Author: Rachel Brittain

Hi, historical fiction fans, and Happy Valentine’s Day!

I got to spend the week with friends at AWP, which I’ll admit involved more good food and hanging out than conferencing. I did pick up some literary magazines from the book fair, and I am particularly excited to read F(r)iction Arcana and the Rainbow Issue of Fairy Tale Review. Good reading and good times.

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!

Hi, historical fiction fans!

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!

Guess who went into a bookstore and came out with three unexpected books in their hands? That’s right; it was me! I’d say it was a surprise, but we all know that wouldn’t really be true. What kind of bookworm can leave a bookshop empty-handed? Not this one, at any rate. All three books I picked up were new-to-me short story collections I’m very eager to read: Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold, Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction, and Uranians. Check them for yourself to determine if you, too, are unable to pass them up. Fair warning: the covers alone may get you.

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!

Hi, historical fiction fans!

I hope you have a warm beverage and some free time because you’re not going to want to miss the historical fiction titles we’ve got for you this week. We’re talking historical stars of the stage and screen, from a Greek opera house to New York’s Great White Way. If you’ve ever secretly dreamed of stardom, you’ll love living vicariously through the stars of these historical fiction books.

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!

Hi, historical fiction fans!

Snow days are for reading, or in this case, talking about reading. Both of our new releases this week are stories of spies and resistance fighters during WWII, so I thought we might as well keep the WWII action going with a few other new releases set during that period. All of the books feature women fighting for their futures, but not always for the better.

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!

Hi, historical fiction fans!

In this week’s historical fiction, we’re focusing on haunted manors. I didn’t intend to let the cold, rainy weather of late influence this week’s topic, but it’s hard to deny that gray weather and creepy manors go hand in hand. Whether it’s dark or sunny where you’re reading from, gothic novels are always a good way to go.

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!

Happy New Year, historical fiction fans!

I can’t believe we’re already at the start of a new year. I’ve got new reading logs to set up and planners to fill out and goals to make. As for your reading goals for 2024, the new releases and recommendations this week are a great place to get started.

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!

Hi historical fiction fans!

It’s our last historical fiction newsletter of 2023! Can you believe it? How has it been a whole year of books already?

Looking back at all the books I’ve read in the year and looking forward to a new year of reading is always one of my favorite parts of this time of year. I hope you take some time to reflect back and feel proud of all the books you’ve read this year, however few or many. Now, let’s start looking forward to all the good reading that awaits us in the New Year!

(And just in case you want to super-charge your New Year of reading, TBR now has 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. We’ve got different levels to suit every budget. Get all the details at mytbr.co.)

Hi, historical fiction fans!

As we draw ever closer to the end of the year, and questions like “How?” and “Wasn’t it 2020 just a few weeks ago??” plague us all, the inundation of Best Of lists begins. I’m sure you’ve already seen Book Riot’s list of the Best Books of 2023, but this week, I want to talk about the best historical fiction of 2023. This is by no means a definitive list, merely a sampling of a few of my favorites this year.

Are you looking for the perfect gift for that bookish special someone in your life this holiday season? Tailored Book Recommendations is here to help! Here at TBR, we pair our customers with a professional book nerd (aka bibliologist) who just gets them. They fill out a survey and then sit back and relax as we pick books just for them. We’ve got three levels — recs-only, paperback, and hardcover — and you can gift a full year or one time, so there are options for every budget! Get all the details at mybtro.com/gift. 

Hi, historical fiction fans!

The cold has given me a cold. So, what could be a more appropriate topic this week than historical fiction set in icy cold climates? Of course, my almost two-year-old nephew is almost certainly the actual cause of my sore throat, but that’s a less exciting intro.

In addition to cold weather historical fiction, we’ve also got some WWII-era new releases and a cute greenhouse book nook to remind you of spring, even in the coldest months.

The holidays have arrived, and so has our new paperback level at TBR! If you (or a reader you know) are just over-carrying around bulky hardcovers or are looking for a more budget-friendly option, we’ve got you. Check out all the offerings at mybtro.com/gift, and give personalized reading recommendations customized for any and every reader.