books I'm reading

A two-story house sits on an open book against a backdrop of flowers; cover of Kelly Rimmer's The Story Keeper

Interview about The Story Keeper

Interview with Kelly Rimmer, author of The Story Keeper and other historical novels

cplesley

3 days ago3 min read

A dirt road winds among moss-covered hills seen against the backdrop of a cloudy sky. Off to one side, a castle stands at the edge of a lake; cover of Rhys Bowen's The Castle in the Glen

Bookshelf, Summer 2026

Historical fiction and one contemporary mystery on my bookshelf in Summer 2026

cplesley

Jul 103 min read

Two women's faces; one European with a 19th-century hairstyle and the other Asian are partially visible beyond images of branches, one with a bird and butterfly, the other with a red fruit; cover of Marian Yee's 4 Janes

Interview with Marian Yee

Interview with the author Marian Yee, whose magical realist novel explores east-west connections through a reimagining of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

cplesley

Jun 267 min read

Drawing of a red-haired man in Regency clothing, shown against an elaborate wallpaper background, facing a woman in simple brown dress and long robe against a background of plain stripes; cover of Shana Galen's A Shop Girl's Guide to Wooing a Lord

New Books Network Interview: Shana Galen

New Books Network interview with Shana Galen, author of the historical romance A Shop Girl's Guide to Wooing a Lord, set in Regency England

cplesley

Jun 192 min read

A man in Regency dress and a woman in modern clothing look at each other; they are both standing on an old-fashioned grandfather clock at different levels; cover of Samantha Silva's Sometime This Century

Interview with Samantha Silva

Interview with author Samantha Silva about her latest historical romance, Sometime This Century, a contemporary take on Jane Austen's world

cplesley

Jun 125 min read

A man in a caped coat and top hat, seen from the back, stands among bare trees; cover of Murder in Bloody Weald

Borrowed Books

Books borrowed from Kindle Unlimited that I plan to read—historical mysteries, Tudor fiction, a novel set in the Ottoman Empire, and a cat detective

cplesley

Jun 53 min read

A red-haired man in fashionable Regency dress, drawn against a fancy background, looks at a brunette in a plain brown floor-length dress covered with an equally plain coat, all portrayed against a pattern of stripes; cover of Shana Galen’s first Heiress Hunters novel, A Shop Girl’s Guide to Wooing a Lord

Interviews of Early Summer

Two forthcoming New Books Network interviews and two blog Q&A's, all scheduled to run between May and July 2026—historical romance, 1960s fiction, contemporary women's fiction, and historical/contemporary fantasy

cplesley

May 223 min read

A woman runs in silhouette in front of a group of old-fashioned town houses, the London skyline dimly visible behind them and a pair of ravens in the sky; cover of Kristen Perrin's How to Cheat Your Own Death

Interview with Kristen Perrin

Interview with dual-timeline historical and contemporary mystery novelist Kristen Perrin, whose latest Castle Knoll mysteries has just come out with Kensington Books

cplesley

May 15 min read

A brown-haired woman in a bright blue 18th-century style dress, seen from the back, holds a basket of ripe fruit and stands in a meadow, facing a city on a hill; cover of Stephanie Dray's and Laura Kamoie's A Founding Mother

Bookshelf, Spring 2026

Novels on my bookshelf in the spring of 2026, by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie, Shana Galen, April Howells, Kristen Perrin, Caitlin Shetterly, and Marian Yee

cplesley

Apr 33 min read

A woman's face tilted back so she's looking at the sky slowly bleeds in blue ink into the jade green background; cover of The Fountain by Casey Scieszka

Interview with Casey Scieszka

Interview with the author Casey Scieszka, whose magical realist novel The Fountain was published by Harper in March 2026

cplesley

Mar 204 min read

A young, dark-haired woman in a floor-length crimson gown stands in a garden, looking at a large gray mansion with only a few lighted windows; cover of Janie Chang's The Fourth Princess

Interview with Janie Chang

Author interview with Janie Chang, whose latest historical novel, The Fourth Princess, came out in early February 2026 from William Morrow.

cplesley

Feb 125 min read

A young woman with short, blonde hair, dressed in rose pink, holds a jar of daffodils while another woman pushes a pram in the garden outside; cover of Rhys Bowen's From Cradle to Grave

