Tell Me What to Read: Fall 2017 Edition
Tell Me What to Read might be my very favorite book posts.
I LOVE seeing all your recommendations and over the past 8 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve found so many amazing new authors and titles.
This summer’s edition was particularly good, with three total winners – I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a set so much!
With those three books done, it’s time for a new round and I cannnnnnnot wait.
You know the drill – suggest something fun (although that doesn’t need to mean chick-lit – I’m up for non-fiction, memoirs, young adult, middle grade, AND chick-lit), and I’ll pick three to read in September, October, and November!
Your job: Comment with the title of a book you think I should read.
 My job: Choose three from the suggestions and announce which ones I’ll be reading.
I’ll read one a month (ish) between now and the end of November (hopefully). Feel free to read along and check back every month for my reviews.
And, as always, even if I hate the book, I will not hate you.
And go!
I’m reading L. M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle right now. It’s so different from her Anne books, but I’m LOVING it. If you haven’t read it, that’s my recommendation!
If you like The Blue Castle you will love The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough
I’m reading this right now, too, and it is SO charming! I’m loving it.
Oops, that was meant for A Gentleman in Moscow
LOVE the Blue Castle. Definitely one of my lifetime favorites.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine or Be Frank With Me. Both are must-listen to audiobooks as it helps flesh out their characters having their voices “acted out.” Similar veined books but both really good. It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too) is a great memoir about loss and discovery. And the title is fitting. Laughter and tears will occur.
At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider. One of the best travel memoirs I have ever read.
Yes! This was so excellent! And I loved that she narrates the audio herself.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and the Alice Network.
The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis was one of my favorite books that I read this past year. Also Caraval by Stephanie Garber was such a fun read, but I love books that have a bit of magic to them.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
I’ve really enjoyed The Dry by Jane Harper (a crime fiction novel set in Australia – superb writing with a plot that sucks you right in) and This is How it Always Is by Alyssa Mastromonaco (a lighthearted look into the Obama administration).
Whoops – that Alyssa Mastromonaco book should be Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins, The Lying Game by Ruth Ware (these two have some language, but the plots kind of call for it), The Worlds We Think We Know by Dalia Rosenfeld.
I just finished Good As Gone. It was a quick read, drew me in immediately, and very unpredictable. Bonus (for me): it takes place in Houston, where I live, and I recognized so many of the places mentioned!
“Girl in Translation” by Jean Kwok. Can’t remember if you’ve read it already, though . . .
I just read Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. It’s a WWII historical fiction, and it’s told in a way that’s a little bit different than my usual read which I enjoyed. I also recently read Jackie’s Girl by Kate McKeon who was Jackie Kennedy’s personal assistant and it was nice to read a book about her that didn’t paint her as a terrible and mean rich woman.
Winter Garden is just about my favorite book ever! I buy extra copies when I see it to give to friends.
The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin is one of my very favorite books, but it came out a couple years ago. My favorite 2017 release so far has been Midnight Without A Moon by Linda Williams Jackson. Both are middle grade books.
If you like fantasy, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It’s really long but INCREDIBLE.
A great YA/middle grade book is Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass. It’s a really great, feel-good book–and it’s about a solar eclipse!
This isn’t a suggestion, I just can’t help but remark that The Bright Hour was such a good book!
Actually, now that I think about it, read Happiness, by Heather Harpam. As far as excellent writing goes, I put it up there with When Breath Becomes Air, and that is a HIGH standard. It was absolutely incredible. And bonus, her family lived in Durham for a little bit too. You will love it!
The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan; The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald; Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis; Paperboy by Vince Vawter
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman — I just finished it today and loved it! It’s one of my favorites of the year so far!!
You May Already be a Winner by Ann Dee Ellis. Heartbreaking a day funny. I want to be friends with the main character. Loved it.
On Edge by Andrea Petersen, Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (he narrates the audio and it’s excellent!), and Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng.
Have you ever read A Study in Charlotte by Brittney Cavallaro? I saw it recommended in a little bookstore, rented it from the library, and proceeded to be totally charmed by it. It’s a fun take on Sherlock Holmes, featuring Holmes’s and Watson’s great-great-great grandchildren. It could have been cheesy, but I thought it was clever and fun.