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DISCUSSION GUIDES
- 41.Good Woman: A Reckoning
A Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by Ms. Magazine
A raw and lyrical exploration of the confining expectations of womanhood and, if we dare, what lies beyond those limitations—from a writer Roxane Gay calls “vibrant and thoughtful.”
Gorgeous, badass, and practically waiting to pounce, Good Woman: A Reckoning is acclaimed essayist Savala Nolan’s follow-up to her “standout collection” (New York Times Book Review) Don't Let It Get You Down.
A lifetime of playing by the rules of female social conditioning is not what it’s cracked up to be for Nolan. The years of making herself smaller (literally and metaphorically); the sexual advances that led to more than she wanted; the bad marriage she fought like hell to keep; all the ways others questioned her identity or choices and she let it slide to keep the peace; her silence when requested; her body when desired—none of it worked. None of it protected her the way it was advertised to.
Nolan noticed the same was true for the women around her and the women in history she read about. Across time and location, they were raised to be agreeable and “good.” Hyper-visible as sexual objects but invisible as full people. Living in a physical world created by men for men. Taking on the ultimate role of birth-giver and caretaker, yet seeing it remain an unsung act, even as it’s a God-like endeavor. Only in midlife did Nolan begin to realize she was capable of living outside these cages of conditioning so slyly insidious that they’re nearly invisible.
Good Woman elegantly probes the knotty conditions themselves, the costs of adhering to them, and what happens when one refuses to comply. The twelve stunning and unforgettable essays blend memoir, reportage, and history to create a collection that is alternately bold, brash, and explosive ... and ravishingly tender, sensual, and joyous. Nolan takes aim at big and old ideas, and she does not miss. Hers is a testimony to witness and to savor.
"This good woman thinks boldly and writes with exhilarating passion. Whatever the subject—gender, sex, race, class, art, politics—she disrupts piety and honors complexity. These are smart and daring essays to learn from and revel in." — Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland and Constructing a Nervous System
- 42.All the Pretty Places: A Novel of the Gilded Age
"A timeless and powerful novel of a daring woman who must decide if she will risk everything to follow her passion and find her voice." --Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author
From the moment she was born, the transforming beauty of her family's nurseries has arrested her heart. From the moment she knew love, her heart belonged with his. Now she's at risk of losing them both.
Rye, New York, 1893. Sadie Fremd's dreams hinge on her family's nursery, which has been the supplier of choice for respected landscape architects on the East Coast for decades. Now her small town is in a panic as the economy plummets into a depression, and Sadie's father is pressuring her to secure her future by marrying a wealthy man among her peerage--but Sadie has never been one to play it safe. Besides, her heart is already spoken for.
Rather than seek potential suitors, Sadie pursues new business from her father's most reliable and wealthy clients of the Gilded Age in an attempt to bolster the floundering nursery. But the more time Sadie spends in the secluded gardens of the elite, the more she notices the hopelessness in the eyes of those outside the mansions. The poor, the grieving, the weary. The people with no access to the restorative beauty of nature.
Sadie has always wanted her father to pass his business to her instead of to one of her brothers, but he seems oblivious to her desire and talent--and now to her passion for providing natural beauty to those who can't afford it. When former employee, Sam, shows up unexpectedly, Sadie wonders if their love can be rekindled or if his presence will simply be another reminder of a life she longs for and cannot have.
Joy Callaway illuminates the life of her great-great-grandmother in this captivating story about a daring woman following her passion and finding her voice, while exploring natural beauty and its effect in the lives of those who need it most.
- Historical Gilded Age novel about an early American landscape nursery
- Stand-alone novel
- Also by Joy Callaway: The Grand Design, The Fifth Avenue Artists Society, and Secret Sisters
- Includes discussion questions for book clubs
- 43.The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives: A GMA Book Club PickGOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK ∙ A LIBRARYREADS PICK ∙ A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2026 FROM MARIE CLAIRE ∙ A BEST BOOK FOR BOOK CLUBS FROM GLAMOUR ∙ A SOUTHERN LIVING BOOK WE CAN'T WAIT TO READ THIS MARCH
A remarkable trio whose lives have been cracked wide open by their husbands’ crimes unite to catch a serial killer in this dazzlingly captivating novel.
