Woohoo, it’s Week 2 of this incredibly fun meme and Goodreads book club created by myself, Jill @ Rant and Rave About Books, and Britt @ Geronimo Reads. To join our group and find out more information about what it’s all about, please go to our Goodreads page HERE.
RULES:
- Answer the weekly discussion topic.
- Optional: Discuss your chosen hyped book of the week.
- Optional: Talk about your progress on the BOTM.
TOPIC OF THE WEEK: Time-Travel and Fictional Worlds
Question 1: If you could travel through time, where would you go? (A particular event in time, decade, etc.)
I’ve got a couple of answers for this question. I’m also going to give book examples and recommendations to go along with these eras in case you’re interested in some classics or historical fiction for these time periods.
Regency Era
I have an obsession with Regency-Era novels, movies, etc. I don’t know why I love it so much but I think it probably started when I read Pride and Prejudice when I was 13 years old. I think most people are quite familiar with Jane Austen’s novels but there are plenty more that I encourage you to try out. War and Peace and The Count of Monte Cristo are two of the other more popular ones, both of which I absolutely adore. However, a lesser known one but still one of my all-time favorites that you should try reading is William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. Seriously, this book is fantastic. Then when you finish it, check out the movie version starring Reese Witherspoon as the main protagonist, Becky Sharpe.
1940’s/WWII Era
This probably wasn’t the most fun time in the history of Earth, but I have this strange fascination with WWII. I like the fashion and pop culture of that time period. Maybe it’s the historian in me, but I cannot get enough of historical fiction set in WWII. I love, love, love these types of novels. I’ve only listed a few that I’ve enjoyed over the years but some other ones of note are Schindler’s List, Atonement, and Between Shades of Gray.
Ancient Times – Greek, Roman, Egyptian
I wish I could explain to you how strong my obsession with ancient mythology was when I was younger. I literally had an entire folder filled with all kinds of random information about the different gods/goddesses, myths, etc. for the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse cultures. I can still spout off a bunch of myths and tales from that time, possibly a bit of genealogy if I’m really in the mood. Needless to say, I made an A in my Mythology class in my final semester at TCU. So yeah, I would totally go back and live in that time. These are just a bunch of books on different aspects in that time period. I’ve read them all except for The Song of Achilles which is currently sitting on my TBR shelf at home. If I had to just recommend one of these, it would be any of Colleen McCullough’s Master’s of Rome series. Her writing is insanely amazing! I think there’s like 7 books in the entire series, plus I believe she has another series set in the same time period as well. Her books are pretty hefty though, so just be prepared for that.
Question 2: If you could travel to a fictional place, where would you go?
Please, take me away to Hogwarts! I’ve been waiting for my letter to arrive all of this time and yet I continue to be disappointed!
I guess this will be the closest I ever come to the real thing… Touring the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour in London. Fun Fact: While there this past fall, they were filming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them at the same time in the next studio!!
BOTM and Hyped Book of the Week Update
I have yet to start reading our BOTM for April, Passenger by Alexandra Bracken. I know, I know! But I keep putting it off as I’ve got a bunch of others that I need to read first since they’re due back at the library within the next week. I guess I’m also a little leery of starting it because I’ve heard such mixed reviews, the worst consensus being that it’s boring. Guys, I cannot deal with boring books. But I’ll get to it probably by the end of next week.
I didn’t really pick a specific hyped book for this week but I guess they could all count as hyped but I’ll use Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson for this week. This was a great historical fiction about the California Gold Rush with just a little twist of the fantastical. I gave it 4/5 stars. You can read my full review HERE.
My hyped book that I chose for next week is going to be Dorothy Must Die (Book #1) by Danielle Paige. I’m interested in seeing how this one goes. Fingers crossed it’s a fun read because it really sounds entertaining!
Leave a link to your Hype or Like Friday post in the comments or just leave a comment answering this week’s prompt! Have any recommendations for a hyped book that I should read next? See any of my recs that you’re interested in reading?
Wonderfilled Reads 
Ancient Greek/Rome/Egypt would be SO AMAZING. I have such an obsession with that era. I’m with you on waiting for the Hogwarts letter. It’s been 15 years, but I’m not giving up hope 😂 Your Harry Potter studio tour looks wonderful!
I hope you enjoy Dorothy Must Die when you get to it. I thought it was a fun read 🙂 I really need to get to Passenger too.
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Right?! It would be really exciting to live back then!
So glad to know that I’m not the only one Hogwarts has forgotten about. I used to blame it on me being an American but with the new movie and stuff, I can’t use that excuse anymore lol!
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Haha, aw! I guess I can still keep using being Australian as an excuse. I’m sure our owls are coming though. They’re just a little lost 😉
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I love your post! And my favorite book of all times, The Iliad, made it on there. 🙂 Yay! I’m a mythology freak, too. I love Roman and Greek mythology. I’m the same way with reciting stories about the gods and goddesses. Achilles and Athena are my favs. Your tour of HP looks so awesome. And in London of all places, how cool? Nice post! This was a really fun idea for this week.
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Aww, thanks! My faves are Athena and Artemis. 🙂
Yeah, getting to tour the exact set that they filmed all of the movies on was really amazing! I even got to sit in Hagrid’s motorcycle, sit at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, and stand on the Knight Bus! It was so awesome!
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That is so cool. I would love to see that in person. Your pictures are really nice.
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I definitely recommend it if you ever visit London! Thanks! It took me a while to sort through all of them and choose just a couple.
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I would love to visit though I doubt I’d every get my hubby to go. If there’s no beach or fast cars or something to keep him entertained, he’s not going. Lol. Maybe I’ll talk him into the Wizarding World at Universal. That’s not too far from where my parents live. I bet you have a ton of pics. I probably would’ve maxed out my memory card. 🙂
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Haha yeah, I bet he’d enjoy the Universal Studios more! 😊
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Yeah, I think so. He’s a man-child.
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Aren’t all guys? Hahaha!
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YES! They are children in large bodies. LOL.
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For sure!
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I’m putting off reading passenger for the same exact reason! But I’ll eventually get to it !
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It’s so awful that I’m doing this! I really shouldn’t give much thought to other reviews because I could find it completely engrossing. But I’ve also had 6 library books that are due back on Tuesday so I’m really just trying to get through those first.
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I’m putting it off mainly because of my huge TBR haha so I don’t want to go and get it until it is a little reduced, and the mixed reviews got my excitement a little down so they actually helped with the book buying craze haha.
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Haha, oh I know that feeling as well!
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Lucky you for going on tour there! 🙂 I love how you connected books to the era’s you’d like to travel to. I find novels set during WW2 hard to enjoy, it must come from my great-grandmother’s stories. But totally with you on ancient mythology, although I forgot almost everything I knew about it after high school!
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Thank you! I’m a sucker for classics and historical fiction (which doesn’t really get a whole lot of attention usually), so I wanted to give some recs in case people were interested.
I can imagine it being hard to read WWII novels when you’ve heard real stories about it from people who experienced it firsthand.
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We have the same ideas, it’s scary. Check out mine: https://darnellouis.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/hype-or-like-friday-2-time-periods/
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Your array of book photos for each time periods is incredible. Seriously, they must have taken forever to put together! I feel exactly the same way about reading Passenger. Oo, goodie, you’re a Greek mythology buff. Do you have any little-known facts about Charon an the River Styx?
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Thank you! It actually didn’t take me long to do it at all!
I don’t really have a whole lot on Charon and the Styx, other than the usual such as the gods having to make oaths on it and that Achilles mother, the goddess Thetis, dipped him into it but she held him by his ankle and so that was the only part of his body not immortal which is why he died from Paris’ arrow piercing it. I’m sorry I don’t have more for you!
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I didn’t know that the gods made oaths on the river. That’s a good one.
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Oh, awesome! 😊
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Yes! We all want to go to Hogwarts! Whats your house? I also keep forgetting to do a hyped book of the week but I also have been working doubles all week and next week so I don’t even have the time. I have read Dorothy Must Die and tbh I don’t even remember it much. I think I liked it??? Hahaha how sad is that?
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I was Gryffindor but I haven’t retaken the quiz since they changed it. I just keep forgetting to. 😩
Haha, oh don’t worry about that! I honestly think I’m the only one who is even doing that. And really I’m only doing it because pretty much all of the TBR books I own are considered hyped books and I tend to read multiple books a week.
Hahaha, don’t even worry about it! I do that all of the time, especially books that it’s been a couple of years since I read like the Mara Dyer trilogy. No idea what happened in that series lol!
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So we are sworn enemies! muahhahahah! >:)
And I do own a couple of TBR books that are “hyped” although I do try to stay away from that. Also I read Dororthy Must Die, maybe two months ago? Lol it was the beginning of the year and the first book I read. Ahhh Mara Dyer series! All I remember about that one was that she lived in Rhode Island then moved to Florida lol. But then there are some books I remember every detail of even if it’s been years. e.g We Were Liars, On Dublin Street haha
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Hahahahahahaha looks like it!
Yeah, I’ve started reading more hyped books since I started blogging and bookstagramming because I see so many people recommending them. Before that, I was always a browser and cover buyer. I’d just buy whatever grabbed my attention at the bookstore. I should probably start doing that again.
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