Historical Fiction II: A Guide to the Genre

by Sarah L. Johnson (Editor)

Historical fiction has surged in popularity in recent years, with new subgenres emerging (e.g. Viking romance, religious thrillers) and reader interest showing no signs of slowing down. This follow-up to Johnson's critically acclaimed guide published in 2005 covers new territory by focusing on English-language historical novels for adults published between mid-2004 and mid-2008, in particular those commonly found in American public library collections. The author's unique approach involves classifying titles by subgenres, rather than strictly by geography and chronology; thereby grouping read-alikes together. It gives users a deeper understanding of the genre, an update on new titles, and an easy way to identify read-alikes and book club selections for library patrons. More than 2700 historical fiction titles, about 2,000 new to this volume, are organized and described.

Genres: Historical Fiction

760 pages, Hardcover

First published March 20, 2009

About the author

Reference librarian, readers' advisor, avid historical fiction reader, NBCC member. Book review editor for the Historical Novels Review, regular reviewer for Booklist and Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries. Winner of the American Library Association's Louis Shores Award for book reviewing (2012). Blogging at Reading the Past since 2006.

I live out in the country in east central Illinois with my husband, too many cats, and an even larger number of books.

Note: I'm not the Sarah L. Johnson who writes dark crime fiction/horror, but Goodreads keeps assigning that author's books to me.

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

These (Johnson's two books on historical fiction) are some of the better readers' advisory books I've seen. They're thorough and inclusive with good annotations. As with most of what we're doing in these works, I wish there were a few short list of some of the very best books to provide entry points into historical fiction for newer readers. Bottom line: If you like historical fiction, this book will give you everything you need to find some great reading.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consider Sarah L. Johnson the top reviewer of historical fiction. I'm a big fan of her blog, Reading the Past and look forward to her posts and reviews. Therefore, I was thrilled to get my hands on this second edition of historical fiction.

I didn't realize that I enjoyed historical fiction as much as I do until I delved into the titles in this book. I've read quite a few of them and our library holds many of the titles included here. The bonus, though, is to find the hidden gems and I don't think you can read this without finding at least a few.

The things I like about this edition:

Historical Fiction II begins with an excellent introduction, goes on to give precise definitions of the genre and subheadings and its appeal factors; includes crisp, concise annotations, notations of awards, reading level and appropriateness for book discussion groups. The ending chapters include resources for librarians and readers, and the appendices list the award winners, reading lists by plot or theme, an author/title index, subject index, historical character index, place and time index.

This is a very thorough guide to historical genre and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read or who are responsible for choosing materials for our libraries and doing readers' advisory service.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome! The information is well organized and easy to use. As a librarian it is a treasured resource. Since I am also love the historical fiction genre, I have discovered many books to add to my "to read" list. My favorite part is the index by historical character.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

An AMAZING resource! The only strong objection I have is that Johnson doesn't show enough self-awareness about the blurring of genres. She makes things seem rather cut-and-dry in her introductory essays to the sub-genre chapters.