Nine thrillers & suspense titles that turn on a hallmark event

Jen Marie Wiggins's first book, the gifty nonfiction title Married AF: A Funny Guide for the Newlywed or Bride, was published in 2022. She has a background in advertising and public relations, and her writing has appeared in Southern Coastal Weddings, Savannah Magazine, Savannah Homes, and elsewhere.

Wiggins's new novel is The Good Bride.

[My Book, The Movie: The Good Bride; Q&A with Jen Marie Wiggins]

At CrimeReads the author tagged nine psychological thrillers and suspense books in which the plot turns on a hallmark event. One title on the list:

Her Dark Lies, J.T. Ellison

Clare Hunter is thrilled to be marrying Jack Compton at his family estate in Isle Isola off the stunning italian coast. . . that is until a literal skeleton in his closet becomes just the first sinister occurrence to plague their nuptials. From a decimated wedding dress to a raging storm, Claire must untangle the mystery of Jack’s first wife before it catches up to them all.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Her Dark Lies is among Anna Snoekstra's eight top taut thrillers set over three days or fewer and Amanda Jayatissa's seven best thrillers set at weddings.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight gripping novels based on actual murders

Midge Raymond is the author of the novels Floreana and My Last Continent, the short-story collection Forgetting English, and, with coauthor John Yunker, the mystery novel Devils Island. Her writing has appeared in TriQuarterly, Bellevue Literary Review, the Los Angeles Times magazine, Chicago Tribune, Poets & Writers, and many other publications. She has taught at Boston University, Boston’s Grub Street Writers, Seattle’s Hugo House, and San Diego Writers, Ink. Raymond lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she is co-founder of the boutique publisher Ashland Creek Press.

[The Page 69 Test: My Last Continent; Writers Read: Midge Raymond (June 2016); The Page 69 Test: Floreana; Q&A with Midge Raymond]

At Electric Lit the author tagged eight novels "based on real murders, and, as fiction allows us to do, the books go beyond the tragic events to explore issues that often don’t make it into the news headlines: deeper insights into the lives of the victims, the survivors, and even the perpetrators." One title on the list:

The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani, translated by Sam Taylor

First published in France as Chanson douce, Moroccan-born French author Leïla Slimani’s novel is both haunting and harrowing. Set in Paris, the novel evokes the real-life case of the New York Krim family, whose children were murdered by their nanny, who afterward attempted suicide. Translated from the French by Sam Taylor, the stark, austere prose makes Slimani’s novel all the more gripping—and unsettling—from the very first page.

Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

The Perfect Nanny is among Lisa Harding's six out-of-control characters in literary fiction and Elle Marr's five great diverse crime novels.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five top books from the children of celebrities

Charley Burlock is the Associate Books Editor at Oprah Daily where she writes, edits, and assigns stories on all things literary. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from NYU, where she also taught undergraduate creative writing. Her work has been featured in the Atlantic, the Los Angeles Review, Agni, and on the Apple News Today podcast. She is currently completing an MFA in creative nonfiction at NYU and working on a book about the intersection of grief, landscape, and urban design.

At Oprah Daily Burlock tagged five "books that make us see our celebrity heroes—and their gilded lives—from a totally new perspective." One title on the list:

Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me by Ada Calhoun

While the premise of this memoir— a daughter’s doomed quest to win her father’s attention by finishing his failed memoir of the legendary poet Frank O’Hara—may sound academic, the result is anything but: a hilarious and aching story about the impossibility of filling a parent’s oversized shoes, and the necessity of trying to walk a mile in them.

The name “Peter Schjeldahl” may not be the first one to pop into your mind when you think of A-listers, but the acclaimed poet and critic was undoubtedly a superstar in the circles of Manhattan’s literati—and in the wide eyes of his only daughter, who spent her childhood and adult writing career trying desperately and doomfully to impress him.. Writing is the beginning and end of Ada’s connection to her father: She is a workhorse journalist and dedicated mother; he is the tortured artist who unabashedly admits that writing is his first (and arguably, only) priority. But when Ada finds a collection of old interview tapes from her father’s attempt, in the 1970s, to write a biography of their mutual hero, Frank O’Hara she sees an opportunity: the book “seemed like a time when he’d failed at something that I was pretty sure I could have nailed.” If she indeed pulls it off, he might finally seem comprehensible to her, and she interesting to him. Spoiler alert: Ada does not get exactly what she wants from the process, but she gets what she needs—and we get immersed into the complexities of her father-daughter bond and into the hallucinatory haze of New York bohemia in the 1960s and 70s.

