Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: 2011 Wrap-up & 2012 Sign-up

In January 2011, I joined the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge for the first time.  I love many genres of fiction, but my ultimate favorite genre is historical fiction.  I joined this challenge with the goal of reading 20 historical fiction novels in 2011.  I reached my goal by reading a total of 24 historical fiction novels this past year.  The novels I read were as follows:

1.  Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
2.  Pale Rose of England by Sandra Worth
3.  I am the Chosen King by Helen Hollick
4.  Sins of the House of Borgia by Sarah Bower
5. To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick
6.  Legacy by Jeanette Baker
7.  A Race to Splendor by Ciji Ware
8.  A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer
9.  The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Conner McNees
10.  When We Danced on Water by Evan Fallenberg

11.  Mary of Carisbrooke by Margaret Campbell Barnes

12.  The King's Witch by Cecelia Holland
13.  Queen of the Summer Stars by Persia Woolley
14.  Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
15.  Sea Witch by Helen Hollick
16.  Before Versaille by Karleen Koen
17.  Becoming Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey
18.  Bath Tangle by Georgette Heyer
19.  Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick
20.  The Betsy-Tacy Treasury by Maud Hart Lovelace
21.  Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
22.  A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (audio)
23.  The Help by Kathryn Stockett (audio)
24.  My Love, My Enemy by Jan Cox Speas

I read many excellent historical fiction novels this year, there is not a bad one in this bunch!  Which ones were my favorite?  Stay tuned the next week or so for my top ten books from 2011.  More than one book from this list is on my top ten for the year!

Twenty-two of these books were old-fashioned paper novels, while two were audiobooks.  The two audiobooks were books I had read in the past that were chosen for one of my book clubs this year.  I chose to explore them in a new format this time around.  Five of the twenty-four books were re-reads for me including Water for Elephants, Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, A Reliable Wife, and The Help.  It's safe to say these are some of my favorite books of all time.

I read a few children's historical fiction novels this year including Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie to my children and The Betsy-Tacy Treasury for me. The Little House series is how I started my love for historical fiction.  I'm now hoping to foster the love in my children.

It's no secret that I love to read historical fiction novels related to kings and queens, but I also enjoy historical fiction novels set in America (Little House, Betsy-Tacy, My Love, My Enemy, A Fierce Radiance, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, The Help, A Reliable Wife, and Water for Elephants).  My Love, My Enemy was the most surprising book for me this year.  The cover screamed trashy romance, but the inside was a quite good historical fiction novel set during the American war of 1812.  I would love read more novels by Jan Cox Speas and I hope they find a more suitable cover.

I very much enjoyed this challenge and I'm signing up for the Historical Fiction Challenge 2012 also hosted by Historical Tapestry.  This year I'm aiming for  level 3, Struggling the Addiction: 10 books.  I'm going to focus on the Victorian Challenge this year so I'll hopefully be reading more classics and straight non-fiction history this year. 

I'm hoping that I'll be reading more of one of my favorite sub-genres, the historical fiction thriller this year.  It is a favorite of my Kewaunee Library Book Club.  Now that the club is back on track after a 1.5 year hiatus, I can hope that we get back to some great books!

Pale Rose of England by Sandra Worth

1497. England. A handsome man with Plantagenet looks has returned to the shores of England with his bride in tow claiming to be Richard, the younger of the “princes in the tower,” and son of Edward IV. He plans to battle for his birth right to be the king of England, but plans have a way of not always working out.

Lady Catherine Gordon is a member of the Scottish Royalty, daughter of George Gordon, the Earl of Huntley. She meets and falls in love with Richard, the Duke of York. He managed to escape his fate as one of the two “princes in the tower,” and has been accepted by all of European royalty as the true king of England. He will go down in history as Perkin Warbeck, “the pretender,” but to Catherine he is her soul mate, her love, the father of her children, and a true prince of England. Together they journey to England to fight for the crown, but the Tudor King, Henry VII is not ready to part with it. Catherine and Richard’s story is a true story of love and heartbreak that will pierce your soul.

