Author: Ellen Zielinski Whitfield

As soon as the temperatures start to rise and anyone mentions the word “summer,” I start itching to get out my swimsuit and the sunscreen and take to the water, in whatever form I can get it. Whether you’re a pool person, a beach person, a lake person, or you prefer to take to the river, there’s a book that can take you there, even if only in spirit.

MAKE A SPLASH AT THE POOL

Breathe and Count Back From Ten by Natalia Sylvester

The best form of rehabilitation for Verónica’s disability is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool. She also wants to audition for Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with her cute new neighbor. She decides to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth about her own body.

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

The swimmers are unknown to one another except through their private routines. But when a crack appears at the bottom of the pool, they are cast out into an unforgiving world. For Alice, one of the swimmers, the pool was a final stand against the darkness of her encroaching dementia. Without the fellowship of other swimmers and the routine of her daily laps she is plunged into dislocation and chaos, swept into memories of her childhood and the Japanese American incarceration camp in which she spent the war. 

The Lido by Libby Page

Kate is assigned to write about the closing of the local lido (an outdoor pool and recreation center), where she meets Rosemary, an 86-year-old widow who has swum at the lido daily since she was a child. It was here Rosemary fell in love with her husband, George; here that she’s found communion during her marriage and since George’s death. But when a local developer attempts to buy the lido, Rosemary’s memories and sense of community are under threat. As Kate dives deeper into the lido’s history — with the help of a charming photographer — she pieces together a portrait of the pool, and a portrait of a singular woman, Rosemary. 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island in 1920s America.

Chlorine by Jade Song

Ren Yu’s daily life starts and ends with the pool. Her teammates are her only friends. Her coach is her guiding light. If she swims well enough, she will be scouted, get a scholarship, and go to a good school. Her parents will love her. She will have a good life. But Ren grew up on stories of creatures that called sailors to their doom. The creature that she’s always longed to become: the mermaid. Ren will do anything she can to make a life for herself where she can be free. No matter how much blood she has to spill.

RELAX LAKESIDE

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

A bereaved and pursued musician embarks under sail on a sentient Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife. Encountering lunatic storms and rising corpses from the warming depths, Rainy finds on land an increasingly desperate and illiterate people, a malignant billionaire ruling class, crumbled infrastructure and a lawless society. Rainy is lifted by physical beauty, surprising humor, generous strangers, and an unexpected companion in a young girl who comes aboard. 

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Daphne is stranded in Michigan after her fiancé Peter leaves her for his childhood friend, Petra. She doesn’t have friends or family around, but she does have a dream job as a children’s librarian and her roommate who understands her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles. Scruffy and chaotic, Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne. While drowning their sorrows, the roommates form a tenuous friendship and a plan that involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together. But it’s all just for show…right?

Just For the Summer by Abby Jiminez

Every woman Justin dates finds their soulmate the second they break up. Emma has the same problem, so they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other out, and they’ll both go on to find love. Emma and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka. It’s supposed to be a quick fling, but when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected — including real feelings. 

Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore

Everyone who lives near the lake knows the stories about the world underneath it, an ethereal landscape rumored to be half-air, half-water. But Bastián Silvano and Lore Garcia are the only ones who’ve been there. Bastián grew up both above the lake and in the otherworldly space beneath it. Lore’s only seen the world under the lake once, but that one encounter changed their life and their fate. As the world under the lake drifts above the surface, Bastián and Lore have to stop it. But to do that, they have to work together. There’s just one problem: Bastián and Lore haven’t spoken in seven years.

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape bad press, has retreated to her family’s lake house in Vermont. She passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple living in the house across the lake. One day, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a friendship. It becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage isn’t as perfect as it appears. When Katherine vanishes, Casey suspects Tom of foul play. But here’s more to the story than meets the eye.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchette

Lara’s daughters return to their family orchard in Northern Michigan, prompting Lara to recount her past romance with actor Peter Duke. As the story unfolds, the daughters reflect on their own lives and relationship with their mother, leading to a reevaluation of their worldviews. The novell delves into themes of love, family dynamics, and finding happiness amidst chaos, showcasing Patchett’s renowned narrative skill and insightful exploration of human relationships.

A BIT OF SAND AND SEA

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

As a panicked world goes into lockdown, Lucy Barton is uprooted from her life in Manhattan and bundled away to a small town in Maine by her ex-husband and on-again, off-again friend, William. For the next several months, it’s just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the moody, swirling sea. 

