I find the Historical nominees a little puzzling. Of the five nominees three are outstanding, one really belongs in a YA category, and one is a romance. The romance is a Regency so I guess it's fair to stretch the definition of historical to include it, though it's far more an established type of romance than one having historical merit. That's not to say these two books aren't good books; they just don't seem to me that they belong in the Historical category. Perhaps it all evens out; a few years ago a Historical novel, Counting the Cost by Liz Adair, certainly an award deserving novel, took first place for Romance. It isn't unusual for me to disagree with the placement of some novels, though I think the genre placement is the best this year of any year since the contest began.
Here are this year's finalists in the Historical category:
Daughter of Helaman by Misty Moncur
Fires of Jerusalem by Marilyn Brown
Isabelle Webb: The Pharaoh's Daughter by N.C. Allen
Letters in the Jade Dragon Box by Gale Sears
Miss Delacourt Has Her Day by Heidi Ashworth
Daughter Of Helaman places a young woman among the 2000 stripling warriors of Book of Mormon fame.
Fires Of Jerusalem is set in Jerusalem during the contentious period when the prophet Jeremiah foretold the destruction of the great city.
The Pharaoh's Daughter is part of a mystery series featuring a former Pinkerton female detective following clues that lead her through various countries during the latter half of the nineteenth century. This time to Egypt.
Letters in the Jade Dragon Box is the touching story of a young woman who has grown up in Hong Kong without an understanding of why her mother smuggled her out of Mainland China. Only when Mao Tse-tung dies does she receive a legacy of letters from her mother detailing her past and the rich legacy destroyed by the communist leader.
Miss Delacourt Has Her Day takes place in London during the Regency period and is part of a series. It deals with a young couple's efforts to overcome the dictates of titled family and society to marry.
Though a large number of people looked at my last post concerning readers' evaluations of the General fiction category, few people voiced an opinion. I'll try to simplify. There are several ways to do this. Take each of the five nominees in this category and assign them a number 1-5 with one being the best. If you haven't read all five of these books, that's okay, just rank the ones you have read (only the judges have to read all of them). If you find two or more are equally great books, give them each a one or whatever number you think they deserve. Whether you rank the books or not, you're invited to share what you liked or didn't like about any or all of the five nominees. Until the end of the month comments are welcome on any of the Whitney categories, my new book, or LDS novels in general. At the end of the month I'll draw two names from all those who leave comments during March and send each of the winners a copy of my new book, The Heirs of Southbridge. And yes, you can comment and be entered to win more than once.
Here are this year's finalists in the Historical category:
Daughter of Helaman by Misty Moncur
Fires of Jerusalem by Marilyn Brown
Isabelle Webb: The Pharaoh's Daughter by N.C. Allen
Letters in the Jade Dragon Box by Gale Sears
Miss Delacourt Has Her Day by Heidi Ashworth
Daughter Of Helaman places a young woman among the 2000 stripling warriors of Book of Mormon fame.
Fires Of Jerusalem is set in Jerusalem during the contentious period when the prophet Jeremiah foretold the destruction of the great city.
The Pharaoh's Daughter is part of a mystery series featuring a former Pinkerton female detective following clues that lead her through various countries during the latter half of the nineteenth century. This time to Egypt.
Letters in the Jade Dragon Box is the touching story of a young woman who has grown up in Hong Kong without an understanding of why her mother smuggled her out of Mainland China. Only when Mao Tse-tung dies does she receive a legacy of letters from her mother detailing her past and the rich legacy destroyed by the communist leader.
Miss Delacourt Has Her Day takes place in London during the Regency period and is part of a series. It deals with a young couple's efforts to overcome the dictates of titled family and society to marry.
Though a large number of people looked at my last post concerning readers' evaluations of the General fiction category, few people voiced an opinion. I'll try to simplify. There are several ways to do this. Take each of the five nominees in this category and assign them a number 1-5 with one being the best. If you haven't read all five of these books, that's okay, just rank the ones you have read (only the judges have to read all of them). If you find two or more are equally great books, give them each a one or whatever number you think they deserve. Whether you rank the books or not, you're invited to share what you liked or didn't like about any or all of the five nominees. Until the end of the month comments are welcome on any of the Whitney categories, my new book, or LDS novels in general. At the end of the month I'll draw two names from all those who leave comments during March and send each of the winners a copy of my new book, The Heirs of Southbridge. And yes, you can comment and be entered to win more than once.
4 comments:
I've only read one of the historical finalists so far--Letters in the Jade Dragon Box--so I can't weigh in on which I think should win. But Letters was certainly a stellar book.
I liked, "Daughter of Helaman", "Letters in a Jade Dragon Box", and "The Pharoh's Daughter". I thought they were all good. I haven't read the other two nominees. I would rank "Letters in a Jade Dragon Box" number 2; "The Pharoh's Daughter" number 1;, and "Daughter of Helaman" a 3. I thought they were all good books.
I have read 3 of these books. I really loved Letters in the Jade Dragon Box. I would give that a 1. The Pharoah's daughter was also fabulous and so I would give that a 1 also. Miss Delacourt has her Day I would probably give a 2. It was fun but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the others. I haven't read the other two but they sound really interesting.
I would think that a book is in the historical category if it takes place at a different time in history than the author lives in.
Haven't read any of the books. I'm so out of the loop up here.
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