The Best Historical Fiction of 2024 So Far, According to Goodreads
In case you haven’t noticed, it’s midyear check-in time, and in all corners of the bookish internet, we’re taking a look back at the first half of 2024 in new releases. The “Best Books of the Year So Far” lists are piling up — in fact, they started about a month before the halfway point of the year. This is a great way to get an overview of the very buzziest titles, but that only scratches the surface of the incredible books in a wide range of formats and genres that have come out this year. That’s why it can be more useful to seek out round up lists of the genres, formats, and topics you’re most interested in as a reader, like the best queer books of the year so far.
In that spirit, Goodreads has put together a list of 48 of the best historical fiction books out in the first half of 2024. These are the titles that have been added to the most “Want to Read” shelves on Goodreads and the ones that are getting good ratings by users — only titles with a 3.5 average rating or above are included. They’re arranged by time period, from 412 BCE all the way up to 1987. (And if you disagree about that being historical fiction, Goodreads says, “Yes, we regret to inform you that the 1980s are now firmly considered historical fiction. Time is a cruel mistress.”)
Here is a selection of the most popular historical fiction books that came out in the first half of 2024.
412 BCE: Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
1519: You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue
1655: The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron
1730: All the World Beside by Garrard Conley
1851: The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
1861: James by Percival Everett
1864/2018: Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
1907: The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez
1935-1945: The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
1940: The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan
1950: The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
1965: The Women by Kristin Hannah
the late 1960s: The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma
1987: Swift River by Essie J. Chambers
Check out the full list at Goodreads.
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