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For those of you unfamiliar, for a little while now, I’ve been listing books coming out each month that I think would make for good book club books because they’d inspire good conversations, are timely, buzzy, etc.
Below, I’m continuing that tradition with a magical Harlem romance, a memoir on getting meaning from life, a prequel to Tommy Orange’s There There, and more. Make sure to subscribe if you’d like to see an extended list of the recommendations.
Before we get to them, a little something to sip on first.
Nibbles and Sips
Even if you’re not big on the romantic aspect of Valentine’s Day, these rosé roses will surely be a hit for Galentines.
All you need are strawberries and a wine or cocktail of your choosing. Slice the strawbeeries length-wise and assemble them in an ice cube tray so that they look like roses. Pour a little rosé into each cube and freeze.
You can add them to any cocktail or wine, and they look pretty easy to assemble once you get the technique down, which Jacqueline lays out in this Instagram video.
Club Recommendations
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
The artistic Rick Wilde has never fit in with her family of Atlanta socialites. When one of her family’s older customers offers her the chance to rent the bottom of her Harlem brownstone, Ricki sees it as an opportunity for something new. She opens a flower shop as she’s always dreamed and experiences the magic and wonder of Harlem, which includes meeting the mysterious and enchanting Ezra — a man with quite the secret. While things between Ricki and Ezra heat up, there’s another timeline of a past Harlem. One that tells of Ezra’s past.
My Side of the River by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez
At 15, Gutierrez was on track to go to college and achieve her dreams as a top-performing high school student. Then the worst thing ever happened: her parents’ visas expired, leaving her and her brother in the U.S. Suddenly, she was responsible not only for herself, but her brother and their education. In this memoir, she recounts what it was like persevering through moments when she lost her family, had to lean on her brother, and experienced houselessness as a youth.
Private Equity by Carrie Sun
Here, Sun evaluates what it means to waste your life. A bit of an existential crisis leads her to leave her analyst job at 29. But then she gets the chance to work for one of the most well-respected hedge funds in the world. Once there, she’s the only assistant to the firm’s founder, and though a world of luxury and privilege like she’s never known opens up to her, her identity — and mental and physical health — start to get sucked up by work.
How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly
One of our writers, Alison Doherty, predicts that sports romances will rise in popularity this year, so this one is right on time. In it, high school basketball coach Julie is game (ha) when she realizes that her new student Vanessa’s got a little sass on her. Then she meets Vanessa’s foster parent and is star struck. The parent, Elle Cochrane, is a former University of Tennessee basketball star, and Julie somehow convinces her to take the position of assistant coach for the school year. She does, but she also takes on the job of trying to figure out how Julie is still single. Turns out Julie just needs some practice, which Elle could help her with.
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