's Tiger. The reason is that in the series Dick Sharpe starts as a private in the British army and as such he also is penniless so cannot buy his promotions so each book shows a progression in his career advancing by merit and not money....eventually about midway through the series you will meet an Irishman, Harris...they develop a really strong bond but this happens slowly and their first meeting is less than cordial so if you read that out of order you will be disappointed.

You are in for a treat reading these books I have read 21 (I think there is one more that I have left Sharpe's Christmas ) by the end of it you too can load and fire a musket in 20 seconds as well as use a Baker rifle.....enjoy

He wrote some of the books that were in the latter part of Sharpe's history first, then went back and wrote the earlier history. Die hard Sharpe fans tell me the quality of the writing improves with the ones that were written later. I'm also reading them in chronological order rather than the order they were written. Just finished up Sharpe's Trafalgar. (Terrific by the way) Someone just sent me a link from a Sean Bean fan site with the story of the mechanical tiger in Sharpe's Tiger. I'll be back with it shortly if I can find it.

eta - Not the story I was looking for but here is the Tipoo's tiger. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tipu%27s_Tiger_front_view_2006AH4173.jpg

Thanks everyone for the comments. I knew all I had to do was ask!!

Between the wars on a sheep station in Australia with The sands of Windee

92> Chronological order is the best...Sergeant Hakeswill in the Sharpe's Tiger is really well done...this evil character is not as well done after that but not reading them in chronological order would leave you wondering why there is such hostility between the two.

I haven't read the Sharpe books but have them on my list. Thank you all for your recommendations to 88. I will take the advice also!

<90, 91, 92, 95

Am I missing something, but isn't publication order, written order, and story order all examples of chronological order? If something is in chronological order, it is in the order that the events of interest took place. So you might read them in chronological order by publication date, chronological order by writing completion date, or chronological order by story events, right?

Os.

I'm now on the island of Nukeheva (Nuku Hiva) ca. 1842, in Herman Melville's Typee.

Os.

>99 Samantha_kathy: In my experience, most people I talk with about books take chronological order to mean this.

I agree - on this thread, that makes sense; it's all context, of course. In a thread about Folio Society publications, for example, reference to listing books in chronological order would be taken to mean publication order, due to context. On a thread about an author's life, reference to listing books in chronological order would likely be taken to mean writing order (which is usually the same as publication order, but not always).

I only mention it because the use of 'chronological' without clarification finds its way into things like CK series, where the context of the series may not be apparent.

Cheers,
Os.

Depending on a very loose definition of 'historical' as 'sometime in the past' I'm in the 1950s with Flavia de Luce, pursuing A Red Herring Without Mustard. I've always thought of these as historical books (by my own definition which is anything pre-WWII) because I thought they were set in the 20s or 30s but I've only just discovered, with the thrid in the series, that it's meant to be the 1950s (though it's nothing like the 1950s I recall - just).

I am in the 1870s travelling with Doc Holliday to hopefully improve his health and continue his dental career, in Doc by Mary Doria Russell. I have a feeling this may not eventuate!!!

>102 FionaWh: let me know how you like it...sounds like my kinda book if it is more than just gun fighting...he is an interesting character in history

Read Doc and found it fascinating. I do like almost everything that author writes so I may be a bit prejudiced in her favor.

I am in 15th century England, reading Mistress to the Crown featuring the adulterous King Edward IV and his mistress Jane Shore.

I'm in school right now so I don't have alot of time to read. I'm rereading Voyager and the rest of the series in anticipation for the next book!!

Have just started The Archer's Tale by Bernard Cromwell. Finishing Lion of Ireland by Morgan Llywelyn.

107> This is the first book of Bernard Cornwell's Grail series...you will enjoy this book immensely. it is the best book in the series too....ending in the Battle of Crecy where the English long bow really gained its reputation. Azincourt (also known as Agincourt) is another stand alone book by Cornwell about English archers...it is another must-read

#103, will do. It has had so many positive comments on LT I just had to read it so shuffled it up the list a bit.

