Best Historical Fiction books??:)
Favorite Historical Fiction books??:)
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Favorite Historical Fiction books??:)
The Outlander series, by far!
Outlander.
Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Chronicles.
Robert McCammon’s Matthew Corbett series (SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD)
CJ Sansom’s Matthew Shardlake series (DISSOLUTION)
Hild. It’s fantastic!
The Veronica Speedwell series!!
Haven’t heard of these books before! Put them on my TBR list! Sounds good!
They are amazing!
American’s First Daughter, and My Dear Hamilton.
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
Yes!
All the Light we Cannot See. The Book Thief. Lonesome Dove. Cold Mountain.
Phillipa Gregory books are well loved. One of them is coming to Starz this year.
Which one? I saw The White Queen a few years ago on I think Starz. Love her books.
@Ellen I think The Spanish Princess is coming this year, but they also are planning to do the Cousins series if I read the notice correctly.
F
The Terror by Dan Simmons
Widow of the South.
Oh I’m so glad you said this! I’ve been wanting to read it forever!!!
That was a great story!
I’ve only read one, but it was great. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Suzanne Clark
One of my favorite books ever. Suzanne Clark’s prose is top drawer and the story…love the story. Before reading it I would definitely have walked upon the fairy roads. Not so sure now 🙂
Books by Michelle Moran
And Allison Pataki
Loved Marie Antoinette by Michelle Moran as well as her Egyptian queen books.
Added to my TBR list’
Mrs. Tom Thumb
Widow of the South is very good. Salt to the Sea, also.
The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard
This year, it’s Varina by Charles Frazier.
Les Mes
The Tudor series and the cousin war series, both Phillippa Gregory, she s the reason why I fell in love with historical fiction!!!!
The entire Outlander series by Ms Gabaldon!
The Alice Network by @Kate
My Dear Hamilton
Currently reading.
Exodus by Leon Uris
All his books are fantastic. I’m partial to Trinity. Must be my Irish ☘️ ancestry.
Following
The Swan Thief
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.
Reading that now for my book club.
@Christa It’s a great story. Enjoy!
Loved it! Sad but good story. Really liked it! Read it on my own and liked it so much that I selected it for my book group this year!
@Ellen Very sad but well worth the read.
Any Rand, Ken Follett, Nelson DeMille
Wolf hall – by Hilary Mantel
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
That entire series !
I haven’t read it yet but on my TBR list!
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Also, The Pillars of the Earth and The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. Plus the Outlander series. I could go on and on!
All my favorites, too! Have you read the Bronze Horseman series by Pauline Simmons?
Also, Jeffrey Archer
No, I haven’t! I’ll look those up now. Thanks!
Hadn’t heard of him! Books look good! added to my TBR list.
Jeffrey Archer The Clifton series
@Gina absolutely love love love the Bronze Horseman series!!!
These among others
Reading Beneath A Scarlet Sky now. Added The Thief of Auschwitz to my TBR list. Have read the other two and really liked them! Great choices!
The Kitchen House, Glory Over Everything, The Book Thief, The Silent Companions, Beloved, The Thorn Birds, Lonesome Dove, Their Eyes Were Watching God, All the Light We Cannot See.
GWTW, Brendan Chronicles, The Nightingale, Beneath the Scarlet Sky
GWTW started me reading books about that historical time.
Katherine by Anya Seton. A truly great book: plague, murder, love, betrayal, redemption, etc.
I used to love Anya Seton books!
I loved that book. Would love to read it again.
@Christa I’ve read it 6 times over the decades!
I read all the Anya Seton books I could get my hands on as a teenager!
Added it to my TBR!
@Ellen I hope you can find it cuz I believe it’s outta print.
@Kay I am so excited. Found it on Amazon in Kindle version. ?
@Christa good to know!
Where to start? Pillars of the Earth, Winds of War, War & Remembrance, The Book Thief, Mila 18, Wolf Hall, The Nightingale, All the Light We Cannot See.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
All soooo good!
The Nightingale and Sarah’s Key were both such amazing books!❤️ I have not yet read The Alice Network but will add it to my list!
@Melissa Definitely read The Alice Network!!!!
Katherine is a great book. Allison Weir wrote an in depth study of her life that is excellent also
Just added her books to my TBR list!
