Fall is my favorite season for a lot of reasons, including that cooler weather is perfect for curling up with a good book. I’ve been reading some wonderful ones lately and wanted to share some great fall reads in case you’re looking for some page turners to enjoy with your pumpkin everything.
New Releases:
Keep Her: A Novel
by Leora Krygier
There are some Young Adult novels that I think would be better described as All Adult, and this is one of them. This beautifully written story covers a lot of serious modern topics, including adoption, art, gangs, saving the environment and more. Fate, love, and loss are all huge factors in this book and in a way that can be appreciated by sophisticated readers of all ages.
In addition, there’s a Moby Dick thread connecting them and references to the classic Melville work throughout the book. I confess that I was a little wary, as Moby Dick wasn’t my favorite novel, but after reading Keep Her, I’m thinking I need to pick it up again and give it another shot. I love that the idea for the novel came to Krygier in Starbucks, where the green mermaid in the logo reminded her of Starbuck, the character in Moby Dick.
The book will leave you wondering in “meant to be” and inspired to get involved in the causes you care about.
So Glad They Told Me: Women Get Real About Motherhood
edited by Stephanie Sprenger and Jessica Smock
Published by The HerStories Project Press, this anthology contains essays by nearly 60 women sharing what they are glad people told them prior to having children, or what advice they wish they received. The essays run the gamut, from pregnancy to empty nest syndrome and everything in between.
As an added bonus, you can join in a month-long virtual book club and discussion group in October on Facebook here. (Request to join the group and you’re in like Flynn!) It’s like book club, but without having to clean your house, or get out of your comfy clothes. As they explain on the HerStories Project website,
“One great thing about having an essay collection for book club is that there is SO much less pressure. There isn’t one gripping “storyline” or dramatic conclusion that you can’t talk about if you’re in different places. . . . You can participate at your own pace, catch up during your lunch break or during naptime, or sneak in a comment or question while watching Netflix on the couch with your partner after bedtime.”
I’ve joined the group and am really looking forward to it. I hope you’ll join me!
Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World
by Deborah Heitner, PhD
Our kids are digital natives; we parents are not. That makes things interesting, to say the least. Heitner offers encouragement and advice for those doing their best to raise digital natives who are good citizens, online and off. Her words of wisdom are particularly suited to kids in elementary and early middle school.
She views technology very positively and focuses on how to make the most of it with our kids. The focus is not on spying on our kids, but mentoring them. (And yes, mentorship includes putting down your devices and that can be easier said than done.) I think monitoring and mentorship can go hand in hand, and I appreciate the practical tips in this book.
Oldies but Goodies
I’ve also been playing catch up by reading a few books that came out a few years ago and were hugely popular. But a good book is a good book, no matter when you crack the cover, right? (At least, that’s what I’m telling myself)
Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
by Maria Semple
Think this is a great book for the back to school season, with some PTA hilarity that had my kid looking at me like I was crazy because I was laugh/snorting as I read. I love that this book made me not only laugh but really think. It is a complex story that raises some big topics that I think a lot of parents will relate to, particularly around the issues of maintaining your own identity, addressing fears, and family dysfunction. I love epistolary novels and this book is a modern take on that, particularly the first half of it. (I also loved the letters included in Keep Her.)
The author Maria Semple has a new book coming out this fall called Today Will Be Different in early October that I’m excited to read.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
I know, I’m way behind the times. Better late than never, and definitely better before the movie starring Renee Elise Goldsberry, Rose Byrne, and Oprah is released next year. It tells the story of the woman behind the HeLa cells that scientists have relied upon for decades for a wide variety of research. They were taken without the knowledge and consent of Henrietta or her family. From the tobacco fields of Clover, Virginia, to the laboratories of Johns Hopkins and beyond, the book details the efforts of Rebecca Skloot to learn Henrietta’s story and its impact upon her family, as well as upon the world.
What are you reading these days that you’re loving?
You May Also Like: Kids books that were once banned and are now beloved in honor of National Banned Book Week
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