McLain brings to life the story of real-life aviation legend Beryl Markham, who was the first woman to make a solo trans-Atlantic flight and who lived a life of independence and unorthodox freedom. This is a wonderful complement to Markham's own memoir, West with the Night. There are things we find only at our lowest depths. The idea of wings and then wings themselves. An ocean worth crossing one dark mile at a time. The whole of the sky. I loved Beryl Markham's beautiful, ad

I was completely hooked on the imagined details of the life of Irish folk heroine and female pirate Grace O'Malley. I ultimately loved the novel's unusual structure, which tracked back and forth in time and revealed more about the strong female protagonist at each turn. I fell hard for this slam dunk of a premise: A novel about a female pirate based on the life of Grace O’Malley, an Irish folk heroine who was legendarily willing to risk everything for her people. Yes, yes, an

Clytemnestra is often depicted as a villain. Here, her layered, sympathetic motivations are revealed. Trained as a warrior and now a queen, she must cope with brutality and frustrating circumstances in this tale of power, love, and vengeance. “You can’t have justice and everyone’s approval.” Clytemnestra was born a Spartan princess (sister of the beautiful Helen--later "of Troy") who married for love, then was married off against her will by her father to cruel Agamemnon, who

This loose retelling of the Cinderella folk story offers the perspective of the "evil" stepmother, who is here actually a savvy, strong woman determined to provide for her household after being widowed in a patriarchal, 1700s-feeling society. I loved Hochhauser's turning the traditional tale on its head, the details, and the twists. This is my favorite read of the spring so far. Lady Tremaine is a loose retelling of the damsel-in-distress Cinderella folk tale, here from the p

McCurdy translates the singular voice she displayed in her candid, darkly funny memoir into fiction with a story about a taboo relationship that serves as a catalyst for an increasingly strong young protagonist to reject what doesn't work for her and move forward with her life. McCurdy's unique voice came through loud and clear in her personal, unflinching memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died . The premise of her debut novel Half His Age made me cringe, and I wasn't sure I was going

Jen Hatmaker's memoir explores her shock, grief, then growth after the end of her marriage, which she tells in her signature bold, frank, lionhearted manner while always displaying her deep love for her family and friends. Jen Hatmaker, who was married before she could legally have a drink and who built her identity as a woman dedicated to her family, her religion, and her community, found her world turned upside down when she discovered in 2020 that her husband of over 25 ye

This story-within-a-story-within-a-story reveals a clever woman working within the 1920s confines of her sex to outsmart Wall Street...

While I probably should stop reading "romantasy" because I prefer my fantasy and romance to remain separate, I was taken with the...