Recommendations: Historical

Hey all, Dani here.

Welcome back to another round of book recommendations. I am actually enjoying coming up with these, although I think I’ll need to do another round where I expand my recommendations to any book I’ve ever read, instead of just books I’ve read over the last few years.

Anyway, today I’m talking about historical books. Now, there are some I would recommend, but they have already made it on my romance list or my paranormal list. These are books like Alex & Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, or the London Steampunk series by Bec McMaster. There are plenty of other great books to recommend though, and some are historical fantasy or alternate history, while there are a few that are just plain ole’ historical fiction.

Let’s get started.

Okay, so these first recommendations technically take place in a fictional world, but the historical aspect is pretty much based on European history, so I’m going to include them anyway.

Both of these are part of a trilogy, where all three stories take place concurrently, so I’m sure writing it involved some serious timeline outlining to make sure they stay consistent. I greatly enjoyed reading both of these, and I am very much looking forward to the release of The Emerald Sea next year because I really want to know what all happens to Tamsin.

I suppose I should also mention these two books, because while I was obsessed with them, they are not super well-known reads. It is sort of an alternate history because names of countries and continents have been changed, but again, it is all based on European history. And while the author maintains that these two books conclude well enough, I know that there is so much to explore and having a third book to actually wrap up plot lines would have been amazing.

Next up is one of the first books I read this year, and it takes place in Russia, which was really interesting because I am not as well versed in Russian history and/or folklore. But it was just the right combination of history, a coming of age story, religious turmoil, and magic. I am so glad to have an ARC of the second book and hope to read it very soon (book two will be out in December), so now is the perfect time to start reading.

Well, I’ve mentioned European history and Russian, so I suppose now I need to have an American history option, right? I’ve only read the first book of the trilogy so far but it was such a fun and interesting read. It takes place in the West during the Gold Rush Era and features a protagonist who has a magical ability to sense gold, which I thought was a cool concept.

Now, I have to throw in the book I am currently reading and obsessing over. It also is a Western Gold Rush Era story, but it is just a pure Western revenge adventure, no magic needed. I love the narrative voice and this book is everything I want it to be and more. It even has a companion novel that was recently released, and it should be just as entertaining. Plus, look at these covers…they are STUNNING!

Next up, how about some WWII recommendations? These are by the same author and I recommend them every chance I get because they pack a punch. The friendship, the harrowing journeys the characters face…I just dearly love these books, to the point where sitting here trying to find the right words to explain how much of an impact they had on my life is difficult to do. I really think these books need to be read. Oh, and they do feature young female pilots, and I guess I didn’t realize that there were female pilots who did great things during the war, which makes these books even more important.

Maybe some of you have realized from some of my reviews or book tags, but I enjoy a good circus related story. I blame the repeated viewing of a movie called The Greatest Show on Earth when I was a child. This recommendation was started as a NaNoWriMo project, and was later published, and has also been turned into a movie. There’s a little bit of a story telling element to it, there’s romance, and there’s even a possible murder mystery. I just really enjoy this story.

What would a historical recommendation post be without an Arthurian legend book on the list? I feel like this is an obvious one to include, but maybe it’s just because I love all the legends and folklore around King Arthur. This behemoth of a book is just a wonderful read and the movie’s pretty decent as well. I love the history and the magic and the awesome female characters.

Finally I have a trilogy to recommend, and it takes place in America during the 1920s. The first book in this trilogy also holds the title of first ARC I ever received. I was doing a book review club for Barnes & Noble back in 2010, and we were sent copies of this book and then had weekly discussions about the chapters we had read and everything. Then I had to wait and count down the days for the second book…and then the third. Okay, I admit, I love reading Prohibition Era books, so these ones just hooked me.

Whew…I think that’s all for today. I was going to toss in a couple of time travel books because those are somewhat historical, but now that I think about it, I’ll just do a Time Travel Recommendations post in the future.

So, what do you think? Are there any other historical books you would add? Give me your recommendations in the comments.