Jane Austen knew what was up. looking for a good read? we’ve got you covered.

In researching for the podcast, we are always discovering great books about women in history, and we’ve had some amazing historians and authors stop by the show to talk about their work. So, we’ve curated our favorites for you over at Bookshop.org, check them out here:

What’s Bookshop.org?

This GREAT alternative to Amazon is a one-stop-shop for buying books online that goes straight to supporting independent bookshops. You can order directly from a participating bookstore of your choice, but otherwise each order will contribute to an earnings pool that will be evenly distributed among independent bookstores (even those that don’t use Bookshop). They give away over 75% of their profit margin to the people who deserve it: stores, and authors.

Full disclosure (and an extra bonus): I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org, so I earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Support authors, indie bookstores, and The Exploress too!

We've talked to some incredible fiction authors about how they use history as inspiration for their stories! Elodie Harper told us about how slavery and prostitution in Ancient Pompeii influenced her story here; Amie Kaufman told us about how she worked 1920s glamor into her high seas fantasy adventure here; and Krystal Marquis told us more about the forgotten Black history at the turn of 19th-century America that helped her write her historical romance here.

Kate’s Books

Delicious Solitude by Frank Bramley, 1909.

Read along with us as part of our book club! We’ll be choosing historical fiction books that make us feel like we are time traveling, and that feature strong women. The books below are our upcoming picks, and we’ll be adding more as the season progresses. Listen to the show to find out when we’ll be starting each book, and if you want us to ask the authors any specific questions during their interviews, send them our way!

Books Featured in Past Author Interviews

The Nightbirds are Simta’s best-kept secret: Girls with a unique and powerful magic they can gift with just a kiss. Some would kill to possess them; the church would kill them outright. But protected by the Great Houses, the Nightbirds are well-guarded treasures until they find themselves at the heart of a political scheme that threatens not only their secrets, but their very lives. Nightbirds is a 1920s-tinted YA fiercely feminist fantasy about what happens when girls refuse to be silenced or told who and what their power is for.

Doing research on your own, or just looking for some good nonfiction? We’ve got that in spades. Check out some of our favorite works by preeminent historians, academics, and scholars that we’ve used as research sources here!