Listening with a pencil in hand! All the Light We Cannot See is my all time favorite. So powerful and sacrificial and the depth of the characters! I suggest two books:. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Zepytas and In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park. You will need to read something lighter after these but amazing!!! Also Book Thief rocked my world.
I haven't read Shades of Gray, but I have read Zepytas' Salt to the Sea about the sinking of the S.S. Wilhelm Gostloff. I don't normally read YA but I already knew about the sinking from real history so I thought I would give it a shot and I was pleasantly surprised. I was actually surprised because the plot of the book is more serious and disturbing than I would have expected in a YA book. Would definitely recommend it.
I like how you describe how these books are still part of you. I believe that's what a great book does, stays with us years after we've read them. The Poisonwood Bible is that kind of book for me. Thank you for the great video, I've added a few to me TBR!
One of my most favorite books is The Nightingale. I also read The Kite Runner and All The Light We Cannot See. Right now I am reading The Fozen River by Ariel Lawhon. It is set in the late 1790's in Maine. Such a good book.
Homegoing is definitely one of my favourites too. And everything Khalid Hosseini has written! Have you read Pachinko? I think it fits in well with the kind of historical fiction you love!
Great job. I love your enthusiasm for reading. The Nightingale was soooo good. I'm ordering "All the Light We cannot See." Kite Runner was v good also.
I just started your video when I stumbled upon your channel and I cannot believe when you started listing the books you started reading in your childhood! I started my reading journey with Christopher pike novels and goosebumps too! And two of the books on this list are my all time favourites! ❤
New to your channel. I'll be staying. I have read or listened to many of your favorites and added some to my own to be read list. Of the ones you list I truly loved The Nightingale and A Gentleman in Moscow. I can't tell you how many times Towles' writiing made me stop and just say wow. Might I recommend, if you haven't read it, Deep River by Karl Marlantes. The story of a Finnish family that relocates to the pacific northwest in the early part of the 2oth century. Magnificent.
2 years later I comment... 😂 I didn't really realize Barbara Buncle's Book by D E Stevenson was considered historical fiction until recently. That is definitely my FAVORITE!
I loved “The Nightingale” too! So many people love “A Gentleman in Moscow,” but I’ve still yet to read it. “All The Light We Cannot See” is on my TBR now; I got about halfway through it several years ago, but then I got horrible morning sickness for months and never finished it, lol.
I read The Nightingale and I read a book called Until Leaves Fall In Paris by Sarah Sundin in the same month, I loved the latter so much more! I think you would really enjoy it, so good.
I was going to ask if you now have two channels, but I see you do. I didn't think that you were reviewing books any longer. We have such similar tastes, though I still have to read most of them. Ahhhh....The Red Tent, so good. Good news is I already own almost all of these. I just have to get going. Everyone just raves about A Gentleman in Moscow. So glad I found you again!!
The Help is one of my favorite books too! The audio book is really good as well. I liked the Kite Runner but it had parts of the book that were really hard for me to read. . I actually liked A Thousand Splendid Suns more by the same author.
An amazing short work of historical fiction is the chapter "Lead" in Primo Levi's book THE PERIODIC TABLE. It's about a traveling lead prospector who finds rocks which can be smelted for lead, and educates local populations on the many ways lead can be used to improve ordinary life. (In those days, life was generally so short that shortening it further by lead-poisoning didn't matter much. It was worth it to have lead-lined pipes that didn't leak, and super-heavy lead sinkers for fishing.)
I have a few of those books that I have not read, yet. I have read The Help and The Poisonwood Bible, both of which are 2 of my all time favorites. Like for you, they have stuck with me. You may have seen the movie with Meryl Streep, but have you read Sophie's Choice? I read it so long ago, it has stuck with me, very heart wrenching.
I added soooo many books to my “want to read” list. Thanks, these were some great recommendations. I’m surprised The Last Bookshop in London wasn’t on your list. That’s another great one. Another great one is Island of the Sea Women by Lisa See. It takes place in South Korea and shows you how the Korean female divers were the providers for their families it covers many decades between 1930 forward. The Audible version is amazing and highly recommend
It's funny that you said you didn't really historical fiction as a kid bc As a kid, that was my favorite genre. I read historical fiction all the time and it's why I loved reading sm
I love anything by Susan Meisner but As Bright As Heaven one I always recommend. I think The Help is the only movie I liked as much as the book. You might enjoy the book The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan, it’s a WWll that touches on three women and how the entered a contest to become a co host of a cooking show but they have to prove themselves by showcasing their creations using only the rations they were allowed. It was a different take on wartime and found it very interesting and I think it’s a highly under rated book. Thanks for all the great recommendations!
All time favorite Historical Fiction reads. In no particular order because they are all 5 star reads. The Killer Angel's by Michael Shaara Roots by Alex Haley The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah Years of Wonder by Geraldine Brooks Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
Well you make me want to read most of these. I haven’t read any of these. I think The Last Bookshop in London would be my favorite historical fiction although I’ve enjoyed so many! Fever 1793 was another favorite.
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger Amanda Skenandore books-I’ve read The Second Life of Mireille West and Between Earth and Sky. Really liked both. Light read-two books by Sandra Dallas-a Christmas quilt and Westering Women
Oh yes, The Help!! Love love that book!!! (And movie) The Nightingale!!! The Great Alone is one of mine. I can't wait to read The Gentleman in Moscow! I own all 3 Amor Towles and I keep putting them off because I don't want them to be over. Lol
So im ashamed to say i was bored with all the light we cannot see. I really wanted to read it because finally a blind character that’s not a musical prodigy!! Its such a stereotype to the point i gave up music lessons! Anyway, my point is that i tried! I got 30 percent i.n and i just didnt get in to it!
Hey, do you mind me asking what is it you did not like much about it? I am just curious about different people's views from my own, personally I loved it. Is it the characters or the plot/pace? If you don't feel like answering it's fine, I am really just curious...
@@Rosarossa.0_0. I was just bored by so much description. It felt like it went on and on and on! And as someone who’s never had vision, I have no concept for the constant describing. I needed something to happen and nothing did and I lost patience. I did finish it last year though finally and… it was ok.
@@Readingindarknesss oh, ok. I see what you mean, the descriptions Anthony Doerr writes in that book are indeed somewhat infinite and can be tedious. I personally enjoy long descriptions so it is interesting seeing different point of views from someone else. It is actually kind of a paradox now that I think about it, that in a book where there are so many descriptions, some of which are supposed to help the visually impaired main character, the descriptions end up being somewhat superfluous or tiresome for real visually impaired people. I think this shows how sometimes people who don't experience something have a hard time totally empathizing with people who do. Thanks for answering, it was an interesting POV 🥰😊 - and sorry for the long reply...
My favorite historical novel is Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. Written in 1959, not published in the original Russian until 1980 (16 years after the author's death) and not published in English until 2012. This is an amazing book. It follows an extended Russian family during World War II but includes dozens of characters, men and women, German and Russian, soldiers and civilians, from Hitler and Stalin right on down to privates and nurses and prisoners of war and conscience and race. This is not a fun read, but the writing is excellent.
I don't read historical fiction that much. I read a lot of historical nonfiction. I did like The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray. If I were to read historical fiction, I'd like to know how well researched it is.
So i love the nightengale by kristin hannah but i think i like her other world war two book better. It’s called winter garden. Most say it’s depressing and yeah it is but come on! Do you call the nightengale any happier?? It’s war!
