Happy New Year, historical fiction fans!
I can’t believe we’re already at the start of a new year. I’ve got new reading logs to set up and planners to fill out and goals to make. As for your reading goals for 2024, the new releases and recommendations this week are a great place to get started.
2024 is the tenth year of the Read Harder Challenge! Join us as we make our way through 24 tasks meant to expand our reading horizons and diversify our TBRs. To get book recommendations for each task, sign up for the Read Harder newsletter. We’ll also keep you informed about other cool reading challenges, readathons, and more across the bookish internet. If you become a paid subscriber, you get even more recommendations plus community features, where you can connect with a community of passionate, like-minded readers in a cozy and supportive corner of the internet. Sign up today!
Bookish Goods
Library Squad Mug from Love and Olive
Join the library support squad with this cute coffee mug from Love and Olive on Etsy. $10
New Releases
Split by Alida Bremer (January 1, 2024)
A murder mystery in a coastal Mediterranean town is complicated by a wide cast of suspects, including fascists, spies, and a German film crew in the lead-up to WWII. From a town that had become a tenuous port of refuge for Jewish immigrants to the site of a murder investigation, Split finds war already on its doorstep.
Code Name Butterfly by Embassie Susberry (January 4, 2024)
Josephine Baker was a renowned performer, famous for her risqué dances in Paris, but she was also a member of the French Resistance. When a newly arrived journalist is mistaken for her during a show, she soon realizes Josephine’s work is far more dangerous than she ever could’ve imagined.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
These two books would both make a great read to start out 2024. They’ll tug on your heartstrings but leave you feeling hopeful in the end.
When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb
A Jewish angel and trickster demon, unlikely friends, set off on a journey to save a girl who’s gone missing from their small shtetl. Along the way, they discover the harsh realities of the world, a terrible conspiracy entrapping immigrants, and the depth of their friendship.
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
In a time when few women were offered medical assistance during childbirth, Tan Yunxian and midwife-in-training Meiling made the choice to dedicate themselves to the health of women. When Yunxian is forced into an arranged marriage and forbidden by her mother-in-law from helping the women of the household, this path seems lost to her. But with friendship and determination to back her, will she be able to overcome the limitations society is so determined to place upon her?
That’s it for now, folks! Stay subscribed for more stories of yesteryear.
If you want to talk books, historical or otherwise, you can find me @rachelsbrittain on various social media platforms like Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy.
Right now, I’m reading One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun. What about you?