The BEST Historical Fiction Prize that no one is talking about!

[@karlalikestoread]

I love so many things about this video: highlighting Steve's yearly best of, your sweater, your makeup. I'd rather read a Steve recommendation too! When you announced the readathon I actually opened all of Steve's best of historical fiction lists in a million browser tabs to add more options to my list. That's how I came across The Glutton which is my favorite recently read historical fiction of the moment. I hope you keep enjoying it!

[@Shellyish]

Awe! Thank you, Karla! I finished the The Glutton and thought it was brilliant.

[@karlalikestoread]

@@Shellyish Yay, I’m so glad you enjoyed it too! 😄

[@eruditearchive]

I watch a lot of Steve’s videos but completely forgot he made this best of the year lists! Thanks Shelly!!

[@Shellyish]

You’re welcome!

[@pylesofbooks]

Thanks for this video! I'm so glad you shared, and I can't wait to check out his lists! You are so fun to watch- your book enthusiasm is contagious!

[@Shellyish]

Oh thank you!

[@HelenBurns-y8c]

What a great snhow. I am subscribing and will check you frequently. I read good literature. I loved the Wolf Hall trio.

[@Shellyish]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@awebofstories]

While listening to this video I added all of the Steve's recommendations (save the ones I've already read) to my TBR...

[@Shellyish]

Melinda, your comment begs the question: which ones have you already read? And how did you like them?

[@bstephens44]

Love historical fiction so thank you so much for highlighting this list. Definitely going to check it out

[@Shellyish]

Enjoy!

[@crimsonwhispersva2498]

The Princess by Wendy Holden is on my list to read this month and I am excited to get to it, i have it though netgalley

[@Shellyish]

Enjoy!!

[@crimsonwhispersva2498]

@Shellyish thanks, I hope I do ringers crossed 🤞

[@dark.shelf.of.wonders]

This is interesting I had never heard of Steve's lists before. I've been saying I want to read more historical fiction so maybe I need to pay attention to his lists more. I have Elodie Harper's first book and I love Dan Jones' storytelling so those two that you mentioned are at the top of my list. As for what I'm reading now, The Spirit Bears Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White (A Historical Fiction/Horror) and an ARC of We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim.

[@Shellyish]

I’m glad to share a new-to-you list. ☺️

[@deborahborne4861]

I'm reading Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. It is a little surreal to realize that the decade in which I came of age is now "historical "I am enjoying the book although it is a little gut wrenching. BTY I adore your sweater😻

[@Shellyish]

I will definitely have to check that one out.

[@tinabauerle2794]

Thank you for sharing Steve's list, I'm adding Flags on the Bayou and The Auburn Conference to my list. Ones that I have recently read, that I would recommend, Crow Mary and Pachinko. Have a great day!

[@Shellyish]

Wonderful!

[@starlasell5698]

I've added Sally Brady's Italian Adventure to my list. Thanks for the video! You get as excited about books as I do. 😅

[@Shellyish]

Wonderful! I hope you love it! ☺️

[@mediumjohnsilver]

I rarely read anything in the historical fiction genre, but the book I’m reading now could be considered that. It’s _Zorro: The Curse of Capistrano,_ first published as a pulp adventure in All-Story Weekly in 1919, it takes place in 1820s California. I’m reading it as a selection in Roger’s Cheap Old Book Club for the month of June.

[@Johanna_reads]

These would all be outside my comfort zone, but I’m curious about The Glutton! Thanks for bringing attention to this list! 😊

[@Shellyish]

Thank you, Johanna!!!!

[@Shellyish]

Also, The Glutton is proving to be a very odd read in the best way possible!!

[@books_and_bocadillos]

Love it!

[@Shellyish]

Thanks!!

[@bjminton2698]

Thank you for linking some of his "the best of" blogs! Finding anything in his hundreds of videos is very time-consuming. I am 0/2 with trying SD recs - 1 biography and 1 mystery. The writing in both was very good, but the content in them was not my cup of tea. He loves anything with politics while I dislike anything political. Glad you have success with his tastes! My most recent historical read was a Sister Fidelma mystery set in the 7th century by Peter Tremayne. I very much enjoy this series! Learning about life in Ireland/GB in the 600s is fascinating!

[@Shellyish]

Oh! Thank you for sharing, BJ. I look for key words in SD’s write up of the books. If it says “political” or “gritty,” I tend to think twice. And I enjoy political novels! ☺️

[@bjminton2698]

​@Shellyish I read The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper, the first in the trilogy you mentioned. It was very good but very graphic and sad. I just want you to be prepared before reading it 🙂. It's about sex slaves in Pompeii and is not for everyone...

[@nathanfoung2347]

Perfume by Patrick Susskind is great. Cant go wrong with a Steve recommendation really. Go well Shelly.

[@Shellyish]

Perfume is great and very weird. The Glutton is very similar - weird and great.

[@leopercara3477]

Steve is the key to everything.

[@Shellyish]

Absolutely!

