Kelly has already asked a couple of questions about this one, so I'll copy them here so she won't have to repeat herself!  She wrote:

I just noticed on the "lists only" thread that Valli has picked James Clavell for her "deflowering" category! Yay for Valli!! He is one of my favorites & I'm sure you won't be disappointed! 

I'm thinking about either Con Iggulden or Helen Hollick for my deflowering book. Suggestions?

Back to the highbrow literature: early considerations are for Zookeeper's Wife, East of Eden (Steinbeck), or City of Thieves (Benioff). Wouldn't these all fit this category? Yes? No?

I saw Valli's choice of Clavell also.  I almost had him on the list of "other HF Forum Favorites" for that category...that list was fairly random.  I actually did a search on the forum of "favorite authors" and used the ones that stuck in my head the most often.  Since being deflowered of the Big Three was one of my accomplishments for 2010, I plan to use Conn Iggulden for this category in 2011.

RE: highbrow historical fiction (Follow the Leader category), I zipped over to Library Thing & did a tag mash for historical fiction & literary. Results are here: http://www.librarything.com/tag/historical+fiction,+literary.

Kelly

Great idea with the tag mash! And that list of books is perfect. You will find tons of great stuff in this list.

If you are new(or not) to hf, how do you know which category  a book will be used for before you read it? For instance I'm going to read The Red Tent, I'm guessing that won't be under wild women but where should it go?

Hi Bonnie, you'll have to read the synopsis of the book and decide whether it fits one of the categories.  I'm thinking The Red Tent would maybe be considered "highbrow" fiction?  Or, did your HF forum friend recommend it to you?  Otherwise, I don't know if it fits the other categories.

I'm pretty sure that any book you can find, someone in this forum has already read it and will give you their critique of it! 

Diane

Thanks Diane...I'm doing challenge #3 so I'll ask Jerelyn what she thinks too!

There are a whole host of strong women in The Red Tent, so I'd say you could count it for Wild Women.  

See, I knew someone would have read the book....

Diane

Thanks Christa, when I said that I didn't understand what wild women meant! I was thinking about naked men again...oops!

Letty has corrupted Bonnie.  Already.  And we haven't even started the new challenge yet.  

*shakes head*

*sputter* bbb but that is just not fair,  I am so reserved and demure....  and shy!

Good thing I had already finished my coffee before coming back here.

Linda & I just reviewed our PBS TBR list, figuring out which of our books have less than 2 reviews! A quick & easy way to narrow down our choices for the hidden gem category.  Kelly

Letty - The lady doth protest too much!  Do you resemble that remark? 

BTW, thanks for the picture of BC and friends!

Oh is this the sharing secrets part? Buckle up ladies I've been talking to Jerelyn for over a year...

siticks tongue out at Bonnie.

Your welcome Shelley!

Gosh, I just don't know how to act right now...Usually, we corrupt our newbies right after they get here, but Letty brought us one that is already corrupt! Oh, what to do, what to do......

:-D

It's all Jerelyns' fault...let's get her! oh wait...she is my friend...got caught up in the frenzy again, I guess I'm not on CMT anymore!!!!

Ok, I need you experts to rule on a couple of questions I have. I'm having a hard time deciding if something is fiction or non-fiction; or more liking I'm trying to draw the conclusion I want. So I leave it to you. We are only allowed on non-fiction book in Challenge 3 so tell me if the following two books meet the definition of historical fiction or non-fiction:

"The Lost City of Z"

Starred Review. In 1925, renowned British explorer Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett embarked on a much publicized search to find the city of Z, site of an ancient Amazonian civilization that may or may not have existed. Fawcett, along with his grown son Jack, never returned, but that didn't stop countless others, including actors, college professors and well-funded explorers from venturing into the jungle to find Fawcett or the city. Among the wannabe explorers is Grann, a staff writer for the New Yorker, who has bad eyes and a worse sense of direction. He became interested in Fawcett while researching another story, eventually venturing into the Amazon to satisfy his all-consuming curiosity about the explorer and his fatal mission. Largely about Fawcett, the book examines the stranglehold of passion as Grann's vigorous research mirrors Fawcett's obsession with uncovering the mysteries of the jungle. By interweaving the great story of Fawcett with his own investigative escapades in South America and Britain, Grann provides an in-depth, captivating character study that has the relentless energy of a classic adventure tale. (Feb.)

and

"Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World"

In early 1864, heading back to Australia after a failed mining expedition, the crew of the Grafton encountered a violent storm and found themselves shipwrecked in the Auckland Islands, off the coast of New Zealand. Druett, a maritime historian (In the Wake of Madness), draws upon the journals of the ship's captain, Thomas Musgrave, and prospector François Raynal to reveal how the crew pulled together and made the best of their circumstances for nearly two years. By contrast, when the Invercauld ran aground on the other side of the island months later?beyond an impassable mountain range, and hence unaware they were not alone?the surviving sailors quickly began eating their dead crewmates out of desperation. Soon, only three remained, the ineffectual captain and another officer being kept alive by a resourceful seaman. Druett tells the two stories in strict chronological order, allowing readers to become familiar with the Grafton party before weaving the Invercauld survivors into the narrative. She zeroes in on the salient details of their ordeals, identifying the plants that kept the castaways from contracting scurvy or sketching out an improvised recipe for soap with equal aplomb. This is a fine addition to the genre of survival tales like Endurance or In the Heart of the Sea. (Jul. 20)

These books fall in the area of "Into Thin Air", "Skeletons of the Zahara", and "Into the Wild". What do you think? Can they be considered historical fiction?

Oh, Bruce, your books are speaking my language...you've mentioned some of my favorite's! I loved Skeletons on the Zahara and all of krakauer's books. I haven't read the Druett yet, it's on my WL, but I'm sure it's non-fiction. Lost City of Z is also N/F and is a great read.

I have some book lists made of this type book - one is "Sailing the High Seas" and focuses on disaster at sea type books, one is made up of books about different explorers and explorations, and one is based on adventure. If you want to check them out, you can find the lists on my profile. Each list is open so if you know of any good stuff I've missed that would fit into these lists, please feel free to add any titles you want. I'm always looking for more books like these.

They're both non-fiction, I'm afraid.  But they sound really good!  Especially the Lost City of Z.  That could be a Christmas present for my dh...so thanks!  

ETA: Valli, "Skeletons" is one of my hubby's favorites, along with "Into the Wild."

Ooooo...I forgot about Skeletons.  I have that on TBR.  That's what I'll use for Africa!  (thanking myself for instituting the one-NF-per-challenge rule!)

Fine!    I'll concede the obvious that those are non-fiction books but I ain't happy about it. I did find two possibilites for S. America and Austrailia that I have tentatively added to the list to replace the above but those are two tough continents let me tell ya.

If it wasn't tough, it wouldn't be called a "challenge"! 

"Fine!    I'll concede the obvious ... but I ain't happy about it."

You're going to fit in just fine around here, Bruce ... got the attitude just about right!

Kelly