40 Books Women need to read in 2015
(So Far)
Books and Summer go together like peanut butter and jelly, in my opinion. But don't fret, as we are on the cusp of ending our Summer sunsation and turning over a new leaf to Fall.
I have 40 books (a whopper of a list) that are sure to stir up some heat, some sweetness and... well, everything in-between that all of us GIRLS - NEED TO READ!
Ever been burned by
love? Brenda Janowitz's fourth novel, The Lonely Hearts Club, is the story of Jo Waldman, a
22-year-old punk rocker who inadvertently starts an antilove movement that
sweeps Manhattan.
2. Love, Fortunes, and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius
Love, Fortunes, and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius
is an adventurous magical realism novel about a young girl whose fortune tells
her she will never find love and her quest to prove fate wrong.
3. B & Me: A True Story of Literary Arousal by J. C. Hallman
Author D.C. Hallman contemplates "sex, book
jackets, an old bed and breakfast, love, Monica Lewinsky, Paris, marriage, more
sex, the logistics of libraries" in his novel B & Me: A True Story of Literary Arousal
4. A Sister to Honor by Lucy Ferriss
A young woman
leaves her family in rural Pakistan to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor at
a New England college in the United States. When she begins to fall for an
American boy, her brother attempts to intervene in order to protect his sister
from American customs. In Lucy Ferriss's A Sister to Honor, lines between family, love, tradition, and
loyalty become blurred.
5. The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos
Bestselling author Marisa de los Santos's The Precious One, told from the alternating perspectives of
two estranged sisters, captures the essence of family, friendship, love, and
the hope of second chances
6. Funny Girl by Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby —
author of High Fidelity and About a Boy — has
returned with Funny Girl, a novel about a young woman in the 1960s who
deviates from her original path to be a beauty queen in order to pursue a
career in comedy.
7. Women, Food, and Desire: Embrace Your Cravings, Make Peace
with Food, Reclaim Your Body by Alexandra Jamieson
Alexandra Jamieson,
a holistic health counselor and costar of Super Size Me, explores
women's cravings for food, sleep, and sex in Women, Food, and Desire.
8. The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman
A woman, born in a
brothel in the 18th century and abused growing up, finds an outlet through
bare-knuckled fighting in her city's prize rings. She meets another woman with
a different cross to bear, and both discover their own strengths together in
Anna Freeman'sThe Fair Fight.
9. The Sound of Glass by Karen White
When a woman's
husband dies tragically and she inherits his family home, she travels south to
where he grew up. In Karen White's The Sound of Glass, buried secrets of domestic violence and
complicated family relationships are unearthed.
10. Mistress Firebrand by Donna Thorland
In 1777
British-occupied New York, an actress secretly writing rebellious plays gets
put on the hanging list for her actions, but in Mistress Firebrand by Donna Thorland, a British
intelligence officer who has fallen for her might be the only who can save her.
11. Dirty Past by Emma Hart
Sofie Callahan left
town and Conner Burker two and half years ago without giving any reason for her
departure. In Emma Hart's Dirty Past, the heartbroken man has questions for the woman he
once loved, and he is demanding answers.
12. The List by Joanna Bolowi
This month,
Scottish comedian Joanna Bolouri debuts her hilarious first novel, The List, about a scorned woman who has given up on love. She
instead writes a list of the 10 things in bed she always wanted to try but
never has, and she makes a goal to do them all in a year.
13. Heartbreak
Hotel by Deborah Moggach
From the author
of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel comes Heartbreak Hotel, a charming story about a retired actor who
moves from London to rural Wales and meets a colorful collection of guests.
14. Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave
Laura Dave's Eight Hundred Grapes is a story about "the messy
realities of family, the strength and weaknesses of romantic love, and the
importance of finding a place to call home."
15. My Heart and other
Black Holes by Jasmine Warga
This YA novel
touches on the sensitive subject of suicide — something that both the male and female
protagonists bond over as they plan their own. In My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga, two
young people begin to find a reason to live in each other, but is it enough for
them?
16. Whisper Beach by
Shelley Noble
Seventeen-year-old
Vanessa fled her hometown years ago, and despite the desperate way she left
(pregnant and in love with someone who wasn't the father), she is returning a
successful businesswoman. In Shelley Noble's Whisper Beach, old flames are rekindled, and one Summer will
test the bonds of friendship, trust, and true love.
17. Down the Rabbit Hole by Holly Madison
In her new
revealing memoir, Down the Rabbit Hole, famous former Playboy bunny Holly
Madison reveals what the mysterious (and sexy) world at the Playboy Mansion was
really like.
18. Moonlight on
Butternut Lake by Mary McNear
A woman fleeing her
abusive husband seeks refuge and serenity far away from the city she was in and
finds a job as a home health aide to a man who was in a terrible car accident.
In Mary McNear's Moonlight on Butternut Lake, two people marred by tragedy
unexpectedly (and rather reluctantly) find comfort in one another.
19. The Witch of
Painted Sorrows by M. J. Rose
The Witch of Painted Sorrows is a gothic novel set in
1890s belle epoque Paris about a young woman's escape from her dangerous
husband and her discovery of the underground occult world that comes alive
after dark in the city.