[@sc8717]

Sparrow by James Hynes is one that I've been interested in for a while - I'm always on the lookout for historical fiction set in ancient Roman times. I might have to drop Steve a comment asking him for recommendations! Thanks for this Shelly! Suzanne 😊

[@Shellyish]

Thank you, Suzanne!!

[@StephaniePatterson-jb5it]

The Guest Book by Sarah Blake is wonderful. ( 1930s to the present.)

[@Shellyish]

Wonderful! Thank you!!

[@Gillian.Ashcroft.66]

Reading Cleopatra & Frankenstein presently.

[@Shellyish]

How are you liking it?

[@angelaluz405]

I just added The Auburn Conference to my wish list. Im currently reading Shakespeare's Tempest, a book on sports psychology (a weirdly niche subject that's fascinated me ever since I saw an interview with an Olympuc skiier who talked about the visualization techniques he used), a religious nonfiction book, and to practice reading in Spanish...an Mexican werewolf novel. I just realized how weird all that sounds. 😂

[@Shellyish]

Sounds weird, but is it enjoyable? That’s what matters. ☺️

[@pamelatarajcak5634]

I've had that Dan Jones book on my list for a bit too. He's genuinely a good historian.

[@Shellyish]

I cannot wait to dig into Essex Dogs. ☺️

[@socaltoobie8984]

I must admit… I’m not a big historical fiction girlie…. 🙈 But I’ll have to check out some of his lists! I’m convinced that man is a reading savant… 🤯

[@Shellyish]

He really is.

[@leebalmforth2269]

Hello shelly 👋 Im reading absent of pity by Blake pierce (detective novel) on my kindle & a physical copy of the hobbit

[@Shellyish]

Hi!!!! The Hobbit is a wonderful book! Truly wonderful!

[@annegibson6072]

Brotherless Night that won the Women's Prize for Fiction is a marvelous book. It is historical fiction. I also read A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci. It's a great exploration of the effects of racism in the south during the early 1960s. Another excellent historical fiction is James by Percival Everett. It's an excellent satire of Huckleberry Finn.

[@Shellyish]

I read James recently and really loved it. Thanks for sharing, Anne!!!

[@StephanieJCohen]

I love his lists and have purchased several of those books over the years. SEVERAL. 😂

[@Shellyish]

Same, Stephanie. Same.

[@vesch5083]

Thanks for Steve's list. I always forget to look. James Lee Burke writes "pew pew" books. 😂

[@Shellyish]

Haha! ☺️

[@MsPixieD]

Shelley, haha, the look on your face in the thumbnail for the Fraud video! I did not like it either. I finished Restless Dolly Maunder yesterday, The Vaster Wilds and Jackie & Me (which also counts as a Pride month read if anyone wants a two-fer) earlier this month and Wise Children late in May, but I'm gonna count it for my historical fiction bingo! All are excellent. Still have about 20% to go on The Dutch House audiobook. Had to take some time for some non historical reads -- for instance did you see my comment on Ace's Story? 😃 Also went to my library book club yesterday and brought up that topic I had been thinking about of how to define historical fiction, a discussion everyone enjoyed. P.S. Since you're interested in The Princess: Imagine my surprise a couple of months ago, when going through a stack of old magazines for collage fodder, to find a 1993 Vanity Fair with Princess Di on the cover! If someone hadn't torn out a few pages in the back, it might even be worth something, but having seen the shows on Netflix and read a biography, it was wild to read the real-time article. 🤯

[@Nastya-readsandlifts]

I enjoyed 8 Lives of the Century Old Trickster, long listed for the women’s this year (well, it was a good list in general). Lately (or forever? idk…) I prefer historical fiction not set in the US.

[@Shellyish]

Oh, fascinating! Thank you for sharing.

[@Nastya-readsandlifts]

Thank you for sharing these lists! (I am still processing Steve reading 1,000-2,000 books 😅)

[@Nastya-readsandlifts]

Oh, I totally forgot to mention Glorious Exploits, a book about Ancient Sicily, their war with Greeks, but mainly about theatre and friendship. It is partially silly, partially heartbreaking.

[@patriciawolfram6109]

James

[@heatherdegreeff1092]

How does one read 1,000-1,500 books a YEAR?!?!

[@Shellyish]

Kind of amazing, right!

[@KAZHE63]

I appreciate Steve’s knowledge of literature and actually enjoy his lists. However, he is far too political for me, personally. I don’t need to know how much he detests conservatives- just give me the books, please.

[@Shellyish]

I love love love his lists, clearly. 🫣

[@bjminton2698]

I so agree!! I LOVE to listen to him talk about books, but he gets so angry and hateful in nearly every video that I've pretty much stopped watching. 🙁

[@vesch5083]

I enjoy his videos including his rants. It lets me know I'm not alone.

[@pammonaghan6038]

What is Steve's last name? Thanks

[@Lostouille]

I'm scared of historical fictions because it's full of cringe stories 😂😂