The Second-Chance Stories I love a good second-chance book in which the main character gets the opportunity to go back and try again, redo their life, shift their circumstances, or change the situation around them. It's an irresistible do-over premise for me: a flawed human gets another shot at existing in this unpredictable, problematic, glorious world--and appreciating it more fully while changing their original outcomes. Have you read any of these books? I'd love to hear what you thought! Which other books should I add to my second-chance book list? 01 All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai There are flying cars in the alternate reality of this book. I think you should know that going in, because it’s not the only fantastic thing, but it is one of the fantastic things in Elan Mastai's All Our Wrong Todays . Our main protagonist Tom makes a decision that strands him in our version of the world, which feels like a dystopia to him. He encounters alternate versions of his loved ones and universe, which are jarring, but they grow on him. He strikes out to explore time and place in an effort to figure out which reality to preserve. Mastai provides a fascinating story with time travel, alternate realities, love, loss, humor, bravery, and moments that made me laugh out loud. I didn't always follow the logic as laid out in the book--including the supposed development of time travel itself and how time travelers affect realities--but I loved suspending my disbelief to be part of it. I loved All Our Wrong Todays . 02 The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North “What is the point of me? Either to change a world--many, many worlds, each touched by the choices I make in my life, for every deed a consequence, and in every love and every sorrow truth--or nothing at all.” Harry August has been born (in a train station in 1919) many times. From his second birth on, he is born each time carrying the knowledge from his previous lives, yet nothing seems to change the fact that he will die and begin again. Until his eleventh life, when a young girl arrives at his deathbed. "I nearly missed you, Doctor August," she says. "I need to send a message." Claire North has crafted a fascinating, twisty, thoughtful time-travel story. The first-person perspective drew me deeply into Harry's life. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is often funny, but North layers darkness into her book, as well as fascinating layers of betrayal. This story really hooked me. Side note: Claire North is a pen name for Catherine Webb, a young-adult author who wrote her first book, Mirror Dreams , when she was 14. 03 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Nora Seed feels like she can't go on. Life is too much, there's no hope for anything better, and her future contains nothing more for her. Her despair leads her to try to end her life. But she finds herself transported to an in-between state that is not life and not death, in the form of a library that exists outside of time and holds shelves full of the "books" of all of her possible lives, from that frozen moment (midnight) forward. Each possibility of a present and future is built upon different combinations of decisions Nora could have made in her life in the past. Some lives are notable, others comfortable, and still others are full of pain. Nora dips in and out of different lives, trying on careers, love lives, travel adventures, fame and fortune, and a settled family life. But not having experienced and remembered each moment that led to her various life options--which she joins in medias res--keeps Nora at a distance from them. I didn't feel emotionally invested in Nora's story although I appreciated the implications of her experiences and was very interested in what would happen. The ending isn't unexpected, but it does feel hard-fought and satisfying. 04 Life After Life by Kate Atkinson Ursula didn't survive her own birth. But during her next go-round, she survived being born--only to die young in an accident. When she lived her next life, she met her demise another way. She often feels buoyed or hindered by a feeling of déjà vu , and occasionally she feels compelled to take another path, rush to check on a loved one, or take some other seemingly odd action, and she can't quite explain why. In Life After Life , Atkinson focuses her literary fiction lens on the character of Ursula, her relationships with members of her family, and details of life during World Wars I and II. This would be a captivating book even without the redoing-life element. But Atkinson's thrusting of Ursula back into her same existence as she shifts her circumstances slightly (with enormous repercussions); opens up her life to be bigger and more fulfilling (and, often longer); and develops inner strength, conviction, and self-assuredness--that's the real magic. I listened to this immersive story about do-overs from Kate Atkinson, Life After Life , at the recommendation of my wise friend Laura. Please click here for my full review of Life After Life . 05 In Five Years by Rebecca Serle Dannie is on the path to achieving her five-year goals in spectacularly efficient fashion. She goes to sleep one evening satisfied--but she wakes up in another life: with a strange apartment, a different boyfriend, and an alternate set of choices behind and before her. And perhaps most confusingly of all, in this second life she's lost some of her original, lifelong, rigid plans for her future, yet she's happy. Very very happy. She returns to her original reality, but Dannie can’t shake the possibilities and uncertainty created by what felt like an actual, temporary shift in her existence. What happened? But more importantly: What does that vastly different set of circumstances and her satisfaction within it mean about how she can and should live her life? Serle's In Five Years totally hit the spot for me, and it also wasn’t exactly what I expected. The setup seems like it’s a romance, but it’s really a story about loyalty and devoted friendship without easy or saw-it-coming resolutions, and not everything is as it seems. I loved it. 06 The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver Lydia had planned to spend the rest of her life with her childhood sweetheart and fiancé, Freddie, in their hometown of Shropshire, England. Now she's coming to terms with the recent and tragic loss of the person she loved and the future she had envisioned. But a medication aimed to help her sleep during this difficult time induces an incredible side effect: when she sleeps after taking it, she exists in a dream world where Freddie is still alive. She can see him, smell him, and touch him. He is unaware that this is a second reality for Lydia and unaware of anything odd about this life, and Lydia must fight to not seem as though she is grieving him--fortunately, this is made easier by how real he seems in this other timeline. Life in this alternate sleep reality continues branching off from the daytime life in which Freddie is gone; her sleeping life involves its own joys, tragedies, and increasingly complicated set of circumstances that show the realistically plausible challenges and crossroads the couple might have faced because of their real-life career tracks, senses of responsibility, and diverging paths toward happiness. Josie Silver's lovely book is heartwarming and doesn't feel overly sentimental or emotionally manipulative. The characters' feelings of anger, crushing grief, and hope feel real in both realities she's created. There's joy, and there's sadness, and there are messy routes toward forgiveness and cautious optimism. For my full review, please see The Two Lives of Lydia Bird .

