Top 10 Historical/Futuristic Settings I Love to See In Books

As is the usual, I am linking up with the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish for Top 10 Tuesday! This weekʻs topic was Historical/Futuristic Settings that I love seeing in books and I couldnʻt decide so Iʻm doing both!

Top 6 Historical Settings I Love Seeing In Books

Iʻve never really been in to Historical fiction books. I canʻt even tell you the amount of Historical books that I DNF. But I think that I just wasnʻt reading the right historical fiction books. Iʻve come to love quite a few historically based books recently...here are some of my favorites!

1. World War II Era - This is actually a more recent love affair. In the past month alone Iʻve read two Historical fiction books based around World War II and I am itching to get my hands on more. In fact, Iʻve got Ruta Sepetysʻs newest release Salt to the Sea currently sitting in my Barnes & Noble shopping cart ready to check out as soon as Iʻm done writing this post. I think this is a particularly interesting era in historical fiction because it is such a rich time in history with so many things to write about. I canʻt wait to read more WWII Era books!

2. Monarchy Era Hawaii - I am probably cheating quite a bit because a) I am FROM Hawaii and b) Iʻve grown up reading historical books about Hawaii and c) I studied Hawaiian history for quite some time, but still...this is definitely a favorite of mine. As a child, I loved reading the Royal Diaries book about Princess Kaʻiulani...in fact, itʻs currently sitting on the bookshelf next to me because itʻs still one of my favorite books of all time. I love seeing how others interpret my culture and how these books portray Hawaii. Of course, I am extremely picky about books that depict the Hawaiian culture and that era because being Hawaiian is so much of who I am and I think itʻs so important for people to get that era right. There is definitely a need for more historical fiction books based in Hawaii...who knows, maybe Iʻll be the one to write those books.

3. Polynesia in general - Polynesian history is so diverse and rich and vibrant that there are an endless amount of stories that can come from ancient polynesia. From stories of gods from different islands, to navigating between islands, and when foreigners discovered the islands...there is so much culture to talk about! One of my favorite Polynesian authors is Albert Wendt...most of his books are about life in old Samoa and the myths of Samoa...I highly recommend checking him out. My favorite Albert Wendt book is Pouliuli...I reread it at least once a year.

4. Ancient Grease - Itʻs no secret that I love all things Greek...especially ancient Grease. I love Greek mythology and I love stories about Greek mythology. Iʻm not sure that thereʻs much else I can say! Give me a good book based in ancient Grease and I will love you forever.

5. Early-Mid 20th Century America - Weʻre going to blame my obsession with American Girl Samantha for this one. As a child, I lived for the Samantha books, mostly because I didnʻt have a Samantha doll of my own but I could own all the books, so I did. Her story takes place in 1904, a time when womenʻs rights and progress was just becoming a ʻthingʻ. Iʻve always thought that this period of American History was so interesting because there was so much going on. So much history took place in just a matter of decades and books about this era help me grasp that part of history much better than just learning about it from a text book.

6. Russia under the Romanovʻs Rule - Yet another interest that has been carried over from childhood. I adored Anastasia when I was younger...I devoured every book that I could about her, yes including a Royal Diaries book. I was obsessed with the Royal Diaries books, but I digress. This period of Russian history, and especially the monarchy at the time, was so interesting and so, so heartbreaking. Itʻs certainly a story that will live on forever.

Top 4 Futuristic Settings I Love Seeing Books

1. Space Travel! - I keep thinking that I would love to see space travel become a thing during my time here, but I also I know that I would be too much of a scaredy pants to actually do the space travel thing. That doesnʻt mean that I canʻt enjoy space travel from the safety of my home library, though. I love seeing space travel because everything is so unknown that it allows authors to create an entire world from scratch and that allows audiences to expand their imaginations, too.

2. Dystopian - I know, I know...dystopian fiction has been the it thing for so many years now and I definitely feel like itʻs been a bit played out and we may be ready for a new thread. That doesnʻt mean that I donʻt like dystopian books, though. I enjoy it because thereʻs a possibility that it is a serious look and what our futures may hold. I also feel like there are so many different worlds that can emerge from a dystopian society that although it may feel similar to other dystopian books, it probably wonʻt be.

3. Utopia - I actually havenʻt read a lot of utopian books, but I think the concept of them is interesting. Utopias are kind of the opposite of dystopian books. Utopian books portray an ideal society, while dystopian books portray a corrupt society. I think itʻs so interesting to compare the two, especially knowing that society can go either way. I think Iʻm going to have to pick up a utopian book soon because Iʻve gotten myself intrigued, haha.

4. Heightened Technology - For this one, I was specifically thinking about Time Travel and Teleportation, but I went with ʻheightened technologyʻ because there are so many things that I feel would come with these two. Iʻm thinking robots and loads of machines doing basically everything for humans, like Wall-E. These books are interesting because they can either highlight the benefits or disadvantages of having so much technology and I think that a technological overload is a very real thing the future holds.

What are your favorite historical or futuristic settings in books? Share some of your favorite reads that feature this settings!