I'm reading Mirrors & Smoke by our member @Adrienne Stevenson for fiction. It's about a herbalist and midwife in Niagara, Upper Canada, before and during the War of 1812. For non-fiction, I'm re-reading The Pinks by Chris Enss. It's about the first women detectives in the Pinkerton Detective Agency in the 19th century. Do you read outside when the weather's nice? I always like the *idea* of it, but rarely do it these days, even though I used to love reading in parks when I was a student.

A member mentioned this idea to me a while ago, but I've forgotten who. Sorry I don't know who to credit for the idea! I'm not at all into number-based reading challenges (e.g. read 50 books in a year or whatever). If others enjoy them, that's great! Just not my cup of tea. BUT I am interested in us doing other kinds of challenges. For example, it could be to read a historical novel that meets a certain criterion each month, e.g. in translation, featuring a lesbian main character, written by an Indigenous author, a Pulitzer Prize winner, set in a period you've never read before, etc. Obviously, it depends on the details, but is this something you'd be open to doing in here?

I'm reading Amity by Nathan Harris for my main squeeze fiction. For nonfiction, I'm reading Donnie Brasco, which is written by an FBI agent, Joe Pistone, who worked undercover with the Mafia for 6 years in the 70s. It's amazing he managed that long without getting "whacked" by a "wiseguy" 😂 (I know all the lingo now 😉)

My kids named our two fluffy black cats Squid (because he's black like ink) and Dove (because of the little cooing sound she made when she was a kitten; she now sounds more like a squawking vulture 😂). What do you think is a good name for our Historical Fiction Club cat? [Edited to add: I'll create a poll on Monday 25th so we can decide.]

Vote for your favourite name for our cat mascot! 🐈‍⬛ Polls in here are very basic. There can be only 10 options and you can vote for only one option. So, vote for your first choice. If you have a strong second choice, mention it in the comments. I'll give 2 points to the names voted in the poll and 1 point to names in the comments. If there's a tie, I'll cast the deciding vote. I'll announce the winner tomorrow (26th May). If you want to see the explanations behind the names, see this post: What should we name our cat mascot?