NEW! 
2024 Reading Challenge Crossover Books
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.We know that a lot of you are participating in more than one of our Reading Challenges, so we thought that it might be helpful to create a place where we can specifically list the book recommendations that are a good fit for more than one of the monthly guided reading challenge prompts. We hope this helps during those months that you need to double-dip and provides a quick shortcut so you can stay on track with the challenges even when life gets busy.
Overview of Crossover Books
GUIDED READING CHALLENGES: The list below identifies the books from our recommended reading lists that satisfy two, or in some cases all three, of that month’s reading prompts for our guided reading challenges – In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) Backlist Reading Challenge, the Decades Challenge, and the Book Voyage Read Around the World Challenge.
SELF-PACED READING CHALLENGES: Since Read Around the USA and the Lifetime of Reading are self-paced challenges for 2024, you can read books for those prompts in any order. Because each states and age range, respectively, are not assigned a specific month, we won’t be including these self-paced challenges in our crossover book lists. However, whenever possible, we try to call out the location settings and ages of characters throughout all of our book descriptions across all of our reading lists. So as you review the book lists for the other three challenges, you’ll be able to find lots of books that you can also count for Read Around the USA and the Lifetime Challenge if you’d like.
We will update this page each month after curating the individual reading challenge book lists, and you’ll always find the most recent month at the top of the page. Use the table of contents above if you’d like to jump directly to a specific past month.
October Crossover Books
The following books satisfy two of the October guided reading challenge prompts:
- In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) – 2021
- Book Voyage – Middle East
- Decades Challenge – 1990s
*We’ve used asterisks below to note which challenge list the book originally appeared on
The People We Keep
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Book Summary
April has a rough life, fending for herself in a motorless motorhome that her father won while playing poker. She works at a diner but dreams of being a songwriter. After flunking out of school and another fight with her dad, April sets off to find a better life for herself.
Along the way, she meets others with complex stories, which are the perfect inspiration for her songs. But even more important than that, she finds that family doesn’t have to mean the community you were born into. Instead, people you meet can become family.
The Book Girls Say…
This is a beautifully written, character-driven, coming-of-age novel. April isn’t always likable, and she makes many bad decisions along the way. But she’s a raw and real character you’ll come to love despite her flaws.
This book is packed with so much genuine emotion, honesty, and heart that you’ll want a copy on your shelf so that you can read it again!
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Books Set in the 1990s
Books with Teenage Characters
Uplifting Books for Book Clubs
20 Books Like It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Beautiful Country
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Qian, 7 years old + aging through elementary school
In 1994 at age 7, author Qian Wang moved with her family from China to America. Before the move, her parents were successful professors. Despite the Chinese word for America, Mei Guo, meaning beautiful country, life is much harder for the family here. Her parents overstay their visas and are not in the US legally, which means they must find work in sweatshops instead of classrooms.
Qian escapes to libraries to avoid the teachers and classmates who shun her limited English. Over time, she’s able to master English through her study of books like The Bernstein Bears and The Babysitters Club and begins to glimpse some of the magic of New York City, like Christmas at Rockefeller Center. However, her world changes again when her mom gets sick.
This memoir gives a unique insight into the hidden life and struggles of children trying to thrive in a place where they must also remain hidden in many ways.
The Book Girls Say…
Both Book Girls were teenagers in the 1990s, so Angela found it especially powerful to read about Qian Julie’s experiences growing up in that decade. Her sweatshop experiences, for example, were things we grew up thinking only happened in other countries when, in fact, they were part of Qian Julie’s reality in the United States. While Angela really enjoyed this memoir, some readers found it difficult to read about Qian Julie’s traumas, including her father’s abusive treatment of her cat.
Qian Julie went on to graduate from Swarthmore College and Yale Law School, and became a partner in a law firm with her practice focusing on civil rights litigation.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Arsonists’ City
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If you love international family sagas, consider this highly-rated 2021 novel. The Nasr family consists of a Syrian mother, a Lebanese father, and three American adult children who have always lived a life of migration. However, their ancestral home has always been in Beirut.
When the family patriarch dies, Idris inherits the home and decides to sell it. However, no one else is on board with this plan. They all travel to Beirut to persuade him to keep the home. The region is still trying to recover from war, handle an influx of refugees, and is full of religious and political tension.
Tensions exist within the family as well. Although they share a goal of saving their home, secrets, and jealousy exist between the family members.
The Book Girls Say…
The author, Hala Alyan, is a Palestinian-American poet, novelist, and clinical psychologist.
This book is included with an Audible membership as of September 15, 2023.
Sparks Like Stars
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At the beginning of this novel, written by an Afghan author, ten-year-old Sitara has a great life. It’s 1978, and Sitara’s father has an important job as the right-hand man of the country’s progressive President, Sardar Daoud.
Her privileged world is shattered when she’s the lone survivor of her family after a coup. After being smuggled out of the palace, Sitara finds safety with an American diplomat, who later adopts her.
Thirty years later, she’s become a successful surgeon in America. However, her past comes racing back when she sees a new elderly patient, Shair, who was the soldier who saved her during the coup. However, Shair may have also been responsible for the deaths of her family. Her desire for past answers is rekindled after decades of a successful life.
The Book Girls Say…
Nadia Hashimi is a first-generation American of Afghani parents. In addition to traveling to Afghanistan with her parents, she serves on the boards of organizations committed to educating and nurturing Afghanistan’s most vulnerable children and empowering the female leaders of tomorrow. She is also a member of the US-Afghan Women’s Council.
NOTE: Only the first half of Sparks Like Stars is set in Afghanistan, but we thought it was worth including as a dramatically different look at the country from before the Soviet invasion. The author has also written three other well-rated books set in Afghanistan – The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, House Without Windows, and When the Moon is Low.
The Mismatch
Book Summary
Soraya is a 21-year-old British-Iranian woman who has just graduated from university. She’s ready for her first job and catching up on life experiences she has missed due to her cultural upbringing – life her first kiss. Rugby player Magnus seems like just the person for the job. He is quintessentially British and so different from the type of person she is expected to marry that it seems like she can enjoy a harmless kiss with no risk of falling for him.
Soraya’s story is counter-balanced with flashbacks to her mother’s life growing up in 1970s Tehran, Iran, before it was radicalized. You’ll see her struggles and how she ended up leaving Iran, along with how her background impacted the decisions she made raising her own daughters.
The Book Girls Say…
While this book alternates between Soraya’s life dating and finding love in England with her mom’s experiences doing the same in 1970s Iran, the portions in England are also heavily influenced by Iranian culture. While this is a romance novel on the surface, it provides an interesting perspective on the immigrant experiences of both the first and second-generation women in the same family. However, if you are looking for a book that is fully set in the Middle East versus partially, skip this pick.
Author Sara Jafari is British-Iranian and is able to use her background to accurately portray both British-Iranian Muslims and the older generation in Iran.
Take What You Can Carry
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This novel is set in war-torn 1979 Kurdistan, a province in northern Iraq that is now an autonomous region. The main character, Olivia, is a secretary for an LA newspaper but dreams of being a photojournalist. So when her Kurdish boyfriend is invited home to a wedding, she agrees to join him and hopes to take photos that will get her recognized at work. Plus, it’s an excellent opportunity to understand her boyfriend’s past.
However, when they arrive, they realize the trip will be more dangerous than they anticipated. The town is now under curfew and patrolled by the armed Iraqi military. When Olivia photographs a tragic event, it may pull her relationship apart.
Despite the region being torn apart by war, the book is a beautiful look at the lush landscapes and culture of Kurdistan. You’ll also find a balance of destruction and hope in this descriptive romance.
The Book Girls Say…
Gian Sardar was born and raised in the US. Her father is from Kurdistan of Iraq, where he grew lush gardens amid turmoil, and Take What You Can Carry is based on his stories, as well as a trip the family took in 1979.
Songs for the Brokenhearted
Book Summary
This dual-timeline novel takes readers back in time, first to the 1950s and then to 1995. During the 50s, thousands of Yemeni Jews immigrated to then newly-founded Israel hoping to find a better life there. In an overcrowded immigrant camp, a shy young man named Yaqub falls in love with a beautiful young girl named Saida after first encountering her singing by the river. But Saida is married with a child, so their love was not meant to be.
Three decades later, Saida’s daughter, Zohara, is now a 30-something. Growing up in Israel, Zohara always wished that her skin was lighter, that her mother’s Yemeni music was quieter, and that her father was still alive. Zohara now lives in New York City, where life feels much less complicated to her. She hasn’t been back home in a long time and has little contact with her mother or sister. But when her sister, Lizzie, calls to tell her their mom has died, Zohara buys a one-way plane ticket to Israel.
