Favorite WW2 Era book? Just picked up Lilac Girls
Favorite WW2 Era book? Fiction, please. Just picked up Lilac Girls from my library
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I just finished that last week. If you didn’t know, two of the POV characters were real people.
Code Name Verity!
Love love love
If you haven’t read Rose Under Fire you simply must!
The Nightingale was a good one. Just finished reading it.
I just started white chrysanthemum. It’s a story of sisters from Korea during the Japanese occupation.
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn is a good follow up to that.
My favourite is The Book Thief.
Winds of War and War and Remembrance are great sweeping WWII sagas
Just finished the Masie Dobbs series. Starts before WWI and is still going strong into WWII. Such an unusual female protagonist. Even if you don’t usually go in for mysteries, give the first one a try.
Good night mr Tom
Great book!!!!
Nightingale and the one man
Salt to the Sea
The Things They Carried…poignant.
Hiding Places. Haven’t read it for a while, but was memorable.
The Nightingale. The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult is AMAZING. Its told from modern day and ww2
Yes The Storyteller was very good.
The nightingale and the orphans tale
The Nightingale
I’m currently reading Everyone Brave Will Be Forgiven. I loved The War That Saved My Life.
Loved these both. A sequel to ‘The War That Saved My Life’ had recently been released. Just an FYI in case you hadn’t heard yet.
@Krista I read the sequel! I liked how they rapped things up ?
Salt to the Sea, Nightingale, The Alice Network, all are great reads!
Winds of War & War and Remembrance …both by Herman Wouk
Lilac Girls is excellent…and The Book Thief
What was I missing on The Book Thief? I couldn’t get into it. The writing was just so different. Maybe I’ll try again.
@Mary I loved it….a different perspective…and the DEATH voice as a character was great.
Loved both Lilac Girls AND Book Thief
@Carol I can’t even remember that-but that sounds interesting.
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen was really good
Interesting nonfiction read about the lead.up to ww2!
@Kathryne it’s great and reads like fiction but creepier because it was real.
Totally creepy!
The Nightingale by Kristian Hannah
The Book Thief
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Salt to the Sea
Sarah’s Key
All the Light We Cannot See
omg I can’t believe I forgot this one
Code Name Verity, The Invisible Bridge and The Nightingale.
I’m currently reading HHhH by Laurent Binet and it’s soooo good.
Am halfway through Lilac Girls at the.moment too, holy hell, what an emotional book!
Code Name Verity
Beneath A Scarlet Sky
Love Lilac Girls good, Nightingales is bleh (don’t get why everyone else seems to love it), the war that saved my life…..
Between shades of gray
Sarah’s Key
Churchill’s Secretary
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. Read it before the movie comes out.
I loved Lilac Girls
The Sabateur: The Aristocrat Who Became France’s Most Daring Anti-Nazi Commando by Paul Kix !!!! It is mind blowing. Thrilling page turner. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34217519-the-saboteur?from_search=true
Adding to my list.
The Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk.
Lilac Girls was great. Almost finished with “The Nightingale” by: Kristin Hannah, like it better than Lilac Girls.
Crooked Heart, by Lissa Evans.
Those Who SaveUs
Ellie Dean series
Why don’t you try”we were the Lucky ones” set in Random Poland about the increasing hardships threatening Jews. You can go ahead and blame me if you cry,.???
It’s hard not to cry reading most WW2 books…. at least that’s what I’ve found in the ones I’ve read
Nightingale, The Baker’s Secret, The Paris Architect, The Storyteller
I love them all, I am drawn to that era
Beneath a Scarlett Sky is good.
The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
So good!
Gone To Soldiers by Marge Piercy
Everyone Brave is Forgiven
Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire…simply amazing! I had to take breaks because they were so intense!
Well written,, great female characters and well researched!
Following
Sarah’s Key and Irena’s Children
I loved Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis.
