TTT: Top Ten Historical Fiction Faves

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's theme: Top Ten Historical Fiction books

Fantasy is my favorite genre, and I also read and love a lot of science fiction, but I figured I would talk about another genre that I really enjoy but don't often wax poetic about on my blog. Historical fiction/alternative histories are really fun for me because I enjoy learning about other eras in our history and imaging what it might have been like to live there. In a way it's kind of like fantasy: escaping into a different time and place than the real world. Here are some of my favorite historical fiction books!

One of my favorite books, this one makes me cry every time. It's such a beautiful story about friendship and resilience and even though war is brutal, it also shows us the human side of things.	This was one of those books I picked up and nearly gasped as I read the prologue because it was just so perfect. It's narrated by Death itself, and I loved the darkly humorous and jaded (but hopeful) narrator. This is the book I've read more than any other (7 times and counting!), I cry every time, and it never stops being meaningful.
I listened to this book on audio, and that made me absolutely fall in love with all the characters. The narrator did such a good job of bringing out the humor, warmth, pain, and pride these characters possess.	This is one of those rare books that you have to read for school but end up truly enjoying. I don't know if "enjoy" is quite the right word, but this book touched my heart and I loved its message about stories and truth.
I guess I'm cheating a little with this one because the two main characters are fantasy creatures, but I adored all the characters and intersecting lives in this book.	While I'm cheating with fantasy-historical fiction, I might as well mention this series. I actually like Dark Triumph MUCH better than Grave Mercy, but the whole series is really good. Assassin nuns of death, enough said.
This was one of my favorite reads of this year. I loved learning about the Ottoman empire, the lush and vivid writing style, and the truly terrifying main character. I was fascinated by the tangled web of political intrigue and very messy emotions that make characters act in ways you wouldn't expect.	I'm not sure if the time period of this is too recent to be considered historical fiction, but I loved this book. It's heartbreaking, far more than The Kite Runner, because this is the story of two women fighting to hang on to their dignity and strength in a rather unforgiving world.
This is a haunting story about a woman who is accused of murder and a priest's quest to find out the truth about what happened. I really liked learning more about Icelandic culture and it was such a beautifully written, atmospheric book.	This book is also about a woman convicted of murder, but it ends up being just as much about the treatment of women during the Victorian era is it is about the actual murder mystery. Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite authors for her science fiction, but this was great too!