If your New Year’s resolution was to read more, relax, unwind, or step away from your devices, do we have a list for you! This mix of non-fiction, romance, contemporary fiction, and thriller books will keep you on your toes– with each more addictive than the last.
Just to give you a taste of what’s in store, we have: a therapist who goes to therapy; a time traveling black woman who ends up in 1930s LA (not ideal); a murder set in the early days of COVID Ireland; a series of essays that reflect the fashion world madness; and much more.
As always, take a moment to do your research on these books’ trigger warnings as the topics and seriousness range between each author and plot.
1
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, Lori Gottlieb
In 3 Phrases: Memoir. Therapist-Inception. Heartbreaking.
Why We Recommend:
This book follows one woman’s guide through discovering that everyone sometimes needs someone to talk to. Being a therapist herself, Lori is hesitant at first but with some help from friends and coworkers, she finds someone who is her perfect therapist match. This book made me laugh and cry and feel every emotion as if you are on this journey with her (which is one large cocktail of emotions).
What it’s about:
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. Next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients’ lives — a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can’t stop hooking up with the wrong guys — she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.
With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.
2
The Perishing, Natashia Deón
In 3 Phrases: Time-travel. LA. Social Issues.
Why We Recommend:
Let me start by saying that this book is so beautifully written, I could wax on poetically about the beauty of Natashia’s writing. The book itself is gripping, with its magical/mysterious aspect and social issues steeped in fact. Natashia truly places you in 1930’s LA– whether that’s somewhere you want to be is up to you.
What it’s about:
Lou, a young Black woman, wakes up in an alley in 1930s Los Angeles with no memory of how she got there or where she’s from. Taken in by a caring foster family, Lou dedicates herself to her education while trying to put her mysterious origins behind her. She’ll go on to become the first Black female journalist at the Los Angeles Times, but Lou’s extraordinary life is about to take an even more remarkable turn. When she befriends a firefighter at a downtown boxing gym, Lou is shocked to realize that though she has no memory of meeting him, she’s been drawing his face for years.
Increasingly certain that their paths previously crossed—and beset by unexplainable flashes from different eras haunting her dreams—Lou begins to believe she may be an immortal sent here for a very important reason, one that only others like her can explain. Setting out to investigate the mystery of her existence, Lou must make sense of the jumble of lifetimes calling to her, just as new forces threaten the existence of those around her.
3
56 Days, Catherine Ryan Howard
In 3 Phrases: COVID. Murder. New love.
Why We Recommend:
This book played me like a fiddle. I don’t know how to better explain it. Not only did it throw me back into the trauma of quarantine, but it introduced me to two protagonists who, even after they did some bad things, I couldn’t help but love– red flags and all.
What it’s about:
56 DAYS AGO
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores.
35 DAYS AGO
When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests they move in together. Ciara sees a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny of family and friends. Oliver sees a chance to hide who – and what – he really is.
TODAY
Detectives arrive at Oliver’s apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.
Can they determine what really happened, or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime?
4
The Heart Principle, Helen Hoang
In 3 Phrases: Neurodivergent. Love. Emotional.
Why We Recommend:
Wow, I loved this book so much I’m going to have trouble expressing it in words. The Heart Principle is the third in a series (though you don’t need to read the others) about neurodivergent protagonists and their love stories. Having said that, I went into this thinking it was going to be a cute little romance and instead was hit with waves of depth and emotion in what it means to live within a traditional family’s expectational bubble. This book really delves into how we define ourselves by our success, and how we can find new ways to measure ourselves. Of course, there is also romance, and it’s adorable!
What it’s about:
When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to replicate that moment. And when her longtime boyfriend announces he wants an open relationship before making a final commitment, a hurt and angry Anna decides that if he wants an open relationship, then she does, too. Translation: She’s going to embark on a string of one-night stands. The more unacceptable the men, the better.