Susannah Kearsley books!
Vera Cruz by Rosalind Wright
The Book Thief, Things Fall Apart, Lonesome Dove
Harvard Yard, Cape Cod, and Back Bay are all great books written by William Martin. While all those books are centered in Massachusetts history, he has others ranging from the Constitution, Wall Street, to Annapolis or the Gold Rush. Fast paced, fun reads. Kind of Dan Brown-like. Some of my favorites.
Bernard Cromwell’s Sharpe Series and most Regency Novels by Georgette Heyer.
Dear and Glorious Physician , Taylor Caldwell
I like Alison Weir’s stuff a lot and the ne I enjoyed most was, “The Lady Elizabeth.” I’ve read other of Weir’s works and like her style a lot.
Jamie Guidry, The Six Wives of Henry VIII is one of the very best books I have ever read.
I will give you my top authors for historical fiction…
Sharon Kay Penman
Margret George
Ken Follet
John Jakes
David Liss
Helen Hollick
Diana Gabaldon
Wilbur Smith
Sarah Donati
Ann Weir
All are wonderful?
Sharon Kay Penman awesome. I was trying to see if it was on the list. 🙂
Patricia Vander Laan
Loved every one of her books… Here
be Dragons!
Yes, my aunt introduced me to her, and I read everything she had written at that point. Love her work.
@Patricia
Forgot …
James Clavell (shogun series).
Mount Vernon Love Story
Tale of Two Cities; The Book Thief; Grapes of Wrath; Slaughter House 5; The Bible
The Paris Wife.
Phillipa Gregory’s books. All of them 🙂
All the Light I Cannot See
Jack Whyte’s series ‘A dream of eagles’
Thanks. Getting from the library. So many books, so little time
Wolf Hall
Gone to Soldiers by Marge Percy
Anything by Jennifer Donnely. Her Tea Rose series is very good.
Adelsverein Trilogy
The Terror.
The Terror was so great!
Yes! I loved both the book and AMC’s adaptation.?
Time and again by jack finney
My faves- Sussana Kearsley, Ken Follett, Diana Galbadon there are more but these are my top 3.
Before We Were Yours, The Stars are FIre, Home for Unwanted Girls, the Alice Network.
Starting with Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer and going on through Eloisa James and Julia Quinn at a few others Regency Romances. Years ago I read a series centered around one family and Williamsburg, Virginia but I can’t remember the author right off hand.. But it was a good view of American history from the colonial times up thru WWI
Was it the John Jake series?
@Monica I didn’t find the name of the series on Amazon but I did find the author: Els wyth Thane. The first on is Dawn’s Early Light. And another thing in goes up to the WWII not WWI
Loving Frank, The Paris Wife, The Other Einstein.
Lauraine Snelling book series…..read in order!
I love the Brooch series by Katherine Lowery Logan. Also pillars of the earth by Ken Follet.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Jan Westcott’s The Tower and the Dream
Before We Were Yours by L. Wingate and The House of Velvet and Glass by K. Howe are two of my recent favorites.
Phillipa Greggory
Ken Follet Pillars of the Earth series; Sara Donati Wilderness series
The Tea Planter’s Wife and Lilac Girls
Beneath a scarlet sky, Rebecca s key.
Pillars of the Earth!
Love and other consolation prizes
Anya Seton, THE WINTHROP WOMAN. DEVIL WATER.
Devil in the White CIty
Awesome read! It’s nonfiction that reads like fiction
The other Boylen Girl, The Miniaturist, The Underground Railrood, The Muse
There are so many….where do I begin? My favorite kind of reading! Ken Follett, Alison Weir, Phillipa Gregory, the Nightengale by Hannah, depends on the setting you are looking for?
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Regeneration by Pat Barker
The Moreland series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. There are a bunch of them.
Trinity or anything else by Leon Uris
Trinity was excellent
French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles, The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve
The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye. I was so sad when it ended because I wanted it to go on forever…
And her Shadow of the Moon was awesome as well!
Les Miserables!!!! Oh my… it is long… read it in stages, but it is so very worth it!
Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels.
J.G. Farrell’s Siege of Krishnapur
Frans G. Bengtsson’s The Long Ships
Ken Follett
One Thousand White Women, The Nightingale, The Alice Project, The Dove Keepers.
