Historical Fictionistas discussion

What were the top historical books that you read in 2012?

Books listed could be published in any year -- they are the ones that you read this year! Also, you can include non-fiction or classics' but lets follow the rule that more than half of the action needs to take place at least 50 years ago.

I read so many good ones this year....



Oh there are so many more...but these well do, LOL

Marina, I did love A Place of Greater Safety. Does that mean I will enjoy Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. They sound so daunting. How would you compare them?

My top historical fiction reads:

Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel
The Beekeeper's Apprentice, by Laurie R. King
A Letter of Mary, by Laurie R. King
The Grand Sophy, by Georgette Heyer

Top history reads:

George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I, by Miranda Carter
The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime that Scandalized a City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars, by Paul Collins
Washington: A Life, by Ron Chernow

Wolf Hall is excellent, but not an easy read. "He" is Cromwell himself. Reading it in longer sustained stretches helped.

Marina, thank you for explaining. I think I would enjoy hearing the story told from Cromwell's inner, personal pov. In whose head are you in BUTB?

Susanna,thanks for your advice. I agree that difficult books are best read "in one go", so your mind is not diverted. I cannot read such books by watering down the difficulty with easier reads; I only loose track of the thread by doing that! But how would you compare it to A Place of Greater Safety?

Re:Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. The text is thorough and detailed. You DO clearly come to understand HOW Lincoln succeeded in winning the Republican nomination in 1860. That is where I am. I like it very much.

So many wonderful books read this year. Some hf favorites: Bring Up the Bodies, The Sand-Reckoner, The Red Tent, Moloka'i, Doc

Here are the HFs I gave five stars to in 2012: (In the order I read them)
Outlander
Empress of the Seven Hills
The Tea Rose
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Winter Rose
Dragonfly in Amber
And Only to Deceive

Some of the HFs I gave four stars to:
Myself, My Enemy
Nefertiti
Year of Wonders
Queen Defiant: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine
The Forgotten Garden
Slammerkin

...I've had a good year!

Here are my top 4 and 5 star historical reads (somewhat in top to bottom order):

The Book Thief: can't believe I waited so long to read
The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England: loved this
Life: An Exploded Diagram: YA coming of age against backdrop of Cuban missile crisis
A Poisoned Season: 2nd Lady Emily mystery
11/22/63: time-travel to prevent Kennedy assassination -- but really much more than that
Kindred: a time-travel classic
The Skin Map: another time travel adventure (hummm...there might be a theme to books I like ;-)
Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus: enjoyable twist on mythology
The Hangman's Daughter: who knew the importance/role of hangmen
Four Sisters, All Queens: interesting story about an ambitious family from Provence
The Kitchen House: an indentured servant living with slaves on a plantation
The Angel Makers: interesting story based on true events
The Complete Maus: graphic novel depicted the author's fathers life

Chrissie: I haven't read A Place of Greater Safety, so can't compare them. Sorry!

My five star HFs in 2012 in the order I read them are:

Ride for Rightsby Tara Chevrestt--society girls ride across the U.S. on motorcycles during WWI

Strandloperby Alan Garner-- 19th century English criminal transported to Australia escapes into the outback and lives with aborigines

Fire Angelsby Joseph Richardson-- A small Florida town during WWI deals with a number of social issues.

The Rock Childby Win Blevins--A part Native American brought up by Mormons meets a Tibetan nun in the 19th century American West

Freedom of the Monsoonby Malika Ghandi--The stories of a group of friends who lived through the Quit India movement that expelled the British from India

Chojunby Goran Powell--The experiences of a karate student on Okinawa before, during and after WWII and his relationship with his teacher, the real Mr. Miyagi, who actually existed.

Thanks for Strandloper, just ordered it. You know, that's the trouble with these lists.

The best HF I have read this year are:

The Angel Makers
The Tenth Gift
The Shadow of the Wind
War Brides

This was a wonderful year of reading. Hopfully next year will be just as good or better!

