Top Ten Tuesday! Historical Settings We Love

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish

Today, I'm being joined by one of our new lazies', Stephanie! We're listing 10 historical settings we love.

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. I find it difficult to read books about history, but give me a fictional story set in a different era and I can't put it down.

1. The Georgian era (early 19th century) of Pride and Prejudice. I love the social customs of the day. They had balls where you met your future spouse. Everyone danced in a line and they all knew the graceful steps. People really didn't touch so it was electrifying when Mr. Darcy took Lizzy's hand. When it came time for a man to propose he asked to speak to his future bride- alone. (Then Mrs. Bennet ushers everyone out of the room-lol.) It's so romantic.

2. The Italian Renaissance. I love the works of Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo so naturally I love that time period. In particular I loved The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant. Set in Florence in the 15th century, two young artists fall in love.

3. The Elizabethan era. For me this era is costume eye candy in TV and film but one novel that does a wonderful job of describing life during this time is Shadow of Night (All Souls #2) by Deborah Harkness. A witch Diana and her husband, a vampire, Matthew, travel back in time to when he was a spy for Queen Elizabeth I. Harkness is a history professor, so she knows her stuff and gets all the details right.

4. The Victorian Era. I see a theme here. This is another period that it pretty to watch on TV and film but I think my love of this era began when I was a child and I read the American Girl books. Samantha's story was set in Victorian times. As an adult books like The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, and The Infernal Devices trilogy, by Cassandra Clare, capture the magic of the era.

5. Europe during World War II. I know it is very depressing and I am guaranteed to bawl my eyes out, but some of the greatest stories take place during this time period. Reading The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank when I was in high school left an impression. In recent years The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak andBetween Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys have become two beloved favorites.

I'm not a big fan of historical fiction but there are a few settings that I don't mind.

6. WWII and Holocaust. I'm slightly obsessed with it. Both of my grandfathers fought in the war and being half-Jewish makes me really interested in that time. 

7. Harlem Renaissance. I adore this and how creative people seemed to come out as. Especially people of color getting the recognition that they deserved but the contrast of them still not being seen as citizens. 

8. Early 20th Century America. Things like immigration to New York, Prohibition and Titanic were things that always interest me greatly.

9. The 80's/90's. I know it isn't history that is far off from our present, but it was an amazing time and the stories that come from there always interest me. 

10. Old Hollywood. I'm not sure if this is really a historical setting, but the 40's and 50's. Something about that era has always spoken to me. The glam and the dark that hung around the corners. Extremely interesting.