After forwarding an inappropriate email to the whole company, Katherine gets fired, moves back to her hometown in disgrace, and starts her life over. This short and easy read has a familiar arc: girl in a mess, girl sees the light, girl finds happiness, yet its themes of sisterhood, forgiveness, and redemption make it worth your while. More info →

Reviewers compare Mr. Lemoncello to Willy Wonka. From the publisher: "When Kyle learns that the world's most famous game maker, Luigi Lemoncello, has designed the town's new library and is having an invitation-only lock-in on opening night, he's determined to be there! But the tricky part isn't getting into the library—it's getting out. Because when morning comes, the doors stay locked. Kyle and the other kids must solve every clue and figure out every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route!" More info →

From the publisher: "Welcome to Thrush Green, the neighboring village to Fairacre, with its blackthorn bushes, thatch-roofed cottages, enchanting landscape, and jumble sales. Readers will enjoy meeting a new cast of characters and also spotting familiar faces as they become immersed in the village’s turn of events over the course of one pivotal day: May Day. All year, the residents of Thrush Green have looked forward to the celebration. Before the day is over, life and love, and perhaps eternity, will touch the immemorial peace of the village." More info →

James Mustich says this noir mystery satire may be "the most rambunctious novel you'll ever read. ... Reed constructs a narrative—enlivened by photographs, drawings, charts, radio dispatches, and typographic variety." Harold Bloom selected this ragtime novel as one of the greatest books of the Western canon. From the publisher: "In 1920s America, a plague is spreading fast. From New Orleans to Chicago to New York, the 'Jes Grew' epidemic makes people desperate to dance, overturning social norms in the process. Spanning a dizzying host of genres, from cinema to academia to mythology, Mumbo Jumbo is a lively ride through a key decade of American history. In addition to ragtime, blues, and jazz, Reed's allegory draws on the Harlem Renaissance, the Back to Africa movement, and America's occupation of Haiti. His style throughout is as avant-garde and vibrant as the music at its center." More info →

This page-turning family saga has everything you could want in a beach read: surfers, rockstars, 80s pop culture, and a mansion going up in flames. It’s 1983, and the four adult children of rockstar Mick Riva are preparing to host Malibu's party of the year, unaware of how this one night will irrevocably change their lives. Reid employs an interesting structure to unpack what happens, hour by hour, the day of the party, intercutting the present-day narrative with scenes from the family’s past that go back generations. With well-drawn characters and a strong sense of time and place (I hung on every reference to Tab, big hair, and belted t-shirts), it's perfect for fans of messy family stories and compulsively readable literary fiction. I couldn't put it down. (Whispersync narration available. Taylor Jenkins Reid's words + Julia Whelan’s voice + 1980s Malibu setting? YES PLEASE.) More info →

I've been on a roll with the Maine reads! When comments on this post featuring 12 recommended reads for those traveling to Maine (or who want to) mentioned that this Meg Mitchell Moore release was set in the tiny (and real) town of Owls Head, I dropped it into my bag. This family novel unfolds over the course of one summer and focuses on three generations of the McLean family. Every generation has its troubles at the moment—the progressing Alzheimer's of the family patriarch, the midlife crisis and struggling marriage of the adult daughter, the adolescent woes of the kids—but the Maine house has always been a respite. The family's precariously maintained balance is tipped when a surprise visitor shows up to the island—a love child of the family's respected patriarch, whose existence has been kept secret for twenty-three years. All is well by summer's end in this easy-reading tale of family secrets, forgiveness, privilege, reconciliation, and happiness. More info →

The premise of this culinary and comedic cozy is top notch! After Lila Macapagal moves back home and starts helping out at her Tita Rosie’s struggling restaurant, a visit from her ex-boyfriend/town food critic is the last thing she wants. Then to make matters much worse, he drops dead while eating the food Lila prepared for him—and she is accused of killing him. With the help of her bestie, who is a barista next door, and her cute dachshund, Lila works to prove her innocence. The food descriptions were all so fun, it inspired me to bake my own tasty batch of Lila's Ube Crinkle Cookies immediately and I have heard the series gets even better as it goes along. More info →

