Skip to main content

Top Ten Tuesday-Free Week!

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

This week's topic is a freebie so I decided to make a list of my Top Ten Favorite Books About Russia.  As I am sure you noticed I am fascinated by all things Russian (I even have a master's degree in Russian Studies).  Some of these books are fiction and some are non-fiction but they are all excellent and very readable (I didn't include any scholarly works on the list).

1.) Kolyma Tales by Varlaam Shalamov-This is a book of short stories about life in the Gulag.  It is heart-breaking and eye-opening.
2.) War and Peace by Lev Tolstoy-This is Russian Literature at it's best.  Do not be intimidated by the length; the story is fantastic!
3.) The Romanovs by W. Bruce Lincoln -This book tells the story of the Romanov family from it's very beginnings in 1613 to the end in 1917.  It is a big book but it reads like fiction.
4.) Natasha's Dance by Orlando Figes-This is a cultural history of Russia.
5.) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky-My all-time favorite work by Dostoevsky!
6.) Journey into the Whirlwind by Yevgenia Ginzburg-A memoir of life in the gulag that provides a woman's perspective on the camp system.
7.) Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie
8.) Gulag by Anne Applebaum - Everything you ever wanted to know (and didn't want to know) about the gulag (Russian concentration camps).
9.) The Unquiet Ghost by Adam Hoschild-This book is an interesting look at Stalin's legacy in modern day Russia.
10.) Kremlin Rising by Peter Baker and Sarah Glasser-A look at Russia under Putin.

Comments

  1. I like how you used your specialized knowledge for the benefit of all of us readers out here. Thank you.

    Here is my It's Top Ten Travel Narratives. I hope you will stop by!

    ReplyDelete
  2. After reading The Bronze Horseman I have been thinking about reading some more about Russia. Thanks for this great list of books to pick from!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I definitely need to refer back to this! While I do enjoy learning & reading about Russia, I honestly don't know where to start. But I definitely like the way The Romanovs sound and think I'd probably enjoy it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review and Giveaway: "Distant Signs" by Anne Richter

Synopsis: Distant Signs is an intimate portrait of two families spanning three generations amidst turbulent political change, behind and beyond the Berlin Wall. In 1960s East Germany, Margret, a professor’s daughter from the city, meets and marries Hans, from a small village in Thuringia. The couple struggle to contend with their different backgrounds, and the emotional scars they bear from childhood in the aftermath of war. As East German history gradually unravels, with collision of the personal and political, their two families’ hidden truths are quietly revealed. An exquisitely written novel with strongly etched characters that stay with you long after the book is finished and an authentic portrayal of family life behind the iron curtain based on personal experience of the author who is East German and was 16 years old at the fall of the Berlin Wall. Why do families repeat destructive patterns of behaviour across generations? Should the personal take precedence over

Top Ten Books I Recommend The Most

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish . This week's topic:  Top Ten Books I Recommend the Most 1.) The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons   2.) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon           If you read my blog at all, you know I love these two books so much!  I am not afraid to suggest them to anyone who I think might enjoy them. 3.) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I was definitely recommending this book left and right when the first movie came out. 4.) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 5.) A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin           These are two books that I just recently started recommending but they are books that can appeal to anyone so they are easy picks when someone asks for a recommendation. 6.) Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead  - I get a little embarrassed when I recommend this book to people but seriously, just because it has vampires does not mean it is like Twilight. 7.) The Giver by Lois

Book Blog Hop (11)

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Jen at Crazy for Books .  It's a way to meet other bloggers and check out some cool new blogs. This week's question is:  "Highlight one book you have received this week that you can't wait to dig into!" Okay, I have a confession to make.  I have been so busy this week that I have not had time to get any new books.  I have several waiting for me at the library but I won't be able to pick them up until this weekend.  : ( Did you all get any exciting new books this week?