Hi, historical fiction fans,
It’s always a joy to spend time with friends who are readers, and this past weekend I got to spend time–and get copious amounts of book recommendations–from several of closest reader friends. These are friends who have recommended books that I almost certainly wouldn’t have picked up otherwise, but wound up loving nonetheless. Books that were strange and wonderful. Books like The Regional Office is Under Attack, The Lonesome Bodybuilder, and The Need. If you have friends like that in your life, keep them close and keep the wonderfully weird book recommendations coming.
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Bookish Goods
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New Releases
The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
In a world where a strange Wasteland has appeared between Beijing and Moscow and only a train provides safe passage between the two, a price must be paid for any who want to make the journey on the Great Trans-Siberian Express. The price can’t be paid in any form of known currency. But for the characters at the heart of this tale, they can only hope the price is worth it.
Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lin
Cabaret dancers’ faces are being stolen. Jingwen, who works at one of Shanghai’s finest clubs, worries she might be next. Her grandmother has always wanted her to become the next personal surgeon to the gang she herself serves, but in order to save herself and her fellow dancers, Jingwen will have to become something far more dangerous.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Both our new releases have a magical bent this week, so let’s look at the wide wonderful world of historical fantasy books!
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
In a magical version of Edwardian England, a normal man and a magician must work together after a clerical error lands them in the same department. Their animosity isn’t even the worst of their problems when they discover a dangerous magical conspiracy threatening all of England.
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
When Casiopea accidentally frees an ancient Mayan god from her rich grandfather’s house, her life becomes infinitely more interesting—and more dangerous. The god has a quest for her, and as she ventures across Mexico during the Roaring Twenties to fulfill it, she discovers a side of herself she had always hoped to pursue.
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 When Among Crows by Veronica Roth. What about you?