, , ,

The best historical fiction of 2012 IMO:

I have both Silhouette of a Sparrowand
The House of Velvet and Glasson request from libraries. Thank you, Joseph.

It was a very good year!! I'm stingy with the 5 star ratings (only one HF), but here's my 4 stars:

The Invisible Mountain
Rules of Civility
The Gods of Gotham
The Yard
Unterzakhn - a HF Graphic Novel
Exit the Actress
This Time of Dying
Partitions - almost a 5!
The Return of Captain John Emmett
The Time in Between
The Sandcastle Girls
Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference
Daughters of Rome
Between Shades of Gray
The Children's Blizzard - Non-Fiction about the blizzard of 1888
When the Elephants Dance
The Betrayal

My one 5 star:
The Siege

And a couple of really enjoyable 3 stars:
The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt
Forgotten Fire
A Samba for Sherlock - don't drink while reading this book - you'll spew!
Broken Jewel

Top fiction--by rough preference
Doc--Mary Doria Russell (2011)
Three Day Road--Joseph Boyden
Burr--Gore Vidal (1973)
Cloud Atlas--David Mitchell (2004)
The Cat's Table--Michael Ondaatje (2011)
The Prisoner of Heaven--Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2012)
Live by Night--Dennis Lehane (2012)
The Wars--Timothy Findley (1977)
The Sisters Brothers--Patrick deWitt (2011)
The Jade Peony--Wayson Choy (1995)
Burning Bright--Tracy Chevalier (2007)

Top history
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created—Charles Mann (2011)
Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia—Michael Korda (2010)
The Drowned and the Saved--Primo Levi (1988)
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War--Nathaniel Philbrick (2006)
Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission--Hampton Sides (2001)
Antietam:The Battle That Changed the Course of the Civil War--James McPherson (2002)
Sea of Thunder:Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945--Evan Thomas (2006)

Ooh! Here we go.
Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus by Victoria Grossack.
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman.
The Physician by Noah Gordon.
Scroll of Saqqara and The Twelfth Transforming by Pauline Gedge.
Dragonwyck by Anya Seton- because I just can't resist fun being poked at Gothic romance.

My Favorite Reads in 2012

The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann
Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King
Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay
The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great by Eva Stachniak
A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters
Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen
A Crimson Warning by Tasha Alexander
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
To Say Nothing of the Dog, also by Connie Willis

I'm sure there are others, but I don't recall them offhand. I loved all of these, though.

Yellow Crocusby,Laila Ibrahim

Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by,Lyndsay Faye

The Last Queenby,C.W. Gortner

Cold Sassy Treeby,Olive Ann Burns

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici: A Novelby,C.W. Gortner

The Dressmaker by,Kate Alcott

The Queen's Vow: A Novel Of Isabella Of Castileby,C.W. Gortner

The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court by,Michelle Moran

The Cove by,Ron Rash

The Rose Garden by,Susanna Kearsley

The Woman at the Light: A Novel by,Joanna Brady

Winter Shadowsby,Margaret Buffie

Cursed To Survive by RR, The Years Of Extermination by Saul Friedlander

Thank you for so many great recommendations. My head reels :D

These are not recommendations. These are the must reads! =P

Yes, Sir :D

Two stand out for me in this very busy year.
The Raven's Seal, beautiful writing and compelling characters.
And The Apothecary's Daughter.

My four and five star historical fiction books this year.

Her Highness, the Traitor by Susan Higginbotham,
The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, #5) by Jean M. Auel
The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children #6) by Jean M. Auel
Empress of the Seven Hills (Rome, #3) by Kate Quinn
The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court by Michelle Moran
Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen by Mary Sharratt
The Shadow Queen: A Novel of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Rebecca Dean
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian
The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great by Eva Stachniak

This isn't fiction, but The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation was spectacular! It's very informative and well-written nonfiction book.

