You Love Fleetwood Mac

Are interested in what it is D.As do or are looking for diverse mysteries

Few things bring me more joy than giving a friend or family member a book they end up loving. Reading the right book at the right time is almost a magical experience. I’m launching this weekly-ish newsletter with the hope that I’ll be able to give you that feeling. 

Each week, I’ll offer three book recommendations based on my mood, what’s going on in the world and more. I mostly read contemporary fiction, mysteries, narrative non-fiction and romances, so most of my suggestions will fall in those categories. I hope you find a few books you enjoy and that you’ll share your favorites with me. 

So, what to read if …

You’re Still Really Into Those Fleetwood Mac Tik Toks

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is one of my favorite books of the past few years. It’s an “oral history” of the rise and fall of a 1970s rock band, Daisy Jones and the Six. Loosely based on Fleetwood Mac’s experience recording their seminal album Rumours, Jenkins brings the era’s music scene to life with a cast of well-drawn characters. Daisy Jones’ signature brunch is a mimosa and a cup of coffee. The book similarly provides readers a shot of bubbles and energy.

The audiobook is particularly fantastic. Each character is played by a different voice actor (including a scene-stealing Judy Greer.)

You Binged Trial 4 This Weekend

Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration by Emily Bazelon 

Netflix’s new documentary series, Trial 4, chronicles Sean Ellis’ 22-year quest for freedom after being wrongly convicted for killing a police officer when he 19. Ellis’ story “radiates with the narrative, political and existential reach of a Don DeLillo novel onto worlds of poverty, privilege, police corruption, witness tampering, judicial self-preservation and the vagaries of happenstance,” according to a review in The Wall Street Journal.

In addition to corrupt police who pressured witnesses and made-up witnesses, the documentary series shines a light on the massive power city and county district attorneys wield. Emily Bazelon, a journalist and lawyer, further illuminates this issue in Charged. Her book uses the cases of two young people entangled in the criminal justice system to show that it is prosecutors, often more than judges, who determine the outcome of the case. She also examines a new generation of reform-minded district attorneys focused on actually reducing their offices’ reach. Bazelon is a gifted writer who excels at explaining the complex and making the seemingly mundane interesting.

Bonus Rec: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones is a fictionalized examination of what happens to a marriage when one spouse is wrongly convicted. It’s searing and heartbreaking in the best way. 

You Want to Read a Mystery Set Outside Europe or the U.S.

The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey 

A Redditor was looking for suggestions for these books earlier this week, and it felt like kismet because I just discovered the Perveen Mistry series, which take place in 1920s India. The series, so-far two books with a third coming out next year, follows Perveen Mistry, India’s first female lawyer. Perveen is loosely based on Cornelia Sorabji, a Parsi woman who studied at Oxford in the 1890s and practiced law in Bombay. Perveen is a delightful heroine — smart, kind and itching to do more in a society with strict views of what single women can and cannot do. These mysteries are in cozy tradition, avoiding graphic descriptions of blood and gore and feature thoughtful details that really bring the world to life. 

The first book chronicles Perveen investigating an unusual will request that will harm three young widows. Unlike many mystery series, they need to be read in order to be understood. 

That’s all for this week! If you enjoyed this, please subscribe and if you have recommendation you’re looking for, leave a comment.