Hi, historical fiction fans!
Raise your hand if you have a newborn nephew and are completely sleep-deprived! Just me? Well, there’s more than enough sleep deprivation to go around. I’ve been alternating between audiobooks when I’m too tired to keep my eyes open and reading ebooks while I’m rocking a less-than-one-week-old all night. And bonus, according to Goodreads I’m six books behind on my yearly goal. So, you know, things are going well.
Looking to elevate your reading life? Tailored Book Recommendations is here to help with handpicked recommendations. Tell the Bibliologists at Tailored Book Recommendations about what you love and what you don’t. You can get your recommendations via email or receive hardcovers or paperbacks in the mail. And with quarterly or annual plans available, TBR has something for every budget. Plans start at just $18! Subscribe today.
Bookish Goods
Support Public Libraries Shirt from Angie Pea
You can never go wrong with a cute shirt supporting public libraries. $30
New Releases
All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore (April 2, 2024)
Charlotte escaped from the plantation where she was enslaved, but now she’s locked away in the basement of her white-passing father. It’s the only way to stay safe from the slavecatchers who could ruin their lives. She’s not content to stay hidden forever, though, and when she and a new abolitionist friend discover Charlotte’s old mistress has come to the city with one of her friends from the plantation, they’re determined to help her find freedom, too.
The Royal Librarian by Daisy Wood (April 11, 2024)
After fleeing the Nazis in Vienna, Sophie Klein is placed in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle and tasked with looking over documents from the royal family. When she uncovers a secret endangering the future queen of England, she’ll risk everything to protect her. Years later, Sophie’s granddaughter discovers a letter stamped with the Windsor Castle crest. Her grandmother has never spoken of her past, but Lacey is determined to get to the bottom of this mysterious letter and her grandmother’s role in WWII.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter
Riot Recommendations
The Royal Librarian may be a featured new release this week, but it’s not the only great historical fiction book about librarians out there. Here are two more:
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
The personal librarian to investment banker J.P. Morgan, Belle da Costa Greene, had a profound impact on New York society and the literary and arts scene through her work curating Morgan’s private library. But neither he nor anyone else knew she was hiding a secret that could upend her life and all her work. Belle was the daughter of a prominent Black man, the first to graduate from Harvard. Her light skin has allowed her to pass in white society, but it means giving up her family and everything she’s ever known.
The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé
Florence’s father, a bookbinder, has tried to tame her and make her look like other girls ever since he brought her back to England from Jamaica. Now, he’s kicked her out for good. But a job restoring old books at the library of Lord Francis Belfield offers an opportunity to make it on her own. Rose Hall is full of secrets, though, and solving them may be as dangerous as it is inevitable.
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 most social media, including Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy.
Right now I’m reading A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland. What about you?