Hi book lovers,
First off, thanks to everyone who offered to contribute a prize for our upcoming summer reading Bingo game. We have some great swag, and I’m excited to kick off the challenge next month. There’s still time to donate by replying to this email, and I’m looking for ideas of what should be on the Bingo card. Feel free to send ideas my way.
I went to Malice Domestic, an annual convention of mystery/crime writers and lovers held in Maryland this weekend. It was like my version of COMICON. Louise Penny and Sujata Massey signed copies of my books! I saw Kellye Garrett interview Walter Mosley! I interviewed Julia Spencer-Fleming (Q&A coming soon)! I hope you had a great weekend too.
This week is read-alike week. I’ve paired a well-known book with a newer release, in hopes of helping you find something you love.
And now, what to read if …
You Want a Book Like Big Little Lies
Wahala by Nikki May*
I regularly hear from fans of Lianne Moriarty’s juicy novel and the star-laden HBO show based on it in search of something similar. If this is you, look no further than Wahala, Nikki May’s thrilling debut about a group of four friends in London.
Ronke, Boo and Simi are three Nigerian-Anglo women who have been best friends for a decade, still close even as their lives have gone in different directions. When the fabulously wealthy Isobel enters their world, becoming the fourth member of their tight-knit group, that all changes. She helps Simi get an interview for her dream job and becomes Boo’s workout partner, but the longer Isobel sticks around, the more chaos she sows. Ultimately, years-long resentments rise to the surface, and the members of original trio begin to distrust one another.
Wahala, a West African Pidgin word for “trouble,” is a dishy, delicious read about female friendship. I could not stop listening to it. I needed to know what would happen to each of these characters and to learn what Isobel’s motivation was. May elegantly depicts complex friendship dynamics, showing how the people we love the most can also drive us crazy. Wahala is a strong debut — the BBC is already working on an adaptation — and I’m excited to see what May does next.
You Love Fun Home
And Now I Spill the Family Secrets by Margaret Kimball
Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir Fun Home has won dozens of awards, earned praise from countless critics and even inspired a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. If you’re a Fun Home fan, pick up And Now I Spill the Family Secrets, a new graphic memoir from Margaret Kimball.
When Kimball was four, her mom attempted suicide on Mother’s Day. The event becomes one of the many things her family does not talk about. Kimball wants to learn more about her family’s secrets — her mother’s mental health struggles, her grandmother’s institutionalization, and her brother’s erratic behavior. She documents her investigation into those questions, and more, in And Now I Spill the Family Secrets. Relying on her old diaries, hospital records, home videos and more, Kimball connects the dots between her family’s past and its present.
Look: I love a mother-daughter memoir, and And Now I Spill the Family Secrets is a welcome addition to the genre. It’s a moving — and surprisingly funny — exploration of mental health, family dysfunction and where they intersect. Kimball is a talented illustrator, and her simple, black-and-white drawings add a layer of depth to an already strong book.
You Wish Harper Lee Had Written Another Book
Furious Hours by Casey Cep
Harper Lee famously struggled to write a second book after the stunning success of To Kill A Mockingbird, publishing her sophomore outing, Go Set a Watchmen (an early draft of what would become Mockingbird) just a year before her death.
In Furious Hours, journalist Casey Cep writes about the true-crime tale Lee hoped to chronicle in a book. In 1970s Alabama, Willie Maxwell, a Black preacher, was accused of murdering five family members for the insurance money. Tom Radley (yes, Radley), a shrewd lawyer, got him acquitted of every charge. Maxwell managed to remain free until he was murdered at the funeral of one of his victims. Radley then defended the murderer, securing his acquittal despite hundreds of witnesses.
Lee became fascinated by the scandal. She attended the second trial and spent years researching the case, intending to recount it in a book she titled The Reverend. Lee, struggling with alcoholism, never finished the manuscript.
Cep picks up where Lee left off, telling the story she could never write. More than that, she offers a compelling portrait of Lee, illuminating a poorly understood but important American literary figure. Fans of narrative nonfiction will find a lot to love with Furious Hours.
Reminder Rec: Julia Claiborne Johnson was inspired to write Be Frank With Me after re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird.
Thanks for reading this week, friends. On Thursday, I’ll be back in your inboxes with a Q&A featuring Sarah Arnold, the marketing and communications director at Parnassus Books.
*I received a free copy of the Wahala audiobook from Libro.fm in exchange for an honest review.
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The casey cep book was really good