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History class making you think the past is dusty and dull? Make history come alive with a little help from the historical fiction reading lists!

In Historical Fiction: 20th Century and Onward, explore the Turn of the Century, the Great Depression, WWII, the Civil Rights Movement, plus much more!

Chasing Charity: Texas Fortunes Trilogy, Book 2 by Marcia Gruver

In this second book of the Texas Fortunes series, Charity Bloom is left stranded at the altar after her best friend takes off with her fiance. How will she ever show her face in town again? After Buddy Pierce discovers oil on the Bloom property, he realizes the real treasure may be above ground-in the form of Charity Bloom. Can he strike it rich in Charity? When her ex-fiance decides he wants her back, whom will Charity choose--the handsome roughneck or the deceitful rogue?

Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist

It's 1894, the year of Essie's thirtieth birthday, and she decides the Lord has more important things to do than provide her a husband. If she wants one, she needs to catch him herself. So, she writes down the names of all the eligible bachelors in her small Texas town, makes a list of their attributes and drawbacks, closes her eyes, twirls her finger, and...picks one.

Kaspar the Titanic Cat written by Michael Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman

When Kaspar the cat first arrived at London’s Savoy Hotel, it was Johnny Trott who carried him in. But when tragedy befalls the Countess during her stay, Kaspar becomes more than Johnny’s responsibility: Kaspar is Johnny’s new cat, and his new best friend.

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

In 1914, Joey, a beautiful bay-red foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Living in Germany during World War II, young Liesel Meminger scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist --- books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids.

Countdown by Deborah Wiles

It's 1962, and it seems everyone is living in fear. Twelve-year-old Franny Chapman lives with her family in Washington, DC, during the days surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis. Amidst the pervasive threat of nuclear war, Franny must face the tension between herself and her younger brother, figure out where she fits in with her family, and look beyond outward appearances.

Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood

As much as Glory wants to turn 12, sometimes she wishes she could turn back the clock a year. Her sister Jesslyn no longer has the time of day for her now that she’s entering high school. Things have always been so easy with her best friend Frankie, but now suddenly they aren’t. And then there’s the debate about whether or not the town should keep the segregated public pool open.

More books like the ones on this list »

History class making you think the past is dusty and dull? Make history come alive with a little help from the historical fiction reading lists!

In Historical Fiction: Before the 20th Century, explore the Medieval age, Salem Witch Trials, moving to the Western Frontier and the Civil War, plus much more!

To see historical fiction books from the 20th century and onward, click here.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

As the Revolutionary War begins, 13-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.

More books like the ones on this list »

Author Talk: Carla Power, author of The Lady Imam: How amina wadud's Life and Faith Changed the World

Jun 29, 2026

THE LADY IMAM is a timely and soul-stirring biography of one of today’s most influential Islamic female scholars. In this interview, Carla Power explains her decision to write a book about amina wadud, what she hopes readers will take away from it, why she is drawn to study Islam, and the figures who have had the greatest impact on her writing style and worldview.

Camille Perri, author of Social Animals

Val Caruso, Alex Reed and June Kennerson come from completely different worlds. Val is a tough-talking private investigator; Alex is reticent, nervous and on the run from her past; and June is an athlete turned housewife whose true love is her pup. When Val is hired by June’s husband to find out if June is cheating on him, it sets these three women on a collision course. Amid a colorful cast of characters who spend time at the shabby but beloved Hamilton Dog Park, they find they have more in common than they thought. But when their secrets catch up with them, will their newfound friendships be able to withstand the pressure? Or will they find themselves in the doghouse?

Carla Power, author of The Lady Imam: How amina wadud's Life and Faith Changed the World

A feminist scholar-activist, single mother of five, and queer advocate, amina wadud has led a decades-long struggle against Islam’s patriarchal establishment. Like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X before her, wadud has mobilized faith’s moral power as an engine for justice and equality. Yet the extraordinary story of this American trailblazer has never been told in book form, until now. THE LADY IMAM chronicles the life of a singular figure whose influence reaches beyond Islamic scholarship into feminism, Black history and global movements for gender justice. With unprecedented access through years of interviews and archival research, Carla Power delivers the definitive portrait of wadud’s extraordinary life while illuminating the enduring struggle to reconcile faith, family and the pursuit of justice.

Gabbie Hanks, author of Nasty Little Secrets

Rose Dearling’s life changed forever when her brother was imprisoned for the murder of his high school sweetheart. Now, a decade after the crime ripped her family and Florida hometown apart, Rose is the only one who still believes he didn’t do it. So much so that she wrote a bestselling book about the case to cement his innocence. This may have gained her a bad reputation, but it also bought her a new life in Manhattan, far away from where it all began. Then Rose gets a call that shatters her world for a second time: her younger sister has gone missing. Back home and under the same roof as her family for the first time in years, Rose begins the search for her sister. But when connections between both past and present cases emerge, Rose realizes that her own book could hold all the answers.

Kaitlyn Tiffany, author of The Housewives Underground: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the JFK Assassination Our Most Enduring Mystery

In the winter of 1967, the official account of the Kennedy assassination was beginning to unravel. A scattered group of Americans had pointed to major problems with the report prepared by President Johnson’s handpicked Warren Commission. Many of the most serious criticisms of the government’s work came from a source that surprised some: women who, within the community of critics, outnumbered the men two to one. Politicians and reporters dismissed these women, referring to them as “scavengers” and suggesting they were eccentrics with murder-mystery fixations or crushes on the deceased President Kennedy. But Kaitlyn Tiffany resurrects the story of Maggie Field, Shirley Martin and Sylvia Meagher, whose collaboration and friendship reshaped both their own lives and our national memory.

Andrew Sean Greer, author of Villa Coco

An aspiring archivist determined to begin a “serious” life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of 92. He does his best to catalog the villa’s extensive collection of art and antiques --- although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose. Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco’s great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late.

Amanda Eyre Ward, author of Arrivals and Departures

The Perkins family has problems. They’re scattered across the globe. Lee, a glamorous reality TV star, is struggling with her mental health in the spotlight. Reagan, her younger sister, has fallen for a romance scammer. Cord, their charming brother, is one drink away from losing it all. And their mother, Charlotte, still longs for the love she let slip away a decade ago, a lover who sailed off with her heart to a remote island in Greece. When Reagan disappears, Lee flies first-class to Athens to save her family --- again. There, against the glittering Mediterranean and the shadow of the Acropolis, Lee contends with emotional nieces, relentless paparazzi, and her own fragile heart. Lee is desperately searching --- for her sister, and for the hope and joy she thought was gone forever.

Beatriz Williams, author of When You Loved Me

When young widow Lucy Cooper returns to her family’s crumbling Winthrop Island estate, she’s forced to confront both her estranged father’s mysterious death and the man she’s never truly forgotten. Thirteen summers ago, Lucy fell hard for Ben Ressler, a golden-boy athlete whose presence shattered her closest friendship and changed her life forever. Now Ben is back, his own career derailed by tragedy. As Lucy investigates her father’s obsession with a rumored pirate treasure, long-buried secrets and emotions resurface. WHEN YOU LOVED ME is a sweeping, emotionally charged story of first love, forgiveness, and the risk of opening your heart to a second chance.