historical fiction – Reading While Fat

Westward Women

Westward Women (publication day March 10, 2026) by Alice Martin is completely unique–speculative fiction, but in an alternate history way. It’s 1973, and an epidemic has gripped the United States at the same time as news of Watergate has broken. Women ages 18-35 are gripped with an itch that’s impossible to satisfy–both internal and external.Continue reading “Westward Women”

A Lady for All Seasons

A Lady for All Seasons (publication day March 10, 2026) by T.J. Alexander is so unique and cute! It’s 1820, and Verbena Montrose is in dire need of a husband of some means, as her father has done poorly in his business pursuits and an influx of cash is needed to keep the family afloat.Continue reading “A Lady for All Seasons”

Now I Surrender

Now I Surrender (English publication day March 3, 2026, original Spanish 2018) by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer defies genre. It is historical fiction, set mostly in the 1800s during the Apache wars in the desert southwest where the borders between the United States, Mexico, and “Indian territory” changed often. But there are multipleContinue reading “Now I Surrender”

A Good Animal

A Good Animal (publication day 2/24/26) is Sara Maurer’s debut novel, and is set in the mid-1990s in the farmland around Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It is told from the perspective of Everett Lindt, a 17-year old boy who raises show lambs with his family-his mom works at a bank, his dad at the highwayContinue reading “A Good Animal”

The Final Problem

Book cover for The Final Prolbem by Arturo Perez-Reverte, which features a broad blue sea in the background, framed by palm trees, and a yacht railing, striped beach chair, and panama hat in the foreground.

I thought The Final Problem (English publication day February 10, 2026) by Arturo Pérez-Reverte was an interesting take on a locked-room mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, without most of the racism, and instead focused on the actor who played Sherlock Holmes to be the sleuth. It was originallyContinue reading “The Final Problem”

And The Ancestors Sing

And The Ancestors Sing (publication day 2/3/2026) by Radha Lin Chaddah transported me back to 1978 to post-cultural revolution China, to the farm workers and their families and the newly arrived migrants from the country to the city, and all of the issues they had to deal with. From arranged marriages to prostitution, from earthquakesContinue reading “And The Ancestors Sing”

Anita de Monte Laughs Last

The audiobook for Anita de Monte Laughs Last (2024) by Xóchitl González (author of 2022’s Olga Dies Dreaming) completely enthralled me with the alternating stories of both Cuban artist Anita de Monte in the early 1980s and 3rd year art history student Raquel in the late 1990s. There is some controversy that shows up inContinue reading “Anita de Monte Laughs Last”

The Magnolia Sword

The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan (2019) by Sherry Thomas is a satisfying YA retelling of the Mulan story, set in 5th century China. I was introduced to Thomas through her newest novel, The Librarians, which I loved so much that I had to check out her backlist. As the book opens, the protagonistContinue reading “The Magnolia Sword”

The Reformatory

I just about have no words (with reverent awe) for The Reformatory (2023) by Tananarive Due, but since writing about books is the reason for this blog, I have to come up with some. First, this book is an example of my belief that white people need to read books written by black people (andContinue reading “The Reformatory”

All of Us Murderers

I devoured All of Us Murderers (publication day October 7, 2025), KJ Charles’s latest “romance with a body count” (see Death in the Spires). Although most of the characters were extremely unlikable, I loved the participants in the romance–Zebedee and Gideon. Zeb is kind of a mess, as usual, when he arrives at his cousinContinue reading “All of Us Murderers”