I loved the Dove Keepers
One thousand white women very good
Chris Bohaljian has quite a few: Sandcastle Girls, the Light in the Ruins.
Lonesome Dove
Irving Stone, Jane Austen, Khaled Hosseini, The Story Teller-Picoult, Those Who Save Us-Blum, Lisa See, Leon Uris
Just picked up The Story Teller at Half Priced Books!
Poldark series of book’s
I’ve read most of them. A dismal time period for the commoner in England. The gruesome jails and near starvation described in the novels is quite graphic. I also love the Outlander series, where the woman is the central character, and Jamie is the beloved.
@Catherine I’ve read both series, love them both!
Savannah series by Eugenia @Price
Queen Elizabeth I. What a bad ass!
Shaara, McMurtry, Mitchener, Plaidy…some authors to check out!
How can folks not be saying Les Mis? I know, I know, it’s long…. but so worth it!
Not thinking about it, although it was my first long novel I couldn’t put down. This was before there was the broadway musical. Now, I can’t think about it, without hearing the music playing.
@Catherine it is one of those books that grabbed me on so many levels. It just speaks to my soul.
Sublime. When I finished Les Mis, all I could do was walk from one room to another, sobbing. No other book has so affected me.
@JD same here…. and every time I see the movie or play.
Ken Follett
Ahab’s Wife, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Fever 1793 (young adult), The Year of the Hangman (young adult alternate history)
And of course Ken Follet
Guernsey Lit… Great book. A must read.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is one of the best books I have come across. I have read it several times and find new things to love.
That’s one I’m looking forward to reading!
Not All Bastards are From Vienna by Andrea Molesini
Herman Wouk
Lonesome Dove
Kate Morton books
Have read all of them and she has a new one coming out Later this year if I am not mistaken
@Susie yes!!?
I recently read The House at Riverton, and loved it
@Joan , my kids no longer ask what I want for Christmas….. Amazon gift card is a “ no brainer”?
@Susie aw yes!!! The PERFECT gift?
The Historian by Elizabeth Kastova. Nefertiti, and The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran, and anything by Phillipa Gregory
The Historian was an excellent book!!
Belva Plain…”Evergreen.”
Herman Wouk wrote the best!
Mila 18 by Leon Uris
The Covenant by James Michener
Two books that started me reading a wave of HF throughout my life. A favorite genre for me………
I love Léon Uris!!
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
One of my all-time favorites
I almost forgot about this one! Excellent!!!
One of my favorite books ever!
Please let me know if anyone has a recommendation that compares.
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Taylor Caldwell – correction Irving Stone – so long ago!
Irving Stone wrote The Agony and The Ecstasy
OOPS – You are correct I read so much of their work in the 1960’s and 70’s it is hard remember which one wrote which book. The list of historical fiction I have read is in the hundreds as a result of tackling this around age 9 or 10.
Reading Leon Uris in the 9th grade started me down an informative and enlightening path of HF books throughout my life.
Boy, now you all have done it! Historical fiction is my favorite genre. Taking this thread to the top and getting out my paper and pencil. I am 68 and there may not be enough time for me to read all the books I want to read.?
Will always be mine!
? I am doing the same thing! I am not feeling well today so as I am listening to the Maggie Hope Series on auto books from the on line library as I make my list. The first book that got me hooked and looking for more Historical Fictions was by Tess Garritsen’s called “The Bone Garden “. It was so good!
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Tracy Chavelier- esp The Girl with the Pearl Earring & Remarkable Creatures.
James Michenor
Diana Galbadon
Leon Uris
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks!
Outlander
I love this genre!
The Other Einstein, The Alice Network, The Designer, The Address, and A Gentleman in Moscow
I have read everyone of these books and they are all good
Oliver Wiswell by Kenneth Roberts. Great book on the American Revolution from the loyalist perspective. Read it as a boy and have enjoyed it again since.
The Savannah Quartet, The Florida Trilogy, and the St. Simons Trilogy by Eugenia Price triggered my love for historical Fiction over 30 years ago. I loved every book of hers I read and they are all set in the south
The nightingale
When I was a teen I read a lot of what were called Gothic Romances. Mary Steward wrote quite a few.
The Nightingale…The Alice Network….series about all of the Tudor wives of Henry 8th…..