Sarah’s Key, The Nightingale, The Book Thief, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Devil’s Arithmetic, The Lost Wife, Those Who Save Us, The Storyteller, The Diary of Anne Frank, Lilac Girls, We Were the Lucky Ones, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Lost Letter
All of the above! Just started “The Alice Network”.
yessss all of the above (Y) have read all except for The Nightingale, Those Who Save Us, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society but will add to my list, love WW2 era, really any war related books or films I love <3
@Kimberly Nightingale! !!!
thanks def will read soon 🙂
Those Who Save Us…exceptional, ive read all the others except The Devil’s Arithmetic and The Storyteller
The Book Thief
The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford ?
The German Suitcase
The Zion Covenant by Bodie Thoene. It’s a whole series of, I think, 9 books, but they are fantastic!
A God in Ruin, by Kate Atkinson
The Alice Network
The Orphan’s Tale
@Macy oh look! A whole thread! ?
The Alice Network
Beneath a Scarlet
I recently read White Rose Black Forest and it was good. Made me want to read more about the White Rose Society (even though that’s a small portion of the book)
Beneath a Scarlet Sky, I mean!
The Reader.
Such an interesting read!
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
From Ash and Sand
“Stones From the River”! Marvelous story. Told from the viewpoint of a non-Jewish German girl who was herself a little person.
I haven’t thought of that book in a long time.ni sure loved it.
@Leslie …I think about Trudi often.
Susan Callaway Lim I need to dig out my copy and re aquaint myself with her. I really am glad you mentioned it
Yes! Loved Stones from the River.
Unbroken.
Great non-fiction book. ?
Agree! Great non-fiction!
The nightingale
I just got my mom The Nightingale: I haven’t read it myself but found a rec for it on this page.
It’s amazing!!
Am reading Lilac girls now also…
other good ones are
We Were the Lucky Ones, Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the Corrie Tenboom books….
The Book Thief, All the Light We Cannot See, The Tattooist of Auschwitz
An army at dawn .
The nightingale
The Girl From Munich, The Book Thief, All The Light We Cannot See.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Nice because from another POV
The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, and of course The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrow
Guernsey! For sure
All of those!
Also The Book Thief is one of my all time favorites.
Sophie’s Choice or The Book Thief
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute.
Following! I’ve read most of the ones mentioned and I’m always looking for new WWII books!
Well Amy Havekost, have you read “The One man” by Andrew Gross.?
@Michael I haven’t read that one and just looked it up. It’s now at the top of my TBR list! THANK YOU!!!!
@Amy that is a delightful reply.Warm thank you, always helping to receive notices from the best book club in the world.???
The Nightingale
…..and you will cry reading this one.
Great read..
The Winter Garden
The Alice Network is fantastic!
Several people named Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wien. Loved it. But I think I liked the sequel, Rose Under Fire even more.
This, this, THIS! Both are so much better written and researched than The Nightingale!
@Kathryne agree. I found The Nightingale a really difficult book. It moved way too slow for me and not as believable.
@Laura I think it was a great intro to ww2 books for readers of romance novels . Hannah is a romance author, and actually a really nice person (our book.group skyped with her) who can tell an accessible story.
From Sand and Ash
Read The Book Thief (fiction) and Unbroken (nonfiction) back to back. I love them both so much!
Manhattan Beach.
Great book!!!!!
The Bronze Horseman. Salt to the Sea. From Sand and Ash. Sarah’s Key.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/102305.The_Forgotten_Soldier
A soldier in the German army fighting the Russians
The Book Thief
Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy.
I love her books
Me, too. She was a terrific storyteller. ?
Yes! I eat her stories up like candy.
The Nightingale.
Winds of War by Herman Wouk. An oldie but goodie
The Women in the Castle
French Suite
I forgot about that one. It was besutiful
All of James Benn’s books.
To get an insight on Asian perspective/ The Call by John Hersey – it covers first 50 years of the 20th century & includes China & impact of Japan’s invasion on China & onset of Mao
Hersey won Pulitzer for Hiroshima – book documenting the bombing of Japan
unbroken, book thief, all the light we can not see and the runaway family
Stones From The River
The Paris Architect
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
All the Light We Cannot See
All The Light We Cannot See
And Empire of The Sun
Loved Lilac Girls. Following are some if my favorites.
