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Top Ten Tuesday: Books About World War II #2

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by

Laurie
in ,

Hi all and welcome back to another Top Ten Tuesday post! This week it’s time to go very rogue again, surprise surprise… This week’s topic is Authors (or books by authors) Who Live In My State/Country (submitted by Jennifer @ Funk-N-Fiction) and as I have no clue which authors live in my city and moreover that all mentioned books will be in Dutch so wouldn’t make any sense at all on an English blog, I decided to write a follow-up post on a topic I did back in 2023. On May 5, 1945, World War II ended for the Netherlands as the nazi’s retreated. So, this means we had a public holiday yesterday, but moreover it means that it’s time to put some more books about WOII in the spotlight. Click here for my first Top Ten Tuesday post on this theme. Today I’ll list ten more books about WOII, no matter if I read them or not.

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.

  1. The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin – This book is set in Poland and for me, it gave me some new insights in life during WOII in a country you don’t read about that often. (Review)
  2. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles – A book set in Paris, the title says it all. I just finished this last week. My review will be up tomorrow!
  3. The Lost Daughters of Ukraine by Erin Litteken – A book about Ukraine, but to be honest, this author’s previous book left more of an impression on me. (review)
  4. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn – A book set in occupied England.
  5. The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn – Another book about Eastern Europe, this one is on my TBR.
  6. The War Pianist by Mandy Robotham – A book set in both London and Amsterdam. I found it whilst reading another book by this author.
  7. The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Wandel – I haven’t read any book about WOII Shanghai, so this is still on my TBR.
  8. The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry – Another book on my TBR, set in England once again.
  9. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel – This book is mostly set in the US and is on my TBR.
  10. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys – A book set in multiple countries, but mostly Poland and Germany. I read it years ago.

Have you read any of these books? What books about WOII do you recommend to others?

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Comments

16 responses to “Top Ten Tuesday: Books About World War II #2”

  1. Joanne @ Portobello Book Blog Avatar
    Joanne @ Portobello Book Blog

    Great choices and very apt for this particular week.

    Two I’ve read recently which are excellent are My Father’s House and The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O’Connor.

    Reply
  2. Lydia Avatar
    Lydia

    These all sound good!

    Reply
  3. Pam @ Read! Bake! Create! Avatar
    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!

    The Book of Last Names is mostly set in France during the War. The “modern” parts are set in the US and then Germany. A WWII book that I read and enjoyed last year is A Woman With No Name by Audrey Blake.

    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
    https://readbakecreate.com/celebrating-canadian-authors-ten-authors-from-canada/

    Reply
  4. Em @ The Book Was Better Avatar
    Em @ The Book Was Better

    Great recommendations! I also thought of The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. Great book, they have a new TV show too which was also really good.

    Reply
  5. Courtney Clark Avatar
    Courtney Clark

    The Secret Book of Flora Lea is on my TBR, too! I have the audiobook waiting for me at some point. I like your focus on WWII books as an alternate topic!

    Reply
  6. Carrie @ Reading Is My SuperPower Avatar
    Carrie @ Reading Is My SuperPower

    Pam Jenoff writes some wonderful WW2 fiction. So do Amanda Barratt, Sarah Sundin (her new book – Midnight on the Scottish Shore – is about a woman in the Dutch resistance who becomes a double agent for the Allies. It’s so good!), Nicole M. Miller, Cathy Gohlke, and Amy Lynn Green. https://readingismysuperpower.org/2025/05/06/top-ten-tuesday-authors-ive-met-who-live-in-georgia/

    Reply
  7. Louise @ Foxes and Fairy Tales Avatar
    Louise @ Foxes and Fairy Tales

    We covered WW2 a lot on school/uni, so I don’t tend to pick it up in fiction as often as I should. Great recs, lots of variety here!

    Reply
  8. Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads Avatar
    Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads

    I haven’t read any of these yet, but I’ve heard great things about Kate Quinn’s books!

    Reply
  9. Athena @ One Avatar
    Athena @ One

    There are so many WWIi books! I’ve got Salt to the Sea but honestly didn’t know what it was about 😅 thanks for checking out my post!

    Reply
  10. Jessica @ a GREAT read Avatar
    Jessica @ a GREAT read

    OOh nice topic choice! I’ll admit that I haven’t really read any books with historical wars happening in them. Great epic battles, but all fictional!

    Thanks for visiting my TTT!

    Reply
  11. Cheryl Malandrinos Avatar
    Cheryl Malandrinos

    I have heard of several of these but haven’t read them. Sounds like a great list. Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog.

    Reply
  12. Bree @1girl2manybooks Avatar
    Bree @1girl2manybooks

    I’ve read Salt to the Sea and really liked it and I am determined to finally try Kate Quinn before the end of this year.

    Reply
  13. Susan (Bloggin' 'bout Books) Avatar
    Susan (Bloggin’ ’bout Books)

    It feels ghoulish to say it, but I really like books about WWII. It’s such a rich topic. So hard to read, though. SALT TO THE SEA is excellent. It’s my favorite Sepetys book. I haven’t read any Kate Quinn yet. I need to. Great list!

    Happy TTT!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

    Reply
  14. Carla@CarlaLovesToRead Avatar
    Carla@CarlaLovesToRead

    I read a lot of World War 1 and 2 books. I have read 6 of these books and have others on my TBR shelf. I will have to check out The Shanghai Rose.

    I am a Canadian, Laurie, so have seen a lot on the news this week about the end of the war for the Netherlands as several of our remaining soldiers who were there for that retreat were in your country for celebrations. It is nice that they were honoured and remembered.

    Reply
  15. Marianne @ Let's Read Avatar
    Marianne @ Let’s Read

    Interesting that you found a twist. I am sure you could have found good Dutch books with translations, I have quite a few on my page. But, I can see why you didn’t.

    A lot of people loved that I presented newer German books. Here is my post.
    https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/top-ten-tuesday-authors-or-books-by.html

    Reply
  16. Leah @ Leah's Books Avatar
    Leah @ Leah’s Books

    The Last Rose of Shanghai was such a great book! I really liked it and learned a bit more what was occurring in Shanghai during and after WWII. However, I tend to stay away from reading WWII fiction, since my father was a Holocaust survivor. I opt for nonfiction and memoirs these days.

    Reply

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