That’s where tattooed, motorcycle-riding Quan Diep comes in. Their first attempt at a one-night stand fails, as does their second, and their third, because being with Quan is more than sex—he accepts Anna on an unconditional level that she herself has just started to understand. However, when tragedy strikes Anna’s family she takes on a role that she is ill-suited for, until the burden of expectations threatens to destroy her. Anna and Quan have to fight for their chance at love, but to do that, they also have to fight for themselves.
5
Get a Life, Chloe Brown, Talia Hibbert
In 3 Phrases: Chronic illness. Artist. Enemies to Lovers.
Why We Recommend:
Chloe Brown is black, plus-size, and has a chronic illness. She’s also a genius who loves chocolate. Oh, and her love interest? A ginger artist. At first they hate each other, but their infatuation blossoms into something of mutual respect, attraction, and hot and heavy lust. This is the quick read to make your heart flutter.
What it’s about:
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?
- Enjoy a drunken night out.
- Ride a motorcycle.
- Go camping.
- Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
- Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
- And… do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.
Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…
6
Wow, No Thank You: Essays, Samantha Irby
In 3 Phrases: Essays. Hilarious. Relatable.
Why We Recommend:
Samantha Irby is a writer on the hit Hulu show, Shrill– and if you’ve seen it, you’ve had a taste of her relatability and painfully funny humor. If you’ve ever grappled with what it *really means* to be an adult (aka pay bills and keep yourself alive, maybe even happy if you can swing it) then you’ll love Irby’s writing.
What it’s about:
Irby is forty, and increasingly uncomfortable in her own skin despite what Inspirational Instagram Infographics have promised her. She has left her job as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic, has published successful books and has been friendzoned by Hollywood, left Chicago, and moved into a house with a garden that requires repairs and know-how with her wife in a Blue town in the middle of a Red state where she now hosts book clubs and makes mason jar salads. This is the bourgeois life of a Hallmark Channel dream. She goes on bad dates with new friends, spends weeks in Los Angeles taking meetings with “tv executives slash amateur astrologers” while being a “cheese fry-eating slightly damp Midwest person,” “with neck pain and no cartilage in [her] knees,” who still hides past due bills under her pillow.
7
Big Summer, Jennifer Weiner
In 3 Phrases: Murder, Weddings, and Plus Size Influencers
Why We Recommend:
This book is incredibly relatable for anyone who has ever struggled with body image or the comparison game. It has those elements of reality but also the shock value when the murder mystery aspect comes into play– best of both worlds.
What it’s about:
Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne Berg is shocked when Drue Cavanaugh walks back into her life, looking as lovely and successful as ever, with a massive favour to ask. Daphne hasn’t spoken one word to Drue in all this time – she doesn’t even hate-follow her ex-best friend on social media – so when Drue asks if she will be her maid of honour at the society wedding of the summer, Daphne is rightfully speechless.
Drue was always the one who had everything – except the ability to hold onto friends. Meanwhile, Daphne’s no longer the same self-effacing sidekick she was back in high school. She’s built a life that she loves, including a growing career as a plus-size Instagram influencer. Letting glamorous, seductive Drue back into her life is risky, but it comes with an invitation to spend a weekend in a waterfront Cape Cod mansion. When Drue begs and pleads and dangles the prospect of cute single guys, Daphne finds herself powerless as ever to resist her friend’s siren song.
8
Seven Days of June, Tia Williams
In 3 Phrases: Black Excellence. Romance. Pop Culture
Why We Recommend:
The emotions run high in this one– Shane and Eva’s steamy and unconventional relationship will make you feel every emotion you’re capable of feeling. It’s the ultimate love story for anyone who nerds out about books, or roots for the underdog.
What it’s about:
Seven days to fall in love, fifteen years to forget, and seven days to get it all back again…
Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award‑winning novelist, who, to everyone’s surprise, shows up in New York.
When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas, but the eyebrows of the Black literati. What no one knows is that fifteen years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. While they may be pretending not to know each other, they can’t deny their chemistry—or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books through the years.
Over the next seven days, amidst a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect—but Eva’s wary of the man who broke her heart, and wants him out of the city so her life can return to normal. Before Shane disappears though, she needs a few questions answered…
9
Everybody (Else) is Perfect, Gabrielle Korn
In 3 Phrases: Essays. Social Commentary. Womanhood.