Once back home, she begins down a path that will reveal things she never knew about her mother, and will cause her to question both her own heritage and her own future.
The Book Girls Say…
Author Ayelet Tsabari was born in Petah Tikva, Israel. She grew up in Israel and spent many years living abroad. She has previously published works that include a memoir and numerous short stories, but Songs for the Brokenhearted is her debut novel.
It’s Not What You Think
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Author Sabeeha Rehman grew up in Pakistan and married her husband, a Pakistani doctor, via an arranged marriage. Together they raised their sons in New York, where Sabeeha attended grad school and received a Masters in Health Administration. After working as a hospital executive in New Jersey, Sabeeha and her oncologist husband, relocated to Saudi Arabia. They originally planned to live in Riyadh, the most conservative city in the country, for just two years- but they ended up staying for six.
When Sabeeha is offered a position at Riyadh’s most prestigious hospital, she’s first required to get permission from her husband to work. Then she has to quickly familiarize herself with local laws and customs. Women in the city cannot work in public places, yet they do hold positions of authority within corporate culture. Sabeeha also discovers many women-owned-and-operated businesses flourishing outside of Riyadh.
Sabeeha provides insights into the “don’t ask, don’t tell” boundaries in which Saudi and Western expat cultures coexist. As well as how to discern the difference between what is considered “culturally appropriate” versus what is legally required.
The Book Girls Say…
Rehman’s first memoir, Threading My Prayer Rug, details her upbringing in Pakistan and her later efforts to provide her young sons with a Muslim community on Staten Island.
Salt Houses
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This debut novel was written by a Palestinian-American poet and covers three generations of the same Palestinian family. It begins as the family is uprooted after the Six Day War of 1967. The main character, Alia, moves to Kuwait City and builds a new life with her husband and three children until Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait in 1990. Then, the family must again flee, this time being spread apart to Beirut, Paris, and Boston.
As Alia’s grandchildren are born, each part of the family navigates the burdens and blessings of assimilation in new cities.
The Book Girls Say…
A family tree at the beginning of the book will come in handy during the shifting perspectives throughout the book. Because of this, it may be a better choice as a paper or Kindle book than audio.
Hala Alyan spent her early years living in Kuwait, where her parents met and married. Her mother had a Lebanese passport, and her father had Palestinian travel documents. In what the author describes as “a stroke of foresight and genius,” her mother traveled to visit her brother in Illinois when she was 8 months pregnant, and Hala was born there. They then returned to Kuwait, where they lived until Hala was 4 years old. Her family sought political asylum in the United States following the Iraqi force’s invasion of the country. In the years that followed, her family moved over a dozen times between the Middle East and the U.S. She received her bachelor’s degree from the American University of Beirut and now resides in New York.
A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Author Khalid Hosseini is most known for his best-selling novel, The Kite Runner, which would also be a great pick this month. However, we chose one of his other works, A Thousand Splendid Suns, for the list because it spans the three decades in Afghanistan, from the Soviet invasion, and the Taliban’s reign, to post-Taliban rebuilding.
The emotional book follows two generations of brave women, Mariam and Laila, brought together by war. It explores the universal desire to find happiness and raise a family, even when tragic circumstances are happening all around you. It does a beautiful job of humanizing the real people living in a country that has undergone dramatic changes in lifestyle due to the changing government. So grab the tissues and prepare for tears, horror, and a sprinkling of hope.
The Book Girls Say…
Author Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and moved to the United States in 1980. Hosseini is also a U.S. Goodwill Envoy to the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
Daughters of Smoke & Fire
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The main character, Leila, is a young Kurdish woman living in Iran. She dreams of telling the untold stories of her people, the 40 million stateless Kurds, via filmmaking. Her younger brother, Chia, pursues activism differently, and his involvement in politics and social justice has been growing. Then, one day, he disappears from Tehran.
Leila fears the worst and makes it her mission to save him. However, her attempts at finding him begin to endanger her own life. Throughout this fictional modern-day story, you’ll find yourself immersed in the everyday life of the Kurds while learning about Kurdish history from the 1970s to the present.
The Book Girls Say…
This is the first novel published in English by a female Kurdish writer. Ava Homa has a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Windsor in Canada, and another in English Language and Literature from Tehran, Iran. She is a Kurdish writer, journalist, and activist who has given speeches on writing as resistance, human rights, gender equality, Kurdish affairs, media literacy, and other topics.
About the Night
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Translated from the original Hebrew, About the Night is a love story that begins in the 1940s. Elias is a Christian Arab living on the eastern side of the newly divided city, and Lila is a Jew living on the western side. Despite their deep love for each other, they’re separated by a physical wall and by distrust between their regions. Sadly, from 1948 until the end of the 1967 Six-Day War, which reunited Jerusalem, Elias and Lila couldn’t communicate at all.
This slow-burning book is told from the perspective of Elias from his sick bed in 2006 as he reflects on his life and choices. It’s fiction but loosely based on the story of the Israeli author’s family friend.
The Book Girls Say…
Author Anat Talshir is an Israeli author and has been one of Israel’s most distinguished investigative journalists, and also taught creative writing at a college in Rishon LeTsiyon, Israel. About the Night was written in Hebrew and translated.
September Crossover Books
The following books satisfy two of the September guided reading challenge prompts:
- In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) – 2020
- Book Voyage – Books Set on a Form of Transportation
- Decades Challenge – 1980s
*We’ve used asterisks below to note which challenge list the book originally appeared on
Dear Edward
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Twelve-year-old Edward boards a plane with his beloved older brother and his parents, bound for their new home and life in California. But when the plane tragically crashes, Edward emerges as the sole survivor. After recovering from his injuries, he goes to live with his mom’s sister and her husband with the eyes of the world on him. Everyone is eager to hear his story.
His aunt and uncle work hard to shield him from all the attention and to allow him time to process his loss, but when Edward uncovers a stack of letters, he discovers an unexpected path to healing.
The chapters in the book alternate between Edward’s day-to-day life during the three years following the accident, and a minute-by-minute recounting of the ill-fated flight, through which we are introduced to many of the other passengers.
The Book Girls Say…
Although the main, named character is a teen, this is not a YA book. Half of the book details the experiences of the adults on the plane. As you would expect, this book is heavy in the grief department, so be prepared and keep the tissues close by.
Dear Edward was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Fiction in 2020. Though it is a work of fiction, the author has stated that it was loosely inspired by the 2010 crash of Libyan-operated Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771, in which the sole survivor was a 9-year-old boy. When Ann Napolitano learned about this crash, she said, “This story flayed me. I could not imagine how that boy would be OK and I could feel from the stickiness of my obsession that I was going to have to write a book that created a set of circumstances to make him OK.”
The book has also been adapted into a television series on Apple TV+.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Books with Teenage Characters
Books Set in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware
The Last Flight
Book Summary
Looking for something suspenseful but not too scary? The Last Flight follows two women trying to escape their own lives. When they meet at the airport, they decide to swap identities and truly leave their own old lives behind.
Things don’t go quite as expected when one of the planes crash, which means the surviving woman is the only one who knows about their arrangement.
The twists and turns will keep you guessing until the end, and you won’t want to put this book down until the final page!
The Book Girls Say…
While the airplane isn’t the primary setting, this book can definitely qualify as a crossover book if you want it to.
The Vanishing Half
Book Summary
This story centers on light-skinned Black twins who take very divergent paths in life after leaving their small town. One marries a man with very dark skin and has a dark-skinned daughter, while the other decides to hide her heritage and live as a white woman and has a white daughter.
While that sets up the initial premise of the book, it was more about identity issues well-beyond skin color. Brit Bennett has a gift for words and is able to boil down significant moments/concepts within this book into single poignant, powerful sentences sprinkled throughout. Each character has their own complicated relationship with their identity, and it was really interesting to see how those feelings about themselves impacted everything in their lives.
Melissa didn’t feel fully engaged in the story until the 2nd section, but once she was in, she didn’t want to put it down.
Oona Out of Order
Book Summary
The night before Oona’s 19th birthday, on New Year’s Eve 1982, she’s struggling with a big decision. Should she go all-in on her commitment to her band and boyfriend or follow through with a long-time plan to study economics in London with her best friend?