The one I’m writing. And Ruta Sepetys’ Between shades of gray. And Chris bojhalan Skeletons at the Feast. Oh and the book thief!
The Trapeze and The Tightrope have not yet been mentioned in the list above.
Written by British author Simon Mawer, they follow the story of a young woman recruited to spy in WW 2, and in the second book, her life in the post war era. Great spy fiction and thrillers. Good for fans of the Elizabeth Wein books. More edgy and tighly wound than The Nightingale, these. novels almost have a Homeland feel to them. Trapeze was originally called The Girl Who Fell From The Sky.
Did you read Red Sparrow? Great spy story.
@Catherine no, but I thought the movie trailer looked excellent!
@Kathryne It was excellent. It is the first in a trilogy written by a CIA officer.
@Catherine I just ordered it from Barnes and Noble!
@Kathryne I don’t think you’ll be sorry.
Last Convertible by Anton Myrer
In the garden of beasts
That one is nonfiction?
Well so is Unbroken.
I know. In the Garden of Beasts is a great book.
HMS Ulysses, Alistair MacLean’s debut novel, written in 1952. Unparalleled account of the war at sea in the Storms of the North Atlantic. Based on the author’s own wartime experiences. Authentic, gripping, unforgettable fiction.
Another vote for All The Light We Cannot See!
Between shades of grey or the nightingale or all the light we cannot see.
Let me echo that: My Last Convertible by Anyon Myrer. Still have my original copy.
The Book Thief
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng. My absolute favourite book up to this moment. I’ve re-read it three times, and it only gets better.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – loved this book
I really enjoy the Maisie Dobbs series which goes from WWI to WWii
just watched a great WW 2 film..THE SISTERS OF WAR. It is a true story based on the book,THE LOST WOMEN OF RABAUL by..Rod. Miller. So for those interested, the film was great and I am not a fan of war stories..so I think the book might fall into your category search. If it is as interesting as the film was, the book should be a good read.
The Book Thief
All the light we cannot see- Anthony Doerr
Mrs. Miniver, by Jan Struthers.
Sorry. .just saw you wanted fiction..so you can disregard my earlier post
Book thief… Guernsey literary and potato pie society… schindler’s list…
On The Homefront by Barb Warner Deane.??
A book I read when I was in junior high school: “Summer of My German Soldier”. Sorry, I don’t recall the author’s name. It was really good. IIRC, they made a “made for TV” movie based on the book a few years after I read it – it wasn’t bad, however the book was better.
THE CRUEL SEA by Nicholas Monsarrat. A very moving story of a Royal Navy crew’s trials and tribulations battling the German Navy in the North Atlantic and above the Arctic Circle throughout the war. One of the best WWII novels I’ve ever read.
MARKING TIME by Elizabeth Jane Howard. Volume 2 of the Cazalet Chronicle Series. The reader is instantly transported to ‘Britain in September, 1939, as war breaks out. Sheltered Louise, now 16, goes from cooking school to London parties. For 14-year-old Polly, the terrors of war cannot forestall the pangs of adolescence. And though Clary’s father – on active service with the Royal Navy – has been reported missing since Dunkirk, she holds to the belief that he’s alive.’
I’d forgotten about this series. Loved it!
CONFUSION by Elizabeth Jane Howard. Volume 3 of the Cazalet Chronicle Series. The setting varies between ‘London and Sussex during 1942. As the war enters its fourth year, chaos has become a way of life. Both in the still peaceful Sussex countryside, and in air-raid-threatened London, the divided Cazalets begin to find the battle for survival echoing the confusion in their own lives.’
