Author: Jennifer Vance

If you’re lucky enough to have a sister, you know that the bond you share is unlike any other. To celebrate National Sisters Day this Aug. 4, we put together a list of books that examine this unique and special (though sometimes painful) relationship.

When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar

Three siblings are left to raise one another after their parents die. The youngest, Kausar, grapples with the incomprehensible loss as she also charts out her own understanding of gender; Aisha, the middle sister, desperately tries to hold on to her sense of family in an impossible situation; and Noreen, the eldest, does her best in the role of sister-mother while also trying to create a life for herself.

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s,and by 2016, they have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator turned stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant by a man she’s not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. As they grapple with years marred by adolescent angst, infidelity, and resentment, they also find the transcendent moments of joy that make everything worthwhile.

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray

The Butler family has had their share of trials — as sisters Althea, Viola, and Lillian can attest — but nothing prepared them for the literal trial that will upend their lives. Althea, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are stunned when she and her husband are arrested, and in a heartbeat the family goes from one of the most respected in town to utter disgrace. As Althea awaits her fate, Lillian and Viola must come together in the house they grew up in to care for their sister’s teenage daughters. 

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it’s not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it’s everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined.

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi

Jayne and June Baek are nothing alike. June’s three years older, a know-it-all narc with a finance job and an equally soulless apartment (according to Jayne). Jayne is an emotionally stunted, self-obsessed basket case who lives in squalor, has egregious taste in men, and needs to get to class and stop wasting Mom and Dad’s money (if you ask June). Once thick as thieves, these sisters who moved from Seoul to San Antonio to New York together now don’t want anything to do with each other. Until June gets cancer. And Jayne becomes the only one who can help her.

You Have a Match by Emma Lord

When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie. But when the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents. The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp’s co-chef, putting Abby’s growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in college, it’s as if the world has lit up. Julia and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. With the Padavanos, William experiences a newfound contentment. But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable devotion to one another. 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby, she ignores her sister Elinor’s warning that her impulsive behavior leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment. Through their parallel experience of love — and its threatened loss — the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

Lulu and Milagro’s Search for Clarity by Angela Velez

Overachiever Luz “Lulu” Zavala has a solid ten-year plan. First up: nail her interview for a dream internship at Stanford. The only flaw in her plan is Clara, her oldest sister, who went to college and sparked a fight with their overprotective Peruvian mom, who is now convinced that out-of-state-college will destroy their family. Middle sister Milagro wants nothing to do with college or a nerdy class field trip. Then a spot opens up on the trip just as her own spring break plans (Operation Don’t Die a Virgin) are thwarted, and she hops on the bus. But the trip opens her eyes about possibilities she’d never imagined for herself. On a journey from Baltimore all the way to San Francisco, Lulu and Milagro will become begrudging partners as they unpack weighty family expectations, uncover Clara’s secrets, and maybe even discover the true meaning of sisterhood.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

For more than two hundred years, people in their Massachusetts town have blamed the Owens women for everything that has gone wrong. As children, Gillian and Sally were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape. One will do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they share will bring them back.

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’s practicality is the sisters’ saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood, the best way to move a body, and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures to Instagram when she should be mourning her “missing” boyfriend. Korede has long been in love with a kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where she works. But when he asks Korede for Ayoola’s phone number, she must reckon with what her sister has become.

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

In a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, James Witherspoon is caught between his two families — the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. The relationship is destined to explode. 

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

In a quiet suburb of Detroit, the five Lisbon sisters — beautiful, eccentric, and obsessively watched by the neighborhood boys — commit suicide one by one over the course of a single year. As the boys observe them from afar, transfixed, they piece together the mystery of the family’s fatal melancholy, in this hypnotic and unforgettable novel of adolescent love, disquiet, and death.

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

In 1960, rescuers found three beautiful sisters near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a cliff in the Dominican Republic. The official state newspaper reports their deaths as accidental. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of Gen. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo’s dictatorship. It doesn’t have to. Everybody knows of Las Mariposas–the Butterflies. In this extraordinary novel, the voices of all four sisters — Minerva, Patria, María Teresa, and the survivor, Dedé — speak across the decades to tell their own stories, from secret crushes to gunrunning, and to describe the everyday horrors of life under Trujillo’s rule. 

Jennifer Vance

Jennifer Vance is a publicist at Books Forward, an author publicity and book marketing firm committed to promoting voices from a diverse variety of communities. From book reviews and author events, to social media and digital marketing, we help authors find success and connect with readers.

Interested in what’s possible for your book sales and building readership? Check out our services, tell us your goals, and get a customized publicity campaign tailored just for you.

I’m VERY excited that The Bear is back (though, am I really ready for that level of stress?), and I can’t wait to see what journeys the characters go on this season. As a bit of a cookbook connoisseur myself, I put together a list of my favorites that I think each of them should read.

For Carmy

The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis because he has all the knowledge, he just needs to relax and remember why he loves cooking.

For Sydney

NOMA: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine by René Redzepi because she has a solid foundation and she’s working to elevate her game.

For Richie

Setting the Table by Danny Meyer because he could really shine in his new role of managing the kitchen and front of house.

For Tina

The Professional Chef from the Culinary Institute of America because she has the chops to hang with the big dogs.

For Marcus

Advanced Bread and Pastry by Michael Suas because he clearly loves learning about his craft, and he’ll be able to dream even bigger with this volume.

