As my marathon of historical fiction draws to a close (at least for now), I'd like to sum up the books I've read and talk about one of my favorite genres!
Historical fiction is a combination of both fact and fiction. Fact because authors are pulling details about specific eras or events to craft their story, but also fiction because some details and characters may be warped or created to the author's liking. But the more real and close to history it seems, the more I seem to like it. The line between fact and fiction can be so blurred that it's hard to tell that what I'm reading isn't real.
Another reason why I like historical fiction is the awareness it creates about history. As much as I loved history classes, there are some periods of time, or events that were glossed over in class! We had to learn mostly for the AP Exam. I didn't really get to focus on Versailles France or the WWII of a refugee's perspective. Even the time of the Wild West was ignored.
I know there are people who fell asleep during history classes or found the subject boring, but I feel like historical fiction gives both the excitement of fiction and the knowledge of history. That sounds really corny, so anyways. Here are the books I read this January/early February, and I'll organize them by time period.
France 1730s - 1740s
King Louis XV's Reign
Some words to describe: Sisters. Backstabbing. Political intrigue. Strong women.
American Old West
1800s
Some words to describe: Gun-standoffs. Shootouts. Disguises. Authentic Western charm.
WWII 1940s
Eastern Europe
Some words to describe both: Heartbreak. Emotions. Strength. Perseverance. Survival.
Ethiopia 1950s - 1970s
Some words to describe: Doctors. Medicine. Brotherhood. Ethiopian Revolution
Finishing up this genre read with:
Does anyone have any of these books on their TBR's? Has anyone read these books? I recommend all of them, but of course, if you're interested in a certain topic, some may interest you more than others.
And I just came up with this "Raisa Reads" thing. Maybe I'll do one for fantasy, which is what I'm reading this month! What do you think?
I saw that you wrote about Historical Fiction, and I knew I just had to comment on it! I'm always so excited to see other people who love History as much as I do. I'm currently in the middle of Code Name: Verity and I'm absolutely loving it. I love the friendship in it and the world building. I haven't heard of The Sisters of Versailles yet, so I'll definitely need to add that to my TBR. Great list!
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a genre that I read often but I have found a few books that I have liked. I tend to like them when they are more on the fantasy side with a bit of history thrown in or are history inspired but more fantasy, if that makes sense.
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