Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (2019)

LOVED this chick lit about Chloe Brown, chronically ill web designer and grump who sees her life flash before her eyes and decides that she needs a good bucket list. 

"Red" Morgan, her super hot building superintendent, gets inadvertently involved and despite all Chloe's efforts, they embark on her list. Of course, Red has secrets and baggage of his own, primarily his artistic career and heartbreak. 

Beautifully written, with a lovely slow burn and smoking love scenes, this is a lovely romance with rich secondary characters, a beautifully diverse cast, a heroine who is curvy and a super hot but sweet romantic lead. Delightful.

The Other Mother by Carol Goodman (2018)

Interesting but strange novel that I found while researching novels inspired by Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca. 

Two women meet in a post-partum support group and form a tight friendship.

Twisty, interesting, much mystery and a mental hospital. Complex and engaging.

The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller (2019)

A scandalous widow in the 19th century buys a house in order to redecorate it and write a book about the process. By the way, the house is haunted and a very sweet scientist with a loving family wants to experiment and solve the mystery. 

BTW, Professor Samuel Moore is the most dreamiest book boyfriend ever. He's a ray of light and my dream date.

I flat out LOVED this book. Diana Biller is definitely on my authors to follow list.

See also the novels of Simone St. James for this blend of spookiness and romance.

Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane (2019)

Really fun but substantial chick lit about a woman who is a bit lost who gets a job as a barmaid for her high school boyfriend. 

Strong, vivid characters abound and the romance itself is a lovely slow burn. 

Really quite good.

Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Ben-Waksberg (2019)

LOVED. 

"Here is my impression of a play: Okay, so first you gotta imagine it's a hotel room, right? Just a normal, boring-looking hotel room, on the nice end of things, as far as hotel rooms go. And the audience is coming in, and they're taking their seats in this dinky little theater in lower Manhattan, barely bigger than a Winnebago, this theater, with seats that feel like someone just glued down some thin fabric over a block of hard metal. The main thing of a theater--like the whole point of it--is that there's going to be a lot of sitting in it, so you'd think they would at least consider investing in some comfortable chairs. Word to the wise: if they can't even get that part right, which absolutely most of the time they cannot, then buckle the fuck up, because I can tell you right now you are in for an ordeal of an evening."

I would like to recommend this book to you, friends. Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg.

This collection of stories about relationships is absurd and hilarious and live up to their titles. Some of the short stories in this collection include: Missed Connection-M4W, The Serial Monogamist's Guide to Important New York City Landmarks, Lunch with the Person Who Dumped You, and Rufus, which is about a relationship from the point of the dog. And of course, You Want to Know What Plays Are Like. DON'T MISS.

One in a Million by Lindsey Kelk (2018)

Really liked this adorable Brit Chick Lit about Annie, who owns a social media start up with her best friends. She makes a bet with her landlords that she can make someone Instagram famous in 30 days and the random stranger selected is hapless historian Dr. Samuel Page, whose girlfriend has just dumped him. 

In addition to the social media bet, Annie goes about putting Sam through Boyfriend Bootcamp, which includes a makeover, social skills, conversation and getting him into the outside world. The delight of this book is in the charming characters and their very realistic relationships, especially between Annie and her friends and family. And the relationship between Annie and Sam is a lovely slow burn. 

Am definitely checking out more Lindsey Kelk books! And she has a bunch, yay!

Read Bottom Up by Neel Shah and Skye Chatham (2015)

Lovely, unique novel written in email and text from the perspective of two characters meeting and falling in love. And then struggling in the relationship.

Shah wrote Elliot's perspective and Chatham wrote Madeleine's as well as their conversations with their best friends. This lends the novel a unique authenticity and reality.

Charming and very relatable. Unfortunately, the only book written by these two together. :( 

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (2018)

Every time Liane Moriarty comes up, I feel a little glow of having 'discovered' her with her first novel Three Wishes (2004!) Every single novel since then has been a treat.

Rich characterizations and complex relationships in unique situations are Moriarty's stock in trade. This novel is no different and has a particularly unique setting. Nine strangers meet at a health resort. Secrets unfold. Unexpected things happen. AND there's a kickass, menopausal, romance writer heroine called Frances. 

Endearing, absorbing, and so readable.

Going Into Town by Roz Chast (2017)

Subtitled: A Love Letter to New York and it couldn't be more so.

I adore Roz Chast and I love her New York. She created this guide for her daughter and expanded it into a quirky, funny, affectionate graphic memoir. I absolutely agree with her and her statement of how she "really likes density of visual information" and it's one of the reasons I love NYC.

