Over the years, I’ve written hundreds of posts on the topic of reading historical fiction and reading in general. Some of these posts related to the surveys I’ve done, others to books I’ve read, and others still to more general reading topics like social reading.
Today, I’ve pulled together a selection for your interest.
From 2012, Reading as a Social Experience – a look at the impact of Goodreads, a link to an article titled How Social Reading Fragments Books and Puts Them Back Together. In that post, there’s a comment that the book can be “experienced as a collection of component parts, and as a mechanism for readers to share key insights from books”.
In 2015, I posted 10 Thoughts on Social Reading, which included the notions that ‘social reading is about relationships’ and that ‘readers expect writers to be social’.
Through the reading surveys I conducted, I posted on more than one occasion that men and women have different reading habits. Here’s one on that topic from 2024 and another from 2014.
Reading is escapism at its finest – a post featuring Jen who authors the reading blog In Literary Love. Jen says: Fiction has the power to take you somewhere you’ve never been, escape the life you’re currently in, and distract you from almost anything. Sounds magical to me!
In 2021, I reflected on the value of reading historical fiction and this year – 2026 – on Historical Fiction as a Tool for Empathy.
Thoughts on Reading Historical Fiction includes this notion: Reading history allows us to understand what happened. Reading historical fiction allows us to be moved by what happened. Even after we know the facts, we continue to search for sense and meaning. That is at the essence of our humanity.“
In this same post, there’s a quote from author Susan Vreeland: Through fiction which sets us down in another time period, we are offered a window to other lives, other sensibilities, attitudes, values than our own. We escape somewhat from ourselves. Each time we enter imaginatively into the life of another, it’s a small step upwards in the elevation of the human race. When there is no imagination of others’ lives, there is no human connection. Where there is no human connection, there is no compassion. Without compassion, community, commitment, lovingkindness, human understanding, peace–all shrivel. Individuals become isolated, the isolated turn cruel, and the tragic hovers. Historical fiction is an antidote to that.
Last year, I wrote about Building a TBR List. This was at a time when I was struggling to find historical fiction that would capture my attention for more than the first 50 pages. The good news? I read and enjoyed several of them … and wrote about each novel.
Some time ago, I began posting about how historical fiction illuminates the issues of today. Here’s one of those posts.
If you’re interested in the reader surveys I’ve done – lots more insights on reading and reading historical fiction – click on this link. You will also find links to written reports from each survey.
Or take a look at the topic A Year of Reading which will surface brief comments on all the books I’ve read each year beginning in 2015. Full confession, I did not document my 2025 list.
What excites you about reading? Are you reading differently – subject matter, genre, frequency and so on – than in the past? What value do you place on reading?