Before she can go down either path, she wakes up on New Year’s Day. Except she’s now in the year 2014. Instead of being 19, Oona is suddenly 51. She continues to live her life out of order, traveling backward or forward each New Year, but never knowing what age she’ll be when she wakes up.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is only enjoyable if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief around the core concept that Oona wakes up a different age each year, and someone other than Oona also knows this happens to her. If you start questioning details, you’ll be taken out of the story. However, if you just go with it and stay engaged, it’s a fascinating premise and a great look at how technology has changed over time.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Books Like The Midnight Library
Books Spanning a Character’s Lifetime
25 Books About New Year’s Eve
The Sun Down Motel
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This atmospheric, dual-timeline thriller, with a side of the paranormal, is a perfect pick for fans of the suspense and horror genres.
In 1982, 20-year-old Viv worked as a night clerk at the Sun Down Motel. She was hoping to save enough money for a move to NYC, but something isn’t right at the hotel, and she’s determined to find out what it is.
In 2017, 20-year-old Carly grew up hearing the story of her aunt Viv’s disappearance from the Sun Down Motel thirty-five years before. When she visits the motel, she soon finds herself entangled in the mystery of the haunted motel.
Sigh, Gone
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This coming-of-age memoir opens in 1975 with the fall of Saigon when five-year-old Phuc Tran’s family immigrated to a small town in Pennsylvania. Most of the book, however, covers Phuc’s older childhood/teen years throughout the 1980s.
Part immigrant story and part coming-of-age tale, this book is described as a misfit’s memoir of great books, punk rock, and the fight to fit in. It is all of that and much more.
The Book Girls Say…
This memoir reads like a literary fiction novel as the author uses classic novels to connect to his own experiences growing up as the only Vietnamese-American student in his small town in the 1980s. He finds solace and self-discovery in literature and the subculture of the punk rock scene.
The audiobook of this memoir is narrated by the author himself, allowing you to hear his experiences in his own words and voice.
Where the Lost Wander
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Naomi May never expected to be widowed at the young age of twenty. When she sets off with her family on the Overland Trail, she hopes it will be a chance to leave her grief behind. Along the trail, she forms a connection with a half-Pawnee man named John Lowry. John straddles two worlds, but feels like a stranger in both. Even as John and Naomi are drawn together, their pasts, and the trials of life on the wagon train, work to keep them apart.
John’s heritage allows them to gain passage through hostile territory, but it also comes between their desire to build a life together. When a terrible tragedy strikes, both will have to make incredible sacrifices to save each other.
The Book Girls Say…
Readers warn that this book will make you ugly cry.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Nala’s World
Book Summary
When 30-year-old Dean Nicholson left Scotland with a plan to cycle around the world, he had no idea his journey would include adopting a kitten that would make them both internet-famous. Three months into his journey, on a remote mountain road between Montenegro and Bosnia, he found an abandoned kitten. He picked her up and got her to a local vet before setting off on the rest of his trek with his new friend, Nala.
The video of Dean and Nala’s meeting now has had 20 million views. As Nala rode on the bicycle with Dean, the duo experienced the kindness of strangers, visited refugee camps, and rescued animals throughout Europe and Asia.
August Crossover Books
The following books satisfy two of the August guided reading challenge prompts:
- In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) – 2019
- Book Voyage – Northern Asia
- Decades Challenge – 1970s
*We’ve used asterisks below to note which challenge list the book originally appeared on
Ask Again, Yes
Book Summary
Francis and Brian began their careers as cops in the NYPD at the same time and soon after became next-door neighbors in a commuter suburb of Manhattan.
Francis’s wife, Lena, was very lonely during those years, but Brain’s wife, Anne, rebuffed her attempts at friendship. Nonetheless, their families’ lives became intertwined over the years as their children grew up together.
When their kids are teens, a tragedy occurs that rocks both families and reverberates over the next four decades.
The Book Girls Say…
This emotional, character-driven novel is told from multiple points of view. Many readers say that this family drama builds slowly without a true climax, but that it will keep you hooked and leave you thinking about it long after you reach the final page.
Keep in mind that it deals with numerous challenging issues, including mental illness and addiction.
Daisy Jones & The Six
Narrated by Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, Pablo Schreiber
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This novel chronicles the meteoric rise of a fictional, iconic 1970s rock band – The Six – and their beautiful lead singer, Daisy Jones. The story is told through a series of “behind the music” style interviews that will make you feel like you are right there with them in the hard-partying 70s music scene.
As you hear from each band member, the story of these complex characters unfolds, ultimately revealing the mystery behind the band’s infamous breakup.
The Book Girls Say…
This book was meant to be HEARD. Each member of the band is read by a different narrator, which fits perfectly with the rockumentary, interview style of the novel. And there’s even an original song at the end of the recording.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Dutch House
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Cyril grew up in poverty, but after WW2, an investment changed the course of his future. With his enormous new wealth, he buys a lavish estate named the Dutch House in a Philly suburb. While he buys it with the best intentions as a surprise for his wife, the home is also the beginning of his family’s downfall.
The book’s narrator is his son Danny as he and his beloved sister Maeve are exiled from the grand house by their stepmother. For five decades after being thrown back into poverty, Danny and Maeve return to look at the home from beyond the gates, like checking in on a relative. The only thing keeping the siblings moving forward in life is their bond with each other.
The Book Girls Say…
Although the book spans five decades, much of the story takes place in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The audiobook is narrated by Tom Hanks, so this is a fabulous listen for anyone who loves a literary family drama! This novel was a Pulitzer Prize finalist as well as a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Historical Fiction in 2019.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Books Set in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware
Clover Blue
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Twelve-year-old Clover Blue isn’t sure of his birthday, who is parents are, or what his name used to be. He does know that he’s happy living among the Saffron Freedom Community – the commune into which he was adopted. On the commune, everyone is family, but when Clover (urged on by his funny best friend, Harmony) begins to ask questions, his search for identity will bring upheaval to the community.
This novel will introduce you to a unique group of characters who paint a portrait of the decade. They include the commune’s guru, a Grateful Dead groupie, a Vietnam deserter, a surfer, and even a midwife, just to name a few.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Woman in the White Kimono
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Naoko is a seventeen-year-old girl in 1957 Japan whose family has prearranged a marriage for her that will secure their family’s status. But Naoko wants to marry for love, and she’s fallen for an American sailor. When her family finds out that she is pregnant with the sailor’s child, she is cast out in disgrace and forced to make an unimaginable choice.
In present-day America, Tori finds a letter that contains a shocking revelation. In her quest to learn the truth, she travels to a remote seaside village in Japan.
Drawing upon the experiences of the author’s father, this historical fiction is based on the true stories of a little-known era in Japanese and American history. Although this is a dual-timeline novel, the historical story takes center stage.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is described as a mesmerizing and emotional read that will captivate your heart and transport you back in time to post-war Japan.
I Love You So Mochi
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Kimi is a high school student who aspires to attend art school. Her mother is a well-known painter who wants Kimi to follow in her fine art footsteps, but Kimi has become much more drawn to fashion design – a field that her mother strongly disapproves of.
After an explosive fight with her mom, Kimi receives a letter from her estranged Japanese grandparents inviting her to visit them in Kyoto for spring break. Even though she’s never met them, she sees it as the perfect opportunity to escape her troubles at home.
When she arrives in Japan, the cultural customs and language and completely familiar to her – as are her grandparents. Soon she discovers that inspiration is everywhere – from Kyoto’s outdoor markets, art installations, and the cherry blossom festival. She meets a young man named Akira – an aspiring med student – who helps to show her even more of the city.
As the week goes on, Kimi gets to know her grandparents and learns so much more about both her mother back in America, herself, and her art.
The Book Girls Say…
This sweet YA novel will completely immerse you in the sights, sounds, scents, and tastes of Kyoto, Japan, and have you planning a trip there yourself. When you need a break from books about heavier topics, this light-hearted book about self-discovery and young romance is a delightful pick.
We both enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it for fans of Jenna Evans Welch’s Love & Gelato, Love & Luck, and Love & Olives. You’ll want to plan a trip to Kyoto as soon as you turn the final page.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Island of Sea Women
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Korea’s Jeju Island has a fascinating real-life history of female deep-sea free divers called Haenyeo, who collect seaweed, clams, and abalone. Inspired by this history, this novel tells the story of Mi-ja and Young-sook – two best friends from very different backgrounds despite both growing up on Jeju island. As soon as they are old enough, they take their place as “baby divers” in the village’s all-female diving operation, led by Young-sook’s mom. This is the beginning of a life of excitement and responsibility for the two friends but also a life filled with danger.
