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This thread is to mark your completion of the May challenge for the prompt: "a novel set during wartime." You can join in with the group read of The Book Thief or pick a different book to satisfy this challenge.

Please include the following:

Title:
Author:
Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?:
Would you recommend:

No other posts in this thread please!

I finished the audiobook version of The Book Thief. I thought it was wonderful. I highly recommend this for those who like German history.

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: World War II; we knew a gentleman that grew up in Germany at this time. From his stories, I believe this book gives a good representation of German families who lived in Germany but did not share the beliefs of the Nazi government. So, while I didn't learn this from the book, I think it is something that others might learn.
Would you recommend: To others who like historical fiction

Title: A Town Like Alice

Author: Nevil Shute

Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: World War II; I did learn something rather amazing. The war experience of the main character, Jean, is based on the real life experiences of Dutch civilian Carry Geysel who spent three years as a prisoner of the Japanese being transferred around Sumatra because no camp wanted to keep them.

Would you recommend: Absolutely. This was a wonderful book. The book is set in Malaysia, England and Australia, and gives a very real sense of life in those places. Note: this was written in 1950 with the related gender/racial attitudes and occasional slurs. It is a very small part of an overall fantastic story.

Title: A Tale of Two Cities
Author: Charles Dickens
Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: French Revolution, a little. I knew about the war of course, but this book talks about the actual numbers of people that died on a daily basis. It really helps you see how the people were first treated before the war, and then how they became the monsters themselves.
Would you recommend: Yes. This is not only a classic novel, but it really gets at the heart of the French Revolution. I really enjoyed the characters, as with any Dickens novel. They were unique and you weren't quite sure if they would all end up escaping at the end. The twist surprised me and left me feeling very differently about one of the side characters I thought I didn't really like.

Title: The Nightingale
Author:Kristin Hannah

Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: World War 2; I did learn something from reading the book. I learned new ways that some French people helped in the resistance. After finishing the book, I did some research and found that those scenes in the book did take place during the war.

Would you recommend: I would definitely recommend the book.

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war? This book took place during World War II. I wouldn't necessarily say that I learned anything new about war from this book, but it was definitely interesting to read a WWII book from this perspective (non-Nazi Germans living in Nazi Germany.

Would you recommend: I would definitely recommend this book, especially to people who like WWII novels!

Sara wrote: "This thread is to mark your completion of the May challenge for the prompt: "a novel set during wartime." You can join in with the group read of The Book Thief or pick a different book..."

Title: The Book Thief

Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: I actually read this book last year for the "book set in Europe" prompt. I haven't ready a novel set in wartime yet, but plan on reading "Forge" by Laurie Halse Anderson set during the Revolutionary War. For the book thief, I don't recall learning anything earth shatteringly new about the Holocaust or World War 2, but I felt like the perspective in the book was interesting and fresh and I liked the book more than I thought it would given it was about a topic I feel I've read a lot about or seen many movies about.

Would you recommend: I would definitely recommend "The Book Thief" especially to anyone interested in this time period. I originally put it on my list because I wanted to see if it would be appropriate for some of my very advanced 4th grade students. I didn't end up reading it with them but would recommend it for maybe a middle school age and up.

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: WWII, and I had never read anything from the perspective of a non-Nazi stuck in Nazi Germany.

Would you recommend: Sure. It took a while for this book to grab me, but the end went fast and then something got in my eyes.

Title: Alex and Eliza

Author: Melissa de la Cruz

Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: American Revolutionary War. I learned the troops were being inoculated (vaccinated) against smallpox.

Would you recommend: It's a bit slow and cheesy, but if you like Hamilton or historical-fiction, I'll recommend it. (keep in mind that there's a scene that shows assault)

I read "The Sword of Shannara" by Terry Brooks. It takes place in after the destruction of our current one where our knowledge of science and technology is lost and the magic now purveys the world. A young boy has to go on a quest to prevent a force, created from dark magic, from destroying him and his friends homes. There are a lot of wonderful plot twists and the war, while short, is very intense and exhilarating. I definitely recommend this book!

Oh and while I'm not sure there's much to be learned about war itself, aside from old age battle tactics, there is much to be gleaned from the unshakable bond the friends have and the perils they face. The main character also learns a lot about himself and the truth of the world which I thought provided much cause for introspection.

Title: The Magic of Ordinary Days
Author: Ann Howard Creel
Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: This book took place in World War II, and while it included lots of detail about the U.S. during that time, I don't think I learned much new.
Would you recommend: Probably not. It wasn't a bad book, but it was thoroughly mediocre. I did really like the made-for-TV movie version, though!

