Reading Recommendations
I’ve got some suggestions for you below and I’ve also posted more here. Enjoy! - Kristan
Perfect for fans of Louise Penny
Four librarians in Austin Texas, all living their carefully contained lives until a body turns up. And then another body. Body Number One used to date one of the librarians. Body Number Two is found dead after a library event. Obviously, only librarians can solve the murders.
A funny, big-hearted delight
I love KJ Micciche. Her debut, The Book Proposal, was hilarious and fun. This book is even better. Cecily Jane is a children’s librarian, the only daughter in her family of who has failed the family mission to marry and birth more girls. She decides to fulfill a lifelong dream and write a book, and so enrolls in a low-residency master’s program in creat…
A story of female strength
Prepare to have your socks knocked off. In this gripping story of fictionalized history, Dr. Vanessa Riley tells the story of the Black king and queen of Haiti, their goals to create a country run by Blacks, saturated with education, opportunity, science and equality. King Henry is a powerful, driven man, but it is his wife (isn’t it always?) who sees t…
Read it one sitting
Read it one sitting, and I can’t remember the last time I did that. Sally Hepworth doesn’t make any cheap choices in The Mother-in-Law; every character is nuanced and relatable. Side note: my two moms loved it, too, and we’re having a special lunch just to discuss it.
A realistic, often dark story
The One that Got Away is not a romance, it should be said upfront. What it is, though, is a realistic, often dark story of two people who meet in college, experience the overwhelming power of first love and mess everything up. Neither the hero, Benjamin, nor the heroine, Clara, is perfect. Far from it. Clara is bright, motivated, clingy, possessive and …
A combination of the best of Ms. Moriarity’s numerous talents
I first found Liane Moriarity when she was writing more gentle, humorous stories with a plot twist. Then came The Husband’s Secret, which to me is the best of its genre. Apples Never Fall is a combination of the best of Ms. Moriarity’s numerous talents. Joy, a sixty-something mother of four grown children, is feeling restless and invisible, unhappy in h…