Pillars of the Earth series…I forgot…
Moloka’i by Alan Brennert (about the leprosy colony in Hawaii) is a wonderful novel that comes full circle. I’m so happy a coworker recommended it to me as I would have definitely missed this one!
You should check out The Samurai’s Garden. I loved this book so much I literally hugged it.
@Felice ….i will definitely check it out….cuz I sure could use a hug-worthy book right now!
Outlander
Reading “All the Light We Cannot See” right now- it is excellent. I didn’t think I would like it based on a summary, but the structure and pace are riveting.
In my top 5 🙂
Nicholas and Alexandra about the last Russian Tsar.
Read this in high school when it first came out and have read everything non-fiction I could about this time period since then!
@Linda – I did the same!! I continue to read everything I can find about them. Such a fascinating, but tragic, time in history.
If you are referring to Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K Massie it is a Biography. Robert K Massie won the Pulitzer for his biography Peter the Great: His Life And Times. Massie is renowned for his History & Biography books. He won the Pulitzer because he did so much research into the records his books read almost like novels.
The Wall by John Hersey about the Warsaw ghetto. I couldn’t believe that it was fiction though it was based on truth. All of Leon Uris is great
The Child From the Sea by Elizabeth Goudge. HF about Lucy Walter, first mistress of British King Charles II … or was she truly his lawful wife? Made me fall in love with Wales.
The Other Boleyn Girl
Fortunes daughter by Isabella Allende. A Fine balance by Rohinton Mistry.
A Fine Balance was amazing!
Sharon Kay Penman
Wolf Hall and sequel by Hilary Mantel
Lost in Shangri-La
Rocket Girl
The Telling Room
Remarkable Creatures
Outlander
Outlander is historical fiction overlapping historical fiction. In my opinion, people reject it if they are unable to except the premise, of time shifting. Then, we have a male that is the love object, with the woman moving the plot. It’s what I love about it..radically different from a male point of view.
So true! My favorite by far
Almost anything by Bernard Cornwell
Books by Sharon Kay Penman, particularly her Welsh princes trilogy. Personal favorite is When Christ and all his Saints Slept.
The Red Tent is really good
Eugenia Price’s “Savannah” quartet.
Outlander
Love this book!
Yes! I read this years ago and still remember the feeling I had when I had finished it. It was a great book!
Ken Follett ‘ s series
America’s First Daughter, about Thomas Jefferson’s daughter Patsy.
And My Dear Hamilton
Yes, I just started it 🙂
@Amber , Will make you realize that dirty politics is not just a recent phenomenon
Which they don’t teach you in school
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
So good
Lonesome Dove, Hanta Yo, Tai Pan…too many to list!
The Rule of Four
Anything by Karen Kingsbury . She writes Christian fiction. Also Tracie Peterson is great too
Lavender girl by Natasha Boyd. Fantastic read!
The Red Heart is a favorite. The Sixth Wife is another good one.
The Red Heart is great!
It’s one of my favorites
Agree with Killer Angels, but would add April Morning for young teens.
Maurice Druon’s The Accursed Kings (Les Rois Maudit) series; it is sort of a Games of Thrones as straight history.
Gone With The Wind
The Bastard by John Jakes
That whole series is a good read along with the north and south trilogy
I haven’t read the rest, but my dad owns the entire collection so when I needed a historical fiction for a history class in high school he gave me the first one and I loved it! I never read the rest of them, but I’ve always meant to. By now I’d have to reread it, I barely remember it, I only remember loving it from start to finish.
@Frances read it. You won’t be sorry. I loved this series.
This year – Next Year In Havana (goes back and forth present to past)
on my list to read
it’s good!!
The Nightingale
The winter garden
Kristin Hannah… The great alone, the Nightingale, Winter Garden, Firefly Lane
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Pillars Of the Earth series, and the 20th Century series, both by Ken Follett.
Cutting for Stone and Year of Wonders and People of the Book
Yes! How could I have forgotten Year of Wonders?
and I forgot In the Garden of the Beast. However it’s nonfiction
@Beth and if we’re mentioning non-fiction(&why not?) then Killers of the Flower Moon, which reads like a novel.
Winds of War and War and Remembrance
following
Enemy Woman…. (the US civil war)….Lonesome Dove.
