Good Reads & Views

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 - starred review).

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

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You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
Fiction

What it is: Are you looking for a novel about a bisexual love addict who has mommy issues? Then this book is for you. The main character, a Palestinian-American woman who remains unnamed for the entire book, tells her story through vignettes that flash between the United States and the Middle East. She details her ever-changing love life and her maternal traumas, which leads her to a treatment center for her love addiction.

Why you might like it: The reader goes on a journey with the main character, falling in and out of infatuation with people. You are rooting for her to mend her relationship with her mother, then get trampled when she receives a back-handed compliment. It’s a roller coaster.

About the author: Zaina Arafat is a queer Arab-American writer. You Exist Too Much won a 2021 Lambda Literary Award for bisexual fiction and was named Roxane Gay’s favorite book of 2020. Zaina teaches creative writing at Barnard College in New York.

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The Guide by Peter Heller
Fiction

What it’s about: A remote fly fishing camp seems like the perfect destination during a worldwide pandemic. But in this atmospheric and menacing story, it slowly becomes apparent that the fishing camp is one of the most dangerous places to be. A fishing guide gradually realizes that the strange rules at his new job are hiding something terrible.

Why you might like it: This novel is a wonderful blend of lyrical writing, an intimate character study, and a slow-burn thriller with an intensifying pace.

You might also like: Also pick up The River by Peter Heller, the prequel to The Guide. While you can read each book on its own, they’re more powerful when read together. For a similar slow-build of the strangeness of a new home environment, read Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas—the story of a school with unusual and increasingly menacing rules.

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Monarchs of the Northeast Kingdom by Chera Hammons
Fiction 

The location: Rural Vermont, the sparsely populated northeast corner of the state.

What happens: An older woman with multiple chronical illnesses, who is dependent on her husband, has to learn to adjust to living on her own when her husband does not return from the woods one day. She slowly adjusts to having to take care of herself, her mule and her horse, while dealing with loss, grief and loneliness.

Reviewers say: “A highly satisfying, delicately woven story about loss, loneliness, life, and death” (Kirkus Reviews).

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Fiction

What it’s about: In this compelling, character-driven novel, family secrets and hidden desires hide just below the surface. Lydia Lee was a gifted high school student from a loving family, and when she died mysteriously, her family was shattered. As the story delves into each family member’s past, you learn of her father’s struggles as the son of Chinese immigrants, her mother’s pain at giving up her career, and Lydia’s own inner conflicts and secret life.

Why you might like it: If you like novels told from multiple perspectives, you’ll appreciate the gradual unfolding of this story as you read different viewpoints. Also, if you prefer a strong sense of place, you’ll enjoy the way Ng carefully constructs the 1970s Midwestern setting.

Reviewers say: “Ng constructs a mesmerizing narrative that shrinks enormous issues of race, prejudice, identity, and gender into the miniaturist dynamics of a single family. A breathtaking triumph..." (Library Journal).

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The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand  
Fiction  

Reviewers say: "Engaging family relationships mixed with vivid landscape descriptions create an effortless read" (Library Journal).

What it's about:  A tale of identical twins who are raised on separate islands after their parents’ divorce. They are now 39 years old, they don’t get along, and the book explores complications caused by twinship and small island worlds.

You might also like: The Summer Girls by Mary Alice Monroe or Surfside Sisters by Nancy Thayer.

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Island Girls by Nancy Thayer  
Fiction  

Reviewers Say: “In this touching summer read, forgiveness benefits both the person bestowing it and the recipient” (Kirkus Reviews).

You might also like: Beautiful Day or Here’s to Us - both by Elin Hilderbrand

About the Author: Nancy Thayer grew up in Kansas and got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature from the University of Missouri at Kansas.  She moved to Nantucket Island 33 years ago after visiting a friend who introduced her to island life. She has published over 30 novels. 

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Miss Iceland by Auður A. Ólafsdóttir 
Fiction 

What it’s about: Moving to 1960s Reykjavik to pursue her literary ambitions, an aspiring novelist moves in with her gay childhood friend only to be confronted by a male-dominated literary community that does not believe women belong in the art world.

Reviewers say: “In this excellent introduction to her work, Ólafsdóttir creates a world where either escape or hiding one's true nature are the only choices” (Library Journal); “This winning tale of friendship and self-fulfillment will inspire readers” (Publishers Weekly). 

Want a taste? “I, the undersigned, Hekla Gottskálksdóttir, hereby resign from my job as a serving girl at Hotel Borg. The reason for my resignation is the indecent behaviour of the hotel’s male customers who have been harassing me both at work and in my private life.” 

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Chronicles of a Radical Hag by Lorna Landvik
Fiction

What it’s about: When newspaper columnist Haze Evans falls into a coma, her editor and good friend Susan decides to reprint highlights of her 50 years of observing small town life. Haze’s commentary is full of local news, current events, and personal memories, sometimes controversial (earning her the name the “radical hag”), and always charming. This archive of columns and their accompanying recipes and responses from readers intrigues Susan’s 14-year-old son Sam, who has reluctantly taken a summer job at the paper. Then Sam’s curiosity about Haze uncovers a deep secret.

Why you might like it: Humorous and leisurely paced, this big-hearted novel is full of love and wit and is peopled by delightful characters to care about.

Reviewers say: “At a time when local newspapers are nearing extinction, and reporters are deemed enemies of the people, Landvik’s smart and lovely paean to journalists is a welcome reminder of the important role they play in the lives of those who depend on newspapers for more than just information” (Booklist).

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