Historical Mysteries, Part 3

Historical mystery series I love, part 3, featuring novels by Rhys Bowen, Dianne Freeman, Alison Goodman, Darcie Wilde, and P. Srigley

cplesley

Feb 64 min read

A woman in Elizabethan dress, including a large ruff and cut off above the nose; cover of Jennifer Ashley's Eloise and the Queen

Bookshelf, Winter 2026

Novels, mostly historical fiction, on my Winter 2026 bookshelf, by Jennifer Ashley, Janie Chang, Sandra Freels, Kaoru Mori, Casey Scieszka, and Linda Wilgus

cplesley

Jan 24 min read

Drawing of a tomb with a large vial of poison in place of a door, surrounded by flowers, skulls, and a sword hilt; cover of Christina Dodd's A Daughter of Fair Verona

Historical Mysteries, Part 2

More historical mysteries I love, including series by Christina Dodd, Vanessa Kelly, Heather Redmond, Katie Tietjen, and Mary Winters

cplesley

Dec 5, 20253 min read

Outline of a figure of indeterminate gender, wearing a flat hat with feathers, tight clothes, and gloves, with an old-fashioned pistol in the right hand, surrounded by Tudor roses; cover of Amie McNee's To Kill a Queen

Interview with Amie McNee

Author interview with Amie McNee, whose latest Tudor historical mystery will soon come out with Crooked Lane Books

cplesley

Nov 7, 20254 min read

A drawing of an idyllic scene with fields and mountains; an ivied building to one side and a pair of bikes at the front; cover of Ann Claire, A Cyclist's Guide to Crime and Croissants

Contemporary Mystery Series I Love

Contemporary mystery series I love, by Ann Claire, Krista Davis, Uzma Jalaluddin, Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare, and Claudia H. Long

cplesley

Oct 24, 20254 min read

An old-fashioned typewriter, three keys, and a tipped bottle of poison against a blue background featuring a handwritten document; cover of Colleen Cambridge's Murder at Mallowan Hall

Historical Mysteries, Part I

Historical mysteries I love, featuring series by Colleen Cambridge, Irina Shapiro, Catherine Lloyd, C.M. Rawlins, and Clara McKenna

cplesley

Oct 17, 20254 min read

A drawing of a black-haired woman in sunglasses and a blue dress, holding a camera and a bag with the letters ER II and with a corgi on either side; cover of S.J. Bennett, The Queen Who Came in from the Cold

Bookshelf, Fall 2025

Fall 2025 Bookshelf featuring new novels by S.J. Bennett, Mimi Matthews, Mirta Ojito, Andrea Penrose, and Katie Tietjen

cplesley

Sep 26, 20254 min read

Against the background of a brick arch surrounded with pink and purple flowers, a young man in spectacles and a woman, both in Victorian-style clothes, gaze flirtatiously at each other; cover of Liana De la Rosa's Gabriela and His Grace

Interview with Liana De la Rosa

Author interview with Liana De la Rosa, whose latest historical romance, Gabriela and His Grace, has just come out from Berkley Romance

cplesley

Aug 29, 20254 min read

An old-fashioned two-sail boat on a golden river against a backdrop of desert, palms, pyramids, and a night-time sky with a full moon; cover of Rachel Louise Driscoll's The House of Two Sisters

Bookshelf, Summer 2025

Novels on my bookshelf, Summer 2025, historical fiction by Rachel Louise Driscoll, Kathleen Kaufman, Kate Khavari, Laurie R. King, Sarah Landenwich, and David Lewis

cplesley

Jun 20, 20255 min read

C. P. Lesley, Novelist

Interview about The Story Keeper

Bookshelf, Summer 2026

Interview with Marian Yee

New Books Network Interview: Shana Galen

Interview with Samantha Silva

Borrowed Books

Interviews of Early Summer

Interview with Kristen Perrin

Bookshelf, Spring 2026

Interview with Casey Scieszka

Interview with Janie Chang

Historical Mysteries, Part 3

Bookshelf, Winter 2026

Historical Mysteries, Part 2

Interview with Amie McNee

Contemporary Mystery Series I Love

Historical Mysteries, Part I

Bookshelf, Fall 2025

Interview with Liana De la Rosa

Bookshelf, Summer 2025