Not all heroes wear capes. Some of them create crossword puzzles for The Times newspaper. Between the crosswords and the freedom living alone brings, 77-year-old Judith Potts loves her life. When she witnesses a murder while swimming in the Thames, the local police don’t believe her so she decides to do her own investigation instead, along with some help from her friends Suzie and Becks. They form the Marlow Murder Club, just in the nick of time as another body shows up. They’ll need to solve this puzzle before it’s too late. A fun start to the series. More info →

This historical fiction was my gateway to the beloved Irish author’s work. Childhood friends Benny and Eve grow up in tiny Knockglen, determined to head to Dublin one day. Upon arrival at University College, Dublin, they become inseparable with fellow students Nan and Jack. The freedom college offers has both benefits and costs, leaving none of them the same. Content warnings apply. More info →

The reviews on this graphic novel rendering of the 1972 classic about a brave band of rabbits in the English countryside and their quest for survival against the threat of humans are fantastic. This British classic powerfully probes love, courage, loyalty, and human nature. More info →

I read this back in April out of pure voyeuristic curiosity and it was a really good book. This is a big personal story, but more literary in nature. From the publisher: "In Awake, Jen shares for the first time what happened when she found herself completely lost at sea-and how she made it to shore. In candid, sur­prisingly funny vignettes spanning forty years of girlhood, marriage, and parenting, Jen lays bare the disorienting upheaval of midlife-the implosion of a marriage, the unraveling of religious and cultural systems, and the grief that accompanies change you didn't ask for. And, drawing on all resources-from without and within-Jen dares to question the systems beneath the whole house of cards, and to reckon with the myths, half-truths, and lies that brought her to this point. More than one woman's story, Awake is a critical analysis of the story given to all of us: the story of gender limitations, religious subservience, body shame, self-erasure. With refreshing candor, Jen explores a midlife renaissance-grieving what's lost, cherishing possibility, and entering the second half of life wide awake." More info →

This is on my TBR stack, because a wide variety of readers keep telling me it's a perfect read if you like the idea of escaping into another world, including Chelsey and Curtis from episode 164 of WSIRN. Curtis called it well-written with characters he loved. Kirkus says this futuristic novel is reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones. More info →

This is on my TBR list because it's been highly recommended from Sarah Mackenzie: "I don't usually tell people that there is a book they absolutely-must-no-questions-HAVE-TO-without-a-doubt read.... If I could choose only one book for my kids to read this year, this would be it." The world of The Green Ember contains all of the classic fantasy elements: heirs battling for the throne, pernicious enemies, and a resistance effort to restore peace to the tumultuous kingdom. Add the Audible narration for an adventure-filled audiobook for your next family road trip. The whole series is at a great price. More info →

This has been on summer reading lists everywhere, for good reason. It's the summer of 1968, and Delphine and her younger sisters are on a journey in more ways than one as they leave home in Brooklyn and set out to visit their estranged mother in California. When the girls arrive, they find a mother who is radically different from how they imagined she would now be like. Unenthusiastic about seeing them and seemingly annoyed by their presence, she sends them off to a Black Panthers summer camp to get them out of her hair. This is the story of a young girl trying to make sense of the world (and family) around her, forced to grow up too fast to cope with the difficult circumstances she finds herself in, set against the backdrop of the civil and political unrest of 1968 Oakland. More info →

From the publisher: "Dorothea Benton Frank novels are smart and witty fiction that readers want on their bookshelf: soulful, edgy stories about realistic characters familiar to us all that explore the most deeply felt moments of life with wry humor and heart." More info →

A series from Nantucket author Elin Hilderbrand—that's set in St. John! In this first book, Irene Steele receives a devastating phone call: her husband has suddenly died. This is shocking news, especially because he's found dead on St. John island, a place she didn't know he'd been. And when she flies down to tend to his affairs, the surprises just keep getting worse. More info →

I spoke with Kate DiCamillo about her love for this book on episode 213 of WSIRN. In this modern classic, 10-year-old Kenny and his family head south from their home in Flint, Michigan to visit Grandma in Birmingham—right as the church bombings are about to happen. This award-winning middle grade novel has both humor and depth, and LeVar Burton excels at highlighting the funny and the tragic with his excellent narration in the audio version. Whispersync narration available. More info →