The Island of Sea Women takes place over many decades, beginning in the 1930s, throughout WWII and the Korean War, and all the way up to the era of cell phones.
Over the years, the residents of Jeju are caught between warring empires, which often makes it difficult for Mi-ja and Young-soon to ignore their differences – especially when Mi-ja’s father becomes a Japanese collaborator. As the years go on, forces beyond their control will drive their friendship to a breaking point.
The Book Girls Say…
Before picking up this book, be aware that this is a very heavy read that includes some prolonged scenes of graphic violence. Despite being heart-wrenching, most readers find it to be a worthwhile story that is ultimately about strength and forgiveness.
If you are interested in a very different style of novel based on the Haenyeo (female divers) of Jeju, consider The Mermaid from Jeju. Set in the aftermath of World War II while Japan is withdrawing from the peninsula and the United States is establishing troops in the region, this story follows Junja, who has followed in her family’s footsteps to become a successful haenyeo and is allowed to take her first trip into the mountains to trade their harvest. Unfortunately, when she returns home, she finds her mother dying after a treacherous dive. She’ll be forced to learn to navigate the world without her mother, despite memories of her at every turn. Her loss is amplified by the tumultuous political situation throughout this enchanting story set leading up to the Korean War.
Stans By Me
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Do you enjoy offbeat travel memoirs and dry British wit? Stans by me will take you along author Ged Gillmore’s trip through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
He documents the landscapes and ancient traditions he encounters at each stop along the way. You’ll feel like you’ve visited Central Asia by the time you’re done reading, and may even add one or more of his destinations to your bucket list.
His travel companions from his bus tour are fascinating characters on their own and add another level to his stories.
The Book Girls Say…
Our readers describe this travel memoir as both humorous and informative. You’ll likely find yourself wishing this book included a map, as well as photos of many of the gorgeous sights he visits, so we suggest you keep the internet handy to pull up maps and images as you read.
This book is only available in eBook form.
A Map for the Missing
Book Summary
When Tang Yitian’s mother calls him frantically saying that his father has disappeared, he returns to his family’s rural China village for the first time in ten years. The family has been estranged during his decade in America, making it difficult for Yitian to understand what has happened.
The search is complicated by his mother’s evasiveness and China’s impenetrable bureaucracy. His only hope is to reconnect with a childhood friend, Tian Hanwen. The friends dreamt of attending university together, but while Yitian ended up a professor in America, Hanwen was left behind and resigned to live as a midlevel bureaucrat’s wealthy housewife.
Now adults, the duo must figure out who Yitian’s father really was. Their search spans rural provinces and big cities, providing an up-close look at much of 20th-century China.
July Crossover Books
The following books satisfy two of the July guided reading challenge prompts:
- In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) – 2018
- Book Voyage – Southern Asia
- Decades Challenge – 1960s
*We’ve used asterisks below to note which challenge list the book originally appeared on
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell
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Born with ocular albinism, Sam Hill is a young boy whose rare red eyes cause problems from the moment his mother enrolls him at the Our Lady of Mercy school.
Labeled “Hell Boy,” he is bullied not only by his classmates but also given a hard time by the nun who is the principal at his elementary school. Eventually, Sam finds the new best friend he desperately needs in Ernie Cantwell, the only African American boy in his class, and years later in a fiercely individual girl named Mickie.
As an adult, Sam is a respected ophthalmologist moving through life with Ernie and Mickie still by his side. His world is about to be upturned when he’s unexpectedly reunited with the biggest schoolyard bully from his past.
The Book Girls Say…
We both rated this novel five stars and recommend it to everyone! Angela especially loved the audiobook version, which the author himself narrates.
Where the Crawdads Sing
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Young Kya, who was left to fend for herself in the North Carolina marsh in the 1950s, will steal your heart from the beginning.
Locals know Kya as the “Marsh Girl.” She lives away from other humans and has only attended one day of school, but finds companions in nature all around her. While traditional school was not a good fit, she is always eager to learn. Eventually, she finds a friend who agrees to help her read.
The book has a split timeline between Kya’s formative years in the 1950s and an incident in 1969. A handsome boy from town is found dead, and the locals immediately suspect Kya.
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Dust Child
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This suspenseful saga is set both during the war and in present-day Việt Nam. Trang and Quỳnh are sisters from a rural village, and like many in the region, their parents are struggling to survive. In 1969, the daughters take the desperate step of becoming “bar girls” in Sài Gòn, drinking, flirting (and more) with American GIs in return for money.
Trang becomes involved with a charming helicopter pilot named Dan. Decades later, we’ll see Dan return to Việt Nam with his wife in an attempt to heal from his PTSD and reckon with secrets from his past.
Also, in the present day, we’ll meet Phong as he tries to find his parents, a Black American soldier, and a Vietnamese woman. He was abandoned at an orphanage as a baby, and grew up being called names because he was a “child of the enemy”. He dreams of finding a way to America in hopes of a better life for his family.
The Book Girls Say…
Author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai was born and raised in Việt Nam and has a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University. She was named by Forbes Vietnam as one of 20 inspiring women of 2021 after her 2020 novel The Mountains Sing was an international best-seller.
For additional books set in Vietnam in the 60s & 70s, visit our list of books to read after The Women by Kristin Hannah.
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The Covenant of Water
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Kerala, on India’s southern coast, is a slender, coastal state with almost 373 miles of Arabian Sea coast and beaches. Being surrounded by water makes this a popular tourist destination. But for the family at the heart of this novel, being surrounded by water has plagued three generations. In every generation, at least one person dies by drowning.
This new literary fiction epic is a tale of love, faith, and medicine in which the family is seeking answers to this strange secret. The family is part of a Christian community that traces itself to the time of the apostles, but times are shifting, and the matriarch of this family, known as Big Ammachi—literally “Big Mother”—will witness unthinkable changes at home and at large over the span of her extraordinary life.
The Book Girls Say…
This new release is a hefty book, at over 700 pages, but. like Verghese’s past work, it receives rave reviews! With elements of magical realism and straddles myth and reality. You’ll be transported Kerala, where you’ll experience all of the sights and sounds, including clothing, dance, music, architecture, customs, food, and so much more.
A tip, though – keep your dictionary handy if you’re a little rusty on your Latin or anatomy. Author Abraham Verghese completed his medical education in India at Madras Medical College before working as a doctor and a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine. His medical expertise is apparent throughout the book. But, as was the case with Cutting for Stone, some readers may find the descriptions of surgical procedures a bit too graphic.
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Books that Span Multiple Decades
Readers’ Favorite Books: 2023 Edition
The Storm
Book Summary
In this family saga, Shahryar is on a work visa in the United States. Soon, he will be forced to return to Bangladesh without his young American daughter. As he tries to cherish his final weeks with her, he also ponders his family history and how it intertwines with his home country.
A large cast of major and minor characters are woven together in this novel to cover the history of Bangladesh, from WW2 Burma to the present day. The storylines include the Partition of India in 1947, the 1970 Bhola Cyclone and Bangladesh becoming an independent country in 1972.
While these stories covers history, you’ll also his Shahryar’s struggles as a modern-day immigrant in Washington DC.
The Book Girls Say…
Author Arif Anwar was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh and holds a PhD in education from the University of Toronto, where he now lives with his wife.
The Women
Book Summary
Frances “Frankie” McGrath is a 21-year-old nursing student who has been raised by her conservative parents to always do “the right thing.” But when her brother ships out for Vietnam in 1965, she begins to change her views of right and wrong. Frankie impulsively joins the Army Nurses Corps and follows her brother to Vietnam. As she tends to the green and inexperienced young men who have been sent to fight the war, she is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction. Returning home to a changed America doesn’t prove to be any easier.
While The Women is the story of Frankie going to war, it also shines a light on the story of all women who risk everything to help others. The publisher describes this book as “a novel of searing insight and lyrical beauty” that is “profoundly emotional” and “richly drawn.”
Through the story of Frankie’s family, we see the devastation of those who lost their sons, brothers, and other loved ones in Vietnam. But we also get a glimpse of what it was like on the ground in a war that was very complicated and blurred lines. We see how the country treated these soldiers and nurses differently, even though they were doing their sworn duty for the country, just like those before them.
The Book Girls Say…
There are so many books shedding light on the stories of women during WWI and WWII, but ever since we launched the Decades Reading Challenge back in 2020, we’ve been lamenting the lack of fiction about women’s roles in Vietnam. We couldn’t have asked for a better writer to take up this topic than Kristin Hannah!