I loved the Pale Rose of England. The love story between Catherine and Richard is a beautiful story. Catherine’s love for Richard and her ability to stick with him through high and low is a wonderful story of a remarkable and courageous woman who knows the true value of love and marriage. Her heartbreak over Richard and her son Dickon are heart rending. I was moved to tears by this book, and not too many books have that affect on me. I’d like to discuss the plot in more detail, but I do not want to ruin it for those that have yet to read it!

Sandra Worth is one of my favorite historical fiction authors. I discovered her novels a couple of years ago through J. Kaye’s Book Blog. The first novel I read was Lady of the Roses and it was a wonderful historical fiction novel set during a compelling period of conflict (the War of Roses) with two great lovers whose story was little known (at least by me!). I loved it! I have enjoyed each novel I’ve read since then, and Pale Rose of England adds to her list of wonderful novels. It is again a wonderful, but tragic true love story set during a fascinating time in history.

Ms. Worth writes with beautiful prose. One of my favorite passages in this book is as follows, “Treasure the happiness, Catryn. ‘Tis only when darkness falls that the stars come out. Honor our love with your smiles. Look for me in the stars, and wherever I am, I will live in your happiness.” Richard to Catherine.

Overall, Pale Rose of England is an outstanding historical fiction novel set during a compelling time with great characters, great writing, and a wonderful love story. I highly recommend it.

This is my second novel for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

Book Source: Review Copy from Penguin Books. Thank-you!

And the Winners Are . . .

The two lucky winners of The Rose of York: Love and War by Sandra Worth are J.Kaye of J.Kaye's Book Blog and Christy of Christy's Book Blog. Winners were chosen using the power of random.org.

The two lucky winners will receive autographed copies of the novel as provided by Sandra Worth once they send me an email with their mailing addresses (I have already contacted them via email).

Thank-you to Sandra Worth for providing me with a review copy and also for providing the two copies for this giveaway. I love Sandra Worth's novels! If you would like to learn more about her or her novels, please check out her website. Thank-you to everyone who participated in this giveaway.

Sad that you didn't win? I currently have two giveaways going for the audiobooks of True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy and Live for Your Listening Pleasure by David Sedaris. Lovers of historical fiction stay tuned, I will have a giveaway for Roses by Leila Meacham posted sometime in the beginning of January.

Giveaway ends TONIGHT for The Rose of York: Love and War by Sandra Worth

This is just a friendly reminder that the giveaway for two autographed copies of Sandra Worth's wonderful historical fiction novel The Rose of York: Love and War ends tonight at midnight. Details can be found at this link. Don't miss out on a chance to read the story of a young Richard III from a different point of view. What if Richard was not a hunchbacked murderer, but was instead a gallent young night with one true love, the beautiful Anne Neville? Caught between the opposing forces of the houses of York and Lancaster, Richard grows from a young boy to a young warrior. This is a must read for all lovers of historical fiction.

Giveaway and Review - The Rose of York: Love and War (Book One) by Sandra Worth

History is always written by the victor. What if Richard III was not the hunch-backed, evil killer as depicted by his enemies the Tudors and the man who could not displease them, Shakespeare? What if he was just a man caught in a power struggle, that most of all wanted to marry his true love Anne and find justice for the common man? If you want to see Richard III from another point of view, I invite you discover the wonderful novel The Rose of York: Love and War.

The Rose of York: Love and War is the first novel of a trilogy written by Sandra Worth. Love and War follows Richard as a young boy escaping England with his brother George and Cousin Warwick (the Kingmaker) through his growth to a wise young man in his 20’s. Richard is a man caught in the terrible turmoil of the War of the Roses, which was literary of war of brother against brother and cousin against cousin.

As a young boy, Richard learns to become a knight while staying at his cousin Warwick’s. There he meets two important people in this life. The first is his beautiful cousin Anne, who will become the love of his life. The second is his cousin John Neville (Warwick’s brother), who is his mentor and like a surrogate father and brother.

I loved the vivid description throughout this book. From the storm at sea at the beginning, to the nail-biting Battle of Barnet, I was riveted and couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next. I loved the historical detail. I am fascinated by this period of history and the book really brought the history alive. I am always a fan of a good love story and Richard and Anne’s love has elements of Cinderella and Romeo & Juliet. I loved it!

