Tag Archives: Historical Fiction

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Word To Your Mother: Top Ten Tuesday Collaborates and Listens

Salutations, Bookworms!

I know you stayed up all night trying to guess the topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday with The Broke and The Bookish, didn’t you?! This week we’ve been asked to list off the top ten words or phrases that make us want to pick up a book. I’m a refined consumer of literature, see? JUST because a book says something saucy on the book jacket doesn’t mean I’ll buy it, but there are some terms that don’t hurt a book’s chances. I may be a snob, but I’m highly susceptible to marketing tactics.

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1. Time Travel- Awww yeah, I love me some time travel. I typically prefer accidental time travel, so if there’s a deliberate machine involved? Probably not going to be my cup of tea. However. Outlander, The River of No Return, and The Time Traveler’s Wife? Yes, yes, and yes. Break me off a piece of that time space continuum.

2. Penguins- Hi, I’m Katie. Have we met? If we have met in the past, oh, 22 years or so, you know that PENGUINS are my spirit animal. Sadly, they don’t make a ton of appearances in books for grown ups, but hey, kids books are a thing. Remember If You Were a Penguin? Mr. Popper’s Penguins? Or how about when penguins DO show up in adult books, like the awesomeness that was the trip to Antarctica in Where’d You Go Bernadette? Penguins can ONLY help you, I say! Penguins forever! (Seriously. Just ask Alfred. Or Josie.)

PENGUIN LOVE

PENGUIN LOVE

3. Plague- This probably makes me horrible, but plagues are fascinating! Reading up on the bubonic plague in Ken Follett’s World Without End was the shiz-nit. And the letumosis outbreak in Cinder? That’s where it’s at! And my heavens, THE STAND! The mother-loving Stand, people!!!

4. Flowers- I LOVE flowers. Darn near as much as I love penguins. It can be pretty intense. So, when flowers feature heavily in a story I do some serious geeking out. Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s Language of Flowers was amazing. More of this, please, author types. (Gardens are good, too, but I don’t grow vegetables. Has anyone else noticed that Alice Hoffman is maybe a little obsessed with growing tomatoes? No? Just me? Moving on then…)

5. Zombie- “What’s in your heeeeeeeeeeeeeeead, in your heeeeeeead, zombie, zombie, zo-omb-a-yuh-a-yuh-a-yuh!” Don’t pretend that you don’t rock out to The Cranberries. And if you legitimately don’t rock out to The Cranberries, don’t tell me, because, yodel-y Irish rock from the 90s kicks arse. But really. I like for real Zombies, too. World War Z and Warm Bodies are my JAM. 

6. History- I am a sucker for historical fiction. Chilling in ancient Greece like in The Song of Achilles or dabbling in the Underground Railroad and rocking a bonnet like in The Last Runaway or experiencing the scandalous world of the Tudor court in, well, basically anything by Philippa Gregory… It’s the only way I can time travel, and really the only way I WANT to time travel. Indoor plumbing is my favorite.

7. Dystopia- It’s almost ridiculous the amount I adore screwy fractured future scenarios. The Giver and The Hunger Games and Brave New World and 1984 and The Handmaid’s Tale just make me feel warm and fuzzy about our effed up present. Let’s face it y’all. It could be a whole lot worse. Gratitude, brought to you by oppressive governments, lack of color, religious persecution, and kids fighting to the death for sport! 

8. Saga- Sweeping epics are right up my alley. The word “saga” implies length and drama and change and grand scale. Les Miserables and Gone With The Wind and The Pillars of The Earth are some of my favorites. If it couldn’t be made into a mini-series or a very long movie, I want nothing to do with it. (That isn’t really true. See this? Terrible liar. I tell you IMMEDIATELY when I lie. I also like books that couldn’t be long movies and mini series, but it didn’t WORK with my POINT there. Ugh. I’m a walking vial of sodium pentothal.)

