4 Historical Fiction Books We Recommend for this Summer📚

Reverend John Ames’ life is coming to an end. The old reverend writes one long letter to his seven-year-old son to be read when he grows up, to tell his son what he won’t be there to teach him. Set in the 1950s, John Ames takes us through his life and his ancestors’ lives, jumping from one thing to another in this stream of consciousness narrative. This book is gorgeous and heartbreaking. The prose is beautiful, the writing thought-provoking and irresistible. If you’re looking for something beautiful and lovely, I would definitely recommend this historical fiction!

This book, set in 1960s Colorado, follows the Soria family and their ability to perform miracles. People come to their ranch for miracles, but in the end, their miracles are never completed and they are stuck at the ranch. It’s a hard book to explain, a bit historical, a bit fantasy, a bit weird because of the “miracles”, but regardless of that, this book has a message of healing and hope, and a wonderful and strange writing style that I really love! The idea of this book is a bit strange, and maybe not for everyone, but if you’re wanting a fun, sweet book, I definitely recommend this! 

Content warning: This is a young adult book, so there is some language and romance (though not much romance, and not bad).

This book is set after WWII and follows the story of Jack Baker and Early Auden, who both go on a quest to find the Great Appalachian Bear. I thought the events of this book were very original as a character tells the story of Pi through the numbers themselves. I really enjoyed the unique aspects of this book, and the author has a writing style that I really enjoy; I thought she did a great job of giving the characters interesting personalities and making something truly original! I listened to this book on audio a couple years back while working on Christmas gifts, and I would definitely recommend it in audiobook form! I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys unique characters and plots and exciting adventure stories. 

I found this book to be very unique as well! Set during the 1890’s, it follows the story of Conor Broekheart as he has to survive on the island of Little Saltee. Though it deals a lot with the topic of flying and building a heavier-than-air flying machine, I never felt like it went over my head or was full of anything technical. I really enjoyed the characters of this story and I felt like they had such vivid personalities. I had tried to read this book a few years back, but couldn’t get into the beginning; I’m very glad that I gave it another try, though, because this was a very enjoyable and gripping book to read! I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys well-written historical fiction books with gripping plots and interesting characters.