10 Book Recommendations for Spring

So many books, so little time! Spring brings new novels from old favorites, unique voices and continuing sagas of families you may already know. Plus a memoir that looks fascinating!

What book are you reading? Share in the comments – we’re always looking for good books to read, particularly we love books you’d recommend for a book club.

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Continuing the tale of the Todd family, whose daughter Ursula relived World War II in England over and over again in Life After Life, Kate Atkinson’s new book A God in Ruins focuses on her younger brother, Teddy.

Elizabeth Berg is the author of many books about the inner lives of women living ordinary lives. With The Dream Lover, Berg steps out and writes a historical novel about the writer George Sand, set in Paris.

The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins, is a blockbuster – it’s sold 750,000 copies so far. Her first novel, it’s a mystery with characters you’ll despise and characters you’ll empathize with, all the while wondering who did it.

Kazuo Ishiguro is the author of Booker Prize winner The Remains of the Day.  In his new book, The Buried Giant, set in the very beginning of the 20th century, he follows an elderly couple as they set out, after the Romans leave Britain, to find the son they haven’t seen in years. A  story of love, discovery, and determination.

Think of Kelly Link’s stories as The Twilight Zone with a sense of humor. Each story in Get in Trouble creates a unique and strange world where odd things can happen, and do happen. Her first short story collection for adults in a decade has been widely praised.

When her father suddenly died on a London street, Helen Macdonald, an avid falconer, decides to train a hawk, the deadly predator, from infancy through adulthood. Seeing herself in the demeanor of the bird, Helen grieves while training her hawk. It sounds unusual and fascinating, and makes H is for Hawk  certain to be a great read.

Fans of history and biography know that David McCullough is a master of the genre. His new book The Wright Brothers, tells the story of the brilliant minds behind the creation of the first flying machine. Also check out McCullough’s books Truman and John Adams, his two Pulitzer Prize-winning biographies.

If you haven’t read Some Luck, do that first. Then come back and read  Early Warning, part two (of three parts) of the Langdon family saga. Part one began in 1920 ; part two begins in 1953. Jane Smiley’s writing will make you feel as if you’re one of them–or wish that you were. If you haven’t read her Pulitzer Prize winner, A Thousand Acres, you should.

Devoted fans of Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Tyler have been waiting patiently for her next book, and A Spool of Blue Thread does not disappoint. Like Jane Smiley (above), Anne Tyler can take an ordinary family and make their lives fascinating. A story of a house, the generations of the Whitshank family who have lived there, and their secrets, both kept and shared.

Set in Baton Rouge, My Sunshine Away juxtaposes the charmed childhood of Lindy Simpson with a horrific crime committed in her neighborhood. Adolescence and unraveling families, summer and cookouts all combine to make M.O. Walsh’s book a page turner.

If you like this list, make sure you’ve caught up on all the book suggestions from one of our previous book recommendation lists!