The best “truth is stranger than fiction” books

T.M. Blanchet Author Of Herrick's End
By T.M. Blanchet

Who am I?

I write about magic, witches, and weirdness—and all of it is inspired by the strange and startlingly true stories that hide just below the simmering surface of America’s melting pot. As a former journalist, I learned that everyone has an interesting tale to tell. And as a fiction writer, I’ve learned that all of that truth can be spun into something even more fun and fantastical. Reality, after all, is relative. 

I wrote...

Herrick's End

By T.M. Blanchet

Book cover of Herrick's End

What is my book about?

Ollie's only friend disappeared a few days ago, and now, he's frantic to find her. But he doesn't have much to go on until a mysterious note arrives, which reads: "Still looking for your friend? I know where she is." Unfortunately for Ollie, the trail leads to the last place he'd ever expect.

A shy Boston kid finds himself sucked into a dangerous, magical world below Boston when he goes in search of a missing friend.

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The Books I Picked & Why

The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem

By Stacy Schiff

Book cover of The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem

Why this book?

For me, Stacy Schiff’s masterpiece is the end-all, be-all resource when it comes to the history of early America’s witchcraft trials—which, it turns out, extended far beyond the village of Salem. The seed for my own novel came from one tiny line in the book’s “Cast of Characters” index: “Herrick, George, well-born, handsome Salem deputy sheriff in his thirties…Spends 1692 rounding up and transporting witches.”

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The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

By Erik Larson

Book cover of The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Why this book?

The 1893 World’s Fair. A serial killer. Wonderous and magical inventions. And every crazy word of it is true! (One example: No one thought the enormous and strange contraption known as the “Ferris Wheel” would withstand its first turn—no one but the inventor’s supportive wife, that is. Margaret Ferris insisted on being the first to take a ride!) Erik Larson does a brilliant job of combining historical facts with the sights, sounds, and (ugh) smells of nineteenth-century Chicago. 

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Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States

By Bill Bryson

Book cover of Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States

Why this book?

Bill Bryson’s other books are more famous, but this one is my favorite. It details the wacky, startling, and sometimes unbelievable stories behind all the common phrases and words we use. I always keep a (lovingly tattered) copy in my car. You can pick it up, turn to any random page, and be happily engrossed for five minutes—or five hours. 

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The Library Book

By Susan Orlean

Book cover of The Library Book

Why this book?

It’s the story of a true crime, yes… But Susan Orlean’s fantastic book is also a love letter to one of America’s most incredible, beneficial, and undervalued institutions. I thought I knew what libraries are, what they do, and who they help. Then I read this book and realized that I didn’t have the first clue.

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Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger Among the Pilgrims

By David Lindsay

Book cover of Mayflower Bastard: A Stranger Among the Pilgrims

Why this book?

Subtitled A Stranger Among the Pilgrims, this little gem details the unlikely story of Richard More, who arrived on our shores as a child on The Mayflower…then grew up, moved north to Salem Village, and watched one of his best friends die in the infamous witch trials. The author also happens to be More’s descendant, which brings an extra passion to the telling.

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