The Book List: 3 Favorite Eras to Read About

 

This week the Book List- meme asks us to name our three favorite eras to read about. My three favorite eras to read fiction about are:

1. Late 19th -early 20th century ca. 1860/1880-to WWI. This is simply my favorite historical period. I love the history, the fashions, the architecture, the optimism of the era -and I love to read novels, especially mysteries, set in this time period.
Some of my favorites mysteries set in this era include the Amelia Peabody -series by Elizabeth Peters and the Dr. Max Liebermann -series by Frank Tallis, but there are many others, too.

Sarah Waters books set in Victorian England are great, though my least favorite of them is the favorite of many, namely Fingersmith. Tipping the Velvet is my favorite.

2. Late 18th- early 19th century ca. 1790-1830. The French Revolution, the revolutionary wars, the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Russian conquest of Finland and the birth of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland all make for interesting topics for novels. And then of course this was the time when Jane Austen wrote her books.
My favorites include anything by Austen, Désiréé by Annemarie Selinko, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and a novel by Mika Waltari that is not available in English.

3. This was a tough one! I could have chosen for example Ancient Egypt, but when it comes to Egypt I really enjoy reading non-fiction more than fiction. I was spoilt with The Egyptian by Mika Waltari when still quite young and no other novel about Ancient Egypt compares to The Egyptian! I could have chosen the Middle Ages or Ancient Rome or the 16th century with the Reformation, WWII and after, or, or... But after pondering this for a while my choice for my third favorite era to read about is...the future.
I love space opera! :) Elizabeth Moon is one of my favorite science fiction writers. I also love alternative history set in the future. My favorite alternative history novels are Sophie McDougall's Romanitas-trilogy (the third part is not yet published) where Rome never fell and Jon Courtenay Grimwood's books, especially the Pashazade-trilogy.

Visit Lost in Books for Rebecca's post on this subject and to add your own post to Linky Tools.

The past few days I have been reading my first ever Persephone book Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski and tonight I finished it. It is simply my favorite of all the books I have read this year this far! What a brilliant novel!:)