Quick Lit September 2017 Archives

The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too)

by Gretchen Rubin

You know I love a good personality book, right? Gretchen is best known for her work researching habits and happiness, which you may have read all about in books like The Happiness Project and Better Than Before. In the course of that research, she noticed that different people had drastically different responses to the question "How do I respond to expectations?" In this book, she's compiled what she's learned—that people fit into one of Four Tendencies based on how they respond to inner and outer expectations. I read Gretchen's blog and follow her podcast, but it wasn't until I could read the information in book form that I felt like I really got it and could categorize myself correctly. (Upholder, right here, but you may be a Questioner, Obliger, or Rebel).

Lie to Me

by J.T. Ellison

Ellison sets the tone with her first line: "You aren't going to like me very much." But who is this narrator, and why does she say that? Sutton and Ethan Montclair seem to have the perfect marriage—two successful writers who not only love each other, but understand and support each other. Or that's what people think, until Sutton disappears, leaving a note telling Ethan not to look for her. As the hours tick by, Ethan begins to look more and more suspicious, and as a local investigator starts quizzing friends and family, it quickly becomes apparent that their perfect relationship was anything but. And THAT is when things get really creepy. This twisty thriller weaves in extra fun for book-lovers: it's full of the kinds of details about the writing life that makes avid readers' hearts go pitter-patter. I also loved the unusual Franklin TN setting. Domestic noir is hot these days; this release is best of class.

When We Were Worthy

by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Joshilyn Jackson (who narrates the audiobook!) says “Don't miss this one. Fans of Liane Moriarty and Jodi Picoult—this is an author for your favorites shelf. Marybeth Mayhew Whalen's taut, smart novel is a natural-born page-turner that doesn’t sacrifice depth of feeling or character. Whalen knows this town, these people, and she lays them open for us with razor-sharp insight, wit, and empathy."

More Than Just Making It: Hope for the Heart of the Financially Frustrated

by Erin Odom

From the publisher: "When you're trapped in a cycle of financial frustration, and you feel like you've tried everything only to end up with more month than money yet again, More Than Just Making It is your promise and pathway to thriving again. Erin Odom grew up in the private schools and neatly manicured lawns of Upper Middle Class America, but was thrown into low-income living during the economic crash. Suddenly Erin found herself standing in line for food stamps, turning down play dates because she couldn’t afford the gas, and ultimately walking into bankruptcy court in the eighth month of her third pregnancy. More Than Just Making It tells the story of their breaking point as well as the triumph of their comeback."

Maranatha Road

by Heather Bell Adams

From the publisher: "After Sadie's son, Mark, is gone, she doesn't have much use for other people, including her husband. The last person she wants to see is Tinley Greene, who shows up claiming she's pregnant with Mark's baby. Sadie knows Tinley must be lying because Mark was engaged and never would have betrayed his fiancée. So she refuses to help, and she doesn't breathe a word about it to anybody. But in a small, southern town like Garnet, nothing stays secret for long. Once Sadie starts piecing together what happened to Mark, she discovers she was wrong about Tinley. And when her husband is rushed to the hospital, Sadie must hurry to undo her mistake before he runs out of time to meet their grandchild."

Young Jane Young

by Gabrielle Zevin

From the author of the bestseller The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry. Aviva Grossman, smart, young, and beautiful, lands a prize internship working in a Florida congressman's office. When she has an affair with her boss—and then blogs about it, he emerges unscathed, and she takes the fall. Life as she knew it is over, so she changes her name and moves to Maine. But when she decides to run for public office herself, those long-buried secrets become today's news again.

Quick Lit September 2017