We recommend listening to the audiobook, which features the actual forty-year-old recordings from Schjeldahl’s interviews with artists like Willem de Kooning and Edward Gorey, as well as his bedtime banter with his then-toddler daughter. You won’t make it through with dry eyes.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Steve Donoghue's best mystery books of 2024

Steve Donoghue is a writer and critic who shares his opinions and insights on books of various genres and topics.

One of his top ten mysteries of the year:

Death by Misadventure by Tasha Alexander

Equally reliable is Alexander's series of the globe-trotting sleuthing adventures of Lady Emily and her husband Colin, who here find themselves in the Bavarian Alps of 1906, embroiled in murderous complications that reverberate from the days of notorious King Ludwig half a century earlier.

Read about the other mysteries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven thrillers with couples who don’t get (or deserve) a happy ending

Darby Kane is the pseudonym for a former divorce lawyer and #1 international bestselling author of domestic suspense. Her books have been optioned for television and featured in numerous venues, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Cosmopolitan.

Kane's new novel is What the Wife Knew.

At CrimeReads she tagged seven thrillers on dysfunctional couples who lose control. Two titles on the list:

There are a lot of thrillers about couples where a missing husband maybe isn’t what he seemed. This could be its own category. Her are two good ones from 2024: The Honeymoon by Shalini Boland (Stella’s new husband goes missing on their honeymoon—the same husband her father told her not to marry) and Just The Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica (two couples, one missing husband, so many secrets).

Read about the other entries on the list at CrimeReads.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine titles that capture the complexity of sisters

Lilli Sutton writes contemporary adult fiction. She holds a BA in English from Shepherd University. From Maryland, she now lives in Colorado. She draws inspiration for her writing from the natural world and the intricacies of human relationships.

When she's not writing, she's usually cooking, hiking, or trying to keep up with her ever-growing TBR list.

Sutton's new novel is Running Out of Air.

[Q&A with Lilli Sutton]

At Electric Lit Sutton tagged "nine books [that] ask their own questions about sisterhood, depict the many kinds of conflict that arise between siblings, and reflect the compassion extended by family, even in extreme circumstances." One title on the list:

Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee

Miranda and Lucia, the Chinese-American sisters at the heart of Everything Here is Beautiful, have strikingly different personalities. Miranda is older and more controlled; Lucia is wild and headstrong, brilliant at her best but affected by chronic mental illness. Miranda longs to help her younger sister, but Lucia resists treatment, insisting that she isn’t sick; this is simply her reality. The question of family loyalty arises when Miranda moves to Switzerland with her husband, and Lucia to Ecuador, putting both physical and emotional distance between them. How much must Miranda sacrifice to protect Lucia?

Covering many years and told through alternating perspectives, including both sisters and Lucia’s partners, Mira T. Lee draws a fully-realized portrait of the sweeping effects of mental illness, both on the afflicted person and their loved ones.

Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

Everything Here is Beautiful is among Amy Feltman's six top books featuring unconventional families, Lisa Braxton's seven novels that show the range and depth of gentrification fiction, Lynda Cohen Loigman's eight compelling books of sisterly friction.

My Book, The Movie: Everything Here Is Beautiful.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six novels featuring women and their art

At B&N Reads Isabelle McConville tagged six "novels chronicling the lives of college students, visual artists, painters, performance artists and more," tales that supply a "peek into the creative mind." One title on the list:

The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner

While we’ve been obsessed with Rachel Kushner’s latest novel Creation Lake for the past few months, we love revisiting her 2013 publication The Flamethrowers. A whirlwind journey through sex, drugs and rock and roll, this novel follows Reno’s recent move to New York. She’s intent on poring over her favorite things in life while she’s there: art, pleasure, and motorcycles. A novel that feels like exploring NYC and Italy alongside its iconic stars like Patti Smith or Julia Fox through a literary style reminiscent of Joan Didion, you’ll race through this critically acclaimed novel about art, speed and social class.

Read about the other titles on the list.

The Flamethrowers is among the Christian Science Monitor's ten best 2013 books for 10 different kinds of book-reading mom.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five horse girl books for adults

Katy James writes contemporary romance books that get to the heart of falling in love while finding one’s place in today’s world. When not writing, she works as an archivist and rare book librarian. Her free time is spent being a single mom, wrangling an ever-fluctuating number of pets, fixing up her old house, reading, knitting, cooking, gardening and generally making all kinds of stuff.

James's new novel is The Grump Whisperer.

