Historical fiction American history

amother

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 11:44 am

What are the great authors? Looking for easy to read books, not too long.

amother

Khaki

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 11:52 am

Here are some books rather than authors:
The Killer Angels
Gone With The Wind
April Morning
Sea Glass
All easy reads (GWTW is not short but most people binge read it in a few days at most.)

amother

Fuchsia

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 11:57 am

John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind (long)
Anything by Edith Wharton
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

Less classic:
Kathryn Stockett, The Help
David Guterson, Snow Falling on Cedars
Kathleen Grissom, The Kitchen House
Geraldine Brooks, March
Sarah Gruen, Water for Elephants
Alice Hoffman, The Museum of Ordinary Things

amother

Khaki

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 12:00 pm

Edith Wharton is probably my favorite author but I wouldn't classify her books as historical. They were written to be current novels for the time. Same for F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hawthorne, etc.
John Steinbeck is a good recommendation.

amother

Fuchsia

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 12:04 pm

amother [ Khaki ] wrote:

Fair enough about Wharton (except Ethan Frome, which is set in the past) and Fitzgerald. The Scarlet Letter is set some 230 years before it was written, definitely historical fiction.

esuss

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 1:30 pm

John jakes. North south trilogy about the civil war. Kent family chronicles from before American revolution to near current times.

Edward Rutherford. New York.

James michener.

Ken follet.

amother

Ruby

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 1:35 pm

by Willa Cather:
O Pioneers
The Song of the Lark
My Antonia

amother

Forestgreen

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 2:50 pm

Recently read The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
I enjoyed it.

Thoughts on Where The Crawdad Sings?

I’m also a big fan of Adriana Trigiani.

amother

Khaki

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 2:54 pm

Where the Crawdads sing is overhyped imo. It was a decent read but far from the best novel I've read in recent years.
Plus it's gotten criticism for A LOT of geography errors (which were crucial to the plot, so very sloppy of the writer).

Reality

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 3:13 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

What are the great authors? Looking for easy to read books, not too long.

The books people have suggested so far are all over the place. Some are easy reads and some are classics with a much older style of writing that can be harder for some people to enjoy..

In your OP you wrote easy to read and a great author. Which one do you want? Because they don't necessarily go together.

Reality

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 3:21 pm

Just to clarify my post, people have suggested best sellers, a young adult book and classics in various degrees of difficulty.

amother

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 3:46 pm

Reality wrote:

similar length and style to Ann Rinaldi books. could be longer but should be easy to read. I get tired throughout the day and want captivating, stimulating easy to read books while I rest.

amother

Khaki

Sun, Feb 07 2021, 4:02 pm

Start with Gone With the Wind. That should keep you busy for a week or two, at least. Not written in an old fashioned style so you don't have to concentrate too hard to stay focused.

baltomom

Mon, Feb 08 2021, 9:37 am

I haven't read these in many years, but as a teenager I enjoyed Irving Stone's biographical novels, many of which are set in different time periods of American history.

#BestBubby

Mon, Feb 08 2021, 9:59 am

Books by Jean Plaidy (who is victoria holt)

series: Miracle at Bruno

Young Adult: Ann Rinaldi

Across Five Aprils (civil war)

amother

Fuchsia

Mon, Feb 08 2021, 10:20 am

amother [ Forestgreen ] wrote:

Thoughts on Where The Crawdad Sings?

Beautifully written, morally reprehensible.