The premise that Anne Boleyn awakens in her coffin, sews herself back together, and sets off on a journey to exact revenge on her husband is what drew me to Lehmann’s debut.

I went in expecting a fast-paced, bloodthirsty alternate-history retelling, but this is a winding literary fiction selection that is more about processing what has transpired before her death and the moments leading up to her beheading. Steeped in a mother’s desire to return to her daughter, Elizabeth, and, yes, to exact revenge for her loss, leads to a conclusion full of poetic surprises.

Once I adjusted my sails, I was able to sink into Lehmann’s gorgeous story from sentence one. She takes readers on a fantastical walk on foot as Anne seeks food, shelter, and safety with an unlikely accomplice. While they journey, Anne processes the rise and fall of her marriage, the loss of her child, and a growing fury of others in her life who robbed her of her throne. 

Don’t miss today’s Book Gang podcast episode with the author discussing her research process to bring Anne’s world to life with her poetic twist.

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Anne Boleyn is out of time—locked in the Tower, outmaneuvered, and finally facing the reality that not even her sharp mind can rewrite this ending. But then Catalina de Aragón—yes, that queen, the one history already discarded—appears in her cell very much alive, offering not forgiveness, but a way out.

What follows is less escape and more reckoning, as the two women form an uneasy alliance fueled by betrayal, grief, and a very specific kind of rage.

Backed by a shadowy sisterhood with its own agenda, they begin to re-enter a court that thought it had buried them, picking off enemies and reclaiming power piece by piece. And as more of Henry’s wives step out of the margins and into the story, this becomes something bigger than survival—it’s a slow, deliberate march toward vengeance. Sign me up!

Release Date- 21 July 2026

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Elizabeth Barton is a servant girl whose sudden, unsettling visions catapult her from obscurity into the center of Tudor attention. As her prophecies gain traction, powerful figures begin to see her as either a divine messenger or a dangerous threat—especially when her words challenge Henry VIII.

The novel traces her rise alongside the political machinery eager to use or silence her. Told with a strong sense of voice, Elizabeth’s story becomes one of belief, manipulation, and the cost of speaking when you’re not supposed to.

It’s a fascinating look at a lesser-known figure whose fate was sealed the moment her voice became too powerful to ignore.

Release Date- 14 April 2026

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I don’t know if I would have fallen head over heels for this book if I hadn’t listened to the audiobook narrated by Katherine Kellgren, but with her sly delivery, often breaking the fourth wall, I count this among my favorite all-time listening experiences EVER.

In this fantasy world, Lady Jane Grey is reluctantly married off and unexpectedly crowned queen, only to find herself at the center of a political conspiracy. But in this version of England, some people can shapeshift into animals, and that magical twist reframes the era’s religious persecution into something fresh and inventive.

Beneath the comedy, though, the stakes remain very real, where Jane is still a teenage girl navigating power, control, and survival. It’s chaotic in the best way and a great entry point for readers who want to try something new with their reading lives.

I was charmed to discover that Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows are all bestselling young adult authors who first met on a book tour in 2012 and decided to collaborate so they could keep working (and traveling) together. What a dream!

History obsession meets real life in the most chaotic, romantic way in this romance novel.

Cleo spends her days deep in Tudor research, so when a blow to the head lands her in the court of Henry VIII, she’s both wildly out of place and weirdly prepared. Suddenly, the stakes she’s only studied become immediate—power plays, court intrigue, and the very real danger of saying the wrong thing.

As she tries to find her way back home, she’s pulled into relationships and choices that make leaving far more complicated than she expected.

It’s part-time-travel fantasy, part love story, and very much about what happens when your favorite historical era stops being escapism and starts being real.

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Alison Weir’s new novel sweeps you into the meteoric rise of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a man who went from humble beginnings to become Henry VIII’s closest advisor.

For years, Wolsey called the shots in church and state—until the king’s infatuation with Anne Boleyn turned everything upside down. As scandal and shifting loyalties rock the court, Weir reveals the personal heartbreak and ambition behind one of history’s most fascinating figures. If you’re drawn to the human stories beneath the crown, this is a must-read.

Weir has written over 20 books specifically focused on the Tudor period, including her non-fiction biographies and historical fiction novels. This pacey novel has more than satisfied her fanbase.

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Juno Dawson crafted this series to reflect her journey as a trans woman and to capture the complexities of identity living through this toxic media landscape. She describes the reading experience as a blend of The Craft and Kingsman—mixing supernatural intrigue with sharp, modern wit.

In this secret world, Her Majesty’s Royal Coven was founded by Queen Elizabeth I herself—a hidden sisterhood shaping the fate of Britain from the shadows. As girls, Helena, Leonie, Niamh, and Elle swore allegiance to the coven under the midsummer sun.

Years later, they find their lives moving in different directions. But everything changes when a dangerously gifted warlock is captured, pulling the friends back together. As old loyalties clash with new threats, they must decide what kind of witches—and women—they want to be. With wit, warmth, and a dash of rebellion, Her Majesty’s Royal Coven is a sharp, heartfelt exploration of power, belonging, and the magic of chosen family.

If you love this one, you can continue the adventures with the next three books in the series: The Shadow Cabinet, Queen B., and Human Rites. I can’t wait to dig into this series, a new-to-me discovery while preparing today’s list.

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Harkin pulls from a real historical footnote—the boy Lambert Simnel—and asks what happens when a child is turned into a political weapon.

