8 World War Historical Fiction Reads on my Bookshelf

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Who doesn’t love sitting down with a good book and getting so engulfed in that book you don’t want to put it down?  When you love the characters and you just feel for them and feel with them?  When a book gives you all the emotions as you read?  Then, you read that last page and you’re sad the book is over?

That is why I love reading and love being lost in a book! I love being taken back to a time and spending time with those characters and go along their journey with them.

Anyway, back to the point of this blog post. I love learning about history, especially World War I and World War II and I’d have to say Historical Fiction is my favorite genre to read. And of course, in my fiction books, I love some good romance too.  So, if I find me a book set in WWI or WWII that has a little bit of love in it, you can bet I’m going to be picking it up and reading it. There have been so many historical fiction books that I have read, but you will know I love a book if I actually purchase the book. I’ll check a book out at the library to read first because I don’t want to have a book on my bookshelf that I don’t like. Then if I love it, I’ll purchase it.  Is that weird?

So, for my fellow book lovers, I share with you my favorite historical fiction books set in WWI or WWII that are currently on my bookshelf.  (These are in no particular order.)

The Forgotten Room by Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig

I couldn’t put this down! Sometimes books like this are hard to follow because each chapter jumps time periods.  This book tells the story of three different women in three different time periods.   It begins in 1945 with a wounded captain, Cooper, and a young doctor, Kate.  Cooper has been brought to a beautiful Gilded Age mansion turned hospital.  The Captain has a portrait of a woman who looks strangely similar to Kate wearing a ruby pendant that was handed down to Kate by her mother.  As they become closer and try to answer the questions of the woman in the photo, they begin to learn more about two other women who have a history within the same Forgotten Room of the mansion.

Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson

This book is set in WWI.  After the breakout of the war, Lilly decides to join the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps against her parents’ wishes.  After being given her assignment in a field hospital in France, she reunites with a childhood friend, Robert.  Even though Robert and Lilly come from two different backgrounds, they both long for more from each other.  Love, uncertainty, and survival in a time of war.  I spent the whole book cheering on Lilly!  I am all about women taking charge and going after what they want.  I spent the story cheering on Robert and Lilly!

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

This is another book set in WWI.  Beatrice is the teacher no one believes in and Hugh is the medical student drafted for the war.  Beatrice isn’t the teacher everyone expects her to be.  She is young, attractive, and independent.  She meets Hugh who tries to break through Beatrice’s guarded exterior.  But as she acclimates to the landscape of Sussex and opens up, the war breaks out and changes everything.  It is a long book and was a bit slower to read at times but I did enjoy it!

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel 

This book takes Eva back in her history when she had to flee from the Nazis.  She then begins to learn how to forge documents and uses her skills to forge identities for Jewish children fleeing to Switzerland with the help of Rémy.  Eva feels she must find a way to preserve the children’s real identities for any family that survives the war.  What a story!  It is inspired by true stories of forgers who risked their lives to protect others in a time of war.

Dragonfly by Leila Meacham

Ok, this is a long book but oh man it is intriguing!  It is another WWII book.  A team of five American men and women are given false identities, dropped behind enemy lines, and each given separate, secret duties.  They don’t know each other’s real identities but the group bonds immediately.  I loved reading it and couldn’t put it down!

The Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar

Independent women, doing their thing- that is it, right here!  A handsome, charming Lieutenant James unexpectedly charms Audrey who loves to fly and has no intention of being charmed.  As the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and America enters WWII, Audrey and James’ worlds are turned upside down as both are called to service.

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

Women spies in WWII is the theme of this book.  I could not put it down!  A woman finds a suitcase left at a train station in Manhattan.  The suitcase is full of photographs and it belongs to the head of the network of female agents who were sent to Occupied Europe but never returned home.  As the story evolves you get more connected to the stories of the women and want to know what happens!

Dancing in the Rain by Amanda Harte

This was the first book that introduced me to historical fiction when I was in my early 20s.  I loved it when I first read it and I still love it.  It is a quick and easy read. Carolyn is the social butterfly who helps at a hospital in France during WWI.  One day she is mistaken for a nurse and has to work for the very serious yet extremely handsome operating doctor, Dwight.  They end up being quite the working pair in the operating room. It is a simple little love story I have read more times than I can count.

Well, there you have it. The World War I and World War II reads on my bookshelf at home.

So, have you read any of these books?  If so, what did you think of the ones you read?  What World War historical fiction books are your favorites? I know there are so many out there!  Let me know and I’ll add them to my Want to Read List!

For my audiobook people-here is a link for subscription options to Amazon Audible.

If you want to follow along with my reads, here is the link to my Good Reads profile: https://www.goodreads.com/friend/i?invite_token=ODM3OGRkZDAtMGMzYy00YThiLTg3MDMtYTBkY2VjMjFiOWZk

Have a good one and I can’t wait to share more with you!

-Joelle