9. Whimsy- I’ve mentioned how fervently I adore Amy Sherman-Palladino, head writer of Gilmore Girls and Bunheads haven’t I? Yes. I know. I obviously have. One of my all time favorite quotes came out of Kirk, Stars Hollow’s resident weirdo when he was describing his new Condoleeza Rice decorative mailbox: “Whimsy goes with everything.” Whimsy DOES go with everything, books in particular. Alice in Wonderland probably gets to wear the tiara for most whimsical title of all time, but Harry Potter, Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, and The Night Circus aren’t in short supply on the whimsy front.

Curiouser and curiouser...

Curiouser and curiouser…

10. Awkward- I spent the weekend with some of the world’s most excellent friends, and we were discussing high school. They both said that they had enjoyed themselves. I said, “I was too busy being morose and wearing really baggy pants.” Both of those things are true, and both are reasons I have a serious soft spot for the awkward characters. Bridget Jones? Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower? Eleanor & Park? To paraphrase a song I heard far too often at wedding receptions, “These are my people. This is where I come from.” Teen angst is CHARACTER BUILDING, dangit!

Oh Bookworms, my Bookworms, what are some of the words and phrases that make YOU think you’ll like a book?

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Get Swept Up In The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway

Salutations, Bookworms!

I’ve been a book blogger for a while now, 8 months or so. I’m still not entirely sure what I’m doing, but I’m pretty sure I’m doing something RIGHT, because I recently got an email from a publisher offering me a free book! Now, this is not the first time I’ve been offered a book, but it IS the first time I’ve accepted one, since time constraints and/or lack of interest have prevented me from taking them in the past. You’re supposed to be VERY CLEAR AND UP FRONT when you review a book you’ve gotten for free. HEY INTERNET! I GOT THIS BOOK FOR FREE!

Now that we have the formalities out of the way… I got an email offering me a copy of The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway. I was intrigued because the email claimed that fans of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander would like this book. I was intrigued, but also a little wary. I mean, was I in for a poorly executed copy of Gabaldon’s awesomeness? I’m not very nice when that happens…

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I needn’t have worried. This book had elements I’ve seen in other places, but they were woven together into something completely original and enthralling. If you took the time travel romance element of Outlander and combined it with the conspiracy theory aspect of, say, Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, added a some of the magical bits from The Night Circus, and put it in a blender with a chocolate milkshake, you’d get close to The River of No Return. It’s delicious.

Without getting super spoiler-happy, I’ll give you the lowdown. Nick Falcott is a Georgian-era English aristocrat who decides to fight in the Napoleonic wars. Just as he’s about to be done in by a Frenchman, he vanishes into thin air and re-materializes in 2003. Oops. He’s rescued by a mysterious group known as “The Guild” who locate accidental time travelers and help them re-acclimate to the time they’ve jumped into. The Guild provides the unwitting time travelers with money and sets up new lives for them in new countries. They also force them to learn medieval Finnish. (A secret society has got to have SOME quirks, right? They can’t ALL speak Latin, for heaven’s sake.) Anywho, Nick gets all situated with his indoor plumbing and his blue jeans and indulges his affinity for homemade stinky cheeses and beautiful women for a good 10 years. All is well until he receives a summons from The Guild…

Meanwhile, in 1815, Julia Percy is super sad because her grandpa kicks the bucket and she’s stuck with her douchey cousin as heir to the manor (or castle. They call it a castle, but as there are no crowns involved, I don’t think it counts.) Julia doesn’t realize her grandfather’s gift of freezing time is anything more than a strange game the two played. Of course she realizes it’s not NORMAL to go around stopping time, but she has no idea just how important she will be to The Guild, their enemies, and Nick (bow chicka bow wow).

I imagined nick looked rather like Hugh Dancy in period costumes. You know, plus the appropriate scars and whatnot.

I imagined nick looked rather like Hugh Dancy in period costumes. You know, plus the appropriate scars and whatnot.

