suggested reading

We recently reached out to our online subscribers and asked for their book recommendations. 
I’m excited to present several book choices that your peers think you’ll enjoy.  They are listed below in no particular order, and not necessarily published this year. We were not able to include every recommended book but have done our best to include a nice cross-section of fiction and non-fiction.  
 
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek 
By Kim Michele Richardson
Recommended by Barbara T.
(4.6 stars out of 5 on Amazon, a NY Times Bestseller and a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee)
“Richardson’s latest work is a hauntingly atmospheric love letter to the first mobile library in Kentucky and the fierce, brave packhorse librarians who wove their way from shack to shack…”
 
 
 
 
 
Deacon King Kong
By James McBride
Recommended by Jennifer R.
(4.5 stars out of 5 and an Editor’s Pick on Amazon, Oprah Book Club, Winner of the Gotham Book Prize)
“A propulsive and comic neighborhood epic set in the 1960s with a cast of characters that are beguiling, boozed-filled, and larger than life. When a young drug lord is shot in broad daylight by a bumbling drunk known to everyone as Sportcoat, the Brooklyn neighborhood they live in is upended… 
 
 
 
 
 
Demon Copperhead 
By Barbara Kingsolver
Recommended by Susan B.
(4.6 stars out of 5 on Amazon and winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize)
Amazon Description:
“Kingsolver takes a literary classic and makes it her own, peering into the dark corners not of Dickensian England, but of present day in the neglected hollers of Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains. Damon Fields, nicknamed Demon Copperhead, came into the world already behind the eight ball of life…
 
 
 
 
The Paper Palace 
By Miranda Cowley Heller
Recommended by Randi B.
(4.2 stars out of 5 on Amazon, a NY Times Bestseller, and a Goodreads Choice award nominee)
Amazon Description:
““This one’s filled with secrets, love, lies and a summer beach house. What more could you ask…”
 
 
 
 
 
Tom Lake
By Ann Patchett 
Recommended by Robin B.
(4.3 stars out of 5 on Amazon, a NY Times Bestseller and Reese’s Book Club Pick)
” Over the course of a pandemic summer’s cherry harvest, a mother recounts to her grown girls what happened one summer when she became a little bit famous and fell in love with an actor that became very famous…”
 
 
 
 
 
The Best of Friends By Lucinda Berry
Recommended by Gail W.
(4.3 stars out of 5 on Amazon)
“Best friends Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani endure every parent’s nightmare when a tragic accident befalls their teenage boys, leaving one dead, another in a coma, and a third too traumatized to speak…”
 
 
 
 
 
 
Good Night, Irene
By Luis Alberto Urrea
Recommended by Emily R.
(4.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon and a NY Times Bestseller)
“Good Night, Irene follows Irene Woodward and Dorothy Dunford, who have fled their American lives for a chance at independence, freedom, and duty as part of the Red Cross..” 
 
 
 
 
 
Elon Musk 
By Walter Isaacson
Recommended by Mark B.
(4.7 stars on Amazon and a #1 NY Times Bestseller)
“From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era…”
 
 
 
 
 
My Name Is Barbra
By Barbra Streisand
Recommended by Stacie H.
(4.6 stars out of 5 and a Bestseller on Amazon)
Amazon Description:
“Barbra Streisand is by any account a living legend, a woman who in a career spanning six decades has excelled in every area of entertainment. She is among the handful of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) and has one of the greatest and most recognizable voices in the history of popular music…” 
 
 
 
Seabiscuit: An American Legend
By Laura Hillenbrand
Recommended by Betty S.
(4.6 stars out of 5 on Amazon and a #1 NY Times Bestseller)
“Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini…”
 
 
 
 
Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning 
By Liz Cheney
Recommended by Steven E.
(4.7 stars out of 5 and a Bestseller on Amazon)
“A gripping first-hand account of the January 6th, 2021, insurrection from inside the halls of Congress, from origins to aftermath, as Donald Trump and his enablers…”
 
 
 
 
 
Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia
By Christina Thompson
Recommended by Eva S.
(4.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon)
“For more than a millennium, Polynesians have occupied the remotest islands in the Pacific Ocean, a vast triangle stretching from Hawaii to New Zealand to…”
 
 
 
 
Thank you, again, to the loyal readers who sent in their recommendations. Hope you find a book or two from the list to enjoy. I already have my eyes set on a few to make for great fireplace reading!
 
Warm regards,
 
Susan