CASTING OFF by Elizabeth Jane Howard. Volume 4 of the Cazalet Chronicle Series. The reader is carried through the final months of the Second World War. Then comes ‘[t]he aftermath of war, and the slow dawning of a new era of freedom and opportunity, shape the destinies of the Cazalets. Polly, Clary and Louise, now grown up, are ready to discover the truth about the adult world. While Rupert, Hugh and Edward must make the choices that will decide their own – and the family’s – future. For the Cazalets, and all those close to them, one end is another beginning . . .’
Looking forward to reading The Lilac girls
It’s between “All The Light We Cannot See” and “The Book Thief”
“Fly Boys” by James Bradley. Follows pilots captured by the Japanese, and the build up to dropping the bombs.
Good book. But not a novel. The person who started this forum is asking for favorite WWII era novels.
DIVIDED LOYALTIES: Algiers 1941 by Paul A. Myers. The reader is transported to French North Africa in 1941. A young American diplomat is entrusted with a secret mission. A French counterespionage agent and his lady friend have scores to settle. A German foreign correspondent ingratiates her way into the highest social circles in Algiers. A German diplomat has perverse tastes while his Gestapo bodyguard keeps his blackmailers at bay. All the while, refugees who managed to get out of Europe are anxious to escape to the U.S. Eventually, the lives of these disparate characters are bound together as the war enters a new phase by year’s end.
why confine yourself to fiction? there ar some great non fiction books about WW2. The Debs of Bletchley Park by Michael Smith is jolly good. as is Quartered Safe Out Here by George Macdonald Fraser
Code Name Verity (I think that counts? I read it a long time ago; someone please correct me if that wasn’t WW2?)
Well, since non-fiction is now an option, here’s “FIRST LIGHT: The True Story of the Boy who Became a Man in the War-torn Skies above Britain” by Geoffrey Wellum. Wellum, who joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1939, later became a part of RAF Fighter Command, where, as a 19-year old fighter pilot, he flew in combat the famous, redoubtable Supermarine Spitfire fighter during the Battle of Britain, He later went on to fly deadly missions over Occupied France against the German Air Force in 1941. Truly a fantastic story. (Wellum is now 97, living in Southwest England.)
Not strictly WWII, as it tells both a WWII story and a modern day story, but Cryptonomicon.
Chris Cleave’s Everyone Brave Is Forgiven
Kate Quinn’s The Alice Network
I read ‘Everyone Brave is Forgiven’ recently. Didn’t like it.
@Komet that’s what makes horse racing
Omega minor by Paul Verhaeghen
WINTER ON THE MERSEY by Anne Groves. ‘Kitty has seen her fair share of tragedy and instead of thinking of romance, is determined to do her bit for King and Country. Her life [in the Royal Navy] as a WREN means she is kept busy most of the time, but when Kitty finds herself stationed back in Merseyside, she meets up again with Fred Feeny, the brave young officer who has always held a place in her heart. Britain is on the brink of victory, but will Kitty embrace the future and learn to love again?’
The Nightingale and Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah (independent novels); Winds of War and it’s sequel War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
THE RACE FOR PARIS (novel) by Meg Waite Clayton
GONE TO SEA IN A BUCKET (A Harry Gilmour novel) by David Black
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
I read both of those and loved them.
Yes!
Lilac Girls is soooo good, #Candace!
BOY IN STRIPED PAJAMAS is basically for middle schoolers but is a great quick read and tear jerker! And please read THE NIGHTINGALE!
TIN SKY by Ben Pastor. A multi-layered crime novel set in the Ukraine during 1943 in the aftermath of the German defeat at Stalingrad.
Those Who Save Us by @Jenna, her new novel The Lost Family drops on June 5.
LOOKING AT THE MOON by Margaret Thornton. A wartime romance set in Blackpool (UK).
Born Survivors by Wendy Holden. True story
War and Remembrance and Winds of War by Herman Wouk
Excellent!
How could we forget these two!
@Carol I felt like I learned more about WWII reading those than any history books!
All the Light We Cannot See. Beneath a Scarlet Sky.
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
The Dreaming Suburb and The Avenue Goes to War by Delderfield and Susan Elizabeth Howard’s five part book series, The Cazalet Chronicles, which starts with The Light Years.
