Favorite Fridays highlight media the HCDL staff recommend. Find your next favorite book, audiobook, movie, TV show, magazine, etc., here every Friday this summer–and share your own favorites in the weekly posts’ comments!

Today is Anne Frank’s birthday, so this week we’re sharing our favorite historical fiction.

*Hoopla is available to Howell library district residents only.

Before We Were Yours : a Novel by Lisa Wingate

Call# Inspirational Wingate

The heartbreaking story of a family torn apart for for-profit adoption. Wingate follows two timelines, the first is set in Memphis, Tennessee in 1939 and the second in present day South Carolina. A real page turner that should be unbelievable, but is based on actual events (google Georgia Tann if you’re curious & then check out this book!).

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Call# Y Zusak

A coming of age novel set in Nazi Germany following a young girl named Liesel and her love of books in a time when knowledge was a dangerous commodity. Zusak shows the power of words and how they allow ways to connect to those around us. I found this book to be incredibly moving and recommend giving it a read.

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

Call# Fiction Cole

Set during the Civil War, this romance novel follows Ellen Burns, a free Black woman in the Union’s Loyal League, and Malcom McCall, Scottish immigrant and Pinkerton agent, on their converging missions as spies against the Confederacy. Sparks fly as the two strong-willed characters work in Richmond, VA, to uncover a Confederate plot that has dire consequences for the Union’s blockade. I loved that both Elle and Malcolm are quick-witted and sharp-tongued, adding wonderful chemistry to their steamy relationship. This is the first book in the Loyal League series.

The Ghost Bride : a Novel by Yangsze Choo

Call# Fiction Choo

If you like your historical fiction blended with romance, folklore, and adventure, The Ghost Bride will captivate you. Forced by her genteel family’s impoverishment, Li Lan agrees to become a ghost bride for the wealthy Lim family’s recently-deceased only son. To discover the truth of her new ghostly fiance’s death and his family’s darkest secrets, Li Lan braves the perils of the Chinese afterlife with the help of the mysterious and charming guardian spirit Er Lang. Li Lan is a great character and Er Lang fantastically attractive. The author wonderfully reads the audiobook and this is her debut book–I loved it!

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Call# Fiction Hannah

A WWII novel unlike any I’ve read before. The Nightingale is set in German-occupied France and follows two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle. These women & their situations were terrifyingly relatable. I enjoyed this book so much that when it was over I needed to read more by Kristin Hannah (I did, and was not disappointed).

The Witches of New York : a Novel by Ami McKay

Call# Fiction Mckay

In Victorian New York, Eleanor, Adelaide, and Beatrice are three witches practicing their craft for hire out of their small tea shop. The sophisticated and experienced Eleanor and spirited seer Adelaide help the young, sweetly (not annoyingly) naive Beatrice realize her powers as a ghost liaison, with some dire effects. I loved the characters in this book. I want to be friends with these three women and the side characters are lovely, too. The audiobook is well-read and the story is fantastic, evoking a magical, wonder-filled old New York.