This month's reading challenge is Historical Fiction. Historical Fiction varies considerably but the one thing that defines this sub-genre is that the story takes place in the past. The authors of Historical Fiction books often include factual events and significant people that have shaped history but may also include fictional plotlines and imagined characters.
Similar to a few other book clubs at the SDG Library Branches, the members of the 'Raisin River Reads Book Club' prefer to read and discuss book selections primarily from the Historical Fiction genre. I'll admit this may be due to a small bias of having a handful of local historians that regularly join our book club meetings. This genre fits our club members, and our monthly book club discussions best because by reading historical fiction books, we find ourselves gaining a better understanding of the human experience and the emotional side of history. This opens our discussions up to hear each other's connection to that time period as well as the empathy we've gained by reading about a character's life from a time period of the past, their circumstances and their insightful (sometimes humorous) account of history.
A few of the notable Historical Fiction books that we've read together as a book club were:
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto written by Mitch Albom. With a musical landscape that is set from the 1940s to 1960s, it's a historical fiction book written with a touch of magic and jazz in it. This book was a nice treat for a couple of book club members who had chosen the audiobook version on CloudLibrary, as it was creatively narrated by a whopping 14 amazing voice actors!
Lady Clementine written by Marie Benedict. This historical fiction book spans the years from 1908 to 1945. Lady Clementine was the determined, intelligent and supportive political wife of the famed British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. As a book club, we found we were absorbed in the realism of the fictional story because the authentic details about the time period had been incorporated so well.
Another notable book we read was Where the Crawdads Sing written by Delia Owens. Set in North Carolina in the 1950s, this popular historical fiction had our book club still in discussions an hour and a half past our meeting end time. If you've read Where the Crawdads Sing and are eager to explore similar read-alike titles or are searching for a great book to read for the SDG Reading Challenge this month, then take a look at the Historical Fiction books on the list below!
Add a comment to: SDG Reading Challenge – August 2025