The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He

Cee awoke on an abandoned island three years ago. With no idea of how she was marooned, she only has a rickety house, an old android, and a single memory: She has a sister, and Cee needs to find her. STEM prodigy Kasey wants to escape from the science and home she once trusted. The Metropolis — Earth’s last unpolluted place — is meant to be a sanctuary for those committed to planetary protection, but it’s populated by people willing to do anything for refuge, even lie. Now, she’ll have to decide if she’s ready to use science to help humanity, even though it failed the people who mattered most.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. In an attempt to appease the Sea God, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering. On the night Shim Cheong is to be sacrificed, her beloved Joon follows her out to sea, and to save him, his sister throws herself into the water. Swept away to the Spirit Realm, Mina finds the Sea God caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin — as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits — Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.

Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge

Sophie Ducel’s honeymoon in French Polynesia was intended as a celebration of her thriving Parisian architecture firm, co-founded with her brilliant new husband. Barry Bleecker had turned away from Manhattan finance and set his sights on fine art, seeking creative inspiration on the other side of the world. But when their small plane is downed in the middle of the South Pacific, the sole survivors of the wreck are left with one common goal: to survive. 

The Survivors by Jane Harper

Kieran Elliott’s life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences. The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal community he once called home. Kieran’s parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn. When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. 

SET OFF DOWN THE ROARING RIVER 

The River We Remember by William Kent Kreuger

When the body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, the investigation falls to Sheriff Brody Dern. Vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran. Caught up in the torrent of anger are a war widow and her adolescent son, the intrepid publisher of the local newspaper, an aging deputy, and a crusading female lawyer, all of whom struggle with their own tragic histories and harbor secrets that Quinn’s death threatens to expose.

The River by Peter Heller

Wynn and Jack have been best friends since college orientation, bonded by their shared love of mountains, books, and fishing. When they decide to canoe the Maskwa River in northern Canada, they anticipate long days of leisurely paddling. But a wildfire making its way across the forest adds unexpected urgency. One night, they hear a man and woman arguing on the fog-shrouded riverbank; the next day, a man appears on the river, paddling alone. Is this the same man they heard? And if he is, where is the woman?

A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

Ten years after being sent away to the mainland to become a bard, Jack Tamerlaine is summoned home to Cadence. Girls are going missing from the island, and Adaira, his childhood nemesis and the future leader of the clan, believes Jack is the only one who can find them. The elemental spirits find mirth in the lives of the humans, and a bard’s music is the only way to summon them and ask that the girls be returned. Yet as Jack and Adaira get closer to solving the mystery, it becomes apparent that an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, and no harp song may be strong enough to stop it.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant was just another probationary constable in the Metropolitan Police until he tried to take a witness statement from a man who was dead. That brought him to the attention of Chief Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in Britain. Now he is the first apprentice wizard in 50 years, and there’s something festering at the heart of the city, a malicious, vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.

Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield

On a dark night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Those who dwell on the river bank apply all their ingenuity to solving the puzzle of the girl who died and lived again, yet as the days pass the mystery only deepens. The child herself is mute and unable to answer questions. Three families are keen to claim her. Each family has mysteries of its own, and many secrets must be revealed before the girl’s identity can be known.

 

Doctor Who is back with a brand new face and we can’t wait to see Ncuti Gatwa’s take on the Doctor! While we were waiting for the return, here are some of the books we’ve been reading with the same kind of quirky, moving time-travel adventures.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Seconds before the Earth is demolished, Arthur is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford, a researcher for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who has been posing as an actor. They journey through space aided by fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox — the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod’s girlfriend, whom Arthur once tried to pick up at a cocktail party; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the pens he bought over the years. 

The Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Harry August is on his deathbed. Again. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now. As Harry nears the end of his 11th life, a little girl appears at his bedside. “I nearly missed you, Doctor August,” she says. “I need to send a message.” 

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

Cassie Andrews lives an ordinary life. Until the day one of her favorite customers leaves her a book after his death. This is no ordinary book. It promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them. A gaunt stranger who calls himself Drummond Fox explains that the tome now in Cassie’s possession is coveted by those who collect these rare volumes. With only her roommate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious and haunted Drummond protect the Book of Doors — and the other books in his secret library’s care— from those who will do evil. 

