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ambur - burning impossibly bright

I'm Ambur, and I'm addicted to books, tea, superheroes, and TV! I'm extremely passionate about my fandoms—right now I'm currently obsessed with Game of Thrones, Outlander, Nightwing/Dick Grayson, and I strongly identify with my Hogwarts house, Hufflepuff. When it comes to books, I'm a sucker for the young adult, and romance novels, especially of the sports or historical variety!

 

1. What do you love about historical fiction?

I've always enjoyed learning about history—it was one of my favourite subjects in school, so when I first found historical fiction, I was seriously intrigued! What I love about history is also what I love in historical fiction. History is based on fact, but down to its basic bones, it's still a story (there's a reason they always say that history is written by the winners!), and I've always loved that it weaves both fact and fiction together. I love that the people in history and historical fiction (or at least many of them) were actual people, or that someone like them could've actually existed! I just find it so interesting, and I love the chance to see the world through a lens, and time period, so different from my own. I also love learning random facts...and I tend to do that pretty often with historical fiction. ;)

 

2. Who is your favourite historical fiction author?

Hmmm, if I had to pick just one historical fiction author, I'd go with Diana Gabaldon. I've recently fallen more and more in love with her Outlander series, and I have a SERIOUS soft spot for Jamie Fraser! Her books are definitely long, and I often feel like she manages to pack abut 3-4 books within each of her books, but I find them sooooo hard to put down! She's a masterful storyteller, and she creates strong characters that I genuinely care about.

 

3. If you could travel back in time to any century, which would you choose and why?

If I could travel back in time, I would probably check out quite a few centuries! I wouldn't want to limit myself, but if I could just pick one, I'd pick the 19th century! I'd definitely want to visit England while I was there as I've always been fascinated with their class system, and most of my favourite historical fictions revolve around England in some way or another. I'd probably pick to visit after Pride & Prejudice was written though because you know that I'd need to have a book to read while I was there, plus I wouldn't miss the chance to be close to Jane Austen! :D If I could pick other locations during the 19th century too, I'd also love to visit Tsarist Russia, and I'd love to visit Europe and the Netherlands when Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm Brothers were gathering local fairy tales and writing them down!

CARLY -THE DARLINGs DIARY

Hello, my name is Carly and I am a bibliophile. At 18 (almost 19) years old, I am currently enrolled in university majoring in English and History. I have 3 younger siblings and live in a small town at the tip of southern Ontario. Ever since I was little, I have always been fond of books. Starting with Junie B. Jones and Jigsaw Jones, as well as the entire series of Geronimo Stilton, I always had a book in my hands. I first decided to start reviewing books about 2 and a half years ago when I had rediscovered my love for reading. As school was constantly in the way, I needed a way to distress from the piles of homework. This is when I turned to reading as a way to help with balancing my life. When I had returned to reading, I did not plan on making a blog for my reviews, but as people were commenting on the reviews I posted on Goodreads and Instagram, it seemed like the next logical step. Based off of my favourite classic tale, Peter Pan, my blog, The Darlings Diary, was created. From when I had first decided to make it to now, I am grateful for this decision. When I am not reading a reviewing. I enjoy dancing, singing, listening to music, painting/drawing, crocheting, Netflix binging, and working on a novel of my own. In the future, I plan to achieve my teacher’s degree, and hopefully, finish one of my novels. Until then, I can always be found with my nose in the latest book.

 

1. What do you love about historical fiction?

Being that I am studying History in school, I feel that enjoying historical fiction is a given. I love learning about how other people interpret historical events and make them so that different audiences are attracted to the tales. My rewriting history (in a sense), it allows people to take a look at the past, even if it is fictional. Many of the events of characters that are presented in historical fiction are based on real things, just with a twist. I love reading other people interpretations of events, which is what draws me to these types of stories.

 

2. Who is your favourite historical fiction author?

Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to read many historical fictions as I have wanted to since I am trying to dwindle the size of my To-Be-Read pile. Out of the books that I have had the chance to read, I love works from 2 historical fiction authors. One being Armando Lucas Correa, who wrote The German Girl. My second favourite would have to be Sally Christie, who I read for the first time last year and loved her book. Her works include a variety of books, including The Mistresses of Versailles Trilogy.

