As an avid reader and someone whose job revolves around books and reading, I’m always fascinated by trends in the publishing industry—and how those influence and intersect trends in my own reading habits.
This year I began to notice one such trend in newly published fiction: I found myself picking up a startling number of books whose plots incorporated painting. Whether the protagonists were painters, or art collectors, or the villain an art forger, it was uncanny how often painting popped up in the plot. Sometimes the fine arts element deepened my appreciation of a story I loved; sometimes it redeemed a story I was otherwise not particularly interested in.
Thanks to my reading journal, it was impossible not to notice this pattern—and once I noticed, I began to seek out more books set in the world of the fine arts. In the process I’ve fallen in love with a niche subgenre I didn’t previously think to look for, a genre I call fine arts thrillers.
What’s so great about a mystery/thriller built around a subject like painting or classical music? A skilled novelist—one who knows about art as well as the craft of writing—can layer the intricacies of the art world upon a pageturning plot, producing a story that satisfies on multiple levels. I get to learn about museum curation, the practice schedules of classical musicians, or the skyrocketing value of modern paintings, all while getting to know characters immersed in this world and coming along for the ride as they navigate the conflicts specific to their stories.
The first fine arts thriller I read this year was Grace D. Li’s Portrait of a Thief, which I chose for the 2022 MMD Minimalist Summer Reading Guide. In Li’s debut, five Chinese American college students become justice-driven international art thieves. Their audacious goal is to break into art museums in five countries, in order to steal back artifacts that were once wrongfully stolen from China—and secure a life-changing $50 million reward.
There was so much I loved about this story, including, of course, the art: the minute descriptions of valuable artifacts, the significance of those artifacts to a people and culture, even the intricacies of museum security. Those details and related intertwined themes (art history, cultural identity, and art ownership, and more) lent an extra layer of fascination and enjoyment to an already strong story. (I’ve noticed I enjoy these art themes even when they feature more lightly in the plot, like in Killers of a Certain Age, which is by no means a fine arts thriller, but its museum-laced terminology was so dang FUN!)
Earlier this summer I read Daniel Silva’s Portrait of an Unknown Woman, book #22 in his Gabriel Allon spy series. In this new bestseller, the retired Israeli intelligence officer emerges from a blissful retirement to investigate the suspicious sale of a newly discovered and extraordinarily valuable painting by an Old Master—or so it seems. His investigation takes him down the rabbit hole of a hugely successful art hedge fund, which is generating millions of profits for its investors, but may be doing so by trading in forgeries. While I wasn’t particularly invested in the plot (at least not on audio), I ate up every morsel about art crime, the techniques of forgery creation and discovery, and the business of the art world.
My most recently read fine arts thriller is The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, set in the world of classical music. The story begins with a bang: a young violinist discovers on the eve of a life-defining global musical competition that his $10 million dollar Stradivarius has vanished from its case, replaced by a white Chuck Taylor and a ransom note. I was hooked! At last weekend’s Festival of Books & Authors hosted by Bookmarks NC (where Brendan was an author on the Book Club Favorites panel I moderated), he called his story a “musical thriller,” and I would very much like more of those in my life. (Thankfully, he has a new book coming out this April!)
Now that I’ve discovered how much I enjoy this niche subgenre, I’d love to find more fine arts thrillers—exciting mysteries whose plots revolve around art and drama, sculpture and dance, poetry and theater and more!
Readers, I’d love to know two things: what niche subgenre have YOU fallen in love with? What kinds of extremely specific books do you find yourself seeking out because you consistently enjoy them so much? And what fine arts thrillers do YOU recommend? Share your favorites in comments; if we have enough suggestions we’ll put together a book list post featuring your answers!
239 comments
Oh this is such a fun post and I’m looking forward to reading all the comments!
I loved Portrait of a Thief, and I am waiting patiently to get to the top of the library wait list for The Violin Conspiracy.
And I have a recommendation for a fine art thriller for Anne: Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr, which is the story of the search for a painting, ‘Woman on Fire,’ which was stolen by the Nazis during WWII. There is mystery, intrigue, a really villainous art thief, and some history. I listened to it on audio and really enjoyed it but it is very “open door,” to use Anne’s terminology, so take note if that is an issue for you.
My most-favorite-niche-of-all-time is time travel stories. I think the first one I ever read was Time and Again by Jack Finney, which I probably read ~30 years ago. It’s the “classic” time travel novel which asks the question, “What happens if you go back in time and try to change the past?” Finney wrote a sequel, From Time to Time, as well as several short story collections about time travel. I love them all! There have been so many great books written in the past few years that feature some element of time travel, time loops, or alternate lives. A few of my favorites are The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (looking forward to the new miniseries of this one!), The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, and Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister.
Just this weekend I picked up a book titled “Meet Me in Another Life,” by Catriona Silvey. I had not heard of this book or the author, but the title grabbed my attention. It tells the story of Thora and Santi, and each chapter is one possible variation of their lives. For example, in the first chapter they meet as two university students, and in another chapter Santi is a science teacher and Thora is his seven year old student, and in another Thora is Santi’s adopted daughter, and in yet another, she is his therapist. The book explores fate and destiny and the question “How can we ever truly know another person if we only have one type of relationship with them?” I’m only about half-way through but I am loving this book. Highly recommend!
Happy Reading !
Hi Adrienne,
Time travel novels are some of my favourite as well. I have read some but not all of your favourites and have added those to my TBR. Have you tried ‘The House on the Strand’ by Daphne du Maurier, ‘Marianna’ by Susanna Kearsley or ‘Life After Life’ by Kate Atkinson? They rank at the top for me with ‘Time Traveler’s Wife’ and ‘The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue’.
Thanks so much for the recommendations!
Hi Lori!
I have read most of Susanna Kearsley’s books (they are so good!) but I don’t think I have read Marianna yet. I have read Life After Life, not The House on the Strand so I’m adding that to my TBR now. Thanks for the recommendations! Are you on Goodreads? I’m on there, Adrienne Hudson, if you want to connect on Goodreads.
Y’all might enjoy Before the Coffee Gets Cold and its sequel Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales From the Cafe. Customers visit a certain coffee shop in Japan and if they sit in a particular chair and start drinking a cup of coffee, they can revisit someone from the past, but must return before the coffee gets cold.
Hi Jo! I’ve heard of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, but haven’t read it yet, and I had not heard of the sequel. I need to get these on my TBR. Thanks for sharing the recommendations.
Adrienne and Lori,
I’m also a sucker for time travel novels…how each author approaches the genre and “explains” the time travel aspect is so fascinating. I guess it’s the ultimate fly-on-the-wall scenario.
You’ve both recommended some new titles for me and I’m glad to see some old favorites on your lists (I reread Marianna often). Have either of you read The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain? It’s well done.
Hi Mary! Yes, I have read Dream Daughter and I agree it is very well done. I love this genre and happily there are so many good books that explore it.
I think I’ve found my people! Time travel ( and an off shoot-roads not taken) has been a favourite of mine for over fifty years. The first of its kind that I read was Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine. She has written others as well.
Here are some that I have read:
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue (Schwab)- the audio was amazing.
This Time Tomorrow (Straub)
The Dream Daughter (Chamberlain)
Susanna Kearsley books
Some of Allison Winn Scotch’s books
Right now I am reading one about two of my favourite genres -murder mystery and time travel called A Murder in Time ( McElwain)
And I have Wrong Place, Wrong Time (McAllister) on my shelf waiting for me.
Thank you all for suggestions that I have noted down.
Welcome Sandy! I’m so glad you found us! I have never heard of Allison Winn Scotch, or the McElwain book, so I’m definitely going to check those out… Will also have to look for some by Barbara Erskine.