While we expected great things from The Women after Kristin Hannah’s other highly-rated historical fiction, she still managed to exceed our expectations. Like her other recent works, The Women humanizes a tragedy that we all need to know about – both to honor those who experienced it and to help prevent history from recurring.
The World Played Chess
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This coming-of-age story is about three different 18-year-old men growing up in 3 different time periods.
William was 18 in 1967 when he went to Vietnam as a Marine. Vincent is 18 in 1979 when he meets William, working on a construction crew, and hears William’s stories of his war-time experience.
The third young man is Vincent’s son, Beau, who has had an easier life than the first two men. He was 18 in 2015 when Vincent received William’s old Vietnam journal in the mail as a thank you for listening to his stories years ago. It was written while he was a Marine and facing things that no one, much less a teenager, should have to encounter.
The three stories are woven together in a beautiful way that many are calling a must-read for everyone, despite the grim nature of William’s combat experiences.
The Book Girls Say…
Although this book is set in three time periods, the story is ultimately a historical fiction of Vietnam, making it a great pick for a book about the 1960s. Make sure you don’t miss the author’s note at the end of the book to learn more about Dugoni’s connection to the story.
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Best Audiobook Kindle Unlimited Recommendations
Books Set in the 1960s
Run Me to Earth
Book Summary
As kids, Prany and his sister Noi, along with their friend Alisak, were three of the hundreds of thousands impacted by the nine years of bombing in Laos as The CIA, with the Royal Lao Government, fought the Communist Pathet Lao. When the kids take shelter in a bombed out field hospital, they meet Vang, a doctor dedicated to helping the wounded at all costs.
They begin working as motorcycle couriers, navigating both unexploded bombs that litter the land and the endless barrage from the sky until Vang secures their evacuation on the last helicopters leaving the country.
This evacuation sets them on disparate and treacherous paths across the world. The novel follows the trios for decades, giving us a glimpse into the long-lasting effects of growing up in 1960s Laos.
The Great Reclamation
Book Summary
Ah Boon is growing up in the last days of British rule in Singapore. He lives in a small fishing village but would rather play with the girl next door, Siok Mei, than go fishing. Despite his disinterest in fishing, he discovers that he has an uncanny ability to locate uncharted islands, which are rich with fish.
By the time Ah Boon and Siok Mei are teenagers, the Japanese army has arrived and occupied Singapore as part of WW2. This coming-of-age story is set against the backdrop of Singapore’s legacy of British colonialism, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the pursuit of modernity. Readers say the beautiful writing transports you to a different time and place and includes a hint of magical realism to emphasize the human-land connection.
The Book Girls Say…
If you enjoyed seeing the wealthy and modern city of Singapore in Crazy Rich Asians, this is a great contrast that shows more of the history of the country and life in one of the smaller fishing villages.
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The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty, and War
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In this memoir, Chick Donohue, a Vietnam vet, recounts the craziest of his many adventures. It all began on a night in 1967 when 26-year-old Chick was at a bar in NYC with his buddies. Each of them had lost loved ones in Vietnam, and they were disheartened to see anti-war protesters turning on the troops.
One of the guys came up with a crazy idea – someone should sneak into Vietnam and track down their buddies still serving there to bring them messages of support, and – of course – a beer. It would be the Greatest Beer Run Ever.
It’s likely none of them meant for the idea to be taken seriously, but nonetheless, Chick volunteered. A day later he was on a cargo ship headed back to Vietnam during the height of combat with a backpack full of alcohol.
What would follow was his own personal Odyssey – a serviceman turned civilian searching for his childhood friends in Vietnam. Chick’s story is filled with lots of hilarious escapades and harrowing close calls – including the Tet Offensive.
This memoir has been described as a “hilarious quest laced with sorrow, but never dull.”
The Book Girls Say…
This improbable but true story has been turned into an Apple TV+ war film starring Zac Efron, as Chick, Russell Crowe, and Bill Murray. It’s was released in September of 2022.
In the Shadow of the Banyan
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Seven-year-old Raami lived in a carefully guarded world of royal privilege until her father brought home news about the civil war raging in the streets of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
Over the next four years, Raami endures starvation, forced labor, and survives the genocide that killed more than ¼ of the population of the country, including many of her family members. Throughout it all, she finds comfort only in the mythical legends and poems told to her by her father.
The Book Girls Say…
Reviewers say that this story moves slowly at times, but it will open your eyes to the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s through poetic prose that is both beautiful and heartbreaking.
Although it is written as a novel, this story parallels the author’s own life experience as a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide and a war refugee.
The Rice Mother
Book Summary
In the 1920s, Lakshmi enjoyed a carefree childhood among the coconut and mango trees of Ceylon (which later became a part of Sri Lanka). But at the age of 14, she was sent across the ocean to Malaysia and forced into a marriage with a much older man. Lakshmi was promised a life of riches and luxury, but instead, they struggle to get by as Lakshmi gives birth to six children by the age of 19.
Throughout her life, Lakshmi endures incredible hardship and suffering, but draws upon her incredible strength to face each new challenge. This includes finding a way to keep her daughters safe during the Japanese occupation of WWII.
Rich with traditional folklore, Eastern magic, Indian celebrations, and Malaysian cuisine – this long novel spans 85 years and four generations as it tells one family’s saga. Although Lakshmi (the “Rice Mother”) is the main character of this story, each chapter is narrated by a different member of the family. This provides readers with different perspectives on various events, creating even greater depth and layering to the story, while maintaining a consistent plot from beginning to end.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is recommended for fans of A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Author Rani Manicka was born and educated in Malaysia and now divides her time between Malaysia and England.
June Crossover Books
The following books satisfy two of the June guided reading challenge prompts:
- In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) – 2017
- Book Voyage – Australia & New Zealand
- Decades Challenge – 1950s
*We’ve used asterisks below to note which challenge list the book originally appeared on
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
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Evelyn Hugo lived a glamorous and scandalous life, but doesn’t like to talk about it and has become reclusive after leaving her career. When the movie icon is finally ready to talk about her time in show business, she picks an unknown reporter to log her personal history, but why?
You’ll slowly unwrap Evelyn’s life from the 1950s – 1980s as she chronicles her past life and relationships, including the seven husbands she had along the way. As the book covers so much of her life, it moves quickly and will keep you engaged and entertained for hours.
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20 Books Like Daisy Jones and the Six
Books Like City of Girls
Books that Transport You to Another Time or Place
Force of Nature
Book Summary
Five female office colleagues are reluctantly on a corporate retreat that is supposed to encourage teamwork and resilience. They all head out on the muddy track through the rugged Giralang Ranges together, but only four come out on the other side of the trail.
Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk arrives to investigate the disappearance of Alice, who knew secrets about her company and co-workers. As he learns more about the days spent in the remote Australian bushland, he discovers stories of fear, violence, and fractured trust.
The Book Girls Say…
This is the perfect ICYMI pick if you previously enjoyed book #1, The Dry, as part of our Book Voyage Read Around the World challenge.
While this is the 2nd book in the Aaron Falk series, the main character is investigating a different case, so it can be read as a stand-alone if you’re looking for a mystery to read this month!
Home for Unwanted Girls
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This Canadian novel opens in 1950s Quebec, where tensions run high between the French and English. When 15-year-old Maggie’s parents find out that she’s pregnant and the father is a poor French boy, they force her to give her baby girl, Elodie, up for adoption.
As the years go by, we follow the lives of both the mother and daughter. Elodie is a bright and determined young girl growing up in Quebec’s impoverished orphanage system. But when a law is enacted that provides more funding to psychiatric hospitals than to orphanages, Elodie and thousands of other orphans are declared mentally ill. Elodie withstands terrible treatment until she is finally able to gain her freedom at age seventeen.
Maggie marries and is eager to start a family, but she never forgets the daughter that she was forced to give up. Through the years, the lives of the mother and daughter continue to circle around one another, never quite intersecting. Until finally, Maggie decides to go in search of her long-lost daughter.
The Naturalist’s Daughter
Book Summary
In 1808, Rose loves working with her naturalist father on his groundbreaking study of the platypus. When he is unable to travel to present his findings to the Royal Society in England, Rose goes in his place. What she discovers will change generations.
In 1908, Tamsin needs to travel to the Hunter Valley to get an old sketchbook donated to the public library. When she arrives, she discovers that there is more to the sketchbook than she expected. Shaw, a young bookseller and lawyer, has his own ideas about the book, and Tasmin partners with him to try and uncover the book’s true provenance.
The Book Girls Say…
Award-winning author Tea Cooper was born in England but has lived in Australia for most of her adult life. She has published numerous Australian historical fiction novels, including The Cartographer’s Secret and The Girl in the Painting.