Okay. I need to stop talking before the spoilers happen. Here’s some stuff I loved. First, there were some seriously funny one-liners in this book. I laughed out loud several times (particularly when Nick pondered his existence as “just a dude.”) Second, despite having a very science-y twist with the time travel, it was very accessible to me. The idea that time travel was facilitated by feelings and the flow of human history rather than, like, equations and black holes made me really happy. Third, time travel brings all sorts of fun colorful characters together who wouldn’t normally get to hang out. Gender bending teen from the 80s is like BFF with a medieval Swedish turnip farmer? It’s awesome.

My only complaint, if I can even call it that, is that the book left a lot of unfinished business. I assume (and hope… nay DEMAND!) that this is the first in a series of novels, because if it isn’t, I might cry. The concepts aren’t new, but the take is fresh and FUN. If you liked Outlander or Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore or The Night Circus or just generally enjoy books that don’t suck? Check out The River of No Return. Bee Ridgway, you’ve got yourself an admirer right here.

Alright, Bookworms. Since we’re talking time travel here, if you could go back to any point in history, where would you go? Why? Would you try to smuggle in deodorant, toilet paper, and contact lenses? (Because I totally would…)

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Sorry, No Blog Today. April Fools! (The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani)

Howdy Bookworms,

I hope those of you who celebrate Easter have recovered from your chocolate bunny and jelly bean comas on this fine morning. It’s April Fool’s Day, but I’m not a fan of the holiday. I am a terrible liar, and I’m also embarrassingly gullible. Not a good combination. Plus, pranks have a way of turning mean, and I’m not a fan of meanness either. So. Let’s talk about… A book! (I know, you’re shocked!)

This month for Wine and Whining Book Club (I consistently get crap from the book club’s membership for what I’ve named it, but I like homonyms and alliterations, so I shan’t be changing it) we selected The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani. The Shoemaker’s Wife is the tale of an unlikely couple re-united from their small Italian mountain town in New York City.

I'm really not sure who the broad on the cover is...

I’m really not sure who the broad on the cover is…

Circumstances conspire to send the (for all intents and purposes) orphaned Ciro away from his home in a convent the Italian Alps to become an apprentice shoemaker in America. Unfortunately, his exit from town is untimely as he is separated from his new found lady love, Enza. Shortly after Ciro’s departure, Enza and her family fall on hard times and she and her father make the decision to emigrate to America as well. Their emigration takes place during the early 1910s, so their journey reads like the quintessential Ellis Island tale.

Ciro and Enza’s path to finding each other again is not an easy one. They both have their share of adventures. Enza is a talented seamstress but stuck in Hoboken in a Cinderella-esque situation. Ciro is distracted by a high maintenance local beauty and turns out to be a kick ass boot maker. Their trials and tribulations give you a great picture of the times in which they live, and they talk enough about pasta to make you hungry.

Spoilers are the bane of my existence, because it’s so difficult to talk about books without giving EVERYTHING away. I will say this much… While I enjoyed this book overall, there was a critical scene that reminded me a LOT of a scene in another one of Trigiani’s books, Lucia, Lucia. Consider this your SPOILER ALERT. Now. The goings on of How I Met Your Mother aside, people being ditched at the altar is NOT a common thing. Things rarely get to the point of tuxedos and gowns being donned when weddings fall apart. The fact that this occurred in both of the Trigiani books disappoints me, I mean, calling off a wedding a couple months ahead of time is infinitely more realistic. It’s certainly more dramatic to pull the jilted at the altar routine, but it’s almost too easy… That’s probably an unfair assessment, but I’m a giant snob-a-saurus rex.

Safe to read again. If this is your first Trigiani novel, and you like historical fiction, you’ll love it! So, Bookworms, are you ever frustrated by authors recycling story lines? Getting repetitive? Anybody else run into that?

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Top Ten Tuesday: The Shelf of Shame

Greetings, Bookworms!

