Moriarty's best novel (in my opinion, of course)! Alice is 29, expecting her first child, and in love with her husband—or at least she thinks she is, but then she bumps her head and wakes up on the gym floor, to find that she’s actually a 39-year-old mother of 3 who's in the middle of divorcing the man she's come to hate. She doesn't know what’s happened to her these past 10 years, or who she's become. She's about to find out. Interesting, readable, and surprisingly thought-provoking. I inhaled this like it was chick lit, but found myself mulling it over long after I finished. More info →

This anthology of loosely connected short stories creates engaging and readable stories out of everyday moments affecting women in the American Southwest—some hopeful, some devastating, some tender, and many tipping towards the autobiographical. More info →

Readers, this book has been sitting on my TBR shelf for forever. If you've read it and loved it, I could use a push to pick it up. Bridie Devine, infamous female detective and supernatural consultant, gets called to work on her most intriguing case yet. Christabel Berwick, secret daughter of Sir Edmund Athelstan Berwick, possesses mysterious powers that have collectors and curiosity hunters circling. Bridie comes in to figure out who kidnapped Christabel, while grappling with her own complicated childhood experiences. Full of lush descriptions of Victorian London and a heaping dose of Gothic mystery, this ghostly novel makes for an interesting genre mash-up. More info →

From the publisher: "The ties between women can run as deep as the ocean--but so can the secrets. For 20 years, Kayla, Antoinette and Val have performed their own special summer ritual. Once a year, the old friends put aside their daily, separate lives to drink champagne, swap stories and swim naked under the Nantucket stars. But on one of those bonding nights, one of their trio swims out from the shore and doesn't return. After the surviving friends emerge from their grief, they realize that the repercussions of their loss go far beyond their little circle, and they begin to uncover layers of secrets--and their connections to each other--that were never revealed on the beach. What has made their friendship strong now has the power to destroy--their marriages, families, even themselves." More info →

Agatha Christie meets The White Lotus in Condie’s adult debut. When a mudslide prevents anyone from accessing or leaving a luxury Big Sur resort, it means the guests are trapped with a murderer. Among the guests is Ellery, a newly divorced woman who’d planned the trip as a twentieth anniversary celebration but instead is traveling alone. Upon her arrival, Ellery is wounded to discover most of the resort’s guests are there for a wedding—but before the event can take place, Ellery finds the groom’s dead body in the pool. She starts investigating, but before she gets any answers, another guest turns up dead. The suspenseful plot kept me turning pages, but I especially appreciated the poignant passages on love, loss, and grief. More info →

Backman’s latest is both deeply funny and incredibly devastating. Twenty-five years ago, four friends found each other at a crucial time. Their friendship didn’t lessen the violence, poverty, loss, or sense of worthlessness they felt in their adolescent lives, but the pain felt more bearable because they had each other. One of those friends became a world-renowned painter, whose works came to be coveted by many. In the present day, a tormented teen named Louisa falls in love with one of those paintings, and this love changes her life by pulling her into the friends’ orbit. Raw, vulnerable, and tender, Backman beautifully captures how fierce love makes things bearable even when it feels like the whole world is against you, and the necessity of telling the people we love how much they mean to us, no matter how bumbling and inadequate our attempt. More info →

From the publisher: "From the author of the international bestseller Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, a heartfelt invitation to reflect on your relationship with reading and celebrate the joys of books. Why do we read? What is it that we hope to take away from the intimate, personal experience of reading for pleasure? How often do we ask these profound, expansive questions of ourselves and of our relationship to the joy of reading? In each of the essays in Every Day I Read, Hwang Bo-reum contemplates what living a life immersed in reading means. She goes beyond the usual questions of what to read and how often, exploring the relationship between reading and writing, when to turn to a bestseller vs. browse the corners of a bookstore, the value of reading outside of your favorite genre, falling in love with book characters, and more. Every Day I Read provides many quiet moments for introspection and reflection, encouraging book-lovers to explore what reading means to each of us." More info →

I knew I'd rather walk short distances than drive, and preferred bustling downtowns and first-ring suburbs to the car-dependent exurbs, but I couldn't put my finger on why until I read Jane Jacobs' classic. Jacobs helped me understand the nagging feelings I'd always had about the way we structured–or failed to structure–our living spaces here in America. A modern classic from a true pioneer, full of stories and anecdotes about not just cities, but the people who live in them. More info →

From The New York Times Review of Books: "Columbine is an excellent work of media criticism, showing how legends become truths through continual citation; a sensitive guide to the patterns of public grief; and, at the end of the day, a fine example of old fashioned journalism . . . moving things along with agility and grace." More info →

Cloud and Townsend can change your life. From the publisher: "Having clear boundaries is essential to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Boundaries define who we are and who we are not. Physical boundaries help us determine who may touch us and under what circumstances. Mental boundaries give us the freedom to have our own thoughts and opinions. Emotional boundaries help us to deal with our own emotions and disengage from the harmful, manipulative emotions of others. Spiritual boundaries help us to distinguish God's will from our own and give us renewed awe for our Creator. What are legitimate boundaries? How do I answer someone who wants my time, love, energy, or money? Aren't boundaries selfish? Why do I feel guilty or afraid when I consider setting boundaries?" More info →