Historical Fantasy Recommendations|Journey Through Time August Prompt

[00:00:06]Hi, this is Elma and welcome to my book journey. I am back again with another book recommendation video. So, just this past Monday, I dropped my recommendations for the Pir Prairie Trail Readathon. And so, I remembered, oh my goodness, I haven't done my recommendation for my journey through time prompt for the month of August. So, that's what I'm doing today. Saw from the thumbnail, this is the prompt that I'm giving you all that are following me. And I'm so thankful to everybody that has joined in on this uh reading challenge for the year. But, um, as you can see, I'm giving you a kind of tricky one this month and and a fun one, too.

[00:00:47]And that's historical fantasy. And so, what is historical fantasy? So that is any book that is you know both his has historical settings real uh accurate you know not accurate but like set set in actual his history um any any point in history and then it has some kind of fantasy involved element or a magical element or something that's not real you know it's a a fantasy kind of element to it and so I have quite a few books I have a big stack over there and then I have some books that I have um I'll put the picture up here that because I don't have them and I will let you know which ones I've read in the past. A lot of them I have not read, especially the ones on my shelves. That's no surprise to many of you that watch my videos. I have a lot of books on my shelves that I have not gotten around to reading yet.

[00:01:39]So, that is um what we're going to talk about today. Let me have a I haven't had my coffee yet this morning.

[00:01:47]I want to share this cup beautiful. My a sweet friend of mine from church gave me this mug. I just love it so much. And I love it because it says has the the writing here, but it has it on the other side as well. So it doesn't matter how I'm holding it, you can see what's written. I can do all things through Christ who strengthen who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13. Had to look at that one. So so thankful to her for giving me that. So during this video, I am going to be drinking my coffee. I also have I'm also wearing my Aven You can't see, but I'm wearing my Avengers t-shirt. Uh, did you all see the the trailer that dropped yesterday?

[00:02:30]It dropped on. So, today as I'm filming this video, it is Tuesday. It dropped on Monday of all days. It was a sweet surprise to have a a trailer for the next Avengers movie. And um I don't know if I have I mentioned that much on this channel. I love the Marvel movies. I really do. especially the old, you know, the old, you know, the old um the older ones like when they were first introducing all the characters like the first Iron Man, the first Captain America, first Thor movie, and then going forward ending in the first Avengers movie where they all came together. It was so cool. Um and then we went on and had uh see we had Avengers and then Avengers um when Ultron was there and then we had um Infinity War or did we have Yeah, I didn't mix up after a while. And then of course, Endgame was was the really big one that came out and I didn't realize uh when I was looking at everybody talking about this uh trailer and that it's been seven years since Endgame came out. That's a long That's a long time. And so my son and I, we always go opening weekend. In fact, we go usually they um they come out on Thursday and we get my son always buys tickets way ahead of time and in fact I think they start selling tickets for this movie and it doesn't come out till December but everybody's just so hyped for this movie. Um, but we always go opening day because he's afraid he's gonna get spoiled if he waits any period of time. And in fact, he hasn't even watched, he doesn't want to watch the trailer. And so I told him, "Hey, the trailer's out. You got to watch this trailer." And he's like, "No, I'm not watching it." And I'm well, you better be careful because everybody's talking about it. And if you've seen the trailer or if you haven't seen the trailer, they show a lot. So I was like, "Well, maybe it's a good thing that you don't see the trailer." Okay, I'm just going on and on about the Avengers because well, I'm I'm excited about it. Okay, so first off, I'm going to talk about the books. Get back to fantasy, which that is, you know, that's Avengers is fantasy. So, we're going to get back to historical fantasy. So, I'm going to talk about um books I don't have. I'm going to get those out of the way so I don't forget them in this video. So, the first one is called The Bear and the Night and Gale.

[00:04:48]And this is one of the first books I read once I started getting back into reading when I started homeschooling my daughter. And and the reason I read this one, I think it was part of somebody's reading challenge because I would have never have picked that up because I never heard of this author or anything like that. But it is a historical fantasy because it deals with old Russian history and then it has a little magical element in it um like folklore really heavily. uh the author wrote it.

[00:05:19]I think I think if I remember right, the author is Russian or has Russian ancestry and so she researched this time period and then all the folklore that went behind it. So that's what this book is about. And it was really a fun book to read. Had a um very wintry feeling.

