{Time Travel To} World War II

"​Ordnance Survey One-Inch Map

​"​

by bull_de is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Hey ya'll! The Time Travel To feature is back with my fellow friends Hannah from So Obsessed With, and Alexa from Alexa Loves Books because we are all historical fiction obsessed! We wanted to try and find a way to highlight our favorite time periods that we like to read about and tend to gravitate towards and give our breakdown of favorite books. This post is all about WWII. All three of us seem to have an affinity for this time period and we're each sharing our favorite books taking place in this time period.

The feature is broken down into three parts. {Departure}-we'll tell you why we love this time period; {In Transit}--highlighting a few books we love; and {Arrival}--a few books we haven't gotten to yet but cannot wait to read.

 Description of my chosen time period or place 

DEPARTURE// I don't know what it is that draws me to WWII except that even as a young girl it has always fascinated me. As an adolescent, I think it was so difficult to fathom that these horrors actually occurred in real life that I needed to read about to try and wrap my brain and understand to the best of my ability how and why something like this could happen. When I think about what draws me to it today, it's the intricacies and complexities of how many different nations were affected by it and what role they played during that time.

For pictures of this time period, I decided to include my own personal photos taken at the concentration camps I have visited when traveling. These are legit the only pictures I have. While photos are not prohibited it felt really creepy and eerie to me to be taking a ton of photos at a place where so much suffering has occurred. So a few general snaps to remember what it looked like even though the images will be forever burned into my brain.

Dachau Concentration Camp--Germany

 

 

Aushwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp--Poland

 

 

 

Favorite books I've read from this time period or place

 

IN TRANSIT// Alexa, Hannah and I decided to each highlight our favorite Middle Grade, Young Adult, and Adult WWII novel and also adding in a few extras.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry--I was obsessed with Lois Lowry as a child and Number the Stars was one of those books I read constantly. First, the main character has my Mom's name and it is not a super common one. Second, I really looked up to Anne Marie and how brave she was. I wanted to be like her when I was a kid and have that kind of heroism. Her selfless nature and her devotion to her friend kept me coming back time and time again.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein--Wow. This book is one that absolutely blew me away in the most unexpected way. I was ugly crying at multiple points and with Number the Stars as well as my adult pick, the theme of sacrifice is heavy. Maddie and Queenie have a friendship we should all strive for. They love one another and their bravery never ceases to amaze me. The writing style is unique and not for everyone but it worked for me in so many ways. It is brilliant how this novel is written and comes together and would recommend this book to everyone.

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons--I mean, where do I even begin with this book? It is one of my most favorite books of all time. I read it on a whim when I needed a long book to keep me occupied while traveling in Africa where electricity for charging my Kindle would be few and far between and The Bronze Horseman was that book. So much so that when I cut my foot in the Indian Ocean and was laid up in bed for 2 days I wasn't even upset about it. The romance, the story, the sacrifices, the utter horror of what the people of Leningrad went through during the siege of their city is so atrocious it is borderline actually unbelievable what these people went through. Add in the most incredible love story I've ever read and we have ourselves one of my favorite books of all time. Review

A books I want to read from this time period or place that I haven't read yet.

ARRIVAL // Even with all the WWII books I've read there are a few I haven't gotten to yet and one of them is thanks to Hannah!

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr-- {Goodreads}--This is one of Hannah's picks and I cannot wait to read this. She says it's so good and I'm definitely going to be checking this out!

Early One Morning by Virginia Baily {Goodreads}--This book takes place in Rome and I've never read a WWII taking place in Italy...crazy, I know!! But this book I got at BEA so I'm excited to read this soon!