88 Comments
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

So, on behalf of someone else, I'm looking for a good introduction to romance novels - this is someone who's been surprised by how much they enjoy the Bridgerton show (yes, they could just read one of those - especially since they've said they like the "siblings trying to help but really just making it worse" dynamic), but isn't really familiar with the genre and wants to dip a toe in. Most of their usual reading diet consists of military and space histories (generally nonfiction, but not always). Any ideas for something that's a gentle but representative way into the genre?

Expand full comment
author

Maybe Mr. Malcom's List? It's a funny closed-door regency that also has a Netflix adaptation.

Expand full comment
Jul 24, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. It's how I started with the romance genre and cannot get myself out. I was an avid non-fiction reader then overnight, switched to historical fiction especially if romance or crime is involved. I rarely pick up non-fiction now but wouldn't change it for the world. I'm a hopeless romantic!

Expand full comment

On that note, if they do want to go historical route that's not like regency romance, Susannah Kearsley may be perfect for them!

Expand full comment
Jul 25, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

Oh of course, then yes I recommend the Wallflower series and any others by Lisa Kleypas, Stephanie Laurens has a couple series through this period too. Good luck ☺️

Expand full comment
Jul 23, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

Emily Henry, Helen Hoang and Jasmine Guillory seem to appeal to a lot of people I know who aren't "regular" romance readers. Hoang's "The Heart Principle" and Henry's "Book Lovers" are both fantastic. In terms of Regency, "The Devil in Winter" by Lisa Kleypas (part of her Wallflowers series) is my all-time favorite in that subgenre.

Expand full comment
Jul 25, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

I just read and loved Devil in Winter!

Expand full comment

I just finished all Hercule Poirot mysteries. Excellent. Suggestions welcome for same idea in modern and new setting. Thanks!

Expand full comment
author

Definitely try Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Mystery books — they're inspired by Christie.

For something different, The Agathas is a new YA mystery about a Poirot-obsessed teen trying to find her missing best friend.

Expand full comment

I will! Thanks!

Expand full comment

You should take a look at "The Thursday Murder Club". It's awesome!

Expand full comment
author

YES.

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

Last summer I got into the Verlaque and Bonnet mystery series. They take place in France, the descriptions of food are out of this world and one of the main characters is the chief magistrate so similar to Poirot it feels believable that he is trying to work out the mystery. Less of a "I just stumbled upon this" and more of an appreciation for an expert with real skills in this department. It's a little less violent or spooky but they have satisfied my Poirot itch! I also read the 9th book first without realizing it and didn't feel like I was missing too much because I read them out of order. https://www.howtoread.me/verlaque-and-bonnet-books-in-order-m-l-longworth/

Expand full comment
author

The food writing in these books rivals Louise Penny's

Expand full comment

Thanks! Sounds wonderful. I miss Paris and especially the food. I will dig in. Sounds fun.

Thanks very much!

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

It's more Ms. Marple than Poirot, but you might like the Agatha Raisin mysteries by MC Beaton.

Expand full comment

Thanks very much! I will try them.

Expand full comment

For research purposes, I'd love to read some fiction where the setting is Wall Street (e.g., hedge fund, investment bank, etc.) published within the last 2-3 years. If the protagonist is atypical in that setting (e.g., female, minority), even better.

Expand full comment

The Index of Self-Destructive Acts by Chris Beha

Expand full comment
author

That's a good one.

This one is six years old but hits a lot of what you're looking for: https://bookshop.org/a/22722/9781501110634

Expand full comment

Thanks!

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

I’m Looking for a book with a summer stock setting about theatre actors.

Expand full comment
author

Coincidentally, my friend Emilie just suggested Good Company, which takes place, partially at summer stock!

https://bookshop.org/a/22722/9780062876003

Expand full comment
author

This is a tricky one. There appears to be a well-reviewed nonfiction book called Summer Stock and there's a new book coming out this summer on a Shakespeare festival: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/688192/for-the-love-of-the-bard-by-jessica-martin/

Expand full comment

Not summer stock per se, but Margaret Atwood's Hagseed was awesome. I haven't loved her last few books, but I really liked this one. It's an updated version of The Tempest, and it's about a theater company in a prison... putting on The Tempest.

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

Wow that sounds brilliant!

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

Thank you! I’ve been enjoying my town’s summer stock productions and it seems like a rich setting - inherent dramatic characters with big dreams and small budgets, “showmances,” long summer nights in a new town, etc.

Expand full comment
author

You should write it!

Expand full comment
author

Update: I read For the Love of the Bard. It was super charming.

Expand full comment
Jul 23, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

"The Man Who Couldn't Miss" by David Handler. It's part of a mystery series but can be read as a stand-alone.

Expand full comment

So fun! Thank you 😊

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

Sounds fantastic! Thank you!

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

I don’t think I have read any of her books but I’ve always meant to! Sounds great!

Expand full comment

Hi there! I would like to read some fantasy. A book full of mysteries so I can pass through a rough moment.

Expand full comment
author

Maybe A Marvellous Light? It's a magical adventure story. The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina is one of my favorite books of the last few years.

Expand full comment

Thank you! :)

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

Sure! :)

Thank you so much ♥

Expand full comment
Jul 25, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

Nice! I’ve heard good things about that book, thanks!

