Hi, historical fiction fans,
I didn’t get as much reading done this last week as I hoped, but I did manage to dive into a new physical book and audiobook while I was traveling over the weekend. Travel days are some of my best reading days since there’s not much else I can focus on except a good book and getting where I’m going. When do you have your best reading days?
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Bookish Goods
Typewriter Tote Bag from Fly Paper Products on Etsy
I love a good tote bag, especially a bookish one. Just think how many books you could carry around in this typewriter tote bag! $20
New Releases
All the World Beside by Garrard Conley (March 26, 2024)
In Puritan New England, two men develop a bond that exists beyond words and beyond the norms of a religiously restrictive society in 18th-century America. Torn between their families, their dogmatic beliefs, and their feelings, they try to imagine a future beyond the confines of life as they know it.
Double Lives by Mary Monroe (March 26, 2024)
Twin sisters with a penchant for getting up to trouble in Depression-era Lexington frequently switch places to fool boyfriends, bosses, family, and even racist police. But when Fiona wants a break from her passionless marriage, wild child Leona finds she doesn’t mind the security of having a husband and home. Meanwhile, Fiona is finally able to explore what it means to be independent and maybe even fall in love.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
I love a good audiobook—and I’ll brook no arguments that they don’t count as “real reading” from pedants—especially when they feature compelling narrators and large casts of characters. Here are two I particularly recommend.
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
Books with multiple POVs are often very fun to listen to in audiobook format because they really distinguish between the voices and personalities of the characters. Wandering Stars follows generations of a Cheyenne family from the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and beyond, charting the inheritance of systemic trauma.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
This is another book I was introduced to the first time in audio, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Some books are just particularly suited to being read aloud, and this is one of them. The epistolary format is perfect for audio, and the narrators really bring the eclectic cast of characters to life.
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.
Right now, I’m reading A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland. What about you?