Hello Adrienne and all of the Time Travel fans and thank you for all the suggestions about your favorite time travel books. I am always looking for recommendations to add to my TBR. I wanted to share one of my favorites that has not been mentioned yet and that is What The Wind Knows by Any Harmon. I read this book in 2019 but still think about the characters and my reading experience. It combines time travel and historical fiction with a little bit of romance mixed in. It takes place in 1900s Ireland – one of my favorite places to read about.
Hi Maggie! I loved What The Wind Knows; I remember it had a storyline about Michael Collins and the Easter Uprising in Ireland, which is something I knew very little about. My favorite book about Ireland is Trinity by Leon Uris. Have you read that one? It is fantastic!
I loved the Murder in Time series. I still have a couple of them to catch up on but thought they were very well done.
You should give Sea of Tranquility (Emily St John Mandel) a try. One of my faves of 2022
Thanks for these great recommendations! I loved The Time Traveler’s Wife when I read it many years ago and I have The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue to read. I am looking forward to reading your others listed here. I will also look you up on Goodreads.
I am LOVING this sub-thread about time travel fiction. I didn’t know other people were as fascinated by this as I am! Thank you all for some great recommendations—some other ones that I have read and loved are How to Stop Time by Matt Haig and Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore. I’m about to start What the Wind Knows, and have heard great things.
Dark Things I Adore is a dual timeline art themed thriller. One of the timelines is at a fine arts camp. It’s dark but really well done. I too love arts based mysteries.
I have been on my own rabbit trail this summer on fine art novels. I read Portrait of a Thief and Portrait of an Unknown Woman. I just read The Girl from Guernica and am starting Woman on Fire. The first is based on Picasso’s painting of Guernica and the second is Ernst Engel’s Woman on Fire. Absolutely fascinating and totally niche reads.
I agree, these thrillers are such a welcome relief from the tired genre of murder mysteries. I reviewed Violin Conspiracy on my blog – https://frommycarolinahome.com/2022/09/05/book-reviews-two-great-ones-two-ok-beach-reads/ – read on your recommendation. I will eagerly look for the art thief book, sounds fabulous!
All of Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allende series include a fine arts angle. they are great reads. Also loved Grace Li’s Portrait of a Thief. Will look for the others you mentioned.
Try The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte. An excellent thriller based around art and chess.
Oooh, yes! We read this for book club a few years ago and it was really cool.
This won’t be an eloquently described sub-genre but I find I am drawn to stories where the main character(s) are older people who are living rich lives – whether they’re already doing it or have a kick in the pants that pushes them to change things to live a fuller life.
Hi Aimee, could you recommend some of the books you’ve read in this category that you have enjoyed?
Yes, Aimee! I would love to hear as well! That sounds so interesting!
Not Aimee, but “Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting” by Clare Pooley fits this description perfectly!
Hi – sure!
– Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
– The Library of Lost and Found
– Iona Iverson’s Rules for commuting
– Winter Solstice
– Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
– The Curious Charms of Arthur Peppter
– Meet Me at the Museum
– Miss Benson’s Beetle
– Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
– All the Lonely People
– A Man Called Ove
– The Gown
– Nobody Will Tell You This but Me
– News of the World
– Less
– A Gentleman in Moscow (maybe not completely fitting into this genre I’ve made up – ha! – but he definitely lived an interesting life!)
Ooh – yes! I am always on the lookout for a good book to which I can relate at this stage in my life (middle-aged, lawyer, mom, new empty-nester . . ) or that provides a little motivation for what is to come. (Hopefully living a fulfilling and psychologically rich life!).
100%, Traci!!! I was about to write that this may sound silly but my fellow readers won’t find it silly…being able to identify with a character who is in the back 9 of life, so to speak, and is making the most of it is inspiring to me, like a role model. Sadly much of what I’ve seen first-hand is real-life is that people get to a point where they’re merely existing.
My therapist of many years was in her late 60s when we started working together and mid 70s when we stopped. I asked her once how she was so “with it” and she shared two things with me. One was overhearing nurses arguing over who had to take care of her dad in the hospital (of course they did not know she was in a nearby hall and could hear) and deciding she never wanted to be the person no one wanted to deal with. The second was her motto which I’ve taken to heart: Be interested and be interesting!
Maybe my sub-genre title should be “older people who are interested and interesting!” 🙂
Aimee and Tracy – with you on all this! My 93 year old great aunty still asks questions about my work life, has well observed opinions on the news, and comments on her health maladies sparingly. Thus is brilliant company! I would love recommendations on books with protagonists who are older but not yet old – particularly women being challenged (in any genre).
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle falls into this sun genre. It’s truly a gem!!
I enjoyed Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand and Lilian Boxfish Takes a Walk (be sure to read the Author’s Note at the end, where she explains where Lilian’s story comes from–yes, it is based on a real woman’s life!). I bought Nobody Will Tell You This But Me for my MIL last holiday season, and she loved it (she is 86). I enjoyed it too, and the bit about teaching her granddaughter about art by going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC and asking good questions was both hilarious and thought provoking! I am definitely going to look for some of those other titles you listed, thank you!
I’ve enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. It features 4 friends, all retirees living in a senior community in England. Very fun, engaging plots and touching friendships.
I have loved so many of these so this must also be my niche. Have you read Less is Lost (the sequel)? I am enjoying it right now. I also enjoyed Etta and Otto and Russell and James, which is about an 83-year old woman’s last great adventure. James is a talking coyote. So fun!
You might enjoy Fellowship Point, wonderful characters in their 80s
I just commented that inlove “curmudgeon lit” or basically things with well-written older protagonists!
That’s a much better title for the sub-genre! 😉 I’m 45 so maybe it seems weird to some people that I like books with older protagonists but I think I’ve seen so many (the majority) older people in my life who make it look…really awful. It’s nice to have a more redemptive (but not unrealistic) view of aging.
Hahaha “Curmudgeon Lit”! Love it!
I’m another fan of this sub-genre (or is it its own genre?!), and have read several on Aimee’s list.
As a Homecare CNA, I feel they bring an optimistic balance to what I often see in my work, and remind me that just because you’re older, doesn’t mean life is over! 😊
The Thursday Murder Club books are set in a retirement home! Have you read any?
I just finished the 3rd TMC book and I LOVE these characters so much. I long ago realized I am a fan of Curmudgeon Lit as well. It started with OVE and Britt Marie!
Agree on Thursday Murder Club series and curmudgeon lit!
I haven’t but am adding to my TBR – thank you for sharing!
LOVE them!
I’m not sure that it’s a sub genre, per se, but I LOVE artistic protagonists who are working hard on their craft (as opposed to just being an artistic genius). It doesn’t have to be the whole plot; often it’s just a small part. The two books that kicked this off are White Oleander and The Time Traveler’s Wife. I’d also add: The Air You Breathe, Daisy Jones and the Six, The Queen of the Night, The Animators, and The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (and more I’m probably forgetting). I just grabbed Portrait of a Thief off the library shelf and would love more recommendations in this vein!
YES, me too! I love books about people who are passionate about their work. If you haven’t yet, check out Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.
Kate, thank you for mentioning the new Gabrielle Zevin book…who knew that I would be captivated by gaming creators? Loved it and her writing does not disappoint!
Thanks, Kate! That cover has caught my eye, but I didn’t follow through on my interest. It’s going on the TBR!
The Alex Clayton series by Katherine Kovacic may fit the bill for fine art mysteries. I enjoyed the first one enough to try the rest of the series.
Looking forward to looking up some of these books – it reminded me of my love for the TV show White Collar! The mention of the Stradivarius made me smile too, as there is an episode about one as well. I love when my viewing intersects with my reading, or when they encourage me to research even more surrounding the subject!
I love that show, White Collar 😍 The Magnolia Palace and The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis involve a lot of art, history, and mystery with fierce female leads.
Great post! I’ve said for years that my niche is “books set in NYC during the times when people still wore hats.” Over the last year, I’ve discovered that London can stand in for NYC sometimes.