Not strictly speaking historical fiction, but I am in 19th century London with The Forsyte Saga.

Finished Lion of Ireland, 1014 AD. Working on The Archer's Tale by Bernard Cornwell. Just started Uneasy Lies the Crown on my Kindle and we are up to the year 1394.

I'm in 1880 in Russia with The Cowboy and the Cossack.

1433 with the duchess of York in Queen by Right

In the late 19th cenutry in NY with Maggie: a Girl of the Streets.

In the early 19th century on the HMS Surprise in The Nutmeg of Consolation

I'm in 16th Century Oxford with Heresy

Should finish The Archer's Tale today.

Just picked up 2 ebooks from Amazon:
Song at Dawn: 1150 in Provence link is http://www.amazon.com/Song-Dawn-Provence-Troubadours-ebook/dp/B005ZCEH2K/ref=sr_...

and The Master of Verona link is http://www.amazon.com/Master-Verona-Star-Crossd-ebook/dp/B007XKROAY/ref=sr_1_1_t...

I'm about to really screw up and get sent off to the Crimean War in Flashman at the Charge.

31% in Uneasy Lies the Crown.

I'm in 1777 in The Turncoat by Donna Thorland.

Now somewhere in the early 20th C meeting The Uninvited Guests.

It is 1813, I am on the brig , Porta Coeli, with Commodore Hornblower in his 6'x6'x4.5' cabin headed to the Bay of the Seine to put down a mutiny aboard the blockade ship, Flame. He is not happy about the assignment as he feels the mutineers were probably justified in their actions but such actions must be ended quickly with the ringleaders hung and the crew flogged or news of the mutiny will spread and create more problems. Lord Hornblower

I am still in the late 1800s with Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp in Doc, not getting a lot of time for reading at the moment :o(

I'm with Detective Nikki Heat in present day New York City - Richard Castle's "books" are like ice cream - you can't stop devouring them no matter how bad it is for you. I needed a fun break from my own writing and nothing else I was reading seemed to hold my interest.

Now I'm somewhere around 30 AD with flashbacks in The Liar's Gospel by Naomi Alderman.

I'm in 1812 London in Where Shadows Dance by C.S. Harris

I'm in Civil war england in 1647 in London in Chains by Gillian Bradshaw

I'm in London in May 1910, having just been introduced to Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer.

Early 13th century with William Marshal and his service to six English kings in The Scarlet Lion.

With Zelda, slowly going crazy in Z a novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler.

I just finished Lord Hornblower a very fast read...a little light on the military aspects of life then. No spoilers but it seems to be a cleanup book for loose ends of previous novels. It is more of a quasi romance novel than a military one and more of Horatio's tortured soul...so far that has not turned me off but it seems a bit overworked to me.

Finished Uneasy Lies The Crown.

I was in regency England in A Most Scandalous Proposal and now I'm in 14th century England but probably soon to head to France, too, in The Iron King.

In London between The Wars wearing The Green Hat

In New Zealand from the mid 1920s to the 90s with Getting There an autobiography by Barbara Anderson - NZ author.
Currently in the late 1940s as she leaves her job as a science teacher, and marries a naval officer.

I am in 1590, England with the aging Queen Elizabeth, reading Margaret George's Elizabeth I: A Novel. It is a big 650+ pages, so I'll be at it for a while.

I am in 1903 Cairo in Seeing a Large Cat.

Early 1800's in Tennessee, with a former revolutionary general trying to make his homestead successful in Wash by Margaret Wrinkle

#138 ktleyed I enjoyed this book immensely. It's been a while since I read it though, so I just might have to read it again soon. Peters' books are such good fun.

My friends and I like to read aloud on vacation. One of the authors we follow is Elizabeth Peters. I read Seeing a large cat a couple summers ago and we all enjoyed it very much.