You know when you’re in a bookstore, browsing, and you get sucked in by picking up a title in the bargain bin? How about when you have grand intentions of bettering yourself and pick up a pile o’ classics only to watch them collect dust on your shelves? We’ve all got the shelf of shame. And the ladies at the Broke and the Bookish? They want us to own up to it. Today’s Top Ten Tuesday: Stuff I Bought But Never Read.

toptentuesday1. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Sometimes (okay, a lot of times) I get self important and think that I will be able to appreciate even the most highbrow of classics. That’s when I buy things like Madame Bovary and then watch them moulder on my shelves for an eternity. I mean, I SHOULD like this. A doctor’s wife has adulterous affairs? I mean, hello Anna Karenina. How’s it going, Lady Chatterley? Why did I never get down with Madame Bovary? No idea.

2. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. This is always on smart people’s lists of favorite books. I’m highly susceptible to peer pressure whilst making decisions inside the Barnes and Noble… Amazon doesn’t judge me the way a hipster cashier would!

3. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. I bought this because Tess of the d’Urbervilles was so fantastic. However… The lack of female main character and/or the really unappealing portrait of what I assume to be the “mayor” on the cover has kept me from actually bending the spine of this one.

4. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I really do want to read this… It’s just so THICK. I’m not easily intimidated by big books, but this sucker is the size of Les Miserables, but lacks a magnificent soundtrack to play in my head… And no Gavroche.

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The Classics… Of Shame.

5. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig. It’s historical fiction with a pretty cover. I couldn’t be expected to resist the purchase, and yet… Still unread.

6. Shakespeare’s Wife by Germaine Greer. It’s historical fiction about, uh, Shakespeare’s wife. You know. Anne Hathaway. The one that didn’t win an Oscar. I found it in a bargain bin. I really loved the movie Shakespeare in Love, so perhaps I just don’t want to hear the sad tale of the wife who was left behind when the dashing Joseph Fiennes fell for a not-yet-openly-pretentious Gwyneth Paltrow. Siiigh.

7. The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox. I bought this because it’s historical fiction. I’ve been putting off reading it because it’s about a Victorian era murderer. I’m not big on crime novels, even historical ones. I frequently question my bargain bin judgement.

You can see the bargain stickers!

You can see the bargain stickers!

8. Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler. I bought this with Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant because I thought they sounded smart and fabulous. I read Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant and didn’t love it, so I didn’t bother with the other one on the shelf.

9. A Taxonomy of Barnacles by Galt Niederhoffer. Yeah. I bought this solely for the AWESOME title. I didn’t even read the abstract. Maybe I should. Maybe I will. Who knows?

10. House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III. There was an Oprah sticker, and I am not immune to the influence of The Oprah. I don’t know why I haven’t read it. STOP JUDGING ME, OPRAH!

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Haven’t read these. Scandalous.

Alright, Bookworms. You know you’ve got some of these bad boys on your shelves. I want to hear about them so I don’t feel so alone. Spill it!

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Tutu Girls Walk Into a Barre: The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

Bonjour, Bookworms!

Please excuse the pun, I cannot help myself. I’m incorrigible. Today we are taking a trip to 19th Century Paris as we discuss The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan. I don’t know about you, but when I think of ballet, I think of frothy tutus and toe shoes. I danced growing up, so I can tell you that dance apparel is not inexpensive. Thus, I was surprised to learn that the ballet dancers of the famed opera houses were often more Gavroche than Baryshnikov. (It’s probably also part of the reason ballet loves super svelte dancers… The early ones were half starved!) The youngest of the ballet girls were known as the “petite rats,” and successful dancers were frequently, uh, sponsored? by creepy old dudes. So. Yeah. The beautiful ballet had a dirty, seedy, underbelly. Scandalous.

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I suppose I shouldn’t be too shocked by this whole thing- this novel takes place a few decades after Les Miserables, it’s not as though a comprehensive initiative to eradicate poverty had been undertaken. This is a society where a girl could legally prostitute herself at the age of 16 (assuming she was declared STD free, of course. Syphilis was colloquially known as “French Pox.”) When artists were looking for ladies to model in the nude, they didn’t go knocking on the doors of aristocrats, what with all the young nubile flesh for sale. Edgar Degas was one such artist, and if you know anything about his art, you’ll know that ballet girls were among his favorite subjects. Much in the way Tracy Chevalier brought to life the subject in Vermeer’s painting in Girl With A Pearl Earring, Buchanan does for Marie Van Goethem, the model for Degas’ sculpture Little Dancer Aged 14.