you like books about magic, here are two other Bossy Bookworm Greedy Reading Lists you might enjoy: Six Royally Magical Young Adult Series and Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love. This book also appears on the Greedy Reading List Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love. 03 Wicked

These six memoirs from musicians offer stories about the authors' lives, loves, and work, and they each more more more memoirs I've loved that you might want to try, check out these Greedy Reading Lists: Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality 01 Songteller: My

Things, Reminders of Him, Less Is Lost, and Hester, which I listed in the Greedy Reading List Another Six For some of my favorite book club reads from the past, check out the Greedy Reading Lists Six Book Club Books I Loved Last Year, Six Book Club Books I Loved in 2021, and My Six Favorite Book Club Books of In The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O'Farrell turns her attention to Renaissance Italy to tell a historical You might also be interested in the titles on my Greedy Reading List Six Fascinating Books about Immigrants

lighter fiction with some romance and laughs, you might also like the books on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Light Fiction Stories Perfect for Summer Reading and Six More Great Light Fiction Stories. For my full review of this book, please see The Dead Romantics. 06 Happy Place by Emily Henry Six longtime Now they've been engaged for six years, they're desperately in love, and they've been dating long-distance

Six More Bossy Favorite Reads So far in 2024 I've been posting Friday Greedy Reading Lists of some of When William's painful history resurfaces, it shakes the entire family with its repercussions. The Celebrants centers around college friends who made a pact after Alec, one of the original six, died Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality and Six More Powerful Books about Facing Mortality. I mentioned Dani Shapiro's fascinating memoir Inheritance in the Greedy Reading List Six More Illuminating

Six More Four-Star (and Up) Bossy Mystery Reads "Is she going to just keep rehashing all the big hits I recently posted about Six Four-Star Mystery Reads I Loved Last Year. And here's a list of Six Historical Fiction Mysteries I Loved, if you like the melding of those two For my full review, check out The Maid. 06 Quantum Girl Theory by Erin Kate Ryan In Erin Kate Ryan's historical The title and cover made me think "science fiction," but Quantum Girl Theory is rooted in historical

If you like witchy books, I hope you'll also check out the books on my Greedy Reading Lists Six Wonderfully Witchy Stories to Charm You and Six More Wonderfully Witchy Stories to Charm You. Deadly Education: Lesson One of the Scholomance by Naomi Novik (I listed it in my Greedy Reading List Six natural world, she explores three timelines of women connected through the ages by power and by society's historical dose of feminism, and a dramatic showdown. 06 Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese Hester is richly imagined historical

