There is a delicious period that happens at the end of December.
All of the parties are done and the thank you cards are written. Work is a sleeping giant that doesn’t need feeding just yet…so there is a bit of time to relax by the fire with a good book.
Here are 10 (in no particular order) on my reading list – and fair warning: this list is heavily laced with newer books by some of my favorite authors.
I hope you get to read and enjoy some of these, and please share the books that you are looking forward to!
1. Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Based on the true story of a thoroughbred named Lexington, Horse tells about the people who were connected to him over the span of 150 years, including riders, artists, and scientists. It deals with injustice and racism, but also determination and love. I won’t be able to help thinking of Laura Hillenbrand’s wonderful book, Seabiscuit.
2. Jackie and Me by Louis Bayard
I’m so excited about this fresh take on Jackie Kennedy’s story. Bayard has used Lem Billings, one of Jack Kennedy’s closest friends since they were at school together, to narrate Jackie’s tale of being caught in the Kennedy family orbit. It is as much about meaningful friendships as it is about the dramas that occurred, but I’m sure it will offer new insights into Jackie’s reality and how she became the icon she was.
3. Lessons by Ian McEwan
This one appears to have everything I require in a good read. McEwan’s books are always compelling, but this one is set in the midst of some of the biggest historical events – you had me at Chernobyl. Questions about how global events impact an individual life seem particularly poignant right now.
4. Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
This is one of what I’m sure will be many books dealing with the pandemic–the isolation, fear, and loss that everyone in the world felt. But Strout’s crisp and beautiful storytelling will no doubt make this a stand out as it offers a look inside some of the good that came out of that experience.
5. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
I read and loved O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet, so I’m looking forward to this new book about Florence and the de’Medici’s. Thrown into a new life with a new husband, Lucrezia de’Medici must navigate the very dangerous waters of life at court in Renaissance Italy. I was a huge fan of Hilary Mantel’s book Wolf Hall, so I’m hoping for a similar blend of history and drama.
6. The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
McCarthy wrote one of my top ten books of all time, The Road. Admittedly, my taste leans a little to the dark side (my book groupies say I’m way too fond of pus and pestilence), but the point is, his novels are exceptional.
The Passenger (a two book series along with Stella Maris) starts with the discovery of a submerged plane wreck (okay, I’m interested) and goes on to carry the reader from New Orleans to Ibiza through issues of morality and the legacy of our father’s sins.
7. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
For those of us who read and loved Station Eleven, I understand that this is a very different book, but it has gotten so much buzz, I have to read it. Seemingly unconnected stories are tied together through space and time. St. John Mandel is a master at thinking about what that future might look like.
8. The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Erdrich won the Pulitzer for The Night Watchman (also on my reading list), but The Sentence seems particularly intriguing. It follows the story of a bookstore haunted by a customer who has recently passed away, and weaves in current events like the George Floyd murder and the pandemic.
9. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
This is Kingsolver’s take on the Charles Dickens classic David Copperfield. Based in rural Appalachia, this is the story of a boy who strives to overcome poverty, loss, and the series of systems that fail him. Kingsolver seems like the perfect author to take on such an iconic piece of literature and update it for a modern generation.
10. Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer
And now for something a little different–some comedy! The follow up novel to Less, this new book promises to offer up the same combination of laugh out loud fun and bitter-sweetness as the original. I can’t wait to travel along with Less as he crosses the country on a literary tour as only he can, sharing truisms about life across America and who, ultimately, we are.