Expand full comment
Jul 24, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

I'm looking for suggestions for the epistolary novel box on the Bingo board. I used to read lots of episolary novels, and I love them, but I'm having trouble finding new ones or ones I haven't read.

Expand full comment
author

On the middle grade side, I'm obsessed with Kate and Sarah Klise's books. For an adult read, try The Appeal by Janice Hazzlett, it's a mystery written entirely in deposition documents.

Expand full comment

Thanks! Both of those sound good. Already put a hold on The Appeal. :)

Expand full comment

I finished reading it: "The Abysses" and I recommend it to everyone. He discusses childhood discoveries and how the superhero myth is built in our parents. It was written by Colombian writer Pilar Quintana.

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

I’d love some heartwarming fantasy novels like The House on the Cerulean Sea and Legends and Lattes.

Expand full comment
author

Maybe The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall?

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

That sounds good - I’ll check it out! Thanks!

Expand full comment

TJ Klune's newer book, Under the Whispering Door is just as lovely as House.

Expand full comment
Aug 2, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

I need to read that one!

Expand full comment

I really liked what is the What (Dave eggers), shantaram, the bad girl (vargas llosa), the untamable (arriaga) and half of a yellow sun (Chimamanda Ngozi). All personal narratives, often historical novels, international and quite adventurous. Would love to find something similar!

Expand full comment
author

Have you read Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo? I think it checks a lot of boxes.

Expand full comment

I have not. Will add it to the list. Thanks a lot!

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

Sorry for the late reply, but thanks so much for the tips!

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

Always looking for fiction that takes animals seriously...more "Timothy: Notes of an Abject Reptile" than "Hollow Kingdom." Thank you!

Expand full comment
author

Also! I'm on the list at the library for Remarkably Bright Creatures, which is narrated by an octopus. It's getting great reviews.

Expand full comment
author

Have you read "Flowers for Algernon?" That might work. I really enjoy the Shady Hollow books, but those are more "Hollow Kingdom."

Expand full comment

Watership Down; Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis; three totally wonderful novels by Molly Gloss -- Hearts of Horses, Falling from Horses, and The Jump-Off Creek

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

I thoroughly enjoyed "West With Giraffes" by Lynda Rutledge. Historical fiction about some real-life giraffes.

Expand full comment

I miss Susie Steiner and wish she had written more books before she died too soon.

Expand full comment

Wait, she DIED? No! I just made my way through all the Manon Bradshaw books and was waiting for the next one!

Expand full comment

She just died recently. It's a disaster. I think she was pretty much the best crime novelist alive. Her depictions of women's lives were amazing and hilarious. As you know.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/books/susie-steiner-dead.html

Expand full comment
author

Have you read any Alafair Burke? I think she might be a good fit.

Expand full comment

I have not! Where do you recommend I start?

Expand full comment
author

Maybe her Ellie Hatcher series? https://www.alafairburke.com/all-day-and-a-night

Expand full comment

Experimental short or flash fiction. Been enjoying A.L Snijders recently

Expand full comment
author

Thanks to everyone for chiming in. This is not my strong suit. The last story in Lily King's new collection "Five Tuesdays in Winter" is somewhat experimental. I loved it.

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

Have you read Joy Williams's 99 Stories of God?

Expand full comment

LOVE her!

Expand full comment

Fever Dream is pretty wild

Expand full comment

Happy to check that out. Thank you!

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

I recommend Hannah Lee Kidder

Expand full comment

I don't know her but am about to deep dive! Thank you for the recommendation!

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

She is an absolute FAVORITE! In fact, the A.L Snijders I liked she translated!

Expand full comment

This is such a dangerous thread for me--I've just been reading through and adding every book to my Goodreads list. 😬

I'm looking for something fantasy-ish set in the Muslim world--djinn are a particular obsession for me lately, haha. I really loved the Daevabad series (even recommended it in an issue of What to Read If!) and want to scratch that itch again. I've already read P. Djèlí Clark's A Dead Djinn in Cairo (it's also great!).

Expand full comment
author

Oooh. Not my forte. Maybe someone else can help?

Expand full comment

Clark has a new Master of Djinn out. what about the Golem and the Jinni?

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
author

It might not be long enough, but I love Lily King's Writers and Lovers. Casey is deeply flawed but so loveable.

Interior Chinatown has a complex structure, but not super long, and is about trying to make it in Hollywood.

Does that help?

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
author

Let me know what you think of Writers and Lovers — I think you'll like it a lot.

Expand full comment

Interior Chinatown is great. Funny and poignant.

Expand full comment
author

One more for you: I finished Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow last night. I

Loved it so much I’m recommending it in Monday’s newsletter. I think it’s exactly what you’re looking for.

Expand full comment
Jul 22, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

I'm currently enjoying The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles.

Expand full comment
author

Good one!

Expand full comment

this made me think of a man called ove... except that it's not long or complex. but i loved ove so much. looking forward to hearing the suggestions for this!

Expand full comment
author

Have you read The Reading List? Gave me Ove vibes?

Expand full comment

i have! i liked it a lot!

Expand full comment

I am very interested in suggestions for this premise...

Expand full comment

I think Gentleman In Moscow might fit this bill! It's been a while since I read it but I remember loving that main character.

Expand full comment
Jul 23, 2022Liked by Elizabeth

Have you read the Rosie project? The main character is definitely love able and flawed.

Expand full comment