historical fiction

“Life: a constellation of vital phenomena—organization, irritability, movement, growth, reproduction, adaptation.” Typically, working the book’s title into the story annoys me because a lot of the time it doesn’t work. But in the case of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena …

Why: The title. The cover. The dark, mysterious teaser. The genre – it’s historical fiction – one of my favorites. And honestly, when I picked this up at a local bookstore in Washington, DC, I was dreading a long, hot and …

In the fall of 2011, an eighth-grade student of mine wrote a beautiful letter to Ruta Sepetys, the author of Between Shades of Gray, detailing what she’d gleaned from Sepetys’ first novel  – the power of perseverance, integrity, and love. Since then, …

Friends, this was a difficult one for me to get through. The Aviator’s Wife is a work of historical fiction about Ann Morrow Lindbergh, Charles Lindbergh’s wife. Narrated by Ann, the novel follows her from her college years in 1927 until …

Why: The reason I chose this book was simple and uninteresting: it was on my Amazon reading list. I had actually tried to read this last summer, but ended up returning it – gasp – unread to the library. The …

Why: This is the second book that I requested from my library after Joli posted her books from the 1990s article. I was just going to read one of these beloved Dear America books, but then two caught my eye, and …

Why: This book choice was a direct byproduct of Joli’s post on books from the 1990s. I couldn’t help but search my library’s catalog for one (ok, I borrowed two…) of these childhood favorites. This particular title captured my attention …

The Book Thief is one of those books that everyone I knew was raving about five years ago, yet I somehow never managed to sit down and read it. I have been drawn to books about the Holocaust since I …

Alias Grace was my first ever Margaret Atwood novel. *Gasp* not sure how I made it through 28 years of English-studying, book-loving life without reading an Atwood novel! Why exactly did I start with this particular one? I happened upon …

In January, the bookclub I belong to chose The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. Here’s how I like to approach book club books: borrow or buy it without reading about it. There’s just something about diving into a book without knowing …