Also, this:

“I feel about Manhattan the way I feel about a book, a TV series, a movie, a play, an artist, a song, a food, a whatever that I love. I want to tell you about it so that maybe you will love it, too. I'm not worried about it being 'ruined' by too many people 'discovering' it. Manhattan's been ruined since 1626 , when Peter Minuit bought it from Native Americans for $24.00.”

See also Chast's Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? 

For more NYC love, see Apple of My Eye by Helene Hanff and Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart. 

Choose Your Own Disaster by Dana Schwartz (2018)

Hilariously and descriptively subtitled: A. A Memoir, B. A Personality Quiz, C. A Mostly True and Completely Honest Look at One Young Woman's Attempt to Find Herself, D. All of the Above.

This millennial memoir is written in a cute Choose Your Own Adventure style and the writing transcends the gimmick. Quirky look at being in one's twenties and modern feminism.

Schwartz gained fame as the creator of @GuyInYourMFA on Twitter and I'm adding her book The White Man's Guide to White Male Writers of the Western Canon to my read-now list. 

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (2018)

“Ayoola summons me with these words—Korede, I killed him. I'd hoped I would never hear those words again."

Fantastic short novel about Korede and her sister Ayoola, the serial killer of the title, who keeps murdering her boyfriends. Korede is left to clean up the messes. When Ayoola starts to date Korede's longtime crush, things get especially complicated and messy. SO readable, engaging, and gripping, and the setting of Lagos is vivid and fascinating. 

Looking forward to Treasure and The Baby Is Mine, out in 2020.

Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco (1973)

Although this haunted (hungry) house story is from 1973, it's not remotely dated (apart from the smoking) and holds up beautifully. A family moves into a beautiful estate home for the summer and the wife becomes obsessed with the home and caring for it, as well as for the old woman who lives there. Meanwhile, things get weirder and weirder for her husband, her child and their aunt. 

Did I mention that it is genuinely creepy? Definitely a great follow-up to The Haunting of Hill House.

One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau (2010)

Short but spooky novel about Jackie and Ann, two schoolgirls, each with their own issues. 

Although this is a short book, it packs a LOT of spooky tableaus into its few pages. Kind of bananas, but well-told.

Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren (2018)

I so, so love Christina Lauren. Hazel is a kind of wacky woman, who admits that she's way too much. She gets back in touch with her crush years later, Josh, but is really worried that she'll become too much for him as well. So they try and set each other up with other people, which does not work at all. Because they can't deny their attraction and affection! 

Love it. Slow build, but hot love scenes, plus wonderfully rich characters. Heart heart heart.

"The way Emily describes it: when I meet someone I love, I become an octopus and wind my tentacles around their heart, tighter and tighter until they can't deny they love me just the same." (p. 9)

"Dinner parties at my apartment consist of paper plates, boxed win, and the last three minutes before serving featuring me running around like a maniac because I burned the lasagna, insisting I DON'T NEED ANY HELP JUST SIT DOWN AND RELAX."

Half Past by Victoria Helen Stone (2017)

A little mystery, a little romance, I'm really loving Stone's novels. Plus, this one is about a doomsday cult! I love a good doomsday cult story! 

Also, I love that she writes about 45-year-old women who are looking for answers about their lives AND maybe get a little action as well. Really well done.

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone (2018)

Surprisingly readable novel about Jane, a woman who takes a leave of absence from her job to exact revenge against the man who broke up with her best friend, which led to her suicide. She seduces this man and plots her revenge, but the part that kept me reading was Jane's internal monologues diagnosing her own sociopathy. 

Absolutely fascinating. AND, the author is Victoria Dahl, who writes terrific romances that include older, non-traditional heroines. So fun!

Ooh, there's a sequel! Problem Child (2020).

Social Creature by Tara Isabelle Burton (2018)

Eminently readable contemporary novel about Louise, a nearly 30-year-old struggling writer in NYC who meets manic pixie party girl Lavinia, with whom she becomes fast friends. Lots of wild parties and reckless spending ensues. 

About halfway through the book, the story takes a dark twist. Pretty fun and interesting.

It's Not Me, It's You by Mhairi McFarlane (2015)

Perfectly enjoyable chick lit about a thirtyish woman who proposes to her boyfriend, finds out he's seeing someone else, and takes off to London to get away. 

She gets a job with a dodgy PR firm, gets involved with an investigative reporter and is being wooed back by her boyfriend. Much drama and delightful British slang ensues. She also writes a graphic novel, but that feels very much like an afterthought.

This Could Change Everything by Jill Mansell (2018)

As I've said a million times, I love Jill Mansell because you don't know which of the players will end up together. Plus, such lovely rich characters. 

