If March comes in like a lion, then this month’s book club picks are sure to be the mane event. From books about escaping everyday life on an RV, fulfilling a higher calling, or exploring deeper social structures, March is packed with picks sure to pique the interest. It’s not easy being the reader friend, but someone’s gotta do it. And if you stick with us, we guarantee your reading schedule will always be Fully Booked.
To submit titles for inclusion in this roundup, email us.
The book: The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Recommended for: Lovers of mythology, those who believe their invitation to Camp Half-Blood/ Camp Jupiter got lost in the mail, or when you want to pretend that voice you hear is calling you to join for a greater good—and not your housemate telling you to take out the trash.
Our reviewer says: “The staggering contemporary fantasy that launches three-time Hugo Award-winner Jemisin’s new trilogy leads readers into the beating heart of New York City for a stunning tale of a world out of balance.” Read more here.
The book: We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker (Holt)
Recommended for: When you’re in the mood for a crime show but the hurried plot is giving you whiplash and a suspenseful slow burn thriller is the exact thing you need to rid yourself of the crick in your neck from trying to follow an unsatisfying twist.
Our reviewer says: “Set largely in 2005, this superb thriller from Whitaker examines the repercussions of a fatal accident decades earlier on the residents of Cape Haven, a tourist town on the California coast.” Read more here.
The book: Surviving the White Gaze by Rebecca Carroll (Simon & Schuster)
Recommended for: Anyone who has felt like they are being torn at the seams from trying to fit into the mold of not one but two identities that are constantly pitted against each other.
The book: The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan (Ballantine)
Recommended for: All you Great British Bake-Off lovers, people who find themselves in museums staring at displays of old recipe books wondering if that tuna and Jell-o pie was really THAT good, and people who would eat said pie.
Our reviewer says: “Ryan’s wonderful latest takes her back to the British WWII homefront she chronicled in The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir.” Read more here.
Read with Jenna, the Jenna Bush Hager Book Club
The book: What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster (Grand Central)
Recommended for: When you’re tired of scrolling through shows about surface level drama and are interested in the impact race effects the American family and the repercussions that abound in outside relationships.
Our reviewer says: “Coster returns with a rich if diffuse story of loss, betrayal, and systemic racism, centered on two families spanning the 1990s to the present, set mainly in the Piedmont area of North Carolina." Read more here.
The book: This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith (Grand Central)
Recommended for: When you feel like love is dead after a horrible break up and need to be reminded that new love can hide in unexpected places.
Our reviewer says: “Cross-Smith explores fragility, grief, and the effects of mental illness in this wonderfully strange novel about new love between broken people.” Read more here.
Now Read This, the PBS NewsHour-New York Times Book Club
The book: Nomadland by Jessica Bruder (Norton)
Recommended for: When you’re stressed out at work and are seriously considering quitting, selling your house in favor of better wheel estate, and living that nomadic lifestyle outside your 6x6 office cubicle you so desperately crave.
Our reviewer says: “Journalist Bruder expands on an article originally published in Harper’s where she examined the phenomenon of aging Americans adjusting to an economic climate in which they can’t afford to retire.” Read more here.
The book: Infinite Country by Patricia Engel (Avid Reader)
Recommended for: When your ornery neighbor who’s part of your monthly book club has been touting anti-immigration propaganda and it’s your turn to pick which book everyone is reading this month.
Our reviewer says: “Engel delivers an outstanding novel of migration and the Colombian diaspora.” Read more here.
The book: The Power by Naomi Alderman (Little, Brown)
Recommended for: If you’ve ever wondered what the world would be like if immense power were in the hands of women.
Our reviewer says: “Alderman’s science fiction novel, set all over the world, was awarded the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.” Read more here.
