5 Goodreads Choice Awards 2025 Historical Fiction Nominees We’d Read Again
We rounded up five of our favorites, from ‘Atmosphere’ to ‘Broken Country’
Key Takeaways
- These five books come from the historical fiction nominees list in 2025.
- We chose five titles from the Goodreads list, including ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘Good Dirt.’
- See how many votes each of these Goodreads Choice Awards nominees received.
Every December the bookish app Goodreads lets readers vote on their favorite new books from each genre. The 2025 historical fiction nominees, which received more than 601,522 votes, are still popping up on readers’ monthly wrap ups. As we wait for the voting to begin for the 2026 awards, we’ve rounded up our top five picks from the list. Read on for our favorites.
‘Atmosphere’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid – 254,774 votes
From bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid comes a historical fiction tale centered around space. Set in the 1980s, this story centers on Joan Goodwin, one of the first women astronauts recruited by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). There, she befriends pilot Hank Redmond, scientist John Griffin, mission specialist Lydia Danes, astronaut Donna Fitzgerald and aeronautical engineer Vanessa Ford. Then in December 1984, disaster strikes during a mission, trapping Joan’s friends in space with no way out. Can she use what she learned at NASA to save them?
What Goodreads users are saying: “This is not a book you leave behind. It’s a treasure that will live inside you as long as you live. I can’t remember a love story that has touched me more, shattered my heart and plastered it back together again. I also cried so much that I needed to take a moment to just breathe. What kind of book is able to do that ? This one.”
‘The Stolen Queen’ by Fiona Davis – 17,548 votes
Fiona Davis is best known for novels that revolve around historic New York landmarks, and in this one she takes readers inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art—better known as the Met. In 1936, Charlotte Cross excavated ancient tombs in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, only for the expedition to end in an unthinkable tragedy. Four decades later in 1978 New York City, she’s employed at The Met when a priceless Egyptian artifact vanishes. To help figure out where it went, Charlotte teams up with 19-year-old Annie Jenkins, the assistant to Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who is trying to put together the annual Met Gala. A page-turning mystery that will leave readers guessing.
What Goodreads users are saying: “Every time I read a Fiona Davis novel I know exactly what to expect. A little bit of romance, a little bit of humor, a dash of mystery and a thrilling plot that I won’t be able to stop reading. That is exactly what happened with The Stolen Queen and I loved that it took place in both Egypt and New York. This book also made me put the Met on my list of places to go in NYC, and Davis makes every word of this story feel vivid and lifelike. The mysteries and bit of magic were all solid additions, and I definitely shed a few tears during this one.”
‘Broken Country’ by Claire Leslie Hall – 97,131 votes
This dual-timeline novel takes place in 1968 and 1955. In 1968, Beth and her devoted husband Frank peacefully tend their farm in rural England. But when her brother-in-law shoots a dog attacking their sheep, their lives implode—because, as it turns out, the dog belonged to novelist Gabriel Wolfe, Beth’s first love, who shattered her heart when they were childhood sweethearts. Soon after the tragedy, Beth finds herself drawn back into Gabriel’s world, which forces her to confront her old feelings and buried secrets—and decide who she is and what she truly wants.
What Goodreads users are saying: “Broken Country is as much a family story as a love story, and it quickly piqued my interest and stole my heart. It’s an evocative and heartbreaking story layered with two timelines and themes of love, loss and the consequences of choices made. Long-held secrets will unfold, tragic events will take place, and the less you know going in, the better your experience will be.”
‘The Book Club for Troublesome Women’ by Marie Bostwick – 29,825 votes
This charming story transports readers to 1963 Virginia. Margaret has it all: three children, a loving husband and a beautiful home. When New Yorker Charlotte arrives in their neighborhood from New York, Margaret decides to start a book club. She invites Charlotte and two others and decides that their first book will be The Feminine Mystique. What follows is a life-changing year for all four women, who face challenges, love and loss.
What Goodreads users are saying: “The Book Club for Troublesome Women is a story about courage. About the strength it takes to say no, and the deeper strength it takes to say yes to your own truth. It is a celebration of friendship, of books, of the profound and transformative magic that happens when women gather—not to gossip, but to grow. I will be recommending this book to every woman I know.”
‘Good Dirt’ by Charmaine Wilkerson – 22,013 votes
In this family saga, set in the late 2010s and the 1800s, Ebby Freeman is just 10 years old when her brother’s murder and the destruction of a prized family heirloom turn her world upside down. Nearly two decades pass, yet the case remains unsolved. When buried truths finally surface, Ebby begins piecing together how her family’s history impacted her own life in ways she never imagined.
What Goodreads users are saying: “This book beautifully explores grief, trauma, mental health, ancestry, racism, bravery, inheritance and the importance of respecting history to shape one’s present and future. I enjoyed Good Dirt as much as the author’s other book Black Cake and highly recommend it to fans of inspirational historical fiction.”
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