LENA’S FAVORITES ARE GOING TO ROCK MY WORLD!! They are mostly ALL new-to-me, but obviously not new to the world ’cause they’re HUGE hits (lots of Goodreads choices & winners & bestsellers here)!!! And it’s been a fun ride looking each one of these up and learning about them (and… wanting to read them too – especially “Know My Name”).
Ready to discover them too? Or… have you already read any of these, and what did you think?
P.S. They all sound awesome and I get why they are on her best-of list, and there’s one that I one clicked SO HARD (at full price… too bad, I HAD to have it!). You’ll see it highlighted below.
Lena’s Best Books of 2024 List
My top 5:
The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick by Ariel Lawhon
“…an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.”
The author says:
The Frozen River was just named People Magazine’s Book of the Week! I’m so thrilled! I can’t believe this novel about a midwife in the late 1700’s is resonating with so many people. Thank you, thank you!
HISTORICAL!!
The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick
HISTORICAL!!
“…a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.
Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.
Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount...”
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How to End a Love Story: A Novel by Yulin Kuang
The author gives us some great introspection about writing this book. She says:
“...when I wrote this manuscript three years ago, I really was feeling ~obscure, plain, and little~ and like maybe if I didn’t tell this story, I might never work up the nerve again (it sounds dramatic because I am dramatic!) Story time: between 2017-2019, I created a TV show that flopped on air and was pulled by the network before all the episodes even made it to broadcast, and uhhh turns out that triggered a creative crisis for me that I tried to treat by pretending it wasn’t happening.
Over the next few years, I chased OWAs and adaptations and neglected pursuing any original work because honestly?? I didn’t believe in myself anymore, despite turning that experience into a quippy one-liner in general meetings, that I felt lucky that we got the show on air at all! Then I got married and went on a honeymoon and realized haha maybe I had been a bit uh depressed and hey, what if I tried to write something from the heart again and pushed past my fears of my own mediocrity because the worst book that’s ever been written is still worth more than the best book that doesn’t exist anywhere but in my mind. So I did! And that was a win in itself!...”
SUPER-BARGAIN TODAY!!
How to End a Love Story: A Novel
Two writers with a complicated history end up working on the same TV show… Can they write themselves a new ending? A sexy and emotional enemies-to-lovers romance guaranteed to pull on your heartstrings and give you a book hangover from brilliant new voice Yulin Kuang
“Helen Zhang hasn’t seen Grant Shepard once in the thirteen years sincethe tragic accident that bound their lives together forever.
Now a bestselling author, Helen pours everything into her career. She’s even scored a coveted spot in the writers’ room of the TV adaptation of her popular young adult novels, and if she can hide her imposter syndrome and overcome her writer’s block, surely the rest of her life will fall into place too. LA is the fresh start she needs. After all, no one knows her there. Except…“
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Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller
“Know My Name will forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing. It also introduces readers to an extraordinary writer, one whose words have already changed our world. Entwining pain, resilience, and humor, this memoir will stand as a modern classic.”
P.S. The author says:
“While writing Know My Name, I was constantly drawing as a way of letting my mind breathe, reminding myself that life is playful and imaginative. We all deserve a chance to define ourselves, shape our identities, and tell our stories. The film crew that worked on this piece was almost all women. Feeling their support and creating together was immensely healing. We should all be creating space for survivors to speak their truths and express themselves freely. When society nourishes instead of blames, books are written, art is made, and the world is a little better for it.”
—Chanel Miller
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Know My Name: A Memoir
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE GIRL FORMALLY KNOWN AS EMILY DOE!
“She was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford’s campus…
…she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. It was the perfect case, in many ways–there were eyewitnesses, Turner ran away, physical evidence was immediately secured.
But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios. Her story illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life...”
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The Wedding People: A Novel by Alison Espach
“A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.
In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.”
The author said:
“Last night, I found out The Wedding People is a #2 New York Times bestseller. It’s completely unreal and exciting and I don’t know how to express just how unreal and exciting – as a friend said, exclamation points only go so far. And as a millennial who still feels weird writing anything longer than a paragraph on my phone, I can’t fully express my endless gratitude for everybody who has helped make this happen…”
HUMOROUS DIVORCE FICTION
The Wedding People: A Novel
HUMOROUS DIVORCE FICTION… SHE’S THERE ON VACATION ALONE & CONFIDES IN THE BRIDE…
“…Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself.
Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe’s plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other...”
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The Many Lives of Mama Love (Oprah’s Book Club): A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing by Lara Love Hardin <— MEMOIRE & I JUST ONE-CLICKED THIS ONE SO HARD!!
“Once you start reading, be prepared, because you won’t want to stop.” —Oprah Winfrey
OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • New York Times bestselling author Lara Love Hardin recounts her slide from soccer mom to opioid addict to jailhouse shot caller and her unlikely comeback as a highly successful ghostwriter in this harrowing, hilarious, no-holds-barred memoir.
“…No one expects the police to knock on the door of the million-dollar two-story home of the perfect cul-de-sac housewife. But soccer mom Lara Love Hardin has been hiding a shady secret: she is funding her heroin addiction by stealing her neighbors’ credit cards.
Lara is convicted of thirty-two felonies and becomes inmate S32179. She finds that jail is a class system with a power structure that is somewhere between an adolescent sleepover party andLord of the Flies…”
MEMOIRE & I ONE-CLICKED IT SO HARD!!
The Many Lives of Mama Love (Oprah’s Book Club): A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing
MEMOIRE & I ONE-CLICKED IT SO HARD (at full price, I don’t even care 😂)!!
“...No one expects the police to knock on the door of the million-dollar two-story home of the perfect cul-de-sac housewife. But soccer mom Lara Love Hardin has been hiding a shady secret: she is funding her heroin addiction by stealing her neighbors’ credit cards.
Lara is convicted of thirty-two felonies and becomes inmate S32179. She finds that jail is a class system with a power structure that is somewhere between an adolescent sleepover party andLord of the Flies...”
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➔➔➔ Looking for more Best of? Browse all of the Best Books of 2024 here on the blog. 😀
➔➔➔ Looking for more recommendations? Browse all of the reader favorites lists here on the blog. 😀
➔➔➔ Looking for my must-read recommendations? Browse my 5 star and 4.5 star and 4 star reviews or my favorite book lists here 😀