Three Books I'm Reading Now, 5/25/26 Edition

The Books I'm Reading Now

I'm reading The Help author Kathryn Stockett's newest historical fiction, set in Mississippi during the Great Depression, The Calamity Club; I'm listening to Jenny Lawson's short and appealingly approachable self-help book, How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay; and I'm reading Katherine Center's newly published romance, set on a cruise ship during a destination wedding, The Shippers.

What are you reading, bookworms?

---

01 The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

In Kathryn Stockett's newest, hefty (656-page) historical fiction novel, we dive into dual, linked storylines. It's 1933, the peak of the Great Depression, and in Mississippi, everyone is struggling.

We meet two main protagonists: independent Birdie, who travels from her rural hometown to Oxford to beg her socialite, newly married sister for financial assistance for the family; and young Meg, who suffers cruelty in an orphanage after the disappearance and abandonment of her beloved mother. Both are spirited, smart, sassy, and full of personality.

Birdie's desperation for financial relief leads her down avenues she never would have anticipated, opening her mind to new possibilities, while Meg's grim circumstances lead to a roller coaster of security, uncertainty, tragedy, and carefully protected, cautious hopes for the future.

Kathryn Stockett also wrote The Help.

I received a prepublication version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau.

---

02 How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay by Jenny Lawson

This is my first Jenny Lawson read. In this gently reassuring self-help book, she explores, as the book cover details, Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself.

Lawson is vulnerable in sharing her mental health struggles; she is practical with her approaches to coping with various challenges; and she's often funny, revealing absurd, awkward, hilarious moments in her life.

Lawson is also the author of Furiously Happy, Let's Pretend This Never Happened, Broken, and You Are Here.

I'm listening to an audiobook version of this title, read by the author, through Libby and my library.

---

03 The Shippers by Katherine Center

In Katherine Center's newest romance, JoJo Burton is finding her way from being in love with the idea of love to finding a real relationship.

The reappearance of her childhood best friend Cooper helps JoJo begin to get more centered, but she moves from a broken engagement to what is probably an ill-advised attempt to shift a youthful crush on Finn, a former neighborhood boy, into a real-life romance.

Her sister's cruise-ship destination wedding feels like the perfect opportunity to put her zany plan into action. But is Finn the right one for JoJo? And will JoJo be brave enough to find out why Cooper disappeared without a trace for the past four years, breaking her heart?

Katherine Center is also the author of The Love Haters, The Rom-Commers, Hello Stranger, What You Wish For, Things You Save in a Fire, The Bodyguard, and other books.

I received a prepublication version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.