Marie lives in a sketchy Parisian neighborhood with her widowed, absinthe-swilling mother and her two sisters Antoinette and Charlotte. Antoinette had been a ballet girl, though she’d been tossed out of the company for mouthing off to the director. Instead she began working as an extra in the opera, earning a ridiculously small salary. After the death of their father (and the loss of his income) it is decided that Marie and Charlotte must audition to join the ballet school. Underfed “rats” from the wrong side of the proverbial tracks they may be, but super flexible hips are a commodity worth paying for. Both Charlotte and Marie begin their dance careers, in large part to contribute to the family baguette fund. Dancing for their suppers, as it were.

Image from Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is the sculpture in question. Image from Metropolitan Museum of Art

Eventually Marie catches the eye of Degas, and she is more than willing to pose for him in varying states of undress if it keeps her family from starving (absinthe isn’t cheap, you know.) While Marie is busy being naked in front of weird old men, Antoinette strikes up a romance with a potentially sketchy fellow named Emile, who seems incapable of saving money but terribly fond of spending it (bad combination, Antoinette!) Both Marie and Antoinette (LET THEM EAT CAKE!) try to find ways to hustle for cash so tiny Charlotte will be less affected by their poverty.

In the spirit of not being a major spoilsport, I shall tell you that this novel contains prostitution, petty theft, murder, guillotines, alcoholism, scientific misinformation, and one rather disturbing incident of animal cruelty (you’ve been warned.) It’s all based on true events! A triumph of historical fiction, my friends.

So, Bookworms, how much do you love it when art imitates art?! I even made a list of such novels on Riffle! (Not on Riffle and want to be?! Let me know and I’ll send you an invite.) Tell me, Bookworms. Ballet, street urchins, Paris, art. and scandal- you’ve got to have thoughts on some of those things. Tell me, tell me, tell me!

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Tropical Paradise meets Tragic Disease: Moloka’i by Alan Brennert

Aloha, Bookworms.

This month’s selection for the “My Neighbors Are Better Than Your Neighbors” book club was Moloka’i by Alan Brennert. It’s set in a tropical paradise (Hawaii, if you hadn’t guessed by my greeting) but the subject matter was anything but a luau.

Leprosy! What do you know about it? Before reading this book, I knew surprisingly little. I knew that when lepers were depicted in movies about the middle ages, they were always wrapped up in white cloth. Aside from that, the only other references to leprosy I could pull out of my head were from an episode of House, M.D. and a long ago CCD class. (CCD is supplemental religious education for Catholic kids who don’t attend Catholic school, where religion is part of the curriculum. If you were ME, that meant you gave up SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS for a big chunk of childhood. Not bitter. Totally not bitter…)

molokai

Anyway, the reference I recalled was the story of Father Damien. He was a priest who worked in a leper colony and eventually contracted the disease himself and died. He was later canonized as a saint. Guess where that leper colony was? The Hawaiian island of Moloka’i! Father Damien actually makes an appearance in this book. And my life comes full circle…

Rachel Kalama is a little pipsqueak of a child when she’s diagnosed with leprosy. In the late 1800s, little was understood about the disease, other than that it was frightening, disfiguring, and fatal. I hate not knowing things, so I took to google. (Word to the wise: DO NOT DO AN IMAGE SEARCH ON LEPROSY. There are some things you cannot unsee.) Leprosy is caused by a bacteria. It is estimated that 95% of the population is naturally immune to the disease. Interesting, right? This explains why it never became a full on plague. What was fascinating was that native Hawaiians were unusually susceptible to the disease, causing something of an outbreak, and terrifying the population. This makes sense because an isolated population wouldn’t have incorporated the immunity into their DNA pool the same way a more mingle-y population would have. Oh science. You’re a trickster.

