And can you mention the time period/what it focuses on? I love WWI and II, 60s/70s, French Revolution, medieval— honestly, whatever you’ve got!
Books I’ve enjoyed:
The Women and the Nightingale by Kristen Hannah
The Book Thief, obviously
11/22/63 by King
The Bear and the Nightingale series by Katherine Arden — loved the blend of folklore and history
Fatal Throne: the Wives of Henry VIII Tell All
Thanks friends!!!
by waspkiller69
19 Comments
If you liked Kristin Hannah, Kate Quinn would be right up your alley. She mostly does WW2
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett. Mid sixteenth century.
have you tried The Great Alone or The Four Winds, both by Kristin Hannah? The Great Alone is set in Alaska in the 1970s; The Four Winds is set in Texas during the Great Depression. both are fantastic! I still the The Nightingale is my favourite of Hannah’s, but The Great Alone is a very close second. I read it in one sitting during a very bad storm, and I bawled my eyes out the whole time. Its a beautiful story
I loved the Jaipur Trilogy by Alka Joshi – *The Henna Artist* is the first book.
Anything by Elmer Kelton. His Ranger series consists of 9 books and covers about fifty years, the 1830s to 1880s.
Stand Proud is a great book that covers a guy’s life from when he was a young man during the Civil War to him being a rancher around the turn of the century.
Kelton has books that take place from the early 1800s all the way to the 1980s when they were written. He was the son & grandson of working cowboys and he worked for years as a stock reporter for the San Angelo, Texas newspaper.
In case you can’t tell, he’s probably my favorite author of all time.
Outlander.
Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig
So good
1700’s, The Frozen River. Murder mystery, charming love, strong female protagonist midwife, multiple subplots, beautiful prose.
Clan is the Cave Bear. Set in early times of people on earth. Also known as “Earth Children” series
Ken Follett’s Kingsbridge series and his Century trilogy are really good.
If you like the French Revolution, Hilary Mantel’s “A Place of Greater Safety” looks at it from the perspectives of Danton, Robespierre, Demoulins and their circles. Her style does require more effort from readers than some historical fiction, but it’s really worth it to seem to enter into the minds the historical figures who populate the book.
The Wilderness series by Sara Donati, inspired by Last of the Mohicans. The audiobooks narrated by Kate Reading are phenomenal.
I also loved The Lost Queen series by Signe Pike – Dark Ages Scotland, ancestors of Merlin and King Arthur.
For WWII, Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi. When I was reading it years ago on my commute, strangers stopped me on the train to say they also lived reading it. The protagonist is a little person that’s lived a hard life and ends up doing extraordinary things no one suspected her capable of (which is precisely why she’s able to do them). It’s a very detailed, puts you there, type of book and both heartbreaking and fascinating
Tai Pan and Noble House about Hong Kong
James Clavell’s Asian Saga is wonderful. My personal favourites are Shogun and Noble House, and while each book has connections, they all work as stand-alone novels.
I loved “A Tale of Two Cities”
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Diamond eye by Kate Quinn
All the things we cannot say
Pillars of the Earth- medieval England,
The Last Kingdom series- Anglo Saxon England during the Vikings raids ,
The Invisible Bridge- WW2 Hungary ,
Child 44 series – Soviet Union Stalin era,
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – NYC early 1900’s