As you’ve probably noticed if you’ve read this blog for more than five minutes, I enjoy reading romance books. But sometimes a girl needs to expand her horizons. Did you know that there are people who write fiction books that aren’t just about love and relationships? Fun right? Here is a selection of some of my favorite recent reads that don’t have anything to do with K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
This book is a rollercoaster of a ride. After listening to the first hour on audio during my walk, I went and yelled at my neighbor’s lawncare guy. Granted he was blowing their grass clippings onto my sidewalk, but I think I was just mad at the main character’s mom for being a jerk. SO basic premise: Margo has an affair with her college professor and when she gets pregnant, he wants nothing to do with her. So she starts an OnlyFans account to support her child. There are some good characters here and some that I would like to punch in the face. I will say though, that I stuck with it and the story got better as it went. If you want a stress free read - this is not it. But if you are looking for something to keep you engaged and make you think, this one will do it.
I first stumbled across this author with his book Anxious People. I love his writing style so much that I will read anything he writes. When I saw that he had a new book coming out I was so excited. Basic premise: Louisa, a burgeoning artist in her own right, falls in love with a painting and is determined to learn the story behind it. What she gets is an epic adventure into the past that not only might answer her questions, but provide her with the family she is missing. As always, I feel like Backman is in my head. My only complaint is that the book jumps back and forth from present to past quite a bit, which made it a little hard to stay in the story. Other than that, this was highly enjoyable. If you haven’t read anything else by Backman, now may be the time to seek him out. I haven’t found a bad book by him yet.
I didn’t know what to expect with this one. Jolene is working an office job for a Canadian supermarket (yes, this is set in Canada. Fun, eh?), and she doesn’t really have any friends. Then after being disciplined for sending an email but forgetting to white out the unfortunately mean (but accurate) text, Jolene realizes HR mistakenly gave her access to everyone’s computers. This results in a fake engagement, friendships, and several firings. This is one that stayed with me when I wasn’t listening (I chose the audio version), which I consider a sign of a good read. I think I would have made different choices than Jolene, but I liked reading about her. Be warned, there is the teeniest, tiniest bit of romance here, but it doesn’t clog up the storyline, so don’t be scared. This was enjoyable and I would read more from this author.
This book is very different from what I usually read. It’s a little bit narrative and a little bit historical fiction. This one shows the lives of a variety of women in 1960s New York. I’m not gonna lie - for me it felt like it more was more in the 1920s or 1930s. I didn’t get big 60s vibes. The book started off slow, but I was involved with it by the end - which had a bit of a twist I didn’t see coming. It kind of reminded me of Only Murders in the Building. Would I be friends with any of these ladies? Maybe not. Perhaps not my favorite read, but I have a feeling out there that somebody might just fall in love with this one. If that is you, you should also know that there is a follow up novella called Christmas at the Women’s Hotel that returns to visit our friends at a most festive time of year. I liked that one better than the original. I did audio with this one, but NPL also has print, so you can choose your favorite delivery method.
One I saw Ruth Reichl speak during a Salon at 615 event, and when someone asked, she said one of her favorite writers was Jojo Moyes. Since I am a big fan of Reichl, of course I had to read Moyes as well. I haven’t read everything of hers (yet), but I have to say that I have enjoyed the ones I have read. So basic premise - Lila wrote a book about keeping her marriage spicy and two weeks after it was released, her husband left her for a younger women, who is now pregnant. After the death of her mother, her stepfather is at her house so much he might as well live there. And her deadbeat, actor dad resurfaces. Somehow they all end up in Lila’s house with her two daughters. The beginning of this one stressed me out, but once things settled down, it sucked me in. Ruth Reichl was right - you can’t go wrong with Moyes.
I go in and out with this writer. I’ve read some of hers that I enjoyed, but I’ve also read some that I couldn’t wait to get rid of. Happily, this one is part of the former club. Boarding school books are a thing (see: Prep or Harry Potter). This one was good. There was a little bit of mystery and since we are talking about teenagers, you know there had to be some relationship drama, but I would definitely say this is not a romance. If you went to a prep school and miss it, you should read this one. If you didn’t go to prep school (like me) and want to see how the other half lives, you should read this one. I was a little jealous of Chef Haz. His meals sounded amazingly yummy. This was has made a lot of Best of the Year lists, and I can see why.
This one was nothing like what I expected. I thought it was going to be about siblings fighting over their famous family recipes for bahn mi. But it turned into more of a family discovering a past that had been hidden for 20 years. Honestly, this one took me a little bit to get into. But once the pieces started to fall into place, I didn’t want to stop reading. I chose audio for this but NPL also has print if you are so inclined. If you are looking for great family drama, this is the book for you.
Ok friends, so those are my picks if you are thankful that not all fiction books have to be romance. Stay tuned because next month, I will share my Best of… Lists for both Nonfiction and Fiction (yes, romance gets it’s own list).
Happy Reading Not Romance (and Thanksgiving)...
:) Amanda
