★★★★☆ I was introduced Other Birds, Sarah Addison Allen’s quirky, magical realist novel, through my book club, which reads books by women authors and/or that feature strong female characters. I was thrilled to be introduced to a new author for me, especially one from my home state of North Carolina. Other Birds by Sarah Addison … Continue reading Other Birds by Sarah Allen
Category: Women’s Fiction
Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave
★★★★☆ Named after the number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine, this drama centers on a family that owns a winery in Sonoma County. The drama primarily comes from complexities in the romantic relationships of everyone in the family.
Wildland by Rebecca Hodge
★★★★☆ When breast cancer survivor Kat Jamison finds out her cancer has returned, she heads for the hills to decide what to do next. Before she can spend much time reflecting, Kat ends up with a cabin filled with two dogs and two children, Lily and Nirav. When lightning strikes and ignites a wildfire, Kat, the children, and the animals are forced into the wilderness on foot to escape the deadly situation.
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
★★★★★ A book that pays homage to Little Women and references Michael Jordan. Yes, please! Hello Beautiful is a well-told family saga about the relationship between the four Padavano sisters and William Waters, a young man haunted by his upbringing.
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
★★★★☆ The book follows three sets of characters – Deanna Wolfe, Lusa Landowski, and Garnett and Nannie, an elderly man and woman who all live on Zebulon Mountain in rural Southern Appalachia. Deanna is a biologist who lives alone deep in the woods. Lusa is a young farmer’s wife who has just suffered a tragedy. Garnett and Nannie are feuding neighbors.
Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan
★★★☆☆ A well-written, heartbreaking story, this novel explores the challenges of motherhood, mental illness, and how things are often not what they seem. Little Disasters serves as a good reminder that you never know what someone else is going through, no matter how together they seem.
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
★★★★☆ This beautifully written book opens with estranged siblings Byron and Benedetta Bennett reluctantly meeting after the death of their mother, Eleanor, to hear her final wishes. She leaves them an hour-long recording and a frozen Black Cake to eat together “when the time is right.”
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
★★★★★ History was always my favorite subject in high school and college. This love for history is probably why I am a fan of historical fiction novels, especially ones that teach me about an unfamiliar part of history. This was the case with Kate Quinn’s The Alice Network, a Reese's Book Club selection based on … Continue reading The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Before Dawn by Laura Murphy
★★★☆☆ Max Abbracciaventio, a biracial young woman living in New York with her adopted family, has made some questionable choices in her life. One of them was having an affair with an abusive married man 14 years her senior.
Recovering Alice by Catherine Morrison
★★★★☆ Equal parts romance and self-discovery, Recovering Alice tells the story of Alice Patterson’s struggle with alcohol addiction amidst a new relationship. Our main character meets Bob in a bar during a relapse and has to decide whether she can get her life back under control while dating someone new.