Hi, historical fiction fans!
December is here, and I’m so excited to spend the month talking about books I’ve loved in 2023 and books I can’t wait to get my hands on in 2024. Here’s to one last great month of reading before the end of the year!
It’s happening, readers — we’re bringing paperbacks! Whether you (or a reader you know and love) hate carrying around bulky hardcovers, you’re on a budget, you want a wider range of recommendations or all of the above, you can now get a paperback subscription from TBR, curated just for you by one of our Bibliologists. The holidays are here, and we’ve got three different levels for gifting (to yourself or others) to suit every budget. Get all the details at mytbr.co.
Bookish Goods
Reading Journal from Duncan and Stone
Get this reading journal for yourself or your favorite bookish person to keep track of all your reading. $24
New Releases
The Wildest Sun by Asha Lemmie (December 5, 2023)
In post-war Paris, a young writer who believes the father she has never known is none other than Ernest Hemingway travels from France to Harlem, Havana, and Key West as she searches for answers. But if the beliefs she’s long held as true turn out to be mere fancy, how will she cope with the truth of where she came from and who she truly is?
The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk (December 5, 2023)
A boy raised in his father’s workshop full of clockwork automata possesses an incredible gift: with a single touch, Zachary can see into the hearts and minds of anyone he meets. But when his father leaves London for Constantinople and the letters returning home to Zachary cease, he sets out on a journey to discover what has happened to his father.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
As someone who reads a lot and in a lot of genres, sometimes it takes me way longer than I’d like or intend to get around to all the books that sound really interesting to me. Here are three historical fiction books on my Kindle that I definitely wish I’d go ahead and read already.
Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons
A Romeo and Juliet retelling centering Romeo’s first spurned love, Rosaline? You absolutely have my attention. After Romeo’s attention wanders, Rosaline worries that her younger cousin’s very life may be on the line for this love affair. But can she save her in time, or will this age-old tragedy continue on as always?
A Sign of Her Own by Sarah Marsh
Ellen Lark, a gifted young woman and former student of Alexander Graham Bell, is torn when she discovers the mentor she has long revered betrayed her and the rest of the Deaf community in his quest to invent the telephone. Speaking up could threaten her future, but staying silent was never an option.
Women of the Post by Joshunda Sanders
Following the 6888th Central Postal Battalion, the only all-Black division of the Women’s Army Corps in World War II, Women of the Post tells the story of three women who worked tirelessly to keep communication lines open, even as they struggled with the realities of war themselves.
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 Goodreads, Instagram, and Litsy, my favorite bookish social media.
Right now, I’m reading A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur. What about you?