So yeah. If you want to do this, great! You don't even have to link back to me (though I would love it if you do). Even though it says genre fiction, if lit fiction is your shit, then go right ahead, nothing's stopping ya, least of all me. The questions are at the end, so you don't have to mess around with copy and paste too much.
disclaimer disclaimer disclaimer; do I have to do these for every tag?
1. Favorite genre.
I have a few, but for this tag I'm answering with historical fiction.
2. Favorite kind of setting (for instance: if you like fantasy, do you like fantasy worlds inspired by any particular culture and if so what culture).
As horrible as this may sound, I'm very Eurocentric with my reading. I just find European culture and history so fascinating. I do want to branch out and read more books that take place in other places, but right now I'm really into European history. As much as I love WWII books, I admit that that particular sub genre is a bit played out. I just looked at some of the 2017 Historical Fiction releases on Goodreads and a good 75% are set during the 40s. Still, I like books set in cultures and time periods that are uncommon for most Historical Fiction books, and I love reading books set in Russia or the USSR above all. Any book set in Russia or the USSR I will at least give it a shot.
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| The kind of books I love. And of course, they all have one thing in common... |
I'm not really crazy about a lot of history sub genres (as you'll see below), but I liked quite a few of the historical mysteries that I've read. Also, WWII fiction, since it honestly has become a sub genre of its own, and I do like most WWII fiction (even if I am getting a little sick of it).
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| In the interest of combining both, here's a really great book that I highly recommend. |
Hmm. I don't really like historical romance- but then again, books set in the Regency times don't interest me much anyway. I also don't really like historical fantasy mostly because I get too annoyed at historical inaccuracies and I swear that most historical fantasy writers think that because they are writing a historical fantasy they can just throw facts about the time period out the window (this is a very common transgression with books set during the Victorian times- looking at you, Erin Morgenstern). I also really don't like alternative histories, since again I get too annoyed by historical inaccuracies. I dnf'd both Front Lines by Michael Grant and And I Darken by Kiersten White (premise great, execution not too much- thought the heroine was too unrealistic and "modern", for lack of a better word. I do want to read more books that take place during the time period, though) and have no desire to read Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin(?). Pass.
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| The aforementioned three books. From left to right: dnf'd at halfway through (about 200 pages in), dnf'd at 100 pages in, dnf'd at roughly 200-250 pages in. All of these have one (positive) thing in common and that is their gorgeous covers. Well, And I Darken's is debatable... |
My Family For the War by German author Anne C Voorhoeve is really good, but at the same time really under-hyped. It follows a German girl who is Jewish, but her family converted to Christianity two generations ago, although that didn't stop her family from being targeted by the Nazis. So she goes on the Kindertransport to England and it follows her relationship with her foster family or her "family for the war". I loved it.
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| The translation is pretty good, too. And I've read some bad translations of things, believe me. |
In my opinion, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah was way over hyped. I did like this book, but I thought it would be a lot more amazing than it actually was due to how hyped up it was.
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| I mean, I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. Firmly in the like category for me. |
Hands down Ruta Sepetys for this one. She deserves to be crowned queen of the genre. I've read everything she's put out, and I need more. Not only is she an excellent writer, her books are also so well researched. And she has never committed one of the cardinal sins of historical fiction, which is the info-dump. You know what I'm talking about: when you're super engrossed in the plot and then all of a sudden the author just dumps in a bunch of raw facts the protagonist likely never would have known about until after the event happened. That never happened in her books. She needs to write faster, I need more of her!
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| Seriously, read all of these. Like now. You needed them on your shelves like yesterday. Pretty covers, too. |
8. Trends that you are tired of seeing.
I'm starting to get sick of all the books popping up with gay characters just to show how gay people were around back even in the olden days, like no shit Sherlock, ever heard of Oscar Wilde or King James I? And they do nothing with those characters, they just stick them in to be like "hey look, you think you life's rough, look at this gay guy who lived before being homosexual was accepted". I think they give history too little credit when it comes to gay people. I'm also sick of all the Code Name Verity wannabes out now, like please stop it was a good book but I don't want to read the same story over and over again.
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| Yes, this book is guilty of both these trends. There's a reason it made my Worst Books of 2016 list. |
I really really hate poorly researched historical fiction. Seriously, you have no excuse to put out a book about, I don't know, something like the Victorian times and have the characters constantly running around without hats or waistcoats or having the female characters (especially upper class females) running around without escorts or kissing in public. Or jumping in bed before marriage, another big no-no in that prudish era. Again, people who write books set during the Victorian era are the worst transgressors of this, as well as historical fantasy writers. I also hate it when characters have very 21st century ideas but the setting is, I don't know, the 1700s. Give your characters historically appropriate opinions; don't have your main character talking about how gay people (for example) should totally be accepted in society and then dismiss all her contemporaries as being bigoted idiots. People had different views on things back then, and if you can't accept them then maybe you shouldn't be writing historical fiction.
10. Something you wish was more prevalent.
More books set in Russia of course! Also, I want more books set in different time periods. I want a book about 1970s Northern Ireland. I want a book about Russia during the Petrine times. I want a book about the Netherlands during the Golden Age. I want a book about the Spanish Civil War. I want people to get inventive with the times and places they choose to set their books in and not just fall back on WWII France (or whatever). Have fun with history dammit.
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| Tired of the same old, same old with historical fiction? Read this! It's one of the most unique additions to the genre I've read. |
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. I broke my rule and preordered it because I read the synopsis and decided I needed to read it. I'm cautiously excited.
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| Apart from the babe, I'm not in love with the cover. But it still sounds so awesome I can live with it. |
12. Book you'd recommend to newcomers.
I would put any book by Ruta Sepetys here, because her books are perfect examples of blending in research with plot almost seamlessly, but I'm trying not to be repetitive. So I'm going to say Elizabeth Wein, more specifically Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire. She's not my favorite historical fiction author, but she's a good introductory author to the genre. She knows how to balance research and plot, even if she doesn't have the finesse of Sepetys, and her books are unputdownable. I would recommend them to upper middle grade readers (mature 12 year olds to 13 year olds) through adult readers.
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| These books are by no means perfect, but they are worth the read, especially for introductory historical fiction readers. |
Going with a classic and saying The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I can't help myself; he's one of my favorite writers of all time for a reason.
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| One of the most beautiful books in my collection, both with the writing and now the tenth anniversary edition. I think I almost cried when I opened the box |
As promised: The Questions!
1. Favorite genre.
2. Favorite kind of setting (for instance: if you like fantasy, do you like fantasy worlds inspired by any particular culture and if so what culture).
3. Favorite sub genre.
4. Least favorite sub genre.
5. An under-hyped book.
6. An over-hyped book.
7. Favorite author.
8. Trends that you are tired of seeing.
9. Biggest pet peeve.
10. Something you wish was more prevalent.
11. Most anticipated release.
12. Book you'd recommend to newcomers.
13. Favorite overall book.
Again, fine by me if you want to use this. I'm not going to tag you or anything since that part's kinda stupid. I just had fun making this and would be interested to see other people answer for different genres. Have fun.
What's your favorite genre? Do you agree with anything I wrote? Disagree? Maybe you love historical fantasy, I dunno. Let me know down below! And as always, book recommendations are always welcome.
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