The book: The Hard Road Out by Jihyun Park and Seh-Lynn Chai
Read with Jenna, the Jenna Bush Hager Book Club
The book: Maame by Jessica George
Our reviewer says: “In this pitch-perfect debut, George captures the uncertainty, freedom, and anxiety of a London woman’s mid-20s.” Read more.
The book: The Snow Hare by Paula Lichtarowicz
Our reviewer says: “Lichtarowicz delivers a dramatic story of a Polish woman’s coming-of-age during WWII.” Read more.
The book: Brutes by Dizz Tate
Our reviewer says: “It’s an often beautiful work, but it’s also exhausting.” Read more.
The book: The Charmed List by Julie Abe
Our reviewer says: “Equal parts road-trip romp and endearing second-chance romance, Abe’s rom-com is a sweet summer treat.” Read more.
The books: Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Weathering With You by Makoto Shinkai
Our reviewer says:
Stardust: “Grounding his narrative in mythic tradition, Gaiman employs exquisitely rich language, natural wisdom, good humor and a dash of darkness to conjure up a fairy tale in the grand tradition.” Read more.
The book: Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes
Our reviewer says: “The plot leans a bit too much on convenience, but Moyes is never short on her trademark clever observations.” Read more.
Good Morning America Book Club
The book: River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer
Our reviewer says: “In scenes of vivid horror, stirring resilience, and moving reconciliation, Shearer shows the cruel effects of slavery and its aftermath.” Read more.
Jewish Book Council (Fiction)
The book: Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro
Our reviewer says: “Shapiro returns after the memoir Inheritance with a beautiful exploration of the connections between two families and the reverberations from a teenager’s lie.” Read more.
Jewish Book Council (Nonfiction)
The book: American Shtetl: The Making of Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic Village in Upstate New York by Nomi M. Stolzenberg & David N. Myers
The book: Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey
Our reviewer says: “Even in its darkest moments the book is very funny, and Heisey’s inspired skewering of urban millennial life hits the mark.” Read more.
The book: Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan
Our reviewer says: “Ryan brings both tears and laughter in a powerhouse second-chance romance that shines a sensitive light on mental health issues.” Read more.
The books: The Stars and Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus and Of Water and The Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Some
Our reviewer says:
The Stars and Blackness Between Them: “Petrus’s earnest debut successfully, touchingly combines elements of fantasy, bittersweet realism, and potent, affecting spirituality to tell the coming-of-age story of two complex, beautifully drawn young black women whose friendship and love draw them together...” Read more.
Of Water and The Spirit: “This vivid autobiography takes readers into a world of black magic, palpable spirits, walking dead people, force fields, transdimensional journeys—a world as strange as anything in imaginative fiction.” Read more.
The book: Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
Our reviewer says: “Though marred by its lack of subtlety, this is nonetheless a work of prodigious imagination capable of entrancing readers.” Read more.
The book: Bittersweet by Susan Cain
Our reviewer says: “Like a more intuitive Malcolm Gladwell, Cain delivers a deeply felt study of the profound uses of sorrow and melancholy, a perfect manual for coping with tough times.” Read more.
The book: The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
Our reviewer says: “This well-crafted work is bound to provoke discussion among readers about the conflicts women face regarding pregnancy.” Read more.
The book: Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
Our reviewer says: "In Kapoor’s searing portrait of India at the turn of the 21st century, finely wrought characters go to great lengths to escape the bonds into which they were born." Read more.
The book: Life on Delay: Making Peace with a Stutter by John Hendrickson
Our reviewer says: "This memoir casts a necessary light on a disability that too often goes unseen." Read more.
