Blog Posts by Subject: Historical Fiction

Vicariously Visit Yesteryear, Courtesy of the Library

by Muriel Richards, Great Kills Library
October 23, 2013

Recently, while I was mentally present in the early 1900s while ensconced in an absolutely riveting historical mystery, my physical body answered the insistent trill of my cellular phone. I was rather unhappily jolted out of the land of gramophones and petticoats by a question from a friend, inquiring concerning the health of one of my cats who is afflicted with allergies.

Inspired by Jack Finney's Time and Again: A Gilded Age Reading List from 1882 New York

by Elizabeth Waters, AskNYPL
August 22, 2013

"The great demand is for fiction!"

"Among all classes of people, do you think?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you mean to say," persisted the reporter, "that the principal portion of the reading public of New York is composed of novel readers."

"That is it exactly, so far as library patrons are concerned," replied the librarian.

—The New York Times, January 22, 1882

Welcome back to the Reader's Den. I hope you enjoyed reading

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Shark Week! Fact and Fiction

by Amie Wright
July 30, 2013

June in the Reader's Den: Time and Again by Jack Finney - Part 2, Discussion Questions

by Elizabeth Waters, AskNYPL
July 8, 2013

"It had become habit, leaving the Dakota, to walk out and back into the winter of 1882."

Welcome back to the Reader's Den! I hope you enjoyed taking a trip to the New York of 1882 along with Si Morley, the protagonist in Jack Finney's classic 1970 novel, Time and Again. If you've been reading the book, why not share your thoughts with us through the comments form at the end of the post? There are some discussion questions (which include a few spoilers!) that can be used as a starting point, but

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Book Discussion at Epiphany: "The Dovekeepers" by Alice Hoffman

by Chasity Moreno
June 27, 2013

Continuing with a theme of reading historical fiction the book group read The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. This novel is a sprawling tale based on another event in history. It was our largest book to date at 500 pages but almost every member managed to finish it in time for our meeting. Perhaps this is a testament to Hoffman's storytelling.

The Dovekeepers takes place during the early 70s AD in ancient Judea. At

June in the Reader's Den: Time and Again by Jack Finney - Part 1

by Elizabeth Waters, AskNYPL
June 18, 2013

"So all in all there wasn't anything really wrong with my life. Except that, like most everyone else's I knew about, it had a big gaping hole in it, an enormous emptiness, and I didn't know how to fill it or even know what belonged there."

What would you do to fill a similar existential hole? How does a spot of clandestine, government-sponsored time travel sound? Welcome to June in the Reader's Den! This month we're reading the classic time travel tale and novel of New York, Time and Again, by

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Hot Historical Fiction: Girl Spies, Resistance and Nazis

by Anne Rouyer, Supervising Librarian, Mulberry Street Library
February 20, 2013

Readers who think historical fiction is blah or boring STOP RIGHT THERE! This list of books, set in Nazi Occupied Europe, is filled with fast paced adventure, high stakes thrills, nail biting tension, whirlwind romance and daredevil girls who are cool under pressure.

A 2013 Michael L. Printz Honor Book, Code Name Verity (2012) is hands down one the most thrilling historical fiction novels I've read in years. Set in France and England in

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