Beverley, Elsie, and Margot are not your average housewives. They are all wives of convicted killers. During the sun-drenched summer of 1966, the three women form an unlikely friendship after the discoveries of their husbands’ brutal crimes. With their exes—some of California’s most infamous murderers—dead or behind bars, they are attempting to forge a new future for themselves.
Headstrong Beverley tries compulsively to maintain control of everything around her, all while raising two children. Bookish Elsie fights to make a name for herself in the newsroom, working among men who sneer at her career goals. Glamorous Margot prefers partying to homemaking and devotes all her energy to upholding the appearance that everything is fine—anything to quell the shame from her husband’s deceit.
They know people look at them and think only one thing: How could they not have known what their husbands were doing? How much are they to blame? And yet when a string of local killings hits the news, the three women—underestimated, overlooked, shrewd—decide to get to work. After all, who better to catch a killer than those who have shared their lives and homes with one?
At once a riveting portrayal of shattered trust and a story of gripping suspense, The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives is a testament to the intricacies of women’s lives and how the deep bonds of female friendship can empower, uplift, and lead us to endure. - 44.Ghosts of Fourth Street: My Family, a Death, and the Hills of Duluth
An open, frank rumination on a brother's death and its reverberations throughout a family
Every family has its stories and secrets. Laurie Hertzel's family had more than its share. At an early age, Laurie, the seventh of the ten Hertzel children, took on the challenge of sorting them out. Not old enough to be one of the Big Kids, yet too old to be with the Three Little Kids, she spent most of her time alone, reading, wandering, and observing her family as they moved around her in their house in Duluth. Though her parents were not warm, there were moments of closeness in those years--gifts of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books and special trips to the dairy for a sundae--but everything shattered after the sudden death of Laurie's oldest sibling, eighteen-year-old Bobby, when she was just nine years old.
Moving back and forth in time, Laurie reflects on Bobby's death and what happens to a family's story when no one can talk about a tragedy and its toll. In Ghosts of Fourth Street, readers witness how the apparition of memories, the shadow of needs unmet, and the spirit of a family once whole all linger long after the death of a child and brother. As Laurie shares her experiences, we see the emergence of her fascination with story and truth as she teaches herself to read and finds solace and inspiration in books amid the tensions and competing agendas within her big, complicated family.
With keen attention, candor, and grace, Laurie paints a vivid portrait of 1960s Duluth as she poignantly examines a family contending with grief and the fact that life steadily goes on--snow and school buses, Christmases and Thanksgivings, ice skating and tobogganing and climbing trees, with ghosts always lingering at the edges.
Retail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly.
- 45.The Storyteller's Death: A Novel
International Latino Book Award Gold Medal Winner!
"A beautiful book about family, memories, and the power of stories." --BuzzFeed
"Mystical, masterful storytelling." --Ms. Magazine
A gorgeously written family saga about a Puerto Rican woman who finds herself gifted (or cursed?) with a strange ability.
There was always an old woman dying in the back room of her family's house when Isla was a child...
Isla Larsen Sanchez's life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage.
When Isla turns eighteen, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family's cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her.
At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can't solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.
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BookRiot's Best New Mysteries, Thrillers, and True Crime of October 2022
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Hasty Book List's Best Books of October
- 46.The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
#1 New York Times bestseller
What would it be like to free yourself from limitations and soar beyond your boundaries? What can you do each day to discover inner peace and serenity? The Untethered Soul offers simple yet profound answers to these questions.
Whether this is your first exploration of inner space, or you've devoted your life to the inward journey, this book will transform your relationship with yourself and the world around you. You'll discover what you can do to put an end to the habitual thoughts and emotions that limit your consciousness. By tapping into traditions of meditation and mindfulness, author and spiritual teacher Michael A. Singer shows how the development of consciousness can enable us all to dwell in the present moment and let go of painful thoughts and memories that keep us from achieving happiness and self-realization.
Copublished with the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) The Untethered Soul begins by walking you through your relationship with your thoughts and emotions, helping you uncover the source and fluctuations of your inner energy. It then delves into what you can do to free yourself from the habitual thoughts, emotions, and energy patterns that limit your consciousness. Finally, with perfect clarity, this book opens the door to a life lived in the freedom of your innermost being.
