Do You Read Novels Set In Your Historical Era?

I'm writing about mid-17c France (with the serial numbers filed off for plot-related reasons), and I read fiction about it whenever I can. I like to see how other writers handle the setting & characters. There's not a lot of it in English, though, and even less that's any good.

Fiction AND non-fiction. For research and not for research. I love steeping myself in the period, whether it's for leisure or learning.

For me, it's early to mid 20th century stuff ('00s to '40s) like "Loving Frank" or "The Chaperone." I'm working on "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" right now. At the same time, I'm reading "Meet You in Hell," about the relationship between Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick. That one's research. They're both terrific for helping me with the world-building I'm trying to do right now, both for Pittsburgh and for New York. I also need to read some Steinbeck for more California flavor in several of my current WIPs.

I also adore old silent era movie magazines and old NY and Pittsburgh online newspapers. They are GOLD.

Gothicangel, I'm completely with you! I find it so hard to read historical fiction set in my current time period (18th c France) because all I seem to do is nit pick and compare. Getting swept up in the writing or the story is impossible with a non-stop commentary of petty little triumphs (Ha! She / he got that wrong!) and insecurity creeps (OMG why didn't I think of that? Does that mean how I wrote it is wrong?) constantly in my head.

It's rather ruined things for me, reading-wise; hope it's just a passing, insecure new writer phase.

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I read fiction and nonfiction from my time period (mid-20th century; 60s-70s). I get a kick out if, which adds some swing to my writing. I like to envision myself in those novels to see where I am headed.

I often get the urge to throw them against the wall.

What interesting is reading novels, poems, and plays written *during* the period I'm writing about.

It great when the jokes still make me laugh, even when they are 500 years old and written in a language I can barely decipher.

I've read a few that take place in my time period. I don't get nitpicky with them mostly because the ones I've read deal with other aspects of the period that I'm not dealing with or don't know that much about because I'm not writing about it. Still, though, I've read a lot more nonfiction about the time period than fiction set in it.

I love reading novels written 'way back then! Most of my favorite authors were born before 1880.
One good, well written and thoroughly researched novel set in the Roman Empire would be A Pillar of Iron by Taylor Caldwell.

I read anything I can get my hands on, to understand the market and see if there's anything I can learn from other writers in my genre. It's awesome when I find a really good one, because it reassures me that my genre isn't dead after all, but sadly there aren't that many great novels set in ancient Egypt.

Kallithrix said:

I read anything I can get my hands on, to understand the market and see if there's anything I can learn from other writers in my genre.

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I can't imagine not reading the books set in my time period because how else would I know if there is(n't) a market? I read a recently published novel set in my exact time and almost exact place, with some of the same major historical figures. Totally not my thing. Did not enjoy it. Skimmed most of it. But now I can say with confidence how my manuscript is different. And I found a couple of secondary sources in the notes that I didn't know about! Win, win.