Merry Bookmas?

Christmas and books. They just sort of go together, don’t they?

Well, they do when it comes to my Christmas shopping list.  I don’t give as many as I used to within my immediate family because we all have Nook e-readers and share a Barnes and Noble account—you don’t want to know how many e-books we have! But I always save a few special selections for Christmas giving: daughter #1 is a manga fan (and loves wolves), so she’s getting Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki; daughter #2, who is studying jewelry making, gets the enormous new release Jewelry: The Body Transformed and Indian Jewelry Making, and the whole family is getting some of the newer Asterix books, continued by a new artist and writer team now that Uderzo and Goscinny are no more.

I also have other family that I always get books for at the holidays like my mother in law, to read on the plane as she makes her annual trip to warmer climes. This year it’s A Well Behaved Woman by Therese Ann Fowler, historical fiction about Alva Vanderbilt, and The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck, set during and after World War II.  And my dear friend Liz is getting White Mughals by William Dalrymple, about 18^th century East India Company agents who fell in love with India—and with Indian women.

And—ahem—I may have ordered one or two books for myself, too...The House at Lobster Cove by Jane Goodrich—about an extraordinary house that was destroyed and then rebuilt, each time by two extraordinary people, and The Shepherdess of Elk River Valley by Margaret Duncan Brown, who single-handedly ran her Colorado ranch for nearly fifty years, somehow found their way into my basket.

Are you a holiday book giver? What books are planning to give (or hoping to receive?)

Happy Easter!

I’m a bit early, but I wanted to wish you a happy Easter. And just like the Easter bunny brings eggs, I’m bringing a few presents.

1. Panorama of the Thames. This wonderful project compares stretches of the river in picture and illustration as it was in 1829 and in 2014. Look at the comparisons tab if you do nothing else. Fascinating!
2. Romancing Yesteryear Giveaway. More than 40 historical romance authors bring you a chance to win more than 50 full-length novels and a Kindle Fire in the Romancing Yesteryear May Day giveaway. Fabulous! 
3. 19^th Century Fashion: How to Tell the Decades Apart—This fun video provides a high-level overview of how ladies’ hair and fashion changed from the 1800s to the 1900s. She has other great videos available as well. Clever, and nicely done. 

May you have a lovely weekend, however you celebrate!

What to Give your Favorite History Geek for Christmas

A few weeks ago, Regina gave us her Literary holiday shopping list (I lurve the red dress!) Now, 2015 was quite a year for us history geeks, seeing as it did the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, and 2014-2015 saw the publication of several excellent history books on life ca. 1815. If you’re looking for the perfect gift for yourself or for the history geek in your life, have a look at a few of these:

In These Times: Living in Britain through Napoleon’s Wars, 1793-1815 by Jenny Uglow; published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015 An amazingly detailed snapshot (though at over 800 pages, that may not be the right word) of life in England over twenty plus years after the end of the Peace of Amiens. The book covers everything from politics and economics to art and literature to how ordinary people, both city and country, lived their daily lives. Extensively illustrated (especially with a lot of Gilray and Rowlandson cartoons of the time) and very readable.

Jane Austen's England: Daily Life in the Georgian and Regency Periods by Roy and Lesley Adkins; published by Penguin Books, 2014 Here on NineteenTeen we will confess to something of a bias toward writing about life in aristocratic circles, because (let’s face it) it’s just so darned much escapist fun to twitter on about ball gowns and court presentations and that sort of thing. Of course, historically speaking, the “upper ten thousand” made up a very small percentage of the population. So if you’d like a clearer view of how the middle and lower classes lived--the people, in fact, who appear in Jane Austen’s novels--then this book is for you. Again, exemplary research, with useful illustrations, maps, and timelines.

Of course, in this 200th anniversary year of the Battle of Waterloo, a definitive biography of Napoleon Bonaparte would seem to be just the thing, and Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts (Penguin Books, 2014) precisely fits the bill. It’s a doorstop of a book at 800 pages, but they’re very readable pages (yes, I read them) and paint a balanced picture of one of history’s more controversial figures.

For a definitive look at Waterloo itself, popular historical novelist Bernard Cornwell has brought us his first work of non-fiction in Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles (Harper, 2015), I’ve not had a chance to read it, but its reviews are outstanding and I intend to get my mitts on it as soon as possible.

And for you historical foodies out there (I'm raising my hand), Dining with the Georgians by Emma Kay; Amberley Publishing, 2014 is a delight. Covering the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, it covers an important time in gastronomic history when many of our own eating habits were being established and foods we love today were establishing themselves as part of regular diets (hello, chocolate!) There appears to be a soon-to-be-released follow-up as well, Dining with the Victorians, which I think I’ll have to go see about...

Feel free to print this entry out and leave it lying about somewhere conspicuous. ☺ Are there any history books published in the last few years that you’d recommend to NineteenTeen readers?

Literary Christmas Wish List, 2015

Some people hate Christmas shopping. I love it. Every year, I am amazed by the myriad of choices available to delight my friends and family, particularly those of a literary bent. So, in case you need inspiration for yourself (or to suggest to others for yourself), allow me to point out a few items.

Perhaps you or your loved one favors jewelry. You might invest in the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, which proves the owner is endowed with the characteristics of this noble house of Hogwarts: intelligence, wit, and wisdom. 

Or maybe it would just be nice to have a book hanging around.

Then there’s the modern rivalry between e-books and print, spelled out on this coffee cup. 

And of course many would covet this adventuresome journal to write down thoughts.

Have a special gentleman in your life? Help him to dress like Darcy. J

Or maybe you’re the one who prefers to dress with a more historical flare: 

And don’t forget the books! Here are a few that looked interesting and were reasonable:

Deadly Victorian Remedies, 12 cases of medicine gone bad. 

Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, that 1800s classic that we’ve quoted on Nineteenteen. 

Dandy Poems: The Dandy in Poetry and Song, a compilation of satirical poems written in the nineteenth century about dandies.

Hm. I think I need to add a few more things to my own Christmas list. How about you?

What Nineteenth Century Book Readers Want for Christmas

And the shopping season is upon us!  In case you have yet to make your list for your family and friends or yourself, I thought it might behoove us to look at some of the lovely things out there for aficionados of the early nineteenth century.

No writer epitomizes early nineteenth century England more than Jane Austen, so it’s no surprise to find a plethora of Austen-themed items in the offing.  Take this cute tote bag from Café Press.  And yes, I do on occasion randomly (mis)quote the great Jane. 

The Jane Austen Gift Shop in the UK is also offering a number of lovely pieces, including a tea towel that says “Keep calm and read Jane Austen.”  Watch for timing of overseas purchases to make sure they will arrive in time for your gift-giving.

Then again, if you simply want to live like Jane, you can find modern merchandise recreating the era, such as these reticules on Etsy.  

Then there are gifts for those of us who write, whether our thoughts on the day or the great American novel.  Try this fountain pen-inspired necklace, also on Etsy. 

Or perhaps a journal with that old-fashioned feel.  

Finally, for the geek in all of us, I give you the perfect glasses, with lenses that angle 90 degrees so you can read in comfort from any direction.  

Please add to the list, my dears!  What are you hoping for this Christmas?  What else should savvy readers of stories set in the nineteenth century long to receive?