Born a peasant, Lambert is suddenly thrust into the role of a royal pretender, claimed as heir to the throne in the volatile aftermath of the Wars of the Roses. As he navigates court life, rebellion, and shifting loyalties, the line between identity and performance blurs.

Alongside him, Joan faces her own constrained choices, and their alliance becomes central to the fate of the monarchy. It’s ambitious, darkly funny, and deeply interested in how power is constructed—and who gets to survive it.

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Mantel’s dense 653-page story is told in very close 3rd-person POV, and the kind of book best savored slowly. I found a copy at my local thrift shop this summer and can't wait to read this one in small chunks over the year.

Thomas Cromwell rises from a brutal childhood to become one of the most powerful men in Henry VIII’s court. As he maneuvers through shifting alliances, he becomes instrumental in the king’s break from the Catholic Church and his pursuit of Anne Boleyn.

The novel traces Cromwell’s careful calculations as he builds influence while quietly eliminating threats. But power in Tudor England is never stable, and even loyalty can be reframed as betrayal overnight.

The Thomas Cromwell trilogy details the magnificent, riveting historical saga of the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, and you can continue this book experience through Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror & the Light.

While it’s part of a series that begins with The Pillars of the Earth, each book is set generations apart, so this book can be read as a standalone without confusion. That said, readers who start earlier will recognize the legacy of Kingsbridge and appreciate the long arc of power and progress. You can think of Follett’s work  as Tudor history through the lens of a sweeping, accessible thriller.

Set in the late 1500s, this third installment in the Kingsbridge series shifts fully into Tudor-era religious conflict and espionage. The story follows Ned Willard, who becomes a key intelligence figure under Elizabeth I, as England navigates threats from Catholic powers across Europe.

You’re in for a whirlwind tour: Follett sweeps readers from the death of Mary Tudor to Elizabeth I’s dramatic rise, through the chaos of the Bartholomew Day massacre, the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, the Spanish Armada, and the Gunpowder Plot. All of this unfolds alongside the tangled destinies of a vibrant cast—some plucked from history, others springing from Follett’s imagination.

As always, Follett’s meticulous research shines through every page.

If Tudor fiction has a gateway drug, this is it.

Mary Boleyn is brought to court as a teenager and quickly becomes Henry VIII's mistress, her family’s ambitions resting squarely on her shoulders. But when her sister Anne enters the picture, the dynamic shifts from strategy to rivalry, and Mary is pushed aside.

The novel deliciously tracks Mary’s emotional awakening as she realizes she is both participant in and victim of her family’s rise. As Anne ascends—and ultimately falls—the cost of ambition becomes brutally clear.

It’s dramatic, intimate, and impossible not to get swept up in.

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Sansom frames Tudor England as a crime scene in this beloved series.

Lawyer Matthew Shardlake is sent by Thomas Cromwell to investigate a murder at a monastery during Henry VIII’s dissolution of the religious houses. What he finds is a web of corruption, fear, and resistance as the old world is systematically dismantled.

As Shardlake digs deeper, the case becomes more dangerous, exposing tensions between faith and survival. It’s part mystery, part historical deep dive, and completely absorbing in how it captures a country mid-transformation.

Sansom, who held a PhD in history, rose to fame with his gripping Shardlake series, set during the tumultuous reign of Henry VIII. His unforgettable protagonist, the hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake, brings Tudor-era mysteries to life with depth and humanity.

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This is nonfiction, but it reads with the narrative pull of a novel—and it’s essential context for everything Tudor.

Fraser, a celebrated historian and award-winning author, reexamines the six wives not as archetypes but as fully realized women navigating impossible circumstances. Each section focuses on a different queen, tracing how politics, religion, and Henry’s obsession with a male heir shaped each queen's fate.

Rather than centering the king, Fraser shifts the lens to the women themselves—their intelligence, resilience, and strategies for survival. The result is a deeply human portrait that dismantles centuries of myth-making.

Originally published in 1949, this classic takes on two of Henry VIII’s most infamous queens: Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

Plaidy structures the novel almost like a mirror image of a tragedy, tracing how two young women rise within the same dangerous court—and meet eerily similar fates. We watch ambition, desire, and naivety collide with a king whose favor is as fleeting as it is powerful. The tension builds not from what will happen, but from when and how it will all unravel.

If you’re new to Jean Plaidy, here’s a fun detail: she was the pen name of Eleanor Alice Burford—better known as Mrs. George Percival Hibbert—who wrote nearly 200 historical novels. By the time of her death, her books had sold a staggering 14 million copies worldwide!

New York Times Book Review shares this glowing review on this biography: “Tallis takes this thin slice of fact and serves it up as a full banquet, filling in history’s faint outline. The telling is by necessity speculative, since so little primary source material exists. Nevertheless, Tallis perseveres, presenting Jane as 'a spirited girl who demonstrated character, passion, talent and strength,' a serious bookworm who grew up in a household where new ideas flourished.”

Tallis focuses on Lady Jane Grey, tracing how a deeply educated, devout teenager became a pawn in a deadly succession crisis.

As political factions maneuver to control the throne, Jane is propelled into queenship—and almost immediately into danger. The narrative captures the speed at which power shifts and how little agency Jane truly had in her own fate.

James I comes right after Elizabeth I, marking the end of the Tudor dynasty and the beginning of the Stuart era, so this is more of a “what happens next” than a core Tudor court story, but I couldn’t make this book list without adding this fresh biography that feels so Tudor-adjacent.