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The Last of the Bonegilla Girls
Book Summary
This novel tells the story of four different women who meet at the Bonegilla Migrant Camp in 1954.
Hungarian Elizabeta has just arrived from with her family after escaping post-war Germany. At the migrant camp, she befriends Vasiliki from Greece and Iliana from Italy, as well as Frances, the adventurous daughter of the camp’s director.
Together, the “Bonegilla Girls” envision a brighter future in Australia. But when a ghost from Elizabeta’s past threatens to her path forward, her friends are willing to do anything to keep her safe.
The Book Girls Say…
Operating between 1947 and 1971, the Bonegilla Migration Reception and Training Center. located near Albury in Victoria, was Australia’s largest and longest-operating migrant camp. It served as the first home to more than 320,000 migrants from more than 30 different countries.
Author Victoria Purman lives in southern Australia and focuses her writing on telling stories of Australian women. We look forward to reading her 2024 novel, The Radio Hour, as soon as it is available in the US.
For another historical fiction novel in Australia around the time of WWII, consider The Oceans Between Us by Gill Thompson, which is based on a true story.
Homecoming
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On Christmas Eve sixty years ago, a delivery man makes a gruesome discovery that forever changes the small town of Tambilla. In the present day, Jess is a journalist in London when she gets a call to return home to Australia to help with her grandmother, Nora. Nora was more like a mother to Jess, after Jess’s mother, Polly, left her with Nora and moved to Brisbane when Jess was only 10.
Nora fell in her attic while searching for something, and now she is mumbling about an event in her past in a way that is difficult to understand. As Jess tries to piece things together, she learns that Nora was agitated and restless even before the fall. She knows something is going on, and is determined to figure it out. As she searches the house for clues, she finds a true crime book about the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve. But what does this cold case have to do with her family?
The Book Girls Say…
This new 2023 mystery has been getting rave reviews, but is on the longer side at 547 pages. Some readers feel like the first 400 pages could have been shorter, but most agree that you won’t be able to put this book down in the last 100 pages.
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Christmas Cozy Mystery Books & Christmas Thrillers
Book Club Books for Christmas
The Heart’s Invisible Furies
Book Summary
Cyril Avery was born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community before being adopted by a well-off couple from Dublin. His adoptive parents tell him that he’ll never be a real Avery, but if that’s true, than who is he?
As a boy, he becomes friends with Julian, but this is complicated when Cyril realizes he loves Julian as more than a friend. Keeping this secret comes with great costs.
Over the course of 70 years, Cyril struggles to discover an identity, a home, a country, and much more. Through his eyes, readers also see the history of Ireland and LGBTQ rights from the 1940s to the 2010s.
The Book Girls Say…
This character-driven work is long at 582 pages, with reviewers saying it will make you laugh and cry. Readers specifically note enjoy gaining insight into Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s.
In addition to the phenomenal Goodreads rating of 4.52 with over 150,000 readers, The Heart’s Invisible Furies has won numerous awards, including being the 2017 Book of the Year for Book of the Month.
NOTE: This book includes a lot of talk about sex and covers some difficult topics, so check trigger warnings if necessary.
May Crossover Books
The following books satisfy two or all three of the May guided reading challenge prompts:
- In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) – 2016
- Book Voyage – Eastern Europe
- Decades Challenge – 1940s
*We’ve used asterisks below to note which challenge list the book originally appeared on
A Gentleman in Moscow
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Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand luxury hotel across the street from the Kremlin.
Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat, Rostov has never worked a day in his life and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold outside the hotel’s doors.
The Book Girls Say…
This one is high on our want-to-read list because the reviews all rave about the gorgeously descriptive language and the extremely satisfying ending.
Salt to the Sea
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When you think of maritime disasters, the Titanic is probably the first that comes to mind. But the deadliest disaster at sea occurred in 1945 when a Soviet submarine sunk the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise liner, in the Baltic Sea.
As WWII drew to a close and the Red Army advanced on Germany, a massive evacuation effort began to ferry civilians, soldiers, and equipment to safety. The Wilhelm Gustloff, which had a capacity of 1,800, was packed with more than 10,500 passengers. More than 9,000 people lost their lives when the ship sank, including 5,000 infants and children.
This historical fiction YA novel, tells the stories of four passengers – 21-year-old Joana, who is fleeing her native country of Lithuania; Florian, an artist from East Prussia; 15-year-old Emilia from Poland, who is pregnant; and Alfred, a pompous 17-year-old German soldier.
When tragedy strikes, each of them – regardless of country, culture, or status – must fight for their survival.
The Book Girls Say…
One of our readers stated, “This book is so sad, so moving, and so well written. I enjoyed the fast flip between characters… it kept the story moving right along.”
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Lilac Girls
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Lilac Girls crosses three continents and follows three women whose lives are on a collision course.
Caroline is a New York socialite working at the French consulate, Kasia is a Polish teenager and a courier for the underground resistance movement, and Herta is an ambitious young German doctor who finds herself trapped in a male-dominated world of Nazi secrets and power.
The book alternates between the three stories, each providing thought-provoking insights into uniquely difficult situations as the war progressed.
The Book Girls Say…
Melissa loved Lilac Girls, although it includes tragic scenes that are tough to read. She was devastated when she learned that this historical fiction was based on the true experiences of the ‘Ravensbrück Rabbits.’
Get your tissues ready; this story is part of history that we shouldn’t ignore.
The Things We Cannot Say
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Inspired by the author’s own family history, this novel is a tragic love story. Alina and Tomasz were best friends who planned to marry. But when their village falls to the Nazis, Alina doesn’t know if Tomasz is alive or dead.
Decades later, Alice is struggling to support her son, who was born with an autism spectrum disorder. When her grandmother is hospitalized, she begs Alice to return to Poland to see what became of those she loved. Alice travels to Poland and begins to uncover her grandmother’s story.
The Book Girls Say…
We both really enjoyed this unique look into WW2. It’s not a light read, but it’s a great look at what generations before us endured on a personal level. The split storyline between current times and the war is a nice reprieve from the harder 1940s scenes.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
A Shadow in Moscow
Book Summary
This dual-timeline historical fiction novel is told from alternating points of two female spies.
Ingrid Bauer lost her entire family in World War II. A decade later, she agrees to a hasty marriage to a Soviet embassy worker and moves with him to Moscow in the 1950s. Despite his gentle demeanor, Ingrid comes to suspect that her new husband, in fact, works for the KGB. After her daughter is born, Ingrid risks everything when she begins passing along intelligence to Britain, her mother’s home country.
In 1980, Anya Kadinova is set to return to Moscow after finishing her degree at Georgetown University. Despite being raised by loyal Soviet parents, Anya has gained much respect for the US after taking part in the Foreign Studies Initiative. Upon returning home at the height of the Cold War, she witnesses the increasingly oppressive Soviet regime. After the KGB murders her best friend, Anya contacts the CIA and begins passing along intelligence that she gains from working in a military research lab.
As the novel progresses, Ingrid’s storyline catches up to Anya’s where an unprecedented act of treachery will threaten all undercover agents in the Soviet Union.
The Book Girls Say…
US-born author Katherine Reay took a trip to Russia in 1985, the year that her novel ends. Her memory of the emotions of the trip inspired her to research and write this historical fiction story.
When the Summer Was Ours
Book Summary
Wealthy aristocrat Eva is engaged to a doctor and spending her last single summer at her family’s estate in Sopron. However, she meets a Romani fiddler and artist, Aleandrao, and they quickly fall in love despite the differences in class that make them look incompatible to outsiders.
The outbreak of war separates Eva and Aleandro, but their chance meeting that summer leads to decisions that change their individual futures.
The Book Girls Say…
This historical fiction spans well beyond WW2 in Hungary and will also help you learn about the Hungarian uprising of 1956.
Author Roxanne Veletzos was born in Bucharest, Romania. She moved to California as a teen, and soon after began writing short stories about her native Eastern Europe. At first, her writing was a way to help her transition to a new culture, and now, as a published author, she shares her stories with us to shed light on untold stories.
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The Keeper of Hidden Books
Book Summary
In Warsaw, Zofia depends on books and her best friend, Janina, to endure the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Poland. However, as bombing increases, even books are endangered. Zofia begins hiding books away, and even starts an underground book club. When Janina is forced into a newly established ghetto, she still doesn’t give up her love of reading.
However, as the war continues, Zofia and Janina’s activities put them at risk. Can they save both Janina and the literature that has brought them so much comfort?
