I love this time of year when I can begin looking forward to the new books coming out in the new year. Some are books that came out at the end of the last year, but they are new to me and may be new to you. Others are highly anticipated books by authors that we have read and loved in the past and we can’t wait to read them. I find myself returning to some of my favorite authors or subjects when I pick new books to read. Also, best seller lists are a great place to search for a new book for yourself or to suggest for your book club. And lucky for you, the CityView editors have asked me to use my column this month to help you find that book! Whether you read a lot or are looking for just the right book to start reading, here are some good suggestions to consider.
1. THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE by James McBride
One of the best books of 2023, McBride’s newest book came out later in the year and is now on every list of must-read books. This murder mystery centers around the discovery of human skeletal remains at a new construction site called Chicken Hill. Previously a run-down neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived together and shared dreams of a new life, the residents here shared deeply held secrets. As the secrets are revealed, McBride shows that even in difficult times, it is the love shared within a community that sustains us all.
2. THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah
Nursing school is hard, but when 20-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears that “women can be heroes, too,” she is inspired to give it a try. It’s 1965, her brother is drafted and is shipped out to Vietnam, and Frankie decides to join the Army Nurse Corps and follow her brother. Although this is the story of one woman who goes to war, it is the story of all the other women who took up the challenge and played a vital role in Vietnam during one of America’s most difficult times. This was my era and the story of some of my nursing school classmates who joined the military and went to Vietnam.
3. DAY by Michael Cunningham
Just released, this new book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Hours” follows a family on April 5 in 2019, 2020 and 2021 — before, during and after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although we never read the words “Covid” or “pandemic” in Cunningham’s book, it is the shadow that hovers over all that is going on with this family. We can easily relate to how this world-wide crisis affected us as we follow this one family. We see them cope with normal everyday situations compounded by the specter of disease and death hanging over them.
4. THE FURY by Alex Michaelides
If you read Michaelides’ bestseller “The Silent Patient,” you know he can write a thriller that will keep you up at night to finish it. His new book follows a reclusive ex-movie star and her famous friends who take a fateful trip to a private Greek island. Their holiday is soon interrupted by a murder. Did one of them do it? “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” may give you some indication of the plot and the ending. You’ll have to read it to find out.
5. THE HEIRESS by Rachel Hawkins
“There’s nothing as good as the rich gone bad.” This quote, which I found in a description of the book, really got my attention. And when I found out it’s set in North Carolina, that cinched it. Abducted as a child, Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore (yes, that is her name after being married and widowed four times before she dies) grows up to acquire a huge estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where she basically rules her hometown. Her adopted son, Camden, shuns the family estate and his inheritance to settle in Colorado. Ten years later, he and his wife are pulled back to North Carolina to handle some estate issues. Soon, stories and rumors emerge over the McTavish history. Will the legacy of Ruby bring some closure for Camden, or stir up more difficulty for him and his wife, who has her own secrets?
6. THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM by John Grisham
How many of us read “The Firm” when it came out in 1991? And saw the Tom Cruise movie a few years later? Now we can read the follow-up that Grisham just released. In it, we find out what became of the main characters, Mitch and Abby McDeere, who brought down the Memphis law firm involved in criminal activities. They now find themselves in the midst of a sinister plot that threatens not only Mitch and his colleagues, but his family and friends. What a great way to come full circle with a story we all loved.
As you start the new year, it’s a great time to find some new books and curl up on the couch by the fire and read. So, let’s get started. Happy New Book Year!
2024 is here! Out with the old and in with the new … books!