The Robot Books I love a good artificial intelligence- or robot-focused story, and these six (plus, in

Is it because I have a cancer history? Is it simply morbid fascination? might also want to check out the memoirs I've loved on my first Greedy Reading List on the subject, Six

You might also like the books on my first Greedy Reading List of short stories: Six Short Story Collections

Solid Mystery and Suspense Reads These six four-star mysteries are all so good and so different--they In case her books aren't already on your radar, French is the author of six Dublin Murder Squad books builds the pool of potential culprits for Nathan to examine in this story of uncovering truths, family history

You might also like the books on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Great Books about Brave Female Spies and Six More Books about Brave Female Spies. 01 The Skylark's Secret by Fiona Valpy The Skylark's Secret But don’t forget that history isn’t just a study in black and white.

In The Vanishing Half, Bennett follows the history of the fictional Vignes twins, Desiree and Stella,

In Williams's historical fiction mystery, which skips back and forth in time, four years later, Iris's I looove a historical fiction mystery. If you do too, you might want to check out the titles on the Greedy Reading List Six Historical Fiction The Invisible Woman is historical fiction about the real-life World War II-era spy Virginia Hall. The Rose Code is a wonderfully spun historical fiction story of three very different women who answer

you're intrigued by time-travel stories, you might also like the books on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Riveting Time-Travel Stories to Explore and Six Second-Chance, Do-Over, Reliving-Life Stories. This book appeared on the Greedy Reading List Six More Science Fiction Reads I Loved in the Past Year

These six did the trick for me in the past year. (Stay tuned for another list to come of six more favorites!) More Great Light Fiction Stories Six Lighter Fiction Stories for Great Escapism Six Great Light Fiction Stories Perfect for Summer Reading Six Rom-Coms Perfect for Summer Reading Six More Great Rom-Coms Perfect Time-Travel Stories to Explore, Six More Riveting Time-Travel Stories to Explore, and Six Second-Chance

Six Four-Star (and Up) Bossy Mystery Reads This is the time in the year when you may be asking yourself about reading lists like I am, you can also check out the lists I posted last year around this time, Six Four-Star Mystery Reads I Loved Last Year and Six More Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Last Year. 04 A Perilous Undertaking (Veronica Speedwell #2) by Deanna Raybourn This second book in Raybourn's historical lepidopterist (she studies butterflies and moths) and adventurer Veronica Speedwell teams up with her natural-history

Six Great Australian Reads Fridays are for highlighting books I've loved, and I have a thing for books disappeared mysteriously in the early twentieth century—she begins a quest to discover the truth about her history builds the pool of potential culprits for Nathan to examine in this story of uncovering truths, family history I listed this book in the Greedy Reading List The Six Best Mysteries I Read Last Year.

I recently posted about Six of My Favorite Fiction Reads Last Year, Six Four-Star Mystery Reads I Loved Last Year, Six More Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Last Year, Six Four-Star Historical Fiction Reads I Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality 01 Between Two Kingdoms

If you like memoirs, you might want to also check out these Bossy Bookworm Greedy Reading Lists: Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Powerful Memoirs about Facing Mortality Have you read any of these books? Abu-Jaber made me hungry while drawing me into her history, with recipes special to her placed strategically

Six Favorite Fiction Reads I recently posted about Six Four-Star Mystery Reads I Loved Last Year, Six More Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Last Year, Six Four-Star Historical Fiction Reads I Loved Last Year , and Six Four-Star (And Up) Science Fiction Reads I Loved Last Year. Here are six of my favorite fiction reads from last year--with more lists to come. sacrificed everything to get her to the top, setting records that have cemented her place in tennis history

She is banished from her kingdom, her six brothers are turned into cranes, and Shiori is cursed to not The Dragon's Pearl, the second and final book in the Six Crimson Cranes duology, is expected to be published

Here are six personal stories that I found captivating! more more more memoirs I've loved that you might want to try, check out these Greedy Reading Lists: Six Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six More Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite Six

