Family Life Fiction

Louise Kennedy’s “Stations” Explores Those We Leave Behind and Carry With Us

Louise Kennedy’s Stations is a gritty, raw story about adolescent insecurity, the vulnerabilities that stick, and the people we carry with us into adulthood. Stations opens in Ireland in 1982, when a friendless Róisín is first pulled in by the magnetic rebel Red Camelin. They quickly become inseparable, Róisín fascinated…

Riley HarkerNovember 4, 2026

Book Club Network Fiction Fiction - Featured

From a Barroom in England to the Streets of Italy, Sarah Winman’s “Still Life” Is Life Well-Lived

If you had the opportunity to read Tin Man, a beautiful story of love, loss and art by Sarah Winman and loved it like I did, then you cannot miss Still Life, her latest novel! Still Life is a lovely meandering through lives well-lived where the eclectic characters choose their…

Jennifer BlankfeinJanuary 14, 2022

Fiction

Food Is the Nourishment of the Soul in Multi-Generational Historical Novel

“Sometimes food is simple nourishment for the body. Sometimes it is nourishment for the soul. Sometimes it is an apology”. A Bakery in Paris (William Morrow) brings a fresh take to a historical fiction novel, and Aimie K. Runyan can bring together mystery, comfort and two strong female characters to…

Lydia LefevreAugust 29, 2023

Fiction

A Young Girl Fights For Love, Identity, Freedom and Everything She Deserves

A beautiful, and well-written story that is fast-paced, emotional and purposeful, Wild Beautiful and Free tells the story of a determined young girl of mixed race, born to an enslaved woman and a plantation owner during the Civil War. Learning about love, family and integrity from her beloved father when she was…

Jennifer BlankfeinMay 19, 2023

The Seamstress of Sardinia Bianca Pitzorno

Fiction

Touching Historical Novel Follows Seamstress in Quaint Italian Town

The Seamstress of Sardinia (Harper Perennial) is a lovely dream of a book, soothing, pleasant and welcome in a complicated world often filled with obligations and stress. It is not an inconsequential novel. It chronicles the emancipation and independence of a modest peasant girl into a resilient, self-educated young woman…

Linda HitchcockDecember 22, 2022

Fiction Podcasts

Books & Looks Podcast: Aimie K. Runyan on “Mademoiselle Eiffel”: Gustave’s Right Hand Woman

Books & Looks: Real Books for Real Readers was started as a literary podcast to supplement Blaine Desantis’ website, ViewsOnBooks.com, and expand into audio and video interviews with authors. With Books & Looks, Blaine’s goal is to focus on real books that real people will read. At least half of the books he…

Blaine DesantisOctober 2, 2024

Fiction Hidden Gems

A Menu for Disaster: The Perils of Loving Food, Wine and Married Men

Joelle Babula’s debut novel Infidelity Rules is — yes! — a captivating read and a delicious, upbeat escape, but it is even more. Its engaging and iconoclastic protagonist breaks the rules with her unexpected depth of interiority that expands the sometimes-breezy genre of romance novels. Well-drawn characters, lots of humor,…

Anne Eliot FeldmanSeptember 18, 2025

The-Loneliness-of-Sonia-and-Sunny-by-Kiran-Desai-

Fiction

Tracing the Fragile Threads of Belonging Across Generations and Borders

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is Kiran Desai’s first novel to be published since her 2006 Booker Prize-winning The Inheritance of Loss, and it is well worth the wait. Its sprawling nearly-700 pages are packed with the best that contemporary fiction has to offer. There’s especially plenty for literary…

Nicole SchragSeptember 24, 2025

Miscellany

Sarah MacLean Talks About Breaking Into Literary Fiction with “These Summer Storms”

Historical romance author Sarah MacLean was nearly 90,000 words into writing her most recent manuscript when she called her agent in a panic. “I think I’m not writing a romance,” she said. Her agent replied, “Oh, thank God. We were all wondering when you were going to figure it out.”…

JeriAnn GellerJuly 9, 2025

Book Club Network Fiction

Reckoning With Family History Sparks Fire in Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Latest Novel

“Family histories repeat,” and try as we might, “maybe the only fate there is is the temptation of reliving their mistakes.” Perhaps, though, as tempting as it feels to trace over the crooked lines our parents have drawn, we’re free to sketch on fresh paper. Easier said than done, right?…

Chelsea CicconeJune 1, 2021

Fiction

From Nantucket to New England, Elin Hilderbrand’s Latest Will Leave You Wanting More!

Elin Hilderbrand has built a devoted following with her summer novels set in Nantucket, books that explore family, romance and the delicate tensions beneath the surface of small-town life. Readers who enjoyed Summer of ‘69, The Identicals, or The Hotel Nantucket have come to expect her sharp observations, immersive settings…

Monique SnymanSeptember 16, 2025

Fiction

Loveable Mrs. Plansky at it Again in Whirlwind Coastal Mystery

Spencer Quinn, pseudonym for the always entertaining and clever author Peter Abrahams, has kept readers anxiously waiting for two years for Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue. Fans will not be disappointed with the return of the delightful amateur sleuth Loretta Plansky, who debuted in 2023 with the memorable Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge.…

Linda HitchcockSeptember 11, 2025

Book Club Network Fiction Recommended

Forgiveness, Tragedy and the Search for “Something Better” in Diane Parrish’s Poignant Novel

Diane Parrish’s rich, thought-provoking novel Something Better (Meridian Editions) is a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit and the enduring quest for, well, something better in life. When Jack and Lydia Brady tragically die in a car accident during a fierce winter storm, their daughter Annabeth, a college…

LK GriffieOctober 8, 2024

Book Club Network Fiction

Gripping Family Saga Explores Healing in the Heart of Appalachia

Some authors can tell a sad story but render it beautiful. That’s what Bobi Conn observed when she started reading books while in graduate school at the age of 27. I would take it a step further and count Conn herself among those authors. Conn documented poignantly the harsh realities…

Jim AlkonMarch 24, 2025

Thrillers

An Old Crime Stirs Up New Passions and Fresh Blood

The truth is, everyone knew who killed Caitlin – everyone knew back then, too. It was a massive crime in a tiny village, and about two hundred of the most powerful residents were standing about ten yards away when it happened. Twenty years ago, in the elite, idyllic, history-laden Hudson…

Neil NyrenAugust 29, 2025

Fiction

Family Dynamics and the Surprising Truth Between Twins in Sally Hepworth’s “The Good Sister”

The Good Sister (St. Martin's Press) by Sally Hepworth is entertaining, captivating and addictive. I love her storytelling, atypical characters and the tricky twists and turns which are always surprising in the end. Rose and Fern are sisters: Rose is the responsible one, married with a white picket fence and…

Jennifer BlankfeinJune 3, 2021

Family Life Fiction

Louise Kennedy’s “Stations” Explores Those We Leave Behind and Carry With Us

From a Barroom in England to the Streets of Italy, Sarah Winman’s “Still Life” Is Life Well-Lived

Books & Looks Podcast: Aimie K. Runyan on “Mademoiselle Eiffel”: Gustave’s Right Hand Woman

A Menu for Disaster: The Perils of Loving Food, Wine and Married Men

Sarah MacLean Talks About Breaking Into Literary Fiction with “These Summer Storms”

Reckoning With Family History Sparks Fire in Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Latest Novel

Forgiveness, Tragedy and the Search for “Something Better” in Diane Parrish’s Poignant Novel

Family Dynamics and the Surprising Truth Between Twins in Sally Hepworth’s “The Good Sister”

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