The Best Historical Fiction of 2025 for Adults | Multnomah County LibraryLike this list

20 items

• Bog Queen

  a Novel

  North, Anna,

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  A very ancient body uncovered in an English bog is the through-line illustrating our struggles with bureaucracy, social tension, political differences, personal anxiety, power dynamics, grief, and the very basic emotion of curiosity. - Emily-Jane D.

• Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

  Schwab, Victoria,

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  Are you into toxic lesbian vampires? You’ll sink your teeth into the verdant prose while the audiobook narrators take your breath away. - Liza D

• Stag Dance

  a Novel & Stories

  Peters, Torrey,

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  A collection of mostly prior-self published works, all focussing on various anxieties of trans experience. Stag Dance, the new work, charts how gender norms are easily transgressed as a joke, then punished when the transgression becomes real. -…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Greenteeth

  O'Neill, Molly (Fantasy fiction author),

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  This deeply feeling (and also very funny) adventure into the heart of the heart of ancient Britain was a true delight. - Phoebe W.

• Shopgirls

  a Novel

  Blau, Jessica Anya

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  This novel, about a young woman who works in a fancy department store in the 1980s, made me feel good about the world AND it made me laugh so hard that at one point, my family came in from another room to see if I'd lost my mind. - Diana A.

• The Pretender

  Harkin, Jo,

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  Who knew historical fiction could be so hilarious? Simultaneously bawdy and sincere, I loved every turn this book about a young boy plucked from obscurity and told he is destined to be the king of England took. - Yana Y.

• Atmosphere

  a Love Story

  Reid, Taylor Jenkins,

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  There are so many scenes in this novel in which you feel the ache of these two women wanting to love each other in the full light of day and having to hide in order to continue having a career in the space program. It's so moving. - Diana A.

• Isola

  a Novel

  Goodman, Allegra,

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  I like a novel about survival in a place where survival is difficult, and I love a novel about how terrible the patriarchy is and how we need to dump it. - Diana A.

• Homeseeking

  Chen, Karissa,

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  A gorgeous sweeping historical epic. This book is quite long, but every sentence is worth it. - Alison H.

• Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert

  a Novel

  Bob, the Drag Queen, 1986-

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  Completely original historical fiction! This book is well researched and written with a lot of love and respect. - Alison H.

• When the Tides Held the Moon

  Kelley, Venessa Vida,

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  A truly beautiful (illustrated!) romance in the face of capitalism, colonialism, and Coney Island. - Leo B.

• The Book of Lost Hours

  a Novel

  Gelfuso, Hayley,

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  Historical thriller that plays with the notions of time, memory, families and gender. So many BIG thoughts wrapped in a spy story. Ann K.

• The Owl Was a Baker's Daughter

  a Novel

  Tiffany, Grace, 1958-

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  I loved the smart, irreverent female character at the center of this book and the way the author used language. It's excellent as an audiobook, too! - Diana A.

• Katabasis

  a Novel

  Kuang, R. F. (Rebecca F.),

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  For those of us who've spent too much time pursuing goals blindly without asking ourselves "why" - Leo B.

• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

  Jones, Stephen Graham, 1972-

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  Bloody & Mysterious; A slow-building haunting in a telescope of a story - Leo B.

• These Heathens

  a Novel

  McKenzie, Mia,

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  A funny coming of age story that touches on reproductive rights, the Black queer community, and the importance of community care. - Jasmyne G.-C.

• Firebird

  Cross, Juliette,

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  Dark romantasy for the Roman Empire girlies. A thrilling emotional rollercoaster with a smart, powerful female main character. - Willa M.

• Deep Cuts

  a Novel

  Brickley, Holly,

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  Do the early 2000s count as historical fiction? I was deep in my elder millennial feelings over the to detail given to era's indie music scene along with the strong characterization of Percy and Joe. - Kady F.

• Fagin the Thief

  a Novel

  Epstein, Allison,

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  A captivating take on Oliver Twist from the perspective of Fagin, this story goes deeper into how he became the scoundrel who takes in orphans to do his bidding! - Lori M.

• Best Books of 2025, chosen by Multnomah County Library staff

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  There's something for everyone in our lists for preschoolers, kids, tweens, teens and adults.Explore Multnomah County Library. New titles, recently rated, and recently tagged by the library community.