Russell’s delightfully gossipy biography paints James as “tall, athletic, handsome, and spoiled out of the vaguest possibility of usefulness by his adoring parents.”

The pages brim with royal romances, courtly intrigue, and the tangled pressures of monarchy and succession—echoes of all our favorite Tudor drama.

By exploring the messy collision of love, favoritism, and politics, Russell invites us to linger in the palace just a little longer. If you’re not quite ready to leave the world of royal secrets after Elizabeth, this is your next irresistible read.

Set during the Wars of the Roses, this novel steps just before the Tudors—but it’s essential context for how they rise.

Cecily Neville, mother of two future kings, is at the center of a family divided by ambition, loyalty, and shifting power. As England fractures, she must navigate political alliances while protecting her children’s futures in an increasingly violent landscape.

The novel blends intimate family dynamics with sweeping historical stakes, showing how those personal decisions shape national destiny.

Garthwaite studied English at the University of Wales before embarking on a thirty-year international business career. In 2017 she returned to her first love, books, and set out to write the story of a woman she had always felt drawn to: Cecily Neville. This became her debut.

We are so excited to welcome Meagan Church back to the Book Gang podcast to celebrate this story as our March MomAdvice Book Club.

The Mad Wife offers readers a haunting and unforgettable journey into the pressures of womanhood and motherhood in the 1950s.

Set in the manicured suburbs, Lulu Mayfield has spent five years crafting the perfect life: a dutiful wife, a devoted mother, and the queen of molded salads.

But after the birth of her second child, the veneer begins to crack. When a seemingly picture‑perfect new neighbor arrives, and Lulu’s curiosity deepens, unsettling truths emerge that force her to question everything she thought she knew about her world — and herself. It's an unforgettable reading experience that I can't wait to discuss with you!

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Linli thought she’d finally escaped her mother’s chaotic orbit, until a medical crisis pulled her back home to Los Angeles. For decades, Fanny has chased beauty through risky, underground cosmetic procedures, leaving behind a trail of infections, debt, and increasingly dangerous surgeries.

Now Linli must manage the fallout while confronting a new twist. Her mother has signed up for a reality show where contestants with botched procedures compete for reconstructive surgery.

Sharp, unsettling, and darkly funny, this debut explores how far we’ll go to reshape ourselves—and the emotional cost of loving someone who can’t stop.

Release Date- 12 May 2026

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Breast cancer survivor, Pepper Mills, has a little fender-bender, spiraling into her not only losing her license, but her home, and her independence when her grown children relocate her to the Vista View Retirement Community.

Encouraged to make friends and be social, she meets another resident, the charming Moth Holden, who becomes her first "Senior" prom date at one of the assisted living social events, and the man who loves an ice cream cone and an evening walk as much as she does.

As the two spend time together off the page in the evenings, weeks later, nausea and lightheadedness have led her kids to schedule a doctor's appointment, where she discovers she's pregnant at seventy-seven.

Of course, she wants to terminate the pregnancy, but as a Texas resident navigating strict abortion laws, the worries about a procedure like this on someone at this age become a page-turning medical drama (with heart) that I could not put down. I am so excited to have Laurie joining our show to celebrate this novel that's full of surprises.

Release Date- 5 May 2026

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Ingrid, an aging and increasingly irrelevant Hollywood producer, is desperate to reclaim not just her youth, but her authority in the male-dominated space she's held ranks in until her aging demise pushed her into different waters.

When she’s presented with an experimental anti-aging procedure involving blood transfusions from a young donor, the opportunity to escape her wrinkles feels too perfect to resist. What she needs is a donor willing to commit to weekly transfusions over the course of ten weeks from someone young, healthy, discreet, and, crucially, expendable.

Maggie, a struggling writer, discovers Ingrid’s carefully worded ad—offering flexible hours, proximity to a prominent Hollywood producer, remote work, and an explicit request for a BIPOC applicant that lands exactly where it’s meant to. When Maggie discovers more about what Ingrid is proposing, it becomes an offer she can’t afford to refuse.

As the transfusions begin, it becomes evident that Ingrid isn’t just siphoning Maggie’s blood. Maggie’s writing, that's deeply personal and shaped by her immigrant family’s trauma, becomes a resource that Ingrid can’t help but covet. This is a perfect one for readers chasing more themes like The Substance.

Release Date- 14 April 2026

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If Jodi Picoult's courtroom dramas are your jam, this book is your next best bet.

On an ordinary morning in London, Leila's life is already a balancing act, juggling her high‑powered career with the responsibilities she’s shouldered since childhood.

But when her sister's family asks her to drop off her three‑year‑old son, Max, on the way to work, a small favor becomes the heartbreak no one could have foreseen for a family who already lost one child due to a devastating medical disease.

Hours later, the unthinkable has happened. Max is found dead in Leila’s car. Forgotten in the scorching heat.

What begins as a family tragedy explodes into a high‑profile trial that will pit sister against sister, invite a merciless media spotlight, and force everyone to confront their deepest fears and dark secrets. I could not put this down- a huge thank you to Leighann for this book suggestion!

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Dr. Maya Rao seems to have it all. Three young children, a loving marriage, and a respected career as a gynecologist. After a troubling encounter with a patient forces her to walk away from the city hospital where she has spent her professional life, Maya finds herself at a professional crossroads.

That’s when an unexpected meeting with a charismatic entrepreneur leads her to join a luxe concierge wellness clinic where house calls, vitamin infusions, and healing crystals are the norm for affluent clients.

