Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
This week’s topic is Books Set in Another Time. They can be historical, futuristic, or alternate universes. They can even be in a world where you’re not sure when it takes place but you know it’s not right now. I looked back through some of my favorite books and divided them up into historical books, kind of historical books, books that place in the future, and books that take place in a fantasy world that is kind of like in the past.
Here are 10 of my favorite books set in another time:
Historical books:
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. This was one of my favorite books I read in 2024. It was so good!
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. One of my favorite young adult books.
Dead Wake by Erik Larson. I really liked this nonfiction narrative about the sinking of the Lusitania during World War I.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Out of all the World War II books out there, this book is one of the best, in my opinion.
Kind of historical books:
Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon. This book was written and takes place in 1980 so it is definitely dated. But I still love it.
Books that take place in the future:
Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik. One of my favorite space opera books that takes place in the future.
The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes. Another favorite space opera book.
The Martian by Andy Weir. I didn’t understand anything about the science or botany in this book but it was so enjoyable!
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Maybe an unpopular opinion but I really liked this book.
Books that take place in a fantasy world that is kind of like the past:
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. This book is a fantasy rooted in folklore so it clearly has that old-timey feel but it’s never explicitly stated what the time period is.
Happy reading!
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