Allison – I love your description of your niche!
Me too Allison! Have you read Susan Meissner’s lovely book A Fall of Marigolds? It’s set in NYC and has dual timelines, but the bulk of the novel is about a young nurse who works at the Ellis Island Hospital in 1911.
I also love fine arts thrilllers!!! I would recommend also The Stolen Lady.
Also try Iain Pears the Raphael affair
I second this! I’ve been trying to remember the name as I read down the thread and here it is.
And the others in the series too! There are 7 in Ian Pears’ art history mystery series. (I know I’ve read the first 4, but can’t remember if I read the later ones or not – might have to revisit the whole series!)
The Raphael Affair
The Titian Committee
The Bernini Bust
The Last Judgement
Giotto’s Hand
Death and Restoration
The Immaculate Deception
B.A. Shapiro is a good author for this! I really enjoyed the The Art Forger and The Muralist!
I second both of these recommendations!
I love B.A. Shapiro!
I third this recomendation!
I agree, B.A. Shapiro’s books are great!
Maybe it’s not a sub genre, but I am always always drawn to Japanese novels-in-translation. Doesn’t really matter what the plot is, I just love Japan and how their culture is so very different from my own.
I also adore time travel novels. Same thing where it doesn’t really matter what the plot is, if it’s got time travel in it, I’m at the very least intrigued.
Hi Elizabeth,
I love those too!
Have you read “Convenience Store Woman” by Sayaka Murata? It was a very interesting little book.
Just bought a book by Katie Kitamura on ebay called “Japanese for Travelers” (Goodreads: A Japanese-American raised in California, Kitamura returns to Japan to discover the country she left behind.)
Would LOVE to hear about some of your favorites!
Have you read The Great Passage, by Shion Miura? I loved how the author wove a thread through the characters over time with a dictionary, especially enjoying the window into Japanese culture through the story.
I have inadvertently stumbled into the world of Victorian mysteries with strong female lead. There are so so many authors writing this and it is all about the character development. To name a few:
A Rip Through Time – Kelly Armstrong
Enola Holmes series – Nancy Springer
Lady Sherlock series – Sherry Thomas
Lily Adler mysteries – Katharine Schellman
A League of Extraordinary Women series – Evie Dunmore
Countess of Harleigh mysteries – Dianne Freeman
Victorian Lady Detectives is my favorite niche sub genre too! Some I love that aren’t on your list are Veronica Speedwell and Lady Darby! I’m looking forward to starting some on your list.
Try the Lady Emily series by Tasha Alexander!
You might want to check out the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters!
I love epistolary novels. Some favorites that come to mind are 1000 White Women by Jim Fergus, Address Unknown by Katherine Kressman Taylor, Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher, Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson, A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsyth Hailey and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Annie Barrows.
Ali – have you read The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson or Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole? Both are epistolary novels which I really enjoyed.
Thank you for these suggestions! I love epistolary novels too.
I also love epistolary novels, and think that Dear Committee Members is a wonderful hidden gem. SO FUNNY!
Ali have you read Love & Saffron. I really enjoyed this story of female friendship.
Also if you liked Guernsey, then Things We Didt Say bt Amy Lynne Green is lovely! Ww2 epistolatory novel with plucky heroine
LOVE epistolary novels, I’ve read half of the ones you recommend, I would add 84, Charing Cross Rd, you must have meant to put that in! I particularly love Meet Me at the Museum, I have just read it for the second time and now have my sister reading it. I also think of Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, and Daddy Long Legs, and somewhat—Where’d You Go, Bernadette…
I LOVED Attachments and Daddy Long Legs. Another one similar to Daddy Long Legs is Dr. Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay.
That’s Dear Mr. Knightley.
I love epistolary novels too, especially 84 Charing Cross Rd. One I read every few years at Christmas time is Lee Smith’s the Christmas Letters.
I love epistolary novels too! Have you read Love and Saffron! Super short but so good!
I love, love, love The Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger! It’s a YA epistolary novel about a young boy in WWII era Brooklyn.
It’s an old novel but I remember Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith being a good epistolatory novel.
Fine arts thrillers:
Night Portrait: A novel of World War II and da Vinci’s Italy by Laura Morelli – dual timelines between late 2400s when Leonardo da Vinci created Woman with an Ermine and the 1940s when museum and art specialists and the Monuments Men were trying to retrieve and protect the art treasures of Europe from the Nazis, including Woman with an Ermine.
Also Girl in Hyacinth blue by Susan Vreeland about a small paining, perhaps by Vermeer in a private home. Was it a Nazi trophy?
Favorite Subgenre Historical Fantasy: Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery of Witches / All Souls series/ research, history, medical science and spectrum of earth’s creatures.
Also Sarah Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses series- yields on Tamlin and Celtic folklore. But Not so much her A Throne of Glass which was too epic, violent and with casts of thousands in 8 long books.
For historical fantasy you have to read the duology by Helen Wecker that starts with the Golem & the Jinni. Great on audio if you like that format.
I read Killers of a Certain Age when it was prepub, and it captured my imagination! Female James Bonds of retirement age…
I loved The Violin Conspiracy and have recommended it far and wide. Mao’s Last Dancer is not a novel. It is an autobiography that reads like a novel. The author, Li Cunxin, grew up in poverty in Mao’s China. By a fluke he was chosen to attend a ballet school sponsored by Mao’s wife. The incredible twists and turns of his life will leave you breathless and if you look him up on line you will see just how far ballet took him.
I love the books about books and also anything in Paris. I just recently finished a book where art is a major theme: Horse by Gwendolyn Brooks. It also had interesting history about Kentucky.
Horse was so good!
I love books about books too and LOVED Horse!
Ohhhh YES to both of these!!!
Two great books about books are The Library thief by Susan Orlean and The Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer. Both are non fiction that read like novels.
I LOVED Horse! So good!
Bildungsromans and/or college settings.
I would recommend the fine arts thriller The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro
I second this!
A couple of older titles, The Art Forger, B. A. Shapiro and The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier. Tracy Chevalier also wrote about medieval tapestry; The Lady and the Unicorn. I enjoy reading stories/mysteries set in museums and other arts.
I, too, especially like this sub genre. I really enjoyed Portrait of a Thief this summer. Other books that I’ve enjoyed recently with a fine arts thriller angle are Still Lives by Maria Hummel and its sequel, The Lesson in Red. And just this week I read The Wild Beasts of Wuhan by Ian Hamilton. It’s in the Ava Lee series, which I’m currently binging, and the art focus in this one was a nice surprise. B.A. Shapiro has written several thrillers centering on forgeries and other scandals in the art world. I think her best is The Art Forger.
Happily, I was at the panel discussion you moderated at Bookmarks, and added The Violin Conspiracy to my TBR list! Also the sub-genre to highlight from that panel could have gone ALL different ways…. 😉
I love a good boarding school novel or one about struggling writers.
Finding stolen Nazi art and more can be found in Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr. Good pacing, interesting backstory.
Mystery series set between the World Wars with strong female lead: Maisie Dobbs, Kopp Sisters, Maggie Hope, Elena Standish, Bess Crawford
I also love the Victorian era ones too: Lady Sherlock, Veronica Speedwell, etc.
I love this and also find myself drawn to this sub-genre. Have you read The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova? (Sorry if someone else suggested it.) I found myself riveted by the mystery and the characters. But I also really love Kostova!
The Swan Thieves was so good! I loved the psychological aspect.
Subgenre: Narcissistic Parents/True Family Secrets: I’m Glad My Mom Died (Jennette McCurdy), Never Simple (Liz Scheier), Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I met my 35 Siblings (Chrysta Bilton), Wild Game, (Adrienne Brodeur), & Inheritance (Dani Shapiro), Rough Draft (Katy Tur),
May I recommend the “Art forger” or “Cooking with picasso” for your new genre you like! Another great one is “the lost vintage” more wine/foodie mystery but still great!