At The Nerd Daily she tagged five favorite books that feature "an immersive equestrian experience" the way horse girl children’s books do, but "include adult characters, themes, romance, and perspectives." One title on her list:

Ambition by Natalie Keller Reinert

Reinert’s Eventing Series was originally published from 2014 forward, but starting in December of this year the entire series is being reedited and released with new covers. The books follow eventer Jules and her rider boyfriend Pete as they try to survive and thrive in the tough world of competing and making a living with horses. If you want extremely accurate, immersive, and delightful horse world content in a whole series, this is for you!

Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

The 13 most essential Los Angeles books of mystery or crime

The L.A. Times asked writers with deep ties to the city to name their favorite Los Angeles books. One of their top titles of mystery or crime:

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha, 2019

In this magnificent novel, Cha overturns all the conventions of crime fiction, even as she employs them to broader ends. Inspired by the 1991 murder of Latasha Harlins, the book moves from the 1992 uprising nearly to the present, tracing the effects of that killing on two families (one Black and one Korean). Cha is a deft stylist and a vivid creator of character, and she understands that there are no glib solutions in a situation such as this. “Some might call this a crime novel — and of course it is,” notes Tod Goldberg. “But it’s also the most profound look at modern Los Angeles I’ve read in recent memory.”

Read about the other entries on the list.

Your House Will Pay is among Jordan Harper's three top novels in the new L.A. crime canon, Erin E. Adams's seven titles that use mystery to examine race, María Amparo Escandón's eight books about living in Los Angeles, Alyssa Cole's five top crime novels that explore social issues, Sara Sligar's seven California crime novels with a nuanced take on race, class, gender & community, and Karen Dietrich's eight top red herrings in contemporary crime fiction.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Vulture" — top ten comedy books, 2024

At Vulture Brian Boone tagged "the ten best, most delightful, thought-provoking, and just all in all funny comedy books of 2024." One title on the list:

A Paper Orchestra, by Michael Jamin

Jamin has written for television for nearly 30 years, for gag-oriented stuff like Tacoma FD and character-driven, empathetic projects like King of the Hill. Well versed in finding the nuance in how people behave in everyday situations, Jamin reflects on himself in his essay-thinkpiece collection that loosely coalesces into a memoir. His very funny and touching stories about his own tender childhood segue into pieces about his regrets, anxieties, and triumphs as a father. I read this book right when my son was turning 18 and graduating, and good lord, how it made me feel happy, sad, and connected all at once. A Paper Orchestra isn’t always funny, but if one defines comedy as making sense of life and getting a visceral reaction out of its reader, it’s a triumph.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six Regency-era historical mysteries with headstrong heroines

Celeste Connally is an Agatha Award nominee and a former freelance writer and editor whose novels include historical mysteries set in Regency-era England and genealogy-themed cozy mysteries set in modern-day Austin, Texas. Whether the mystery is set in past or present, she delights in giving her books a good dose of romance and a few research facts she hopes you’ll find as interesting as she does. Passionate about history and slightly obsessed with period dramas, what Connally loves most is reading and writing about women who don’t always do as they are told.

[The Page 69 Test: Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord]

Connally's new novel is All's Fair in Love and Treachery.

At The Nerd Daily the author tagged six Regency-era historical mysteries with obstinate, headstrong heroines. One title on the list:

Murder in Highbury, by Vanessa Kelly (book one in the Emma Knightly Mysteries)

Now that Emma Woodhouse has been happily married to her Mr. Knightly for a year, she suddenly needs her famous confidence even more when she finds herself sleuthing with her friend Harriet Martin after the unpleasant Mrs. Elton, the vicar’s wife, is found murdered at the village church.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five books that feature powerful, dangerous gardens

Chelsea Iversen has been reading and writing stories since before she knew what verbs were. She loves tea and trees and travel and reads her runes at every full moon. Iversen lives in Colorado with her husband, son, and Pepper the dog.

Her new novel is The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt.

At CrimeReads Iversen tagged five "titles that feature powerful, dangerous gardens" for those who "love a little poisonous or unpredictable flora." One title on the list:

Her Little Flowers by Shannon Morgan

A reclusive woman who lives on a crumbling estate with a poisonous garden begins to unravel her family’s secrets and, with it, a tragic history. The lush setting and rambling, disquieting garden are woven intricately into the dark family lore.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine books that will make you reconsider Florida stereotypes

John Brandon has been awarded the Grisham Fellowship at Ole Miss, the Tickner Fellowship at Gilman School in Baltimore, and has received a Sustainable Arts Foundation Fellowship. He was a finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lions Award. His short fiction has appeared in ESPN The Magazine, Oxford American, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Mississippi Review, Subtropics, Chattahoochee Review, Hotel Amerika, and many other publications, and he has written about college football for GQ online and Grantland. He was born in Florida and now resides in Minnesota, where he teaches at Hamline University in St. Paul.

