A Reader's Respite: November 2010

Hey Santa! We Want!

A Reader's Respite confesses that we've always wanted a hidden bookcase door in our home. Seriously. We really want this....

It's only $3,000 at Opulentitems.com. Please, Santa?

Do you think our mother-in-law would object?

Because if not, A Reader's Respite has GOT to own this. (Yes, we've been spending far too much time browsing Etsy these days.....)

Check out America Jane Mercantile's A Year of Good Reading tote. Not only is this bag perfect for your library loot, but it's made from 100% recycled cotton.

And it's only $15 from now until Thanksgiving!

Historical-Historical Fiction

Historical fiction can be broken down into numerous sub-genres, but one of the most important distinctions is between modern historical fiction and, well, historical historical fiction. What on earth is the difference and why should you care? Knowing the difference can make or break your reading enjoyment, depending on your literature taste buds.

Modern historical fiction is generally that which has been written since author Philippa Gregory made the Tudor dynasty uber-fashionable. You can usually recognize one of these modern historical fiction novels by their head-less covers, which admittedly A Reader's Respite believes was originally some artist's attempt at irony that simply became a fashion trend.

What style characterizes modern historical fiction? Broadly speaking, you'll find these novels written in first person narrative with a female protagonist who is usually connected with royalty in some manner, be it legitimately (a queen, a dethroned queen, a misunderstood and maligned queen, a jilted queen, or a soon-to-be-headless queen....you get the picture) or not (a mistress, a discarded mistress, a misunderstood and maligned mistress, a jilted mistress, or a soon-to-be-headless mistress). Descriptive passages are usually limited to royal life, royal fashion and royal sexual escapades and the royal female protagonist is generally searching for some elusive happiness (a nod to modern-day female sensibilities).

None of this is, of course, to say that modern historical fiction isn't accurate. Despite the soap opera presentation, many historical fiction novels published in the past twenty years are a marvel in their accuracy of historical events. One need look no further than Sharon Kay Penman's Eleanor of Aquitaine series for an incredible medieval history lesson, the likes of which we guarantee no college history professor could provide.

Likewise, writers such as Elizabeth Chadwick, Susan Higginbotham and Helen Hollick have done much to further the integrity of their craft, devoting years and years of intense historical research to provide readers with historical details that rival the best non-fiction available.

Historical historical fiction (A Reader's Respite is loving that redundancy so you'll just have to get used to it), on the other hand, is older historical fiction frequently disguised behind book covers that reflected what popularly sold in the day. The 1970's and 80's versions can usually be identified by a seductively clad (period style, of course, no matter what it's wind-swept state) heroine in the clutches of dark-haired hero in manly military dress. Do not be deceived. Underneath that tattered cover you'll frequently find fantastically accurate historical events that every-day, non-royal protagonists find themselves swept up in, changing their lives forever. Instead of royal life, you'll find more day-to-day life of the common citizen. Seriously compelling stuff, if you can find it.

Take author Emma Drummond who published the novel Scarlet Shadows back in 1978. Would you believe that lurking behind this cover is a compelling love story wrapped up in the horrors of the Crimean War, including the Charge of the Light Brigade? Even more astounding than the remarkable history lesson within is the complete lack of sex scenes within? Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. Not. One. Sex. Scene. And yet how many of you would never have even picked this book up based upon it's cover?

(Of course, there is such a genre known as historical romance that offers up the sex scenes for those who prefer a little spice....but that's a different post for a different day.)

So what kind of historical fiction should you be reading? That's entirely up to you. But if you take the time to find a respected historical fiction author, no matter what year they were published, you'll find yourself wrapped up in history. History can come alive in the pages of a novel.

Green Books Campaign: Nobel, A Century of Prize Winners

This review is part of the Green Books campaign.Today  200 bloggers take a stand to support books printed in an eco-friendly   manner by simultaneously publishing reviews of 200 books printed on  recycled or FSC-certified paper. By   turning a spotlight on books printed using eco- friendly paper, we  hope to raise  the awareness of book buyers and encourage everyone to  take the environment into  consideration when purchasing books. 

The campaign is organized for the second time by Eco-Libris, a green company working to make reading more sustainable. We invite you to join the discussion on "green" books and support books printed in an eco-friendly manner! A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on Eco-Libris website.