I mostly read mysteries and thrillers, but there are a couple of sub-genres I enjoy as well. My favorite is the Silva books featuring Gabriel Allon. A lot of them have art connections wihich I have come to enjoy, although I was not previously interested in fine art. When I was in elementary school one of the parents would borrow paintings from our local art gallery and give a talk to our clas about the artist, techniques, etc. It’s surprising how much of what she said is still familiar when I read the Silva books. At the time I did’t realize how fortunate were were to have her doing this for us. I also enjoy books about the Navajo people, like Tony Hillerman and others who write about the American southwest. A third area is Scandinavian noir – I first started with Stieg Larson but also like the Department Q series, the Sandhamm mysteries and Icelandic thrillers.
What a fun post! I love to discover a new sub genre to pursue. As a sidenote what I’ve embarked on lately is books about cooking, learning to cook, going to cooking school anything along those lines. Lots of fun titles there.
On the fine arts front..
I agree with the two titles by B.A. Shapiro, I read both and loved them. I loved the violin conspiracy when I read it earlier this year they were some great titles mentioned above listed were a couple of titles by Jeffrey archer. These are not new titles and he’s been around in writing for quite a while but I read a couple recently on the fine arts theme.
False Impression by Jeffrey Archer
And Thereby Hangs a Tale also by Archer, this is a book of his short stories and some of them are fine art related..
The William Warrick stories by Aacher also have a fine art theme because Warrick’s wife is an art curator. Especially number four which is Over My Dead Body.
The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis
The Book Artist by Mark Pryor
Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl may be a find for you. She was a restaurant critic in NYC for many years AND ran Gourmet magazine…this was a memoir that read like a novel! She has others…Garlic and Saffron (l think) that are fun and beautifully written…and the food descriptions….yummy!
Last year I decided to read one of my Nana’s favorite series, Mrs. Pollifax. Then I read The Thursday Murder Club series. I think I’m digging the new trend of retired folk mysteries.
I loved the Mrs. Pollifax series.
I’ve read all the Mrs Pollifax books. She’s a fantastic character and all the other characters are great too.
Fascinating post!
If you like books around art, I would recommend “My Name is Asher Lev”. Never have I ever felt like I was in the headspace of an artist. It’s a true classic! I also loved “The Madonna’s of Leningrad” for the amazing depictions of artworks.
I’m curious to know how this subgenre was able to pop up in your reading journal. Perhaps this is a sales tactic to buy one and if so, I can appreciate that!
Two great books that take place in the high end art world are Still Lives by Maria Hummel and The Art Forger by BA Shapiro
I don’t know if it classifies as a subgenera but I have definitely gone down a weird rabbit trail. My library bookclub is reading The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek that I had read several years ago. So I read first The Book Woman’s Daughter then started with her earlier works including The Unbreakable Child about the author’s time in a Kentucky orphanage. Intrigued, I have followed it up with Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. Then to follow the controversy I am currently reading Jojo Moyes The Giver of Stars. So it all fits together but in a weird, disjointed way.
I’ve read a few of those and agree with the unexpected rabbit trail. The latest one I read was more contemporary (and more bleak): Winter’s Bone, by Daniel Woodrell. It is short, beautifully-written, and the author is from the area, which he left and returned to after his education. I read it with my son for his senior English class.
Sirens and Muses and The Latecomer both feature are prominently in the plot and both were very good!
The Latecomer was one of my favorite books this year! And I learned so much about art.
While I was reading Woman on Fire all I could think of was The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith as it is MUCH better than Woman on Fire as a novel about art history. The Flanders Panel by Reverte is the best of the art history novels I’ve read. He always has so many layers to his novels, ha, especially in Flanders:). His The Queen of the South could fall into this genre because of his exploration of traditional Mexican music.
Horse by Geraldine Brooks is about equine art and as a bonus is set in Lexington, KY.
Yes, to Violin Conspiracy!! I so enjoyed it and especially all the NC references. I listened on Audible and loved the music throughout as well.
I recently became aware of what is referred to as exquisite writing or fiction. Not sure that it’s really a genre, but have found that most of the books I’ve truly loved enough to remember and would look forward to reading again, fall within the description of this type of writing. Some of the characteristics used to describe this type of writing include: use of exceptional word choice/placement, beautiful, clear phrasing, less is more, use of intense verbal imagery, and has a universal message. Some examples of exquisite fiction that I love include: The Remains of the Day, My Antonia, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Bel Canto, Siddhartha, All the Pretty Horses, The Book Thief, All the Light We Cannot See, and A Gentleman in Moscow💜
You might like Fresh Water for Flowers.
As I read your characteristics list, the first book I thought of was A Gentleman In Moscow!
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbary
I read it in one go and had to keep stopping to reread passages because they were so beautiful!
Sooo many great recommendations here! Don’t think I saw The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Domini Smith yet. Also not specifically about fine art, but in the niche sub-subgenre of women doing unconventional arty-scholarly things in history that get unraveled in modern day: The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
The Weight I of Ink!! I loved this book!
I’d recommend “The Night Gate” by Peter May as a fine-art thriller. A present-day French art critic is found murdered in a remote village shortly after the human remains of what appear to be a suspicious death from the 1940s are discovered there. The link is precious art from the Louvre that had been hidden from the Nazis during WWII.
May tells the story in a dual timeline: a modern day procedural parallels a French Resistance tale of valor, featuring a young female curator. I could not put this one down. (NOTE: the book is the most recent in May’s “Enzo Files” series, although I didn’t know that at the time. I don’t know if any of the earlier installments feature art, but I liked the writing enough to read more of the backlist anyway!)
BTW, one of my fave sub-genres is WWII novels with strong female characters, so this book hit on several cylinders for me. 😊
I’ve recently remembered that as a young person, my favorite types of books were ones that had portals into other worlds, like Narnia or Last of the Whangdoodles. I haven’t read this type as an adult, but want to give more fantasy-type books a try! I’m not sure why I haven’t jumped into fantasy as an adult, but excited to give it a try and engage my imagination again.
They are targeted at a younger audience but you might really like the Every Heart a Doorway series!
I highly recommend Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke for a “portal into another world” book. Also Coraline, by Neil Gaiman a children’s book. This one has more of a creepy/spooky “other world” than the ones in the stories you mentioned, but it’s ultimately so affirming of life and beauty.
Fun question. I enjoy books (and movies) where pets or animals play a big role. Recently I enjoyed How the Penguins Saved Veronica and the sequel Call of the Penguins. Julia London has some cute romances which feature dogs. And Steven Rowley’s Lily and the Octopus is amazing but so sad. Would love more suggestions, especially for books with dogs.
An absolutely delightful book about animals (and one is a dog) is Perestroika in Paris!
Thanks Naomi I will check it out.
Spencer Quinn’s Chet and Bernie series is wonderful! Bernie is a private investigator and Chet the dog is his assistant. The books are narrated by Chet through his doggy frame of reference and are hilarious, but also serious. I adore Chet. The first is called Dog On It. Other titles are delightful, such as The Sound and the Furry & Tender Is the Bite.
I am very intrigued by the dog narrator.
I love Jon Katz’s dog stories. Many of them are memoirs of his own dogs and there is some sadness, as any pet owner will understand. He has written a novel, Rose in a Storm, which I also loved.
If you like cat stories, Homer’s Odyssey by Gwen Cooper is her (true) story of raising a blind kitten. Some of this takes place during the World Trade Center tragedy, so be careful if that would be a trigger for you. She is a journalist as well as a cat lover so the writing is beautiful as well. She also wrote a fictional book about another incident in NYC history, Love Saves the Day. Informative and entertaining!
I will definitely look up these. The memoirs sound wonderful.
Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance was a beautiful book with an animal-centered plot. Unlikely Animals has a great dog Moses in addition to a fox, bears and more…
I loved the two penguin books. Veronica is a wonderful curmudgeon.
My favorite niche subgenre of the last year has been steamy historical romances where there is a larger mystery plot involving multiple families (think series like Bridgeton, Pennyroyal Green, and the Maiden Lane series.) Even more specifically out of these I’ve especially loved the second-chance romance and widow story archetypes. They have been a wonderful escape this year and I can fly through them in one or two sittings usually.
I love this niche idea!
One I’ve stumbled across is historical fiction where the main character is a nurse. Being a nurse myself, I have found these books especially interesting. A few in this niche are The Pull of the Stars and The Wonder by Emma Donoghue, and The Secrets of Midwives by Sally Hepworth. I’ve also been meaning to read Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.
Katie, check out A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner 😊
Anne, have you read The Talented Miss Farwell? It’s right up there in that crazy sub-niche niche for you! 🙂
To fit into your fine arts niche, my book club just read Strapless by Deborah Davis, the story behind John Singer Sargent’s famous and somewhat infamous painting known as Madame X. It’s a wonderful read, carefully researched by Davis, that reveals much about the painter and about his model and what they both hoped to achieve with the painting. I highly recommend for its view of the Paris art scene in the late 29th century as well as the story itself.
A few years ago I read The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro about a modern day struggling artist and the world of forgeries. It was hard to put down
Well, can books set in Maine be A Thing?
I loved Vacationland. Tried Fellowship
Point, but it did not grab me &
Now I am reading Lucy By The Sea & it immediately pulled me in.
Sometimes I get on a kick like that.
Has anyone mentioned The Goldfinch???? It’s a whopper. Art related. I got pretty far into it years ago, but had to finally give up & return it to my library. Now oddly, I own a copy and never seem to get to it.
Let’s not forget Girl With A Pearl Earring.
Another current interest of mine is Hesse Germany & the jewel heist that occurred after WWII. I recently visited a castle there & went inside the now 5 star Schlosshotel that was the residence of Queen Victoria’s daughter Vicky & where said heist happened. Real intrigue. Spies, etc. Real life always stranger than fiction.
I could go down a huge rabbit hole (sub-genre??) on this for sure.
I found a paper back at my local library: A Most English Princess by Clare McHugh about Vicky. It starts out as her private letters are being secreted away.
To make things even more interesting Vicky’s first born was Kaiser Wilhelm, reportedly Queen Victoria’s favorite grandchild.
The whole relationship between Vicky and her son was a very complicated one.
I also visited Kaiser Wilhelm’s summer palace while visiting my daughter in Germany.
This topic could go on and on as Victoria’s grandchildren also included the Tsarina of Russia (Anastasia’s mother). She was born Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine in Darmstadt Germany.
When I went to this part of Germany recently, I had not realized the connections. I’d forgotten Prince Albert was from Southern Bavaria!
So help me out here. What subgenre is this? European Royal Families, Queen Victoria’s Grandchildren, British German Royal Connection?
That jewelry heist is a story all on its own. I believe several films have been made. A good documentary about Kaiser Wilhelm is Queen Victoria and the Crippled Kaiser. It has aired on PBS in the past; currently on Tubi.
The Royal web in Europe! That might be my subgenre! 😉Just the British German connection goes on & on.
Have you read “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt? I LOVED this book and I think you should add it to your art genre list…I will definitely be checking out your recommendations-thank you!
Sandra, growing up here in Texas we used to say: Pinch Poke you owe me a Coke!!!
Can’t believe no one had mentioned The Goldfinch? Or did we miss it?
Hard to tell with all these pop up ads 😤
Recently I have been enjoying books where the main character is a women in STEM and/or academia. I’m an electrical engineer, so I guess that makes sense. I have read through Susannah Nix’s chemistry lessons series and all of Ali Hazelwood’s books and novellas. I need to find more!!
I loved Lessons in Chemistry released this year if you haven’t read it yet…
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly was so good. I also enjoyed The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict.
Same! Perhaps not as great as Ali Hazelwood, but still good:
– Take A Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
– My Favorite Half Night Stand by Christina Lauren
– The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
I’d love more titles in this sub-genre.
You helped me id my own subgenre. I too have always been drawn to stories revolving around the arts – especially stolen art. I count The Cartograhers as a fine art thriller. The stories bring up aspects of industries art lovers like myself haven’t pondered.
Not sure this Canadian mystery series quite fits the fine arts thriller subgenre, but it is certainly adjacent: Lyn Hamilton’s archaeological mysteries. Set around the world, as the female protagonist solves mysteries about cultural artifacts/antiques. First book: The Xibalba Murders. Series ended in 2009, with the death of the author.
I loved The Violin Conspiracy and like you I cannot wait for Brandon Slocumb’s next book!
Since the pandemic, I’ve read a lot of romances, because I need the comfort and familiarity of knowing that everything is going to end up happy at the end, but I love reading a lot of diverse versions of the genre, not just the straight, white, beautiful people ones, so I’ve stretched myself. That being said, I’ve noticed recently that I’ve stumbled into a couple fun little sub genres that I really love. One is the reality dating show (The Charm Offensive, One to Watch, If the Shoe Fits) and cooking shows/chefs (A Proposal They Can’t Refuse, After Hours on Milagro Street, Chef’s Kiss, Recipe for Persuasion, Love and Other Disasters, Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, The Holiday Swap, The Chicken Sisters, Arsenic and Adobo (not exactly romance, but has a bit in there), Pride and Prejudice and Other Flavors…). Obviously, I can go on. This is just since the beginning of 2021.
I’ve also had fun with the random assortment of “people working in hotels,” which is what I did for several years, like “The Maid” and “Last Summer at the Golden Hotel” and a few others in the last couple of months. Lots of fun subgenres I never even thought to look for before the last couple of years.
Sadie on a Plate was a cute cooking competition rom com!
Another “people working in hotels” novel is Elin Hilderbrand’s The Hotel Nantucket.
Anne, I think you’d enjoy “King of the Confessors” by Thomas Hoving, a former curator of the Metropolitan Museum. Earlier in his career, he was curator of The Cloisters, the medieval wing of the Met. The book is about the frantic competition among many museums to acquire a 10th century ivory cross, which is now at The Cloisters. It’s a fantastic story and reads like a thriller. It’s available on Amazon in the hardcover and paperback versions…written in 1982, so probably not available in most bookstores.
I love books about art and music, as well. I read a lot of kids’ books, so my favorites have been Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan (if you listen to the audiobook, musicians play in the background!) and, of course, From the Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It’s a classic!
I wrote a post recently about Echo: https://brittanydahl.com/blog/echo-by-pam-munoz-ryan/
I also enjoy reading books that incorporate travel! That’s one of my favorite things to do.
Years ago, after falling for A Man Called Ove, I discovered an affinity for “curmudgeon lit” 😂 Really anything with elderly protagonists – in retirement homes — The Big Finish, The Thursday Murder Club series — or just out there living their best lives – The Switch, Celine. Gimme all the 70s and up leading men and ladies!
Also, I pictured A.J. Fikry as curmudgeonly, but have you seen the movie trailer? 😍😍❤️
Hi Leslie! Have you read The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson? The title is a mouthful… Enjoyable read about a 100 year-old man (obviously) who decides to escape from his nursing home on his 100th birthday. It tells of his madcap adventures and also goes into his history, and it turns out he has not only witnessed so many historical events, but had a part in many of them. It’s a fun, quirky book. Also, One In A Million Boy by Monica Woods has been recommended by Anne on several occasions. It features 104 year-old Ona, who is a great character.