20. The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
Holly Black, author
of the dark fantasy The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, returns with an
action-packed romantic adventure, The Darkest Part of the Forest, about a world of fairies,
magic, knights, and unlikely heroes.
21. Flick by Abigail Tarttelin
In Abigail
Tarttelin's YA fiction Flick, a boy can't wait to get out of his small town and
forgettable life . . . until a breath of fresh air in the form of a girl named
Rainbow blows in.
22. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
Finding love today
is way more complicated than it was for previous generations. Stand-up comedian
Aziz Ansari teamed up with sociologist Eric Klinenberg for a look into the
evolution of how we love in the modern age, and with a combination of humor and
expert knowledge, Modern Romance is as informative as it is entertaining.
23. Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin
The New
York Daily News calls Wednesday Martin's Primates of Park Avenue — a memoir about marriage and
motherhood in New York's prestigious Upper East Side — "juicy, sexy, bawdy
stuff."
24. A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott
Kate Alcott's novel A Touch of Stardust takes readers behind the scenes of
filming Gone With the Wind and delves into detail about the romances
of the real-life Rhett Butler, Clark Gable.
25. Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
After a life of
feeling like she didn't fit in with her own family, Sydney meets the Chatham
family and finally feels accepted. In bestselling author Sarah Dessen's Saint Anything, one girl meets people who love her for who she
is — including a quiet boy who truly sees her first the first time in her life.
26. None of the Above by I. W. Gregorio
I. W. Gregorio's
groundbreaking YA book None of the Above is about a young girl who discovers she
is intersex and how her friends, family, and peers deal with this revelation.
27. The Pocket Wife by Susan Crawford
In Susan
Crawford's The Pocket Wife, a woman with bipolar disorder can't remember
if she murdered her best friend, and now she must put together the pieces to
find out if she is in danger herself, or if she's the dangerous one.
28. Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum
In a novel that's
"Madame Bovary meets Fifty Shades of Grey,"
Jill Alexander Essbaum'sHausfrau packs romance, sex, and infidelity into the
story about a woman searching for meaning in her life.
29. The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg
Paris in the 19th
century was a passionate and vivid place, and Elizabeth Berg's The Dream Lover captures its essence in a novel about a
courageous woman leaving her loveless marriage for a new life in the big city.
30. The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty by Amanda Filipacchi
Two women "at
opposite ends of the beauty spectrum" face the same same problem: each
fears she won't find someone to love her who can overcome her looks. Amanda
Filipacchi'sThe Unfortunate Importance of Beauty explores the
complexities of relationships amid beauty, love, desire, and personal identity.
31. Country by Danielle Steel
A woman's
predictable life is altered forever when her husband dies unexpectedly on a
family trip. Soon after, she meets a famous country star, who opens his world
to her. She has to decide if she is willing to let go of what she knows and
seize the moment. Danielle Steel's Country is a perfect Summer romance novel that will leave
readers eager to seize the day.
32. The Love Song of
Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
From Rachel Joyce,
the author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, comes The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, a love story about
Queenie Hennessy, the friend who inspired Harold’s cross-country journey in the
original bestselling novel.
33. Garden of Lies by Amanda Quick
Set against the
backdrop of Victorian London, Amanda Quick's Garden of Lies follows the compelling story of a woman
and man tracking down a killer and finding romance along the way.
34. Dear Carolina by Kristy Woodson Harvey
Dear Carolina is a Southern story about strong women,
difficult decisions, and what friendship and family really means.
35. Confess by Colleen Hoover
In an attempt to
heal from her past, Auburn Reed seeks out a job at an art studio where she
finds an unexpected attraction between herself and the artist who works there.
In ColleenHoover's Confess, a secret threatens to ruin the relationship she has
put her heart on the line for, but could the confession be even worse?
36. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Take the missing
wife premise of Gone Girl, set it in London, throw in a
dysfunctional love triangle, give it an alcoholic trainwreck of a narrator, and
you've got The Girl on the Trainby Paula Hawkins. If you're looking for a
creepy mystery that'll turn you off marriage and keep you guessing until the
end, this is the novel for you. I couldn't put it down.
37. Where Sun meets Sky by Karina Halle
A large part of our
20s are often spent in a cloud of existential angst, and in Karina Halle'sWhere Sea Meets Sky, a young man's quest to New Zealand to
find the woman he loves perfectly captures the essence of that exciting and
sometimes tumultuous period of our lives.
38. After Ever Happy by Anna Todd
Anna Todd's
successful One Direction-based fan fiction series continues to thrive with the
release of its fourth installment, After Ever Happy, which picks up where lovers Tessa and Hardin
last left off.
39. The Dead Wife’s Handbook by Hannah Beckerman
Hannah
Beckerman's The Dead Wife's Handbook is a touching novel about a wife
and mother who dies unexpectedly and must watch from afar as her husband and
daughter move on.
40. Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway
Emmy and Oliver were best friends as children, until
Oliver was kidnapped and taken away by his own dad. Robin Benway's YA novel
deals with the aftermath of the crime and how both Emmy and Oliver cope with
what's happened on their paths back to each other.
