For Readers: Blog

What if...an alternate history booklist

Do you ever think about how one small moment has the power to change history? These creative alternate histories reimagine how our world could look if one pivotal moment was different. Whether they stick to the facts or throw in a little magic, these reads are sure to get you thinking about what could’ve been!

What if the United States had sent a third atomic bomb to Japan? In Daikon by Samuel Hawley, the plane carrying a third bomb is shot down and recovered by the Japanese military. Civilian physicist Keizo is tasked with examining and readying the device for use in exchange for the release of his detained Japanese-American wife. This reimagining of these devastating days of World War II is a gripping and haunting story of love and loyalty. [e-book | print | audiobook]

Vaishnavi Patel’s cinematic and emotional Ten Incarnations of Rebellion transports readers to a version of 1960s India still under the violent control of Britain. Honoring the memory of her executed rebel father, 19-year-old Kalki and her friends start a quiet revolution, working for the British and trying to destroy them from within. It’s not long before the stakes get higher, and Kalki has to decide if freedom is worth dying for. [e-book | print | audiobook]

A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan is a richly detailed, suspenseful, and magical twist on World War II. As Hitler’s power grows, the British government turns to its Royal Academy of Witches to secure magical artifacts before they fall into enemy hands. The academy’s star student Lydia is up for the dangerous task, joining forces with an American historian and French resistance fighter as they race to beat the Nazis. [e-book | print]

For a grim but thought-provoking dystopian read, try Rae Giana Rashad’s powerful debut The Blueprint. After a second civil war, Black women are still enslaved by the government in 2030, and Solenne’s career, relationships, and life are determined by an algorithm. As she plans to escape her forced relationship with a government official, Solenne finds solace in the story of her 19th-century ancestor who had similar struggles with her slave owner. [e-book | print]

Need a time-travel read for this year’s Branch Out reading challenge? Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum is a moving character-driven novel about three generations of women trying to heal their damaged relationships while also jumping through time to stop a disaster. Nuclear scientist Anna is thrown forward in time during the Chernobyl meltdown, putting her face-to-face with her dying daughter who tasks her with going back in time to repair their family and prevent the catastrophe. [e-book | print]

Let the Dead Bury the Dead by Allison Epstein is an atmospheric tale of political intrigue set in tsarist Russia. When Napoleon's army retreats after the brutal 1812 campaign, a captain of the Imperial Army finds a woman unconscious in the snow. Taking her in, she soon recovers and begins to wield an unusually strong influence over the palace, pushing the captain’s allies and loved ones towards revolt, at the cost of their relationships and possibly their lives. [e-book | print]

⏤Laura