At first, the flexibility and promise of a better balance between work and family seem perfect, until Maya begins to see cracks in the picture‑perfect world she’s stepped into while dealing with her family’s own medical crisis.

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This book defines my taste and is one of my top ten novels I’ve ever read.

The first year of marriage always comes with challenges, but none could be more complicated than being diagnosed with a genetic mutation that takes away elements of your humanness.

Wren and Lewis are devastated when Lewis receives the diagnosis that he will evolve into a  great white shark due to his genetic mutation.  

As Wren struggles to make peace with their new reality, they do their best to support Lewis through his diagnosis as he struggles to maintain normalcy in his work and home life, all while his predatory nature and needs begin to emerge.

We are given a heartbreaking, hopeful, and even (at times) humorous portrait of their marriage. Wren finds new ways to incorporate joy into Lewis's daily life, evolving their menu plan to meet the needs of a shark diet, finding a pool for him to get in the water, and even concocting schemes to stay together after his final evolution.

Told in three shifting timelines, we discover a troubling backstory that offers insight into a problematic past involving a mutation of another kind and how that shaped her. It’s unforgettable.

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Readers are pulled into Brammer’s story with this opening line: "The first time I watched someone die, I was five."

Clover Brooks offers death doula services in New York, acting as a liaison for families, facilitating last wishes and companionship as people near their death. She is so good at it that even when not hired for a job, the hospital will call upon her as a volunteer when families cannot be present.

While she's empathetic and emotionally attuned to people in their final days, she seems unable to replicate this for others in her life. Clover's never dated, never been kissed, and needs help understanding social cues, especially when it comes to friendship.

But everything changes when she attends a death café and meets Sebastian, a gentle soul navigating the impending loss of his beloved grandmother. Through this serendipitous encounter, Clover is drawn into the orbit of Claudia—a woman facing terminal cancer, weighed down by secrets she’s never had the courage to share with her family.  

Fueled by this newfound connection, she helps unravel the mystery that will change their lives. If you need a sweet escape, this has been a hit with so many of our readers.

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This short, satisfying read is beautiful on audiobook.

A terminal cancer brings two lifelong best friends face to face with the inevitable; they respond the only way they know how: with fierce love, humor, and an unbreakable bond.

As one woman prepares to say goodbye and the other struggles to imagine life without her, their hospital room becomes a place for heartfelt confessions, uproarious laughter, and the kind of honesty only decades of friendship can sustain.

Heart-wrenching and unexpectedly funny, this debut captured the messy, tender ways we show up for the people we love most.

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In war-torn Homs, Syria, eighteen-year-old Salama has been forced to grow up far too quickly. Once a pharmacy student with dreams of the future, she now spends her days in a hospital overflowing with the wounded, performing medical procedures she was never trained to do as the Syrian revolution rages around her.

Haunted by grief and survivor’s guilt after losing much of her family, she is determined to get her pregnant sister-in-law, Layla, out of the country before the violence claims them too. But leaving Syria means abandoning the people she feels responsible for saving.

As fear manifests as an imagined companion urging her to flee, Salama must decide whether courage means staying to help the dying or risking everything for a chance at survival. When she meets a young activist named Kenan, hope begins to flicker amid the devastation.

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In one unforgettable summer in 1934, Florence Adler, a gifted swimmer, trains for a dream of breaking a record and crossing the English Channel.

But when an unexpected tragedy strikes, the Adlers make a desperate choice. They will keep the devastating news a secret from Florence’s older sister, Fannie, who is confined to bed with a risky pregnancy. What begins as an act of protection quickly spirals into a fragile web of silence as each member of the family struggles to carry the weight of what has been lost.

Told through multiple perspectives and inspired by a true story from the author’s own family history, Florence Adler Swims Forever is a poignant portrait of the complicated ways families try to shield one another from heartbreak.  I adored this story!

If you’re a fan of Black Mirror, you might remember the episode where potential mates are scientifically paired—a concept at the heart of this addictive thriller.

Here, DNA matching promises to find your perfect partner, but what unfolds is a tangled web of desire, heartbreak, and every gray hue of morality.

The novel weaves together multiple, compelling storylines: a straight man flounders with being matched to another man; a woman learns her soulmate died before they could meet; another woman discovers her match is terminally ill; the mastermind behind the entire matching system faces her own romantic dilemmas—and, to top it off, a serial killer is using the service to track down victims.

I listened to this on audiobook, and the narration brought every twist and turn to life. Each storyline is gripping, and the plot twists kept me hooked from start to finish.

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Jane has an exceptional mind and a distinct skill for cataloging events and dates and remembering every detail in any space she inhabits. That's why when this young mother begins experiencing strange episodes of amnesia, premonitions, and hallucinations, her life spirals into an unfathomable mystery.

Found unconscious in Brooklyn's Prospect Park with no recollection of the previous day, a psychiatrist is drawn into a case unlike any he's encountered. Jane reports vivid hallucinations of a man she knew decades earlier, now warning her to flee the city.

But his initial theories are quickly challenged as a series of revelations blurs the line between psychological symptoms and something far more profound. Part psychological mystery, part speculative puzzle, this eerie story is perfect for mystery genre fans.

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It seems the perfect time to revisit this Picoult favorite that helped put her illustrious career on the map. Picoult recently announced that her upcoming thirtieth novel, Hollow Bones, will bring back beloved characters from My Sister's Keeper, with many more twists and turns.

When thirteen‑year‑old Anna Fitzgerald learns she was conceived to be a genetic match for her sister Kate, who suffers from leukemia, she makes a life‑shaking decision.

