Favorite Books of 2020: Historical

It's time to talk about my favorite books from this year! 2020 has been no one's favorite revolution around the sun, but it still produced some stellar reads to help distract us along the way. 📚

Click on any title to read my original review, or click on the cover if you're interested in purchasing these books for yourself.

If you missed my earlier posts on Favorite Novellas and Favorite Contemporary Fiction, be sure to check those out. 🙂

"The Land Beneath Us" by Sarah Sundin
Would you make different choices if you knew how you were going to die? Clay's recurring dream has given him a strong premonition. As he prepares to leave this world behind, he seeks to make a difference where he can.

"An Uncommon Woman" by Laura Frantz
The eighteenth century frontier comes to life with the story of Tessa Swan and her family. The author's immersive writing style transports seamlessly and captivates thoroughly.

"Things We Didn't Say" by Amy Lynn Green
This epistolary novel takes place in small town Minnesota at a German POW camp. Linguist Johanna Berglund tries to help the community see that the prisoners are people not dissimilar to themselves—but Jo's plans backfire spectacularly. 

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"To Dwell Among Cedars" by Connilyn Cossette

 


Who doesn't love the little nugget of a story tucked into I Samuel 5, where the Philistine god Dagon falls on his face before the captured Ark of the Covenant? That's where our story opens. Our heroine is a Philistine girl whose uncle is a priest at Dagon's temple. Eliora has heard about the Hebrew God from her nursemaid, and when the Philistines realize the Ark is nothing to mess around with and send it back to the Hebrews, Eliora and her younger brother follow from a distance.

A young Levite named Ronen finds them and brings them to a nearby family. Ronen is a musician with no love lost for the Philistine people, but who could hold that against two children? 

The years past and the political and spiritual climate in Israel is at a crisis point. Some follow the prophet Samuel, while others call for the coronation of a king. Where has the Ark of the Covenant been hiding since its return from Philistia? Ronen is part of a group sent to retrieve it, and his paths cross once again with Eliora and her brother.

This is a really fascinating slice of Biblical history that I thoroughly enjoyed exploring. Connilyn Cossette does such a great job weaving her detailed research with vivid characters and gripping plots. I'd recommend this story and all of her stories to readers everywhere.

I received my copy of the book from the author. All thoughts in this review are my own.