I'm loving Seeing a Large Cat on audio, Barbara Rosenblat is hilarious with all voices, and so funny with Ramses grown with a mustache and women throwing themselves at him!

I'm in New England in 1892 investigating The Salem Witch Society.

Watched Sharpe make sergeant in the 33rd Foot, 1799, India, in Sharpe's Tiger by Bernhard Cornwell - and am rooting for a Sharpe September!

I'm in WWII London reading Mr Churchill's Secretary.

In 1945, post-Nazi Rome with The Conduct of Saints by Christopher Davis - an early reviewer book. So far, it is complex, tight.

I'm in 17th century Cornwall with Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier

California, 1919 and Vivien Lowe attempts to bring life to the recently deceased in The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood

#147 Oh tess, the most luscious romance ever written IMO (and I generally can't stand Romance novels but that one is perfect).

I'm in Australia and Suffolk in the 1700s with Scapegallows.

1505 in Treason

Hanging out during the American Revolution in The Fort by Bernard Cornwell

162 AD in Rome, plotting the assasination of Mark Aurel in Roma. Der erste Tod des Mark Aurel by Gisbert Haefs.

I'm in 1804 in The Barbed Crown, where Ethan Gage is planning to ruin Napoleon's coronation.

Now in Regency London with Mary Anne.

I'm in 1899 in New York City with The Golem and the Jinni.

I've just left Revolutionary era Russia, with Lenin's wife, mother-in-law, and mistress. For You, Madam Lenin was a four-star read, see why in my thread...post #112.

Have heard good things about this one.

>158 Samantha_kathy: you are in for a treat...and you will want to read all of the books in that series...but read them in order as he develops characters slowly...My favourite is Dark Fire but don't rush to get there

I've got three going. A quilting fiction book and Little House in the Big Woods and Tom Sawyer. The last two are books that my kids are reading for school and I'm going along with them.

Ireland, September 1845 with Maggie and her husband as they look at their blackened, rotted potato crop in The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins

5th century Britain, lost in The Mists of Avalon, just as Arthur is about to be conceived...... such mystery and deception.

#163 Thanks for reminding me of The Mists of Avalon, I read it probably 15 or 20 years ago and really enjoyed it, must read it again.

#164, you're most welcome. :)

Just started At the Palaces of Knossos by Nikos Kazantzakis. So, circa 1400-1350 BC, I think. Although, apparently, Homer described Crete (Knossos) as still powerful and prosperous during the 12th c. BC. So, somewhere during these centuries, I guess....

1560, Quenn Elizabeth's romance with Robert Dudley reaches a crisis when Dudley's wife is found dead of a broken neck at the bottom of a staircase. "Elizabeth the Queen," a biography by Alison Weir

I'll be bouncing around a bit with Colum McCann's newest (to be released in July) - TransAtlantic. Started out in 1919, flying along with Alcock & Brown in their Vimy from Newfoundland to Ireland. Now I'm in Dublin in 1845 with Frederick Douglass as he courts Irish Protestant abolitionists. Somewhere along the way, I'll be watching as Northern Ireland works through difficult peace talks in 1998. Not clear yet how McCann will tie these stories together, other than the Ireland connection, but it's a nice read so far, and McCann's prose is quite a joy.

Os.

I have started Amber Road, set in WWII, Singapore.

I'm reading From Here to Eternity by James Jones. So that puts me on KP duty on an army base in Hawaii in 1940.

I have been in the south of New Zealand, mainly Invercargill and Winton, in 1895 as Minnie Dean, the "notorious" baby farmer is on trial for infanticide in The Day She Cradled Me by Sacha De Bazin.
Minnie Dean is found guilty and hanged (the only woman to be hanged in NZ) This novel was based on her account of her life, written in jail after she was sentenced, and the diary of the young local Presbyterian minister, so while some some is fiction, most can be considered based on fact. While she certainly broke the law with regard to illegal adoptions etc...........won't say any more........

I'm through Shrewsberry cathedral post-Crusades via Ellis Peters' Cadfael Chronicles.