She sues her parents for medical emancipation so she can control her own body and future.

This emotionally charged novel alternates perspectives as it explores family loyalty, autonomy, and the agonizing complexity of medical choices. I count it among my favorites from the author.

If there’s one Wally Lamb novel that stands out to me, it’s this sweeping, deeply affecting story of brotherhood.

At its heart is Dominick, a man weighed down by his own scars while fiercely loving and caring for his identical twin, Thomas, whose struggle with paranoid schizophrenia is both raw and heartbreaking.

Their lives are upended when Thomas, in a moment of anguish, commits a shocking act of self-harm in a public library. This single act propels Dominick into a labyrinth of pain, loyalty, and revelation.

Lamb masterfully examines the tangled bonds of family, the relentless search for hope amid suffering, and the ways we try to piece together meaning when life feels unendurable.

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After contracting leprosy as a child in 1891, Hawaii, young Rachel Kalama is sent to the isolated leper colony at Kalaupapa.

There, she grows up among other exiled patients and witnesses not just the physical devastation of an incurable disease but the social stigma, lost family bonds, and unexpected community that forms in exile. Brennert’s novel brings to life both the historical realities of leprosy and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of physical and emotional hardship.

I have never forgotten this fascinating story that should have been a book of heartbreak, but has you walking away with such heartwarming feelings on our surprising ability to endure.

Seventeen-year-old Lenni Pettersson is living in a hospital ward, facing a future she knows will be far shorter than it should be. But when she meets Margot — a fiercely independent eighty-three-year-old fellow patient — an unexpected friendship sparks between two women at opposite ends of life.

Together, they realize something remarkable. Between them, they’ve lived one hundred years. Determined to make those years count, Lenni and Margot begin painting 100 pictures that capture a story from their lives, from moments of joy and rebellion to love, loss, and everything in between.

As the paintings accumulate, so do the memories, revealing the surprising ways two strangers can shape each other’s final chapters. Tender, funny, and quietly profound, it turned out to be a perfect fit for our book club.

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Despite reading countless books about the Holocaust, I’m always struck by how much remains unfathomable—the sheer scale of suffering, the individual stories lost to history. Mischling brought that reality into sharp, unforgettable focus for me.

The novel follows twins Sasha and Pearl, swept into the notorious "Mengle’s Zoo"—the experimental group of twins imprisoned at Auschwitz under Dr. Mengele’s cruel watch. Families, desperate to spare their children, sometimes even claimed twins in hopes of protection, not knowing that this supposed salvation led to a new nightmare of medical experimentation.

Through alternating points of view, Konar gives voice to both sisters as they endure separation and inhuman tests designed to break their bond in this beautifully researched story. Her lyrical, almost otherworldly prose illuminates even the darkest moments.

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At fifty‑plus, renowned linguistics professor Alice Howl has built a life as a brilliant researcher, a devoted family member, and a sharp, independent mind. But when early‑onset Alzheimer’s begins to unravel her memory, her identity, and everything she holds dear, Alice is faced with a terrifying truth that she may forget the very things that make her who she is.

Still Alice is an achingly honest and deeply emotional portrait of life with dementia,  told from the inside out, that reminds us that love can endure even when memory fades.

Taylor Harris’s unforgettable memoir begins with a frightening morning when her lively toddler, Tophs, wakes listless and lethargic—a moment that launches a years-long struggle through pediatric appointments, specialists, and unanswered questions.

As Harris navigates glucose crashes, developmental delays, and the evasive trail of diagnoses, she confronts not only the fragility of her son’s health but also the strain of advocating for him within health care and education systems often stacked against Black families like hers.

I'm a big fan of this writer and her incredible family.

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In this raw and unflinching memoir, Stash recounts Robbins’s secret, spiraling addiction to alcohol and Ambien during the unraveling of her marriage and a looming custody battle for her children.

With prescriptions from multiple doctors and a habit that climbed to more than thirty Ambien pills a day (chased with hard alcohol), Laura still tried to maintain the appearance of a normal, high-functioning life. She does school drop-offs, family obligations, and the careful performance of a mother who had everything under control.

But when the prescription pads around town begin to run dry, the truth becomes harder to outrun.

Then Laura discovers a photo on her husband’s phone. A picture he has taken of her hidden stash of pill bottles. In an instant, the secret she’s been fighting to conceal becomes the very evidence that could cost her custody of her children.

Forced to confront the reality she has long avoided, Laura enters a recovery center to detox from pills and alcohol, the only Black patient in the facility, where she must face not only the brutal work of sobriety, but the deeper truths about survival.

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In this deeply insightful memoir, Sarah Ramey chronicles more than a decade of battling a mysterious chronic illness that doctors initially dismissed as “all in her head.”

Her pursuit of diagnosis, meaningful care, and real answers becomes a page‑turning medical investigation that sheds light on how women’s symptoms can be misunderstood or minimized, offering sharp commentary on modern medical practice and patient advocacy.

This book lead to one of our most impactful book club chats and I am so glad that I got to hear Sarah's story.

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Shortly after graduating from college, Suleika moves to Paris to become a war correspondent. There, she begins exhibiting unusual symptoms that lead her to a devastating diagnosis for her, her boyfriend, and her parents.

This deeply profound and meditative examination of a young life interrupted by illness showcases a wise woman beyond her years as she navigates her unusual pause in life while acknowledging that the world around her continues to spin.