Six Bossy Favorite Light Fiction Reads from Last Year I love spending Fridays highlighting books I've These six did the trick for me in the past year. (You can check out my roundup list Six of My Favorite Light Fiction Reads from the Past Year, which I More Great Light Fiction Stories Six Lighter Fiction Stories for Great Escapism Six Great Light Fiction Stories Perfect for Summer Reading Six Rom-Coms Perfect for Summer Reading Six More Great Rom-Coms Perfect

lighter fiction with some romance and laughs, you might also like the books on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Rom-Coms Perfect for Summer Reading, Six Great Light Fiction Stories Perfect for Summer Reading, and Six More Great Light Fiction Stories.

After the World Falls Apart I have a fascination with postapocalyptic (set in a time after a disaster) and dystopian (set in a time of darkness and desperation) books, and I think it's for the same reason I'm captivated by wartime stories: the books are about characters being pushed to their limits by an incredibly challenging situation, and they show their true selves and abilities. This category also includes the Hunger Games series, the Insurgent series, Station Eleven, The 5th Wave, The Chosen Ones, The Road, and The Handmaid's Tale. I think I have enough other favorite reads in these categories to make two more Greedy Reading Lists. Which other postapocalyptic or dystopian books do you love? 01 A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher And there may be no law left except what you make of it, but if you steal my dog, you can at least expect me to come after you. If we’re not loyal to the things we love, what’s the point?... That’s a kind of death, even if you keep breathing. The thief came and shattered what was left of young Griz's life. Now Griz and his dog are making their way through the world. Griz is capable of fury and revenge, but also great love and loyalty, bravery, and creativity. He's a fantastic character I loved. This great book by C.A. Fletcher was tough to read at times because of the frequent reckless, life-and-death, sometimes ill-advised decision-making in a postapocalyptic world. Fletcher somewhat frequently hints at later events in the book in the middle of early scenes, which added to my anxiety. The main protagonist Griz is tough as nails and determined and wonderful, and things do ultimately improve in satisfying ways. I thought this was wonderful. 02 The Grace Year by Kim Liggett It feels like freedom, but we know it's a lie. This is how they break us. They take everything away, our very dignity, and anything we get in return feels like a gift. The Grace Year is the type of book I could’ve stayed up all night reading. I was totally hooked by this Lord of the Flies-esque situation of trapped girls devolving into paranoia, mayhem, fury, and destruction, with a wonderfully strong and imperfect heroine trying to upend the situation. I felt as though the later sections glossed over some major issues (consorting with the gruesomely brutal enemy; the prospect of folding back into the world that created the horrific system of oppression, control, torture, and death—even with a promise of potential change; fast emotional movement past the loss of a beloved character), but there’s hope for the slow but significant evolution into a new era. I thought the teen girls’ “magic” and their perception of it (and especially the perceptions of the men and women in the society) was particularly haunting. This was a fast and engaging read. 03 The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children's cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she'll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn't know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad. I didn't have a clue what this book was about going in, which worked wonderfully for me. This is listed as an adult title but felt to me like a dark young adult postapocalyptic novel, and it offered several twists. I found this engrossing, really interesting, and also character driven, which feels unusual given one of the aforementioned twists. Some of this is odd, other parts are disturbing, and there are some wonderful implausibly amusing standoffs. And M.R. Carey's story is also hopeful, but not in the way I might have expected. If you like this one, you're going to also want to read Carey's The Boy on the Bridge, which is a standalone book in the same series, is fantastic, and is also on this list. 04 The Dog Stars by Peter Heller Hig somehow survived the flu pandemic that killed everyone he knows. Now his wife is gone, his friends are dead, and he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, Jasper, and a mercurial, gun-toting misanthrope named Bangley. Then Hig gets an indication that he is not alone and that there is life out there after all. He must decide if he'll risk a one-way journey to seek out the good, bad, and ugly that may be awaiting him. It's a true life-or-death dilemma for a man with two stark options: safety and loneliness or potential danger and finally making contact with others. And he just might find himself questioning his decisions either way. My initial review of this book was "I loved this book. Nerve-wracking and beautiful, unconventional, real. I love this author. Love." This is one of my all-time favorite books. I'm in for reading anything Peter Heller writes (e.g., The River and The Painter, both of which I loved, and The Guide, none of which are postapocalyptic). 05 The Power by Naomi Alderman It follows that there are two ways for the nature and use of human power to change. One is that an order might issue from the palace, a command unto the people saying “It is thus.” But the other, the more certain, the more inevitable, is that those thousand thousand points of light should each send a new message. When the people change, the palace cannot hold. In The Power, Naomi Alderman offers a dark and fascinating look at a world where the traditional male-female and old-young power structures are turned on their heads. The Power explores the destructive nature of the greed for control and influence--especially damaging when coupled with the certainty that your opinion is infallible and correct. I found this book fascinating. 06 The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey Months into their save-the-world mission, the soldiers and scientists on the Rosalind Franklin (a tanklike RV with flamethrowers that's nicknamed Rosie) are close to retrieving all of the samples their predecessors left throughout Scotland during an earlier expedition to try to find a cure for the plague. But it begins to become clear that idealistic Dr. Samrina Khan, the head epidemiologist; single-minded young Stephen the wunderkind; gruff, bighearted Colonel Carlisle; and the others on board may not have been meant to succeed in their grand mission after all. Political machinations meant that some of their party needed to be out of the way for corrupt power plays back home. Against enormous odds, the team may just be finding some of the lifesaving answers they were sent to discover. But bringing back their surprising findings might very well mean the wholesale rounding up and destruction of those affected by the plague. The Boy on the Bridge offers adventure, twists, turns, love, scientific exploration, betrayal, and an odd twist of hope. This is the second M.R. Carey book on this list, but I couldn't help myself. There's a character in common between the two books; this person appears at the end of The Boy on the Bridge but is a main character in The Girl With All the Gifts.