Have you read The Little Old Lady Who Broke all the Rules by Catharina Ingleman-Sundberg or The Secret Diary of Henrik Groen, 83 1/2, by Henrik Groen, or An Elderly Lady is up to No Good by Helene Tursten? Also, check out The Queen Investigates series by SJ Bennett, about Queen Elizabeth doing some sleuthing of her own. They’re really great.
Leslie, SAME!!! And A Man Called Ove also kicked it off for me. I enjoyed The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window etc. as well as several books by Rachel Joyce – The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, it’s sequel The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, and Miss Benson’s Beetle – all so good! Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is another fave. For some reason they are all British…hmmm. Maybe this is mainly a Brit subgenre? They’re not all curmudgeonly but all older main characters having a new adventure in later life. I am a sucker for this niche!!!
Check out The Portrait by Emilia Kelly! Historical mystery/thriller in which the protagonist is getting her portrait painted and stumbles upon the photograph of a missing woman. Lots of portraits within the novel and each leads her closer to figuring out what happened to the missing woman. Kelly has an MA in art history and weaves in some cool art history theory.
https://www.amazon.com/Portrait-Emilia-Kelly/dp/B0B92L7XWF/
I’m a sucker for books that include an art history element, except for The Goldfinch which I strongly disliked.
I love stories about relationships and time. I’m not sure if this is a niche genre, or more of a broad over-genre.
Sometimes these are time-travel stories — I just finished This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub, which fits really comfortably into that genre — but other times they are books that jump around in the timeline to give you different perspectives over a long stretch of years, like A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. Other times, they are more straightforward, like Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner, where we watch a relationship unfold and change over a lifetime. These books are pretty different, but they share these themes of time and relationship, and I can always get into that kind of story.
Have you read The Art Forger, by Barbara A. Shapiro? Not a sparkling plot, but I was riveted by the art forging methods described in the book!
I’ve been drawn to historical fiction that is set a long long time ago lol. Matrix,The Pillars of the earth, Hamnet.
Thank you everything. My TBR list is now beyond huge.
To the fine arts in thrillers theme I would add Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, The Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri and a non fiction book that dealt with Van Gogh forgeries called Breaking Van Gogh by James Ottar Grundvig. I also enjoy the Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva.
I’ve recently become interested in the sub genre of women in mythology. I’ve enjoyed Circe by Madeline Miller, A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes, Daughters of Sparta by Claire Haywood, The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood and I’m looking forward to a bunch that are on my TBR pile!
My niche sub genre that I enjoy is books where technology existed but something has knocked it out, and people have to adapt to living without it.
My favorite subgenre is fiction or nonfiction that teaches me a ton about an obscure subject in a compelling way. My favorite example is The Feather Thief by Kirk W. Johnson, about victorian fly-tying and the crazy world of selling tiny bird feathers online. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett made me obsessed with the architecture of cathedrals. Why We Buy by Paco Underhill taught me all about consumer psychology, and how merchandise layouts encourage (or discourage) purchases.
I love these kinds of books too! One of my favorites is The Dragon Behind the Glass: A True Story of Power, Obsession, and the World’s Most Coveted Fish, by Emily Voigt. I learned about the world of expensive exotic pets, the lives of some bizarre 19th and 20th century naturalists, biology, ecology, and contemporary geopolitics. For a nonfiction book, it was a crazy ride.
What a fun post! I have two weird niche subgenres: 1) books in which plants, flowers, or herbs are a main character–and bonus points if there is a witchy vibe to go along with it! Some examples: The Language of Flowers; Garden Spells; Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire; and The Sparrow Sisters. And 2) books set in beautiful northern climates but something goes awry. This is broad, think: The River; The Snow Child; The Raven’s Gift; and Hatchet.
Have you read The Lost Queen by Signe Pike? Completely fits in with both of your niches. Such a good book.
Ooh, I haven’t read this, but it looks fantastic-thank you!!
The Lost Queen was so beautifully done, I absolutely can’t wait for the third book in this trilogy…
Have you read the China Bayles series of mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert? The protagonist is a former lawyer who left her career and now owns an herbal shop in the Texas hill country. Her best friend is Ruby and she runs a New Age shop which is right next to the herbal shop. The first book in the series is Thyme of Death and many (or all?) have an herb in the title. I think these would fit nicely into your subgenre!
Ha! I’m pretty sure I’m a perfect combo of China and Ruby, and this sounds right up my alley. Thank you!
It’s an older one but still a real page turner. “The Caravaggio Obsession ” by Oliver Banks
The Art Forger by BA Shapiro is my absolutely favorite fine arts thriller! Fake by Erica Katz is a 2022 version of the story but there were so many similarities between the two plots. My interest is piqued by Portrait of an Unknown Woman. Also loved Portrait of a Thief!
Hi Anne. An Australian author Katherine Kovacic has written a few books in this genre which you might enjoy – The Shifting Landscape, Painting in the Shadows and The Portrait of Molly Dean.
I really loved The German Lesson by Siegfried Lenz. It’s not a thriller, but a story set just after WWII when a young man looks back on the relationship between his father, himself and a local painter during WWII, when his style of painting (expressionism) was forbidden in Germany. It’s a story about duty and loyalty. The fun thing is, when I read this, I had a painter in mind, only to find out after finishing that the book was based on that painter’s life.
This book brings me to a niche I like: books set just after WW 1 or 2, like Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift, Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood, A single thread by Tracy Chevalier, The reader by Bernard Schlink etc.
I also like coming-of-age stories in a college setting.
I love narrative nonfiction that tells about people on a journey or overcoming some hardship…think Shackleton’s Endurance and River of Doubt.
My favorite niche subgenre is what I will call Funny Ladies. Basically these are memoirs written by witty women. Some of my favorites are: Hello, Molly! (Molly Shannon), Bossypants, (Tina Fey), Yes Please (Amy Poehler), Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (Mindy Kaling), Wishful Drinking (Carrie Fisher), I Feel Bad About My Neck (Nora Ephron, and Ali in Wonderland (Ali Wentworth).
Anne, you would love Fake by Erica Katz! I discovered it in my library’s new books section. (I remember it well because it was one of the few books I’ve read recently that wasn’t recommended by you!)
My favorite niche sub-sub-genre has to be American expats in France divulging their experiences with French culture while living there. There Are No Grown-Ups, along with Druckerman’s Bringing Up Bébé and Sarah Turnbull’s Almost French inhabit this space.
I was going to say–American or English ex-pats moving to France is one of my favorite sub-genres!! I have a whole shelf of them! Besides the ones you mentioned, I always loved Peter Mayle’s books, as well as My Life in France by Julia Child, I’ll Never Be French by Mark Greenside, A Home in France by Ann Barry, and the incomparable Elizabeth Bard’s two books, Lunch in Paris and Picnic in Provence.
Two nonfiction books you may enjoy in the world of art/art crimes:
-Priceless by Robert Wittman. Wittman tells the story of how he founded the FBI’s Art Crime Team and shares stories of going undercover to recover lost/stolen art. Fascinating read.
-The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser. In 1990, more than a dozen masterpieces were stolen from the Gardner Museum in Boston. The thieves walked in and walked out! There have been many theories, but this remains one of history’s largest unsolved art crimes as none of the pieces have ever been recovered.
I am always on the hunt for books about female academics, preferably with a little magic mixed in (but not necessary). Discovery of Witches, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, The Historian, The Lost Sisterhood, I can’t get enough! (And in fact if you can think of any similar books, I would love more recommendations).
I also tend to gravitate toward novels in which the main character is a baker – Sunshine, The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living, and the Magical Bakery Mystery series are a variety of fun examples. Not sure if it’s a niche sub-genre, exactly, but there’s some definite commonalities to the rhythms of the main character’s days.
Oh, I love both of these subgenres as well! A few to try: Lessons in Chemistry and The Signature of All Things. I *loved* The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, and I can’t wait to read the other book in that series!
Thanks SBE! I read Lessons in Chemistry, but The Signature of All Things is a new one for me, can’t wait to check it out!
