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Topic: February Historical Fiction reads

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Alice J. (ASJ) - ,
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Subject: February Historical Fiction reads
Date Posted: 2/1/2024 7:27 AM ET
Member Since: 5/13/2009
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Yay it is February my birthday month.  January is such a long cold month

I finished an excellent book Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini. Set in 1918 US women who worked as Switchboard operators voluntered for military duty in France as Switchboard operators. I know nothing about this commision. Very well written and researched.

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Date Posted: 2/1/2024 10:06 AM ET
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Hello, and a Happy Birthday to you this month, Alice!  January has not felt like January here in Minnesota.  It was 51 degrees where I live yesterday, which is virtually unheard of.  I think our average temps in January are in the 20s, and most often they are below zero.  It is a weird winter for us for sure.  It's very nice to not have to battle frigid cold and lots of snow, but it sure doesn't feel like winter, and I worry that we will pay for it with a cold, snowy late winter/early spring or a cool, rainy fall.  We had drought conditions during the late summer and fall last year, and we could've used a lot of snow this winter.  We shall see what happens. 

I'm listening to Pachinko and reading The Trackers, and I am enoying both.  I read 4 books in January, and I'm hoping this is the year I get back to reading 50 books or more in a year.  It's been many years since I hit those numbers.  

Wishing everyone a good February filled with lots of good books! 

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Date Posted: 2/1/2024 10:08 AM ET
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Read Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, 4 stars, maybe a little more but not a 5 star read for me,  Good read but not as good as I expected from all the hype I've seen about this book.



Last Edited on: 2/4/24 6:42 AM ET - Total times edited: 2
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Alice J. (ASJ) - ,
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Date Posted: 2/1/2024 10:47 AM ET
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Panchiko is now a series on streaming maybe netflix

Lessons in Chemistry is stream on Apple +  It is very well done

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Date Posted: 2/1/2024 11:24 AM ET
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Yep, I saw that "Pachinko" was on Apple TV+, and alerted Carolyn, who recently finished the book.  I will watch it ater I've finished the book.  I recently watched "Lessons in Chemistry" and loved it.  I have not yet read the book.  I'm not sure if I will now that I've seen series.  I'm sure the book is better (aren't they always?) but with so many other books to read.  The series was very charming. 

Not sure if anyone watched "All the Light We Cannot See" on Netflix, but that was pretty good too.  Nowhere near the level of the book, but well done.  Watching it caused me to remember Anthony Doerr and look into his other books, where I discovered Cloud Cuckoo Land which I read last month and LOVED!

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Date Posted: 2/6/2024 5:24 AM ET
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Read Pachinko by Min Jin Lee in 2018 and quite enjoyed it.  Just pulled out Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr to read.  I love the recommendations here.  This is one of my favorite threads to check.



Last Edited on: 2/7/24 7:38 AM ET - Total times edited: 3
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Date Posted: 2/6/2024 11:04 AM ET
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Happy Birthday, Alice!

I finished The Forest by Edward Rutherfurd.  Easily my favorite of his books (granted, I've only read New York, Paris, and London) I loved how it wasn't just the people that were characters, but the animals and tress were given a storyline, as well.  I have all his other books on my shelves waiting to be read.  

I started Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie.  Is that considered historical fiction?  LOL  Either way, you can;t go wrong with a Christie mystery. laugh

CR

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Date Posted: 2/6/2024 11:36 AM ET
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Happy Birthday, Alice!!  Hope you are doing whatever makes you happy today! 

Carolyn - I believe I read The Forest a long time ago.  If I did, I can't remember it. I wil have to check into it and see if I can trigger a memory of it.  Odd since ER is my favorite author.  I'd have a tough time choosing between his books, especially between Paris and London, but I think London is my favorite of his books. I was pretty "eh" on China, and I really didn't enjoy New York at all. 

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Alice J. (ASJ) - ,
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Date Posted: 2/6/2024 12:07 PM ET
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My birthday is Feb 22nd. I am going to take it off of work. You should not have to work on your birthday.