Map of the island borrowed from bestofhawaii.com

Map of the island borrowed from bestofhawaii.com

Of course, nobody knew this at the time. All they knew was that Hawaiians were getting leprosy, they knew it was somehow contagious, but that had no idea how contagious. So… They took a spare island and threw all the lepers on it. Moloka’i's early history as a leper colony was pretty brutal- they didn’t have a lot of housing or healthcare, and people were basically dumped to die. Luckily, by the time Rachel arrived on Moloka’i, things sucked a little less. I mean, they still had leprosy, but the little community banded together and became ohana (Family. Go watch Lilo and Stitch, I mean really. That should be culturally ubiquitous by now.)

I’m getting very rambly on the science bit here, I know. Let’s talk story. This is historical fiction, so it should not surprise you in the slightest that I totally loved this book. This book is set during an exceptionally dynamic time. When Rachel arrives on Moloka’i, they don’t even have electricity. Throughout the book we experience all the new technology with her: electricity, indoor plumbing, automobiles, airplanes. We also get to witness the metamorphosis of medical technology and the treatments of leprosy. Fantastic stuff.

Bottom line? You should read this book. It’s everything I love about historical fiction, with a side of epidemiological intrigue. What do you think, Bookworms? Do you like your fiction with a side of learning?

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Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Characters in… Historical Fiction!

Greetings, Bookworms.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “OMG I have been waiting ALL WEEK to read another LIST written by Katie at the behest of The Broke and The Bookish!” I live to serve, my friends. This week we got to pick our top ten characters from any genre. I decided to go with Historical Fiction because I love it so so so much. Also, I’ve read a lot of it, so I have a lot of character options. Ready? Let’s do this.

1. Belle from Tracy Chevalier’s The Last Runaway. Remember a few weeks back when I was discussing locales I’d like to see featured in more books? And one of my choices was a HAT STORE?! BELLE RUNS A HAT STORE! She also takes Honor in when she’s got no place to go, makes her a pretty (yet Quaker friendly) bonnet, and is awesome. Oh yeah, and she totally helps escaping slaves in the Underground Railroad. Let’s recap shall we? Badass lady habberdasher and abolitionist who takes in the less fortunate. Yeah.

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2. Fergus from Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Fergus shows up in Dragonfly in Amber as a street urchin who has grown up in a brothel. I don’t know if you noticed or not (I’m about to brag in a big way)… But I’ve got a fondness for street urchins. You may or may not have seen my post on the Insatiable Booksluts last week… Oh you hadn’t? Yes go check it out.

3. Jack from Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth. It’s hard to not like Jack. He’s got spirit, he’s smart, he is singularly motivated by his love for Aliena. It doesn’t hurt at all that in the Starz miniseries, Jack was played by Eddie Redmayne. Swoonsville.

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4. Francie Nolan from Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Oh Francie! I love this girl. She loves to read, and it’s her escape from the mean streets of Brooklyn. She loves her father in spite of his alcoholism. She is met with disappointment after disappointment in her life and comes through it all to make a life for herself. I just want to hug her.

5. Dinah from Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent. I really just want to make this girl a t-shirt that says “My Brother Got An Award-Winning Musical And All I Got Was This (AWESOME) Book.” Uh, if that statement doesn’t make sense to you, you ought to go read that post. Dinah is Joseph’s (as in the Technicolor Dreamcoat) sister. Those jerk brothers that sold him into slavery also slaughtered her husband’s entire village. Jerks.

The woman on the cover reminds me of the Statue of Liberty for some reason. I have issues.

6. Idgy from Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes. I absolutely adore Idgy. She’s spunky and feeds the hungry and helps out her friends. She’s also completely in love with her best friend, but respects Ruth’s boundaries and gets her lady love elsewhere. (This is why you should read the books, people. They always de-Lesbian Hollywood scripts. More’s the pity- it added so much depth to the character…)

7. Hannah from Philippa Gregory’s The Queen’s Fool. Hannah’s got a lot on her plate. She’s accidentally psychic and as such is recruited by the Tudor court. Being a royal fool to Mary I poses its own set of challenges… Hannah is secretly Jewish and in the court of a Catholic Queen so staunch in her beliefs that she orders the execution of all sorts of Protestants in England. Dicey time to be a religious dissenter, especially given Mary’s father’s penchant for beheadings.