Gentleman in Moscow.
A partial list of my books set in Asia
And the rest
Such a great collection! Wow!
@Susie Are you on goodreads? I would love to follow you, if that’s not too creepy 🙂
@Carly yes I am ….. no issue with that at all. I create shelves on Goodreads but also create collections on my Kindle,….. have also recently started journaling where I write about a page of info on setting, characters,plot, and position in a series if applicable and of course an overall opinion of the book! I am a recently retired school teacher and may be getting carried away
@Susie Oh my goodness, that is terrific! I wish I had time to journal like that.
Carly Friedman Texas resident Washington County
Devil in the white city
Was that book mostly fact or fiction. I never got to finish it.
@Maryann blend of botb
My library has it shelved as non-fiction.
a series by Miriam Grace Monfredo, takes place from about the 1840’s-civil war in Central NYS and beyond; also several books by Jennifer Chiaverini.
Great suggestions!
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett – about Scotland – I think he’s 14yo in the beginning of the story – he goes to many countries (4 books). The Angelique series by Sergeanne Golon (a husband/wife effort) (10 books). You may not find them easily, I read these 40 years ago.
I don’t feel I’ve read a huge amount of historical fiction so I have few options to pick from but I did love The Secret Life it Bees and am currently reading Noon at Tiffany’s, which is magnificent.
Eugenia Price Books!
Far Pavilions!
Both of these are oldies but popped into my head.
The Devil in the White City, The Radium Girls
Both are excellent, but they’re also narrative non-fiction.
The Other Boleyn Girl
A Tale of Two Cities, but I have hundreds of “favorites”.
The Kent Family Chronicles.
The Secret Wife by Gill Paul. This is a fictional story of the Romanovs. Great story.
Book Thief
texas city love amid the ruins
I just finished Golden Hill by Francis Spufford. New York 1747. Excellent.
The Summer Before the War
Lilac Girls Philippa Gregory books, Night, Patrick O’Brian books. Historical Fiction is my favorite genre. Thanks for question Carolina!
Buddha in the Attic! It’s about when America forced people of Japanese descent into camps. It’s short, but it’s unlike anything I’ve ever read. I love it!
Our book club read for October here in Texas….. camp in South Texas near the border with Mexico during WWII
I’ll add this one to my pile!
Our book club read The Train to Crystal City and everyone loved it!!!!!! Me too!!!
“The Sandcastle Girls” by Chris Bohjalian.
Earth’s Children series; Pillars in the Earth
To be fair, Earth’s Children is a “Pre-historical“ fiction novel series. 😉
The Widow’s War by Sally Gunning. It’s the first in a trilogy. Early pre-revolutinary time frame in the northeast of the “soon to be” USA.
The Maisie Dobbs series are well written, well researched and very engaging books written by Jacqueline Winspear. Maisie is kinda a grown up British Nancy Drew, only better. The author focuses on WWI period, and does her research!
That is on my list as well. I am working on the Maggie Hope series and finishing the Dr. Thomas Silkstone series. They are both very good.
Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear
Outlander series !!
First Man in Rome. So good. In fact I might see if I can find a copy just to reread it.
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Loved all the Poldark books !!
Outlander
The Red Tent
Lady Macbeth by Susan Fraser King
The Nightengale
Here’s one you might not hve heard of: I, Claudius by Robert Graves.
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan.
Any book by Phillipa Gregory.
All the Light We Cannot See
Loved that book!
The Thornbirds
The Known World by Edward P. Jones. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
The Book Thief
The Traitors Wife
Trinity
Outlander
Outlander
Tracy Chevalier’s books are excellent.
I’m thinking nine.
I forgot to add her!
Freeman by Leonard Pitts
I loved John Jakes’ Civil War Trilogy. North and South was the first book, I believe.
Outlander!!!
Far too many great ones to pick a favorite, especially since it’s my go-to genre!
Right! I usually go with the favorite “right now. ” ?
Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham, The Obituary Writer
Memoir of a geisha. Shogun. Last of the Breed
Too many to mention including all that have been listed, but I would also add one of my favorites, The Invention of Wings.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie @Ford
Gore Vidal’s Lincoln. Also been years since I read them & maybe as an adult would feel differently but both The Agony & the Ecstasy & The Robe
The Agony and the Ecstasy is incredible!