Vaulting Through Time by Nancy McCabe

As 16-year-old gymnast Elizabeth faces the challenges of adolescence, she uncovers a shocking truth about her identity. With her friend Zach’s help, she discovers a hidden time machine, propelling her on a journey through time to find answers. Along the way, Elizabeth encounters intriguing characters and races against a thief to safeguard her future and the world as she knows it. Can she use her gymnastic skills and determination to secure her place in history and protect her loved ones?

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Henry DeTamble is a dashing, adventurous librarian who is at the mercy of his random time-traveling abilities. Clare Abshire is an artist whose life moves through a natural sequential course. This is the celebrated and timeless tale of their love. Henry and Clare’s passionate affair is built and endures across a sea of time and captures them in an impossibly romantic trap that tests the strength of fate and basks in the bonds of love.

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Dana’s torment begins when she suddenly vanishes from California in 1976, and is dragged through time to antebellum Maryland to rescue a boy named Rufus, heir to a slave owner’s plantation. She soon realizes the purpose of her summons to the past: protect Rufus to ensure his assault of her Black ancestor so that she may one day be born. As she endures the traumas of slavery and the soul-crushing normalization of savagery, Dana fights to keep her autonomy and return to the present.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

One night, constable Peter Grant tried to take a witness statement from a man who was dead, which brought him to the attention of Chief Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in Britain. Now he is the first apprentice wizard in 50 years, and dealing with nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the River Thames and digging up graves in Covent Garden. But there’s something festering at the heart of the city, a malicious, vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair. 

The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

The patched-up, aging Wayfarer offers Rosemary a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and some distance from her past. She’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain. Life aboard the Wayfarer gets dangerous when the crew is offered the job of tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet. The tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other.

Doors of Sleep by Tim Pratt

Every time Zax Delatree falls asleep, he travels to a new reality. He never knows what he will see when he opens his eyes. All he has to live by are his wits and the small aides he has picked up along the way — technological advantages from techno-utopias, sedatives to escape dangerous worlds, and stimulants to extend his stay in pleasant ones. Thankfully, he can take people with him, if they’re unconscious in his arms when he falls asleep. But someone unwelcome is on his tail, and they are after something that Zax cannot spare — the blood running through his veins, the power to travel through worlds.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandment finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, becomes something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future. Except the discovery of their bond would mean the death of each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win. 

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Great Britain, circa 1985. Time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously: It’s a bibliophile’s dream. Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detections, is faced with the challenge of her career when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë’s novel.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

Every day in Minor Universe, 31 people get into time machines and try to change the past. That’s where Charles Yu, time travel technician, steps in. He helps save people from themselves. Literally. When he’s not taking client calls, Yu visits his mother and searches for his father, who invented time travel and then vanished. The key to locating his father may be found in a book. It’s called How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, and somewhere inside it is information that will help him. It may even save his life.

 

The Idea of You was a bookstagram darling when it came out a few years ago — ostensibly fan fiction about an older woman meeting a Harry Styles-type pop star when bringing her daughter to one of his concerts and falling for him? Tantalizing. And now that it’s being turned into a movie with two appropriately attractive leads, the book is sure to see even more traction. If you’re into the idea of a similar May-December romance, check out the following books!

Still Life With Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen

Rebecca Winter was a photographer whose work made her an unlikely heroine for many women. Her career is now descendent, her bank balance shaky, and she has fled the city for the middle of nowhere. There she discovers, in a tree stand with a roofer named Jim Bates, that what she sees through a camera lens is not all there is to life.

Kulti by Mariana Zapata

When the man you worshiped as a kid becomes your coach, it’s supposed to be the greatest thing in the world. But Sal starts to wonder what she’d seen in the international soccer icon. She isn’t prepared for this version of Reiner Kulti who shows up: a quiet, reclusive shadow of the explosive, passionate man he’d once been.

40-Love by Olivia Dade

When a wave strips Tess of her bikini top, desperate times call for desperate measures. Enter that flirty Swede in the water nearby. Lucas, a former tennis pro now giving lessons at the resort, fled there after the painful end to his career. But he’s finally ready to move on with his life — and after a few late-night sessions with Tess, he’s eager to prove he’s the ace she wants. But she’s 40, and he’s 26. And they only have two weeks together before Tess returns to her life in Virginia. 

Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

After getting divorced, Helen lets her annoying, much younger brother talk her into a survival course. When she discovers that her brother’s even-more-annoying best friend is also coming, she can’t imagine how three weeks in the remote wilderness of a mountain range will be anything other than a disaster. But somehow the people who annoy her the most start teaching her the very things she needs to learn. Like how sometimes you just have to get really, really lost before you can even have a hope of being found.

Part of Your World by Abby Jiminez

After a wild bet, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s 10 years younger than her and as casual as they come — the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable. Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. 

Laws of Physics by Penny Reid

Mona is a smart girl who figured everything out a long time ago. She had to. When your parents are uber-celebrities and you start your Ph.D. program at 19, you don’t have time for distractions. Which is why Abram, her brother’s best friend, is such an irritant. Abram is a supremely gifted musician, and has absolutely nothing figured out. He does what he feels, when he feels, and — in Mona’s opinion — he makes her feel entirely too much.

 

Happy birthday, Shakespeare! Maybe. If a bunch of old records are correct. Who’s to say? We’ll never know. Well, we’re celebrating either way by picking up one of these retellings of some of his greatest hits!

Romeo and Juliet

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

The year is 1926, and a blood feud between two gangs leaves the city helpless. Juliette Cai, a former flapper, has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang — a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal. But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Juliette and Roma must set their guns — and grudges — aside and work together.

Teach the Torches To Burn by Caleb Roehrig

Aspiring artist Romeo is expected to give up his “womanly” pursuits and uphold the family honor. He is also expected to marry a well-bred girl, but he only feels attracted to other boys. When he meets the kindest, most beautiful boy, a tender romance begins. As the conflict between their families escalates, Romeo and Valentine find themselves in danger of losing each other forever — if not by society’s scorn, then by the edge of a blade.

The Taming of the Shrew

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Kate Battista feels stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she’s always in trouble at work. Dr. Battista has other problems. After years, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. But his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr, all would be lost. Dr. Battista is relying on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: This time he’s really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men’s touchingly ludicrous campaign?

King Lear

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

A wealthy Iowa farmer who decides to divide his farm between his three daughters. When the youngest daughter objects, she is cut out of his will, setting off a chain of events that brings dark truths to light and explodes long-suppressed emotions. 

Much Ado About Nothing

Two Wrongs Make A Right by Chloe Liese

Jamie Westenberg and Bea Wilmot have nothing in common except a meet-disaster and the mutual understanding that they couldn’t be more wrong for each other. But when the people closest to them trick them into going on a date, Jamie and Bea realize they have something else in common after all — a need for revenge. Soon their plan is in place: Fake date then break up spectacularly and dash everyone’s hopes. But as their final act nears and playing lovers becomes easier than not, they begin to wonder: what if two wrongs do make a right?

Antony and Cleopatra

The Stars Undying by Emery Robin

Princess Altagracia has lost everything. After a bloody civil war, her twin sister has claimed both the crown of their planet, Szayet, and a computer that contains the immortal soul of Szayet’s god. To regain her planet, Gracia places herself in the hands of the empire and its dangerous commander, Matheus Ceirran. But winning over Matheus, to say nothing of his mercurial and compelling captain Anita, is no easy feat. Gracia will find herself torn between Matheus’s ambitions, Anita’s unpredictable desires, and the demands of the Pearl that whispers in her ear.

Hamlet

The King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye

Ben Dane’s Broadway theater baron father is dead — but on purpose or by accident? Unable to face alone his mother’s ghastly remarriage to his uncle, Ben turns to his dearest friend, Horatio Patel, whom he hasn’t seen since their relationship changed forever from platonic to something…other. Meanwhile, Ben’s ex-fiancé, Lia, sundered her from her loved ones thanks to her addiction recovery and torn from her art, has been drawn into the fold of three florists from New Orleans. On one explosive night these kinetic forces will collide, and the only possible outcome is death. 

The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Lu

Hayden Lichfield’s life is ripped apart when he finds his father murdered in their lab — the killer can only have been after one thing: the Sisyphus Formula, which might one day reverse death itself. With the lab on lockdown, Hayden is trapped with his uncle Charles, lab technician Gabriel Rasmussen, research intern Felicia Xia and their head of security, Felicia’s father Paul — one of whom must be the killer. His only sure ally is the lab’s resident artificial intelligence, Horatio, who has been his dear friend and companion since its creation. 

