Thinking Blogger

I was pleased and flattered to see that Daphne, of the excellent Tanzanite's Shelf and Stuff, has nominated me for a 'Thinking Blogger Award', which I'm proudly displaying above. Here are the rules:

1. If you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Link to that post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

3. Optional: Proudly display your "Thinking Blogger Award" with a link to the post that you wrote.

It's really difficult to choose only five, but these are my choices, in no particular order:

1) Susan Higginbotham's Reading, Raving and Ranting. Although I'm copying Daphne, I have to include Susan, as she's written a novel (The Traitor's Wife) which is really sympathetic to my beloved Edward II. Also, she writes some brilliant posts on fourteenth-century history, she's really funny, and she's probably the only other person on the planet who's as interested in all things Edward II as I am.

2) My second choice is another of Daphne's, too: Carla Nayland Historical Fiction. Carla's main focus is a few centuries earlier than my era, and it's fascinating to learn about such a different period. Also, she writes excellent book reviews, and yummy recipes that send me straight to the kitchen. :)

3) Gabriele Campbell's The Lost Fort. Lots on German and Roman history (Gabriele is German), great photos, historical fiction....a great and entertaining way to learn a lot. Gabriele also runs Lost Chronicles, a blog with a more academic flavour, and Lost Scrolls, her snippet blog to showcase her excellent fiction. (Hey, they only count as one choice...right?)

4) Just....Ilya...Ilya's musings on life, the universe and everything (and look at her photo blog, too). Ilya's a Romanian with a deep knowledge of, and interest in, history. Multilingual, she's always an inspiration.

5) Last but by no means least, the great fourteenth century poet Geoffrey Chaucer himself. Screamingly funny - some of his posts literally make me cry with laughter - always clever, written in Middle English, and with T-shirts available! What more could a person ask for?

There are plenty of other blogs I often read and enjoy - most notably Sarah's Reading The Past, which is brilliant for anyone interested in historical fiction, Frank's eclectic and informative Bourgeois Nerd, and the always hilarious Useless Advice From Useless Men.

EDIT: Blogger seems to be having one of its frequent snits - the formatting's really weird on this post! :(