Books people text me about
Out of all the books I've recommended, these have generated the most follow-up texts from friends and family.
17 books
★ 5The Correspondent
Virginia Evans
The protagonist of this beautiful novel is a 73-year-old woman processing her life — and regrets — through letters. It’s poignant but not saccharine, specific but universally appealing. I dare you not to cry.
Tom Lake
Ann Patchett
An older woman tells her daughters about the summer she spent performing alongside — and falling in love with — a now-famous actor. My friend Anna said her husband adored this book just as much as she did — impressive, considering he typically reads business non-fiction.
★ 5Whistler
Ann Patchett
Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors for a reason; I couldn't put this down.
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage
Belle Burden
Belle and her seemingly perfect family flee COVID to their gorgeous Martha’s Vineyard home. Abruptly, her husband of two decades tells her he’s no longer in love and leaves. I first mentioned this book in January, and since then, multiple friends have told me they finished it in one session.
★ 5Raising Hare: A Memoir
Chloe Dalton
A woman finds a newborn hare and, against the odds, ends up raising it. Gentle, patient, unexpectedly moving nature writing.
★ 5Heart the Lover
Lily King
A college love triangle from the '80s reignites decades later when crisis pulls the three back together. Turns out it's Casey from Writers & Lovers all grown up, and King just keeps getting better.
★ 5Writers & Lovers
Lily King
The protagonist of Lily King’s novel Writers & Lovers lives in Cambridge, too, but Casey is older than Becky, a little more rudderless. Her mother has just died, her boyfriend has broken up with her, and she’s living in a garden shed splitting her time between waitressing and writing. It sounds depressing. It’s not. Casey’s wit, relatability, and dogged ambition make her easy to spend time with, and I ended the book almost hoping I’d run into her in Harvard Square.
Famesick
Lena Dunham
Light on celebrity gossip, but the best description of chronic illness I've ever read. While Dunham isn't a reliable narrator, she's an incredible one.
★ 5Sandwich
Catherine Newman
Sandwich, by Catherine Newman, describes a family’s week-long vacation in Wellfleet and instantly transported me back. It’s funny, moving, and relatable, much like Newman herself (Aliza and I saw her speak in Boston a few weeks ago.) If you just finished All Fours and aren’t ready to stop thinking/reading about menopause, try Sandwich next.
★ 5Romantic Comedy
Curtis Sittenfeld
An SNL-style writer falls for the pop star hosting the show and refuses to believe it could work. Smart, swoony, very fun.
★ 5The God of the Woods
Liz Moore
A girl vanishes from an Adirondacks summer camp, tangled up with a disappearance years earlier. A character-driven page-turner I tore through.
★ 5Small Things Like These
Claire Keegan
A coal merchant in small-town Ireland has to decide whether to look away. Tiny book, enormous moral weight. Cried, naturally.
Good Material
Dolly Alderton
A comedian falls apart after a breakup he doesn't understand, until the last act flips your whole read of it. Funny and true about heartbreak.
★ 5Piranesi
Susanna Clarke
A strange, beautiful novel about a man who lives alone in a labyrinthine house filled with statues and tidal halls… and slowly comes to realize he doesn’t know who he is or how he got there. It’s unlike anything else, and somehow both deeply weird and deeply moving.
The Great Believers
Rebecca Makkai
The AIDS crisis in 1980s Chicago, braided with a mother searching in present-day Paris. Devastating and unforgettable.
★ 5The Nix
Nathan Hill
A man reconnects with the mother who abandoned him, now suddenly in the national news. Sprawling, ambitious, and a total blast.
★ 5Margo's Got Money Troubles
Rufi Thorpe
A broke young single mom starts an OnlyFans and ropes in her ex-wrestler dad. So much more heart and wit than that premise suggests.