The Tempest

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

Felix is at the top of his game as artistic director of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival. Now he’s staging a Tempest like no other: not only will it boost his reputation, but it will also heal emotional wounds. That was the plan, but after an act of unforeseen treachery, Felix is living in exile, haunted by memories of his beloved lost daughter, Miranda. And brewing revenge, which, after twelve years, arrives in the shape of a theater course at a nearby prison.

The Winter’s Tale

The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson

Moving from London, a city reeling after the 2008 financial crisis, to a storm-ravaged American city called New Bohemia, this story is one of childhood friendship, money, status, technology and the elliptical nature of time. It is a story of the consuming power of jealousy on the one hand, and redemption and the enduring love of a lost child on the other.

Looking for more reading lists? Check out our recommendations on our Lit Happens blog!

Is there any relationship quite as complicated as the one between siblings? As we celebrate National Siblings Day this April 10, we’re looking at some of the novels we love that highlight that special connection.

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

Marilyn and David have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest. With the unexpected arrival of young Jonah Bendt — a child placed for adoption by one of the daughters fifteen years before — the Sorensons will be forced to reckon with the rich and varied tapestry of their past. As they grapple with years marred by adolescent angst, infidelity, and resentment, they also find the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

In 1893, the Eastwood sisters join the suffragists of New Salem, and they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote ― and perhaps not even to live ― the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

At first, Jude and her twin brother are NoahandJude; inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipstick, cliff-dives, and does all the talking for both of them. Years later, they are barely speaking. The early years are Noah’s to tell; the later years are Jude’s. But they each have only half the story, and if they can only find their way back to one another, they’ll have a chance to remake their world.

A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

As an Indian wedding gathers a family back together, parents must reckon with the choices their children have made. There is Hadia: their headstrong, eldest daughter, whose marriage is a match of love and not tradition. Huda, the middle child, determined to follow in her sister’s footsteps. And lastly, their estranged son, Amar, who returns to the family fold for the first time in three years to take his place as brother of the bride. What secrets and betrayals have caused this close-knit family to fracture? 

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Cyril Conroy’s investment propels his family from poverty to enormous wealth, and when he buys the Dutch House, a lavish estate, it sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into poverty and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin

It begins in a free and feral summer in a middle-class Connecticut town. Caught between the predictable life they once led and an uncertain future, the Skinner siblings — fierce Renee, sensitive Caroline, golden boy Joe and watchful Fiona — emerge staunchly loyal and deeply connected. Two decades later, the siblings find themselves once again confronted with a family crisis that tests the strength of these bonds and forces them to question the life choices they’ve made and ask what, exactly, they will do for love.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people. In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash. Separated by distance — and Papi’s secrets — the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

In 1969, the Gold children — four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness — sneak out to hear their fortunes from a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The prophecies inform their next five decades. Golden-boy Simon escapes to the West Coast, searching for love in ’80s San Francisco; dreamy Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician, obsessed with blurring reality and fantasy; eldest son Daniel seeks security as an army doctor post-9/11; and bookish Varya throws herself into longevity research, where she tests the boundary between science and immortality.

This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

The death of Judd Foxman’s father marks the first time that the entire Foxman clan has congregated in years. There is, however, one conspicuous absence: Judd’s wife, Jen, whose affair with his boss has recently become painfully public. Simultaneously mourning the demise of his father and his marriage, Judd joins his dysfunctional family as they reluctantly sit shiva and spend seven days and nights under the same roof. Longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed and old passions are reawakened. Then Jen delivers the clincher: She’s pregnant.

 

Here at Books Forward, we’re big fans of journalists — in fact, lots of us used to work as reporters, and even met at various newspapers. So we’re celebrating Hug a Newsperson Day, officially celebrated April 4, by reading some of our favorite books featuring people in the industry.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman who works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up, Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, and she finds herself wondering, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?”

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows. Now, Camille must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story — and survive this homecoming.

