This week also marks my first post at Past & Present Reads blog. Here to celebrate with me is fellow writer and blogger, MM Finck. She has been by-lined at Writer Unboxed and leads Women Writers, Women's Books’s Interviews. Thank you, MM, for stopping by to ask me the questions readers want to hear!
MM:
Tori, congratulations on your 100-week milestone! I’m glad to find in one handy
spot all of the past-and-present books you’ve tweeted about so far. Have you actually
read them all?
Tori:
Yes,
though not in the order in which I tweeted about them. I read mostly in hardcover
and trade paperback formats—and many through Audible (because listening to stories makes my long commute to work fun!).
MM:
What a wonderful variety of authors, periods,
and themes are represented here. Have you repeated any authors in the first 100
tweets?
Tori:
No.
Can you believe that? It suggests that other readers also enjoy books that shift
between the past and present. That said, among the next 100 tweets, I will be excited to feature again some of my favorite authors—those such as Karen White and Beatriz Williams.
(Interview continues below.)
(Interview continues below.)
Besides your love of history, what
inspired you to be an enthusiast of novels that shift between the past and present?
Tori:
Many
years after William Martin’s BACK BAY was published in 1979, I bought the novel and was enthralled. The story follows multiple generations of a
Boston family and their connection to a lost silver tea service crafted by Paul
Revere as a gift for George Washington. I later discovered many books with a similar structure, like early works by Sarah McCoy (THE BAKER’S
DAUGHTER) and Jenna Blum (THOSE WHO SAVE US); both of these novels alternate
between modern day and that of World War II—an era I find fascinating. I am intrigued by how past-and-present novels can take a glance back with the benefit of distance in assessing a time gone by. This holds true whether the novel spans 10 years, 70 years, or 300.
MM:
The tapestry of all 100 books is
visually interesting. Can you possibly pick a favorite cover?
Tori:
Hmm,
I distinctly recall when I first caught the buzz about A FINE IMITATION. I
was unfamiliar with debut author Amber Brock at the time, but I knew instantly
I had to read any book with that title
and that cover. I was thrilled to learn Amber’s novel shifted between the past
and present, and it turned out she also lives in the Atlanta-metro area. She’s one
of many authors I’ve had the pleasure of meeting during events at FoxTale Book Shoppe.
MM:
Might we expect anything new with your weekly
tweets in the future?
Tori:
Followers
will find more book covers displayed in upcoming tweets. I might try a three-week
series on a particular author’s past-and-present novels. I’m thinking maybe books
by Susan Meissner and Kate Morton? And, I’ll be tweeting under a new hashtag
now: #PastPresentReads.
MM:
Okay, ready for my toughest question,
Tori? Which of the first 100 books was your best read?
Tori:
Ugh!
That really is tough. If I was forced to drop everything this minute and start reading one again today, I’d probably pick up book #100. Besides its beautiful
writing, THE LAST PAINTING OF SARA DE VOS blends so many of the things I'm drawn to in fiction . . . a historical period
from centuries past (here, the 1600s); a second storyline, this one set in the
1950s; yet another narrative thread in the modern era—one that’s fueled by the
memories and regrets of characters who have aged; the portrayal of women's roles over time; an underlying love story; and, of course, a compelling object or
event that ties everything together: in this instance, a great piece of art.
MM:
Thank you, Tori! I look forward to seeing what books you feature next.
Tori:
Thank you, MM, for being my first blog guest!
MM:
Thank you, Tori! I look forward to seeing what books you feature next.
Tori:
Thank you, MM, for being my first blog guest!
In closing, I have to say, I never anticipated
my weekly tweets would carry on for nearly two years and running. I had already
read 52 of these books before I began, and I thought I’d tweet each week for one year and be done. But, the more books I read, the more I found. I decided to keep
going.
Please see my Sunday tweets @ToriLWhitaker. And, follow this blog for periodic reviews and other stuff for lovers of history and books.
NOTE ON THE TAPESTRY: On Twitter, I inadvertently tweeted WEEK #36 twice,
with two different books. Okay, I must have had a late night the Saturday
before. LOL. (It’s amazing it only happened once!) Then, for WEEK #66, I happened
to retweet librarian Sarah Johnson’s excellent blog post where she covered several past-and-present books. Her
post could not be pictured in my tapestry above, so the 100 cover images ended up
evening out. I encourage fans of historical fiction to follow Sarah’s beloved blog,
Reading the Past.