The Book Girls Say…
This book was a 2023 Goodreads Choice Finalist for Best Historical Fiction. It’s both heart-warming and heart-breaking, so be sure to have Kleenex on hand.
Author Madeline Martin describes herself as a “Military Brat” who was raised primarily in Germany. She attributes her love of history and research to her childhood spent visiting castles and seeing sites that most only get to read about in books. While preparing to write this novel, she visited Poland to do significant hands-on research.
The Girl They Left Behind
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In 1941, Romania was newly allied with the German army, and the Jewish population was in grave danger of persecution. One freezing night, a young Jewish girl’s parents are forced to leave her behind, and she is found on the steps of an apartment building in Bucharest.
The girl is placed in an orphanage and eventually adopted by a wealthy couple that renames her Natalia. She comes of age in Romania under Soviet occupation, where life behind the Iron Curtain feels bleak and hopeless.
When Natalia is in her early twenties and working at a warehouse packing fruit, she is reunited with Victor, who she had a secret crush on in her younger years. He is now an important official in the Communist regime, and the two are fatefully drawn into a passionate affair despite the obstacles swirling around them and Victor’s dark secrets. When Natalia is suddenly offered a one-time chance at freedom, Victor is determined to help her escape, even if it means losing her. She must make an agonizing decision: remain in Bucharest with her beloved adoptive parents and the man she has come to love, or seize the chance to live life on her own terms.
The Book Girls Say…
This historical fiction novel is perfect for fans of Lilac Girls and Sarah’s Key.
Author Roxanne Veletzos was born in Bucharest, Romania. She moved to California as a teen, and soon after began writing short stories about her native Eastern Europe. At first, her writing was a way to help her transition to a new culture, and now, as a published author, she shares her stories with us to shed light on untold stories.
The Diamond Eye
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This historical fiction novel is based on the true story of Lyudmila (Mila) Pavlichenko, a Ukrainian sniper who fought against the Nazis during WWII. The novel follows Mila’s journey from a young woman studying history in Kyiv to a decorated war hero known as “Lady Death.”
In the late 1930s, Mila is a 24-year-old student and library worker living in Kyiv. She is intelligent, independent, and fiercely patriotic. When the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, she joined the Red Army. Mila quickly proves to be a natural sniper.
This novel is told in two timelines – the first being Mila’s time on the battlefield. The second timeline follows Mila’s press tour in Washington DC.
When news of her 300th kill makes her a national hero, she is sent to the United States on a 1942 goodwill tour. In the US, she pleads for the US to send weapons and troops to Europe to help stop the Germans. She also forms an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
Throughout the novel, in addition to Mila’s perspective, we also see short notes from Eleanor Roosevelt and chapters from the point of view of an unnamed marksman who has been tasked with assassinating Franklin Roosevelt and framing Mila for the murder.
The Book Girls Say…
This historical fiction novel has a little of everything—from the frontlines of war to romance and mystery. Some reviewers say that the beginning and end of this book move quickly, but the middle drags a bit with a few too many detailed battlefield scenes, although others cite those scenes as their favorites.
Winter Garden
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Book Summary
Sisters Meredith and Nina have little in common other than their love for their dear father. They’ve spent most of their life feeling like they didn’t really know their mother, but when their father falls ill, his final wish is for his daughters to get to know their mother better. In their younger years, Anya sometimes tells the girls a Russian fairy tale, and their father makes her promise that she will tell the story one last time – all the way to the end.
The story alternates between past and present as Meredith and Nina hear the fairy tale and learn the harrowing story of the mother’s life five decades earlier in war-torn Leningrad, Russia. They will ultimately learn something so terrible and terrifying that it will shake the foundation of their family and change who they believe they are.
Why Our Readers Love This Book…
This tugged at my mama heart strings. You do the best you can, but inevitably make mistakes along the way. The characters were so real. I’m not a huge mystery fan, but this felt like a mystery in disguise, and I loved trying to figure it out as I read. -Kristin R.
This memorable and well-told story evokes strong emotions and reminds readers that the pain of war is a burden suffered by people on both sides; there truly are no winners.
I was drawn in by reading about the life experiences of a survivor as a means to understand her present-day life. We, as outsiders, can never judge a person by who he/she is today without understanding the past. – Tammy W.
It seemed to be a very human story, a story that explains some of why we do what we do. I read it years ago when the split narrative wasn’t quite so popular, and I enjoyed being presented with the present day and a time long ago. -Nancy F.
Notable Awards for Winter Garden:
2010 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fiction
The Book Girls Say…
Many WWII historical novels focus on the region of France and Germany, but The Winter Garden illuminates the experiences of those in Russia and the Eastern Front. But this is more than just another WWII story, it’s a moving family story as well. It is a bit slow to start, and the characters aren’t immediately likable, but you’ll find yourself pulled in as the lines between fairy tale and reality begin to blur.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Kristin Hannah Books: The Ultimate Author Guide
Books Set in Eastern Europe & Russia
Books to Read in Winter
The Last Green Valley
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Book Summary
In 1944, Ukrainians faced invaders on multiple fronts as Hilter and Stalin had both pushed into their country. The Last Green Valley tells the story of one family with a common dilemma in their region. The Martel’s had a strong German heritage, but their families had been farming in Ukraine for more than a century.
Like many others, they had a choice. Do they trust that their German blood will protect them and go with the German troops despite not agreeing with the Third Reich agenda? Or stay and risk being sent to Siberian work camps by Russia?
The Book Girls Say…
While this book is historical fiction, it is heavily researched. The author’s notes at the end share more details on which sections of the book are based on the real story of a family he got to know.
The novel is on the longer side at 458 pages, and some reviewers say that it moves slowly in some areas, but also that it will help you understand a whole new facet of WW2.
The Boy on the Wooden Box
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Book Summary
When the author was ten years old, his homeland of Poland was invaded, and his family was forced to move to a Krakow ghetto. Daily life required perseverance for survival in unbelievably cruel conditions. Eventually, his life was saved by the incredibly generous and brave actions of Oskar Shindler.
The Book Girls Say…
This middle-grade book is the only memoir from a Schindler’s List child. Despite its subject matter, it is said to leave a legacy of hope and is a powerful book for readers of all ages.
April Crossover Books
The following books satisfy two of the April guided reading challenge prompts:
*We’ve used asterisks below to note which challenge list the book originally appeared on
The Edge of Lost
Book Summary
In 1919 Dublin, an 11-year-old orphan named Shanley lives with his abusive uncle and earns money by performing vaudeville acts in local pubs. When his uncle decides to take him to America, Shanley envisions a better life and hopes to find his father, but things don’t turn out as planned.
In 1937 San Francisco, the young daughter of an Alcatraz prison guard goes missing. She is one of the youngest civilians living on the island and only a convicted bank robber knows the truth about her whereabouts.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel takes an unconventional dual-timeline approach. In the beginning, you learn about the young girl missing from Alcatraz Island, but you don’t return to her story until near the end. Nonetheless, readers report really enjoying the way the two stories ultimately weave together.
Mademoiselle Chanel
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Book Summary
Few names are as synonymous with chic glamour as Coco Chanel. However, all your opinions of the woman who created the classic little black dress could change after reading this historical fiction account of her entire life.
From her humble beginnings as an orphan to her determination to keep her atelier afloat during WW2, this book details the decisions that led to her lasting name recognition.
The Book Girls Say…
Melissa was fascinated by Coco Chanel’s changing position in life throughout this book, along with several other surprising aspects, like her relationship with the Nazis as they invaded Paris. It’s a well-researched and largely biographical account, but told in novel form.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Books Like City of Girls
Books Spanning a Character’s Lifetime
Books that Span Multiple Decades
The Nightingale
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Book Summary
The Nightingale tells the story of French sisters Vianne and Isabelle, who have always been at odds. Vianne is a rule-follower, and Isabelle is more rebellious and willing to speak her mind. With WWII escalating, Isabelle intends to fight for France, while Vianne simply wants to survive the war with her family intact – even if it means allowing a German officer to live in her home.
Isabelle, who refuses to live passively under German authority, joins the French resistance and guides Allied airmen out of France after their planes are shot down – work for which she adopts the codename the Nightingale. As the war wages on, both sisters learn who they are and what they can do.
The Book Girls Say…
If you’ve already read and loved The Nightingale, be sure to check out our list of the Best Books Like the Nightingale.
Sea of Memories
Book Summary
When Scottish teen Ella gets a chance to spend the summer of 1937 on the French Île de Ré, it changes the trajectory of her life. She meets the charming Christophe and they spend their days exploring the many beaches of the island. For the first time, Ella feels truly free.