[00:05:36]If you want to hold off on this one and wait to read this in the winter, it's perfect winter atmospheric feeling that you get from this. It's also part of a series. So, I think there's three books and I've only read the first book, but I've heard the other two are are just as fun. Okay, the next book I'm going to talk about is Divine Rivals. And when I made this prompt for my journey through time, this is the first one of the first books I thought of as far as fitting this fitting this prompt because it is so um it's such a good mix of of his historical fiction and the fantasy because we have two characters living in a world that is um it's kind of like the olden days for us. Uh let's see what time period would you maybe like World War I period time period. And then um but it's not in our world. It's a different world. And then there's also God, a God element and a magical typewriter kind of thing going on. I really love the first book. This is a duogy. I did read the second book. I didn't like it as much as the first book. Uh but the first book was great and I think you can read that as a standalone if you wanted to. Okay. The next one is a middle-grade book that I read called Sky Over Rebecca. And the on the book it talks about uh friendship across time and that's because we have some little children that are separated by time. Uh so we have a little girl that lives like in our modern day era and then she meets a couple children, a couple siblings that are actually from the World War II era and you got to figure out how is she able to have a friendship with these two kids even though time separates them. It was a really nice little middle-grade book.

[00:07:20]Um, the next one is Kindred, and this is one I read for my journey through time challenge last year. And this is a book that deals with time travel. And we have a young African AfricanAmerican woman that times travels from the 1970s all the way back to like I think the 1800s or 1700s, I can't remember off hand, but she finds herself like on a plantation and with slavery still in existence. And she's, like I said, she's a black woman and having to deal with that where she finds herself. It is it is really an intriguing book. has a lot of uh things that happened to her and I really I really really enjoyed my time in that book. Um the next one is a little different. It is a natural history of dragons and this is the Lady Trent story. This these are this is a book that is uh written in memoir form and that's Lady Trent. I loved this one. And this is one that I keep saying I want to get back to it because this is also a series. And this one, this woman is kind of like in the Victorian era, Regency era kind of her setting, but yet we have dragons in this world. And she is a person that wants to study dragons, even though um as a woman that's really not feasible, but she still managed to do it. First book was so good. I really enjoyed it. I listened to it on audio and the audio was great and like I said, I really want like would like to get back into that series because it was really good. Okay, the next one is very similar because we have dragons as well and this is Warmwood Abbey. This one's probably more wellknown to people. The warm wood abby um is the first book and again a kind of same similar time frame and the young woman also is finds herself with dra dragons are and I can't remember it's been a while since I read the first book if um dragons were known or maybe they were but I guess the whole I haven't I've only read book one so you all some of you all might have read the whole read the whole series by now but as the time as these book goes by, I think we learn more about the dragon uh dragons, but the first book was really good. Okay. Um the next one is a book um another kind of wintry book. It's called The Snowchild. This one's set in Alaska in the 1920s.

[00:09:54]This one was good and it was kind of and you know it's one of these makes you makes you think like what is really happening? Is it really magical? Is it really is there really something um going on here? Fantastical.

[00:10:09]It was really good about a some settlers that like I said state that have moved up to Alaska and really the hard times they were having this married couple and one day they find a young girl out out in the in the wilderness and like where did she come from? And that's the mystery of this book of where she came from. And it's really good. It was really intriguing. Like I said, you kind of go back and forth wondering where where did she come from? You know, is you know, is this um a magical kind of thing. Okay. Um then the next one, I actually own this book, but I could not for the life of me find it in my room.

[00:10:49]It'll pop up somewhere, but it's Romangh by Naen Brandice. This is kind of a fantasy tale about the Romanoff family and what happened to them. And so that one I love the I've always loved the cover of this and I always think that it's like a more of a Christmy for me anyway book. So I have not read this one. I put it off and put it off. One of these days I have to read it. But if you have it or if you're interested in reading about the Romanovs with a little fantasy uh twist to it, this is one for you. Okay. Okay. And the last, oh no, not not the last. Uh the another one that I have not read that I've heard so much about is called Lovely War. And this is another one that deals with like World War I and World War II time periods, but we have some gods um like the uh the Greek gods looking on and you get their perspective, I guess, uh and what they're doing or maybe they're influencing the people. Like I said, I haven't read it. I've just heard it's really good. But that's another one that is historical and fantasy. And then the last two I'm going to talk about are really interesting and one of them I'm going to read for my I'm pretty sure I'm going to read this one. One of these for my journey through time. I'm leaning toward another one. One of these. So my journey through time challenge for me. I think I'm going to read one of these. So the first one is a wagon train weekend.

[00:12:16]And somebody in my comments of my last video said, "Hey," she had a list of great uh Prairie Trail, Oregon Trail books. And one of them she said, "Hey, this is a time travel one." And I'm like, "Time travel? You know, that's fantasy." So, there's that one. Um, and then the other one I had found already.

[00:12:34]I had already found a time travel book.

[00:12:37]And this one's called The Far Journey.

[00:12:39]And it's it says it's a time slip novel.