Brandon's new book is Penalties of June.

At Electric Lit he tagged nine books that give "a dizzying tour of divergent Florida experiences and styles whose kinship, if they share any, is tied up in heat and crime and displacement and unpredictability." One title on the list:

Everyday Psycho Killers: A History for Girls by Lucy Corin

This is a novel, but if it didn’t say that on the cover, you’d think it was an odd sort of memoir. Sometimes it’s an essay. Occasionally, a treatise on speculative neuroscience. You have to earn your readerly footing. At the beginning, the book hides its narrator—there’s a 1st person voice, but we don’t know who it’s attached to; a girl is spoken about in the 3rd person, and then we realize that girl is the 1st person narrator, a first-person narrator that imagines other people’s lives so fully that those characters sometimes get POV. Many of the described events (especially toward the beginning of the book) feel deliciously theoretical, and the timeline is mostly in order but that order feels incidental and unimportant. Amazingly, the narrative gymnastics never outstrip Corin’s intellectual agility, her uncanny talent for turning a seeming tangent into exactly the relevant passage you didn’t know you needed. The world of the novel feels both real and unreal, perhaps due to the larding of mythical and fairytale and historical references—Repunzel and Cinderella and the Venus de Milo; griffins and Egyptian gods and Joan of Arc; Anne Boleyn and the Grimm tales and eventually, yes, Leonard Lake and Jeffrey Dahmer and Danny Rolling. It’s Hollywood, Florida some thirty-five or forty years ago, described with familiar details—orange groves, last-gasp strip malls, white-out-sniffing—but also it’s Corin’s unique creation.

Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten great Appalachian books

At People magazine senior books editor Lizz Schumer tagged ten great Appalachian books, including:

Sugar Run by Mesha Maren

This gripping, heartwrenching debut follows Jodi McCarty, who gets out of prison and has to find her footing in the face of unexpected freedom. She meets and falls in love with Miranda, a young single mom who's down on her luck, and the two hope to find brighter horizons together. It's a propulsive story, told in gorgeous writing.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Sugar Run is among Kaytie Norman's seven eye-opening books about Appalachia.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five novels using hurricanes to heighten the drama

Bonnie Kistler is the author of The Cage and Her, Too. A former Philadelphia trial lawyer, she was born in Pennsylvania and educated at Bryn Mawr College and the University of the Pennsylvania Law School. She and her husband now live in southwest Florida and the mountains of western North Carolina.

Kistler's new novel is Shell Games.

[Q&A with Bonnie Kistler; The Page 69 Test: The Cage; The Page 69 Test: Her, Too; Writers Read: Bonnie Kistler (July 2023); My Book, The Movie: Shell Games]

At The Nerd Daily Kistler tagged five novels, both classic and contemporary, that have deployed hurricanes to heighten the drama. One title on the list:

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

A hurricane is employed to its full thrilling effect in Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. On a small island off the coast of Massachusetts, a murderer has escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane, and federal marshals are searching for him as a hurricane bears down upon them. Nothing is quite what it seems, but the approach of the hurricane clearly conveys an eerie sense of foreboding. And when it strikes, its violence reflects all the rage and malevolence unleashed in the story.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Shutter Island is among Alex Michaelides's five best island thrillers and Michelle Adams's five top thrillers in which memory is unreliable, at best.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten of the most popular literary antiheroes

Adam Hamdy is a bestselling British author and screenwriter who works with studios and production companies on both sides of the Atlantic. He’s currently adapting his novel Black 13 for Ringside Studios, and is developing his original screenplay, The Fear in Their Eyes with December Films.

Hamdy's new novel is Deadbeat.

At CrimeReads the author tagged ten of the most popular literary antiheroes. One entry on the list:

