A History of Royals discussion

We all have our favorites. Whether yours is Henry VII, Richard III, Catherine the Great, Cleopatra, Caesar, or anyone else, get to know them more. The object of this challenge is to read at least 7 books about a single Royal character. They can be fiction, biography, or any combination. The only caveat is that no two books may be written by the same author, and at least 3 of the books must be by an author that is new to you.

Have fun and let us know how you are progressing.

Challenge participants:

This is a great challenge if you want to become something of an expert on a particular royal. But can I make a suggestion for another similar challenge, like "get to know a NEW royal" where you have to read (x) amount of books on royal figures you've never read anything about before? Or some kind of challenge that will get people reading about someone new?

Robin wrote: "This is a great challenge if you want to become something of an expert on a particular royal. But can I make a suggestion for another similar challenge, like "get to know a NEW royal" where you hav..."

I love that caveat Robin. Do you think we should just incorporate it into this challenge, or make a separate challenge for that?

My thought pattern for this one was to get people to try new authors. I think I will add a rule for reading new authors in this one.

Does the person have to be the central character of the book, or can they just be involved peripherally?

Angela wrote: "Does the person have to be the central character of the book, or can they just be involved peripherally?"

Yes, the person has to be the central character of the book. If for some reason there are more than one central characters, then the person must be one of those. They cannot be a peripheral character.

Hope that clarifies it.

I don't mind reading books on the same person in the slightest, but say having to read 7 books in one year on Henry VIII, Nicholas II, or Elizabeth I is sure to become tiresome. Plus if you read a lot of non-fiction you tend to jumble up the scholarship of each author.

For fiction I get it. If you want to build interest in new authors I would suggest that the book have the royal as a character, maybe not the main one, but in the book on some level. The more I thought about this challenge the way it was written that the royal had to be the main character then it took some away from the challenge for me. It could be because I have read an inordinate amount of non-fiction on the royals I like. I don't know..just musing things over here.

readinghearts (Lyn M) wrote: "Robin wrote: "This is a great challenge if you want to become something of an expert on a particular royal. But can I make a suggestion for another similar challenge, like "get to know a NEW royal"..."

It might be better as a separate challenge then, something like "read (x) amount of books, each one on a different royal you've never read about before". I might also add that it has to be a book dedicated to that royal person, so for example a non-fiction compilation of mini-bios of many different royals, such as She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth, doesn't count.

Angela wrote: "I don't mind reading books on the same person in the slightest, but say having to read 7 books in one year on Henry VIII, Nicholas II, or Elizabeth I is sure to become tiresome. Plus if you read a ..."

I'm sorry that having to have the Royal as a main character in the book takes away from the challenge for you, but that is a group wide requirements for books. It is the same guideline that we used when we used to do group reads and such. In fact, I like the way that Robin stated it above. It has to be a book dedicated to that royal person.

Another clarification, the royal picked for this challenge does not have to be someone you have already read about. I just thought that might be easier for people. In fact, it can be ANY one royal person, whether and old fave, a NEW royal, or someone that you would like to know more about.

As for the reading of 7 books on one person. I do that often as I will read a book with someone in it, and that will spark my interest. I will then go out and find a bunch of books on that person so that I can learn more about them. I sort of go on a mini-binge.

Robin wrote: "readinghearts (Lyn M) wrote: "Robin wrote: "This is a great challenge if you want to become something of an expert on a particular royal. But can I make a suggestion for another similar challenge, ..."

I like the X amount each one on a new Royal. I have added that as a separate challenge.