I just started A Possible Life by Sebastian Faulks. It has 5 parts and veers from 18th century to present day. So, I guess I'll be back and forth across the centuries.....

Just a couple of breaths before WWI; No Graves As Yet by Anne Perry. I read the second in the series (Shoulder the Sky) first, but no damage done. It makes a plausible prequel.

In fin de siecle (late 19th century) England Dorian Gray's soul & portrait continue to degenerate as his appearance remains untarnished in The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I'm with the brutal Duke of Alba in 1572 in Antwerp in Kamen's bio "The Duke of Alba." The wretch is about to try to crush the brave Dutch rebels known as the Sea Beggars.

I'm in England in the early 1760s in The Skull and the Nightingale.

It is 1816 and I am aboard the Schooner - The Crab - with Admiral Hornblower in the port of New Orleans in Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies

I am in the mid-1800s back with some of the crew from the Ibis, plus some new characters in River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh.

Hi, new here and first batch of books are in loading queue so thought I'd join in. Leavening the weight of First World War diaries (research) with mediaeval romance and a tour through 2nd Century Roman Britain with Anthony Riches 'Empire' series. Have recently returned from solving crime in 19th Dynasty Egypt with Lauren Haney's Lt Bak.

We have a group read of Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman for April, so am diving into that.

welcome Katbooks! Any questions just ask. We'll do our best to help.

I've just been out holding up coaches on the King's highway in 1794 with Sovay. Think I'm headed for French Revolution era Paris in a few pages.

I'm running around Victorian England with the Artful Dodger in Jack Dawkins by Charlton Daines

In a lighthouse at Point Lucia, California in the 1890's with Trudy ans she meets the mysterious Crawley's in The Edge of the Earth by Christina Schwartz.

In 19th century England watching a mother and son go to war over the furniture in The Spoils of Poynton

Continuing with TransAtlantic (post 168). Just finished nailing down the Good Friday Accords at Stormont, 1998. Next we'll be on the battlefields of the American Civil War, 1863, where many Irish famine refugees fought and died. Starting to see some ties between these physically and chronologically separated stories, but still not sure where Colum McCann is leading me.

Os.

With Alienor of Aquitane and Ermengarda of Narbonne in Song At Dawn:1150 in Provence. Much better than I had hoped.

I have this one. Hope to get to it soon. Love his writing.

I just left 1889 London and the newly created Murder Squad in The Yard by Alex Grecian. Now that I've done so I look forward to meeting these folks again in the second in the series due out in May.

Elsewhere within this group there is a thread discussing the definition of historical fiction. I'm going on record here as saying that to be historical it has to be before I was born, therefore I won't count my current read, Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger as historical since it is set in 1961 and I remember that year well.

I reserve the right to change my mind about that definition any time I want. ;-)

It's 1483 and I am in sanctuary with the Queen of England and her children. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory is so scandalous!

In Ireland between The Wars with M. J. Farrell in Rising tide

Still in Canton in 1839 in River of Smoke caught between all the different ethnic groups, the Chinese, Europeans and Indians fiercely debating the trade of opium.

I'm trying to get out of Copenhagen in 1807 with Richard Sharpe before the British and/or the French attack in Sharpe's Prey.

Chile in 1848 with Rose as she greets her returning brother and finds out about the gold rush in California in Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende.

I've moved on to what I've been assured will be the Mongolian Steppes in Legend by David Gemmell.

I'm in the 12th C, hiding my movable valuables from King John's tax collectors in To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick.

I'm in the early 20th century and homesteading with Hattie Big Sky.

I have just left Arthurian Britain, having just finished Camelot's Sword. Now I going to visit 17th century America in Caleb's Crossing.

I'm with Hannibal's troops in Spain in The Pride of Carthage.

I just left Abigail Adams in Boston where I had been to Sup with the Devil.

I'm in the late 19th and early 20th centuries following the fortunes of the Forsyte family in The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy.