Throughout this journey, she begins to chronicle her experience through a newspaper column that connects her with unlikely people. These letters, which sustained her through treatment, later inspired her to take a trip to meet them. Over the course of a 100-day, 15,000-mile road trip across the country with her dog, she meets these strangers and finds a connection with them. It was a beautiful read!

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Journalist and poet Melissa Bond delivers a vivid memoir of her accidental descent into prescription benzodiazepine dependence after being prescribed sleep medication during a period of unbearable insomnia and life stress.

As the doses escalate and her body begins to fail, Bond faces the terrifying reality of overprescription and the gaps in medical understanding around long‑term benzodiazepine use.

I found it to be a riveting recovery story that I imagine will be a great conversation starter as we familiarize ourselves with these newer growing struggles, just as we did with the opioid crisis. The ending took some surprising turns I didn't expect.

Schatz dedicates her adult debut novel to her mother, and that love radiates from every page of this deeply compassionate coming-of-age story.

Where the Girls Were follows a teenage prodigy nicknamed Baker, just two months shy of graduating as her high school valedictorian and heading to Stanford.

At a party with her cousin, she impulsively sleeps with an unremarkable boy. Weeks later, Baker finds herself at her first OB-GYN appointment, where a doctor confirms she is thirteen weeks pregnant and coldly admonishes her to keep her long legs shut in the future. In an instant, her parents’ dreams of her carefree summer vanish. Baker is to be sent away to a maternity home—what happens there, no one explains.

At the maternity home, Baker adjusts to suffocating rules and rigid routines. Girls arrive and leave without explanation, but nothing unsettles her more than a handwritten message hidden inside a closet wall: “KITTY WAS HERE.” Beneath it, in smaller letters: “but she didn’t want to be.”

That message becomes a kind of portal, pulling Baker—and the reader—into the novel’s adventurous and revelatory second half of this gorgeous story. You can meet Kate Schatz this week on the Book Gang podcast and hear more about her writing process for this beautiful story.

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When Joe Mitchell launches into space, the world is watching. It’s 1968, and the country waits with anticipation and excitement for another successful mission, another celebration as America sets its sights on the Moon.

And then comes the knock at the door.

Joe Mitchell’s spacecraft loses contact, and he and his fellow astronauts are feared dead. For his wife Vivian, it’s a nightmare come true. As the nation waits and mourns, she quietly relives their unforgettable love, refusing to believe it’s really over.

As the investigation blames operator error for Joe’s lost spacecraft, Vivian is determined to clear his name and solve the mystery.

When she starts receiving messages she believes only Joe could send, she wonders if their love can truly cross space and time—and she’ll do anything to bring him home.

Release Date- 7 July 2026

What happens when we make mistakes that can’t be fixed? How do we keep going without clear answers? These questions lie at the heart of M. L. Stedman’s powerful new novel, A Far-flung Life.

The story begins in the late 1950s with a tragic truck accident, then follows the family through the 1960s as they deal with trauma and hidden secrets.

The MacBrides have lived for generations on a huge sheep station in remote Western Australia. One ordinary day on a quiet road beneath a vast blue sky, Phil swerves to avoid a kangaroo. In an instant, the MacBride family’s lives are shattered.

Then, tragedy deepens as unexpected consequences unfold in this gripping family saga. Be sure to be aware that this novel includes several trigger warnings worth investigating to see if it is a good fit for your reading life.

In the summer of 1966, three women, shattered by the revelation that their husbands were serial killers, find themselves cast out in shame. Refusing to fade quietly, they forge an unexpected bond and turn their pain into resolve—banding together to hunt a killer themselves.

Arnott, an acclaimed journalist with a deep background in true crime, writes with insight and purpose, shifting the focus onto the women’s strength and agency. I am so excited to dig into this story.

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It’s the summer of ’69. While her friends enjoy free love and rock and roll, Suzannah is home from college, tucked away in her conservative Southern household. But everything changes when her free-spirited best friend, Livy, resurfaces, urging Suzannah, a talented singer, to join her for three days of peace and music in upstate New York.

Fed up with her father’s rules and fearful for her brother’s fate in Vietnam, Suzannah agrees to the road trip and unlocks  a journey of self-transformation.

Set in 1964 California, Meet the Newmans follows America’s beloved TV family as cultural upheaval shakes their polished world, forcing everyone—from stars to scriptwriters—to confront changing roles for women and men.

When patriarch Del is sidelined by a mysterious accident, Dinah invites an ambitious reporter to shape the show’s farewell. Ambition and tradition collide, and the shifting landscape of women’s work brings both new opportunities and fierce pushback.

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Where do you get an abortion in 1960 Georgia, especially if your small town’s midwife goes to the same church as your parents?

For seventeen-year-old Doris Steele, the answer is Atlanta, where her favorite teacher, Mrs. Lucas, calls upon her brash, wealthy childhood best friend, Sylvia, for help.

While waiting to hear from the doctor who has agreed to do the procedure, Doris spends the weekend scandalized by, but drawn to, the people who move in and out of Sylvia’s orbit: celebrities whom Doris has seen in the pages of Jet and Ebony, civil rights leaders such as Coretta Scott King and Diane Nash, women who dance close together, boys who flirt too hard and talk too much, atheists! 

And even more shocking? Mrs. Lucas seems right at home.

These Heathens is a funny and touching story about Black women’s duties and dreams, what we owe ourselves, and how stepping outside your comfort zone—even for one wild weekend—can change everything.

