70 Page Turners To Get You Out of a Book Rut
I adore reading and typically finish several books a month so it’s been — on the one hand — a little surprising that I have started and fizzled out on several titles and not finished a single book during the month of August. On the other hand, life is a lot right now and we’re amidst some pretty big transitions (including taking Laurel to college) so I guess it’s not surprising at all.
I recently shared about my reading rut on Instagram stories and queried for page turners and wow, per usual, people SHOWED UP. Because I am a mega nerd, I also ran a poll to see if it would be more helpful to share the list as a blog post with links or as a graphic on Instagram. It was pretty close to a tie so I am just going to do both! This list is ordered alphabetically by author (in case you are walking the library book stacks!) and I have flagged titles that received multiple recommendations. Happy reading!
Normal Family - Chrysta Bilton
The Bodyguard - Katherine Center *multiple votes including a recommendation for all of her books
Joan - Katherine Chen
The Boy From the Woods - Harlan Coben
Upgrade - Blake Crouch
American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins *multiple votes
Fellowship Point - Alice Elliott Dark *multiple votes
The Last Thing He Told Me - Laura Dave
All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
These Impossible Things - Salma El-Wardany
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital - Sheri Fink
Every Summer After - Carley Fortune
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus *multiple votes
Meant To Be - Emily Giffin
Midnight Library - Matt Haig
My Imaginary Mary - Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
Winter Garden - Kristen Hannah
Forest of Vanishing Stars - Kristin Harmel
The Unknown Beloved - Amy Harmon
The Golden Couple - Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
Book Lovers - Emily Henry *multiple votes
The Things We Keep - Sally Hepworth
The Hotel Nantucket - Elin Hilderbrand
Mother Noise - Cindy House
A Lady’s Guide To Fortune Hunting - Sophie Irwin
Between Two Kingdoms - Suleika Jaouad
Grown Ups - Marian Keyes
Dolores Claiborne - Stephen King
The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver
The Plot - Jean Hanff Korelitz *multiple votes
Local Woman Missing - Mary Kubica
Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka
Yerba Buena - Nana LaCour
A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah Maas
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
Nora Goes Off Script - Annabel Monaghan
The Islanders - Meg Mitchell Moore
The Giver of Stars - Jojo Moyes
True Biz - Sara Nović *multiple votes
Heartstopper graphic novels series - Alice Oseman
The Verifiers - Jane Pek
State of Terror - Louise Penny & Hillary Clinton
Tracy Flick Can’t Win - Tom Perrotta
The Dead Romantics - Ashley Poston
Bridgerton series - Julia Quinn
The Rose Code - Kate Quinn
Daisy Jones and the Six -Taylor Jenkins Reid
Malibu Rising - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
How Not To Die Alone - Richard Roper
Blood Sugar - Sascha Rothchild
The Island of Sea Women - Lisa See
One Italian Summer - Rebecca Serle
This Time Tomorrow - Emma Straub
Funny You Should Ask - Elissa Sussman
The Good Left Undone - Adriana Trigiani
Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt
Joan is Okay - Weike Wang
Sing, Unburied, Sing - Jesmyn Ward
Educated - Tara Westover
Thank You for Listening - Julia Whelan
The Wreckage of My Presence - Casey Wilson
Still Life - Sarah Winman
Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket - Hilma Wolitzer
A Sky Painted Gold - Laura Wood
All of This: A Memoir of Death and Desire - Rebecca Woolf
Kaleidoscope - Cecily Wong
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin *multiple votes