Tom Ripley – The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

If Severus Snape is arguably a secret hero rather than an antihero, then Tom Ripley is simply a villain who has earned antihero status simply by being the protagonist. He starts out as a poor, ambitious young man desperate for a better life, but his envy, insecurity and avarice propel him to a series of manipulative and murderous acts. Ripley is a chameleon-like character, and Highsmith imbues him with charm, but I don’t think readers ever truly like him or root for him in the way they might for Tyler Durden, and perhaps it is the selfishness of Ripley’s ambition that makes him a less sympathetic character.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Talented Mr Ripley is on Nadia Khomami's list of five of the best psychological thrillers by women, the UK-based Crime Writers' Association's list of ten page-turning reads, Nathan Oates's list of eight of the best bad seed novels, Lizzy Barber's list of seven titles about wealthy people behaving badly, Charlotte Northedge's top ten list of novels about toxic friendships, Elizabeth Macneal's list of five books that explore the dark side of fitting in, Saul A. Lelchuk's nine great thrillers featuring alter egos, Emma Stonex's list of seven top mystery novels set by the sea, Russ Thomas's top ten list of queer protagonists in crime fiction, Paul Vidich's list of five of the most enduring imposters in crime fiction & espionage, Lisa Levy's list of eight of the most toxic friendships in crime fiction, Elizabeth Macneal's list of five sympathetic fictional psychopaths, Laurence Scott's list of seven top books about doppelgangers, J.S. Monroe's list of seven suspenseful literary thrillers, Simon Lelic's top ten list of false identities in fiction, Jeff Somers's list of fifty novels that changed novels, Olivia Sudjic's list of eight favorite books about love and obsession, Roz Chast's six favorite books list, Nicholas Searle's top five list of favorite deceivers in fiction, Chris Ewan's list of the ten top chases in literature, Meave Gallagher's top twenty list of gripping page-turners every twentysomething woman should read, Sophia Bennett's top ten list of books set in the Mediterranean, Emma Straub's top ten list of holidays in fiction, E. Lockhart's list of favorite suspense novels, Sally O'Reilly's top ten list of novels inspired by Shakespeare, Walter Kirn's top six list of books on deception, Stephen May's top ten list of impostors in fiction, Simon Mason's top ten list of chilling fictional crimes, Melissa Albert's list of eight books to change a villain, Koren Zailckas's list of eleven of literature's more evil characters, Alex Berenson's five best list of books about Americans abroad John Mullan's list of ten of the best examples of rowing in literature, Tana French's top ten maverick mysteries list, the Guardian's list of the 50 best summer reads ever, the Telegraph's ultimate reading list, and Francesca Simon's top ten list of antiheroes.

--Marshal Zeringue

The best crime & thrillers of 2024: "The Guardian"

One title on the Guardian's list of the best crime and thrillers of 2024:

An established author in his own right, le Carré’s youngest son Nick Harkaway has slid into the gap in his father’s oeuvre between The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974). In Karla’s Choice, a Soviet assassin comes to London to kill Hungarian publisher Laszlo Banati, but subsequently changes his mind. Banati, however, is missing, and Smiley is lured out of retirement to find him and discover why the Soviets wanted him dead: a mission that puts the shabby, self-effacing hero back on the trail of his old nemesis, Karla. Le Carré fans will certainly applaud Harkaway’s success at channelling his late father’s voice in this excellent addition to the canon.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top post-divorce romance books

Nora Dahlia is a style writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, among others. She is also a branded content expert, book doctor, ghostwriter, collaborator, and writing coach.

She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, two kids, and enormous cat, Waldo.

Pick-Up is her first romance novel.

At People magazine Dahlia tagged ten top post-divorce romance books. One title on the list:

You Are Here by David Nicholls

Michael is adrift after his wife’s departure. He’ll do anything to avoid his empty house. Marnie is stuck. Hiding alone in her London flat, she avoids any and all reminders of her rotten ex-husband. When a persistent mutual friend and some changeable weather land Michael and Marnie together on a 10-day hike, they’re both impossibly miserable — until they aren’t.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Bryn Turnbull says You Are Here "has the exact right amount of romance to warm even the chilliest (of elder-millennial) hearts."

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven top books that feature surfing

Sara Ackerman is the Hawai'i born, bestselling author of historical & romance novels set in the islands.

Her books have been labeled “unforgettable” by Apple Books, “empowering & deliciously visceral” by Book Riot, and New York Times bestselling authors Kate Quinn and Madeline Martin have praised Ackerman’s novels as “fresh and delightful” and “brilliantly written.” Amazon chose Radar Girls as a best book of the month, and ALA Booklist gave The Codebreaker’s Secret a starred review.

Ackerman's new novel is The Maui Effect.

