historical fiction

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter

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by Heather Fawcett
First sentence: “I paused on the threshold of the shop to stamp the frost from my boots.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: February 17. 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher
Content: There are some dangerous situations, including murders. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Agnes is a widow who has had one dream: to run a cat shelter for the feral cats of Montreal, Quebec. She and her husband operated the struggling shelter until his death, and she’s been attempting to keep it going. But after a magical disaster (two magicians were dueling in the street and her shop was in the crossfire), she’s been forced to find a new home for her store (and cats). It proves difficult until she stumbles on a really cheap place for rent. It’s perfect, until she realizes that it’s a front for possibly the most notorious magician in Montreal, and his dealings in magical artifacts. Things get even more complicated when his nemesis finds him, breaks through the wards, and attacks Agnes (and the cats!). How is she supposed to deal with this? Even better: how is she supposed to deal with his clutter?

This has the same tone and whimsy as the Emily Wilde books, and I did like it, just not as much as I adored Emily Wilde. Maybe it was the cats (so many cats!), or maybe it was that Agnes was a widow mourning the loss of her husband. I do like the human and magical being pull, and Agnes was feisty enough to keep me entertained. I guess it just wasn’t everything I was hoping it would be.

Still worth reading, though.

Audiobook: All the Crooked Saints

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by Maggie Stiefvater
Read by Thom Rivera
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There’s some swearing, including a couple of f-bombs. It is in the Young Adult Science Fiction section of the bookstore, but younger kids might be interested in it.

I’m not really going to sum up the plot, since I did that when I first read this book eight years ago. I did enjoy Rivera’s narration, though. And maybe I enjoyed this better as an audiobook. It felt like Rivera was sitting there telling me this tall tale about family and love and miracles. It’s the least Stiefvater-y book of all the ones I’ve read this year, but I still loved it. And yeah, while I see it’s problematic that Stiefvater is exploring a culture that isn’t hers, I still liked the way she wove religion and myth with Latinx culture and 1960s. It was a delightful audiobook to listen to.

Highly recommended on audio, especially.

The Unselected Journals of Emma Lion, Vols 2 and 3

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by Beth Brower
First sentence (vol 2): “Aunt Eugenia’s mandate was waiting with a degree of importance when I awoke this morning.”
First sentence (vol 3): “A noise woke me from my dreams this morning.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy them there!
Others in the series: Vol 1
Content: There is nothing untoward in the books (maybe a bit of drunkenness). They are in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

One of the nice things about the journals is the next one picks up right where the last one left off. Which is why I ended up buying them all; I didn’t want to wait! Volume two is May and June – in which Emma goes on an Adventure and rescues Jane Eyre (the book) from the clutches of the strict headmistress of the school for girls she used to go to. We also learn a bit more about her relationship with Maxwell (who has been killed in Afghanistan). There are increasing connections (which continue in volume 3) with The Tennant (Mr. Pierce) the Duke of Islington, Roland, and Young Hawkes (the parish rector). Of course, there is Aunt Eugenia compelling Emma to be the foil for the lovely Arabella, /money woes, and always Cousin Archibald being his usual nasty self.

I think Volume 3 delighted me more – there was a ridiculous scavenger hunt for tickets to an impromptu Julias Cesar (so silly!) in mid-July, and a couple of delightful parties. Emma deepened her relationship with Mr. Pierce (going back the early 2000s – which team am I on?), and Cousin Archibald hilariously falls down the stairs and breaks a leg.

The most delightful thing about these is that, even though there is not much plot, the characters are SO delightful, Emma is such a charming narrator, the setting – St. Crispain’s – is such a quirky, fun, silly place that I can’t help but be charmed on every page. I know I will be sad when I reach the end of the eight volumes, but for now, I’m thoroughly enjoying this!

Red River Rose

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by Carole Lindstrom
First sentence: “‘Hurry up, Delia, I want to stop at the ferry on the way,’ said Rose, trying not to tug her sister’s arm too hard.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: March 17, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.R

Rose is a Métis girl living her beset life in Batoche, Saskatchewan in 1885. She helps take care of her sister, she goes hunting with her father and uncle, she enjoys watching the ferry on the river. However, one day, she overhears the elders talking about how the Canadian government want to come take their land – and that they should resist. Rose agrees: she doesn’t want to lose the only home she’s ever known, but as a 12-year-old girl, how can she help her people stand up against the government?