Just left the 17th and 18th century via theQuaker saga The Peaceable Kingdom now back to part two 1830's with young Charges Darwin in The Origin by Irving Stone Five years collecting specimens, whew!! Just returned to England and family home, and now the second phase of collecting begins...The late Mr. Stone, this is my first read by him and I look forward to reading his others in my collection of Stone Biographical Novels. Found a line Maggie Smith (Dowager Duchess on DA) used while sitting in the carriage....whew...in my own time machine via books, love it. You may quote me.

I am in 1840s Hong Kong with Tai Pan.

Visiting celts during the Hallstatt culture in what's to become the area around Nördlingen in Im Bann des Keltenfürsten by Ronald Hummel.

Edit: Pokes touchstones

I am traveling back in time but before I go I want to learn more about medieval England so I am consulting The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England so I don't look like a fool while I am there :)

>207 Lynxear:, Good strategy. Don't want you to make a mistake and get burned at the stake.

#207, 208...good advice. No stake burning. Make sure you don't do any "witchy" things

> 208, 209 This is quite a readable book actually full of practical info...they drank water but preferred rainwater...one of the wifely duties was making ale for their men...but it was quite weak ale as they did not want to be drunk all the time....pretty interesting stuff.

Yeah! avoiding a stone press or dunking in a river...( Cheney must have read this book) or being burned at the stake is a priority :P

207> Perhaps I should read that one. My husband and I are going to a medieval dinner in June, we have to costume up and everything. Was there much on table etiquette in your book?

211> Yes there is...here are the sections of the book by the table of contents

1. Landscape 2. The people 3. the Medieval Character 4. Basic essentials 5. What to wear 6. Traveling 7. Where to stay 8. What to eat and drink
9. Health and hygiene 10. The Law 11. What to do.

In Chapter 8 they talk about starvation as a way of life there either in a siege or bad crops....meat is forbidden to be eaten on Wed, Fri, Sat, throughout Lent and Advent (church rules)...meat is a food for the rich...as a peasant it is coarse bread, pottage and turnips unless a special occasion. Drink is weak ale. In towns they describe the table setting for peasants, townfolk and noblemen ...I assume your meal will be the latter type....Lords are allowed 5 dishes, gentlemen allowed 3 and grooms allowed 2 dishes by law!! Washing of hands before dinner is described (no soap) . Yeah there are several pages devoted to the meal (meat or fish days) even meals in a monastery :) They don't have much for cutlery knives and spoons ... apparently no forks. A table setting is called a "trencher" It is not really described here but I found a reference to it in Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trencher_%28tableware%29

Looks like a small cutting board for a plate :)

Lots of interesting stuff in there if planning a medieval feast depending if it were peasant, nobleman or monastic most of it is food though . It is an easy read

I'm in a small English village in The Lady Always Wins. Unsure of the exact year but the author has been writing Victorian lately.

#212 this book sounds fascinating, I have added to my TBR list :o)

In Depression Era New York and Hollywood with Dear once a Jewish family saga.

1917. Following the trial and the memories of a female con artist in Parlor Games.

In the mid-14th century Greenland with The Greenlanders.

In the Kentucky of 1905
with Robert Penn Warren's
"Perse Munn", a struggling moralist, the protagonist of
Night Rider (1939)

I am embarking on an adventure in 1903 in Moscow, Russia. The Little Russian

212- Thanks for that info. I will go and look it up at the library now.

Am somewhen about 1600 in Rome, watching Caravaggio paint and sign in blood...
Mit Blut signiert: Ein Caravaggio-Roman by Matt Beynon Rees

1910 through WWII in Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and yes it's fabulous!

#222 sounds great, I have added to my list!

I am jumping between today and the 1860s in The Little Women Letters, revisiting the March sisters and meeting their decendants.

In Ireland, 1845, with Frederick Douglas who has arrived for a four month lectures tour in TransAtlantic by Colum McCann

#211 Roro8, you might find some helpful info on the SCA website - Society for Creative Anachronism. Most of the groups I have seen listed do Medieval reinactments, and you may be able to find a local contact.

