Let's get personal 😅 Are there any historical novels about where you live? Or where you're from? Anything that's had helped you see your home differently? I live near Washington, DC so there are quite a few books at least partially set here. One I've loved recently - and which changed my view of my home state of Maryland - is Booth by Karen Joy Fowler. It's a beautiful, weird, immersive look at the family of John Wilkes Booth and their childhood in ante bellum Maryland.

Which book (fiction or nonfiction) sparked your obsession with a specific time, place, event, social movement, or person in history?

My family and I are doing a whirlwind trip in Germany before making our way to family in Albania for summer vacation. We're going to visit Berlin, Nuremberg, and Munich. Does anyone have any HF recs set in any of these cities? Also, has anyone read The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay? It's on my TBR. Thank you in advance!

I know this is basically an impossible question BUT I'm going to ask it anyway 😂 What would you say are your top 3-5 historical novels? Whatever comes to mind, off the top of your head... My list is no doubt different on different days, but today this is my list (not in any order after the first one): 1. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (this one never changes) - a soldier injured during the American Civil War leaves a field hospital to walk hundreds of miles home to Cold Mountain 2. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - a small English village is hit by the plague in 1666 3. The Madstone by Elizabeth Crook (also The Which Way Tree by the same author) - a young carpenter witnesses a disturbing event in post-Civil War Texas, complications ensue... 4. My Old True Love by Sheila Kay Adams - family and love through the generations in 19th century North Carolina 5. North Woods by Daniel Mason - about a Massachusetts house and its inhabitants through several centuries What about you? What are your top historical fiction novels?

Mine is: Christabel picks up the stick. It fits well in her hand. She is in the garden, waiting with the rest of the household for her father to return with her new mother. (The Whalebone Theatre by Julia Quinn) I like how it builds expectation and also gives the reader hints about Christabel’s character, social class, and her relationships.