8. Rudy from Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. Rudy was such a great character. I mean, the kid is Jesse Owens’ biggest fan- growing up in Nazi Germany. My favorite scene is when Rudy smears himself in soot and imagines his career as an Olympic runner. Little kids don’t know that blackface is offensive (and really, in Nazi Germany, the fact that he was idolizing a black athlete at all was more controversial than the potentially offensive choice of makeup.) I love him for going against the grain, even though it’s dangerous. He’s got a good heart that even the Nazis can’t kill.

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9. Suora Zuana from Sarah Dunant’s Sacred Hearts. Suora Zuana is admitted to a convent against her will, but finds herself a place there where she is prized for her books and her knowledge of healing. I love a girl who can’t be parted from her books! She’s also a bit of a rebel and pulls a Shakespearean style stunt. Fantastic.

10. Joan from Diana Woolfolk Cross’s Pope Joan. Talk about ballsy. This lady wants to learn so badly that she dresses like a man and joins a monastery. She’s also a great healer and sort of accidentally gets elected Pope. I know. It’s nuts. In the best possible way.

There we have it. My Top Ten Historical Fiction Characters. What do you think? Any you would add?

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The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

Hello My Bookworms!

I had a hankering for some historical fiction, so I decided I needed to check out Tracy Chevalier’s new novel, The Last Runaway. Our heroine, Honor Bright, is a Quaker. It’s the 1850s and she’s been jilted by her fiance in England. Her sister, Grace, is heading off to the USA to meet up with her fiance and get married, so she invites Honor to join her. New world, new start, right? Unfortunately, Honor’s new start is inauspicious- she’s hideously seasick the entire trip, and almost as soon as they hit land, Honor’s sister gets some new world ailment and dies. (It’s seriously SO Oregon Trail.) Honor is stuck in a new country with her dead sister’s fiance and no idea what to do with herself.

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Honor ends up in Ohio, and in the 1850s, Ohio is a pretty rugged place. It’s also a haven for the Underground Railroad. Slavery was still running rampant in the southern states. Ohio, being where it is geographically, had a lot of runaway slaves traipsing through the woods. As Quakers, Honor and her crew are anti-slavery. Unfortunately, it was dangerous to be an abolitionist. You were breaking all kinds of ugly laws to aid runaway slaves, which put Quakers in a moral pickle. Honor struggles to figure out what her place is in this new country, while wrestling with her moral convictions. It’s the perfect setting for a little drama on the frontier… And some sexy bonnets.

All of Chevalier’s novels that I’ve read thus far have had a major artistic undercurrent. The Virgin Blue and The Girl With The Pearl Earring made the artistic connection through paintings, while Burning Bright used the poetry of Robert Blake. The Last Runaway was all about the glory of the quilt. I really dug the idea of quilting as an art. Throughout the book, Honor not only takes comfort in her own sewing, but also in a signature quilt her family and friends gave to her when she left England. The quilt wasn’t simply stitched together by her community, it also included notes of encouragement to wish her well on her journey. Isn’t that a beautiful tradition? Wouldn’t that make a fantastic wedding gift? Prepare yourself to be jealous because… I totally got a signature quilt as a wedding gift!

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Beautiful, right?!

Jim’s hometown, while not being a quaint Quaker village, is the sort of place where people make friends with their neighbors. Sometimes those neighbors are amazingly talented quilters who like to make really nice gifts! We had the signature squares set out at my bridal shower so the guests could leave us good luck notes. I like to think Honor got to look at messages like this when she was feeling down:

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The Last Runaway will appeal to lovers of historical fiction, people who like reading about abolitionists, anybody who likes quilting, and everyone who has ever wanted to decorate their plain boring bonnet. It was an easy, enjoyable read. I wouldn’t say it was a novel that changed my life or anything, but it was a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Since Honor’s signature quilt represents her ties to home, let’s get sentimental. What is the most meaningful thing you own that reminds you of your metaphorical “roots”?