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: WWII. I wouldn't say I learned anything new...but it did make me remember all the things that I had learned in school and the museum.

Would you recommend: Yep! And I recommend the movie too

Title: Salt to the Sea
Author: Ruta Sepetys

Which war? It takes place hear the end of WWII. I didn't know about the entire event that takes place in this book, which is crazy. It is still the largest maritime disaster in history.

Would you recommend? Absolutely! I loved this book.

Title: Maisie Dobbs
Author: Jacqueline Winspear
Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: WWI. I didn't learn anything new, really, but it was interesting and sad.
Would you recommend: Yes. It was a solid mystery novel.

It would also work for a book in two different time periods, a characters name in the title, and the first book in a series you haven't read before.

Just realized I completely forgot to update here!

Title: The Postmistress
Author: Sarah Blake
Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: WWII, before America got involved. I don't think I learned much new, but it was my first WWII book from an American perspective.
Would you recommend: Yes, but there are several others I would recommend over this one. The story wasn't quite what I expected.

Not much time to lose!

I read Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. It takes place during and after WWII. I learned more about the Ravensbruck "rabbits" and I also never knew about Hitler's national religion. I would definitely recommend it - sometimes books about the war romanticize things, but this one pulls no punches. I alternated between reading and audiobook, and the narrators were very good.

Title: Kontion sissit ("Kontio's Guerillas"), Captain Kontio was the leader of the guerilla company
Author: Reino Lehväslaiho (veteran of all three Finnish wars during WWII)
Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?:It was set in 1943, so the Continuation War which of course is a part of WWII.

And actually yes, I did learn something. I had never really known what kind of war was fought in White Karelia, which is a large wilderness area, more or less no-man's-land, and the size of a small country (not much smaller than Ireland, for example). I had actually thought that German troops were there but they were Finnish, only subordinated to the German HQ which was in Lapland. (This makes sense because frankly Germans were pretty useless in that kind of environment, forests, swamps, lakes and not much else, just some foot paths and it's better not to use them.) Here is a map for those of you who don't know where this is set (often even maps about the Eastern front cut it out), the company walked dozens of kilometres roughly around the area where it says "Kalevala":

But the war there was guerilla warfare, a bit like playing cat and mouse, and extremely hard. This company, probably over 100 soldiers, lost around 30 men in maybe ten days that they were there in (mainly) October, so it wasn't quite winter yet but already cold, and the Red Army lost even more... And if they needed something, weapons, ammunitions, horses and sleighs for carrying the wounded, food or vodka, they had to get it from the enemy (once they got American meat in tin cans). Their mission was to blow out Soviet dogouts at their base but most of the time the soldiers were tired, wet, hungry and on the run. (The novel is probably based on a real mission, the author interviewed many veterans and has written several books based on their stories.)

Would you recommend: Well his books have probably never been translated and those who are interested in them already know his work. I only chose this because I was looking for an audiobook and this was one of the few I found interesting. I also knew that I don't particularly like to read war novels but it might be easier to listen. But like I already mentioned elsewhere, after I had started listening to this, our former President died and he had served in a company like this (which also happened to have probably the most famous soldier of the war as its leader Born A Soldier: The Times And Life Of Larry Thorne) so when the papers published his recollections about the war, I maybe understood them a bit better. But if someone still thinks that the war is somehow glamorous, these kinds of books will change their mind.

Title: Everyone Brave is Forgiven
Author: Chris Cleave

Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: World War II. It did include quite a bit of detail about the bombing of London and the siege of Malta, which is not something I've really read about yet.

Would you recommend: Most likely.

Title: The Nightingale
Author: Kristin Hannah
Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: World War 2. I learnt more about the resistance forces and the lengths some people went to help others
Would you recommend: Yes

Empire of Storms
by Sarah J. Maas
This book has more of a fictional war going on. I was going to read The Book Thief but this book took over and I decided to bend the rules a little bit for this prompt. I am still planning on reading The Book Thief, but it'll be just for myself.
I would recommend this book, though it is book 5 in a series, so I would say to start at the beginning!

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: World War 2. I didn't learn anything but I enjoyed that the book was from a different perspective than most WWII books.
Would you recommend: No, I found it incredibly dull and far too long.

Title: Milkweed
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Which war did your book take place in, and did you learn something new about that war?: WWII- I didn't really learn anything new, but it's such a good reminder of what really went on during that war. Horrifying.
Would you recommend: Yes. Definitely.

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Marcus Zusak

The book took place during World War 2. I learnt more about the war from a German perspective and the story gives an insight into the lives of the people and how they managed.

I would recommend the book, yes. It wasn't always easy or comfortable to read. It's a great book.