Recommend a Book You've Read Recently and Enjoyed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A Gentleman in Moscow, thought it is not woman centered.

ugh I hated this one. Had to stop reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozecki

This recommendation came at just the right time! I’ve got the ebook from the library right now but was hesitant to dive in because I had complicated reactions to one of Ozeki’s other novels.

Write back when you are finished!

[Anonymous]

Lessons in chemistry …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A Gentleman in Moscow, thought it is not woman centered.

I loved this book. It was something very special.

[Anonymous]

Remarkably Bright Creatures

[Anonymous]

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark
Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (OP mentioned The Power so I thought sci fi may be ok)
In case you haven't read it yet, The Matrix by Lauren Groff (no relation to the movie- I recommend this book to everyone)
The Verifiers by Jane Pek
The Infinite Plan by Isabel Allende (this is older but I just read it and she is so good)
In the Quick by Kate Hope Day
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Searle
Agree with above recommendations, Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen (just keep going, it gets better. -it's fast)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
In case you haven't read it yet, The Matrix by Lauren Groff (no relation to the movie- I recommend this book to everyone)

I usually like Lauren Groff's work but this one really didn't work for me. The narration style was distancing and made me not care about the characters.

[Anonymous]

I loved Hamnet. Now reading her new one, , the Marriage Portrait, and loving it. Both focused on female characters.

[Anonymous]

A lady's guide to fortune hunting - by Sophie Irwin: Kitty Talbot needs a fortune. Or rather, she needs a husband who has a fortune. Left with her father’s massive debts, she has only twelve weeks to save her family from ruin.

Kitty has never been one to back down from a challenge, so she leaves home and heads toward the most dangerous battleground in all of England: the London season.

Kitty may be neither accomplished nor especially genteel—but she is utterly single-minded; imbued with cunning and ingenuity, she knows that risk is just part of the game.

The only thing she doesn’t anticipate is Lord Radcliffe. The worldly Radcliffe sees Kitty for the mercenary fortune-hunter that she really is and is determined to scotch her plans at all costs, until their parrying takes a completely different turn….

This is a frothy pleasure, full of brilliant repartee and enticing wit--one that readers will find an irresistible delight.

The Boys by Katie Hafner: When introverted Ethan Fawcett marries gregarious Barb, he has every reason to believe he will be delivered from a lifetime of solitude. She fills his world with a sense of adventure, expanding his horizons beyond his comfortable routine. To ease Ethan’s fears of becoming a father, Barb suggests they foster two young brothers, Tommy and Sam, and Ethan immediately falls in love with the boys.

When the pandemic hits, he becomes obsessed with providing a perfect life for them. Instead of bringing Barb and Ethan closer together, however, the boys become a wedge in the couple's relationship, as Ethan is unable to share with Barb a secret that has been haunting him since childhood. But it's not until Ethan takes Tommy and Sam on a biking trip in Italy, and it becomes clear just how unusual Ethan and his boys are.

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

[Anonymous]

Carrie Soto is back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

I haven't loved all of her previous books so I was surprised by how much I liked this.

+1

More depth than I expected. Love that it was about more than just finding romance! (Not that finding romance is bad, of course. But I enjoyed that it was a bit more ambitious and thought-provoking.)

Speaking of romances, I just finished Very Sincerely Yours, by Kerry Winfrey. Sweet and straight-forward, but not at all vapid. Though I didn't relate to the main character personally, I immediately felt so much empathy for her and her "journey".
Good stuff in a simple story.

I agree - I think this was Emma Straub's best yet. Touching story with good characters and I thought the time travel was well-done too.

So I had no idea Emma Straub was Peter Straub’s daughter. He died earlier this month, which makes this (already great) novel even more touching! 😢

She wrote a beautiful essay about him/them this week. Contains a few spoilers about the book, but nothing that would ruin the experience IMHO. Lovely piece of writing:

https://www.vulture.com/article/peter-straub-emma-straub-remembrance-father.html

Thank you for sharing, that was lovely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark
Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (OP mentioned The Power so I thought sci fi may be ok)
In case you haven't read it yet, The Matrix by Lauren Groff (no relation to the movie- I recommend this book to everyone)
The Verifiers by Jane Pek
The Infinite Plan by Isabel Allende (this is older but I just read it and she is so good)
In the Quick by Kate Hope Day
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Searle
Agree with above recommendations, Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen (just keep going, it gets better. -it's fast)

OP here - thank you!

I loved Space Between Worlds!! Not always a sci-fi girl, not I thought that book was multi-faceted and terrific!! I liked The Verifiers, too, but not nearly as much. The main character just didn’t move me - I had a hard time caring for some reason.

Can’t wait to check out the others you recommended! Thanks so much for taking the time!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozecki

This recommendation came at just the right time! I’ve got the ebook from the library right now but was hesitant to dive in because I had complicated reactions to one of Ozeki’s other novels.

Write back when you are finished!

I’m not the pp but also just read this based on the recommendations in this thread. I really loved it.

[Anonymous]

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. We read it for my book club and every single member loved it.

For those that liked Guncle, try Red, White and Royal Blue. Similarly funny but sweet, and the protagonist is a young gay man. I listened to the audiobook and it’s great. It’s also coming out as a movie.

The Thursday Murder Club books (there are two) are really enjoyable, too. Lighter (despite the murder plot line), but amusing and engaging. Also did the audibooks for those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. We read it for my book club and every single member loved it.

For those that liked Guncle, try Red, White and Royal Blue. Similarly funny but sweet, and the protagonist is a young gay man. I listened to the audiobook and it’s great. It’s also coming out as a movie.

The Thursday Murder Club books (there are two) are really enjoyable, too. Lighter (despite the murder plot line), but amusing and engaging. Also did the audibooks for those.

Oh gosh I hate disagreeing with anyone on this absolutely wonderful thread - but I HATED Red, White and Royal Blue. First two chaps, I was all in - I thought it was funny and unusual. Then it just turned into this weird book that seemed like porny YA fanfic. I couldn't wait to be done with that book. I guess I'm in a minority there because it was a huge, massive hit, and the author's next book was also a bestseller. So maybe I am the problem here.

But I loved Guncle. Guncle was - to me - a much more mature book.

But I have been eyeing Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and may pick it up based on your rec.