In the author’s note at the end, Lindstrom mentions that she wanted this to be a Native Little House on the Prairie, and I think she succeeded. It has the same quiet tone, an engaging and relatable heroine, and an insight into what life might have been like for the Métis in 1885. It was a bit simplistic (but it’s for kids!), but overall, I loved the storyline, I loved how Rose wanted to help her family and her neighbors, and I admired her willingness to take chances. Lindstrom created a great heroine, and I would love to experience more of her story.

It’s an important book – there always needs to be more stories of historical events from the Native perspective – but it’s also a good one.

Wolf Worm

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by T. Kingfisher
First sentence: “The rail station was very new, the paint still bright on the lettering that read Siler Station.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: March 24, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There are some pretty gross moments, so it’s not for the squeamish stomach. I will be in the Horror section of the bookstore.

Sonia Wilson is a naturalist and an artist, but since it’s 1880 and she doesn’t have a husband, and her father recently passed, she doesn’t have many options for work. She grew tired of teaching at a girls’ boarding school, and so when a job opened up in rural western North Carolina with a naturalist looking for an artist to complete his book, she took the job. What she got, however, was much more than she bargained for.

(Read: There’s something very creepy going on in the woods.)

I don’t read horror. I don’t like being creeped out, I don’t like being grossed out. And yet, I adore Kingfisher. I haven’t read any of her horror before (maybe I will after this one), but when this one came across my desk, I couldn’t say no.

On the one hand, it was very creepy, and VERY gross. A lot of that gross was natural grossness; if you are made squeamish by bugs, this may not be for you. But it did get pretty disgusting. On the other hand, Kingfisher (like always) gave us a heroine who was smart, practical, independent, and a critical thinker. Sure, she was probably too curious for her own good, but she was a delight. And it was shot through with Kingfisher’s wit and the way she is able to create a sense of place. It’s not a delightful read, but it is a compelling one.

Just don’t read it at night.

Audiobook: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 1

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by Beth Brower
Read by Genevieve Gaunt
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: It’s just charming; there’s nothing untoward. It’s in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

It’s 1883 and Emma M. Lion is back at Lapis Lazuli (I hope that’s spelled right; I don’t have the book to check!), the house she has rightfully inherited but that her cousin (by marriage) currently occupies. She’s escaped being the companion of her cousin’s sister for the past three years, and as she’s almost at her majority, is starting to find her way again. Of course, it’s not easy: she’s being pressed into helping her actual cousin (her father’s sister’s daughter) go on the marriage market, which she’s not looking forward to. And it doesn’t help that both of her parents have passed, and her cousin has spent nearly all of her inheritance (on clothes!). How will she make do?

I’ve seen people reading this on Bookstagram, and they’ve become obsessed. I probably would have let it pass me by except an old blogging friend of mine bullied me (well, she put it on hold at the library on Libby where we share a card, and said, You will read this) into listening to it. And, I have to say: I’m obsessed. Immediately upon finishing it, I put all eight volumes on order at the store, and I’m planning on plowing through them all. They are a delight. The narrator for this one is a delight. It’s exactly what I needed when I needed. It made me utterly happy. It’s absolutely worth the obsession.

If you haven’t read them yet, hunt them down and read them. It’s absolutely worth it.

Audiobook: Graciela in the Abyss

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by Meg Medina
Read by Elena Rey
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some pretty intense and scary moments, as well as emotional abuse by parents. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Graciela accidentally died in the sea a long time ago, and woke up to be a ghost. She’s pretty content living her life until a series of things happen: her spirit guide, Amina, gets called to be a part of the ocean’s governing body; a spirit-killing harpoon gets unleashed (by accident) by a boy named Jorge; and then Graciela and Jorge have to destory the harpoon and save the sea.

Kind of. I think? The plot for this one kind of is immaterial – it’s all about Graciela’s growth. She starts the book selfish and annoying, and by the end she’s a decent human being. (At least, by the end I didn’t want to smack her as much.) Jorge was an abused child who just wanted to make things right. It’s a lot for a middle grade book.

And I had to move the narration up to 1.3x becuase it was sooooo slow at a slower speed. Like mind-numbingly slow.

I wish I had better things to say. I respect Medina and I’ve liked her books up to this point, but this one just didn’t do it for me.