 

3. If you could travel back in time to any century, which would you choose and why?

If I could travel back in time to any century, there would be 2 historical time periods that I would like to encounter. First, the Renaissance. Not for the disease and stuff, but I have always found it beautiful when looking at the fashion from that time period and thinking how long it must have taken ladies to get ready. Secondly, I would like to go back to the 1920s. “The Roaring 20’s” as many know it, is known as being a revolutionary time for everyone. Occurring after the war, it made way for the creation of new advances, including different types of dance, movies, and a change in women’s views. Even though I would like to travel back to these times, I would prefer to live in my time, as I don’t think I would be able to leave Netflix like that.

CHRYSTAL - SNOWDROP DREAMS

A 30-something book blogger, new mother, Jeopardy fan, kitty mommy and fledgling bookstagramer. I'm a mood reader, so my appetite for genres changes depending on my emotions - from YA to historical romance and from chicklit to fantasy. I enjoy the gamut of genres and discussing them via my blog and social media.

 

1. What do you love about historical fiction?

 I love how the stories transport you back in time and allow you to learn the history of the time and place while embracing the relationships of the characters.

 

2. Who is your favourite historical fiction author?

I grew up loving Bertrice Small's writing as that was my mother's favourite author and the books were everywhere in our house, but now my top authors are Sally Christie (I love her storytelling and that she doesn't over do it with it detail) and Genevieve Graham (I've read everything she's written and love chatting on social media with her).

 

3. If you could travel back in time to any century, which would you choose and why?

I'm not sure I'd want to travel back in time. I adore reading about the different centuries, but sometimes when I'm reading about the women's lives I realize how lucky I am to live in this time. Perhaps, it would be fun to visit France in 1700s when Louis XV reigned. I love the idea of the fancy clothes, important titles and Versailles is beautiful and after having visited at age 14, it would be interesting to see it during the height of the hustle and bustle.

JOY - JOYOUS READS

I hoard books faster than I can read them. When I'm not reading...wait. I'm always reading.

 

1. What do you love about historical fiction?

 I love learning about history through historical fiction. I know that's a paradox but textbook history has always put me to sleep. So when I read a novel about a period of historical significance, it inspires me to do a bit of research. It's a great starting point, at least.

 

2. Who is your favourite historical fiction author?

Susanna Kearsley, Paullina Simons, Philippa Gregory are just a few of my favourite historical fiction writers. But I have enjoyed a few war period pieces written by Anthony Doerr (All the Light We Cannot See), Anthony Marra (A Constellation of Vital Phenomena), and Jodi Picoult's The Storyteller.

 

3. If you could travel back in time to any century, which would you choose and why?

If I could travel back in time, I would go back to the Victorian period so I can ruffle a few feathers. One thing that annoys me about reading books from this period is the unbelievable constraint that the society has put on the women of the time. Sarah Walters has written a few books in this period that largely challenged the dictates of how a woman should behave and act.

KALEY - BOOKS ETC.

I am, until my birthday at the end of May at least, a twentysomething book addict who has been reading everything I could get my hands on ever since I figured out what the words on the page meant. I've been talking about books for almost as long as that. I've worked at bookstores and libraries, and interned at a publishing company and an amazing literary non-profit. I could discuss books all day, every day so my blog of 6.5 years helps get all those rambling, obsessive, bookish thoughts out into the world for other bookish people to find. My favourite kinds of books have a Happily Ever After and a kick-ass heroine.

 

When I'm not reading (those times are rare), I'm pretending to Adult in a communications job, working out at the gym, drinking way too much tea (kidding...there's no such thing as too much tea), or hanging out with my bunny, Tonks. (You cannot be surprised I have a pet with a literary name.)

 

1. What do you love about historical fiction?

I love historical fiction because it teaches me about a time and place that I've never learned about before or, more likely, that I don't remember from history classes in school. A good historical novel will make me want to immediately read every non-fiction book written or watch every documentary made about that particular subject or time period so I can learn even more about it.

 

2. Who is your favourite historical fiction author?

I'm a big fan of Kate Morton's novels...so much so that I couldn't bring myself to read anything between The Forgotten Garden and The Lake House because the former was just so freaking good that I didn't think anything else could live up to it (don't worry, the latter was amazing).

 

3. If you could travel back in time to any century, which would you choose and why?

So many options...I think I'd have to go with England in the late 1770s/early 1800s (yes, I'm cheating a little bit). That's the time of Jane Austen and I would love to see what real life was like compared to her novels. Either that or England in the 1920s...specifically Downton Abbey. And definitely upstairs...I don't think I could survive downstairs.