At The Nerd Daily she tagged "seven books that feature surfing, four fiction and three non-fiction." One title on the list:

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This NYT Bestseller has over 1 million ratings on Goodreads. Definitely for those who prefer books with a lot of glitz and drama. In typical TJR fashion, she draws you in with her vividly drawn characters (the four famous Riva siblings, who all surf) and a twisty plot. It all happens in the span of 24 hours leading up to and including an end of summer bash (and also with flashbacks to the past) where everything spins out of control and the house goes up in flames. Surf is not the main focus in this novel, but we do get to paddle out and catch a few waves.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Malibu Rising is among Olivia Petter's five top novels that examine celebrity culture, Shilpi Somaya Gowda's ten novels with rotating perspectives, Laura Griffin's seven suspense titles in which paradise is not what it seems, and María Amparo Escandón's eight top books about living in Los Angeles.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight books about women keeping secrets

Midge Raymond is the author of the novels Floreana and My Last Continent, the short-story collection Forgetting English, and, with coauthor John Yunker, the mystery novel Devils Island. Her writing has appeared in TriQuarterly, Bellevue Literary Review, the Los Angeles Times magazine, Chicago Tribune, Poets & Writers, and many other publications. Raymond has taught at Boston University, Boston’s Grub Street Writers, Seattle’s Hugo House, and San Diego Writers, Ink. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she is co-founder of the boutique publisher Ashland Creek Press.

[The Page 69 Test: My Last Continent; Writers Read: Midge Raymond (June 2016)]

At CrimeReads Raymond tagged eight books "about women with secrets and how they hide them (from the world and within themselves) and how their secrets are devastatingly revealed to the other characters and to the reader." One title on the list:

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

When Barbara Van Laar disappears from summer camp on the property that her family has owned for generations, it becomes clear she’s been keeping secrets. Yet she’s not the only one. As the search for Barbara launches, we get glimpses into her family’s dark history and the lives of those who surround the Van Laars, many of whom have secrets of their own. Narrated by myriad characters, this gripping novel reveals what lies hidden within the family as well as the community surrounding them.

Read about the other books on the list.

The God of the Woods is among Molly Odintz's eight thrillers & horror novels set at terrible summer camps.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten fantasy & romantasy books to help grapple with complex social issues

Penn Cole is an international bestselling author of magical worlds, feisty women, and angsty romance. Her debut series, The Kindred’s Curse Saga, has been sold in over a dozen languages to date. Before pursuing her lifelong dream of publishing, Cole had a prior career as an artist and attorney. Although she’s a Texas girl born and bred, she currently lives in France with her husband where she can usually be found eating far too many pastries and trolling her readers on Discord.

At People magazine the author tagged ten books "to inspire readers to return to their lives with a more inclusive mindset and a more courageous heart." One title on the list:

Trial of the Sun Queen by Nisha J. Tuli

Billed as “The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games,” this four-book romantasy series features a high-stakes tournament for a King’s hand in marriage that combines a spicy, enemies-to-lovers romance with the unpredictable twists and turns of epic fantasy. Lor is a fierce protagonist who holds her own in a world of men trying to control her. One of my favorite quotes says it all: “I am not his conquest. I am not his to claim. I am my own castle.”

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven books about islands and isolation

Midge Raymond is the author of the novels Floreana and My Last Continent, the short-story collection Forgetting English, and, with coauthor John Yunker, the mystery novel Devils Island. Her writing has appeared in TriQuarterly, Bellevue Literary Review, the Los Angeles Times magazine, Chicago Tribune, Poets & Writers, and many other publications. Raymond has taught at Boston University, Boston’s Grub Street Writers, Seattle’s Hugo House, and San Diego Writers, Ink. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she is co-founder of the boutique publisher Ashland Creek Press.

[The Page 69 Test: My Last Continent; Writers Read: Midge Raymond (June 2016)]

At The Nerd Daily Raymond tagged seven books that "feature tales of how the effects of isolation can lead humans to act in unexpected ways, for better or worse, as well as how it can help them discover who they truly are." One title on the list:

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

In this stunning novel set at a lighthouse on an isolated point of land, a grieving couple rescue an infant, adrift at sea with her deceased father, and claim her as their own. Still mourning her miscarriages and stillbirth, Isabel convinces her reluctant husband, Tom, that the baby who washed ashore is meant to be theirs. Living in isolation, they can live their uneasy family dream until they return to the mainland when the child is two—and realize their actions didn’t happen in isolation after all.

Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five dysfunctional book families

At B&N Reads Isabelle McConville tagged five favorite dysfunctional book families, including:

This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

The book that inspired the major motion picture of the same name with a star-studded cast (featuring Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, and Adam Driver, just to name a few), this smart, sharp, side-splitting read follows Judd and the Foxman family through a turbulent time of sitting shiva and grappling with Judd’s wife’s affair. A story of marriage, home, brotherhood and family traditions that make or break us, This is Where I Leave You is perfect for fans of Nick Hornby and David Nicholls.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven thought-provoking books about models & the dark side of beauty

Laura Elizabeth Woollett is the author of a short story collection, The Love of a Bad Man (2016), and three novels, Beautiful Revolutionary (2018), The Newcomer (2021), and West Girls (2024). The Love of a Bad Man was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction. Beautiful Revolutionary was shortlisted for the 2019 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal. West Girls was longlisted for the 2024 Stella Prize and is shortlisted for the South Australian Literary Award for Fiction. Woollett was the City of Melbourne’s 2020 Boyd Garret writer-in-residence, a 2020-22 Marten Bequest scholar for prose, and will be a 2025 writer-in-residence at the Keesing Studio in Paris.

At Electric Lit the author shared a list of "books about models, ranging from young adult fiction to critical thinking, [that] exposes the contradictory ugliness and transcendence of being professionally beautiful." One title on the list:

Meat Market by Juno Dawson

I never demand likeability of fictional characters, yet it’s hard not to love Jana Novak, the heroine of Juno Dawson’s Meat Market, a 2019 novel. A gangly South London girl from an immigrant family, Jana gets into modeling for some extra dosh. Grounded and intelligent, she is nevertheless believably vulnerable to the industry’s dizzying heights, exploitative lows, and crushing boredom. Tackling big themes—from #MeToo to class to casual sex– for a YA audience without being preachy is no small feat, but Dawson does so with absolute facility.

Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten terrifying literary horror novels

Mason Coile is a pseudonym of Andrew Pyper, the award-winning author of ten novels, including The Demonologist, which won the International Thriller Writers Award, and Lost Girls, which was a New York Times bestseller and Notable Book of the Year.

[My Book, The Movie: The Wildfire Season; The Page 69 Test: The Wildfire Season; The Page 69 Test: The Killing Circle; My Book, The Movie: The Only Child; The Page 69 Test: The Only Child]

Coile's debut sci-fi thriller is William.

At People magazine he tagged ten "horror novels [that] have something to say about being human while scaring us silly in the most artful ways." One title on the list:

Come Closer by Sara Gran

I like William Blatty’s The Exorcist as much as the next horror nut, but if you’re looking for a nuanced, personal — even funny — account of demonic possession, Gran’s novel tops the list. What begins as an urban woman’s tracking of what may be her descent into madness slides grippingly into the supernatural when she attributes her increasingly violent actions to the influence of a demon who also happens to be her only real friend.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Come Closer is among Lana Harper's five novels that get demon summoning right and Kelly Davio's seven top literary horror titles.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six chilly "And Then There Were None" inspired thrillers

Alexa Donne is the Edgar Award–nominated author of Pretty Dead Queens and The Ivies. By day she lives in Los Angeles and works in television marketing. The rest of the time she contemplates creative motives for murder and takes too many pictures of her cats.

Donne's latest young adult thriller, The Bitter End, is Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None with a Gossip Girl flair.

At CrimeReads Donne tagged six other novels inspired by Christie's classic. One title on the list:

One by One by Ruth Ware

This book is a chef’s kiss for the snowy isolation trope: a group of co-workers from a tech startup come for a retreat at a ski chalet in the French Alps, and everyone it seems has a secret—or beef—with one another. They all love-to-hate the company’s enigmatic co-founder, who goes missing during a ski outing on the first day. Then a blizzard hits and one by one they start dying. The snowstorm in the lap of luxury vibes are immaculate in this one, with a heart-pounding ending you won’t forget. I’ve read this one not once, but twice, and there may be an homage or two to it in The Bitter End!

Read about the other entries on the list.

One by One is among Carolyne Topdjian's five top hotel thrillers and mysteries, Bonnie Kistler's six best office thrillers, Sandie Jones's six mysteries with large casts of characters, Allie Reynolds's seven chilling winter thrillers, and Louise Candlish's ten hardest characters in literature to love.

--Marshal Zeringue

The 25 best historical fiction books of all time

At Oprah Daily Bethanne Patrick tagged the twenty-five best historical fiction books of all time. One title on the list:

Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee

Lee’s mega-bestselling novel about Korean immigrants in Japan. Beginning in rural Korea during the late 19th century, the story starts with the family of a young man named Hoonie, as he gains a wife. Eventually, their daughter Sunja will move to Osaka, Japan, where Koreans are considered second-class citizens, and her family members take to work at the city’s hugely popular pachinko parlors, which also symbolize life’s changing luck. Currently adapted for TV on Apple TV, this one has a big-screen future written all over it, given its locations and cast of characters.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Pachinko is among Asha Thanki seven books about families surviving political unrest, the Amazon Book Review editors' twelve favorite long books, Gina Chen's twelve books for fans of HBO’s Succession, Cindy Fazzi's eight books about the impact of Japanese imperialism during WWII, Eman Quotah's eight books about mothers separated from their daughters, Karolina Waclawiak's six favorite books on loss and longing, Allison Patkai's top six books with strong female voices, Tara Sonin's twenty-one books for fans of HBO’s Succession, and six books Jia Tolentino recommends.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven top werewolf books

Brian Asman is a writer, actor, and director from San Diego. He’s the author of Man, F*ck This House (and Other Disasters).

