Good Reads & Views

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
Nonfiction  

What it’s about: It’s time to face the fact that we’ll never complete our to-do lists, and we’re making ourselves miserable thinking otherwise. (Is anyone else as freaked out by this idea as I am?) That’s the premise of this wide-ranging self-improvement book, which suggests that we acknowledge the limited amount of time we have on Earth—so we can then focus on what matters most to us.  

Why you should read it: Whether you love or dislike time management books, Four Thousand Weeks proposes a thought-provoking way of looking at how we spend our time. For those of us who like nothing better than a good life hack, this book challenges us to focus on the big picture before optimizing the small details.  

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Between Heaven and Texas by Marie Bostwick
Fiction

What it’s about: This is a big, folksy story about a Texas ranch family, the joys of quilting, and strong generations of women. Mary Dell and her sister Lydia Dale join forces to become a quilting duo, as they weather and overcome heartache in their personal lives. Their large and often quirky family adds warmth and coziness to a story about marriage, motherhood, and reinventing oneself.  

Why you might like it: If you like heartwarming but realistic family stories, this first-book-in-a-series will pull you into the rhythm of ranch life. It’s also an inspiring story of a woman who finds her own strength and develops her creativity.  

You might also like: Jennifer Chiaverini’s The Quilter’s Apprentice is another warm story of a woman for whom quilting is a refuge. If you like stories of sisters and ranch life, check out The Wilder Sisters by Jo-Ann Mapson. 

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Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones 
Fiction 

What it’s about: Set in the midst of the Atlanta child murders, this poignant story is told through three children’s perspectives. While the tone is somber and atmospheric, the fifth graders’ day-to-day lives are at the center of the story—though the terror of children disappearing lurks in the background.  

Why you might like it: If you enjoy stories that build gradually and invite you as the reader to see the connections among various perspectives, this book will be a very satisfying read. The storylines weave together to create a textured narrative.  

Reviewers say: “This strongly grounded tale hums with the rhythms of schoolyard life and proves Jones to be a powerful storyteller” (Publishers Weekly). 

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Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation by Maud Newton
Nonfiction   

What it’s about: In this candid, vulnerable, and engaging mash-up of memoir, genealogical research, science, and sociology, the author investigates her troubling family history. From shocking stories about her parents to disturbing discoveries about her Southern ancestors, Newton faces the unsettling truths about her family. Interspersed with her genealogical quest, she explores genetic research to learn more about nature vs. nurture, and she does some serious soul searching to determine how to respond to her findings.

You might also like: Readers of The Glass Castle will find Newton’s family story similarly compelling. To read another memoir about life-changing genealogical discoveries, pick up Dani Shapiro’s Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love.

Reviewers say: “An engaging and thoroughly researched memoir relaying a family history that is at turns recognizable and abhorrent, as an honest and typical history of American exceptionalism, racism, and misogyny. Will appeal to lovers of memoirs, family secrets, genealogy, and the sociological makeup threading U.S. history” (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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Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom by Carl Bernstein
Nonfiction

What it’s about: Before he became famous for his Watergate reporting at the Washington Post, Carl Bernstein started his newspaper career as a teenage copy boy at the Washington Star. This engaging, spirited memoir tells the story of a young man finding his calling in the rollicking newsrooms of the early 1960s. Bernstein provides a wide-eyed, first-hand, behind-the-scenes view of reporting major 20^th century news stories, including the Civil Rights Movement, Sputnik, and the Kennedy assassination.

Why you might like it: Bernstein is a great storyteller, and the people of the newsroom are quirky, larger than life, and unforgettable—so this memoir reads like fiction (even though it’s true).

You might also like: While the timeframe and setting are completely different, Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi is another exuberant memoir of mastering skills through on-the-job training.

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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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Murder Book: A Graphic Memoir of a True Crime Obsession by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell
Nonfiction

What it’s about: Like her mother and grandmother before her, New Yorker cartoonist Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell is obsessed with true crime. This memoir in graphic novel format explores the author’s fascination with the genre, her family’s intense interest in the topic, and our culture’s seemingly insatiable appetite for these horrifying true stories.

Why you might like it: If you, too, are a true crime reader who’s not exactly sure why you find it so compelling, this book is an engrossing exploration of the genre’s appeal. This graphic novel is an introspective, cleverly illustrated investigation of true crime reading habits.

Reviewers say: “Campbell uses a conversational tone and lots of humor to delve into the history of true crime and its various formats, including books, television, movies, and podcasts” (Booklist).

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Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant's Search for Her Family's Lasting Legacy by Gayle Jessup White
Nonfiction

What it’s about: When Gayle Jessup White was a child growing up in Washington, DC, she heard murmurs about her family’s connection to Thomas Jefferson. As an adult, she learned via DNA and genealogical research that it was true: she is a descendant of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson.

What sets it apart: While there are other books about Jefferson and Hemings, this memoir is a captivating personal story written by one of their descendants. Full of revelations, this book describes Gayle Jessup White’s journey to become the Public Relations & Community Engagement Officer at Monticello. She writes movingly of the importance of giving voice to the previously voiceless enslaved people who worked at Monticello.

You might also like: The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President’s Black Family by Bettye Kearse is also a thought-provoking memoir of a descendant of an enslaved woman and a president.

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I’d Give Anything by Marisa de los Santos
Fiction

What it’s about: As Ginny’s marriage dissolves amidst a scandal, she turns to her lifelong best friend for support. Then, when an old tragic event veiled in secrecy reemerges, it threatens to disrupt the lives of multiple families. Relationships are at the heart of this engaging, bittersweet novel—Ginny’s longstanding friendships, her close ties with her teenage daughter, and her reconnection with a lost friend from the past.

Why you might like it: Despite the difficult issues faced by the characters, the tone of this story is comforting and warm—and the writing is lovely and lyrical.

You might also like: Good Riddance by Elinor Lipman is another warm and witty novel about secrets from the past that turn people’s lives upside down years later.

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