The Librarian's Husband's Book Club discussion

Submerged in the depths of a mesmerizing historical saga? Don't leave us in suspense.....

Tell us about it!

I'm currently making my way through The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell. It's really good. The first book is The Last Kingdom.

Some other great historical reads I've enjoyed are...

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (about Dracula).
Drood and The Terror by Dan Simmons
Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva
11/22/63 by Stephen King
The Wolf's Hour by Robert McCammon (about a werewolf taking on nazis).
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco is a great young adult series.

Currently reading The Terror by Dan Simmons

John wrote: "Submerged in the depths of a mesmerizing historical saga? Don't leave us in suspense.....

Tell us about it!"

The John Jakes trilogy "North & South".
"Into The Wilderness" by Sara Donati (I didn't care for the sequels).
"Forever Amber" by Kathleen Winsor.
Angélique series by Anne Golon.
Daughters of England series by Philippa Carr.
Barbara Erskine writes time travel novels with a time line in the past and a time line today.
Susanna Kearsley does it, too.

I’m currently reading The Women by Kristin Hannah about nurses who served during the Vietnam War. So far so good. Is anyone else reading or have you read this? What did you think?

I tried another Kristin Hannah novel a few years ago, it was about 3 women in the same family (three generations) with too many flashbacks. It became too confusing, so I dropped it off at our local; library after the first 50 or 60 pages.
Ever since I stayed away from Kristin Hannah. And Donna Tartt. :)

I liked The Women. I didn’t realize it was going to be about nurses. I thought it’d be more about like Red Cross girls or something similar. I appreciated KH having a part one and two. Gives you a very well rounded impact of war from before, during and the aftermath that sometimes isn’t discussed. I did like part 2 but at one point thought it drug out a bit in the middle.

I have The Women in my TBR stash. I may read it sooner than later. A beautiful historical fiction that I've read recently is The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. The writing was superb. There were several characters and the perspective changed throughout the book, but I never found it confusing. It takes place in the early 1900s in Pennsylvania. It deals with how different minority groups lived and were treated during the time. It's just a beautiful story that made my heart hurt at times, and made me proud of the primary characters and their determination to make a difference, if not in the world, at least in their own little part of it!

I just finished the audiobook of the source material for a best picture nominated film adaptation, The Zone of Interest, by Martin Amis. It was way darker and more detailed in Nazi antisemitism and theories of human hierarchy in value in casual business conversation than I was prepared for, wanting to compare it to the very differently-focused, much more subtle film.

I've recently discovered a new love for historical fiction! I read The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon and absolutely loved it. That led me to search for more historical fiction and I ended up reading The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer about a young girl coming of age during World War II in Poland. It absolutely broke my heart. It was so good. Any other recommendations for great historical fiction, anyone? :)

I’m reading Boston Girl by Anita Diamant

@Theresa i always always always recommend Beneath a Scarlet Sky! It was a book I accidentally found and loved more than i expected to. I preferred it as an audiobook and would also recommend it that way if you’re into audiobooks. If you do ever end up checking it out, ill be patiently waiting for your review. 😁

Devon wrote: "@Theresa i always always always recommend Beneath a Scarlet Sky! It was a book I accidentally found and loved more than i expected to. I preferred it as an audiobook and would also recommend it tha..."

Sweet! I love a good audiobook. I have a handful of Audible credits I need to use, so I'll pick that one up. Thanks for the recommendation!

Erica wrote: "I’m reading Boston Girl by Anita Diamant"

Are you enjoying it, Erica?

I can recommend The Daughters of England series by Philippa Carr and the Angélique series by Anne Golon.