- 1. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally---Based on the true WWII story of the holocaust hero Oskar Schindler.
- 2. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys---Stalin's reign of terror with the relocation of thousands of people from the Baltic States to Siberia. (YA)
- 3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett---set in the deep South during the Civil Rights era. This book should be required reading for all Americans.
- 4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak---WWII in Germany. This book is powerful. (YA)
- 5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith---Set in the early 1900s about an Irish-American-immigrant story. Exquisite.
- 6. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly---at least the French Revolution parts of the book were fascinating. (YA)
- 7. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay---Set in South Africa prior to the dissolution of apartheid.
- 8. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh--- Set in the decadent 1920s in Britain.
- 9. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns---I know I always put this book on just about every list I can. This one is set in the early 1900s in a small town in America.
- 10. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell--- Civil War and the old South.
As usual, I feel like I am missing some good ones. I'll sleep on it and amend my list tomorrow.Ah, a good sleep and I've thought of some others...
- 11. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant---set in Biblical times about the lives of women during those times.
- 12. The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks---set in Britain during the middle ages about a community beset with the bubonic plague. It is based on an actual historical event.
- 13. The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland---Artemisia Gentileschi was a post-Rennaissance artist that gained fame during her lifetime. This is her amazing story.
- 14. The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig---set in the American West in the early 1900s. the story centers around a one-room school house.
- 15. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides--- an immigrant family from Armenia living in the Detroit area during the late 1960s.
