Story Tags

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Historical or Nostalgic Fiction?

Recent Fiction set in 1980s and 1990s

Historical fiction is often defined as a novel that takes place in the past. But in 2017, can a novel set in 1996 or even 2000 be considered historical? Rather: if the writer and/or reader vividly remembers a time only 15-20 years in the past, reliving that past veers into nostalgia rather than history. Then again, what if the novel is for a YA crowd who never experienced the 80s or 90s? When does it become historical? These novels all take place between 1980 and 2001 and were written by authors looking back.

Emma Vol 5 cover

Emma by Kaoru Mori

Staff Recommendation

In late Victorian London, William Jones goes to visit his retired governess Mrs. Stowner. He hasn't seen her in several years. During his visit, William notices Emma, Mrs. Stowner's young maid. Their meeting is the beginning of a romance in the manga series Emma by Kaoru Mori, English translation by Sheldon Drzka.

Cover to Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

Challenge Accepted: Read Harder 2017

Challenge #17: Read a classic by an author of color

2017 is here and a new year means new year resolutions and challenges. One reading challenge that I love to do is Book Riot’s Read Harder challenge. Instead of having people focus on a specific number of books, Read Harder challenges people to read different genres or authors that they may overlook. This year, there are 24 prompts for readers. Today we will address the 17th challenge, to read a classic by an author of color.

Oliver Twist

Page to Stage

Bestselling Books That Became Broadway Bashes

The Great White Way is chock full of productions with origins in literature. In some cases, the stage telling has eclipsed the written version as the cultural mainstay, while others struggled to capture the magic of their paper counterparts. In rare instances, both novel and musical are considered equally brilliant, even if there have been significant changes made between book and Broadway.

Black Flag

Jolly Roger Reads

Books About Pirates, Swashbucklers, and other Assorted Buccaneers

Avast, matey! Here be several sea-faring tales of sunken ships, hidden treasures, bloodthirsty corsairs, and a whole heap of scurvy! Everyone likes a good adventure yarn, and pirates, both real and fictional, have had some of the greatest adventures in storytelling. Who hasn’t dreamed of discovering secret chests of gold or tasting the salty sea air as you sail about the tropics?

Oscar Wao Cover Image

Immigrants in America

Immigrants to America come from different places, for different reasons, at different ages, each with their own vision of the American dream. Still, many of the challenges of uprooting and starting over in a new place are universal. These books show the shared struggle to maintain a balance between holding on to the traditions and community of the old world and assimilating into the new world.

A Place of Greater Safety cover

Vive La Révolution!

Fiction about the French Revolution

The French Revolution. It's a lot like the American Revolution, except it was bloodier, more complicated and fueled by righteous class fury. (This video will take you through it.) Then there is the petty backstabbing among the revolutionaries. It's like a middle school lunchroom with a guillotine. All this makes for some pretty great fiction.

Museum of Extraordinary Things

Exploring Herstory Through Fiction

Have you ever wondered what history would look like from a woman's point of view? Do you ever wish we had "herstory" as well as history? These historical novels will bring you into many different women's worlds. In the Museum of Extraordinary Things, you will meet a "mermaid" in Coney Island.

Wolf Hall cover

You Saw It On "Masterpiece"

The public television series Masterpiece delivers both original shows and literary adaptations to PBS on a regular basis, and, arguably, those shows are some of the most quality programming you can find: compelling acting, excellent writing, sensuous costuming, and lush scenes of the British countryside. Nobody does rolling hillsides like Masterpiece does! Check out the literary origins of these particular shows, which are even better – hard to believe, right? – than their television counterparts.

The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin

Determined Debutantes

Strong Women in the Age of Courtship

The long storied "debutante season" has been played out in countless movies and TV shows including Downton Abbey, The Buccaneers, and more. While now extinct, the tradition of the "social season" involved a young woman entering society and "coming out" in order to be officially eligible to marry. These historical novels start at the height of the social scene in the late 1800's to its eventual demise after World War II.

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