My local library posted a 12 in 12 Reading Challenge for 2026. At first glance, the challenge seemed simple enough — or at least simple enough for the reader I used to be.

(The reader I used to be read every single day, multiple times a day. I always had reading material with me, either a physical book or an e-book on one of my devices. I took notes as I read, sketched, kept reading logs, and an active Goodreads account (and some other reading apps that aren’t around anymore). Occasionally, I even blogged about the books I read and wrote book reviews. I had a pretty well-rounded reading diet and read a steady mix of fiction and non-fiction. My reading pace was an average of 5 books a month, or 60 books a year.

The reader I am today, however, has been struggling with all of the above — finding the time to read, keeping track of where my reading material is most of the time so that I can actually finish a book (physical books go missing or devices are not charged, etc.), fallen out of the habit of recording what I do eventually read.

Still, I felt pretty good about participating in this 12 in 12 Reading Challenge — and then I saw that the first genre was historical fiction. Sigh.

Admittedly, while I have read and enjoyed some really spectacular historical fiction, it’s just not my favorite genre — and because the genre can be so broad, I felt a bit of choice paralysis in having to pick a book to read.

Thankfully, when I asked for some recommendations on Facebook, my friends came through. Their recommendations were:

*The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
*The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
*The Women by Kristin Hannah
*Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon 
*Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb 
*One Half From the East by Nadia Hashimi
*The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali 
*Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell
*The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki
*The Story of the Amulet by Edith Nesbit
*The Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley
*The Outlanders Series by Diana Gabaldon (historical fiction/fantasy)
*Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
*Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah was the first title that was recommended and it was recommended by the most people, so I figured I’d start there. Plus, the book had been on my TBR list for a while…and I was 95% sure I owned a copy of it already! Perfect! (However, I was not able to actually locate said physical copy of the book, soooo I ended up getting it for the Kindle app instead. I’m sure the physical copy will turn up now that I’ve finished it.)

It was definitely a good choice, set mostly in Nazi-occupied France during WWII. The book is so well-written, of course. Intense. Heavy with loss and love, hope and despair — so many different sides of our humanity — all at once.

Though the book is fiction and set more than 80 years ago, reading it also brought to mind many all-too-familiar events happening in present day.

I sobbed giant, mixed tears by the end of the book — tears of both gentle joy and deep sadness; I was caught up in the story and the characters, grateful for the recommendation, and reminded “…love has to be stronger than hate, or there is no future for us.”

~Melissa