So many comments. Hope I’m not duplicating anyone, but I really enjoyed The Art Forger by Barbara Shapiro. Includes some historical details about the Gardner museum theft. A good NF for the sub-genre is The Rescue Artist and The Forger’s Spell, both by Edward dolnick.
My sub-genre is a mix of “behind the scenes” like The Residence by Kate Anderson Brower and “stranger than fiction” true crime like The Falcon Thief by Joshua Hammer. Also anything about or with a dog on the cover and anything with a bookstore or library as part of the plot (too obvious I know).
I live for books with nature as a main character versus just a well-described backdrop. And if nature reminds the characters of its power and provides a backdrop for adventure all the better! So many examples but The Bear, We Were Unprepared, Sea Wife, Hail Mary, The Age Of Miracles, A Children’s Bible, The Four Winds, Leave The World Behind and The Snow Child are more recent reads I’ve really enjoyed.
I love books about book clubs, book stores and their customers, such as A.J.Fikury,
and libraries — The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend— the one about the book store –on a boat in Paris —- The End of Your Life Book Club — Angry Housewives Eating BonBons — there are many and all interesting because they lead you to other great books.
I love this sub-genre, too. The Book List by Sara Nisha Adams was wonderful. A library was central to this novel. The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson was also delightful.
Travel biographies/memoirs, e.g. A Walk in the Woods, Wild, Almost Somewhere, Travels with Charley, Rough Magic, The Ride of Her Life, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk, etc…
Also historical fiction with a strong sense of place, where the setting almost becomes a character of its own e.g. A Gentleman in Moscow, The Golem and the Jinni
Fine Arts Thrillers: How about a nonfiction thriller that revolves around the fine art of writing? The Library Book by Susan Orlean. Also loved middle grade books Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett and The Harlem Charade by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley. Anne, so great to meet you at the Bookmarks meet-up on Saturday! In your Instagram story, I was happy to see you fit in your introvert’s recharge. That was a LOT of excitement for bookish folks!
Curmudgeon lit is a favorite of mine & didn’t realize it had a name. I’ve read many of those mentioned but several are new to me & I’ll check them out.
Recommendation for Anne: Lucy Foley is known for her thriller mysteries such as The Guest List and most recently The Paris Apartment, but I loved her book The Book of Lost and Found. It is in this subgenre and have found myself recommending it over and over.
Lately, I’ve been fascinated with memoirs with the subgenre of people and their journey in therapy, such as Group by Christie Tate or Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. Would love to hear more recommendations like this!
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Maybe You Should Talk to Someone! I like books about women solving big problems in their lives, fiction or non-fiction. Any recommendations? I recently read Lessons in Chemistry and I really enjoyed it. I hope the film adaptation will be good.
Anne, have you read Inamorata by Megan Chance? It’s about twins who travel to nineteenth century Venice. While there, they have to figure out what’s more important,fame or family. Very interesting.
My all time favorite sub-genre is Child Narrators, like age 9-13, in grown-up books! (See Ordinary Grace, When We Were the Kennedys, Peace Like a River, Northern Borders, To Kill a Mockingbird…)
But I also like the aforementioned Expats moving to France category, as well as Jane Austen re-tellings and vagaries (just finished The Murder of Mr. Wickham) and now in my middle age, I am really enjoying memoirs and essays!
What the Fireflies Knew falls into the child narrator sub genre, with a first-person narration. I read it this summer and enjoyed it!
Here are a few I haven’t seen mentioned:
Books about religious cults.
Memoirs by people who have either hoarded or lived with someone who did.
History of housework.
Nonfiction where people describe their jobs, however ordinary (think Studs Terkel’s Working; The Shift; All the Livelong Day etc.)
I have an assortment of each of these.
I have always loved an art based mystery. It’s been a favorite genre for decades. I would recommend a nonfiction title for those who love art mysteries. It’s Priceless by John Shiffman and Robert Wittman. Wittman worked in the FBI recovering stolen treasures. The writing is pedestrian, but the stories are wild! Each chapter recounts a different assignment from meetings in old hotels in Spain to recover a paintings (Caravaggio, if I remember correctly) to sting operations at a rest area in NJ to arrest those trying to sell a solid gold ceremonial breast plate from lost civilization from long ago South America. Fascinating. Worth reading for real life art based mysteries.
Over the summer, Smithsonian Associates offered three sessions on “Art + Fiction.” The titles we read were:
– Marriage of Opposites (Alice Hoffman)
– A Light of Her Own (Carrie Callaghan)
– The Night Portrait (Laura Morelli)
Have you read What’s Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies? It’s excellent and would fit your niche — art restoration and forgery.
I also, like Anne, am drawn to the fine arts literary thriller sub-genre. One of the best books I read in 2021 was The Vanishing Act by Elizabeth Brundage. The story begins with a funeral of a famous photographer – however, there is no body in the casket! As we learn the back story of three students who were part of an elite photography workshop twenty years earlier, we learn that decisions and rivalries made during that time have a lot to do with this mysterious death. Not only a great story, with some tough social commentary about homelessness and heroine addiction among teenagers, but also I learned so much about fine art photography- and how a photographer views the world constantly as possible frames for a photo. Well written, fully formed characters, and a page turner!
For you time travel lovers (and also historical fiction fans), the best book I have read in that genre is 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Before you shout, “I don’t do horror, I don’t read Stephen King,” this is NOT a horror novel. A traveler keeps going back in time, trying to stop the Kennedy assassination; it is fabulous IMO!
Completely agree — and fantastic on audio! I’d never read Stephen King before this novel and I absolutely loved it.
I love this concept!! I have a couple like this too, one that I actively seek out (“girl/woman has to masquerade as a boy/man for Reasons and inevitably falls for one of the guys she can’t reveal her true identity to”) and one that keeps finding me (“YA about a celebrity and a normie who fall in love, and both real and fake drama ensue”). It’s so funny and kind of cool how books seem to come in waves like this! And it’s a great feeling when you find a niche theme that hits all the right notes for you.
Not really YA but I loved Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade and Geekerella by Ashley Poston (definitely YA on the second one) are both such fun examples of that!
Anne, in the sub genre of art thriller and art history I enjoyed The Lover’s Portrait by Jennifer S. Alderson. It’s about Amsterdam in WW2 and the Impact of the Nazi occupation. There is a modern storyline as well. For a nonfiction narrative I highly recommend The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece by the author of A Civil Action, Jonathan Harr.
I’ve read through most of Estelle Ryan’s Dr. Genevieve Leonard series, which is set in the world of art theft, forgery, and art insurance. The series also features a neuro-atypical heroine and her family of choice (vs family of origin), both themes that are interesting in their own right.
Years ago I remember noticing I liked a niche genre of books with neurodivergent narrators, though I didn’t know the term at the time. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was my absolute favorite, and I know The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime was on my list, but I didn’t love that as much when I reread it a couple years ago. Now I’m struggling to remember what else I included in that niche genre… More recently, the novel The Maid would fit in.
It can definitely be poorly done, but when it’s done well, I do love to see the world through the perspective of someone who processes everyday life a little differently.
Great suggestions. I do love art-related novels/mysteries but my real niche sub-genre is theater-related/Shakespeare related novels. If We Were Villains and Hamnet are two of my all-time favorites. I’d love to get recommendations for others in that topic area. I also liked part of Elizabeth Gilbert’s City of Girls – the theater part. I didn’t like much else about the book though.
I have a few favourite niche subgenres:
1. Aristocrats behaving badly – the more scandalous or eccentric, the better! A favourite is Mary S Lovell’s biography of the Mitfords.
2. Time travel and /or alternate histories. The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley is both so was absolute literary catnip for me 😂, but I also loved The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde and Connie Willis’s Oxford time travel series.
