Book Recommendations

People always ask me for book recommendations so I decided to post all of my favorites across "types" of books here so that I can update and YOU can check it frequently!

You can also find me on goodreads to see what I'm reading or have read!

 

Fiction:

The Secret Keeper (Kate Morton) -- slow start but WOW-worthy ending!
State of Wonder (Ann Patchett)
Bel Canto (Ann Patchett)

ROOM (Emma Donoghue)

The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)

A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)

And The Mountains Echoed (Khaled Hosseini)

The Kitchen House (Kathleen Grissom)

The Help (Kathryn Stockett)

The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)

A Reliable Wife (Robert Goolrick)

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (historical fiction, Jamie Ford)
Orphan Train (Christina Baker Kline)
All the Light We Cannot See (historical fiction, beautiful language, Anthony Doerr)
The Boston Girl (Anita Diamant)
The Nightingale (Kristin Hannah)
Little Fires Everywhere (Celeste Ng)
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman)
The Giver of Stars (Jojo Moyes) -research the pack horse librarians before or after!
The Orphan Keeper (Camron Wright)
That's How It Always Is (Laurie Frankel)
Daisy Jones and The Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid)
Where the Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens)
The Tattoist of Auschwitz (Heather Morris)
The Book of Lost Friends (Lisa Wingate)
Erotic Stories with Punjabi Widows (Balli Kaur Jaswal)
Firefly Lane (Kristin Hannah)
Fly Away (Kristin Hannah) - sequel to Firefly Lane
Leaving Time (Jodi Picoult)
A Spark of Light (Jodi Picoult) - complex, explores abortion perspectives
The Overdue Life of Amy Byler (Kelly Harms)- light read, funny
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill (Abbi Waxman)- light read
American Dirt (Jeanine Cummins)

Suspense (fiction):

Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)

Before I Go To Sleep (S.J. Watson)

Sharp Objects (Gillian Flynn)
The One I Left Behind (Jennifer McMahon)
Defending Jacob (William Landay)

Big Little Lies (Liane Moriarty)
The Night Sister (Jennifer McMahon)
The Guest Room (Chris Bohjalian)
The Breakdown (B.A. Paris)
Watching You (Lisa Jewell)
The Silent Patient (Alex Michaelides)
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things (Bryn Greenwood)
The Rent Collector (Cameron Wright)
Small Great Things (Jodi Picoult)

Set in Africa:

Little Bee (Chris Cleave)

Cutting for Stone (Abraham Verghese)
Half of a Yellow Sun (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
Homegoing (Yaa Gyasi)

The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild (Lawrence Anthony)

Life Lessons:

To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (non-fiction, Rebecca Skloot)

The Alchemist (Paolo Coelho)

The Invention of Wings (Sue Monk Kidd)

Christian:

The Hole In Our Gospel (Richard Stearns)
Kisses From Katie (Katie Davis)
Unstoppable (Christine Caine)
For the Love (Jen Hatmaker) - freeing; hilarious


How did we not know about this in the USA or history class?:
The Sandcastle Girls (Chris Bohljalian)
I Was Told To Come Alone (Souad Mekhennet)
The Alice Network (Kate Quinn)
Lilac Girls (Martha Hall Kelly)


Memoir/Nonfiction:
When Breath Becomes Air (Paul Kalanithi)
From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home (Tembi Locke)- beautiful writing and includes Sicilian recipes
Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved (Kate Bowler) -also a TED talk
The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity and My Fight Against the Islamic State (Nadia Murad)-she won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work  
Becoming (Michelle Obama)
Know My Name (Chanel Miller)
The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild (Lawrence Anthony)
Untamed (Glennon Doyle)


Race:
Americanah (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

Black Like Me (non-fiction, John Howard Griffin)
Everything I Never Told You (Celese Ng)
Beneath A Scarlet Sky (Mark T. Sullivan)

Race/African American/White Privilege:
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America (Michael Eric Dyson)
The Hate U Give (Angie Thomas)

Writing:
Art of Memoir (Mary Karr)


SLP related:
Speaking in Tungs by Karla Jay

Parent resources:
Give Your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time (Jamie C. Martin)