Welcome, welcome, welcome!
I am so pleased to have you here, in this space where we can talk all things history and all things books.
Long time readers of
know that I am an avid reader, with a high bar for what counts as quality history writing. It was only a matter of time until I started my own book club, wasn’t it!And there really is no time like autumn (for those of us in the northern hemisphere, at least) to curl up with a good book and chat with friends and colleagues over a cup of coffee / tea / something stronger.
October sees the beginning of our first read, Storyland by Amy Jeffs.
There are lots of reasons why I’ve chosen this book to be our first, which I go into in detail in the video, but suffice to say this is one of my all-time favourite history books. Jeffs deals masterfully with the stories ancient and medieval Britons told to make sense of the world, updating them and adding a historical commentary designed to show the connections between their experience and ours. I mean, it’s all my favourite things in one book: connection, storytelling, relatability!
We’ll be taking this book slowly, meaning that we will read it over four months:
October 2024. Part One: In the Beginning (pp.3-58)
November 2024. Part Two: Prehistory (pp.59-130)
December 2024. Part Three: Antiquity (pp.131-246)
January 2025. Part Four: The Middle Ages (pp.247-end)
The first Saturday of each month will see a video post discussing my thoughts on the section we’ve just read, some questions to get conversations going in the comments, and the chapters to read over the following weeks.
This first meet up of the book club is for all members of Telling Their Tales. I am so delighted to share it with everyone!
Going forward, however, it will be a feature of the paid membership here at
, a cosy intimate community devoted to getting to know one another better through our shared love of history and history reads.Paid membership starts from just over £4 / $5 per month, and includes access not only to our book club, but also exclusive instalments of my serialised novels, an ebook of short historical fiction stories, and the ability to pose your own questions in chat to our worldwide readership.
I can’t wait to get to know you all better through this slow readalong: it really is the community here at
that makes this space so special!If you have any questions, as ever, drop them in the comments or send a message through the
chat and I’ll do my best to answer.I mentioned my secondary Substack publication in the video you can find it linked below.
Happy reading guys! Can’t wait to chat in November.
All the best as always,
Holly
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