The Listeners

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by Maggie Stiefvater
First sentence: “The day the hotel changed forever began as any other.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some fade to black sex and actual Nazis. It’s in the Adult Fiction section of the bookstore.

June Hudson has worked at the Avalon Hotel – a luxury hotel in the mountains of West Virginia – since her mother abandoned her at age 10. She worked her way up from maid to general manager, earning the trust of the owners, the Gilfoyle family, and the staff. It helps that she knows how to keep the sweetwater – the water that runs through everything at the Avalon – from turning. But, it’s January 1942, and June has found that her hotel has been commendeered by the State Department to house diplomats from Germany, Italy, Japan, and Hungary while they figure out an exchange with those countries. The sweetwater feeds on emotions, and tensions are high as the diplomats crash. But, what can June do to keep these people – guests she didn’t want – happy, and keep the water from turning, and still keep the Avalon the Avalon. Because one thing is for sure: nothing will ever be the same.

I wrote a teaser review seven months ago when I first read it, and my opinion hasn’t changed much. It’s a delight to read. I adore the way Maggie writes characters, and June (and Tucker Minnick, the FBI agent) are no exception. She also has a way of creating a place that comes to life; I could see and hear and feel the Avalon around me. I liked that the stakes were high, but nothing was unreasonable. It all made sense in the context of the book. It was as much of a delight to read this time around as it was the first.

Absolutely one of her best.

Audiobook: Deep Dark

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by Zohra Nabi
Read by Sarah Ovens
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some intense parts, jump scares, and neglectful/bad parenting. It would be in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore if it existed in physical form.

Cassia Thorne has spent half of her life in a debtor’s prison in London, eking out what living she could while her father slowly descended into madness. She has made her way as a flute player at the Bartholomew Fair, but this year, she has hopes of something grander: to write and sell the songs that everyone sings. But, her quest for a grander life is waylaid when her friend’s younger brother goes missing. And suddenly Cassia is thrust into the underworld of London, a world of monsters and greedy men, a world where poor children go missing solely because no one will think to go looking for them.

Can Cassia help before it’s too late?

I pitched this one to my coworkers as Dickens with a kraken, and they all agreed: who wouldn’t want to read that? I do have to admit, I was a little disappointed there was an actual monster; I was kind of hoping for a straight-up historical mystery. That said, Nabi did a fantastic job weaving both the speculative aspect of an actual monster in the tunnels under London with the historical elements of class and the way poor people had to scrape to make it.

Ovens was a fantastic narrator, though, keeping the story moving forward, and keeping me engaged enough to keep wanting to listen. I’m sad there isn’t a physical publication of the book in the US; I can think of a handful of kids who would love this one.

But it’s fantastic on audio.

Audiobook: Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales

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by Heather Fawcett
Read by Ell Potter & Michael Dodds
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands
Content: There are some intense moments and a bit of faerie violence. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Spoilers for the first two, obviously.

Emily and Wendell have returned to Wendell’s kingdom, the Silver Loopie, for him to take his place as ruler. It’s not all fun and games, because the former queen, Wendell’s stepmother, isn’t quite dead yet and has put a curse on the land poisoning it. It’s up to Emily, and her immense knowledge of fairy stories, to figure out which story this is playing out as, and how to set the Silver Loopie to rights. And, maybe somewhere along the way, she will figure out how to be the queen of a faerie realm.

I probably guessed somewhere along the way, that this was going to be the end of Emily and Wendell’s adventures, and while I’m sad to see them go, I love the way Fawcett wrapped them up. It had everything I have come to adore about these books: faerie magic, a bit of tension between Emily and Wendell, her dog Shadow (love the dog!), and adventures that she approaches scholarly. It was as charming and as wonderful as the other two.

I do have to admit that I got an advance copy of this book, and tried to read it but couldn’t connect with it. It wasn’t until I picked it up in audio and started listening that I realized that these books, while charming and delightful on their own, are made for audio. Potter does such as wonderful job capturing Emily’s voice and mannerisms, that she makes Emily just jump off the page. They are truly delightful as audiobooks

And, to be honest, I’m okay with the series ending. What I would like, though, is a spin-off series featuring Emily’s niece Ariadnae (not sure of the spelling of that one!). That would be delightful.

A thoroughly charming ending to a thoroughly charming series.