4 older historical fiction books to read
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We offer a lot of reception books here on Book Riot. There is nothing wrong with that – new books are great! Sometimes it means, however, that the backward titles fall by the way. But not today! Today, it’s all about these books back, baby. For those of you who may not know the terms “Frontlist” and “Backlist”, the Books of Frontlist are books that have been published recently and are generally still actively publicized by the publisher. Backlist titles are those that are always available on paper but have been released for longer, generally more than a year.
The four books that I present today have been published between 2010 and 2020, which means that they are all titles of historical fiction back. I would say that I am generally a reader from the front and backlist list of equal opportunities. I read several of the books on this list during their first outing, while others were new readings for myself years after their initial release. Anyway, they are all as good now as they were at the time.
This list was inspired by another recent book Riot Post on the background titles in the world of SFF and a conversation with my mother on the first book on this list. I hope it brings older titles to the front of your mind – and maybe even your TBR.
Stone cut by Abraham Verghese
Posted: 2010
Twin brothers born of a secret union between a British surgeon and an Indian nun who died in childbirth have only and each other on which to be reached in rapidly evolving Ethiopia. They share a passion for medicine, but it is their shared love for the same woman who ultimately tears them away. When the past returns to haunt the brother who left for America, he will have to count on the two people who betrayed him: the father he never met and the brother who broke his heart.
Sacajewea’s lost newspapers By Debra Magpie Earling
Posted: 2010
Debra Magpie Earling imagines what the girl behind Sacajewea’s legend lived before finding herself in the company of Lewis and Clark as a new mother still at the start of her adolescence. It is a painful story of tragedy, violence and survival against the relentless tsunami of the colonial force.
Pass
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Frannie Langton’s confessions by Sara Collins
Posted: 2019
Frannie Langton knows that there is nothing that she can say who will believe that the white criminal justice system in Georgia London believes that a black woman – who was formerly enslaved – is completely innocent when her two employers are found murdered. This does not mean that its story is not worth telling, incredible that it can be for them.
What part of these hills is gold By c Pam Zhang
Posted: 2020
At the end of the gold rush, two brothers and sisters are looking for the closure and a last place of rest after the death of their father. Neither can hear what they owe to their father – or what he deserves – but they are bound by blood and history to find a resolution together. Meanwhile, their father’s mind looks at, remembering the complicated path that led two Chinese immigrants to the American West. It is one of the most beautiful and most evocative historical fiction novels that I have ever read.
Do you want to know more about the rear-screeped books?
Books back to cure a reading crisis
Non-fictional referencing gems
The following comes to you from the reimbursement.
This week, we highlight the best new poetry collections of 2025 (so far)! From the deep personal to powerfully political, many of these collections reflect the Zeitgeist and introduce new voices into poetry. Read the rest for an extract and become an All Access member to unlock the full message.
How is it that we are already more than a quarter of the path until 2025? I am ahead of my reading goals and I always feel so far at the same time. I made a lot of poetry, however, I find a lot of wonderful and surprising voices emerging. It is early, but completely time to check to date some of the best new poetry collections of 2025.
It’s funny how appropriate these collections are. Keep in mind that the publication moves very slowly, so that the books that were published in the first quarter of 2025 were probably completed at the end of 2023 or at the beginning of 2024, seeing only the day recently. Thus, these collections were written as last year’s presidential election approaches. Nevertheless, many of these collections are like guttural reactions to the world at the moment. Incredible how much art and premonitory artists can be, huh?
These collections of poetry pass the whole range of deeply personal to powerfully political. Let’s face it, these two are often the same anyway, especially with regard to poetry. The most exciting for me is the number of these best new poetry collections from 2025 so far are fresh voices of the poetic scene. Let’s do in these collections, okay?
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