These is my words
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
Pachinko
The Maisie Dobbs series is my favorite. I will also add Forever Amber which I read many, many years ago.
The Nightingale
So many! Sarah’s Key, Pillars Of The Earth, And The Mountains Echoed, The Thornbirds….. I can go on and on.
Into the Woods series by Sara Donati.
She doesn’t get enough recognition.
@Jeanne Totally agree!
Love is Eternal by Irving Stone.
I love Phillipa Gregory and Margaret George
Outlander!!
Outlander series
Angela’s Ashes
Anne Perry’s Victorian era mysteries. Outlander.
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Outlander’s not considered true historical fiction. It’s a mix of historical fiction, science fiction (due to time travel element), & romance.
Shadow of the Wind & The Red Tent
Yes, how’d I forget those?!
The Lilac Girls
Outlander
The help, orphan train, the underground railroad, Johnny tremaine (ya), fever 1793 (ya), Boston girl, angelas ashes, great gatsby, little women, atonement, many many others.
Flashman novels
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah
agreed!
Just finished Caleb’s Crossing. Good history almost 150 years before American Revolution.
I like Geraldine Brooks. Have you read Year of Wonders?
I like her too and Year of Wonders is my favorite.
My favorite of Brooks’ is People of the Book
@Connie I loved that one, too!
Loved Year of Wonders and Caleb’s Crossing.
The Fool’s Guild Series by Alan Gordon & Sister Fidelma Murder Mysteries by Peter Tremayne
Michener novels
Somewhere in France
Yes. GREAT BOOK
Shanandoah Sisters series followed by Carolina Cousins series. Author is Michael R Phillips
The Secret Book of Grazzi de Rossi
The White Queen
I haven’t read it for many years, not really sure of the name anymore. As a young teen I read it, and again in my mid to late 20’s. It was The Journeyer or The Journeyman, something like that, written by someone Jennings. Fictitious tale of a young Marco Polo traveling the Silk Road with his uncles. Story has stayed with me all my life. Way too graphic and mature for the age I first read it, but I turned out??
Dickens wrote a lot of historical fiction.
Before We Were Yours by Wingate, Against the Tide by Camden
Any Leon Iris
Leon Uris’ Exodus & The Diary of Anne Frank changed my life by altering the way i saw the world and how I would live my life by teaching tolerance and fighting prejudice.
The Haj
Uris
Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.
The Bronze Horseman
YES
Cane river by lalita tademy montana 1948 by Larry Watson in the time of butterflies by Julia Alvarez the kitchen boy by Robert Alexander the madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean heretic’s daughter by Kathleen Kent
♡ julie alvarez
have 1948 on my to read shelf
Outlander, hands down.
Just started the tv series. Looks promising.
The Muralist BA Shapiro
The Guilded Hour by Sara Donati
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick, Katherine by Anya Seton, and Outlander
Anything by Alexander Dumas
Moloka’i and Honolulu by Alan Brennert.
I’m putting both of these on my goodreads list –thank you!
Brennert will be coming out with a sequel in 2-2019 A daughter of Moloka’i
Thank you!
Great question! This is my favorite genre by far. I’d add The Josephine Bonaporte trilogy from Sandra Gulland,
Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis de Bernières,
The Memoirs of Cleopatra – Margaret George,
Suite Francaise – Irene Nemirovsky,
The Last Days of Night – Graham Moore,
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena – Anhony Mara
I also loved Pachinko,, Nicholas & Alexandra, and Homegoing.
I’m on the hold list for Pachinko. I’ve heard it’s amazing!
@Kristen I loved it so much that I still think about those characters months after finishing the book. A fascinating read – I wish I could read it again for the first time
@Kelly can’t wait to read it!
@Kristen it is! Also check out Cutting for Stone if you haven’t read it.
Lilac Girls
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Lots of books, but two authors I love are Edward Rutherford and Dorothy Dunnett
An amazing book.
Pillars Of The Earth Grapes If Wrath
Lilac Girls
Rome series by McCullough
F
Out of The Easy by Ruta Sepetys
The Last Town on Earth
Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel
Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife, Circling the Sun and Love and Ruin. Two books about martha Jefferson Randolph: Monticello and America’s First Daughter. And of course, My Dear Hamilton
I loved Circling the Sun!
