December 2025: Reader's Choice

For the month of December, the theme is Reader's Choice. I'm going to be contrary and wrap some parameters around it.

Since this is Reading Through Time, read a book that could only have taken place in its stated time period. Fiction or Nonfiction. It needs to have some actual historical situations or events. So – not just a historical fiction story where the heroine happens to wear period clothing, and which story could actually happen in any time period.

Please note the time period of your book on the wiki and/or your post here.

ETA: The Wiki!

According to my LT library, I'm spoiled for choices on this one! I have 120 historical fiction books on my shelf. My oldest one is In Praise of Bees which is 6th century Ireland. I want to read this one, although December is very busy for me.

I'll be reading The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy (1880). From what I understand, this novel is set during the Napoleonic Wars and concerns a southern English village preparing for possible invasion by Napoleon's fleet, and how the fictional characters get caught up in real historical events. I'm hoping this meets the criteria listed in >1 countrylife:.

I am going to be reading The Road from Gap Creek by Robert Morgan which is a sequel to Gap Creek. This is a story of a family that lives in Appalachia. The book covers the years of the Depression and on into the WW II years. The author wrote the first book as a tribute to his grandmother and it was a very good read so I am hoping for more of the same.

I requested from the library and got it in one day (it said 3-4 weeks when I requested), hence, it's an early December read (2 days).

I read A Tapestry of Treason by Anne O'Brien It is a historical fiction novel featuring the houses of York and Lancaster. The story centers on the end of the reign of Richard II and Henry IV's ascension. The protagonist of this novel is Constance of York, a staunch supporter of Richard II. She becomes involved in several plots to restore him to the throne, much to her detriment. Most of the characters in the book were unsympathetic, although the story line was superb. O'Brien is one of my favs when it comes to historical fiction. All the main characters were based on real people and the main events were also real historical events. The setting is the latter 14th century.

I just realized that I'll be reading another book that would fit here: The Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler (2012). It is historical fiction set in Vienna in the late 1930s, and I believe includes the real event of the annexation of Austria by the Nazis.

I'm planning on re-reading Dick Button's autobiography "Dick Button on Skates". Button was a 2-time Olympic Gold Medallist in figure skating in the late 1940s/early 1950s and much of this book consists of his reminiscences of that era. He was a legend in the sport & a real firecracker.

A few more hardcore history texts this month in preparation for teaching Western Civ I next semester!

The Peloponnesian Wars by Thucydides This was a book I had to read, but did not want to read! It is required reading for the college Western Civ I course. I read it about 30 years ago. I usually don't teach Western Civ I, I usually teach Western Civ II, so time to review! It's taken me a month to read...the love just wasn't there! Thucydides is known for his rigorous methodology and the collection of eye witness accounts. This is probably "THE" account of the 10 years war between Athens and Sparta. Thucydides bypasses the myths and the morals and goes straight to cause and effect and human motivation. While there are chronicles of a multitude of battles, he often considers the way societies respond under pressure. To me, the highlight was Pericles' Funeral Speech. 784 pages 4 stars

The Epic of Gilgamesh Author unknown Read because I will be teaching Western Civ I next semester. What a great piece of Sumerian literature. I liked this version because it included the "lost" lines, as well as could have been constructed and with copious notes and attention drawn to those unoriginal lines. The story follows King Gilgamesh's journey from arrogance to humility. He experiences friendship, grief, and searches for life's meaning, including the desire for lasting significance. Great literature! 80 pages 5 stars

How the Fall of Constantinople Reshaped the Renaissance by Nathan Kay. (no touchstones) This was either Kay's thesis or dissertation. I had to read it in the library as it had not been digitized. 60 pages Research indicates that engineers, mathematicians, and scholars fled Constantinople at its fall in 1453 and headed towards Athens or Rome. They often carried their research and libraries with them. For quite sometime Rome had really been in the Dark Ages since the Barbarians had destroyed many libraries and repositories. Hence, receiving access to these materials is what sparked the Renaissance. I would guess that this was a thesis and not a dissertation. It covered the knowledge that I needed to know, but I felt it wasn't in scholarly depth and the sources were sparse; however, some good reading!

