News and Updates
This week felt like a marathon, so I spent the weekend tucked into some truly great historical fiction to clear my head. It’s a genre that means a lot to me — right up there with romance as one of the reasons I fell back in love with reading. I’m excited to spend the month exploring historical fiction together. Which sub‑genre always pulls you in?
This Week
Victorian fiction is similar to old westerns in that it is specific to a timeframe (the reign of Queen Victoria) and the place. While westerns are about the western US, Victorian fiction is produced in Britain and could be about any number of locations.
Monthly Reading Challenge: Historical Fiction
Weekly Reading Challenge: Victorian Fiction
A seemingly ordinary engagement in a small English village begins to unravel when a new woman arrives — heartbroken, abandoned, and impossible for our protagonist to ignore. As he’s pulled between the life he’s promised and the life he secretly wants, the question becomes whether he’ll choose duty, desire, or something in between.
Victorian literature is full of these rich emotional conflicts. If you’ve read Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Oliver Twist, or Dracula, you’ve already experienced the era’s storytelling — serialized tales that wrestled with class divides, social reform, and the realities of everyday life.
If you’re looking for other great books for this prompt, try one of these reads recommended by our StoryGraph community:
- The Professor, Charlotte Bronte
- The Scarlet Pimpernel, Baroness Orczy
- A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
- The War of the Worlds, HG Wells
New This week
This week brings one of our most anticipated books of 2026, and it comes from the incomparable Jenny Lawson. She writes with such raw humor and tenderness about motherhood, surviving mental health struggles, and learning to give yourself grace. As someone who has loved every one of her books, I can say this newest release feels especially timely — full of grounded, practical wisdom for the days when everything feels like too much.
You can read our full review of this fantastic book here and grab your copy of the book in our Bookshop.org page!
In Case You Missed It
Last Week’s Prompt
Xingyin has always known her mother is the Moon Goddess—the immortal who lights the lanterns that make the moon shine. She has also always known she must keep her own celestial power hidden, because the Celestial Emperor cannot discover she exists. But when her magic slips beyond her control, Xingyin is forced to flee the only home she has ever known to protect her mother.
I give Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan 5 out of 5 stars! If you grew up loving Disney’s Mulan, you’ll immediately recognize familiar themes: a daughter determined to protect her family’s honor, rigorous training among elite warriors, and the pressure of proving herself in a world that believes she doesn’t belong. Although this story draws on different folklore, many Asian legends share deep currents of duty, sacrifice, and cultural values—and Tan weaves those threads beautifully.
Her writing is nothing short of lyrical. The worldbuilding, dialogue, and atmosphere flow with an elegance that makes the story feel timeless. This was absolutely a “stay up late to finish it” read for me—lush, immersive, and impossible to put down.
Last Week’s Articles
Last week we gave a full run down on the books we read in March along with a spotlight on our 5 star reads. Two of them are out on shelves now and two will be out soon – have you read any of them?
We also announced our March Book of the Month – Jenny Larson’s How to be Okay When Nothing is Okay! Just a few more days till you can grab a copy – I’d love to hear your thoughts after you read it!
You can grab the full list here. Some of these are long time favorites, but many of these are on my TBR list. Have you read any of these?
Last Week’s Preview
Lucas Davenport has handled just about every dangerous situation a U.S. Marshal can face, so relocating a high‑value family to Minnesota should’ve been routine. Of course, nothing in the Marshal’s service stays routine for long. When the family is attacked almost immediately after reaching their safe house, Lucas and his partner realize they’re up against something far more calculated — and far more personal.
Revenge Prey, the 36th book in John Sandford’s long‑running series, throws Lucas into a high‑stakes hunt for a team of elite assassins who are also hunting him. Sandford blends domestic‑thriller tension with his signature procedural detail, keeping the true mastermind hidden until the final pages. It’s fast, sharp, and absolutely addictive
You can read the full review here.
Reading Challenge Prompts
Historical fiction has a wide variety of sub-genres that can take you in many different directions. From eras to formats, there’s different ways to attack this month’s prompt. While I typically gravitate toward stories set during World War II or the Civil War, this month’s prompts are nudging me to explore sub‑genres beyond my usual comfort zone—including Victorian‑era fiction and family‑history‑centered narratives.
We’ll also be celebrating both National Library Workers Day and Independent Bookstore Day with themed prompts and a few special posts from some of our favorite local spots. We’d love to see your favorite libraries and indie bookstores, too—feel free to share them with us!
This post contains affiliate links.
What I’m Reading
- Current print book: The Boxcar Librarian, Brianna Labuskes
- Current audio book: The Lost Bookshop, Evie Woods
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Pretty Dead Things, Kelsey Cox
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