Category: Historical Fiction
Review: Dear Miss Kopp by Amy Stewart
Dear Miss Kopp is the sixth book in the Kopp Sisters series by Amy Stewart, and I was thrilled to receive an advanced review copy from NetGalley. This is one of my favorite historical series, and if you haven’t read it, I strongly recommend… Continue Reading “Review: Dear Miss Kopp by Amy Stewart”
My Favorite Reads of 2020
This week, we’re sharing our favorite books of 2020 for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl). I found it hard this year to identify ten favorite books, maybe because I read more than usual or because I read a wider range… Continue Reading “My Favorite Reads of 2020”
Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
I loved this book. I already thought Schwab was great, but this book combines so many things I love – history, travel, France – and it’s really character/relationship driven. The story is complicated, and there were lots of times I found myself trying to… Continue Reading “Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab”
Review: Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham
If you’re like me, the first time you knew anything about the 1921 Tulsa race riots – or race massacre – was this summer, when Trump scheduled a rally in Tulsa on June 19 (Juneteenth). Before that I was mostly unaware of this history. What… Continue Reading “Review: Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham”
Review: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
I couldn’t be happier that Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet won this year’s Women’s Prize. I love O’Farrell but I worried that this book couldn’t live up to my expectations, after all the rave reviews. It absolutely did. Hamnet is about William Shakespeare, though he’s never… Continue Reading “Review: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell”
Review: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but I ended up finding it both fascinating and moving. I knew it was about a true-life group of people in the Appalachians with blue skin, and it was also about the historic Packhorse Librarians,… Continue Reading “Review: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson”
Review: Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon
This was a fantastic historical novel about World War II that is even greater because it is nearly all true. Author Lawhon gives us the story of real-life hero Nancy Wake, an Australian who serves as a British special operative in World War II,… Continue Reading “Review: Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon”
Review: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
If you’re trying to avoid thinking about the pandemic, this will NOT be the book for you. Otherwise, it’s another fantastic novel from Emma Donoghue, author of Room and The Wonder. This is a historical novel set in Dublin in 1918 during World War I and… Continue Reading “Review: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue”
Review: Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
To date, David Mitchell hasn’t written a book I didn’t like, and this one is no exception. In fact, it will be one of my favorites because of its subject matter. I don’t always fully understand Mitchell’s work, especially the horology storyline that runs… Continue Reading “Review: Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell”
Review: Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht
I loved the first book by Knecht, Who is Vera Kelly? so I was very happy to receive a review copy of its sequel. These books combine a couple of things I really love – a complicated main character, a mystery, and the history… Continue Reading “Review: Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht”
Review: The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
If you’re looking for a book that explores the horrors of the Holocaust but does so in a really beautiful way, I recommend this book. It begins in Berlin, where a mother, Hanna, is trying desperately to save her daughter Lea. She learns that there… Continue Reading “Review: The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman”
Mystery Series Mini-Reviews: the Kopp Sisters, Jackson Brodie and Maisie Dobbs
I don’t often write about books in series, but I read a few recently and thought it might be helpful to discuss them together. For those who haven’t read these series, or aren’t caught up, I’ve avoided spoilers and focused more on the series… Continue Reading “Mystery Series Mini-Reviews: the Kopp Sisters, Jackson Brodie and Maisie Dobbs”