@Michele, you should read the other too, I bet you would enjoy them!
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly.
Reading it now!
Kenneth Roberts. All of the Hornblower books.
The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa.
The Winds of War by Herman Wouk. It’s a wonderful book. I started War and Remembrance as soon as I finished W of W but put it down half way through and never picked it up again. The treatment of the Jews was described so graphically.
my favorite also. i fell so in love with the characters
War and Remembrance is a difficult read, but so worth it! I also put it down years ago, but I recently picked it back up and read it. Not a only did I learn more about World War 2 than I ever learned in school, but I enjoyed revisiting the characters from The Winds of War.
@Sheri yes!
A Gentleman in Moscow
I just read The Secret Life of Mrs. London, The Mermaid, and The Game of Hope. Widely different time periods but really enjoyable. Past favorites include Scarlet Petal and The White, Mistress of Rome, Gladiatrix, Gone With The Wind, Outlander, The Book of Eleanor, Time Traveler’s Wife.
Poldark
It’s usually the last one I read. I’m currently into a trilogy by Jeff Shaara, although Michael Shaara wrote the first one which is KILLER ANGELS. This isthe retelling of the battle at Gettysburg.
Very good writer. Read them a few summers ago.
Pillars of the Earth, The Book Thief, Outlander, From Sand and Ash, The Nightingale… I have a lot of favorites in this genre.
Andi Reads: Please help me with Pillars of the Earth. I have tried to get through it and am struggling. I find it plodding. I am only 200 pages in and trying to decide why I should continue.
The Fire by Night and the Alice Network.
Walk in My Soul by Lucia St.Clair Robson, about Sam Houston’s life with the Cherokees.
Sounds good. I like books about Native Americans
Beneath a Scarlet Sky.
read. And when I do have time to read, how do I decide on which wonderful book to read?
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.
Has anyone else read any of James Alexander Thom’s books? I love everything I have read by him.
Outlander
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Cry of the Peacock
The Dovekeepers was decent.
Lots of those that have already been mentioned above.
Poisonwood Bible
Cleopatra’s Sister
Reading A Tree grows in Brooklyn now.
@Jennifer One of the few books I have read numerous times! Hope you enjoy. <3
Alisa Rosado Swissa loving it!!!
The Devil in the White City and In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson.
Great books
Great books! But they’re nonfiction.
I loved Devil in the White City, but didn’t care for Garden of Beasts
@Angela I forgot to mention Thunderstruck also by Erik Larson.
Pillars of the Earth, followed by the Sand Castle Girls. Molokai, and The book Thief
War and Peace, Pillars of the Earth
The Jungle
Outlander; all 8
books!
Anything by Phillipa Gregory or Alison Weir
The Nightingale, All the Light You Cannot See, Lilac Girls, The Heart’s Invisible Furies, Daughters of the Dragon.
Trapeze and Tightrope by Simon Mawer. One is a sequel to the other!
I love Margaret George’s and Edward Rutherford’s historical fiction.
The Right Stuff
Great Non-Fiction Book & wonderful film directed by Philip Kaufman starring Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, & Scott Glenn.
I also recently read Flight of the Sparrow: A Novel of Early America. Loved this too.
Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian.
I just got this. Can’t wait to read.
I read this. It’s good
Three Sisters, Three Queens; The Constant Princess; The White Queen; and the White Princess all by Philippa Gregory or Nefertiti; The Heretic Queen; and Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran!
October Sky
The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki
All the Light We Cannot See
Beneath a Scarlet Sky and Lilac Girls
The Lilac Girls
Your picks my choices too.
The civil war brides
The Underground Railroad
I loved the combination of history & magical realism.
Grapes of Wrath
A Gentleman in Moscow, The Night Soldiers Series, . . . And Ladies of the Club, The Outlander Series
Oh yes…And Ladies of the Club! So good!
Grapes of Wrath. All the Light We Cannot See
Island Under the Sea
Lilac Girls!
All of Edward Rutherford’s and Susan Howatch and Sharon Kay Penman, too.
Green Darkness by Anya Seaton
Centennial and Pillars of the Earth. Also Mists of Avalon.
I just finished A Very Long Engagement. Quite the ensemble of characters.