3. Suffragette novels eg Half of The Human Race by Anthony Quinn, or Old Baggage by Lissa Evans
4. Books with magic – not magical realism, but magicians and a proper system of magic eg Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell or A Marvellous Light.
5. Bibliomemoirs – I particularly loved Dear Reader by Cathy Rentzenbrink
6. Books set in the first half of the 20th century, particularly Britain, particularly the Edwardian and interwar periods…
7. Books with unusual structures or narrative devices – stories told backwards, embedded stories, unreliable narrators etc etc.
And a fine art thriller recommendation for you Anne: Tenderwire by Claire Kilroy, an absolute page turner involving a classical musician who is a bit of a mess, a very old and valuable violin of dubious provenance and dodgy deals with shady Russians… it’s a ripping good read.
I read any book set on an island! My other fav is post apocalyptic, which is already a well known genre. If there is a description that goes like….a group of travelers crosses a post apocalyptic landscape….I immediately will read it. My last favorite is not really a genre but when a story ties together it’s wonder and granduer with that of the stars and universe. Kind of a cosmic tie in if you will. An example of this is in This Tender Land when they are looking at a field of fireflies and likening it to the Milky Way.
And I loved The Art Forger but that has been mentioned multiple times already! But its so interesting!
I don’t think this counts as a subgenre but I realized this year I read 4 books that take place at theme parks. I read wonderland by Jennifer hillier, fantastic land, I forget the name of the author. Then I read Hide by Kiersten white which is when I realized this was the 3rd book I read this year with a theme park setting. After listening to the summer recs episode of WSIRN I read joyland by Stephen king, which was my favorite of the theme park books I read this year
A niche subgenre I love is I guess what would be called meta fiction. So when the narrator is aware of itself, the book, or references or interacts with other books. Examples of this are The Word is Murder, The Woman in the Library, The Appeal, and The Eyre Affair. I would love more books in this genre!
Have you read Keeping the World Away by Margaret Forster? It follows a list painting of Gwen John through the lives of several women over several generations. It’s not a thriller, but we’ll written. I read this when I was participating in an artist study of Gwen John. Just to be clear, it is a novel, not a biography.
I’m a sucker for a good coming-of-age story. If you like them too please share your favourites! I’m always looking for new titles to fit in between my other reads.
I didn’t know fine art thriller was even a subgenre. The only book I can think that sounds like that is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It dragged a lot but the story did speak to me. It’s about a stolen painting in NYC.
I just finished The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell which was not strictly an art mystery but had art threads running through it, as you can well imagine. The author was inspired by a painting of a 16th century noblewoman and her imagination took the story from there. I guess my favorite sub genre might be Renaissance historical fiction especially set in Italy. My husband’s family has roots that far back and I am curious about the nefarious goings on of the period.
Hi! I just got back from Italy and would love to know what some of your favorite books in this sub genre are. 🙂
Suzanne, I’ve just dipped my toe in but can tell there is much to be discovered. Check out Historical Italian Renaissance Fiction on Goodreads to give you a good start.
If you Google that same phrase the Goodreads list comes up first. Over 100 titles.
As a very indooorsy person, my own favourite niche genre makes me laugh – memoirs of mountaineers. Especially those people who scale snowy/icy mountains like K2 and Everest. Can’t get enough of them! I think i’m just fascinated by peoples drive, their single-mindedness and stubborn ability to keep on putting one foot in front of another in even the most dangerous circumstances.
I can’t believe how many books I’ve added to my TBR list from these comments. I noticed recently, while I was reading about the ICU nurse in The Man in the Window by Jon Cohen, that I enjoy reading about people doing their interesting jobs.
I recently devoured If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. The plot centers on a group of theatre students at an elite art school, who are seemingly inseparable until one of them is found dead. Full of atmosphere and some of the most inventive dialogue I’ve read in quite some time, this book has the added bonus of also being a campus mystery – another beloved subgenre.
This is such a great topic! My favorite subgenre is the haunted house/ghost story (basically any thriller/mystery with an atmospheric tone), Home Before Dark is recent example that I enjoyed. I also love any story that takes place in a small town(cozy mystery, fantasy, etc). Beth O-Leary’s The Switch and Abby Collette’s Ice Cream Parlor mysteries come to mind. Those books were really charming. I’ve always wanted to live in a small town with witty, charming characters.
I’ve recently discovered the niche subgenre of short story collections about Asian refugees, eg. ‘The Refugees’ by Viet Thanh Nguyen and ‘How to Pronounce Knife’ by Souvankham Thammavongsa. Anyone got any suggestions for readalikes?
A subgenre I love that is perhaps not so unusual for a book lover: libraries or books 😉 Picked up the Midnight library by Matt Haig just because of the title!
Another category is stories around old houses and renovations, perhaps because they are close to my own reality but I completely adore them. I like that aspect of Lucy Dillon’s books, especially A hundred pieces of me.
Please create tips for both! Would love to read that blog post.
This is a great thread! My niche is books about fictional bands or musicians:
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton, Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie, The Commitments by Roddy Doyle…
I’m also beginning to read nonfiction in this niche. Just picked up Just Kids by Patti Smith.
Almost done with The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’ Farrell. So another one for the art genre.
When I began reading I was also watching The Empress on Netflix. Highly recommend. I like the two main actors & based on true historical figures.
So I am still caught up in Royal History.
I recently read Lost and Found in Paris by Lian Dolan. I think it falls in the niche subgenre of art/mystery. It was very good book and loved all the art references and descriptions.
I live in Central Texas and have really enjoyed Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles mystery series. The locale in the books is loosely based on a Texas Hill Country location and also involves a lot of information about herbs. The books are well-written and I highly recommend!
Art thriller: The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild. Stumbled upon it when looking through recent UK women’s prize longlists. London art world and looted art.
I love this post and the comments. I just added a ton of art fiction books to my TBR pile in goodreads!
Within the art theme, I had a couple of sub-sub genres that haven’t already been mentioned. Illuminated Texts: Book of Colours by Robyn Cadwallader, Brenda Rickman Vantrease’s Illuminator series, and The Gilded Page: The Secret Lives of Medieval Manuscripts by Mary Wellesley.
Pigments: Nancy Bilyeau’s fiction novel The Blue and its sequel The Fugitive Colours. I also love the nonfiction books the Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair and Nature’s Palette: A Color Reference System from the Natural World by Patrick Baty.
I found some other niche subgenre themes in my last couple year of books; it’s fun to read books this way!
Botany: I loved The Fair Botanist by Sara Sheridan, The Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poison by Kate Khavari, The Botanist’s Daughter by Kayte Nunn, The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio, and The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart.
Gardens (a lot of these are mysteries): The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, The Forbidden Garden by Ellen Herrick, The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly, The Walled Garden by Robin Farrar Maass, Kew Gardens by Virginia Woolf, The Trail of the Wild Rose by Anthony Eglin, The Lost Garden by Anthony Eglin, Perennials by Julie Cantrell, Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah, Vanish with the Rose by Barbara Michaels, and Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. In my TBR pile are The Kew Garden Girls by Posy Lovell, The Lost Garden by Katharine Swartz, Garden Variety by Christy Wilhelmi, Back to the Garden by Laurie King, and The Sea Garden by Marcia Willett.
Libraries and Librarians: The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill, The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin, The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, the Librarian of Crooked Lane by CJ Archer, The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles, and The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins. I plan to read the Library of Legends by Janie Chang, Murder in the Library of Congress by Margaret Truman, the War Librarian, by Addison Armstrong, and the Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson.
The Sea: Sea Glass by Anita Shreve, Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier, the Highest Tide by Jim Lynch, Gift from the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher, When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal, and The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.
Perfume: This is a new one for me. I read the Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro and I plan to read Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, Patrick Süskind’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and Deborah Lawrenson’s The Sea Garden and/or The Lantern.