#225 Thanks Betty, I just went to the website and had a click around.

In 1259 on the Silk Road by Colin Falconer. It took me two weeks to transfer it to my Kindle (instructions are the bane of the technologically-challenged) and so far it is proving to have been worth the effort.

1931, writing to Sixsmith. Cloud Atlas

>227 Betty30554:

Oooooh, Betty30554, that's on my TBR list. Let us know how you like it.

In 1325 in France & England w/Simon Puttock & Sir Baldwin de Furnshill while King Edward II is losing his mind, his French lands, & his French wife. The Prophecy of Death by Michael Jecks. This is, I believe, the 15th book of this series I have read thus far & I enjoy both the characters & the historical background! If you are an anglophile you may also enjoy these books. Bonnie Connel

Flipping between wars: in The Song of Achilles and Agincourt.

well I finished The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England which, while not a page turner, gave me a lot of insight into life back then and corrected some long held views (washing of hands and baths more often than I thought would be true)

Now for my real challenge Quo Vadis...I am heading into Rome at the time of Nero. As I have posted elsewhere I have rescued a badly beaten but readable copy that is over 100 years old...time to read this Nobel Prize winner.

#229 DK, you will definitely enjoy it. It has some really terrific, side-splitting humor, the violent parts are not really as graphic as so many, great settings, well-researched, and it is easy to follow all the myriad characters and events. I give it 4 solid stars. Will write a review after it has had time to settle.

Thanks, Betty!

On a related note, I am reading Medieval Underpants and Other Blunders.

1889 London, with The Yard by Alex Grecian. Already half way through. A great read. I pulled this out of the 'to read' pile so I'd be ready to read his "Dark Country" (sorry, no touchstone), which is a sequel I received as an early reviewer. So I guess I'll be hanging around later Victorian England for a bit.

Os.

1066 with Harold II as he races from Stamford Bridge to Hastings, dealing with one annoying invader and then another.

I've read Medieval Underpants. The author and I are in the same Hist Fic group. It was thought provoking. I learned a lot.

AuntieReb, The title alone made this a "must" for my TBR stack.

Hope those medieval underpants weren't knit of chain mail. Reminds me of Peter & Gordon's "Knight in Rusty Armour" song.

Running around in France with Jean Valjean in early 1800's France with a song in my head singing "I am Jean ValJean". So O am reading Les Miserables

1890, the English Midlands in The Black Country by Alex Grecian. This is the sequel to The Yard, which I just finished. Based on The Yard, I have high hopes, and expect to be reading late into the night over the next few days.

Os.

I am all through the 1300s England in The Time Travellers Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer. It's a NF but very enjoyable read, he has a great way of writing, as if he is literally walking you through the streets and fields, and explaining life along the way. Fascinating stuff.

Closer to the present, I am in 1950/60s Vietnam hiding from the Viet Cong in The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam.

Just finished One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus. Definitely an interesting book. Certainly does not portray the American government in a good light, not that they should be with all the atrocities committed to the Indians.

I'm finishing writing my thesis on Tecumseh for my bachelors and taking a break before I start my master's. I'm not sure what I'm going to read next. I'm tossing between Redcoat, Winter King, or Rise to Rebellion. Any suggestions as to which should be first?

I'm in 1911, reading Fall of Giants. I borrowed this from my father-in-law last year so it is about time I got to it. So far I am really enjoying it. I don't know why I didn't get to it earlier.

Just ran from Tudor England, finishing an ARC of the new Anne Boleyn trilogy, The Boleyn King. Just wasn't what I hoped for, and it read like a screenplay for a CW teen series with modern dialogue and the characters behaving like modern teens/young adults (not a bad thing if it's a modern story). I kept thinking, "Twilight in Tights." Such an interesting premise and with so many possibilities; and I know it will be a popular book. I know, too, that I am in the minority and will now duck from the rocks and stones, the villagers with pitchforks and torches, coming after me for saying something bad about a book.