For Sugar

Home Is Where the Eggs Are by Molly Yeh because you only have brief windows of time to cook as a new mom, so you want good, easy recipes. Also, that omelette. 

For Fak

Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, Sandwiches because something just tells me he’d like this upcoming cookbook.

For Uncle Jimmy

Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan because I expect that there’s always sauce simmering on his stove. Just in case.

Jennifer Vance

Jennifer Vance is a publicist at Books Forward, an author publicity and book marketing firm committed to promoting voices from a diverse variety of communities. From book reviews and author events, to social media and digital marketing, we help authors find success and connect with readers.

Interested in what’s possible for your book sales and building readership? Check out our services, tell us your goals, and get a customized publicity campaign tailored just for you.

If there’s one thing I’m doing every year, it’s sitting down in front of my television and watching the Tony Awards. The glitz, the glamour, the drama, the breath support, I love it all. So it only makes sense that I would want to pick up a book that is giving the essence of this year’s nominees. For every theater kid — or theater kid at heart — check out these books paired with 2024 Tony nominees for Best Musical and Best Revival of a Musical. 

(Feel free to sing to yourself as you read.)

BEST MUSICAL

Stereophonic + Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Daisy Jones, a young California socialite, seeks solace in the Sunset Strip music scene, while Billy and Graham Dunne form The Six as an escape from their troubled past. Billy’s whirlwind romance with Camila leads to marriage and fatherhood, but his struggle with addiction threatens their happiness. Daisy’s entry into the band sparks creative success but also romantic tension with Billy. Amidst affairs, substance abuse, and personal struggles, the band faces internal conflicts and eventual dissolution. Despite love and loss, Daisy finds redemption in sobriety, while Camila ensures Billy’s happiness even after her passing. Their intertwined lives culminate in a poignant resolution, echoing the power of music and enduring love.

Hell’s Kitchen + Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra

The tale of four inseparable boys from Hell’s Kitchen in New York City, who thrive on mischief until a fateful summer day leads to a year in a brutal boys’ home. The trauma haunts them into adulthood, shaping their paths: lawyer, reporter, and two turn into hitmen. Fueled by vengeance, they manipulate the legal system, risking everything for retribution, knowing failure means death.

Illinoise + Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman

The story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between Elio, an adolescent boy, and Oliver, a summer guest at Elio’s parents’ cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time.

The Outsiders + That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton

Since childhood, Bryon and Mark have been as close as brothers. Now things are changing. Bryon’s growing up, spending a lot of time with girls, and thinking seriously about who he wants to be. Mark still just lives for the thrill of the moment. The two are growing apart — until Bryon makes a shocking discovery about Mark. Then Bryon faces a terrible decision — one that will change both of their lives forever.

Suffs + 19: The Musical by Jennifer Schwed and Doug Bradshaw

19: The Musical is the dynamic and little-known story of Alice Paul, Ida B. Wells, Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, Inez Milholland and the other suffragists who fought to get women the right to vote:  The 19th Amendment. The inspirational story of these fearless women is brought to life through jazz, traditional musical standards style, spoken word, and hints of gospel. Alice Paul and the suffragist’s fight for equality have been re-imagined for a new generation with a poignant and uplifting message that will resonate for years to come.

Water for Elephants + Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country’s vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxanne Coss, opera’s most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening — until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club + Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood

Isherwood magnificently captures 1931 Berlin: charming, with its avenues and cafés; marvelously grotesque, with its nightlife and dreamers; dangerous, with its vice and intrigue; powerful and seedy, with its mobs and millionaires — this was the period when Hitler was beginning his move to power. The book is inhabited by a wealth of characters: the unforgettable and “divinely decadent” Sally Bowles; plump Fraulein Schroeder, who considers reducing her Buste relieve her heart palpitations; Peter and Otto, a gay couple struggling to come to terms with their relationship; and the distinguished and doomed Jewish family, the Landauers.

Gutenberg! The Musical! + As If On Cue by Marisa Kanter

Lifelong rivals Natalie and Reid clash when their school’s art budget is on the line. To save her play, Natalie must face off against Reid’s band. Their rivalry escalates into a prank war, leading to an unexpected compromise: co-writing and directing a musical. As they navigate newfound feelings and collaboration, they must deliver a hit show to save both programs. But with their competitive history, working together proves to be a challenge they never expected.

Merrily We Roll Along + The People We Keep by Allison Larkin

April Sawicki, living in a motorhome her father won, struggles in a town where she feels out of place. After a pivotal open mic night, she leaves home for good, seeking a life of her own. Without a set destination, she finds solace in Ithaca, working at Cafe Decadence. Despite newfound belonging, April fears she’ll hurt those she cares about. Through music and new connections, she learns that her past doesn’t define her future.

The Who’s Tommy + Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Galaxy “Alex” Stern, hailing from the fringes of Los Angeles, receives an unexpected scholarship to Yale following a traumatic past. Tasked with surveilling Yale’s secretive societies, she uncovers a world of privilege intertwined with dark occult practices, blurring the boundaries between life and death.

Jennifer Vance

Jennifer Vance is a publicist at Books Forward, an author publicity and book marketing firm committed to promoting voices from a diverse variety of communities. From book reviews and author events, to social media and digital marketing, we help authors find success and connect with readers.

Interested in what’s possible for your book sales and building readership? Check out our services, tell us your goals, and get a customized publicity campaign tailored just for you.