Six More Great Bossy Science Fiction and Fantasy Reads The Obsessive Wrap-Up of Favorite Reads continues Asuka is very intelligent and capable, but she was chosen for the once-in-history journey as an alternate I mentioned Naomi Alderman's novel The Power in the Greedy Reading List Six Fascinating Dystopian and Harrow, with imperfect characters, a noble, messy quest, layers of history, and a captivating end. Novels and Six More Dystopian and Postapocalyptic Novels.

Six Four-Star (and Up) Bossy Mystery Reads If you want more favorite-mystery lists, check out round 1 about reading lists like I am, you can also check out the lists I posted last year around this time, Six Four-Star Mystery Reads I Loved Last Year and Six More Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Last Year. is desperate to find her missing son--even if it means facing the painful truth of her own traumatic history

Six Bossy Favorite Nonfiction Reads Fridays are for highlighting books I've loved! Six More of My Favorite Fiction Reads from Last Year Six Four-Star Mystery Reads I Loved Last Year Six More Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Last Year Six Four-Star Historical Fiction Reads I Loved Last Year Six Four-Star (And Up) Science Fiction Reads I Loved Last Year, and Six of My Favorite Memoir Reads Last I listened to Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden Keefe's exhaustive, revolting, fascinating history of the

Six Favorite Fantasy Reads I love spending Fridays raving about books I've loved! of My Favorite Fiction Reads Last Year Six More of My Favorite Fiction Reads from the Past Year Six Four-Star Mystery Reads I Loved Last Year Six More Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Last Year Six Four-Star Historical Fiction Reads I Loved Last Year Six Four-Star (And Up) Science Fiction Reads I Loved Last Click here for my full review of Herrick's End. 04 Six Crimson Cranes (Six Crimson Cranes #1) by Elizabeth

For more more MORE memoirs I've loved that you might want to try, check out the Greedy Reading Lists Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into, Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year, Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In, Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite, and Six Powerful Memoirs about fictional stories about the Appalachian South, including Fair and Tender Ladies, On Agate Hill, and Oral History