Some of my top Historical Fiction titles for 2012:

1. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isobel Wilkerson
2. Haven by Ruth Gruber
3. Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian
4. The Arrogant Years by Lucette Lagnado
5. In the Garden of the Beasts by Eric White
6. War Horse by Michael Morpungo

Nancy wrote: "Some of my top Historical Fiction titles for 2012:

1. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isobel Wilkerson
2. Haven by Ruth Gruber
3. Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian
4. The Arrogant Years by..."

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration is nonfiction and an excellent read.

Yes Nell, The Warmth is non - fiction and should have been noted when I posted it.

To tell the truth I find it very hard to categorize some books into genres. One of the Last books I read was Haven by Ruth Gruber which was Non-fiction but could also be categorized as Historical Non-Fiction or even a memoir about the author.

These have been my favorite books read this year:

Dancer
Let the Great World Spin
Birds Without Wings
Rules of Civility
Between Love and Honor
All That I Am
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
Chronicle in Stone
A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness
Scribbling The Cat
Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948

This may seem a lot, but I have read 157 books this year so far.

The last six are biographical, so not historical fiction. I guess you see my preference, but the two often overlap. All of these books will grab you. None leave you unmoved.

Chrissie wrote: "These have been my favorite books read this year..."
A lot of books I'd like to read. Nice balance of fiction and nonfiction. Birds without Wings was such a pleasure. Almost the same number of books read for the year. My commute allows me to do a lot of audiobooks. Who knows what historical books will come our way.

My favourite historical reads of 2012 were.



Nicholas and Alexandra
Amongst Women

Mudbound

Birdsong

This was a good question. It made me go back & look at what I'd read and I was surprised at how few historical fictions were on my list even though I'm a HF author & I love that genre. A few favorites this year are:
"Caleb's Crossing" by Geraldine Brooks (one of my fav authors)
"Doc" and "A Thread of Grace" by Mary Doria Russell
"The Paris Wife" by Paula Mclain

My favorite historical read this year was . Find myself still thinking about it and the characters a month after finishing it.

Michael, I checked out your favorites too! We both like history. I have some of yours on my TBR pile. Nice. Audiobooks are certainly a great invention!

This is a great thread! Jolene, thank you.

Chrissie wrote: "Michael, I checked out your favorites too! We both like history. ..."
We just broke 200 books in common (unsure how many are TBR). (With your dog in your avatar, I wondered what your best dog books were; but alas you don't use that tag)

Would love to know more about Belgium history. A lab I worked in for 10 years had lots of Belgian neurologists come through on research fellowships. Flemish, Walloon, Frigian segments and roles in history are lost on me. Other questions include how many colonies did they have and how did they handle wars of independence? And who are the giants in writing? So if I am curious, I should do something in my reading journey to scratch that itch.

BTW: Your writing in English is very clear. Americans are so shamefully bad about learning other languages (I had only a couple years of Italian).

I'm so glad to see that Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus made the list on a few other people's favorites. I read it last year and loved it.

My list for 2012 in no particular order:

Cleopatra's Daughter
Beneath a Marble Sky
Doc- Loved this one!
Someone Knows My Name: A Novel
The Dressmaker


The Baker's Daughter
11/22/63-my first Stephen King novel. Loved it.
The Bronze Horseman
The Shoemaker's Wife
In Need of a Good Wife
Charms for the Easy Life
84, Charing Cross Road
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate-5 stars
A Good American

I've only heard of one of these books...the shame. In 2013, I need to give myself a dose of HF.

I just finished the non-fiction: Eugenia, by Marke Tedeschi. An amazing true story set in Australia... I did find the last legal part of the trial dragged a bit though.

I discovered some great historic fiction in 2012. My favorites are , , , and

I had a heavy writing year, with not as much time as I would like for reading, but I really enjoyed The Help and Jeff Shaara's The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II (I did not like another one of his books about the revolution). I also enjoyed The Song of Achilles (especially how the narrator kept on going despite being dead) and as a popcorn treat, Steven Saylor's series about Gordianus the Finder.

Ancient cultures, especially Mayan and Egyptian, are my particular HF interests, so those I most enjoyed in 2012 are: , , , , ,