10 Books to Read Right Now

Spring is almost here! And that means Spring Break is literally right around the corner! Yay! If you’re traveling, you are going to need a good book (or three) to travel with. And if you’re doing a staycation, you are going to need mom-time daily (how do teachers do it everyday?!?). Either way, you are going to need some good books to make it through Spring Break. So here is a list of 10 books for you to read right now!

** Full disclaimer: I have read MOST of these books (and am currently reading one). The others are on my list and come highly recommended by some fellow book lovers!

1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (fiction)

Ya’ll. I literally read this in a day. It is the story of Kya, known locally as the “Marsh Girl”. The book follows two timelines that slowly intertwine: one a murder mystery in the present, and one Kya’s story starting from the time her mother left their family. A coming of age story, you will totally love this book. Promise!

2. Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (fiction)

Lilian and Madison were high school BFFs that have stayed in touch through the occasional letter since. Then Madison offers Lillian a job: to care for her stepchildren whose mother has recently died. There’s a catch though: the children spontaneously catch on fire.

I will admit that the premise is odd. But really it’s about a woman finding meaning in her life, and learning to stand up for herself. It’s great. Plus a quick read!

3. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (fiction)

I have read A LOT of Liane Moriarty’s books. And watched HBO’s Big Little Lies. And this is still my favorite of her books. Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine her surprise when she wakes up on the floor of a gym and discovers that she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old.

4. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (fiction)

I recommend this book to EVERYONE. If we’re friends on Facebook and you ask what you should read next, this is what I tell you. We read it in book club, and honestly I wasn’t very excited about it. I kept putting off starting it. But then I read the whole thing in just a few days. I just couldn’t stop!

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo (think Elizabeth Taylor) is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. The novel is broken in 7 sections; one for each of her marriages. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has a big, juicy secret at its heart—not just about the surprising identity of movie star Evelyn Hugo’s true love, but of the lengths she has gone to protect that mysterious lover.

5. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (historical fiction)

This is one that I haven’t read yet. But my very best friend called me and told me that I needed to read it RIGHT NOW. And considering she hasn’t read a book in a while, that is recommendation enough for me!

In a new novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

6. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (fiction)

I literally picked this up on a whim at Costco. And it was great! There is so much happening in this book that I don’t even know how to describe it. Basically, Eleanor Oliphant is a 29 year old woman, living alone in Glasgow. She is extremely socially awkward and really has no contact with anyone. You gradually learn more about her past, and when she makes a new friend in the present, she slowly starts to grow as a person. It’s great in the way A Man Called Ove was; the story is a slow burn and by the twist at the end, you will love Eleanor.

7. The Great Influenza by John M. Barry (nonfiction)

At the height of WWI, history’s most lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, moved east with American troops, then exploded, killing as many as 100 million people worldwide. It killed more people in twenty-four months than AIDS killed in twenty-four years, more in a year than the Black Death killed in a century. But this was not the Middle Ages, and 1918 marked the first collision of science and epidemic disease.

I mean, could this book be any more pertinent?

8. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mr. Rogers (memoir/poetry)

As one of our contributors said: “The intro [of this book] is the article about him that they based the movie on. It made me cry. So good.” For the first time ever, 75 beloved songs from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and The Children’s Corner are collected in this illustrated treasury, sure to be cherished by generations of children as well as the millions of adults who grew up with Mister Rogers.

9. Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Owens (historical fiction)

Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, this is the story of one man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.

Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior. Love story plus war hero? What more could you ask for?

10. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

This may be one of the best books I’ve ever read. And I almost didn’t read it. This is a good tip: if you buy this book, don’t read the description on the back/inside cover. It’s a TERRIBLE description that doesn’t even begin to cover what this novel is about.

A love story. A coming of age story. A family drama. A “how to survive in Alaska before the modern world caught up with it”. A story about the effects of war on a family. There’s so much here. It’s complex and amazing.