As a female author myself, I always want to uplift and highlight other women-identifying writers who are weaving complicated stories about growing up. The truth is, I think we’re all continuing to change at all ages - it’s never too late to grow from past mistakes and make different choices, especially as we grow older and experience both our first love and first heartbreak. All of these stories are bonded by good women who sometimes do bad things - just like in my novel - and I think it’s important to show that female protagonists, particularly sculpted by female writers, can be just as messy, vulnerable, and complicated as male leads.
With the terrible housing market in the city, Penelope Roman has felt stuck living with her less-than-ideal boyfriend, but when she finds a listing for a cheap loft she goes to check it out. When she arrives, there’s only one other prospective renter, the handsome but immature Nolan Elliot, and the eccentric owner, Flo Donovan.
Flo says they’ve got three months to prove to her who should get the apartment. In an escalating game of hijinks, Penny and Nolan try to win the competition and suck up to the owner. Slowly, they come to realize the little old lady has an even bigger plan. Could it be that the apartment is perfect for both of them?
Margot and I were roommates at the wonderful Monson Arts Residency, and I heard a lot about this book before I ever read it - although I am admittedly biased, it did not disappoint.
Margot’s protagonist, the queer, chain-smoking, Sister Holiday, will disabuse you of any preconceived notion of what a nun is supposed to do or be. My favorite stories are about people who have failed themselves or the people they love, and are trying to do better. Yes, this is a crime story, but it’s also one of hope and redemption - with humor.
You must immerse yourself in this world and hold on for the twisty, sexy ride through self-discovery.
Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test in this "unique and confident" debut crime novel (Gillian Flynn).
When Saint Sebastian's School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and their surrounding New Orleans community are thrust into chaos.
Patience is a virtue, but punk rocker turned nun Sister Holiday isn't satisfied to just wait around for officials to return her home and sanctuary to its former peace, instead deciding to unveil the mysterious attacker herself. Her investigation leads her down a twisty path of…
This book absolutely devastated me - in the best way.
A stunning mediation on grief and mother-daughter relationships, expressed by someone who is perhaps better known as a musician (Zauner’s alias in the music world is Japanese Breakfast.) What I love about this book are the simple descriptions of specific food items that bond families, and how reflecting on them as an adult can change their meaning.
Ultimately, it’s a love story; although a tragic one, it also has moments of hope, light, and connection.
The New York Times bestseller from the Grammy-nominated indie rockstar Japanese Breakfast, an unflinching, deeply moving memoir about growing up mixed-race, Korean food, losing her Korean mother, and forging her own identity in the wake of her loss.
'As good as everyone says it is and, yes, it will have you in tears. An essential read for anybody who has lost a loved one, as well as those who haven't' - Marie-Claire
In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer,…
This book is a series of personal essays by the humorist Rax King, who connects vilified pop culture people, places, and items (Creed, The Cheesecake Factory, lip gloss, to name a few) to pivotal moments in her adolescence and young adult life.
She celebrates rather than denigrates these extremely “uncool” markers in pop culture, through the lens of a young woman learning to love and appreciate herself, her family, and her sexuality, in the same way she has come to love and appreciate tackiness.
I’m obsessed with her turns of phrase and brutal honesty on every page.
An irreverent and charming collection of deeply personal essays about the joys of low pop culture and bad taste, exploring coming of age in the 2000s in the age of Hot Topic, Creed, and frosted lip gloss—from the James Beard Award-nominated writer of the Catapult column "Store-Bought Is Fine”
Tacky is about the power of pop culture—like any art—to imprint itself on our lives and shape our experiences, no matter one's commitment to "good" taste. These fourteen essays are a nostalgia-soaked antidote to the millennial generation's obsession with irony, putting the aesthetics we hate to love—snakeskin pants, Sex and the…
To be fair, I read this book on a summer holiday in Cinque Terre, Italy, which perhaps made the experience even more dreamy and lush.
This is a modern love story that celebrates the desire of its female protagonist, and makes no apologies for her ability to take what she wants - in the form of her current romantic partner’s father. The story contains nuance and delicacy, and talks about relationships with honesty and vulnerability.
There is an undercurrent of grief here, as well, which bonds our lovers, and makes the lightness of the romance that much deeper.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF THE EVENING STANDARD'S BLOCKBUSTER BOOK TRENDS OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR FOYLES FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR NOMINATED FOR THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS FOR ROMANCE A ZOELLA BOOK CLUB PICK
'This book filled me with excitement and possibilities.' Jenny Colgan 'Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous.' @savidgereads 'Say hello to the book of the summer' @bettysbooksuk 'Fantastic . . . I cannot put it down.' @thebibliotucker ____________ Have you fallen for this INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING novelist's sizzling hot entrance into the world of romance?
Firekeeper's Daughter is a YA novel, but as someone who identifies as older than “YA,” I still found myself compelled by the mysterious circumstances and complications in the life of 18-year-old Daunis Fontaine.
Daunis is bi-racial, torn between the white community and nearby Ojibwe reservation that she is a member of. As she is drawn into unsolved deaths in her community, she also finds herself compelled to spend time with new, handsome boy in town, and the two of them work together to uncover larger forces at play.
I recommend you give it a read now, before it hits Netflix soon!
A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER! A MORRIS AWARD WINNER! AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK!
A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK
An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller
Soon to be adapted at Netflix for TV with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.
“One of this year's most buzzed about young adult novels.” ―Good Morning America
A TIME Magazine Best YA Book of All Time Selection Amazon's Best YA Book of 2021 So Far (June 2021) A 2021 Kids' Indie Next List Selection An Entertainment Weekly Most Anticipated Books of…
Gabrielle found her grandfather’s diaries after her mother’s death, only to discover that he had been a Nazi. Born in Berlin in 1942, she and her mother fled the city in 1945, but Api, the one surviving male member of her family, stayed behind to work as a doctor in a city 90% destroyed.
Gabrielle retraces Api’s steps in the Berlin of the 21st century, torn between her love for the man who gave her the happiest years of her childhood and trying to come to terms with his Nazi membership, German guilt, and political responsibility.
Api's Berlin Diaries: My Quest to Understand My Grandfather's Nazi Past
"This is not a book I will forget any time soon."
Story Circle Book Reviews
Moving and provocative, Api's Berlin Diaries offers a personal perspective on the fall of Berlin 1945 and the far-reaching aftershocks of the Third Reich.
After her mother's death, Robinson was thrilled to find her beloved grandfather's war diaries-only to discover that he had been a Nazi.
The award-winning memoir shows Api, a doctor in Berlin, desperately trying to help the wounded in cellars without water or light. He himself was reduced to anxiety and despair, the daily diary his main refuge. As Robinson retraces Api's…
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Coming Of Age
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