There are so many fantastic books out right now and with kids going back to school, I thought I might put together another book recommendation list for fall and winter. Basically this is a peek at my Libby list with hopefully something for everyone.
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The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett.
I just finished this audiobook and I really can’t recommend it enough. It is a long book but I had such a hard time turning it off. This is set in the early 1930’s and centers around a little girl left by her Mother at an orphanage in Mississippi. You might be familiar with Kathryn Stockett from The Help several years ago, which details the lives of African-American maids during the 1950’s. This story involves several women of different backgrounds and different circumstances during the Great Depression and how they are able to take control of their lives and more importantly how the world around them impacts their situations… I don’t want to give anything away but I want to join a book club just to sit and discuss this book because there were so many layers and it was just so beautifully written. I can’t think of a better rainy day book or try the audio version which was just excellent.
The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson.
This is on my Libby hold list and seems like a quick and fun read for the end of summer. It is the story of a group of friends getting older, against their will. The group is hanging on to their youth going to parties and enjoying freedom. When one of the group becomes pregnant, the entire dynamic changes and she finds herself kicked out of the circle of friends. Secrets are revealed involving the entire community and the group faces the reality of growing older and facing responsibility.
Love You More by Emily Giffin.
I read every book from Emily Giffin and this one is on my TBR list. I find all of her books so compelling and so fast to get through. This is the story of a young woman that finally has her life together, successful career in medicine, a great relationship and a happy life. That all changes one day when she receives a phone call from her high school sweetheart calling her back home where she is confronted with a past she tried to move on from.
The French Illusion by John Grisham.
I read everything from John Grisham and I have never been disappointed. This is book one in a two part series that will be coming out in late September but you can preorder now. This one isn’t at my library yet but I added a notification alert because his books always have an endless hold time.
This is the story of a newly married young couple on their honeymoon in Paris looking forward to a very bright future. When they are kidnapped, it seems to be totally out of the blue, until a little digging discovers this isn’t the first crime of its kind. And suddenly the CIA, FBI and French Intelligence are involved.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke.
Oye I have been waiting on this book for ages! I am really looking forward to this one, it is the story of a young woman that is a modern day influencer trying to promote a trad wife lifestyle to other young women. She makes her life look so easy with the backdrop of beautiful children, a perfect husband, a storybook farmhouse… when behind the scenes she actually has incredible privilege from the wealth she is amassing including nannies, housekeepers, state of the art appliances and gadgets- all while pretending she can really do it all. One morning she wakes up and the house, the farm, the husband and children are all the same but she has somehow been catapulted back in time to an era when you really did have to do everything yourself. She finds herself on a working farm and the brutality of life in 1855, where survival confronts her daily.
This is such a fascinating look at the modern influencer movement, a commentary on the demands of being a modern day women/wife/mother and will be made into a movie by Anne Hathaway. I know this story first hand- I knew a blogger from years ago that still has millions of followers and convinces her readers she is on a super frugal budget, homeschools multiple children, keeps a perfectly immaculate home- essentially a super woman… all the while she has an entire staff helping her behind the scenes. An assistant, house cleaner, tutors for homeschooling- not to mention an actual mini empire she has built giving her tremendous financial resources.
This is one I have been resisting. It is immensely popular and has been featured on a ton of book lists including Katie Couric and President Obama. But yet I have still been like meh. I don’t know why- maybe the cover art doesn’t appeal to me- but I have been officially influenced and added this one to my Libby account. I work at the local library and I can’t begin to tell you how many copies of this book I see every day so I am sure it is going to be well worth the read. It is the story of a young woman visiting a museum one day when she notices an older gentleman following her. She soon discovers it is her long-lost stepfather, who she knew briefly as a child but still had a profound impact on her life. The two reunite and we uncover the story of two adults, looking back over their lives, their choices and vowing to never be separated again.
Daughters of the Sun and the Moon by Lisa See.
This was a book I passed by until I read the description and now I am in. It is the story of 3 Chinese women living in Los Angeles in the post Civil War era. Each woman has a different background and story to tell but they are all knit together to face the horrible racism and sexism of the 1800’s.
I always read stories about the Gold Rush era in San Francisco and about the Chinese immigrants that built rail lines under appalling circumstances but I’ve never read much about Southern California or the experience of the Chinese post Civil War. This sounds like a fascinating book.
This is the story of Elsie, an elderly, Australian women that is sassy, independent and strong willed. She is always up for a cup of tea and witty comment until one day when her neighbor turns up dead.
Secrets come out- most importantly the fact that Elsie is actually Mad Mabel Waller- Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. With the police sniffing around, other neighbors getting involved, including a seven year old with stickers and endless questions, was it Elsie that committed the murder?
This sounds like a quick and easy and fun read and it was been going like wildfire at the library so I am looking forward to this one.
Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.
This is the story of two women with opposite lives- a Madam and an attorney- that team up in 1930’s New York to bring down notorious mobster Lucky Luciano. Risking their own lives, painstakingly assembling evidence, connecting countless women together, they slowly build one of the most notorious cases in history.
Lucky was finally arrested and brought down on charges of prostitution and racketeering. How have I never read about this before? Considering the era- 1930’s- I think this would be a perfect book to read before or after The Calamity Club to better understand urban life v. Southern and rural life during the Depression. Sadly the wait list is crazy for this book at my library.
A Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys.
If you haven’t read Of Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, you are missing out on excellent historical fiction.
This story is set during the Roaring 20’s in Detroit and details the experience of a privileged young woman that enrolls in an elite art program. She lives in splendor in a building owned by a mysterious patron, where she soon discovers strange and unsettling things happening during the night. And discovers other young women that have gone missing. This is based on a true story of wealth, excess and mystery.
Ruta Sepetys is typically considered solid fiction for younger readers- I actually found Of Salt to the Sea on a list of recommendations for teens- but this particular era in history means more adult content in this book.
Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty.
This is the second book about the characters we first met in Big Little Lies, following their lives ten years later. The women now have children in high school and when the principal receives a threatening package, a mysterious stranger comes around, asking questions and forcing the women to reveal secrets they have kept from their own kids.
All of Liane Moriarty’s books are so entertaining with twists and turns and several characters all woven together. If you haven’t read Big Little Lies, it is a great book and the series I think on Apple + is worth watching.
I had this book recommended to me so many times and I kept putting it off but I finally listened to the audiobook a few weeks ago. I am so glad I did as it was gripping and so empowering.
This is the re-imagination of the classic novel, Huckleberry Finn, as told from the perspective of Jim the slave. When Jim discovers he is going to be sold, he runs away, meeting up with Huck Finn, also running away from an abusive Father. The two have the same adventure down the Mississippi River toward the Free States. This time we get the adventure from Jim’s perspective. I don’t want to give anything away but this was such a good book and it is going to be huge very soon as a movie adaptation is coming from Steven Speilberg.
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