"In 1972, I was sixteen - young, my father said, to be traveling with him on his diplomatic missions."
first sentence of "The historian : a novel" by #ElizabethKostova on #isbnmaschine
https://www.isbn-maschine.de/978-0-751-55728-4-first-sentence.php

"He looks instead, the abbot thinks, as if all the world is before him."
last sentence of "The historian : a novel" by #ElizabethKostova on #isbnmaschine
https://www.isbn-maschine.de/978-0-751-55728-4-last-sentence.php

#Bookstodon, @littleseamstress and I have been canoodling about making a "fave books" post on our website, so here's just for starters, in no order:

Blood Meridian by #CormacMcCarthy

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell AND Piranesi by #SusannaClarke

Foucault's Pendulum by #UmbertoEco

#LotR of course

Meditations on the Tarot by #ValentinTomberg

The Historian by #ElizabethKostova

The Secret History by #DonnaTartt

The Man in the High Castle by #PDK

The Shadow Land is a slow, contemplative thriller set in modernish Bulgaria.

Although neither scifi nor fantasy (gasp!), it has elements that I liked from The Historian, e.g. nested stories revealing parallel subplots. The outer plot felt a bit meandering, but mainly in a good way.

I'd recommend it if you feel like a leisurely, sometimes-bleak tour of Bulgaria with some intrigue stirred in.

#TheShadowLand #ElizabethKostova #AmReading