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

Quoyle, a third-rate newspaperman, is wrenched violently out of his workaday life when his two-timing wife meets her just deserts. He retreats with his two daughters to his ancestral home on the starkly beautiful Newfoundland coast, where a rich cast of local characters all play a part in Quoyle’s struggle to reclaim his life. He confronts his private demons and begins to see the possibility of love without pain or misery.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

On an island of rugged, spectacular beauty in Puget Sound, a Japanese-American fisherman stands trial, charged with coldblooded murder. Ishmael Chambers, who lost an arm in the Pacific war and now runs the island newspaper, is among the journalists covering the trial — a trial that brings him close, once again, to Hatsue Miyomoto, the wife of the accused man and Ishmael’s never-forgotten boyhood love. 

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley

When Piper Parrish’s darling husband capsized while fishing, she carried on as if he was right there beside her. Meanwhile, Anders Caldwell, a young ambitious journalist, had rather hoped he’d be a national award-winning podcaster by now, rather than writing for a small town newspaper. When he gets an assignment to travel to Frick Island and cover a fundraiser, he stumbles upon a fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist. 

The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

When Grace Harrington lands a job at a Hearst newspaper in 1896, a story emerging from Cuba will change her life. Unjustly imprisoned, eighteen-year-old Evangelina Cisneros dreams of a Cuba free from Spanish oppression. When Hearst splashes her image on the front page of his paper, she becomes a rallying cry for American intervention in the battle for Cuban independence. With the help of Marina Perez, a courier secretly working for Cuban revolutionaries, Grace and Hearst’s staff attempt to free Evangelina. 

Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce

Emmeline Lake dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent, and when she spots a job advertisement in the newspaper she seizes her chance. But she finds herself typing letters for the formidable Henrietta Bird, renowned advice columnist of Woman’s Friend magazine. Mrs. Bird is very clear: letters containing any Unpleasantness must go straight into the bin. But as Emmy reads desperate pleas from women, she begins to secretly write back to the readers who have poured out their troubles.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

The List by Yomi Adegoke

Ola Olajide, a celebrated magazine journalist, is young, beautiful, and successful — she and her fiancé Michael seem to have it all. Until one morning when they both wake up to “The List.” It began as a collection of names and morphed into an anonymous account posting allegations on social media. Ola would usually support such a list — she’d retweet it, call for the men to be fired, write article after article. Except this time, Michael’s name is on it.

Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen

Tabitha Walker is a black woman with a plan to “have it all.” With a position as a local news reporter, a “paper-perfect” boyfriend, and even a standing appointment with a reliable hairstylist, everything seems to be falling into place. Then Tabby receives an unexpected diagnosis that jeopardizes the keystone she took for granted: having children. Suddenly she is faced with an impossible choice between her career, her dream home, and a family of her own. 

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Beautiful young Ashley Cordova’s death is ruled a suicide, but veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley’s life and death, McGrath encounters the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive cult-horror-film director Stanislas Cordova. The last time he got close to exposing the director, McGrath lost his marriage and his career. This time he might lose even more.

The Mad Girls of New York by Maya Rodale

In 1887 New York City, Nellie Bly has ambitions beyond writing for the ladies pages, but all the editors on Newspaper Row think women are too emotional, respectable and delicate to do the job. But then she gets a new assignment: go undercover as a patient at Blackwell’s Island Insane Asylum for women. For months, rumors have been swirling about deplorable conditions at Blackwell’s. Once inside, Nellie befriends her fellow patients who help her uncover shocking truths about the asylum.

The Ex-Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Shay Goldstein has been a producer at her Seattle public radio station for nearly a decade, but lately it’s been a constant clash between her and her newest colleague, Dominic Yun, who’s fresh off a journalism master’s program and convinced he knows everything. When the struggling station needs a new concept, Shay proposes The Ex Talk, where two exes will deliver relationship advice live, on air. Their boss decides Shay and Dominic are the perfect co-hosts, given how much they already despise each other. Their audience gets invested fast, and it’s not long before The Ex Talk becomes a must-listen in Seattle. As the show gets bigger, so does their deception, especially when Shay and Dominic start to fall for each other.

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper Curtis is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens on to other times. Harper inserts himself into their lives, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He vanishes without a trace into another time after each murder — until one of his victims survives. Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the reporter, Dan Velasquez, who covered her case. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on an impossible truth…

 

I’m new to the horror genre, and when I started to dip my toe in, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a good number of the books I was picking up were really funny (in addition to being gruesome)! I asked around, and apparently it’s not uncommon for these writers to have an excellent sense of humor — which explains why the new Ghostbusters movie made me laugh and jump out of my seat. Check out these books if you wanna see what I’m talking about.

