Update: A Historian Reads Historical Fiction

Hi everyone,
Feel free to leave your thoughts on my first update in the comments section.
~Cynthia

People Mentioned:

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Books mentioned:
- A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabelle Allende
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
- Pachinko by MIn Jin Lee
- Island Queen be Vanessa Riley
- The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follet
- The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester
- The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
- Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
- El Paraiso en la otra esquina by Mario Vargas LLosa
*Recommended by Adriana C.
- The Keening by Margaret Pinard
- Breathless by Beverly Jenkins
- Root Magic by Eden Royce

All books were purchased by me or were gifts from family and friends. This is not a sponsored video.

[carriem]

I also struggled with Wolf Hall, but I did finish it. I much preferred Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl, which was set in the same time period as Wolf Hall. Pachinko was a great read for me too. Can’t wait to see what you like next, since it seems we have similar taste in historical fiction. 😁

[RememberedReads]

Hello, Lady-dog! 😍🐶

Do you find that you give historical romance more leeway when it comes to expecting the author to have done a certain amount of research? My guilty pleasure genre ("guilty" because a lot of it is politically questionable if you think about it too much) is action/adventure with Napoleonic or Crimean War settings, and I sometimes wonder if I ought to take some of that more (or sometimes less) seriously than I do...

[MargaretPinard]

Ooh, Island Queen is new to me--snazzy cover! Glad to discover in advance of its July release 🤩

[MargaretPinard]

WHAT! I spy my book! Aw, yayyyy! Hope you like it and will love hearing your take 😍

[bookinwithdebra]

So glad to hear you enjoyed Pachinko. I've recently bought this. Island Queen sounds really interesting. I've added it to my wishlist. Thanks

[ThatsSoPoe]

Loved hearing about what you're learning about your own taste in historical fiction! And maybe just occasionally do some recommendations for historical romance or middle grade. 😁 You do read so much of it, and so much of it is awesome. Can't wait to hear what you end up thinking about Kim Jiyoung whenever you get to it!

[BernasBookishAdventures]

Historical fiction is mt favorite genre and likewise I really really do like historical romance. Island Queen sounds really interesting. Thanks for the recommendation!

[AlwaysDoing]

Ooooph yes, I totally get why a book with only the history and not so much fiction doesn't work for a historian. Yaaay DNFing them!

[CourtneyFerriter]

I will look forward to hearing more of your thoughts about your other historical fiction reads. The Mantel series has never appealed to me, as I'm just not at all interested in Henry VIII or Thomas Cromwell (plus the books seem like SUCH a time investment!). I'll be curious to hear more about Margaret's book.

[MargaretPinard]

I'm glad to hear a good review of Pachinko, as I've heard a couple booktubers mention it felt too slow. Will hope to judge impartially--ha!

[LiterallyGraphic]

I generally enjoyed Pachinko but got really annoyed by the author's choice to include characters making not 100% hetero + monogamous choices only to punish them very severely. Although it's been a minute since I read it so I'm forgetting all the exact details, but it really left an impression on me.