The book kicks off with Essie having a joke round robin letter sent to her entire address book, which results in her beau ditching her and getting fired (by beau's mother). But she soon finds a home with extravagant character Zillah and finding a job in a nearby bar, run by a very handsome Lucas. Much entanglement and complication ensues until everyone ends up with the right person. V. sweet.

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren (2018)

I love Christina Lauren. This is a lovely, multilayered novel that wanders back and forth in time, telling the story of Macy and Elliot, childhood sweethearts who meet again many years after something separated them. Lauren does a beautiful job of keeping the suspense up of what separated them and in telling their story since then. 

Also, ELLIOT IS TOTALLY JASON MANTZOUKAS. He is TOTALLY Mantzoukas. That's all I'm saying. Sweet and romantic and endearing and emotional and complex. Love.

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James (2018)

Adore Simone St. James, and this book is wonderful. 

Going back and forth in time between a girl's boarding school in the 50s and the ruins of the school in contemporary times, with a few mysteries involved, this is a lovely, involving novel. 

I love Simone for her excellent characters, relationships, sense of time and place and for not wussing out on the supernatural. She brings it! Love her.

What To Do When I'm Gone by Suzy Hopkins, Hallie Bateman (2018)

Subtitled: A Mother's Wisdom to Her Daughter

This is a slight but lovely graphic novel memoir by a mother and daughter and the step-to-step, day-to-day instructions for the daughter in the event of the mother's death. Sigh.

Once and for All by Sarah Dessen (2017)

I always love Sarah Dessen, despite her pastel covers and completely forgettable titles. 

Louna works for her mother's wedding planning business one last summer before heading off to college. She meets reckless, open-hearted Ambrose at a wedding and has to decide whether she is ready to open her heart again after her first love affair's tragic end. 

As always with Dessen, the characters are SO rich. Louna's mother, her godfather, Ambrose and her best friend--all practically leap off the page. And the fun inside look into wedding planning is also delightful. Beautifully done as always.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeycutt (2017)

This is one of those books that you want to stay home and read it without stopping until you reach the last page.

Eleanor is a 31-year-old accounts receivable clerk in Glasgow, who lives a solitary, alcoholic, socially unskilled life and talks to no one but her mother on the phone. When Eleanor and new coworker Raymond are walking from work, and old man collapses and things become more complicated but in a good way. Also, Eleanor has decided that she is going to pursue an attractive young musician and sets about changing her life. BUT, there is a dark, dark secret in Eleanor's past.

Eleanor is a fascinating character of Olive Kitteridge proportions, and this quirky but dark novel is incredibly compelling.

Can't Help Myself by Meredith Goldstein (2018)

I was listening to Goldstein's podcast called Love Letters, and decided to check out her book. Despite being a single woman unlucky in love, Goldstein began writing an advice column at the Boston Globe, which took off. Two things I love: romance and giving advice.

A nice blend of advice letters and her answers, combined with a memoir about her unluckiness in love and her mother's death from cancer. A bit slight but well-done.

One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus (2017)

A colleague's description of this book had me at "Breakfast Club but with murder."

A bunch of high school kids end up in detention together and suddenly, one (who just happens to write a poisonous gossip blog) suddenly dies of a deliberately triggered allergy. Each of the implicated kids, from the drug dealing burnout to the class princess to the jock with a secret are beautifully drawn and realistic.

And, apparently, there's a sequel: One of Us Is Next (2020).

Bad Bachelor by Stefanie London (2018)

Romance with a librarian? Yes, please. 

When notorious "Bad Bachelor" Reed McMahon and PR genius is recruited to help librarian Darcy Greer with her library's fundraiser, the sparks fly. Ugh. I can't believe I just wrote that. 

ANYHOO, There's this website called Bad Bachelors, which is like a Yelp for dating and Reed's reviews are seriously affecting his work and home life. It all works out, though, as these things tend to do. The first in a series.

Class Mom by Laurie Gelman (2017)

Picked this up off a cart at the library purely for the cover and the spine, which basically says "Ass Mom." (lol!)

Jen, formerly band groupie with two children, one of whom may or may not have been fathered by Michael Hutchence, is married with a five-year-old son and has been recruited as Max's class mom. She sends snarky emails to the parents, gets involved in kindergarten parent politics, and deals with the emotions of being an aging 'cool girl.' 

So readable, so delightful. Even though she's a well-off white woman without a job--which is a very tiring genre--I still liked it. Here's an example of the cuteness: She calls her husband's home gym "Ron's Gym and Tan." Anyhoo. Cute.

