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I believe in judging books by their covers—and also their titles. Not exclusively, of course. There are plenty of great books that suffer from mediocre covers or titles, while the books themselves are incredible. But with so many books out there to choose from, allowing a great cover or title to catch your eye can be a helpful way to sort through the overabundance. Titles and covers are meant to give you a peak into the heart of a book, after all. So doesn’t that mean we should be using titles to judge books, at least a little bit?
You’re never going to be able to read all the books in existence. That’s just a sad, simple fact of life. We all have to find ways to prioritize which books we’re going to read. I often do that based on recommendations, book descriptions, topics of interest to me, and, yes, titles and covers that draw me in. Judging a book by its title is at least one metric that can be useful in deciding which books you want to read. Regardless of whether you agree, let’s look at a few historical fiction books that I judged by their titles—and why—along with some new releases coming out this week.
Bookish Goods
Book Annotation Kit from Book Shop by Kendra
I’m not a book annotator, but I know a lot of readers are, and this kit is the most adorable way to stock up on supplies and keep them organized all at once. $17
New Releases
Maria by Michelle Moran
Release date: July 30, 2024
As a Sound of Music fan since childhood who has also read Maria Trapp’s own version of events in The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, I am so excited for this book. When Maria von Trapp first read the scripted Rogers and Hammerstein version of what was supposedly her life, she went to confront Hammerstein in person. Instead, she met his secretary, Fran, and struck up an unlikely friendship. Her real-life story isn’t what we’ve seen in the movie musical, but it may be even more compelling.
The Thirteenth Husband by Greer Macallister
Release date: August 6, 2024
In a real-life story stranger than any fiction, heiress Aimee Crocker led the kind of shockingly independent life few women could dream of in the 1880s. But her public notoriety and string of husbands hid a wealth of private pain. Determined to find love and left with her late parents’ fortune, Aimee traveled the world, marrying and divorcing numerous men in a time when divorce itself was shocking.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
I don’t always choose what I read based on the title, but when I do, you can bet those titles are killer. Of course, the title is only what catches my eye. I always check to see if the story actually sounds interesting before I commit to reading something. But with these books, the titles—in combination with some striking covers—were the first things to draw me in.
The Volcano Daughters by Gina María Balibrera
Two sisters raised in the shadow of a volcano and El Salvador’s dictator, El Gran Pendejo, are brought together and torn apart again by the dictator’s brutal regime. Graciela never knew her sister, stolen away from their community of Indigenous women indentured on a coffee plantation before she was born. But now Graciela has been taken too, chosen to become an oracle for the occult-obsessed dictator. Graciela and Consuelo are together again, but when the violence Graciela’s visions have inadvertently helped create comes home, they are each forced to flee, believing the other to be dead. Only time will tell if they can find each other again.
This title is evocative to me because it instantly makes me want to know how the girls are connected to the volcano being used to describe them. The volcano imagery also implies a certain violence—one that the book promises to delve into—juxtaposed with the more domestic, familiar relationship of “daughters.” All of that was enough to make me want to know more.
How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang
I love a title that’s a question. Also a really long title, not to mention one that’s worded in a slightly unusual style. How Much of These Hills is Gold delivers on both in addition to telling an incredible moving and lyrical story about siblings facing the racism and harsh lifestyle of the old American West. When their abrasive father dies, Lucy and Sam set off to bury his body. Haunted by his memory and the past, they discover that family is not so easy to escape.
If you want to talk books, historical or otherwise, you can find me @rachelsbrittain on most social media, including Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy.
Right now I’m reading The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer, a book about two grown men who must return to the magical land they were lost in a children.
