Hi, historical fiction!
I’m excited to have some fun bookish opportunities coming up in the next few weeks, including a local event with the author of Chain Gang All-Stars, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Life is busy, and I haven’t had the opportunity to go to many author events, but I hope this one will be the first of many more to come in 2024. After all, what’s better than being in community with other bookish folks?
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
Local Library Lover Tote Bag from Glad Folk
I’m a tote bag person, for sure, and I can just imagine carrying library books around in this one. $20
New Releases
The Mayor of Maxwell Street by Avery Cunningham (Jan. 30, 2024)
The debutante daughter of the wealthiest Black man in America is also an undercover journalist, and when her latest assignment leads her into the underworld of Prohibition-era Chicago, she must enlist the help of a Speakeasy owner who shows her a different side to life.
Hard by a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili (Jan. 30, 2024)
When Irakli returns to the former Soviet Republic of Georgia decades after he fled the violence there with his two sons, he disappears, leaving only a cryptic message behind: “I left a trail I can’t erase. Do not follow it.” But what else can Sandro and Saba do but try? It’s a journey that will lead them into the very heart of a conflict that has torn apart so many families, including their own.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
I don’t know about you, but I love my local libraries. Most of the ebooks and audiobooks I read come from them, and there’s no better treat than a little (or long) trip to the library to see what’s new. So, let’s celebrate libraries this week with two historical fiction books about libraries and librarians.
The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
Set generations apart at the New York Public Library, a grandmother and granddaughter confront similar problems when rare and valuable books are stolen from the library right under their noses. Are the thefts connected? And what will the investigation into them uncover about this family who has so long called the New York Library home?
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
The personal librarian to J.P. Morgan, Belle da Costa Greene, has become one of the most important people in the literary and art communities of New York because of her position. But she’s also hiding a secret that could unravel her life: she’s the daughter of the first Black man to graduate from Harvard and is only passing as white. Belle has sacrificed so much to get where she is, but what else will she have to give up to protect herself, her family, and her position in a racist society?
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 Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy.
Right now, I’m reading The Water Outlaws by S.L Huang. What about you?