I think my secret favorite part of the novel though was John Neville’s story. I first learned of Sandra Worth through J. Kaye’s book blog. I read Lady of the Roses and The King’s Daughter and loved them both. Lady of the Roses was the love story of John and Isobel Neville through Isobel’s point of view. In Love and War, it was great to read the story from John’s point of view. John was a great romantic character and hero. The King’s Daughter is the story of Elizabeth of York, the Queen of Henry VII (and Richard III's niece). The Rose of York trilogy contains two other novels, The Crown of Destiny and Fall from Grace. I can’t wait to read them and find out the rest of Richard’s story.

The novel contains a great foreword at the beginning of the novel by Roxane C. Murph that gives you the details of the Wars of the Roses. There is also a great family tree that I referred to a lot during the story. Ms. Worth also has an author’s note at the end with more details. I liked all of this additional information and thought it was very helpful.

Overall, if you are a fan of historical fiction, or of a good story full of adventure, love, and heartbreak, you will love this novel! The latest reprint of this novel with the beautiful cover shown above, will be up for sale on amazon.com in January.

Book Source: Author Sandra Worth sent me a review copy. Thank-you very much. I loved it!

Giveaway Details:

Now for the details you are really looking for . . . Sandra Worth has been kind enough to send me two autographed copies of The Rose of York: Love and War as a giveaway. If you would like to enter this contest do any of the following:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner. (1 entry)

2. Blog about this giveaway or post about it on your sidebar. (1 entry)

3. Become a follower or leave a comment that you already are a follower of this blog. (1 entry)

There are three ways to enter, but you can put all three entries as one comment.

I will be using random.org to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is only open to US and Canadian residents (Sorry!).

The deadline for entry is midnight, Friday December 18th (just in time for Christmas). Good luck!

The King's Daughter: A Novel of the First Tudor Queen by Sandra Worth

The King's Daughter by Sandra Worth is a historical fiction novel about the life of Queen Elizabeth of York, the mother of Henry VIII, wife of Henry VII, and daughter of Edward IV. After reading The Lady of Roses also by Sandra Worth, I was eager to read more of her novels. The library didn't have any others, but luckily my husband got me The King's Daughter for Christmas.


Overall the book was an interesting read, but not as good as The Lady of the Roses. I really liked learning more about Elizabeth of York and her life through an intriguing period of English history. I can't imagine living in a world where most of your loved ones were brutality killed or died of disease or some other afflication. Elizabeth tried to lead a good life, but suffered many trying times.

I had problems with the book mainly as there was no central love story as there was in The Lady of the Roses. Elizabeth has a love for a knight, Sir Thomas Stafford that could have been and intriguing story of love lost, but instead the focus switches to a contrived love story between Elizabeth and her Uncle Richard III. EWWW! She is forced to marry Henry VII for the peace of her country. She stands back and lets her mother in law walk all over her and lets Henry VII murder a lot of people in her family for the sake of letting her son Arthur inherit the thrown without other claimants. I just wanted to shake her and say "Do Something!!!"

Some moments that I did enjoy were when Henry and Elizabeth had light hearted moments laughing at their mothers. I wish this would have continued and allowed for a love to develop between the two.

In the end, it was a good read and made me really want to read the Rose of York trilogy to learn more about Richard III as a good guy.

Lady of the Rose: A Novel of the War of the Roses by Sandra Worth

I read about Sandra Worth on J. Kaye Oldner's book blog. Unfortunately the only one of Worth's novels in my library system was Lady of the Roses. I would like to read more of her books so I think they are going on my future Christmas and birthday lists:-)

Lady of the Roses was a love story set during the English War of the Roses. Lancastrian Isobel meets Yorkist John Neville at a castle as she travels toward the court of King Henry VI and Queen Marguerite. Isobel and John share a dance and fall in love. Although the Queen exacts a high bride price for her, Isobel and John marry and live a life filled with ups and downs at War rages around them.

I thought this book was great. The characters were all very interesting and it was set during a fascinating period of English history. I had never heard of these historical personalities before, it was enjoyable to learn about the War of the Roses version of "Romeo and Juliet."

One of my all-time favorite books is Katherine by Anya Seton. Lady of the Roses continues the story of Katherine and John's descendents. If you ever read Katherine and wondered, what happens next, this is an excellent novel to read.