I love reading book reviews and getting recommendations from friends. I have a long commute and enjoy getting a lot of extra reading time! Here are a few books I read recently…I’d love to know what you recommend!
The Husband’s Secret: The Husband’s Secret is about various families dealing with an unsolved murder that had happened thirty years earlier. The main character, Cecilia Fitzpatrick, reads a letter her husband wrote that was only supposed to be read after his death. She reads it and has to question everything she thought she knew about him and their relationship. Tess O’Leary’s husband, Will, and her cousin and best friend, Felicity, fall in love, so Tess takes her young son, Liam, and moves in with her mom. She starts dating an old boyfriend, Connor Whitby. Rachel Crowley, the school secretary, thinks that Connor got away with murdering her daughter. I don’t want to give too much away, but you’ll be surprised by the ending.
You may also like Gone Girl.
Big Little Lies: Big Little Lies is a mystery about parents and children at a prestigious elementary school. At the beginning of the book, we know that police are investigating a murder, but we don’t know who committed it or why. The main characters are Madeline, Celeste, and Jane. Madeline is one of the queen bee moms, Celeste is a gorgeous mom with a very wealthy husband, and Jane is a young single mom. Celeste’s life seems perfect…but it’s not. Their lives become intertwined culminating in a parent at the school’s murder. I was surprised by the ending. I liked The Husband’s Secret better, but this was still a very good read. I want to read another one of
All The Light We Cannot See: All The Light We Cannot See is an excellent book that recently won the Pulitzer Prize. It’s about a blind French girl and a German boy whose lives collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History. When she goes blind Marie-Laure, her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and they move to Saint-Malo, to live with her reclusive great-uncle. Her dad brings the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. The orphan Werner is an expert with radios. He is recruited for an academy for Hitler Youth. He and Marie-Laure meet in Saint-Malo, where he goes to fight. The book has beautiful metaphors for light and is exceptionally well-written. The author, Anthony Doerr, spent ten years writing All The Light We Cannot See.
You may also like The Goldfinch.
The Wild One: As I mentioned, I learned how to download library books to my iPad. They don’t have the most robust selection, but I was looking for a new book late at night and saw The Wild One. I read Gemma Burgess’ book, Brooklyn Girls, a few years ago. The book is about a few twenty-something best friends living in Brooklyn together. The main character, Coco, quits her job and decides she wants to be “wild” for a summer. She starts bartending, falls in love, and “steals an education” by attending classes at NYU without actually being enrolled. At first, I thought the book was junky (the girls call each other things like “sugar tits”) and I almost stopped reading. But I ended up getting drawn in and wanted to finish it before it was due back to the library!
You may also like Girls in White Dresses.
She Makes it Work: A DIY Guide to Thrive in Your Hustle: Reading She Makes It Work is like getting advice from a friend — a very smart, ambitious, driven friend. Whereas some personal help books will focus on either professional or personal life, She Makes It Work focuses on both. Katie and the women she features to understand that you can’t just focus on one aspect of your life — professional or personal — happiness happens when you thrive in both areas. I learned so much actionable advice from Katie and the women featured and was able to close the book and actually start making changes. Katie’s book is a great read for entrepreneurs and other young professionals who want to succeed in their personal and professional lives. I recommend that all young professional women (and men) read Katie’s book. P.S. You may have read my Career Profile with the author, Katie Corcoran!
You may also like You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life.
Luckiest Girl Alive: Luckiest Girl Alive is about Ani FaNelli, a woman who thinks she is about to have everything she wants — a glamorous job at a magazine, expensive clothes, and a wealthy fiancé — but then she films a documentary about her past. Ani, aka the Luckiest Girl Alive, was the only person to survive a horrific school shooting. And many people think she was an accomplice. She wants to clear her name and show that she has come a long way from her past as an outsider at a ritzy private school. There were a lot of twists that I didn’t see coming. I want to see the movie when it comes out!
You may also like the Privilege book series or the Luxe series. I loved them in high school and college!
I’m reading The Kind Worth Killing now and I want to read Adam Grant’s books, Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World and Give and Take next!
What are you reading right now? What books do you recommend I pick up next?
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