Here are six I thought were just lovely--more about each of them below. Fascinating Memoirs to Explore Six Illuminating Memoirs to Dive Into Six Illuminating Memoirs I've Read This Year Six More Illuminating Memoirs to Lose Yourself In Six Foodie Memoirs to Whet Your Appetite For historical fiction about female spies, you might want to check out the Greedy Reading List Six Books She weaves more than thirty songs into her stories and personal history, and the placement of the music

for more great fiction you may have missed, you might also want to check out the Greedy Reading List Six No Man explores the incredible drive and bravery required by Rum's female characters to write a new history books that play with timelines and realities, check out the other books on the Greedy Reading List Six

Recursion also appears in the Greedy Reading List Six Riveting Time-Travel Escapes. 02 The Long Way to This book was mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Robots, Humans and Alien Life Now she must delve into the darkness of her history to try to save her mother--and uncover her own true women discover strange, unique powers as they rely on each other and attempt to unravel their shared history This book was mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Robots, Humans and Alien Life

I hope you'll also check out the books on my first Greedy Reading List of Six Fantastic Dystopian and

For my favorite book club reads from the past, check out the Greedy Reading Lists Six Book Club Books I Loved Last Year and Six Book Club Books I Loved in 2021. 01 The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven by Nathanial you like books set in the unforgiving cold, you might also like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six my full review, check out Doctors and Friends. 05 Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams Williams's historical In Beatriz Williams's historical fiction, Our Woman in Moscow it's 1948 and Iris Digby, her American

If you haven't already, I hope you'll check out the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Wonderfully 01 Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian Hour of the Witch is a thoroughly researched, witchy, historical Hour of the Witch is a thoroughly researched historical fiction thriller with fantastic details of the In The Heretic's Daughter, Martha Carrier's tenth generation descendant Kathleen Kent offers a historical I also listed The Bear and the Nightingale in the Greedy Reading List Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups

Witchy Book Love Last year I published a Greedy Reading List of Six Wonderfully Witchy Stories to Charm Hour of the Witch is a thoroughly researched historical fiction thriller with fantastic details of the In The Heretic's Daughter, Martha Carrier's tenth generation descendant Kathleen Kent offers a historical I also listed The Bear and the Nightingale in the Greedy Reading List Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups

Six Favorite Lighter Fiction Reads I'm having so much fun spending Fridays highlighting books I've loved And these six did the trick for me. of My Favorite Fiction Reads from Last Year Six More of My Favorite Fiction Reads from Last Year Six Four-Star Mystery Reads I Loved Last Year Six More Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Last Year Six Four-Star Historical Fiction Reads I Loved Last Year Six Four-Star (And Up) Science Fiction Reads I Loved Last

You might also like the books on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Science Fiction Favorites to Dive Into and Six Great Stories about Robots, Humans and Alien Life, and SI.

