My Historical Fiction Evolution Part 5

Today I will wrap up my series by talking about technology. But first let’s recap the previous posts:

Part 1: My introduction to historical fiction in elementary school with Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr.

Part 2: Historical fiction close to home with Booky: A Trilogy by Bernice Thurman Hunter and Guest of War Trilogy by Kit Pearson.

Part 3: Learning about the holocaust.

Part 4: Eras of Interest

How today's technology has enhanced my historical fiction evolution

It’s no secret that technology has come a long way in the past 20 years. Hell it’s come a long way in the past year alone. And with that new technology it has brought an enhanced experience for readers.

The internet alone has opened the door to me for more learning opportunities than I could have ever imagined.

All those time periods I have been mentioning, now I can find out more on a topic I have read about, with just a click of the mouse. Websites like Goodreads and Pinterest have made my TBR list never ending and many of those books are of the historical fiction and non-fiction genres.

Goodreads

Goodreads allows its users to create bookshelves to organize their books. I have created several bookshelves for my historical fiction and non-fiction books. Click on the links below to see my shelves:

• Historical Fiction
• World War I
• World War II

Pinterest

One thing I enjoy when reading a historical book is looking up pictures of that time period, the events that occurred and even sometimes the people. My cell phone comes in handy in case I’m not near my computer at the time. I have started to save these pictures in a Pinterest board I created called From the Books I Have Read.

eBooks

There are many books I have read over the past couple of years that I haven’t been able to get a physical copy of, but have been able to obtain in eBook format. This has been a wonderful and cost effective way to get my dose of history.

I read my eBooks using:

• My Kobo
• Kindle for PC
• Adobe Digital Editions

Blogging and Booktube

And of course the blogging community and booktube has been a wonderful source for great recommendations.

ML's Worth a Watch: Book Trailers (January-June 2017)

Today I would like to share with you some of the trailers for books I have read between January and June 2017.

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

If You're Gone by Brittany Goodwin 

"If You're Gone" Inspired Playlist

Every once in a while I hear a song that reminds me of a certain book that I have read. Recently I had the chance to read and review If You're Gone by Brittany Goodwin (click on the link to read my review).
Book synopsis from Goodreads:

Lillian White was planning for the perfect summer- spending every waking minute at the lake with her heartthrob boyfriend, Brad Lee. But her world is shattered when Brad mysteriously disappears the night of his graduation ceremony- the same night he tells her he loves her for the first time. After law enforcement dismisses the case, classifying Brad as voluntarily missing, Lillian becomes desperate to prove that he couldn’t have just walked away. Not from his family. Not from his friends. Not from her.

Heartbroken but determined to find answers, Lillian begins to uncover secrets from Brad’s past that force her to question everything she thought she knew about him and their relationship. Will the truth lead her to him? Or are Brad’s lies just the beginning of the mystery? 

 Upon visiting the authors website I discovered that she had compiled a playlist herself for the short story.

Goodwin's playlist included songs from Daughtry, David Cook and Nickelback (among others). However my personal favourite is A Thousand Years by Christina Perri:

Here are some other songs that reminded me of If You're Gone:

Fix You by Coldplay

A Little Bit Stronger by Sara Evans

When You're Gone by Avril Lavigne 

Be sure to check out author Brittany Goodwin's post for her If You're Gone Playlist. 

2017 First Quarter TBR: January- March

Last month as I began the not-so-fun task of packing to move, I realized just how many unread books I had on my physical shelves. Not to mention those I have on my Kobo and Kindle for PC. Many of these books I've had on my TBR for quite some time, years even! Now normally I try to read my books in the order I get them, but since I have started accepting ARCS and review books, many have been pushed back to the bottom of my pile.

For the past couple of months I have stopped accepting any new requests and have been trying to catch up on the books for review, that I fell behind on. This is also giving me the opportunity to read more from my TBR as well. And while I may have time to read more now, come April when my baby is due, I know that it will be harder to find the time to do so.

So in an effort to make a dent on my TBR this year I have been thinking about just focusing on those older books. And then I began to worry that I'd miss out on some great new releases.. Ah reader problems!

But what if I could have the best of both worlds? Make progress with my shelves, while being free to pick up newer books that catch my interest. Well Booktuber Amy from Amy C Books has come up with a solution that would work..

Check out her video for her 2017 Reads: January-March TBR:

In her video Amy shows how she has picked 6 books that she must read during the first quarter of the year. She hasn't set a particular order in which she intends to read them, giving her the freedom to read whichever she likes, as long as she does so between the months of January to March. This also gives her the freedom to read anything else during those months.

I think this is a wonderful idea! I love how it is a no-pressure challenge that helps tackle those seemingly never-ending stacks. So I have decided to give it a try! I am going to start with 4 books and perhaps increase my goal for the second quarter.

Here are the 4 books I intend to complete during the first quarter of 2017:

1. A Race to Splendor by Ciji Ware (Currently Reading)
2. Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford 
3. No Safe Harbor (Edge of Freedom, #1) by Elizabeth Ludwig
4. Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum, #18) by Janet Evanovich