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Sarah’s Year In Books

Sarah’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Sarah’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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439 books | 1,150 friends

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2026 Reading Challenge

2026

READING

CHALLENGE

Sarah has read 7 of 85 books.

Sarah L. Johnson

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://www.readingthepast.com

Twitter

readingthepast

Genre

Reference, Historical Fiction

Member Since

August 2007

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/readingthepast

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Reference librarian, readers' advisor, avid historical fiction reader, NBCC member. Book review editor for the Historical Novels Review, regular reviewer for Booklist and Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries. Winner of the American Library Association's Louis Shores Award for book reviewing (2012). Blogging at Reading the Past since 2006.

I live out in the country in east central Illinois with my husband, too many cats, and an even larger number of books.

Note: I'm not the Sarah L. Johnson who writes dark crime fiction/horror, but Goodreads keeps assigning that author's books to me. ...more

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Combine Editions
Sarah L. Johnson’s books

Average rating: 3.93 · 69 ratings · 8 reviews · 3 distinct works

	Historical Fiction: A Guide to the Genre (Genreflecting Advisory Series) 3.84 avg rating — 45 ratings — published 2005 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Historical Fiction II: A Guide to the Genre (Genreflecting Advisory Series) 4.19 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 2009 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Information Professional's Guide to Career Development Online by Sarah L. Nesbeitt, Rachel Singer Gordon, Sarah L. Johnson (Goodreads Author) 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2002 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

1440 posts
Sarah L. Johnson's Blog

Gish Jen's genre-bending novel about her Chinese immigrant mother (and herself), Bad Bad Girl

As she details in the beginning of her fictionalized memoir, the author, Gish Jen, was constantly scapegoated by her mother, Agnes, who was born into a well-to-do banking family in Shanghai in 1925 and died in New York during Covid. Why did a woman treated so dismissively by her own mother, and who endured difficulties throughout her life, act so harshly toward Gish, her American-born daughter Read more of this blog post »

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Published on February 13, 2026 12:00

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Sarah is Currently Reading

Sarah is currently reading

A Fortune of Sand

by Ruta Sepetys (Goodreads Author)

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2 hours, 18 min ago

Sarah is currently reading

Trivia Factory

by David L. Faucheux (Goodreads Author)

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Oct 19, 2025 08:01AM

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Sarah’s Recent Updates

Sarah is currently reading A Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
2 hours, 18 min ago · like
Sarah finished reading Death at Bitterwood Clearing, A Civil War Mystery by Anne Mackay-Smith	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 18, 2026 07:52PM · like
Sarah is currently reading Death at Bitterwood Clearing, A Civil War Mystery by Anne Mackay-Smith	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 15, 2026 04:25PM · like
Sarah finished reading Land by Maggie O'Farrell (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 15, 2026 01:54PM · like
Sarah is currently reading Land by Maggie O'Farrell (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 07, 2026 03:11PM · 1 like · like
Sarah finished reading Inferno (The Nero Trilogy #3) by Conn Iggulden	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 07, 2026 09:11AM · like
Sarah entered a giveaway Where the False Gods Dwell by Denny S. Bryce (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 31, 2026 12:42PM · like · see giveaway
Sarah is currently reading Inferno (The Nero Trilogy #3) by Conn Iggulden	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 29, 2026 05:09AM · like
Sarah rated a book it was amazing A Case of Mice and Murder (The Trials of Gabriel Ward, #1) by Sally Smith	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 27, 2026 07:41PM · like
Sarah rated a book liked it Shadows on the Nile by Kate Furnivall (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 17, 2026 04:56PM · like

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
THE WORLD WAR TWO...: Novels of WW2	1063	852	Nov 28, 2025 03:03PM
THE WORLD WAR TWO...: New Release Books on WW2	3324	1286	Feb 11, 2026 03:23AM
THE WORLD WAR TWO...: Intelligence Operations & Units During WW2	488	437	Feb 16, 2026 06:17AM

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Sarah’s Quotes

“I really didn't realize the librarians were, you know, such a dangerous group.
They are subversive. You think they're just sitting there at the desk, all quiet and everything. They're like plotting the revolution, man. I wouldn't mess with them.”
― Michael Moore

22 likes

“Never apologize for your reading tastes.”
― Betty Rosenberg

72 likes

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Sarah’s Groups

Goodreads Librarians Group — 313319 members — last activity 0 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more

Plagues, Witches, and War: The Worlds of Historical Fiction — 92 members — last activity May 23, 2014 06:09AM
Coursera course

Ask Carol McGrath — 23 members — last activity Nov 13, 2014 06:46AM
...June 05, 2013 to July 05, 2013...

Step into the Story Historical Fiction Reading Group — 13 members — last activity Feb 07, 2024 04:43AM
Step into the Story is a labor of love for Barb Tanner-Wallace and Donna Jones Alward, historical fiction authors and best friends who love all things ...more

The Plantagenets — 379 members — last activity Dec 01, 2025 10:47PM
This is a group for those who enjoy reading nonfiction and fiction about one of England's most fascinating dynasties. Discuss the Plantagenet kings, t ...more

Jewish Historical Fiction — 753 members — last activity Sep 16, 2025 06:01AM
For those that love Jewish historical fiction representating as many cultures, countries, and time periods as we can find.

Australian Women Writers Challenge — 967 members — last activity Oct 29, 2022 10:17PM
AS AT JANUARY 1st 2022, THIS GROUP IS NO LONGER IN OPERATION. This group is for participants in the Australian Women Writers Challenge. Everyone who ...more

Minotaur Book Club — 270 members — last activity Mar 31, 2017 01:24PM
Hello, mystery and thriller lovers! Join us as we read and discuss a new Minotaur release each month.

Chicago Book Club — 100 members — last activity Jun 20, 2017 08:23AM
This group is created for readers and writers in Chicago and for out-of-towners who want to celebrate our local literary community as well as books se ...more

NetGalley Readers — 6534 members — last activity 3 hours, 17 min ago
This is a group for those who participate in NetGalley.com to discuss the books that they have been reading from the website, share helpful hints, and ...more

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Sarah L. Johnson’s Followers (175)

Sarah L. Johnson

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