I am in the midst of reading a 900-page epic (more on this later) so I won’t be able to read and recommend any new books for a while, but I do have a list of books ready for spring reading:
Titles and images link to Amazon, for your convenience. As always, I encourage you to buy from a local bookseller or use your local library. Publishers notes in boxes.
The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton
In 1934, a luxury cruise becomes a fight for survival as two women’s pasts collide on a round-trip voyage from New York to Havana in New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton’s page-turning new novel inspired by the true story of the SS Morro Castle.
I have previously recommended ALL the books of this series on this blog. If you haven’t yet read any of Chanel Cleeton, you can start with Next Year in Havana. I love these books that tell the various stories of a Cuban family entwined with different points of history.
UPDATE: I wrote a full post on this book.
The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda
From the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls and “master of suspense, Megan Miranda” (Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl), a thrilling mystery about a group of former classmates who reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a tragic accident—only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting fear and suspicion on the original tragedy.
Seven hours in the past. Seven days in the present. Seven survivors remaining. Who would you save?
Megan Miranda’s books also hold a special place in my history because her All the Missing Girls was the first new book I ever received in advance to review on this blog!
UPDATE: I really wanted to like this one especially because of my history with Megan Miranda as noted above. I think some people will still enjoy this book (if you like to read all psychological thrillers) but for me it just didn’t work. I didn’t like the characters, couldn’t buy the storyline, lots of awkwardness (and at 10% left I just didn’t care!!) so I can’t personally recommend it. Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an electronic version of this book in advance in exchange for an honest review.
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
In I Have Some Questions for You, award-winning author Rebecca Makkai has crafted her most irresistible novel yet: a stirring investigation into collective memory and a deeply felt examination of one woman’s reckoning with her past, with a transfixing mystery at its heart. Timely, hypnotic, and populated with a cast of unforgettable characters, I Have Some Questions for You is at once a compulsive thriller and a literary triumph.
This is another author I have recommended before, specifically her masterpiece The Great Believers.
UPDATE: I didn’t realize there was a new genre in psychosocial thrillers – and that would be reliving a high school trauma. This book and the Megan Miranda above had more in common than I realized. Both are “outsiders” revisiting a tragedy that happened their senior year, trying to piece together what really happened. Of the two, I definitely preferred this one and mildly recommend it though not strongly,
Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling
Atmospheric, fiercely original, and utterly gripping, Camp Zero is an electrifying page-turner and a masterful exploration of who and what will survive in a warming world, and how falling in love and building community can be the most daring acts of all.
Rounding out my four spring reads with some climate fiction which has become a new favorite genre of mine, as depressing as it is. My last recommendation in this genre was The Light Pirate.