Need recommendations.....

I absolutely LOVE stories from the 1930's - 50's, almost anything.
I know this is off the subject but stories about Pearl Harbor and WWII and Italian families.

Anyone???

Thanks

There is a whole thread full of recommendations for WWII in this group so you can check that. Have you read The Secret of Santa Vittoria, A Soldier of the Great War, A Thread of Grace, A Bell for Adano,
North from Rome and A Venetian Affair, From Here to Eternity

Also All Our Yesterdays and Catch-22

I haven't read it, but it's on my TBR list: Franca's Story. It's about a woman in WWII Italy.

The Cloudsplitter, about the life of John Brown from the day he trains his men in Iowa until the day he launches his assault on Harpers Ferry, is a great read. If one is interested in history, there is no better way to remember it than to read history in narrative form.

A more recently published book is "Johnny One-eye, a Tale of the American Revolution." This is a comic take on the American revolution. Its a fun read, highly entertaining. NYT Book review called it a picaresque novel.

Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg, A Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama, The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean are a few I have liked recently.

Every Sunday by Pete Pezzelli is a fun book about an Italian family.
The Amateur Marriage by Ann Tyler follows a couple through the years from Pearl Harbor Day to the present. After This by Alice McDermott also follows a married couple thru WW2 to the present. The Lion in the Lei Shop is a really good book about a girl living in Hawaii when the attack occurs. Rumors of Peace by Leffland follows the life of a young girl in California during the War years. Safe in America is about a jewish family in Cleveland who try to help their relatives in Europe escape to America before & during WW2. These Years of Our War by Leah Goldman also follow the life of a young girl whose father is in the Army during WW2.

The Bronze Horseman takes place in Leningrad during WWII - very good love story!

Just finished The Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian and it will most likely be the best read of 2008. Awesome story of the end of WWII. Another good one I read last month was My Enemy's Cradle by Sara Young. Another WWII about a maternity home for mother's having german babies.

Hi Bellamia.
You might want to read Queen of the Big Time by Adriana Trigiani

It is a wonderful book set in a small town -- Roseto, PA. Having lived in that area as a child, this book was a delight. Trigiani captured the culture of the Italians...made me laugh..made me cry.

Try a WWII Eastern Front story covering 1943-1945 in the Casca series: Casca 4 Panzer Soldier. Very much in the line of the film Cross of Iron by Sam Peckinpah and reminiscent of the Sven Hassel novels.

6. bettyjo, I just finished The Madonnas of Leningrad on your recommendation and really liked it. I enjoy historical fiction, and this offered a new perspective on WWII. What a compelling story! Thanks for your recommendation!

Glad you liked it jennyifer24...next try The Seige by Helen Dunmore and Hunger by Elise Blackwell...set in Russia during WWII also.