5 Good Books: Volume 13

Dead Letters (c/o): Dead Letters is a dark novel about a twin who has been pronounced dead but sets up a scavenger hunt of sorts for her twin sister. It kept me guessing until the very last page and I immediately gave it to one of my best friends because I knew she would love it too. The book was smart, well-written, and the epitome of a good thriller.

Watch Me Disappear (c/o): Watch Me Disappear is about a mom, Billie Flanagan, who vanishes while hiking alone. Her body was never found but her husband tries to have her pronounced dead even though his daughter, Olive, starts to get visions of her mom and thinks she is alive after all. Olive and her dad try to solve the mystery of what happened to Billie and uncover a lot about her past in the process. I liked this book and was surprised by the ending.

The Perennials (c/o): The Perennials is about best friends who return to their beloved summer camp as counselors. It’s about the next generation of campers, growing up, and trying to maintain close friendships even as you inevitably change. I gave my copy to a good friend who loved summer camp and even met her fiance at their sleepaway camp.

Saints for All Occasions (c/o): J. Courtney Sullivan is one of my favorite authors. I loved The Commencement and The Engagements. Saints for All Occasions is about two sisters who share a major secret that makes them estranged for years. They reunite years later at a wake for a family member. The book changes perspectives between both sisters and other family members and, as with all of J. Courtney’s books, the characters are relatable, nuanced, and memorable.

Before We Were Yours (c/o): I have always loved historical fiction and this book is no exception. It’s inspired by firsthand accounts of the stories behind a notoriously corrupt adoption agency, the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. A successful politician’s daughter meets a woman who looks just like her and her grandmother at a nursing home. She is curious about the woman and starts to investigate to find out who the woman is and if she is, in fact, a relative. The book switches between the present and the 1930s when the woman at the nursing home was a girl. The book exposes the horrors that occurred at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. It’s about family, secrecy, with an added love story for good measure!