I am reading Death on the Nile by Agatha Chrisite. I love Hercule Poirot.  Such a classic book

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Date Posted: 2/6/2024 12:20 PM ET
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Shelley- I liked New York slightly more than London, but that might be because I live here! Biased opinion ;)

My cousin didn't even finish China.  She said it was slow.  

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Date Posted: 2/8/2024 9:13 AM ET
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Hello!  I finished The Trackers by Charles Frazier last night.  Eh.  It was okay.  Not really my style of book.  Maybe it's because there were no quotation marks used for when people were speaking.  LOL!  Stuff like that drives me crazy!  I started Her Lost Words by Stephanie Marie Thornton, which is about Mary Shelley and her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft.  So far so good! 

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Alice J. (ASJ) - ,
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Date Posted: 2/9/2024 6:16 AM ET
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I finished Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie.  It was not very good. It was written in 1970 as a stand alone book. Ms. Christie was ranting on politics and social change. I did not enjoy it.

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Date Posted: 2/9/2024 10:38 AM ET
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Alice - I feel like I read Passenger to Frankfurt ages ago and also didn't like it.  I had to go back and read the blurb,  Quite unremarkable.

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Date Posted: 2/12/2024 7:55 AM ET
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Picked up The Last Passenger (Charles Lenox, Bk 13) by Charles Finch.  Working on a monthly Goodreads challenge and the historical fiction challenge.  The book meets the criteria for both challenges.



Last Edited on: 2/12/24 7:58 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
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Date Posted: 2/14/2024 4:23 PM ET
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Hello!  I just finished listening to Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.  Very good!  I'm often not a fan of Asian historical fictions books, and I'm not quite sure why, but this one was very good.  I recommend it.  Now I plan to watch the series on Apple TV+.  I'm still reading Her Lost Words, and I plan to start listening to The Library of Legends by Janie Chang this evening or tomorrow, which is also set in Asia. 



Last Edited on: 2/15/24 10:24 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
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Alice J. (ASJ) - ,
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Date Posted: 2/14/2024 8:26 PM ET
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I finished The Paris Assignment by Rhys Bowen. Spans 1931-1946.  Rhys Bowen is one of my favorite authors. Unfortunately, I am tired of books set in France during WWII.  It covered a lot of locations and time periods. Just wan't one of my favorites.

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Date Posted: 2/16/2024 10:43 AM ET
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Shelley - glad you liked Pachinko!

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Date Posted: 2/19/2024 3:38 PM ET
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Hello, all!  I finished Her Lost Words last evening.  It was interesting.  Not the most exciting read, but I knew nothing about Mary Shelley or her mother Mary Wollstonecraft save that Mary Shelley was the author of Frankenstein (and the mother of science fiction), and that Mary Wollstonecraft was one of the original feminist philosophers.  

I started reading The Village Healer's Book of Cures last evening, and I'm still listening to The Library of Legends.  

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Date Posted: 2/26/2024 7:20 AM ET
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Hoping to begin The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See  just as soon as I finish the classic The Age of Innocence - Penguin Vitae by Edith Wharton.



Last Edited on: 2/26/24 7:25 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
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Date Posted: 2/27/2024 11:00 AM ET
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Hello!  I finished listening to The Library of Legends a few days ago, which I enjoyed.  I then started listening to the massive The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, which is around 32 hours long.  So far, so good.  I think I am really going to enjoy this one.  It's set in India, and it's been a long time since I've read any HF set in that country.  I'm still reading The Village Healer's Book of Cures, which I'm enjoying as well. 

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Alice J. (ASJ) - ,
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Date Posted: 2/29/2024 7:15 AM ET
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I finsihed The Diamond of London :: Andrea Penrose.  Set in early 1800s England. Historical biography of Hester Stanhope. Very interesting. I like Andrea Penrose's writing and have read many of her books.