Why We Recommend:
Gabrielle takes the reader through a whirlwind of essays about what it’s *really* like to be a woman in fashion, in the media, in the world– and why success isn’t as glamorous as it seems.
What it’s about:
Gabrielle Korn starts her professional life with all the right credentials. Prestigious college degree? Check. A loving, accepting family? Check. Instagram-worthy offices and a tight-knit group of friends? Check, check. Gabrielle’s life seems to reach the crescendo of perfection when she gets named the youngest editor-in-chief in the history of one of fashion’s most influential publications. Suddenly she’s invited to the world’s most epic parties, comped beautiful clothes and shoes from trendy designers, and asked to weigh in on everything from gay rights to lip gloss on one of the most influential digital platforms.
But behind the scenes, things are far from perfect. In fact, just a few months before landing her dream job, Gabrielle’s health and wellbeing are on the line, and her promotion to editor-in-chief becomes the ultimate test of strength. In this collection of inspirational and searing essays, Gabrielle reveals exactly what it’s truly like in the fashion world, trying to find love as a young lesbian in New York City, battling with anorexia, and trying not to lose herself in a mirage of women’s empowerment and Instagram perfection.
Through deeply personal essays, Gabrielle recounts her struggles to reconcile her long-held insecurities about her body while coming out in the era of The L Word, where swoon-worthy lesbians are portrayed as skinny, fashion-perfect, and power-hungry. She takes us with her everywhere from New York Fashion Week to the doctor’s office, revealing that the forces that try to keep women small are more pervasive than anyone wants to admit, especially in a world that’s been newly branded as woke.
10
Yolk, Mary H. K. Choi
In 3 Phrases: Family. Food. Failure.
Why We Recommend:
This relationship between two very different sisters highlights all the ways society defines success and why it doesn’t really mean anything. They restore their relationship during a sudden trauma through a shared love of the food that raised them.
What it’s about:
Jayne and June Baek are nothing alike. June’s three years older, a classic first-born, know-it-all narc with a problematic 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.
That is, until June gets cancer. And Jayne becomes the only one who can help her.
Flung together by circumstance, housing woes, and family secrets, will the sisters learn more about each other than they’re willing to confront? And what if while helping June, Jayne has to confront the fact that maybe she’s sick, too?
11
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, Dawnie Walton
In 3 Phrases: 1970s. Musicians. Social Issues.
Why We Recommend:
Written in an interview-format, Opal & Nev are 1970s rock stars who are making their comeback in the 2000s. What really pulled me in with this book was the stance on social issues and how the relationship between black and white artists played out.
What it’s about:
Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, Afro-punk before that term existed. Coming of age in Detroit, she can’t imagine settling for a 9-to-5 job—despite her unusual looks, Opal believes she can be a star. So when the aspiring British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her at a bar’s amateur night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together for the fledgling Rivington Records.
In early seventies New York City, just as she’s finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to her label brandishes a Confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal’s bold protest and the violence that ensues set off a chain of events that will not only change the lives of those she loves, but also be a deadly reminder that repercussions are always harsher for women, especially black women, who dare to speak their truth.
Decades later, as Opal considers a 2016 reunion with Nev, music journalist S. Sunny Shelton seizes the chance to curate an oral history about her idols. Sunny thought she knew most of the stories leading up to the cult duo’s most politicized chapter. But as her interviews dig deeper, a nasty new allegation from an unexpected source threatens to blow up everything.
12
Rock Paper Scissors, Alice Feeney
In 3 Phrases: Thriller. Unreliable Narrator. Marital Troubles.
Why We Recommend:
Have you heard of face blindness? Yeah, me neither before this book. But the medical phenomena really adds a layer of depth to this thriller, which follows a married couple looking to rekindle their marriage– of course a decade of secrets makes that difficult.
What it’s about:
Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.
Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts–paper, cotton, pottery, tin–and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.
Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.
