My Top Top Book Recommendations!

Originally published March 30, 2015

Recently, I've been in a real book slump. I can't get into anything! I try and try, and nothing I start reading catches my attention. It's a little tricky to find time to read these days, but I adore books, and there was a time I would go to the library and take out 10 books, devour them in a week, and go back for more...but now? I have to really, really fall in love with the book to read it all the way through. When discussing books with friends, I often resorta to the same book recommendations; these are the books which I wish I could go back and re-read again, without knowing the ending. The books which grab you and toy with your head and heart until you're done, and then you can't stop thinking about them. I compiled my list of top books I've read over the last 5 years or so; these books moved me, stayed with me, and are ones I wish others would read so that we can discuss them together! 

What's the #1 book I always, always recommend people (of all ages and genders) read? 


It's about growing up, the world, love, parents, and the feeling that nothing around you is stable. 

Mind you, there are hundreds of other books I adore, but this list seems to be the ones I hear myself suggesting time and again.

Have you read any of these? 

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan  (Also, Maine)

Wonder by RJ Palacio

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

The Darlings by Cristina Alger

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams

What Remains by Carole Radziwill

Vaclav and Lena by Haley Tanner

Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff (trigger warning: a child dies)

Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead

The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

The Circus in Winter by Cathy Day

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

Composed: A Memoir by Rosanne Cash

The Condition by Jennifer Haigh

Faith by Jennifer Haigh

Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt (trigger warning: a mama dies)

The Vacationers by Emma Straub

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe