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Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Historical Fiction Novels


Happy Tuesday everyone and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is Top Ten Historical Settings You Love/ Ten Historical Settings You'd Love To See or Top Futuristic Books You Love/Ten Futuristic Societies I'd Love To Read in Books --- basically this week is all about the past or the future....spin it however you choose! That gives me a little leeway.  Since I don't talk about historical fiction very much, I believe that this week I will share some of my favorites of that genre.  Here we go, in no particular order:  



A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis



Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman



Ross Poldark (The Poldark Saga #1) by Winston Graham



Mare's War by Tanita S. Davis


Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein



The Book Thief by Markus Zusak


The Paris Wife by Paula McLain


An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo


The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver



Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

So, what do you think of my list?  It looks like five of mine are set in and around WWII, which is no surprise really.  Have you read and enjoyed any of these novels?  Do you have any recommendations for me?  All comments are appreciated and I try to respond to everyone!

Comments

  1. I have not read a single one of these books, but a couple are on my watch list at my library.
    My TTT: Marie @ Pages to Explore

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    1. I hope you will enjoy them if you do get around to them. Thanks for sharing, Marie!

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  2. Nice list. I recommend The Poisonwood Bible, among others. I have heard good things about The Paris Wife.

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    1. Thanks! It's definitely worth picking up. I forgot I was reading fiction at times it felt so real.

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  3. Ross Poldark! I got around to reading it last year and absolutely enjoyed it :) Also really liked The Paris Wife and The Book Thief. Great list!

    My TTT

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    1. Glad you liked it! I'm definitely going to be continuing that series! :)

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  4. I am really enjoying reading books set in the 1880s and 1890s right now, Lauren. That, of course, includes the Sherlock Holmes stories, but of course steampunk books are set in that time as well. I'm also enjoying reading about the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries in Britain, particularly the novels of Philippa Gregory. All of which is a bit weird since I normally read contemporary mysteries and detective stories. Go figure. :)

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    1. Hey, Paula! Thanks for stopping by!

      I tend to read quite a bit from the Victorian era, too, and pretty much for the same reasons!:). I really need to read more medieval and renaissance fiction, that isn't fantasy anyway.

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  5. Yikes. I've only read The Book Thief, but almost everything else on your list is on my TBR (actually quite a few are sitting on my bookshelf). I seem to have a mental block when it comes to starting a book that's historical fiction. Regardless, great list this week!

    Mel @ Reviews In A Pinch

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    1. Well, that's definitely a great one to have read! I hope you get to them soon!

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  6. I have only read The Book Thief from those...

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  7. I love The Book Thief! One of my favourite books!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/top-ten-tuesday-42/

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  8. Nice list! I've read several of these. I adore THE BOOK THIEF and I really liked CODE NAME VERITY.

    Happy TTT!

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    1. Thanks! Two of my all time favorites! Thanks for visiting, Susan!

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  9. WW2 is one of my very favorite settings as well :) My TTT

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  10. I’ve read almost all of these books! I really want to read A Madness so Discreet. It’s been sitting on my TBR shelf for months.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  11. I have to say that I haven't read The Book Thief yet. I'm probably the only librarian I know who hasn't. A Madness So Discreet sounds really cool also. I'm going to add it to my TBR. Great post Lauren.

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    1. Thanks! I really, really hope you enjoy The Book Thief!

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  12. Oo, what is The Paris Wife about? It's got a beautiful cover.

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    1. Hemingway's first wife Hadley - very impressive read! :) Thanks for stopping by Ashley!

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  13. I REALLY want to read Vengeance Road!! I keep nearly buying it but it's so expensive in Australia, haha. xD Oh oh oh and I loved Code Name Verity. And by "loved" I mean "it made me bawl". XD

    Thanks for stopping by @ Paper Fury!

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    1. I hope you enjoy it and I'd love to hear what you think of it! I need more YA Westerns. :)

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  14. I've got to read A Madness So Discreet! I really enjoyed Vengeance Road, I heard that it's going to get a companion novel, yay!

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  15. I quite liked The Paris Wife -- have you read Hemingway's memoir A Moveable Feast? Fascinating.

    I liked The Book Thief okay, and I keep hearing great stuff about Code Name Verity. Good list!

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    1. Yes, but it's been ages - I'd like to reread it actually. :)

      Thanks for visiting!

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  16. Oh, I loved A Madness So Discreet, Vengeance Road & Code Name Verity. And I need to read the Book Thief asap. Can't believe I haven't done that yet.
    Great list. Thanks for sharing, and for stopping by my TTT earlier. :)

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  17. I have half of these books on my TBR. I should probably get to reading them soon :D
    Also, Vengeance Road - such an amazing cover ^.^

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  18. A MADNESS SO DISCREET and VENGEANCE ROAD have been on my TBR list for a while now, I'll have to bump them up! Great list =)

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    1. They definitely deserve it! Thanks for stopping by!

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  19. Terrific list! Code Name Verity is one of my favorites, and I love Poldark! Can't wait for season 2 on TV, and meanwhile, I've read the first 2 books and want more. :)

    Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

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    1. I can't wait for season two either! I'm still waiting for book two to come in at the library. :)

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  20. I have Vengeance Road on my tbr. Nice list. Thanks for stopping by our blog.

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    1. I hope you can get to it soon! Thanks for visiting mine, too!

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  21. THE BOOK THIEF is one of my favourite historical reads of all time. It's heart-wrenching! I also really enjoyed CODE NAME VERITY! Had no idea VENGEANCE ROAD was a historical!

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    1. I bawled during both of them they were so heart wrenching...and that's saying something for me. Vengeance Road could also be called a Western! :)

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  22. I haven't read any of these, but I've seen A Madness So Discreet around a lot and am considering it! Plus it's got a pretty cover :-P

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  23. The only one of these that I've read is the book thief. The cover to an elephant in the garden is gorgeous!

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    1. Yes, it is! Based on the strength of ot, I think I will have to pick up War Horse, too.

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  24. I really enjoyed The Book Thief, both the book and its movie adaptation. I’ve also had Code Name Verity on my TBR although I’ve yet to pick it up. These other books also sound really good and I’m going to look some of them up on Goodreads.

    http://ofstacksandcups.blogspot.com/

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    1. I still haven't seen the movie adaptation, but I really need to from what I've heard about it! Happy reading and thanks for visiting my blog!

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