A Reader's Respite is pleased as punch to note that Michael Worek's book Nobel: A Century of Prize Winners is printed using eco-friendly paper, but we have to be honest here....this book would be uber-cool even if it were printed on toilet paper.

Not so eco-friendly. And harder to read.

Not only does Worek explain the fascinating history behind the Nobel Prize (did you know Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and his company supplied the German military during WWI and WWII? Neither did we), but he also provides biographies of past winners and intriguing explanations of the work that led to their Nobel Prize. This is fantabulous because, after all, there is a difference between knowing that Wolfgang Pauli won the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the exclusion principle and understanding exactly what the hell the exclusion principle is (evidently it has nothing to do with marital spats...who knew?).

308 prize winners are profiled in this book and each of them are utterly fascinating. Winners in the six categories of Peace, Literature, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Economics are featured by year and presented by bio and their achievement. This would make a great holiday gift for anyone who loves this kind of "did you know?" information or just wants to win their next game of Trivial Pursuit. It would also make a great gift for school-aged children....no more searching for the next essay topic.

Highly recommended!

Now who's up for a game of Trivial Pursuit?

Ho Ho Ho (ouch, is it too early?)

Yes, A Reader's Respite knows it's far too early to be doing anything Holiday-related yet. (And a pox on those stores who were playing Christmas music the day after Halloween.) But if you want in on the fun of The Book Blogger Holiday Swap, this is just a friendly reminder that you need to sign up by November 14.

For those who haven't participated in the past, we really encourage you to do so this year. Even A Reader's Respite, who has a history of turning remarkable Scrooge-like as the Holidays draw nearer, thinks that The Book Blogger Holiday Swap brings out the best in all of us.

So head over here to sign up!

Public Service Announcement: 2010

Books Which May Very Well Induce a Coma

This is a public service announcement, courtesy of A Reader's Respite, which may very well save you from an unnecessary coma induced by a novel. Now this is not to be confused with bad writing. On the contrary, all of the sentences are properly put together, the dialog is snappy, the setting alive. But nothing happens. And if you're not careful, your eyes might glaze over and you'll find yourself slipping into oblivion (and not the good kind).

Read on for our 2010 picks.....

Sacred Hearts, by Sarah Dunant. Oh how we tried to love this novel set in a 16th century Italian convent, where new novice Sarafina has been shunted off by her mean ol' dad in order to break up True Love. Locked in a convent, pining for her lost love. For 432 freaking pages, folks. Pining away. More pining. And just when you think it wasn't possible to pine anymore....yep, more pining. (Note to Serafina: no man in the world is worth all that pining. Really.) If you really must know more, you can see our full review here.

Jerusalem, by Cecilia Holland. Another historical fiction novel that we wanted to adore....what's not to love about 12th century Jerusalem and the Knights Templar valiantly fighting off the evil Saladin and his Muslim hordes? As it turned out, there's nothing to love because nothing actually happens in the novel. We meet a few characters, but have no idea what their goals or motivations are which in the end doesn't matter because nothing happens. Except a battle or two. But no one is even sure what the battles are supposed to accomplish because nothing happens.

The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi. In all fairness, it should be noted that A Reader's Respite tried this 2010 Hugo Award Winner on audio, when we suspect it might read better on paper. But after several hours of listening to a fantabulous narrator (Jonathan Davis), we only knew the novel was set somewhere in the Far East in the Future (we capitalize Future so you know it's a bad, mean place). We heard a lot about genetic engineering (at least, we think that's what it was) and something about Megodonts (evidently a prehistoric mammoth-like creature brought back to life). But again, we ran into that age-old problem: NOTHING HAPPENED. Well, maybe something happened at the very end. We wouldn't know because 19 hours and 38 minutes of nothingness just wasn't going to happen.

Honorable Mention:

Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl, by Daniel Pinkwater. Not to be outdone in the YA category, this adorable little cover packs a big whollop of no-plot, which as it turns out was exactly what the author intended (we're thinking it's an art nouvaux kind of thing). But the cover art is cute, so what can we say? You can read our full length review here and if you're very thorough, you'll even find the author's not-so-happy-response.

So that's are list this year. Disagree? Speak up and say so! We've got our big-girl panties on and we can take it. And because A Reader's Respite never gives up on an author just because of one bad reading experience, feel free to suggest other works by these authors so we can give them another try in 2011!