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Set in 1961 in the Netherlands, this acclaimed debut and 2025 Women’s Prize winner follows Isabel (Isa), a careful recluse who cares for her family’s ancestral home. When her brother’s girlfriend Eva comes to stay for the summer, Isa’s strict routines and hidden grief are shaken as a surprising romance grows.

It’s a tender story of love, change, and self-discovery in the shadows of the past. Prepare for a beautiful story twist! I ate this story up.

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Johnson offers a beautifully researched story that pulls readers into 1960s Nashville and 1990s Chicago, following a mother and daughter as they confront the social justice movements that shaped modern America.

In the earlier timeline, Freda grows up sheltered within her affluent Black family until her arrival at Fisk University exposes her to the harsh realities of segregation and the rising tide of activism that challenges everything she's been taught.

Her daughter Tulip's 1990s storyline echoes those same questions of privilege and responsibility as she witnesses the Rodney King trial and steps into the work of justice through her PR expertise, even when it costs her personally.

Johnson masterfully harmonizes the music of mothers and daughters, weaving an intimate yet sweeping story that offers readers a soul-stirring portrait of the powerful ties that bind across time.

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This sweeping historical novel toggles between past and present as Beth — a woman living a quiet life on a sheep farm in 1950s–60s Dorset, England — finds her world upended when Gabriel, her long‑lost first love, returns.

Old passions and secrets rise to the surface, drawing her into a harrowing web of romance, jealousy, and moral reckoning that culminates in dramatic consequences.

With twists of thriller pacing and deep emotional stakes, the story explores how early love and loss can reverberate across decades, pushing Beth to face both danger and her own heart’s desires.

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I loved Di Maio's novel, which features full-cast narration, bringing to life two women in the 1960s who escape their circumstances through a rigorous training program to become Pan Am stewardesses.

From wearing an identical shade of vibrant lipstick in Revlon's Persian Melon no matter their skin tone to their matching uniforms that cost $300 and that must be purchased with their own money to begin their careers, you will delight in all the illuminating details that Camille gathered through interviewing real stewardesses, taking care to showcase women as industrious trendsetters who also happened to be incredibly attractive to boot.

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This haunting slow-burn mystery unfolds between the early 1960s and the mid‑1970s, centering on the disappearance of young Bear Van Laar in 1961.

Years later, the trail gone cold, his sister Barbara returns to the woods where he vanished, confronting buried memories, grief, and the possibility of redemption. Moore’s evocative storytelling weaves atmospheric suspense with emotional depth across decades.

I read the novel with the paper copy and audiobook in my ears, and that would be the ONLY way to go, as each POV shift offers timelines beneath each character's name that would be a nightmare to track. The novel also offers a detailed map of the grounds, where mystery readers can follow locations as they move through the property. 

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Pete Cross delivers an impeccable audiobook performance in this autofiction novel, which explores Lofton's experiences growing up as a gay boy in the Deep South in the 1960s and 1970s.

Philbet is a tender-hearted boy who doesn’t notice his physical differences until a cruel family comment breaks his innocence. From then on, his misshapen chest becomes a quiet source of shame, shaping how he moves through life.

As he comes of age, he begins to understand his attraction to boys—especially one older boy who stirs feelings he can't ignore—adding another layer of secrecy in a town where difference is dangerous.

Despite the weight of judgment and isolation, Red Clay Suzie is ultimately a story of resilience, full of humor, heart, and the stubborn hope of a boy learning to love himself just as he is.

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If you don't mind traveling through a few decades, Read's moving story takes place roughly between 1948 and the early 1970s, covering the destruction of the town of Iola in the 1960s to make way for the Blue Mesa Dam.

Victoria meets Wilson Moon, a Native American drifter, and their bond faces the harsh realities of racism in their close-knit community. These consequences later force her to make a devastating decision that alters her life and those of another family, unexpectedly intertwined.

Spanning decades, this spellbinding novel beautifully captures the backdrop of a captivating mountainous landscape that becomes her sanctuary and a force that shapes her destiny. As the government's plans to flood the area shift, Victoria becomes resolute in preserving her family's beloved peach orchard no matter what. I loved this story so much!

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I have been so immersed in this spirited novel that brings together the real-life literary icons Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins through the eyes of a young editorial assistant chasing her own dreams.

Wit, ambition, and audacious sex-textual storytelling collide in 1960s and ’70s New York and London, where no rule book for women writers existed, much less one they couldn’t break. The result is a glamorous, brassy tribute to female defiance and success that's delightfully juicy on audiobook.

Don't be surprised if you see this in our summer reading guide this year!

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The Great Reclamation sweeps readers into a transforming Singapore, where gentle-hearted Ah Boon grows up in a vibrant fishing village and discovers his gift for finding hidden, shifting islands.

As he and spirited Siok Mei grow up together, their childhood bond and his unique abilities shape both their futures and the fate of their community. When war and change come, their friendship is tested by loss, loyalty, and the sacrifices required in a nation on the brink of rebirth.

Lush and evocative, this coming-of-age story is on my contender list for next year’s book club.

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Fader's juicy historical fiction novel follows three friends in nursing school during the Vietnam War. The story's most surprising element is how a nursing career collides with a job on a Hollywood set.

This story's flashback sequences are told partly through journal entries and partly through a surprise funeral guest who remembers one of these women all too well. It turns out our mothers can have a whole life without us!

Fader's writing shines as she vividly depicts the challenges these nurses faced and how women were treated in the early days of these nursing programs, an eye-opening account drawn from Molly's mother's experiences.