Ellen, Ha Ha, everyone's entitled to their opinion, good or bad. I wonder if you might like Black Damask ? I didn't quite know what to expect when I began reading, and there were several times when my eyes went wide with surprise. It's not fluffy, and not for teenagers. Here's part of the blurb on Amazon: "A supernatural novel set in Tudor England: At the age of ten, in the turbulent reign of Mary Tudor, Annabelle discovers a frightening ability. In a fit of revenge she prays to the Devil for the death of the Earl of Welton. The Earl dies and Annabelle, terrified, vows never to pray to the Devil again. Sadly, she does."

I really liked this book! Just finished it about 2 weeks ago.

I'm battling Sikhs and matching wits with wiley politicians and svelte maharanis in 19th century India with that naughty Harry Flashman in Flashman and the Mountain of Light.

AuntieReb, not at Amazon. That's why I never post reviews there. Readers tend to get pretty partisan. I've added Black Damask to my list - although I swore never to read another book on Tudor England again, I will read Black Damask because it looks like a fun read.

>246 EllenLEkstrom:

Yeah, I was disappointed in that one, too, although I wasn't sure if it was because of the book itself or because I was expecting it to be something different.

>250 Unreachableshelf::

Both. So much could have been done with the idea. The Seymours could have been brought into the picture, and I thought perhaps Anne would go to her inevitable end, as would George, and then the marriage to Seymour would have happened. I was also thinking about Scooby Doo and Smallville. The four protagonists acted too much like modern kids. What should have warned me was the marketing - 'for those who like 'The Tudors.'' Putting it in the same calibre as Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir was a stretch, though. I prefer Ms. Weir to Ms. Gregory, but that's me. Actually, I prefer Chadwick, Higginbotham and Penman to Weir.

I am half way through Quo Vadis in the heart of Rome in the time of Nero. A bit on the religious side and a tortured romance too as well the translation of the novel by Jeremiah Curtain is quite literal from Polish to English (as he is roundly criticized for). The translation though, once you get used to it , is a plus for me...the lack of modern phrasing really sets the mood of the story for me.

A bit of a slog in places but you certainly know what is going on in the head of the characters as you can see the gears turning as they puzzle out their situation from all angles.

Oh! That Christianity would be as forgiving in modern day as it seems to be in Nero's time.

Just left Victorian San Francisco, thanks to Maids of Misfortune and Uneasy Spirits by M. Louisa Locke. Very good historical crime fiction

Still fighting the Trojan War in The Song of Achilles--going slow because it's my "commuting book" and haven't been doing much subway riding lately.

#254 Can't be helped MarysGirl, it was a bloody long war.

Not fiction but I am with Alexandre Dumas in 1806, who as a young boy has just learned that his father has died in The Black Count by Tom Reiss.

I'm in Crotona in southern Italy in 510 B.C. listening to the philosopher Pythagoras.

In Paris, 1314, with The Iron King. Some books deserve a third and fourth helping.

Topic now closed. New topic started here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/154052

In the forests north of the Danube, 4th century AD...checking out the competition in Daniel Bowman's 'Alaric: Child of the Goths'

Good read so far.

In turn of the 19th century France - waiting to find out if T. C. Boyle's feral Wild Child can be 'tamed'.

I have paused in the 19th cen. still with Mr. Charles Darwin post voyage and now dealing with cataloging and the academic side of adventure...lol in Darwin's thoughts he is building faith in his grandfather's idea of evolution. The Origin

In Maryland of the 2000s, with flashbacks as far back as the 1970s, with Tim Junkinʻs "Good Counsel".
It is a classic "fugitive" yarn, in which the fugitive is of course the good guy -- with a lot of readily-noted exceptions,
(itʻs in the First Person) so that one may suspect the "good" of the title is said sarcastically.

Hi folks - I think you better check out post #259
:-) see you there