Good Reads & Views

Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson
Fiction

What it’s about: An author living a comfortable, happy life receives a call from a reporter who discovered that she was the source of mass hysteria in her small town 20 years ago, when she and a friend posted hundreds of copies of their mysterious art poster around town.

Why you might like it: This engaging first-person story relives teen angst and the joy of artistic creation—and what happens when artwork takes on a life of its own and wreaks havoc.

Reviewers say: “Wilson has developed a story that is a precise capture of adolescence and of two vibrant teens whose everyday dilemmas, weaknesses, and triumphs are utterly endearing” (Booklist).

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An Act of Love by Nancy Thayer
Fiction

What it’s about: An Act of Love is about a step-family in crisis. The novel concerns a mother and her daughter and a father and his son. The parents believe they have done a good job raising their children until their daughter ends up in a psychiatric ward. This is a sort of mystery. Neither the characters nor the reader knows what has really happened. The children are pitted against each other testing the loyalties of the parents, threatening the foundations of the family.

Is it for you? If you enjoy stories about blended families and how they endure trials and still hold onto love, you should read this book.

You might also like: Once Upon a Time, There Was You by Elizabeth Berg

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Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
Fiction 

What it's about: Two college friends (who used to date) get tangled up in the lives of a married couple. The wife, Melissa, is an artist, and husband Nick is an actor. Both seem to gravitate towards Frances (the narrator) and Bobbi, two women who perform spoken word poetry in Dublin. Soon bonds are formed and secrets are kept. Lovers of book to screen adaptions, this is for you. Now a 12-episode TV show on Hulu. All episodes are out and available to stream.  

An aside: If you’ve never read Sally Rooney, she is known for writing in the third person and doesn’t use quotation marks for dialogue. The words that Rooney chooses are deliberate and not wasted. Her characters are flawed and are relatable to millennials.  

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A Week at the Shore by Barbara Delinsky
Fiction

What it’s about: Encouraged by her daughter and feeling the need to reconnect with her father, Mallory returns home after 20 years. A captivating story about family secrets and how complex and difficult they can be. It also touches on how life can be when you have a parent that has dementia. The stress it puts on caregivers and family.

Why you might like it: This book is about brokenness, family trials, heartache, love and forgiveness.

You might also like: Everything We Didn’t Say by Nicole Baart

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The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
Fiction 

What it’s about: Indie rock darling Greta James hasn’t been able to make music since she had an onstage meltdown after the sudden death of her mother. She reluctantly agrees to take her mother’s place on an Alaskan cruise with her father, hoping to mend their broken relationship and recover her lost creative drive. She doesn’t expect to connect with the ship’s guest lecturer, but the erudite and charming Ben Wilder might be just the balm she needs. 

Why you might like it: This is a warm and tender examination of parent/child relationships, resolving differences, and coping with grief—all tempered with a little light romance. The writing is thoughtful, and the story is sentimental in a good way and is filled with characters to care about. The descriptions of the Alaskan scenery are vivid. You may not be surprised by the ending, but it is handled with delicacy and grace.  

You might also like: One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle, Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes, and Float Plan by Trish Doller 

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Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Fiction

For readers who enjoy: Heart-warming, relationship focused reads; stories about family, community, and overcoming loneliness and loss; and charming and wise characters.

What it’s about: Marcellus is a misanthrope, but after 1299 days of captivity, who could blame him? Marcellus is a giant Pacific octopus, an unwilling resident of a small-town aquarium in Washington state, a keen observer of the humans around him, and one of the narrators of this quirky and heartwarming first novel. The one person Marcellus does like is Tova, the grieving widow who cleans the aquarium every night—she shares her deepest thoughts with him, and on more than one occasion has rescued him when his secret nightly raids on other tanks have gotten him into trouble. Tova is mourning the recent loss of her husband as well as the disappearance of her son more than 30 years earlier. When newcomer Cameron—in town seeking his long-lost father—joins Tova on the night shift, Marcellus realizes that his two human friends may be able to help one another.

Reviewers say: “Van Pelt has written an irresistibly wonderful, warm, funny, heartbreaking first novel, full of gentle people (and one octopus) bravely powering through their individual scars” (Library Journal).

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Wahala by Nikki May
Fiction

What it’s about: In this intensifying story about female friendship and betrayal, the bonds within a tight-knit group of friends are strained when a fourth woman joins their circle. “Wahala” is the Nigerian word for “trouble,” and that’s exactly what their new frenemy brings to each woman’s life as she exploits their secret vulnerabilities.

Why you might like it: This book is a character-driven page turner that will pull you into the lives of three Anglo Nigerian women living fabulous lives in current-day London.

You might also like: For another riveting story about a group of women whose lives are upended by a “friend,” read The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood.

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Men in My Situation: A Novel by Per Petterson
Fiction

What it's about: After Arvid’s parents and two brothers perish in a ferry accident, his wife divorces him and takes their three daughters with her. For the next year, Arvid drinks, has many one-night stands, and often sleeps and drives around in his old Mazda, but fails to deal with his grief. Then the oldest daughter, Vigdis, reaches out to him for help and Arvid is finally forced to come to terms with the trajectory his life has taken.

Reviewers say: “Petterson has written a beautifully nuanced, deeply felt, and powerful story of survival” (Library Journal); “Petterson's bracing latest captures the rhythms and anomie of grief…” (Publishers Weekly).

Good to know: The narrative style here is almost stream of consciousness writing but with its often simple, yet elegant prose, it accentuates Arvid’s story instead of distracting from it. If you liked the author’s award winning Out Stealing Horses, you should also enjoy this portrait of a life going to pieces.

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The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
Fiction 

What it’s about: You’ll meet the fifteen members of the Turner family in this big story about a big Detroit family trying to decide what to do about their family home. While the story centers on a few of the thirteen Turner children, along with their parents, the author brings the secondary characters into clear focus.

Why you might like it: If you like compelling storytelling and moving stories about family relationships, this leisurely-paced novel will immerse you in the warm, messy, loving world of the Turner family.

Reviewers say: “Flournoy gets at the universal through the patient observation of one family’s particulars. In this assured and memorable novel, she provides the feeling of knowing a family from the inside out, as we would wish to know our own” (New York Times Book Review).

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The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty
Fiction

Reviewers say: “A witty modern love story in the age of cohabitation, blended families, and second chances, this is a compassionate, absorbing tale. Moriarty has crafted an incredibly likable heroine in Ellen, the hypnotherapist who can solve her clients’ problems but can’t seem to keep her own life from spiraling into soap opera. Readers who enjoy Jennifer Close and Marian Keyes will adore Moriarty’s wit and warmth” (Booklist).

You might also like: The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks or The Girl Before by J. P. Delaney

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