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And They Called It Camelot traces the remarkable journey of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, beginning with her ambitious start as a “photo girl” at the Washington Times‑Herald and following her through the dizzying heights and devastating depths of a life lived in the national spotlight.

The story smartly follows the story into her second marriage, after this loss, with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, a union that suffered immensely under the fierce weight of public scrutiny, making this story altogether more fascinating.

The details from this part of her life were entirely unfamiliar to me and quite revelatory in how this seemed to be a union of security rather than a fairy-tale romance. I am so glad I read this one for Women's History Month. I learned so much.

Hill's novel is not set solely in the 1960s, but centers a good portion of its story around the 1968 Chicago protests.  

Samuel, a disillusioned professor, has his world upended when he learns his estranged mother has been arrested for assaulting a politician. It’s a shocking headline—especially since Samuel hasn’t spoken to her in over twenty years.

With his own career on the rocks and desperate for a new book idea, Samuel agrees to write a memoir about his mother’s life, forcing him into an unexpected journey through her past and their fractured relationship. Hill masterfully weaves together timelines, jumping from the free-spirited 1960s to a 2011 present day with great cinematic flair.

McBride's novel, set in 1969 Brooklyn, has been on my reading bucket list for ages.  THIS IS THE YEAR.

The story brilliantly ignites with an improbable act when an elderly church deacon shoots a local drug dealer in broad daylight.

The ripple effect of that moment brings a vivid cast together — from churchgoers to cops to gang members — in an unforgettable portrait of community, chaos, and redemption. Readers love the author's signature blend of humor and heart, which makes this a moving snapshot of life on the margins and the ties that bind us.

This page-turner, set in the 1960s, examines the era with fresh eyes as Lorraine, a gifted teenage girl, navigates an unexpected pregnancy during her senior year of high school.

When Lorraine discovers the pregnancy, she receives little information about what is happening in her body or the process. Instead, sent to a maternity home for teen girls, and the parents pray that no one will ever know of her shameful secret. Lorraine's shame is palatable, but for the boy involved, this is barely a blip in his promising future.

As societal expectations and familial pressures ground Lorraine,  Church examines the underbelly of perfect picket fences and suburban dreams. We then realize everyone has a shameful secret that could have grounded them at some point.

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All the Children Are Home is a deeply moving family saga set against the shifting landscape of the late 1950s and 1960s, brought to life in a beautifully immersive full-cast audiobook, which was a big surprise when I listened to this one last month.

Through the eyes of the Moscatelli foster family and the children they take in — especially six-year-old Agnes, torn from everything she’s ever known — Patry Francis crafts a tale that is at once heartbreaking and hopeful, in equal measures.

Patry Francis, who passed away in July 2022 after battling pancreatic cancer, poured her deep empathy and understanding of family into this and her other works. It was a joy to interview the author in our Sundays With Writers series.

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On a stormy night, an unlikely couple knocks on a stranger’s door. Lynnie, a woman with an intellectual disability, and Homan, a Deaf man, have run away from a brutal institution where they have been placed because of their disabilities.

A friendly schoolteacher  finds that she has opened the door to a journey she never could have anticipated. As the police begin to bang on the door looking for them, Lynnie hands her a brand new baby and utters just two words to the teacher, “Hide her.”

Simon’s story is tender and quietly powerful, centering love in a decade not always known for compassion toward difference. The story beautifully chronicles forty years in the lives of these characters as their paths take unlikely turns through this slow, winding story.

This historical thriller has been described as "Jurassic Park meets Evelyn Hugo," and now I can’t wait to check this out.

When Katie Barstow, an A-list actress, and her new husband, David Hill, decide to bring their Hollywood friends to the Serengeti for their honeymoon, they do not expect a kidnapping gone wrong, their guides bleeding out in the dirt, and a team of Russian mercenaries herding their hostages into Land Rovers, guns to their heads.

Bohjalian delivers a blistering story of fame, race, love, and death in 1964.

Spanning two generations and musical eras, this soapy Jewish family drama traces Judie Zingerman’s ascent as one half of a folk-rock duo in the 1960s, then shifts to her daughter Emma, who chases alt-rock stardom in the 1990s.

Emma’s journey is transformed when she discovers her mother’s old notebooks and unreleased songs, unraveling the sacrifices Judie made at the height of her fame.

Seltzer delivers a lyrical, emotionally layered exploration of songwriting, legacy, and the ways music passed from parent to child can both heal and haunt its inheritors. I couldn't put this one down!

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This time-travel epic drops a modern-day teacher into 1960 with one mission: stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

As he settles into small-town life, falling in love and absorbing the era's rhythms, history begins to push back. King recreates early-60s America in vivid detail — diners, dance halls, and the looming shadow of Dallas.

It’s part love story, part political thriller, and wholly immersive. I promise you will be on a suspenseful journey filled with unexpected plot twists in this Stephen King adventure story. I could not put it down!

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Julia Whelan delivers an impeccable performance on Hannah's historical fiction novel, offering an earnest portrayal of the lives of nurses who served in the Vietnam War but were seemingly forgotten.

This novel celebrates nurses and their service during the Vietnam War, a detail few Americans think about, showcasing the sacrifices they made and the disbelief they faced upon returning home. It delivers on the book's goals while encompassing a signature soapier spin perfect for fans of her earlier work on Firefly Lane.

I appreciated the accurate portrayal of PTSD on returning and the haunting nature of caring for patients in this environment.