However, with the start of WW2, Ella must return to Scotland. She jumps into volunteering for the war effort, but feels herself drifting further away from the person she was on the Île de Ré. Will she ever be able to recapture that magic in her life?
The Book Girls Say…
Sea of Memories also has a minor present day timeline with Ella in a nurising home and recounting her life story to her granddaughter, Kendra. The book is more romance than war story and includes detailed descriptions of each setting.
The Last Train to Key West
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Book Summary
Three women’s stories intertwine in the Florida Keys as a powerful hurricane approaches over the Labor Day weekend of 1935.
Key West native Helen Berner yearns to escape her abusive husband. Elizabeth Preston has traveled down from New York in search of a veteran of the Great War. Mirta Perez’s family suffered great losses in the Cuban Revolution of 1933, and now they have arranged her marriage to a man in a dangerous business, followed by a honeymoon in Key West.
The approaching storm is not the only danger that these women face as their paths unexpectedly cross.
The Book Girls Say…
Some of our readers have reported not loving the audiobook narrator, so consider listening to a sample before choosing this format.
Letters From Cuba
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Book Summary
As WW2 began, Jewish families in Poland were trying to flee to safer countries outside of Hilter’s reach. In this story, Esther’s father has gone ahead of the family to Cuba, and Esther is the first family member to join him. She’s devastated to be separated from her sister, so she documents her new life in Cuba to share her experiences in writing until her sister can join her.
Her writings include both the kindness of the Cuban people and the unfortunate reality that Nazism has reached Cuba.
The Book Girls Say…
This historical fiction novel is based on the author’s family history.
March Crossover Books
The following books satisfy two of the March guided reading challenge prompts:
*We’ve used asterisks below to note which challenge list the book originally appeared on
The Boston Girl
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Book Summary
Addie Baum was born to a Jewish family at the turn of the 20th century. Her immigrant parents were very concerned about America’s effect on their three daughters. Growing up in Boston’s North End, Addie is introduced to a progressive world of short skirts, movies, and celebrity culture. She also sees a new world of opportunities for young women and dreams of college and a career.
At 85 years old, Addie Baum’s 22-year-old granddaughter asks her how she became the woman she is. Her story begins in 1915 when teenage Addie lived in a one-room tenement apartment that she shared with her family.
The Book Girls Say…
The story of Addie’s life is told with compassion, a wicked sense of humor, and great attention to historical detail. This novel spans Addie’s life, including her first job in the 1920s.
Over 100 of our readers selected this book as their Massachusetts book for our Read Around the USA Challenge last year, and it received rave reviews. Numerous readers specifically mentioned how much they enjoyed the audio version of the book, and said that the narration and the accents added to the story.
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Diamond Boy
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Book Summary
When diamonds were discovered in Marange, Zimbabwe in 2006, the region changed, often not for the better. In this novel, fifteen-year-old Patson has a normal teenage life, running track for his high school and experience having his first girlfriend. Then, at his stepmother’s prompting, the family moves as part of The Great Marange Diamond Rush. His family goes to work hoping to find their “girazi,” a priceless stone that could change the future.
However, the governor’s soldiers soon arrive at the diamond field. Their action will help you understand the term “blood diamonds,” and Patson will soon be on a new adventure as he first succumbs to greed and then finds himself on a transformative journey to find his sister in South Africa.
The Book Girls Say…
This YA novel is a rare look into President Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe after he transitioned from a revolutionary hero to a tyrant who established a one-party system to stay in power for 37 years. While it is considered YA, don’t mistake that for being a light or easy read. It’s a realistic look at a brutal regime that will help educate you on modern history you may have missed while also providing a twisting and page-turning plot.
In addition to being the author of several books, Michael Williams writes plays, musicals, and operas, and is the Managing Director of Cape Town Opera in South Africa. He began writing “radio plays” while studying at the University of Cape Town and had his first novel published when he was twenty-five years old.
Homegoing
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Book Summary
This multi-generation epic follows the divergent paths of two half-sisters born in 18th century Ghana and their descendants over 300 years. Effia marries a wealthy Englishman and lives in a castle, but she doesn’t know Esi is imprisoned in the dungeon below. Esi is sold in the slave trade and shipped to America, where she, her children, and her grandchildren are raised in slavery.
The book continues to follow each generation of both Effia and Esi all the way to the present day and includes a range of historical time periods, including the American Civil War and the Jazz Age.
The Book Girls Say…
Despite this long history, the book is only 305 pages, so it’s not a traditional epic with extensive storylines for each generation. Instead, each chapter introduces a new character and reads more like a series of short stories. Some readers are disappointed that not every chapter/character has a full arc and conclusion.
Author Yaa Gyasi was born in Ghana and raised in Huntsville, Alabama.
WARNING: This book contains graphic scenes of sexual and physical abuse, along with adult language.
We also found a second book that spans both Ghana and Alabama called The Scent of Burnt Flowers. The description sounds fascinating, but the reviews are a bit lower than we hoped.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Long Walk to Freedom
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Book Summary
Nelson Mandela is one of the great leaders of the 20th century whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him not only the Nobel Peace Prize, but also the presidency of his country. This autobiography is very broad in its scope, covering his upbringing in the traditional tribal culture of his ancestors, his early years as a poor student and a law clerk, his political awakening, his time spent in jail, and finally, his inauguration as South Africa’s first black president.
In addition to providing an in-depth and personal look at the life of this incredible man – Long Walk to Freedom also provides a riveting account of South Africa’s history and change from Apartheid to a Democratic state.
The Book Girls Say…
This memoir is on the longer side at 600+ pages. It spans his life, beginning with a chapter about his “country childhood” in the 1920s.
If you want to learn more about South Africa’s political history, we also recommend the classic Cry the Beloved Country. Originally published in 1948, this novel sheds light on the racial injustice in South Africa that predated Apartheid. Of course, as with all classics, keep in mind that this book is a product of its time.
Leaving Time
Book Summary
Alice disappeared in the wake of an accident, and ten years later, her daughter, Jenna, still refuses to believe that her mother abandoned her. Jenna still regularly searches for clues, both online and within Alice’s journals.
Alice was a scientist who studied grief among elephants in Botswana. While the journal entries are mostly about the elephants, Jenna hopes that she’ll find a clue within the writing. As part of her investigation, she also works with a psychic and detective, and we’ll see the story from their points of view as well.
The Book Girls Say…
While this isn’t a magical realism book, the storyline has some psychic/paranormal elements.
February Crossover Books
The following books satisfy two of the February guided reading challenge prompts:
- In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) – 2013
- Book Voyage – Western Europe
- Decades Challenge – 1900s and 1910s
*We’ve used asterisks below to note which challenge list the book originally appeared on
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
The Book Girls Say…
This biographical fiction is based on the author’s extensive research into the life of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, and it was her goal to stay as close to the facts as possible. She acknowledges that much of what is known about these two figures has come from unreliable sources and popular culture myths, and it was her mission to set the record straight.
A fun fact that we learned in the process of researching this novel for our book list – F. Scott Fitzgerald, who is most well-known as the author of The Great Gatsby, was named after his ancestor Francis Scott Key, the author/composer of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Life After Life
The Signature of All Things
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Perfume Collector
The Bookbinder
An Inquiry Into Love and Death
The Pull of the Stars
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The Other Einstein
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The Boys in the Boat
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Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Canary Girls
The Phoenix Crown
The Secret Life of Violet Grant
The Tour
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The Aviator’s Wife
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Burial Rites
Orphans of the Storm
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Bluebird
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Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Last Train to Istanbul
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A Memory of Violets
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Pieces We Keep
January Crossover Books
The following books satisfy two of the January guided reading challenge prompts:
- In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) – 2012
- Book Voyage – Arctic & Antarctic
- Decades Challenge – 1880s and 1890s
*We’ve used asterisks below to note which challenge list the book originally appeared on
The Snow Child
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Also Featured on These Book Lists:
25 Books Like Where the Crawdads Sing
Best Books to Read in Winter 2023
Books With Characters in Their 50s
Antarctica: An Intimate Portrait of the World’s Most Mysterious Continent
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At the Mountain’s Edge
To The Bright Edge of the World
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Also Featured on These Book Lists:
The Best Books About Alaska
Best Books to Read in Winter 2023
In the Kingdom of Ice
Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000-Mile Journey Around Wild Alaska, the Last Great American Frontier
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Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Madhouse at the End of Earth
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