I know lots of you are reading a lot more these days and I wanted to put together some new releases that I will be picking up. There are so many wonderful books that will be released soon or that are new to the shelves, this is a great time to escape a little in a beautiful story.
Here are just 10 books that I am really looking forward to reading.
This is the story of a schoolteacher in 1987 that is struggling to come to grips with life in a small, poverty stricken town when she comes across a hidden book that tells the story of three women attempting to piece together their lives in the post Civil War Reconstruction era.
The stories are written from three totally different perspectives and sounds really fascinating. This novel was written by Lisa Wingate, who also wrote a beautiful novel a few years back called Before We Were Yours
This is the story of two women, one an accomplished grifter that preys upon wealthy kids in Los Angeles and the other is the story of Vanessa, a heiress that finds herself becoming a popular Instagram influencer. When the paths of the two women become intertwined with lots of twists and turns along the way.
This one sounds really good. I love stories that show things aren’t always what they seem and this book will have you asking who is actually conning who?
I read every single Jennifer Weiner book that comes out. She is just one of those (thankfully) prolific writers that puts together story after story that are easy to read and hard to put down. This is a great time to take a look at her older books if you aren’t familiar with her. My library is completely shut down at the moment but you can find her books for great prices in paperback.
This is the story of two women, former best friends, one with a seemingly charmed life and the other finally emerging from the shadows to a bit of success and happiness. When one unexpectedly shows up asking the other to be her Maid of Honor in the wedding of the season, we get to unravel a very complicated friendship. Sadly we have to wait until May 5th for this one to be released.
This is the story of four artists living in Paris in 1927. The entire novel spans over just one day in the life of the four, telling their unique stories with the backdrop of a city recovering from war. This novel puts you right in the thick of the glamour of ex-pat Paris with Hemingway, Josephine Baker, Gertrude Stein woven into the stories of the four people heartbroken, lost and unraveling complicated secrets.
Have we all read the Secret Life of Bees? That is one of my favorite books of all time and I really need to add it to my list of books to read with my daughter.
This story is different from anything you have probably read before and considering how much I love Sue Monk Kidd, I am just going to go with it. It is a reimagined retelling of the New Testament, featuring Ana, a wealthy and connected woman that becomes the wife to Jesus. So this is historical fiction, which I always enjoy, but with a Biblical twist, which is not something I normally read.
I thought this one might be a lighter, more fun read after the heavier subjects of the books above. It is the story of a women that finds an abandoned dog that helps her heal her broken heart. It turns out the dog was actually not abandoned when the original owner gets in touch trying to find his lost dog… will the three of them find happiness together? This is a romantic novel that I bet you finish in a weekend.
This book was released in 2018 so it is super affordable to order now or some of you might still have access to libraries or e-books from the library. I checked this out ages and ages ago and read a few pages and just put it down and never did read it. I heard from several friends that this was one of the best books they ever read so I decided to revisit it and I really did find it so hard to put down.
This is the story of Kya, an orphaned and abandoned girl growing up in the marsh of the North Carolina coast. Kya is resilient, brave and sensitive and creates a beautiful life for herself, isolated in the marsh. When a popular, local man is murdered, all eyes are on Kya.
Trust me you will love this book.
This books sounds like a perfect escape as it tells the story of Charlotte, who wins a fantasy vacation cruising through Europe. Charlotte uses the vacation to attempt to pull together her children, who have grown apart from each other and from their mother.
This seems like a pretty classic summer beach read and since most of us will likely be at home this summer, why not live vicariously through the characters of this book.
I really enjoyed Josie Silver’s last book, One Day in December. This is the story of Lydia and Freddie, living a very comfortable life together when one day Freddie is tragically killed. After grieving and attempting to pull her life back together, she finds a parallel world where she is able to reunite with Freddie. Now Lydia needs to decide between staying in the past with Freddie or moving forward with a new life on her own. I know it sounds a little weird but in the last novel, I found Josie Silver’s characters to be really compelling and the story was beautifully written. So I am going to give this one a chance.
Ok last but not least is the Scent Keeper, which is the story of a young girl that lives an isolated life on an enchanted island with her father. Her father teaches her about life using various scents to communicate but behind all those different fragrances are secrets. When the unthinkable happens, Emmeline has to find a new life and finds the keys to unravel her past.
This is one the Hello Sunshine from Reese Witherspoon picks and honestly Reese hasn’t steered me wrong so I am going to definitely pick this one up.
And one last book rec… I have mentioned before that my oldest doesn’t really enjoy reading but she loves stories… Many years ago instead of fighting over her reading, I just started reading books with her. She can draw or do something artistic and still enjoys every word of some really fantastic books we have read together.
This is the book we are currently reading, The Light in Hidden Places
It is the story of Fusia, a young, Catholic, Polish girl that comes to work for and live with a Jewish family at the brink of WWII. Fusia falls in love with one of the sons and their lives are turned upside down when Germany invades Poland. Fusia is left behind as the family is moved into the ghetto, left to care for her 6 year old sister. Eventually Fusia finds herself hiding twelve Jews, including the brother of her former love.
We have been staying up way too late reading this beautiful story.
I hope you found some recommendations to add to your reading list. If you have already picked up some of these books, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Here are a few older lists in case you missed them:
Great list of books! We have similar taste based on your previous recommendations! Jetsetters and The Two Lives of Lydia Bird were two recent reads I really enjoyed. Perfect during this quarantine because I looked forward to picking them up!
Thanks Cori– the description of Lydia I was like… eh…. but the reviews are really good. I’m glad you liked it too.
Thanks for the book suggestions. I need some books to get lost in:) Reading is my favorite way to spend my down time.
Happy to hear that Scarlet.