Saturday 12 December 2020

Historical Fiction reading challenge 2021

I've been a bit undecided about doing any reading challenges next year, thinking I might not do any for a change. But where's the fun in that? Perhaps just the one? So when I saw that Marg at The Intrepid Reader is  hosting the Historical Fiction reading challenge next year I decided I would give it a go. 


The sign-up post is HERE on Marg's blog.
 

During the following 12 months you can choose one of the different reading levels:

20th Century Reader - 2 books
Victorian Reader - 5 books
Renaissance Reader - 10 books
Medieval - 15 books
Ancient History - 25 books
Prehistoric - 50+ books

Any sub-genre of historical fiction is accepted (Historical Romance, Historical Mystery, Historical Fantasy, Young Adult, History/Non-Fiction, etc.)

I am going to aim for 'Victorian Reader' - 5 books. Perhaps I might even manage to do a bit better than that. We shall see.

These are a few books I plan to read from, suspect there are more on my Kindle.

 

These are all mine appart from the two on the bottom of the lefthand pile - A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory and Heresy by S.J. Parris are both library books (and 'new to me' series).

Any 'Historical' recs are particularly welcome so suggest away!

Really looking forward to starting this in 2021 and thanks to Marg for hosting.


16 comments:

Jeane said...

I have not done a reading challenge in a very long time. I consider it a challenge to chip away at my physical TBR piles, which have taken over parts of the floor now. Wish you luck with the challenge!

CLM said...

I also own Firedrake's Eye but have not read it. I have Unnatural Fire on my TBR but don't think I own it. Our taste is sometimes so similar!

You know I love Susanna Kearsley, so I know you will enjoy that.

Historical fiction is my favorite genre so this type of challenge sounds fun although I am not sure I understand the rules. I guess I am with Jeane that my challenge is to chip away at my TBR piles that are on the floors and windowsills.

Lark said...

This does look like a fun reading challenge. I enjoy reading historical fiction, but don't seem to read it as much these days as I used to. I have several books by Susan Vreeland and Tracy Chevalier on my TBR list that would definitely qualify for this challenge. I'll have to think about this one. :)

Rosemary said...

I don't usually read much historical fiction Cath, so I don't think I'll do this one, but I completely agree with you about joining in challenges - I love the way they focus my reading, and get me to read stuff that's been on my shelves for yonks. If I just try to tackle my groaning stacks of unread books without a plan, I flounder about and read much less. And after all, doing a challenge doesn't mean you can't read other things too.

I'm just writing a post about my favourite reads of this year (not ones published this year, of which I've probably read very few) and I note that quite a few of them were part of my #projectplaces thing, so having a theme can unearth some good books that I've been ignoring.

So I'm still thinking of a challenge for myself for 2021.Are you doing any others?

CLM said...

I get it (slow today!). Those are reading levels, not the number of books to read per genre. Maybe I will take a look at my piles!

DesLily said...

You can't go without a challenge! LOL LOL!

TracyK said...

I did this challenge last year but wasn't very successful, depending on how you look at it. I read 10 historical fiction books but only reviewed three of them so seven don't really "count" for the challenge. But I do enjoy historical fiction and every one of the ten I read was very good.

My plan is to do it again this year. I already have plenty of books in mind, and maybe this time I will review more of them.

Cath said...

Jeane: Yes, to be honest, my own personal challenge for 2020 was to chip away at my tbr mountain. And because of lockdown and the unavailability of the library for a lot of it, I did precisely that. So pleased that out of the ninety or so books I'll have read by the end of the year over seventy were mine. I've never read as many of my own books as that before!

Constance: Yes, we do have very similar tastes in books, I too have noticed that. I don't think I did know that you liked Susanna Kearsley so much, so I will make sure I read Mariana for certain. I've not read anything by her before so am looking forward to hopefully discovering a new author that I like.

Yes, those are reading levels. For each you read a certain number of books of any historical bent.

Lark: Same here. When I was much younger I was all about authors such as Victoria Holt, Anya Seton and Georgette Heyer. But not so much these days. That said, when I do read an occasional historical I find myself wondering why I read so few! LOL

Cath said...

Rosemary: To be honest I don't read much historical fiction either. The silly thing is that when I do I tend to enjoy it and wonder why I read so little. I'm thinking that five books ought to be easily achievable in a year regardless and who knows, I might discover a new reading passion.

I also find these challenges focus my attention on books that have been languishing for years. And I do tend to need structure, I react well to being organised and having a plan. Which is why I'm wondering if just doing one challenge next year will be enough.

I think your 'theme' idea is brilliant. I came too late to your 'Projectplaces' this year so I'll be interested to see if you come up with something else for next year. Put your thinking cap on!

Pat: I thought I might go challenge-free next year but 'nah'... where's the fun in that. But I'm looking for something different, which isn't always easy to find.

Tracy: Well I think that 10 books is excellent, you may not have reviewed them all but you still read them. This is what I'm thinking... that I will actually really enjoy the books I read for this challenge and it could be a nice departure. I'll keep an eye out for what you read if you decide to do it again.

Sam said...

I have mixed emotions about reading challenges, too, Cath. I always enjoy them right up to the point where they seem to become more constraining than fun. Maybe you have the right idea by taking up only one or two of them at most and just seeing what happens. I do read a good bit of historical fiction, so this would be a good one for me.

Like you say, too, I do seem to do better on my own personally created challenges. And because there's usually a good reason for me doing them, it feels extra special to see any progress I've made at the end of the year.

Hard to believe we're already to the point of planning for a new year. 2020 seemed to drag along in so many ways, and now it's suddenly over.

Margaret @ BooksPlease said...

It's that time of year again when I think that next year I'll make it a challenge-free year and then I see bloggers writing about the challenges they're going to do. Yesterday I almost decided to do the Back to the Classics Challenge and now you've set me thinking about the Historical Fiction one.

I read quite a lot of historical fiction, so it's not really a 'challenge' for me, so I'm not sure about it. But the reading challenges do encourage me to read from my TBRs!

Cath said...

Sam:'Mixed emotions' is spot on. I just did a couple last year and that worked fine and I've completed both. I thought I would ring the changes this year and either do none at all or something I haven't done before. I don't read a lot of historical fiction but I do own a few books so this really is a challenge for me to get those read.

LOL... I've been planning my 2021 reading for a couple of months now.

Margaret: Yes, I can see that doing a challenge based on historicals would not be a real challenge for you. I don't read that many, concentrating more on murder stories these days. I'd like to alter that a bit in 2021 and broaden my horizons a bit.

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

Hi Cath,

When you say that any historical sub genre is acceptable, surely some of those lovely historical murder/mysteries you keep managing to find, would qualify? If that was the case, then you would smash your target, no problem! :)

I remember you adding one of my recently reviewed books to your Goodreads List, 'The Bell In The Lake' by Lars Mytting. Now that one would work for so many different challenges, but is definitely great for anything historical, as it begins by referencing right back to Medieval Times and doesn't move much further forward than that!

Have Fun is the main thing and don't get stressed by it. Fiction Books is remaining challenge free in 2021 :)

Yvonne Xx

Anca said...

This is great. I love this reading challenge and I joined in too. Thanks for sharing!

Cath said...

Yvonne: Yes, I believe the historical murder mysteries I like would be quite acceptible for this challenge. In fact I have two library books which are just that and one or two on my Kindle as well.

I'll look into The Bell in the Lake, I don't think I've put that one on my Kindle yet.

I shall certainly manage to have fun.

Anca: I'll go and look to see if you've posted about the challenge.

Susan said...

I love historical fiction, so I'm in for this challenge as well. Sounds like lots of fun!