December is packed with all sorts of activities from shopping to parties, all the more reason you should take some time for yourself to relax and enjoy a good book. Fortunately, you have a great selection to choose from this month. From Michelle Obama’s memoirs to a new book from author of Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty, there is something for every reading taste, non-fiction to thrillers. So pick up one these delightful new books, put your feet up with a beverage of your choice and savor the escape from the hustle and bustle that only a good book can offer. Happy holidays and happy reading!
From Queen Elizabeth’s 23 healthy lifestyle choices, historical fiction about Agatha Christie, a memoir by Jacqueline Winspear, a legal thriller by Michael Connelly, new short fiction by Nicole Kraus, and the humor of David Sedaris in “The Best of Me,” there is something for every reading taste.
Long Live the Queen takes a fresh and fascinating look at how Queen Elizabeth II has stayed healthy and vital over her nearly 70 years on the throne. The author identifies 23 lifestyle choices that contribute to her longevity, and each chapter digs into why the “rules” work.
This book will be embraced by her majesty’s admirers, as well as by readers hoping to pick up some tips for living a long and rewarding life.
Readers Recommend:
Mrs. Agatha Christie was in the midst of a divorce when she disappeared for 11 days in 1926 and no one knows what really happened. The premise in The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is that she deliberately vanishes to ensnare her husband in a trap as payback for his infidelities. Agatha forces the husband to follow her instructions to the letter in order to escape prosecution.
Readers Recommend:
This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing is the story of a childhood in the English countryside, of a working-class family with family secrets, artistic inspirations, and the price of memory. Winspear has written 16 mysteries, and for the first time, this book reveals the hardships and joys of her family history. The memoir captures her ties to the land and her dream of being a writer. The writing is lovely and elegant, rich in character, detail, and history.
Readers Recommend:
The Law of Innocence is a twisty legal thriller with an attorney who must defend himself against murder charges. Somebody framed him, plotting to destroy his life. He must figure out who really committed the murder and why to be completely exonerated. Then he has to go before a judge and jury and prove his innocence. This author has the remarkable ability to write courtroom scenes, looking at the personal motives driving all the players (including the judge), making him a master storyteller.
Readers Recommend:
The stories in To Be A Man feature male characters as fathers, lovers, friends, children, seducers, and husbands. This is a collection of ten globetrotting stories, each one a powerful dissection of the thorny connections between men and women. Each story struggles to understand what it is to be a man, what it is to be a woman, and the arising tensions that have existed from the beginning of time. Every story is carefully crafted and deeply contemplative, leaving the reader with questions that linger long after the final pages.
Readers Recommend:
The Best Of Me offers a chance to view the development of David Sedaris into one of the great American humorists. It is a retrospective over the last 25 years, of 46 previously published essays in the New Yorker, beginning in 1995, and stories from nine earlier books. Several stories highlight how much his family means to him. Sedaris also expresses surprise and gratitude for his good fortune and his extraordinary accomplishments in his more serious moments.
If you are an Amazon Prime member, you get a free Prime Read each month. Right now, our favorite is this Amazon Charts Bestseller: The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda.
Autobiography | November 2018 #1 NYT Best Seller
Readers Recommend:
Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush
Hard Choices by Hillary Clinton
Barbara Bush: A Memoir
Fiction | 2018 NYT Best Seller
Readers Recommend:
Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
Non-Fiction | November 2018
Readers Recommend:
Howard Hughes : Untold Story by Peter Harry Brown
Howard Hughes: Life and Madness by Donald Barlett
Ava: A Life In Movies by Kendra Bean
Fiction | November 2018
Readers Recommend:
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
The History of Loneliness by John Boyne
Fiction | November 2018 NYT Best Seller
Readers Recommend:
Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer
Jack Reacher Past Tense by Lee Child
The Reckoning by John Grisham
Non-Fiction | November 2018
Readers Recommend:
I Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira
Dancing for Degas by Kathryn Wagner
The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Non-Fiction | September 2018
Readers Recommend:
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
Factfulness by Hans Rosling
If you are an Amazon Prime member, you get a free Prime Read each month. Right now, our favorite is the suspenseful thriller Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score.
Read Next:
Sandy’s Selections: New Books to Read in September
Sandy’s Book Selections For August
Books by Women Authors that All Women Should Read