Historical Fictionistas discussion

Hey all... So I know that we still have a month to go, but I'm wondering what each of you would say the single best book you've read this year would be.

If you could choose one absolute MUST-READ to recommend, what would it be?

It can be HF, but it doesn't have to be. I'm just curious. :)

Can it be a re-read, or do you mean one we discovered this year?

Why not both? :)

New book, without a shadow of a doubt:From Hell .

Re-read: Duma Key A Novel

K, I've added "From Hell" to my TBR.

I was THISCLOSE to picking up V for Vendetta while I was out of town. SOOOOO close.

Becky, you didn't tell us your picks!

*sneaky*

What a pity...I'd send you mine, but I can't. I'd fret about it the whole time! It has so many sticky's, flags, post-its, that it's probably twice as thick as it was when I got it.

I saw you added From Hell and was thrilled! It's very, very graphic, but I know you're okay with that. Did you read my review? I glowed:-D

OK - I answered while you all were posting, so I didn't play by the rules.

New book would have to be Honolulu by Alan Brennert

Re-read: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Two for Honolulu. I'll have to look.

True. Hmm. That's a hard decision for me!
I'd agree with you about Duma Key, but as that's already been mentioned so it doesn't count. :P

I'd have to say that The Count of Monte Cristo, Roots or Planet of the Apes would be my choices. (Which should make you happy, as two of those were your pushes, Kandice!)

:)

I did read your review. That's why I added it. :)

WOW!!!!! All three of your possible choices are some of my favorites, but of course you know how special the last two are to me. I feel...well, honored! Ha ha:)

I just went back and read my POTA review, and it reminded me of just how amazing that book really is. It's SO thought provoking, without being preachy or heavy-handed at all.

And of course, Roots was amazing as well. I both loved and hated reading about the Kinte's struggles through the years.

COMC was just... purely heartwrenching. The amount of pain that poor Dantes must have had to endure to go to the lengths that he did for revenge was incredible.

All three are absolute must reads.

Fiona wrote: "Shogun."

*glows all the more*

Fiona wrote: "Shogun."

Already read it. Gimme another! :P

For me it would have to be a toss between Jane Eyre, Revolutionary Road and the Reader. All amazing novels!!!!!

The Reader? Really? I disliked that book on so many levels. =\

What did you like about it?

Fiona - Shogun? I never would have guessed. It is definitely in MY top 5 all time list. Wonderful book. Are you going to read any of the others?

You know, a close second for best new (to me) book would be Song of Troy for the same reasons.

Becky wrote: "The Reader? Really? I disliked that book on so many levels. =\

What did you like about it?"

I have a thing for simply told novels, with profound questions. Goes back to when I first read To Kill a Mockingbird. I liked the character of Hannah, she had a weird moral grounding which I found interesting. And I liked the way the holocaust tale was told through the generation after.

So I guess those reasons I forgave the clichés, and the obvious way the book was heading. I could have been reading more into it than there was. But at the time I ate the whole thing up.

Plus when I was reading I kept on picturing Kate Winslet whom I might be a little in love with.

Why did you profoundly dislike it?

Ha ha. I like that someone mentioned The Reader. I didn't feel strongly about that book one way or the other until Becky started harassing me about it on TNBBC. Then I found out how I felt pretty fast. I went back and read that thread not to long ago and for a while the two of us were the only ones talking. Becky kept proving me wrong. Grrr!

The book that I would recommend that I read this year would be Misery. It's not the best written book I read this year (but pretty close) but it illicited the biggest reaction from me. I have already recommended it to my friends and family. AND for the record...the movie is SOOOOOO not as bad as the book, so if you read the book and are afraid to see the movie, don't be.

Mine was Count of Monte Cristo, but since that's been mentioned, I'd say Zusak's I am the Messenger, but you've already read that Becky, so the best book I've read this year that you've probably not read was The Blind Assassin.

Another couple I'd really highly recommend from this year are The Memory of Running and Atonement.

This is hard! The best new-to-me book I've read this year is probably The Complete Maus, which might have been pushed by you? And then there's A Northern Light, which you've read. The Tale of Despereaux Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread! It doesn't even look like you've marked that one as to-read!

My best re-read was Fair and Tender Ladies, hands-down.

It's a toss between Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay and [Book: A Thousand Splendid Suns]. I was moved by both and after reading them I struggled to find another book to compare.

I did NOT harass you about it, Felina! LOL (Ok, maybe a little. :P)

I just felt like it COULD have been great. It COULD have been one of those simple stories that makes you say, "Oh my gosh, WHY did I not read this sooner??" But instead, I just felt like it was pointless.

I didn't feel that Hanna had any morals at all. She wasn't keeping quiet for any reason other than selfishness and shame. She didn't stand up for people who needed her to, even when she knew it was wrong, and she didn't care one bit about anyone at all in the story but herself.

Michael was utterly annoying and pathetic and disgusting. He refused to have a life of his own, instead making Hanna the center of his existence, even after they weren't together anymore. Every girl he was with he compared to her, tried to make into her, and the ideal he had was impossible, because not even Hanna herself lived up to it.

I thought it was pointless. But that's just me. I felt the same way about The Devil and Miss Prym, and that's another of those "simple morality tales" that people seem to like. LOL

But, I do tend to dislike very popular books, so don't trust my opinion! Hahaha!

Maus was actually MY push:D

I have to agree with A Northern Light and I am the Messenger. I'm also going to add:

The Shadow of the Wind
The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
The Book Thief
Poison Study

Sorry I can't pick just one. lol. I'm so indecisive.

That's cool Jackie. The more the merrier! :D

Ooo so many good books. I 'forgot' (impossible right) The Book Thief. I was so moved by that book.

Hmmm Jackie. I think we might be kindred spirits for books. I see a friend request in the future.

Perhaps The Seamstress A Novel, but honestly it is very hard to pick! I also liked alotThe World to Come A Novel. Maybe b/c I read them recently so they are fresh in my head.

I would have to suggest Game of Thrones and the Song of Ice and Fire series.

I have heard the George R R Martin Books are good.

They are. I love them. My friend got me into them like two years ago and then I got a friend into them and he got three of his friends into them.

I gave very few books 5 stars this year, but interestingly, one of the ones that I did give 5 stars happens to be a work of historical fiction:
Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick

I would have to say The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society would be my number one recommendation for this year but The Last Queen, The Disagreement A Novel, and The Commoner A Novel were all terrific too.

Too hard to give one

top 5 from this year

Shogun-re read
Count of Monte Cristo
Blind Assassin
God of Small things
Pride and Prejudice

even that 5 was hard to pick, i had about 17 5star reads this year

Oh I love The Count of Monte Cristo. I should read it again.

I have it on my TBR shelf. I hope to get to it in the next few months. I'm glad to hear you guys liked it.

Joseph wrote: "I gave very few books 5 stars this year, but interestingly, one of the ones that I did give 5 stars happens to be a work of historical fiction:
Sunflowers by [author:Sheramy Bundric..."

Joseph, I have been considering Sunflowers by Bundric for quite some time and had actually moved it down my TBR list! So why did you like it so much? Do you really get into the head of the artist? Do you lean about the art scene of that time? I had pegged it as a quick romantic read without much depth - could you tell me why this prejudgement is wrong? Thank you! Have you read The World to Come A Novel orArrogance A Novel, both about artists and very, very good.

There are a few I read in 09 that were just awesome:

Mary by Janis Cooke Newman
Someone Knows my Name by Lawrence Hill
Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin