If you’ve put one of 2024’s hottest new releases on hold, we’ve got suggestions for other great books to pick up now.
If you’re eager to read…The Women by Kristin Hannah, check out:
The Great Alone / Kristin Hannah In this book club favorite a former Vietnam POW, suffering from flashbacks and nightmares, moves his family to Alaska to live off the grid in an attempt to find peace, restoration, and freedom.
Absolution / Alice McDermott A riveting account of women’s lives on the margins of the Vietnam War, from the renowned winner of the National Book Award.
The Lotus Eaters / Tatjana Soli This novel follows an American female combat photographer in the Vietnam War as she captures the wrenching chaos and finds herself torn between the love of two men.
Flying Angels / Danielle Steel World War II brings together six remarkable young flight nurses, who face the challenges of war and its many heartbreaks and victories as unsung heroes, in this inspiring novel.
…Funny Story by Emily Henry, check out:
Georgie, All Along / Kate Clayborn Honest and deeply emotional, this is a smart, tender must-read for everyone who’s ever wondered about the life that got away.
Book Lovers / Emily Henry In Henry’s 2022 best seller, a by-the-book literary agent must decide if it’s worth changing her whole life for the promise of happily ever after.
Nora Goes Off Script / Annabel Monaghan Romance channel screenwriter Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. But when her too-good-to-work husband leaves her and their two kids, she turns this story into cash, writing the best script of her life.
The Rewind / Allison Winn Scotch This novel is swoony, funny, and full of ’90s nostalgia. The snappy dialogue wouldn’t be out of place in a screwball comedy.
…The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren, check out:
Secretly Yours / Tessa Bailey From a New York Times bestselling author, TikTok favorite, and “the Michelangelo of dirty talk” (Entertainment Weekly) comes a spicy small town rom-com about a grumpy professor and the bubbly neighbor he clashes with at every turn.
Part of Your World / Abby Jimenez The narrow expectations of a wealthy family don’t stand a chance against a sexy small-town carpenter in this moving romance novel.
Crazy Rich Asians / Kevin Kwan Envisioning a summer vacation in the humble Singapore home of a young man she hopes to marry, Chinese American Rachel Chu is unexpectedly introduced to a rich and scheming clan that strongly opposes their son’s relationship with an American.
Something Wilder / Christina Lauren Another exhilarating novel from Lauren, this fast-paced adventure through the canyonlands makes for another engaging read.
…The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, check out:
Deacon King Kong / James McBride The author’s 2022 book made several “best of the year” lists. With an enthralling plot, setting, and character cast, this novel is a slice of life, a love story, and a ghost story all rolled into one.
Moonrise Over New Jessup / Jamila Minnicks This prize-winning debut novel is a heartfelt and riveting examination of the opposing viewpoints that attended desegregation in America and a celebration of Black joy.
Before All the World / Moriel Rothman-Zecher An NPR Best Book of the Year (2023), this is a mesmerizing, inventive story of three souls in 1930s Philadelphia seizing new life while haunted by the old.
Decent People / De’Shawn Charles Winslow The “propulsive” (L.A. Times) and “intriguing” (Wall Street Journal) story of a Black community reeling from a triple homicide, and the dark secrets the killings reveal.
…The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl, check out:
The Paris Bookseller / Kerri Maher When American Sylvia Beach opens Shakespeare and Company on a quiet street in Paris in 1919, she has no idea that she and her new bookstore will change the course of literature itself. More than a bookstore and lending library, her shop is considered a second home to many of the most prominent writers of the Lost Generation.
Women in Sunlight / Frances Mayes From the author of Under the Tuscan Sun, this is the story of four American strangers who bond in Italy and change their lives over the course of an exceptional year.
Delicious! A Novel / Ruth Reichl The author’s 2014 novel is a compulsively readable story of a young professional who moves to New York City to work for a once-prestigious culinary magazine. There she makes an extraordinary discovery of WWII-era letters written by a plucky 12-year-old to the legendary James Beard.
The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux / Samantha Vérant A disgraced chef rediscovers her passion for food and her French roots in this stunning novel rich in culture and full of delectable recipes.
…Long Island by Colm Tóibín, check out:
The Ninth Hour / Alice McDermott In Catholic Brooklyn, in the early part of the twentieth century, decorum, superstition, and shame collude to erase a man’s brief existence, and yet his suicide, although never spoken of, reverberates through many lives—testing the limits and the demands of love and sacrifice, of forgiveness and forgetfulness, even through multiple generations.
The Dutch House / Ann Patchett This is a moving story exploring the indelible bond between two siblings, their childhood home, and a past that will not let them go.
Saints for All Occasions / J. Courtney Sullivan A sweeping novel about two sisters—one the matriarch of a boisterous Irish Catholic family, the other a cloistered nun, hidden from the world—and the secret that drove them apart.
Brooklyn / Colm Tóibín The author’s 2015 novel about a young Irishwoman who immigrates alone to New York in the 1950s sets the stage for the events of Long Island, which picks up her story years later.
…Table for Two by Amor Towles, check out:
A Manual for Cleaning Women / Lucia Berlin With her trademark blend of humor and melancholy, Berlin crafts miracles from the everyday, uncovering moments of grace in the cafeterias and laundromats of the American Southwest, in the homes of the Northern California upper classes, and from the perspective of a cleaning woman alone in a hotel dining room in Mexico City.
After the Funeral and Other Stories / Tessa Hadley Readers who like character-driven and incisive literary short stories will find plenty to enjoy in both these collections about ordinary relationships and connections.
Someday, Someday Maybe / Lauren Graham From the star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, comes a charming and relatable debut novel about a struggling young actress trying to get ahead―and keep it together―in 1990s New York City.
Rules of Civility / Amor Towles The Table for Two collection includes a novella telling the backstory of Eve, a character Towles first wrote in Rules of Civility, his “sharply stylish” debut (Boston Globe).