More Light Fiction Favorites When I posted a few weeks ago about favorite light fiction reads and asked for other's favorites, bookish friends recommended: more of Katherine Center's books (I posted about Things You Save in a Fire) Lia Louis's Eight Perfect Hours (I posted about her book Dear Emmie Blue) the Hedgehog books by Jessica Redland books by Rachel Hauck Trish Doller's Float Plan and other books, and Jenn McKinlay's Wait for It. Thanks for all of these recommendations! I love Christina Lauren's and Emily Henry's books (I list another of Emily Henry's here), and I haven't yet read either of their newest books, Something Wilder or Book Lovers, but I can't wait to. What other lighter fiction authors or books do you love? You might also like some of the titles on my first Greedy Reading List of light fiction favorites. And you can find other Bossy light fiction reviews here. 01 Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey I delighted in the way Teddy and Everett shared pieces of their true oddball, vulnerable, silly, thoughtful selves. This was a satisfying, often funny, romantic book that hit all the right notes for me. Teddy Phillips isn't sure how she got to this point in her life. She's coasting in her not-dream job at a vintage toy store, all of her opinions and desires seem to have have been subsumed by her boyfriend Richard's plans and preferences, and she's not close with her best friends or even with her sister anymore. Teddy is forced to consider her life and the person she's become--and determine whether she's capable of change. She finds comfort in watching episodes of her local children's show, and she impulsively writes a letter to the calm, kind, handsome host, starting a correspondence that will shift the course of her life. Winfrey's Very Sincerely Yours is light fiction that delivers delightful, charming banter, the promise of a new romance for Teddy, and wonderfully loyal friendships. For my full review, please see Very Sincerely Yours. 02 The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon Rachel Lynn Solomon's debut light fiction, The Ex Talk, incorporates a love of public radio, will-they/won't-they tensions, humor, heart, and some steamy scenes. In Solomon's The Ex Talk, Seattle public radio producer Shay Goldstein is in her late twenties, she's put in her time, and she thinks that her ideas deserve respect. So when young hotshot Dominic Yun shows up and, as a male, automatically has the ear of their misogynistic boss, Shay is beyond annoyed. The two soon find themselves driving everyone around them crazy with their constant bickering about anything and everything. When Dominic and Shay get talked into posing as exes in order to host a promising radio show about relationships, they're forced to get to know each other better in order to fake their past--but they actually open the door for a potential future for themselves instead. The Ex Talk is a fast read with lots of sexual tension along with some sexy romantic interludes, and everything about this book wonderfully suited my summer reading mood. For my full review, please see The Ex Talk. 03 The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren The story is heartwarming, funny, with strong friendships, plus it's steamy and romantic at times without being dramatic. I loved this one for a summer read! Single mom Jess is a data analyst. She's good at crunching the numbers for work, taking care of her daughter, and leaning on her grandparents (who raised her) for help, but she's not comfortable with the idea of dating again. But then her daring best friend (who writes sexy romance novels) pushes her to consider a DNA-based, data-driven dating program--and she receives an unheard-of 98 percent compatible romantic match with an unlikely partner. The Soulmate Equation is often funny, and the best-friendship between Jess and Fizzy (Felicity) is one of the funniest aspects and was one of my favorite elements. The heartwarming familial support isn't stereotypical in its structure, and wonderfully imperfect family members add to various conflicts. I appreciated that the will they/won't they romantic tension satisfyingly hinges on factors somewhat outside of the main protagonists' control. The story is steamy and romantic at times without being dramatic. I love the tone the writing team of Christina Lauren struck with this one! For my full review of this book, please see The Soulmate Equation. Click here for my reviews of Lauren's books The Unhoneymooners, In a Holidaze, Love and Other Words, The Soulmate Equation (a favorite), and Autoboyography (another favorite and a young adult LGBTQ+ gem). Lauren's newest is Something Wilder; stay tuned for that review. 04 The Guncle by Steven Rowley The Guncle is full of heart and humor, quirky family love, and fun references to musicals and movies--yet Rowley also offers poignancy, an exploration of grief, and the impossible-seeming prospect of going on after deep loss. In Steven Rowley's fun, funny, and heartwarming light fiction story The Guncle, aging former sitcom star Patrick is temporarily caring for his niece and nephew. Patrick's best friend from college (who later married Patrick's brother) has died, and Patrick's brother is going through a health crisis of his own. Which means setting Patrick and his beloved (but sometimes foreign-to-him) Maisie and Grant loose in his home in Palm Springs, making things up as they go along. They're each coping with grief and confusion, but they adore each other and have their love to fall back on as they flounder. Rowley explores grief and how it is a shared--yet completely individual--experience. This is especially interesting as related to the two lost loved ones for which Patrick is not officially able to “claim” a grieving role--he was not a husband to his beloved partner Joe when he died and so was not considered family. He was Sara's best friend (and, secondarily, her brother in law), but he doesn't feel he can grieve as deeply as a family member who has cultural permission to do so. For my full review of this book, please see The Guncle. 05 People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry Henry strikes the perfect tone for this wonderfully sweet, funny, friendship-based, romantic story that has lovely depth. People We Meet on Vacation made me laugh a lot--and got me a little teary in the end. Best friends and polar opposites Alex and Poppy are on their annual vacation. Poppy is impulsive and fun-loving, and Alex would generally rather stay home and read than seek out adventure. The pair has long been emotionally inseparable despite living in different cities--Poppy in New York and Alex in their small hometown. But two years ago on their vacation, something BIG happened. It threatened their friendship and continues to loom over everything between them. This was a will they/won't they story I loved. Some of the structure of having one character hold such emotional power over the other was frustrating because of the unlikely obliviousness required on the part of that character. But Henry strikes the perfect tone for this wonderfully sweet, funny, friendship-based, romantic story that has lovely depth. People We Meet on Vacation made me laugh a lot--and got me a little teary in the end. For my full review of this book, please see People We Meet on Vacation. And click here for my review of Emily Henry's Beach Read. Stay tuned for my upcoming review of her newest, Book Lovers. 06 Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez Jimenez offers humor, spicy moments, and romance while incorporating weighty issues into her light fiction opposites-attract story Part of Your World. Alexis and Daniel are opposites. She's coming off a bad breakup. He's ten years younger than she is. She's a city doctor, he's a small-town furniture maker. Nothing about them should fit--but they can't stay away from each other. Everything is complicated. Alexis is part of the Montgomery legacy that built the regional hospital, and a Montgomery has been pivotal to its operation (see what I did there?) for 125 years. She can't abandon her job or her duties. And she can't bring Daniel into her world, because her parents would literally disown her and never speak to her again--which is what they've vowed to do to her brother, formerly the golden child, because of his recent marriage to someone they hadn't vetted. Meanwhile every visit to Daniel and his town builds up Alexis, fills her heart, teaches her about unconditional love, and makes her yearn for more. Told in alternating points of view from Daniel and Alexis, Part of Your World is romantic, often funny, sometimes sexy, poignant, and it includes touches of magical realism. I felt confident that I knew where this was going, but I was in for all of it. For my full review of this book, please see Part of Your World.