Update: Apparently, there are two more in this series. Who knew? Now I do!

Carter & Lovecraft by Jonathan L. Howard (2015)

Fascinating novel about a private detective (Carter) who gets a mysterious bequest of a bookstore currently run by the only surviving descendant of H.P. Lovecraft, who is also African-American. Carter moves to Providence to oversee his new bookstore, but quickly very mysterious and spooky things are happening in town. 

This book has some really chilling moments and I liked it a whole bunch until I got to the end and discovered that there was no ending and I had to read the second book. DANG IT. We'll see if I do. But again, good characters, nice suspense/horror vibe, and fascinating look at the legacy of Lovecraft.

Update: I did not read the second book. I rarely do.

Roomies by Christina Lauren (2017)

Romantic comedy about a woman who is obsessed with a busker at her subway station who gets attacked one day and is saved by him. In order to try to repay the debt, she gets him an audition with her uncle's Broadway show. It's a match made in heaven until they discover he is in America illegally, as he overstayed his visa. Enter a marriage of convenience. 

Funny but a bit deeper than your average chick lit, and I LOVED the Broadway setting portrayed pretty realistically. Very endearing.

Dime by E.R. Frank (2015)

Holy cats, this book took my heart and ripped it out and stomped on it on the ground. 

Dime is a 14-year-old girl who has been bounced around the foster system for years. She finds a home with Daddy and his 'girls', who are underage prostitutes. This book is hard to read and anguishing, but man, Frank (a child psychologist and social worker) does a beautiful job of telling Dime's story without exploitation or gratuitousness. 

The story is told through Dime's POV and the note that she is trying to write to persuade someone to help. She's a reader and there's a strong literary bent through the book. The story itself, which takes a clear-eyed look at human trafficking, is incredibly eye-opening and horrifying and shows many facets of "the life." When Daddy picks up Lollipop (an 11-year-old) and adds her to his stable, it gets even more awful. But super important to read and to know and this book absolutely felt like a call to action for me. Beautifully done.

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys by April Genevieve Tucholke (ed.) (2015)

Oh my goodness, I LOVED this collection of YA short stories, which are spooky stories that are all inspired by various works of horror movies, fiction and even songs. Not a single dud in this collection and some of the stories are legit spooky. And each story names its references (in upside down print at the end of the story). So fun to figure them out while reading. 

I adored so many of them, but the standout was Sleepless by Jay Kristoff (inspiration: Psycho!). I'm going to name all the authors, though, cause they're ALL good: Nova Ren Suma, Carrie Ryan, Cat Winters, Leigh Bardugo, Megan Shepherd, Danielle Paige, April Genevieve Tucholke, Jonathan Maberry, Jay Kristoff, Stefan Bachmann, Marie Lu, McCormick Templeman, A.G. Howard, and Kendare Blake.

Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet (2018)

Oh my goodness, I loved this collection of YA short stories which are all stories of 'meeting cute.' 

I love the fabulous diversity of the characters: gay, straight, trans, all colors. It's just a gorgeous and romantic little collection that will restore your faith in humanity and love.

Listing every single one here because they are all worthy of mention and LOVE. 

Siege etiquette / Katie Cotugno

Print shop / Nina LaCour
Hourglass / Ibi Zoboi
Click / Katharine McGee
The intern / Sara Shepard
Somewhere that's green / Meredith Russo
The way we love here / Dhonielle Clayton
Oomph / Emery Lord
The dictionary of you and me / Jennifer L. Armentrout
The unlikely likelihood of falling in love / Jocelyn Davies
259 million miles / Kass Morgan
Something real / Julie Murphy
Say everything / Huntley Fitzpatrick
The department of dead love / Nicola Yoon

Force of Nature by Jane Harper (2018)

Five women and five men go out into the Australian bushland on a corporate adventure team-building retreat, but only four of the women return. 

A couple of detectives with a vested interest in the missing woman join the search and investigation. Everyone has something to hide and what happened to the missing woman is complicated on a Who Shot Mr. Burns level (basically everybody). Very readable and enjoyable, though.

And apparently, it's the second in a series that starts with Dry and features investigator Aaron Falk. So I'll be requesting that one now!

Prince in Disguise by Stephanie Kate Strohm (2017)

Dusty, her mom, and her sister are in Scotland where her sister is preparing to marry a Scottish aristocrat that she met on a reality tv show. The wedding preparations are also being filmed for a future television show. Dusty meets adorable groomsman Jamie and the sparks fly. But Jamie has a secret, of course. 

The charm in this novel is in the quippy but realistic dialogue, and in the fully realized relationships between Dusty's family, the new in-laws, and Heaven, Dusty's best friend who the producers of the show brought over from America to add a little 'color' to the show.

The Singing Bone by Beth Hahn (2016)

A convicted killer's imminent parole forces a woman to confront the nightmarish past she's spent twenty years escaping.

Alice is a professor in present-day 1999, but when she was a teenager in 1979, she and her friends got involved with a mysterious group headed by the charismatic Jack Wyck. Things ended badly and most of the people involved with Wyck are either in jail or dead. A documentary filmmaker is trying to get in touch with her and other survivors to make a film about the situation and things begin stirring again. 

Very atmospheric, and the story skillfully moves between the time settings. Creepy and good.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara (2018)

Subtitled: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer. 

McNamara, who passed away a few years ago at age 46 and was married to Patton Oswalt, was obsessed with her DIY search to find the identity of the East Area Rapist in California. Very absorbing until the very end, where her assistants tried to piece together the remainder of her search after her death. She was a terrific writer, and it's a chilling story. Perfect for the myriad fans of true crime podcasts and amateur sleuthing. 

Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell (2017)

I always adore Jill Mansell and sometimes you just need to read a book about charming people falling in love, despite a few hiccups, in a beautiful British location. 

Let's see: There's a girl with a weird name, who has a contentious relationship with her stepsister, who meets a man on a plane, but loses contact, then he shows up as her stepsister's boyfriend but there's still attraction. So girl with weird name pretends to be dating her boss. who has his own hopeless (seeming!) love affair, PLUS a whole thing with his birth mom. Everything turns out beautifully, sigh.

CLEMENCY! The name is Clemency. Well, yeah.

The Stars In Our Eyes by Julie Klam (2017)

Subtitled: The Famous, the Infamous and Why We Care Too Much About Them. 

Pretty fun look at our obsession with celebrities. I think I've read an embarrassing number of books about celebrity culture, but Klam's stories about her own personal celebrity worship are relatable and enjoyable. Although this book gets a bit name-droppy, with celebrity friends describing their own brushes with fame. Dishy, fun,  and light vacation reading.

See also: But Enough About Me by Jancee Dunn (2006)

The Woman Who Wasn't There by Robin Fisher Gaby, Angelo J. Guglielmo Jr. (2012)

Subtitled: The True Story of an Incredible Deception

There a million stories that came out of the World Trade Center attacks--and not all are true. Tania Head's story of surviving the 9/11 attacks was gripping and horrifying and led to her becoming a celebrity in the survivors' rights movement. Only problem with her story? It wasn't true.

Gaby and Guglielmo tease out this compelling tale with fascinating inside detail. Intriguing, satisfying, and a very fast read. 

The Grip of It by Jac Jemc (2017)

Julie and James have recently bought a beautiful old home in the suburbs for an amazing price. But there's a few mysterious things they discover about the house--a strange sound they can't identify, mysterious secret compartments, their very unfriendly neighbor. And then things get even worse. 

Jemc does a beautiful job of establishing a truly creepy atmosphere and ramping things up without taking things too far. Very vivid and compelling. Also, this is one of the best horror covers ever. Matches the story perfectly! 

You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein (2016)

Memoir in short essay form by comedy writer and comedian Jessi Klein. Very funny essays on a range of topics from getting older, dating, Anthropologie, The Bachelor, infertility and becoming a stand-up comedian. 

This list makes it sound a bit vapid, but it's quite funny and truthy and clear-eyed. Delightful, really!

From the (Dating) Types essay: 

"Noses are of key importance. I need a large nose. Something with a bump. I cannot abide a small nose on anyone, really--men or women. I need the kind of nose that suggests some sort of Jewish/Italian/Greek/African influence. The kind of nose that says, 'At some point in the history of my people, we were forced to flee.'" (p. 94)

LOVE it.

The Real Thing by Ellen McCarthy (2015)

Subtitled: Lessons on Love and Life from a Wedding Reporter's Notebook.

McCarthy had the wedding beat at the Washington Post, and shares what she's learned from heaps and heaps of couples over the years. Divided into Dating, Commitment and Breakups, and including stories from her own life, this is a charming collection that includes gentle dating and love advice with tons of real-world examples (and a few schadenfreudeish examples too--which are the best!) This is a very sweet, sensible, and a little inspirational addition to the love and marriage section. 

Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda (2017)

A very simple story: a married couple is driving to a romantic weekend getaway to a lake house. And yet ... As they drive, tension between them mounts and we learn they're both harboring secrets. 

Deliciously readable with beautifully unfolding tension and yes, a fascinatingly unreliable narrator. (I'm using ALL my adjectives on this one.)