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

In 1977, four teenagers and a dog solved the mystery of Sleepy Lake. The trail of an amphibian monster terrorizing the quiet town of Blyton Hills leads the gang to spend a night in Deboën Mansion and apprehend a familiar culprit: a bitter old man in a mask. In 1990, the man they apprehended makes parole, and Andy tracks him down to confirm what she’s always known— they got the wrong guy. Now she’ll need to get the gang back together and return to Blyton Hills to find out what really happened.

How To Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market. But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them.

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They’re even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie’s doing okay— until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Charlie Asher, it seems, has been recruited for a new position: as Death.

The Twisted Ones by T Kingfisher

When Mouse’s dad asks her to clean out her dead grandmother’s house, she says yes. But Grandma was a hoarder, and her house is stuffed with useless rubbish. Then Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather’s journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants…until Mouse finds herself face to face with a series of impossible terrors — because sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real, and they’re looking for you.

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Jamie Gray’s old acquaintance, Tom, works at what he calls “an animal rights organization” and needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. What Tom doesn’t tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm, human-free world. They’re the universe’s largest and most dangerous pandas and they’re in trouble. Others have found their way to the alternate world. And their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Korede’s sister Ayoola is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead, stabbed through the heart with Ayoola’s knife. Korede knows the best solutions for cleaning blood (bleach, bleach, and more bleach), the best way to move a body (wrap it in sheets like a mummy), and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures to Instagram when she should be mourning her “missing” boyfriend. But when a kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where Korede works asks for Ayoola’s phone number, she must reckon with what her sister has become and how far she’s willing to go to protect her.

My Heart Is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants nothing to do with her. She lives in her own world, a world in which protection comes from an unusual source: horror movies…especially the ones where a masked killer seeks revenge on a world that wronged them. But when blood actually starts to spill into the waters of Indian Lake, she pulls us into her dizzying, encyclopedic mind of blood and masked murderers, and predicts exactly how the plot will unfold.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Brought up by unfriendly nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She prepares to launch her daring escape, but her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but she has no chance without Gideon.

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

S.T., a domesticated crow, is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle’s wild crows, and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos. But when Big Jim’s eyeball falls out of his head, S.T. is left with no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out into a wild and frightening new world with his trusty steed Dennis, where he discovers that the neighbors are devouring one another. Humanity’s extinction has seemingly arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a cowardly crow whose only knowledge of the world comes from TV.

 

Springtime has rushed in again, and maybe this year we’ll finally get around to spring cleaning (but probably not). The characters in these books cleaned house metaphorically, starting their lives over to get a fresh perspective! Try one of them out if you’re in the mood for something new.

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

How many married people have daydreamed about walking out to find a different life? Britt-Marie actually does it, and follows her heart right into a small town full of quirky misfits.

XOXO by Axie Oh

When Jenny moves to Seoul and runs into the boy she spent a dreamy L.A. evening with, it seems like fate. But he happens to be a K-pop superstar, and a relationship is simply off the table for both of them.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Bree Matthews is running away from her memories after her mother dies in a tragic accident, and thankfully she has been accepted to a program for high schoolers at UNC. But when she discovers a secret society full of magical secrets, her life is only going to get more complicated. 

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Cora, a young outcast, escapes a slave plantation in Georgia through a literal underground railroad, searching for a route to make a life for herself.

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

An unexpected friendship between a recently widowed Evvie and Dean, a pitcher with the yips, will lead to uncovered secrets, new relationships, and a hopeful future.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

After her mother’s death and the dissolution of her marriage, Cheryl Strayed took to the Pacific Crest Trail to rediscover herself.

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

After fleeing their home in the Dominican Republic, the four Garcia girls adjust to an overwhelming New York City as their parents try to hold on to old traditions.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

A.J. Fikry lives alone, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and his prized possession, a rare collection of Edgar Allen Poe poems, has been stolen. But a mysterious package gives Fikry the chance to make his life over.

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

Roser, a pregnant young widow, must marry Victor, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love, as well as flee a Spanish civil war. Though neither of them wants the marriage, they are united in their hope of returning home.

The Switch by Beth O’Leary

Overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a sabbatical, so she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house. Eileen is newly single and about to turn 80. Her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen, so she and Leena decide to try a two-month swap.