You mean The Cazalet Chronicles Series. I’ve read them all. GREAT STUFF. Elizabeth Jane Howard is deserving of wider recognition.
Thanks for the correction. Got spell checked and now it’s fixed.
the charioteer by mary renault
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
ECHOLAND by Joe Joyce. The setting is neutral Ireland shortly after France’s defeat by Germany in June 1940.
The Nightingale!!!!
Beneath a Scarlett Sky!!! Excellent! 5 stars in Amazon.
Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society
All The Light We Cannot See
Guernsey Society was wonderfully written in the form of letters.
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy.
FLIGHT INTO DARKNESS by Wing Commander Tom Neil. This book is a collection of short stories written by Neil that are based on his wartime experiences as a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot. (Neil’s writing style is so compelling that you’ll feel like you’re in the cockpit with him.)
Writing all your suggestions down. Should keep me busy a long while.
Ken Follett’s Winter of the World was great. It follows Fall of Giants (WW1).
THE DEVIL’S OASIS by Bartle Bull. Takes place in Egypt during 1942.
WAR BRIDES by Helen Bryan. Set in Britain during the war.
This was a really good read.
So many great recommendations! Two I really loved that touched on the Japanese internment are “the Buddha in the attic” and “when the emperor was divine” both by the same author
I loved those! I read them both late last year. Author is Julie Otsuka. I think ‘When the Emperor Was Divine’ focused more on the WWII Interment history.
Both were really powerful books.
yeah! I always misspell her name though. I think she’s fantastic, and loved reading both of them one month for my book club
NIGHT OVER WATER by Ken Follett. Takes place during the early stages of the war. High intrigue.
Read this book years ago and loved it!! No one ever mentions this book by him, they only talk about pillars of the earth because it became so popular
All the Light We Cannot See!
Lilac Girls was good.
Fatherland by Robert Harris is an alternate history but fascinating. Enigma by the same author (not alternate history).
Loved Sarah’s key by Tatiana de rosnay, the orphans tale by Pam jenoff and the women in the castle by Jessica shattuck. They all were great and offer different perspectives of the war. I’ve also heard good things about the boy in the striped pajamas
Also thank you for starting this thread! I have added a bunch to my TBR list that I had never heard of
Yes! Yes! to SARAH’S KEYS, ORPHAN’S TALE! BOY IN STRIPED PJS is marvelous – quick read – middle school – told from a child’s perspective- tear jerker!
The Nightingale, Once We Were Brothers, Saving Sophie, Karolina’s Twins, We Were the Lucky Ones
The Nightingale!!!!!
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
There was one by Marge Piercy that was good a while ago. I’ll look for it.
Code Name Verity! Such a good read !
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
War Brides
Helen Bryan
Enjoyed this book.
Oh, my goodness! I’ve gotten so many ideas. I love WWII era books, so I’ll be adding them to my TBR list. Thanks, all!
The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir or if you like thrillers, The Honor Bound series by W. E. B. Griffin.
China Dolls, LIsa See. I love Lisa See and this is one of her best IMO.
The Maggie Hope mysteries by Susan Elia McNeal.
The Winds of War and War and Remembrance ??
The Book Thief
On the corner of bitter and sweet
Reading this now!! Good so far! Enjoyed author’s LOVE AND OTHER CONSOLATION PRIZES.
The Women in the @Castle
Lavender Road series.
@Susan‘s Mr. Churchill’s Secretary.
Loved it. I’m a bookseller and I recommend it to all my customers. Gives you such a feeling for London during the war. I love the whole series.
Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett. Excellent read
Boys in the Boat
Loved Lilac Girls. Just finished the Lavender Road series. It was excellent
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, the Women in the Castle, Sarah’s Keys.
Between the shades of grey
The bronze horseman series
Right now, All the Light We Cannot See.
I am reading this one next.
I’m enjoying The Taster by VS Alexander
The Winston Churchill trilogy by William Manchester- takes you through turn of century through post war.
“Catch-22”, of course