His other books include I’m Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today, Neo Arcana, Nunchuck City, Jailbroke, Return of the Living Elves, and the forthcoming Return of the Living Elves.

Asman's new novel is Good Dogs.

At Electric Lit he tagged seven howlingly good werewolf books. One title on Asman's list:

Bishop by Candace Nola

After a mother and daughter go missing in the Alaskan wilderness, the woman’s brother, Troy Spencer, sets out in search of them. This one’s got it all—an eye-popping setting, mystery/thriller elements, mysterious outsiders, and monster-on-monster action. If you enjoyed True Detective: Night Country, Nola’s novel is a perfect followup, combining polar wilderness and supernatural elements with a fast-paced plot.

Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

--Marshal Zeringue

Twenty-five of the best books like "Yellowstone"

Emily Burack is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects.

At Town & Country she tagged twenty-five of the best books like Taylor Sheridan's hit show Yellowstone (and 1883 and 1923), including:

Stealing by Margaret Verble

In 1923, one plot revolves around the horrifying Indian boarding school that Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) is sent to. Margaret Verble's Stealing is set against a similar backdrop: Kit, a Cherokee girl, is sent to a boarding school in the 1950s and fights to retain her identity and escape.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Stealing is among Eliza Browning's sixteen top new books by Indigenous authors.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five best novels featuring what-if “Sliding Doors” narratives

Sung J. Woo's short stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times, PEN/Guernica, and Vox. He has written five novels, Lines (2024), Deep Roots (2023), Skin Deep (2020), Love Love (2015), and Everything Asian (2009), which won the 2010 Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Literature Award. In 2022, his Modern Love essay from The New York Times was adapted by Amazon Studios for episodic television. A graduate of Cornell University with an MFA from New York University, he lives in Washington, New Jersey.

[Coffee with a Canine: Sung J. Woo & Koda; The Page 69 Test: Everything Asian; My Book, The Movie: Skin Deep; Q&A with Sung J. Woo; The Page 69 Test: Skin Deep; My Book, The Movie: Deep Roots; The Page 69 Test: Deep Roots; Writers Read: Sung J. Woo (September 2023); The Page 69 Test: Lines; My Book, The Movie: Lines; Writers Read: Sung J. Woo]

At Shepherd Woo tagged five novels featuring what-if Sliding Doors narratives, including:

The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver

This was the first Sliding Doors-esque novel I read, and it’s a doozy. The book spins off a single moment: will Irina kiss Ramsey, the professional pool player? That action forks the novel into two distinct threads, but there are constant pleasant echoes that reverberate back and forth.

I’ve always believed the greatest draw for reading fiction is that we get to live someone else’s life. In a split narrative, we get to do that twice! Two for the price of one.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Post-Birthday World is among Sonja Lyubomirsky's six favorite books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top mysteries featuring original murders

Lucy Connelly travels around the world, usually with her bossy dog in tow. Her favorite pastime is sipping tea in a quaint cafe as she turns each passerby into a murder victim, witness, or suspect. If she stares at you strangely, don’t worry. She only murdered you in her book.

[The Page 69 Test: Death at a Scottish Wedding; Q&A with Lucy Connelly]

Connelly's new novel is Death at a Scottish Christmas.

At CrimeReads the author tagged ten of "the most ingenious and novel killings in a long tradition of (fictional) killings." One title on the list:

I love an Agatha Christie book. One of my favorite novels of hers is And Then There Were None. A series of murders takes place on a remote island, and each of those murders is based on a nursery rhymes. She varies the ways in which her victims die, and some of those are quite clever. And with each murder, something goes missing in the house. If you haven’t read Christie, this is a good gateway into her books.

Read about the other entries on the list at CrimeReads.

And Then There Were None is among Nicola Upson's top ten golden age detective novels, Jane Robins's ten favorite creepy psychological thrillers, Molly Schoemann-McCann's nine great books for people who love Downton Abbey, Sjón's top ten island stories, and Pascal Bruckner's five best books on guilt.

--Marshal Zeringue