Looking for some recommendations WW 2 Holocaust Witches Asylums Depression/ anxiety/ OCD Fiction or nonfiction fiction. Thanks!
Looking for some recommendations
WW 2
Holocaust
Witches
Asylums
Depression/ anxiety/ OCD
Fiction or nonfiction fiction.
Thanks!
Turtles all the Way Down was fantastic about anxiety/OCD. I wondered if it could be triggering if you have OCD, but it was helpful to understand it if you don’t.
Holocaust: Night is a classic. The Reader is great and caused a big stir in Germany when it came out. Frauen: German women recall the 3rd Reich is a great collection of interviews.
Best history book I’ve ever read on Holocaust (and I’m a historian) is Ordinary Men. Very readable, and great history.
I’m reading Lilac Girls now, very good so far (WW2/Holocaust related)
Storyteller, Jodi picoult.
The Orphan Train
Sarah’s key
From Broken Glass – Holocaust
Amazing story of surviving 10 concentration camps and assisting in the creation of the New England Holocaust Memorial
All the Light We Cannot See
Salt to the Sea
Secret History of Witches
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. Night by Elie Wiesel.
Night/Dawn/Day about Holocaust – I read it with my daughter and we both loved it.
The Room on Rue Amelie by Kristin Harmel. The Dutch Wife by Ellen Keith. Eagle & Crane by Suzanne Rindell. Ike and Kay: A Novel by James MacManus.
If you like non fiction try 10 days in a madhouse by Nellie Bly for something asylum based. It’s intense but brilliant.
Ravensbruuk, Dutch Wife, Nightengale, Band of Brothers, Fly Boys (very hard to read)
Discovery of Witches/ All Souls Trilogy
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah!!!!
@Steffanie a thousand times YES to The Nightingale
@Sarah agreed!!! Love love loved it!
Yes!! One of the best books I have ever read!!
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris, The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard, The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester.
Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. About the Holocaust.
This is the first book about the Holocaust I ever read, even before Anne Frank.
@Dawn Me too.
Sarah’s Key, Salt By The Sea, Nazi Officers Wife, Book Thief,
Radium Girls
The choice. Embrace the possible. Written by a holocaust survivor
WW 2: Coming Home, The She’ll Seekers, The Nightingale
Witches: The All Souls Trilogy
Depression/ anxiety/ OCD: But Inside I’m Screaming, An Unquiet Mind
The Nightengale
Someone on here previously recommended Ravensbruck, which is about a women’s concentration camp. It’s on my TBR shelf
Annexed by Sharon Dogar it’s Young Adult but very good. Fictional account of the Anne Frank story but from Peter’s point of view.
The Book Thief
Also The witches Daughters
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane–witches.
The cage
Prisoner B-3087
We we’re the Lucky Ones
@Christine yes! Amazing story!!!!
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
The storyteller by Jodi Picoult. Amazing!!!!
Brain on Fire
@Megan so good!!!!
WWII: The Book Thief, Nightingale, All the Light We Cannot See, The Women in the Castle, Lilac Girls, Those Who Save Us
Beneath a Scarlett Sky, From Sand and Ash – both great WWII books
all the light we cannot see, the book thief
The Bronze Horseman!! by Paulina Simmons. WWll. It is book one of a trilogy. One of the best I have ever read! I read mostly WWll era books. My other book club groans when my turn to pick!!! 5.99 on Amazon kindle
Am I gushing over this??
I read a lot of memoirs when I was getting my History degree- I think Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi, The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal, and Salvaged Pages edited by Alexandra Zapruder made the strongest impressions. For non fiction I think Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning and Hitler’s Willing Executioners by Daniel Goldhagen provide really interesting and very different theories on why people helped carry out the Holocaust.
@Laura read those and you are so right.
I have OCD, which is a highly misunderstood and often stigmatized mental illness, and the book The Man Who Couldn’t Stop was the best representation and insight into what it’s actually like to live with an incredibly debilitating illness.
@Francesca I completely understand. I have OCD, bipolar disorder and an anxiety disorder. So anything I can read that gives insight is always a plus.
The Man In The High Castle
by Philip K. Dick
It portrays an alternate ending to WWII in which Germany and Japan are the new superpowers and Hitler is still alive.
Thanks! I added that to my TBR.
Shoot the Damn Dog is an incredible memoir of depression.
I just TBR-ed. Thanks!
The Ballroom by Anna Hope (Asylums-fiction)
Mila 18 (Warsaw Ghetto Uprising) is by far the best book I’ve ever read.
I didn’t know about this one. Thanks!!
The Wall
I’m currently reading Beneath the Scarlet Sky and I’m loving it so far.
Annelies was very good, also the author Heather Armstrong is very good and understanding.
The German Girl, The Dutch Wife
Have you read the Maggie Hope series? It’s WWII historical fiction and so good!
“The Snow Gypsy,” “The Nightingale,” “Winter Garden,” and “Sarah’s Key” for the Holocaust and WWII. “Everything Here Is Beautiful” and “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” for mental health.
The Girl you Left Behind from Jojo Moyes goes from present day to WW2 I believe. I loved that book.
Once we were brothers by Ronald H Balson on my top 10 favorite reads of all time Soo good
Guests on Earth—novel takes place in a mental asylum while Zelda Fitzgerald is a patient there.
All But My Life- Holocaust Survivor Gerda Weissman Klein
For witches, try a book called Corrag. It’s not the usual witch theme, but it reads like poetry.