Six Four-Star Bossy Mystery Reads Doesn't the cold winter feel like the perfect time to cozy up with Here are six of my favorite mystery and suspense reads of last year--with another list to come! A couple of these are historical fiction mysteries, one was jointly written by two authors, one was set

Six More Favorite Fiction Reads I listed Six of My Favorite Fiction Reads from Last Year in this Greedy In today's post I highlight six more of my favorite fiction reads from last year. I also recently posted about: Six Four-Star Mystery Reads I Loved Last Year Six More Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Last Year Six Four-Star Historical Fiction Reads I Loved Last Year Six Four-Star (And Up) Science I learned about Deaf history, culture, and the politics that have disrupted and damaged those in the

Six More Great Bossy Science Fiction Reads The Obsessive Wrap-Up of Favorite Reads continues! A while back I posted about Six Four-Star (and Up) Science Fiction Reads I Loved Last Year, and here are six more of my favorite science fiction reads from the past year. You might also like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six Books with Cold, Wintry Settings to Read sure where the other's loyalties begin and end, nor are they intimately acquainted with the other's history

Wamariya writes beautifully and brutally honestly about her journey of fleeing from Rwanda and through six Rum's female characters--but also many other real-life women in comparable situations--to write a new history

Here are six of my favorite fiction works that have to do with rock and roll, writing songs, performing (The fictional band focus reminded me, in a good way, of Daisy Jones & the Six, mentioned below.) Long Way Down, Slam, How to Be Good, About a Boy, and the memoir Fever Pitch. 04 Daisy Jones & the Six In Daisy Jones & the Six, Reid offers a fictionalized account (written as fictional interviews) of the Daisy Jones and the Six explores multiple layers of love and heartbreak, all against a fantastic backdrop

If you're intrigued by time-travel stories, you might also like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks is a set of six intriguing tracks through time that are full of surprises

Kate Quinn, the queen of historical fiction about women during wartime, recommends these titles that about brave women during wartime, you might also like the books I listed on the Greedy Reading List Six For my full review, see The Huntress. 03 Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein In Wein's young adult historical

Bossy Historical Fiction Standouts Summer's oppressive heat and humidity feels like the perfect inspiration These varied historical fiction reads have been some of my favorites this summer. Have you read a favorite historical fiction work (or a book in another genre) this summer? Marjan Kamali's The Lion Women of Tehran is historical fiction that begins in 1950s Tehran, where young You might also want to check out these books featuring friends like family and these historical fiction