[00:12:42]So, I have read a bunch of time travel books, but I don't know what time if time slip is a little different or maybe it's just a form of time travel. I'll I'll see. So, because that is the one I'm actually going to pick to ch to read because I did find that the uh Far Journey, you can read that on Kindle Unlimited. And the other one I wasn't able to find on at my library or to be able to pick it up on Libby, but it is an older book. if you're interested in reading that and also participate in the Prairie Trail Readathon. Both of those books would work. Okay, so those are all the books that I don't have with me, but now I'm going to talk about the books that I do have. So, give me just a minute. Okay, this first one is the first one I thought of for this challenge because it has historical fiction and fantasy, and that is any book in the Timeless series. And so this is the first one in when the day comes.

[00:13:43]If you haven't started this series, this would be the first one. And I do recommend that you read these in order because each book um goes back to the ne the past book as far as the people and everything. And then even the later books, they really uh go back to some of the people that we've met in previous books that are really critical. And it just I love that. So, this is a book about a a woman that uh time travels.

[00:14:10]She calls it time crossing. She's a time crosser because she lives two lives. And so, she wakes up in one period and has and this book is in the 1700s is one of her lives. And then when she goes to bed and wakes up the next morning, she's in the 1900s. So, that's how that time u travel works in this book. So definitely would recommend any of the books in the Timeless series for this prompt.

[00:14:38]Then we have a book by Diane Chamberlain, another time travel book.

[00:14:43]Uh this one's called The Dream Daughter.

[00:14:45]And I really loved this book. It was such a good one. I had heard about it and I heard what it was about and right away I wanted to read it. I love time travel books. This one deals with a woman that is time traveling and and what happens to her, how she gets caught up in it and the reasons why she does it is is pretty is really important, too.

[00:15:05]And then the choice that she has to make and it's so good. I love the the the big reveal at the end was really awesome. I loved it. So, there's that one. And this one takes place um and like I said because she's going back through different times um in history and and things that happened that are pivotal in history in our history are are in this book.

[00:15:32]I love Amy Harmon and she wrote a book that has some time travel as well and it's called when what the wind knows and this one is set in Ireland. Is it Ireland?

[00:15:45]Uh, yes, Ireland. And so she, our main character is in our modern day era, but she somehow gets transported back to 1921.

[00:15:56]And this one is really interesting because not only does she get transported back in time to Ireland um 1921, but she it knows the people that she's around like an like her ancestors or um can't remember if it's her ancestors or husband what family member that she know you know she the area and so interesting. I would love to read I I would love to reread it's been a long time since I read this one. I really enjoyed it and I would love to reread that reread um this one of these days, but it's has a um interesting kind of love story and twist in here as well.

[00:16:35]Okay, this one's really crazy. This one is very fantasy. Um but it is a um not a retelling. What? Let's see what what do they call these when they change history. uh alternate alternate history of what would happen if Hitler won the war in World War II. And we have and this one's called Wolf by Wolf. This is also a duogy. I have book two and I haven't read it yet. I'm so terrible about that. Um this is 1956 and this young girl here she has uh through experimentation because you know um back in during World War II we later found out that the Germans were doing experiments and things like that. Well, this one takes it really far because this little girl got experimented on when she was in uh custody or in the concentration camps and and because of the experimentation that they that they did, she's able to shift her pre her her persona. And so I think she's able just like to look at somebody and then she can shift into changing her appearance.

[00:17:46]And so that's she what she's able to do.

[00:17:50]And because of that, they use her to try to do um an assassination attempt um like the resistance to stop uh Hitler.

[00:18:01]This is really it was really good. I really love the story be behind her and her experiences and how she came to um use her her power that she has. But like I said, it came from experimentation. So there's that.

[00:18:17]Another I I have a a theme here with time travel. Another time travel book set in the in World War II. And this is in another time. This one was really good.

[00:18:28]I read this with my husband a while back and we both really really liked it. Um a love story over time and decisions and choices that we that we make um and how everything works out. It's just uh the the time travel part was really surprising. It wasn't what I expected.

[00:18:50]There was time travel in it, but the somebody traveling and and who's traveling and who's not traveling and that the big reveal at the end was and this was really a sad one too. So there's a lot happening in this book. It is uh in in um 1931 when one it it goes from 30 1931 to after the war. So um so during right when the war is kicking off and then after the war and so good and it's it's really about a man trying to save his his uh the woman that he loves who happens to be a Jewish woman and he's wanting to protect her from the things that are coming. He wants to protect her from that. Okay, the last one right here on this stack. I have one more stack, but this last stack, this is one when I did my search um for historical fantasy. This book came up and I don't remember and then I think I picked it up at my library sale because I recognized it. And this one is also part of a series. It's called the Infernal Devices series. And this one's called Clock Clockwork Angel.