I read The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester and I really liked it. It's a biography of William Smith, who created the first true geological map, and can lay claim to being one of the main founders of the science of geology. He was quite the character, growing up with an innate fascination with rocks and fossils, which led him into a career as a surveyor, working in mines and on canals. Because of what he saw in his work, he realized that rocks had been laid down as sediment in a particular time and place, with the same fossils in the specific layer, and that they always appear in the same order no matter where in the country (or world) they are found. His major life's work was creating an accurate geological map of England and Wales, which would prove to be invaluable for future science and industry. Unfortunately, he encountered many troubles along the way, including people plagiarizing his work, and he wound up in debtor's prison for a short time. In all, it is quite the story, and tells us a lot about the founding of geology as a science.

I am hoping to finish reading City of Masks by S.D. Sykes. It is set in 1358 Venice, while the city is besieged by the King of Hungary. Our protagonist, Oswald, is stuck there waiting for a pilgrim ship to the Holy Land. He becomes dragged into a murder mystery that takes us from the dungeons of the Doge's Palace to the convent-brothel of Santa Lucia, and he comes up against the feared Signori di Notte, the secret police. S.D. Sykes does a very good job integrating her mysteries into the politics of the time.

I'm still reading City of Masks, but I have just finished another book I think counts for this prompt. The House of Water by Fflur Dafydd, while it is contemporary fiction, it is deeply imbued with Welsh history and culture, and in particular, the drowning of the Tryweryn Valley which happened in 1965.

Oops, I almost forgot to mention my read of Die Verschwörung der Krähen, a novel about the life and times of Daniel de Foe.

I guess Herriot practiced mostly during the mid-20th century.

>13 LibraryCin: I was in several music classes in college with Herriot's granddaughter.

>14 Tess_W: Oh, that's very cool!

I finished The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy (1880). Set in a small seaside town near Weymouth during the Napoleonic Wars, the novel tells the story of a local young woman with 3 suitors: two brothers (one a soldier and the other a sailor) and a local rogue. Their town is on watch for a possible invasion of Napoleon and his men on the town's shores.

The romance plot is rather lame, particularly because the heroine, otherwise intelligent and practical, is frustratingly blind to recognize the man who truly loves her. On the other hand, the historical context and details were well done and Hardy shows some rare bits of humor while still portraying the very real feelings of fear of invasion by the locals. Hardy apparently did extensive research to get the details of the era and events correct, including interviews with elderly veteran sailors and soldiers who had witnessed the events. There's even a very short scene where King George III visits the town and chats with locals, which apparently was something the king was known to have done on occasion.

I have completed my read of A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck. The author captures the nostalgic feeling of small town America in 1958 perfectly.

>17 DeltaQueen50: Great review!

Fun fact: I live in Bremerhaven, which is where Elvis Presley's ship arrived from America in 1958, so it's where he first set foot in Germany as a soldier. Of course it was the biggest event in the city ever. There is a memorial plaque, although I have never seen it because it is in an area where you can only go if you are a cruise ship passenger.

I read three books that fit this prompt.

Watch of Wand'ring Love by Kendall Hoxsey is a historical romance that features the Mexican-American war.

Farewell to Lancashire by Anna Jacobs is about a family who lose their jobs because of the Lancashire Cotton Famine and have to leave for Australia. It also portrays life in the early days of Western Australia.

Drei Wünsche by Petra Oelker is set in 18th century Hamburg and features the Christmas markets at the Hamburger Dom, a disused cathedral. It's particularly interesting because today the Dom is the biggest festival in northern Germany, and although it's not a Christmas market anymore and takes place at another location, it retains its name.

Well, I guess my quarterly read, Stendhal'a The Charterhouse of Parma, fits this monthly theme as well, but since I didn't want to take credit for that kind of an overlap I also read Abbe Prevost's Manon Lescaut 3½***. Picaresque tale of woman of loose morals pursued by men of even looser morals in 18th century France. If told from Manon's POV, it would likely show a more feminist approach; but Prevost's portrayal of events strictly from the subjective POV of her obsessive male lover does give it a satiric quality that managed to break through on the rare occasions when Manon is given her own voice.

Maybe I'd give this novel more credit if I hadn't read it in such a rush-job to get finished as a ROOT just before year's end.