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Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Hiya, Bookworms!

I’ve been blown away by the response to my giveaway! Thank you for all the new followers and exposure. I realize I bribed you to promote me, but I really appreciate it. I tallied up all my entries using the very scientific method of doodling names on a notepad. Thanks to random.org’s random number generator, I was able to choose a winner with total fairness! The winner is…. Entry #106 aka Heather Frase!

Our lovely winner will be receiving:

$15 to Starbucks!

$25 to Amazon!

A mystery item with PENGUINS!

A fake check for eleventy billion dollars!

Aaaaaand a mystery book title from my mom’s collection of doubles!

This weekend I made a special trip to my hometown to procure a book for this giveaway. Well, that, and to celebrate my family’s birthdays. Seriously, my mom, dad, and sister all have their birthdays in January. However, while I was in town, I hunted through the mom collection in search of books.

The ceremonial tearing apart of the bookshelves.

The ceremonial tearing apart of the bookshelves.

Eventually, I found not one, but TWO sets of doubles in this crazy stack of craziness.

Ken Follett's Fall Of Giants

Ken Follett’s Fall Of Giants

Tracy Chevalier's The Virgin Blue

Tracy Chevalier’s The Virgin Blue

Heather will be receiving a copy of The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier for two reasons. First, I’ve actually read this book (unlike Fall of Giants) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Second, Fall of Giants is a hardcover (my mom has TWO hardcover copies… seriously?!) and The Virgin Blue is a paperback, and hence, less expensive to ship. This is me, being austere.

Thank you to all you bookworms who entered this contest! I seriously couldn’t get enough of of the opinions on coleslaw. I really think it was perhaps the most important conversation on the subject ever to have taken place on the internet. YOU made that happen. You are all kinds of awesome.

Alright. Now that that’s out of the way, I’m curious. What are you guys reading right now? I’m working on Stephen King’s 11-22-63. Who is out there reading something fantastic that I haven’t read yet? Tell me all about it!

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Top Ten Tuesday: New Year’s Book Resolutions!

Happy New Year, Bookworms!

As you know, on Tuesdays, I make lists! The ladies of The Broke and The Bookish host Top Ten Tuesday every week with a new topic. They do this so I don’t have to think so hard! Today’s list is the top ten books I resolve to read this year. Soooo, without further ado, I give you:

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1. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. I’m going to read these buggers, even if I complain about the endless walking the whole way through!

2. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. You shouldn’t be surprised by me throwing a few classics in here. I still have holes in my education. Some things need to be remedied.

3. 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I loved The Stand so much that I feel like I should read more King. However… The supernatural murderous clowns and outright nightmare stuff has to be kept to a minimum. I’ve heard this is a good option for a ‘fraidy cat like myself.

4. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. It’s pretty tragic that I haven’t read this. Embarrassing, really. 

5. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. The Tudors are possibly my favorite source of historical fiction. Since the Mantel books have been so highly acclaimed, I’m anxious to read them!

I also resolve to wear this hat as often as possible.

I also resolve to wear this hat as often as possible.

6. Matched by Allie Condie. It’s been recommended to me a few times. I listen to people, I swear. Plus, I’m kind of digging the YA these days. Don’t get any ideas, I’m not going to go whole blog into it or anything. I just like to dabble. Dabble dabble doo!

7. The Passage by Justin Cronin. This might be YA too, but whatever. It’s a dystopia where zombies meet vampires! Really, why haven’t I read this yet?!

8. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. Yep. The first James Bond book. A friend gave it to me for Christmas. Why the heck not? It’s all iconic and stuff. I’m curious!

9. The Light Between Oceans by ML Steadman. I’ve heard good things. Plus, historical fiction!

10. Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. Magical bookstores? Um, yes.

What about you, Bookworms? Any bookish resolutions for you?