The Untethered Soul has already touched the lives of more than a million readers, and is available in a special hardcover gift edition with ribbon bookmark--the perfect gift for yourself, a loved one, or anyone who wants a keepsake edition of this remarkable book.
Visit untetheredsoul.com for more information.
- 47.Sophie's World (FSG Classics)
A brand-new 30th anniversary edition of the wildly popular (over fifty million copies in print!), page-turning novel about a young girl’s exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought.
Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s World is an exciting coming-of-age novel that thrives on its contradictions. It is a page-turning science fiction adventure as well as a history of Western philosophy—from the discourses of ancient Greece to debates about the Big Bang.
The games begin when fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen finds two notes in her mailbox. One note asks, “Who are you?” The other asks, “Where does the world come from?” From here, with the aid of a devoted but mysterious instructor, Sophie sets off on a fantastic philosophical saga that will take her far beyond her small Norwegian hometown. Letters give way to lectures, questions give way to quests, and the dimensions of Sophie’s world (as well as our own) grow ever wider, deeper, and richer. - 48.All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel
The new novel from New York Times bestselling and Los Angeles Times Book Prize-winning author S. A. Cosby, "one of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction." --Washington Post.
- 49.With Love from Harlem: A Novel of Hazel Scott
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
"Tate blends fact and fiction with elegance...A captivating, emotionally resonant portrait of a singular woman who refused to be diminished." — LIBRARY JOURNAL
"Tate has a rare gift for storytelling that strikes straight to the heart." — SADEQA JOHNSON, New York Times bestselling author of Keeper of Lost Children
From The Queen of Sugar Hill author ReShonda Tate—a new novel inspired by beloved Harlem jazz performer Hazel Scott and the equal parts exhilarating and tumultuous relationship that changed the course of her life.
Harlem, 1943. At just twenty-three, Hazel Scott is a woman on fire. A jazz prodigy, a glamorous film star, and a fierce advocate for civil rights, she’s breaking barriers and refusing to play by the rules. Then Adam Clayton Powell Jr. walks into her life. Harlem’s most electrifying preacher-turned-politician, Adam is as bold and unyielding as Hazel—charismatic, powerful…and married.
This kicks off a decades-long relationship that propels them into the center of a political and cultural revolution. As Hazel’s star rises, Adam takes the national stage in Congress and the couple becomes the toast of the country. But when their affair turns into a marriage, behind the glamorous façade is a battlefield of ego, ambition, and sacrifice. Forced to choose between her music and her family, Hazel must decide what she’s willing to lose—and what she refuses to give up.
Set against the pulsing backdrop of twentieth-century Harlem and featuring icons like Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes, and James Baldwin, With Love from Harlem is a sweeping, emotionally charged romantic drama, rich with historical detail. ReShonda Tate delivers a powerful portrait of love, art, and the price of being unforgettable.
"[A] vivid and compelling picture of the life of this singular woman." — MARIE BENEDICT, New York Times bestselling author of The Queens of Crime
- 50.Sunshine Nails: A NovelA Real Simple Must-Read Book of Summer 2023
“Mai Nguyen has proven herself to be a real standout.” —Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author
A tender, humorous, and page-turning debut about a Vietnamese Canadian family in Toronto who will do whatever it takes to protect their no-frills nail salon after a new high end salon opens up—even if it tears the family apart. Perfect for readers of Olga Dies Dreaming and The Fortunes of Jaded Women.
Vietnamese refugees Debbie and Phil Tran have built a comfortable life for themselves in Toronto with their family nail salon. But when an ultra-glam chain salon opens across the street, their world is rocked.
Complicating matters further, their landlord has jacked up the rent and it seems only a matter of time before they lose their business and everything they’ve built. They enlist the help of their daughter, Jessica, who has just returned home after a messy breakup and a messier firing. Together with their son, Dustin, and niece, Thuy, they devise some good old-fashioned sabotage. Relationships are put to the test as the line between right and wrong gets blurred. Debbie and Phil must choose: do they keep their family intact or fight for their salon?
Sunshine Nails is a light-hearted, urgent fable of gentrification with a cast of memorable and complex characters who showcase the diversity of immigrant experiences and community resilience.