I always like to do a year review of the previous year and of course that includes looking over all the books that I read and determining which ones stand out as really good books. In 2021 (see my post favorite books of 2021 here) there was a section of time when I fell down the rabbit hole of reading revolutionary war spy historical fiction—now that was good reading! This year I didn’t have any fantastic stretches in which I read 5-star books, yet there were some books that I particularly enjoyed. If you are looking for great titles to kick off your 2023 then continue reading to hear 5 of my favorite historical fiction titles that I read last year! These were some of my favorite unputdownable books that I read in 2022!
The Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar
This was a story about the women pilots who helped the war effort in WW II. This book opens on Thanksgiving Day in Hawaii, 1941, right before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It is a story about the women pilots as well as the fictional story of Audrey Coltrane who is focused on saving her money and buying an airfield near her family’s home one day. She cannot allow herself to be distracted from this goal, even as she starts to find herself falling in love with handsome….
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Sometimes you get a good book at the wrong time and sometimes you get the right book and at the perfectly right time—that’s what happened with this book! I love a good mystery and, of course, I love a time-setting from the past. I am a little bit of a wimp… I don’t want anything too scary but, that being said, I still want to get a little scared. This is the perfect scariness for me! Ten people are stranded on a stormy island and one by one they start turning up dead which can only mean one thing—the killer is among them! If you want a goose-bump-raising mystery try this one!
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
I read two books about the packhorse librarians last year and, while I enjoyed both of them, this one was far and away my favorite. The Appalachian Hills in Kentucky were not a forgiving region in the 1930s. Family feuds ran deep, travel was rough, and poverty was rampant. The rampant dangers of the job were hardly a deterrent to these women who took to their horses as part of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s initiative to spread literacy. But prejudices run deep and there are more than just rattlesnakes hiding in those hills to worry about.
The Chilbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan
This was a delightful little book full of quirky characters that make life come to life against the backdrop of war-worn World War II England and alternates points of view from several of the women who make up the Chilbury Ladies Choir. Kitty is 13, a very grown up 13 she wants to be sure we know, who brings a bright naiveté to the story. There is Mrs. Tilling, a widowed nurse whose son is currently overseas fighting. She is lonely though she doesn’t want anyone to know it. We meet Edwina who is hatching a scheme she is sure is going to make her a wealthy woman—but only if she doesn’t get caught! And there is Venetia who has her eye on a very eligible bachelor who is new to town; however, in getting involved with him she may also be getting in way over her head! Through the eyes of all these women we see how a town banded together during the difficult times of World War II and brought a bright spot into the war-torn gloom.
The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
I went into this book not really knowing what the storyline was but I found myself immersed in the different characters’ points of view. I enjoy a well-done story told from the point of view of someone who we usually demonize (in this case Mr. Christie’s lover) but yet one that doesn’t set out to pit the characters of the story against each other. What could have been the motivation for this young woman to have her eye set on Mr. Christie? Could it have had less to do with Mr. Christie himself and more to do with the child that was once ripped from her arms? What else could have transpired during Mrs. Christie’s famous disappearance?
There you are—some of my favorites from 2022! What about you? What were some of your favorite books of 2022? I’d love to hear about them!
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