For WWII: “Beneath a Scarlet Sky”, “The Nightengale”, “All The Light We Cannot See”, and “Unbroken”. I apologize if other people recommended these already!
Mayfair Witches trilogy by Anne Rice
Witch and Wizard series by James Patterson (YA, but still entertaining)
How to Hang a Witch series by Adriana Mather (also YA, but fun read; series is not complete; fun fact: The author, Adriana Mather, is a descendent of Cotton Mather, one of the Salem witch trials ringleaders)
Love the Mayfair Witches books. I have the original book. It was one of my first gifts from my BF. He was so proud that he figured out a great gift for me that he picked out all by himself.
It’s been forever since I’ve read them. I may have to pick them up and reread them!!
A bit older but I love the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. Starts with “A Discovery of Witches”.
Beneath the Scarlett Sky was great! Currently reading All the Light We Cannot See…so far so good ?
We Were The Lucky Ones is an excellent Holocaust/war read!
The Nightengale, the girl you left behind, the Tattooist Of
Auschwitz
Girl, you’re gonna need a generous serving of Prozac after all this reading?
Turtles all the way down is a great novel about OCD
@Anise loved this book!!
I don’t think that anyone has mentioned Leon Uris’ “Mila 18” which is a fictionalized account of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. It’s one of my all-time favorite books in general and about the Shoah.
The Girl You Left Behind, Jojo Moyes. The Nightingale, Kristen Hannah. Book Thief
The Nightingale
Lilac Girls
Book Thief, What She Left Behind (about an insane asylum).
A Secret History if Witches. I want to live in that book.
Sarah’s Key, Discovery of Witches trilogy
the boy in the striped pajamas ( that might only be a movie, not sure)
We Were the Lucky Ones (WWII)
Wicked Witches of the Midwest by Amanda M Lee. It’s a good fictional series to get lost in.
WW2 – “Salt to the Sea” by Ruta Septys
Holocaust- “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr
Witches – “Wicked Like Wildfire” by Lana Popovic
OCD – “Every Last Word” by Tamara Ireland Stone
The Girl They Left Behind – It just came out in November, 2018. I read it in a day! (its about the WW2 and after that in Romania)
Book Thief, Citizens of London, The Nightingale, All the Light We Cannot See, A Woman in Berlin, etc.
Sarah’s Key
Its about the Vietnam War, but I absolutely loved The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. And the classic novel All Quiet on the Western Front is about WWI but is one of my absolute favorite books. And it’s not about witches, but if you love science fiction I would highly recommend On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony.
What Alice Forgot
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
“Ordinary Men”. Interesting to read another perspective on the Holocaust. Also “Neighbors”. What went on in Poland was almost worse than anywhere else
And… not sure how you feel about YA but The Secret Circle trilogy is still on my list of all time favorites
@Nanette yeeeeessssssssss!
Oh! And the Century Trilogy starting with Fall of Giants is on my favorites list too
WWII/Holocaust: Lilac Girls, Tattooist of Auschwitz, Sarah’s Key
@Andi adding to your list: The Nightingale, All the light we cannot see.
Witch:
Harry Potter series
Discovery of Witches series
The Witch of Willow Hall
Witch by Christoper Pike (YA)
I love some good ole witches, so I have plenty of recs:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane (good for unconventional witches), The Witch Boy (if you like graphic novels/comics), The Spellbook of the Lost and Found (YA), Howl’s Moving Castle (light and fluffy, super quick and really uplifting)
If you’re looking to deal with OCD, depression, and anxiety, these books have really helped me:
Turtle All the Way Down (anxiety & OCD), Radio Silence (anxiety), We Are The Ants (depression), We Are Okay (depression, grief), The Rest of Us Just Live Here (depression), This One Summer (graphic novel; depression)
Hope this helps.
Just read Tattoist of Auchwitz- amazing story of survival and love. Clara Vine series by Jane Thynne- English spy working undercover with Nazi housewives – so good!!!Discovery of Witches for witches
Some of my favorite subject matter to read. Just finished The women in the Castle. Reall good! Sarah’s Key, unbroken, the boys in the boat, The invisible Wall (WWI), the book thief, the boy in the striped pajamas, Number the stars, The diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies. Love Discovery of Witches series!!
Here are some WW2 novels.
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
The Bridge over the River Kwai
Pierre Boulle
The Thin Red Line
James Jones
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
John Boyne
The Winds of War
Herman Wouk
All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr
Empire of the Sun
J. G. Ballard
Night
Elie Wiesel
War and Remembrance
Herman Wouk
The Eagle Has Landed
Jack Higgins
King Rat
James Clavell
The Naked and the Dead
Norman Mailer
Resistance
Owen Sheers
Jackdaws
Ken Follett
Hornet Flight
Ken Follett
Eye of the Needle
Ken Follett
SS-GB
Len Deighton
Battle Cry
Leon Uris
Sarah’s Key
Tatiana De Rosnay
Mila 18
Leon Uris
CHURCHILL’S GOLD
James Follett
Life after Life by Kate Atkinson is about a woman who lives her life several times and much of the story is set in WW2…
The Encyclopaedia of Witchcraft and Demonology by Rossel Hope Robbins. 1959. Impressive compilation of witch trials. Translated from six languages and 20 years in the making by a renowned scholar. Reference book.
Sarah’s Key
We Were the Lucky Ones for WWII/holocaust. Story of five siblings, and of their parents, each with their own remarkable stories. The reader experiences multiple events that occurred to Jewish folks during this period. Excellent book!!!!!
yes, this is a good one!
Tears in the Darkness, it’s a WW2 era read