[00:20:02]And I wrote a note here because I didn't know. Let's see. What did I put? Okay, it's YA historical fiction, but it has a vampires. And I I think it's like this gives me like Twilight vibes. And it does because it's vampires. So, I have not read this. I have heard some people say that they really enjoyed this series. But there's that one. If you like YA and you like vampire books, this next one I did read and I really enjoyed it. I kind of didn't like it at first. is pretty slow a slow read for it was a for me anyway it was a kind of a slow read but it really picked up and the story was really interesting and this one is another one I read for my journey through time last year this is called the wolf in the whale and the reason I'm putting it as part of a fantasy is because um we have it's kind of like the um the lovely war with the Greek gods but we now this one we have the gods of two different cultures we have the Viking gods And then we also have the gods from the Inuit people because our two main characters are an Inuit woman and then a Viking that meet and everything that happens to them. It's very um uh action um and wintry. I mean so cold. This book is so cold when you read it because of the where they're where they're at. And just it was just a great book. It is chunky like I said, but once you get this going in the story, um I will say it is does have a lot of violence because of the the whole Vikings and what they did and but everything. So if that bothers you, I wouldn't I wouldn't read this. But that is another one.

[00:21:43]This next book I recently picked up at a thrift store. It's called 10,000 Doors of January. And this is about a woman that goes to a uh library or bookstore and finds a strange book. And I think she's able to jump and um go into different places. Um this is another one that popped up in my search and I was like, "Oh, I have that.

[00:22:06]I have that book." So, I love this cover. So, there's that one. Another one that popped up on my search is another one that I had on my shelf and I haven't read it. And you will guess why I haven't read it. because yes, it's a chunker and it's uh Str Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norel. I have heard it's good.

[00:22:27]It's a it would be a challenge for me to read it. Maybe next year I can put it on my TBR to read. Um I would love to read it. Um, this set is set in 1806 England and during um or maybe after the Napoleon war and I guess Strange has powers. So that's where we get our fantasy part. Let me know in the comments below if you've read this book.

[00:22:54]I'm really interested to know if it's worth reading such a big chunker.

[00:23:00]Okay, I'm down to my last stack here and this next one is called The Winter Sea.

[00:23:06]I believe this is another time travel book taking place in 1708. Um, and I think that's where the person travels back to. She travels back to 1708 if I if I remember right. And so I love this cover. That's another chunker. And I think this is also part of a series.

[00:23:29]Then we have one called The Invisible Library. I haven't read this either. Um, this is a mysterious library. uh shatter reorganization um in London's underground and I've thought often that this one would be a good good one to read. Uh it says satisfyingly complex. This is a book in which to wallow. It says this is the invisible life of Addie Laroo and this takes place in France uh 1714. And the f fantastical part of this one is I guess if I remember right because it's been a while since I well that I remember this one. Isn't it about she makes a bargain with someone and people forget who she is after they meet her. I think that's what it's about.

[00:24:24]This is another one that I've heard wonderful things about. I just haven't gotten around to reading it. So, let me know in the comments below if you've read this one and what you thought of it. Okay, the last book I have read I have read this one and I at first I wasn't going to put it in um in this one in this book in this um as part of one of these as uh recommendations but but I think it does just because of who the narrator is and that book is the book thief. Absolutely love this book.

[00:24:57]This one I read last year also for my journey through time um journey through time challenge. And the reason it's set in World War II, uh, settles and it surrounds a a German family going through the war and their experiences and and it was really good to see it from the point of view of the actual German people, not the soldiers, but the German people that were that were living through that and that didn't agree with what the Nazi party was doing in their country and how they helped other people. And the reason I put it in the fantasy uh historical fantasy is because the person that is telling this story who is narrating the whole story is death. And so you see the the lives of these people and the deaths of these people through the eyes of whoever this uh being is. Death is just death. And so I thought that was pretty interesting way to tell the story. Uh some people may may not like that perspective but I thought it was it was an interesting read for sure. So that is that is that one. So those are all the books I have to share with you today. Also, I will remind you that I do have my journey through time challenge over on Storyraph and I'll I will try to remember to link uh that below so you can go check out and see what other recommendations people are putting for this particular challenge for the month of August. Uh I know I don't there was a lot more on there that books that I that I don't have but or read. So, I will link that below if you want to go check that out. And then let me know in the comments below if you're planning on reading something historical fantasy for the month of August and if you have a book already in mind or if you've read one in the past that I have not discussed and that you would recommend for others. Leave leave all those comments for others to check out those recommendations. All right, so that's all I have for you today. You all have a blessed day and thank you so much for hanging out with me. Bye bye.