Play 2026 Book Bingo
Must-Read Novels by Debut Authors
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.As much as we enjoy picking up a novel by one of our favorite authors, there is something magical about reading an incredible debut that leaves us both impressed and anxious to see what other wonderful stories they will share in the future.
What We Considered a Debut Novel for This List
Because there are countless fantastic debut novels throughout history, from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee to A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, we needed to narrow down our list. We’ve opted to highlight authors with highly-rated breakout US debuts published in or after 2020, and no more than one additional published novel as of the date of this list.
We’ve mentioned any other novels by the author under each book description.
Debut Novels To Read
Book Summary
This character-driven historical fiction will transport you to 1800s China as a young girl named Little Flower is sold to be a servant for the wealthy Fong family. Bound by the painful tradition of foot binding and the rigid hierarchies of her world, Little Flower forms an unlikely and complicated bond with Linjing, the privileged daughter of the household.
As both girls navigate duty, desire, and the constraints placed on women of their era, their fates become deeply intertwined over the decades through marriage, sacrifice, and survival.
Other Works by This Author
Jane Yang’s sophomore novel, Winter of the Bride, is scheduled for release in February of 2027. It is also historical fiction, featuring a split timeline spanning 1806 and 1906.
The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
95% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Frederick was born 82 years ago, and ever since, he has approached life with a huge heart full of kindness. But now, he’s desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness. Then, he’s mistaken for grumpy Bernard from a local nursing home. As long as the real Bernard doesn’t show up, Fred has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head.
Denise is a middle-aged mom who works at the care facility while struggling with a crumbling marriage and other challenges that have zapped her joy. She vowed never to let a man deceive her again, making her suspicious of Fred because Bernard was known to be grumpy and unkind.
About the Author
Author Anna Johnston was the social support coordinator in her grandfather’s nursing home until an injury left her unable to continue the position. She used what she learned working in the home in this highly-rated debut novel, and she based the characters of Frederick and his late wife on the loving relationship she observed between her dear grandparents.
We can’t wait for her second novel, When Lemons Give You Life, which features a depressed, retired Michelin-star chef who now lives at the Sunny Glen Aged Care Facility. It is scheduled for release in August of 2026.
Junie
Book Summary
Junie has spent all of her 16 years on the Bellereine Plantation in Alabama as a slave. She cooks, cleans, and tends to the white master’s daughter, Violet. While she works, she dreams of poetry and a world outside her own, but at night, she’s overcome by grief due to the loss of her older sister, Minnie.
When the family has wealthy guests in town who hint at a marriage for Violet, which would upend Junie’s life, she does something to rouse Minnie’s spirit from the grave. When she needs help, she enlists the guest’s coachman, Caleb, who becomes a friend…then more. As the Civil War approaches, she realizes the dark truths and horrifying secrets about the Bellereine Plantation, and she begins to push back against her old life.
What to Expect in This Book
While the author’s real family history inspired this book, it also incorporates elements of magical realism, as Minnie’s ghost tasks Junie with completing three missions related to family secrets and Minnie’s own fate.
Junie is the author’s only novel as of the publication date of this list.
The Correspondent
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Sybil van Antwerp is a 72-year-old grandmother, wife, and distinguished lawyer. Three days a week, she sits down to write letters. And she sends most of them – whether to her brother, her best friend, or authors like Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. But to one frequent recipient, the letters are never sent.
She expects the rest of her life to continue as normal, until letters arrive from someone tied to one of the most painful chapters of her past. Is it finally time to share the unsent letters she’s been writing all these years?
Why We Think You’ll Love This Book
This epistolary gem highlights the many kinds of relationships formed throughout a lifetime through the words of a witty, spunky, book-loving woman who has endured grief yet retains hope. We loved that the letters always included notes about what book she and her friend were reading at that time, and we especially enjoyed her letters to specific authors.
Angela enjoyed the full-cast audio version, and Melissa loved seeing the letters and emails in paper form. You can’t go wrong with either choice!
About the Author
This is Virginia Evans’ only published novel, though she has discussed the seven unpublished novels and the countless rejections she faced before The Correspondent was published and became one of the most talked-about and beloved novels of 2025.
Daughters of Shandong
Book Summary
While civil war was ravaging the Chinese countryside, in rural Shandong, the wealthy Ang family was more concerned with the lack of an heir after the mother had produced only four daughters.
As the Communist Army gets closer to Shandong, the males leave the four useless girls and their mother behind. When the land-seizing cadres arrive, they normally choose a male from the family to punish for the family’s “crimes”. With the men gone, the cadres pick the oldest daughter, Hai, instead, and she barely survives the brutality.
After this, the hungry and penniless women know they must escape rather than risk another attack. The five women trek over 1000 miles from their countryside home to the bustling city of Qingdao, then onward to British Hong Kong and eventually Taiwan. While they’ve lost their home, they also begin to discover the new freedoms that come when they are seen as people, not just as their gender.
What to Know Before Reading
While some scenes and topics in this book are difficult, it’s also said to be a hopeful, powerful story about the resilience of women in war, the enduring love between mothers, daughters, and sisters, and the sacrifices made to lift up future generations.
Daughters of Shandong is based on the family story of debut author and Taiwanese American lawyer Eve J. Chung. Many of the inequalities that she observed growing up ultimately influenced her decision to become a women’s human rights lawyer and activist.
The author’s second book, The Young Will Remember, is scheduled for release in May of 2026.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In July of 1962, a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrived in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Just weeks into the job, four-year-old Ruthie disappears. Her six-year-old brother Joe is the last to see her, and he remains distraught about her disappearance for years.
Norma has grown up as an only child in a wealthy Maine family. Her mother is overprotective, and her father is distant. As she grows up, she believes there is something major that her parents aren’t telling her. She will spend decades trying to unravel the secret her intuition and recurring dreams keep hinting at.
This book starts fifty years after the disappearance, with Joe reflecting on his childhood. Norma is then added as a second narrator.
Other Works by This Author
While this is Amanda Peters’ only published novel, she has a 2024 short-story collection titled Waiting for the Long Night Moon.
Her second novel, The Birthing Tree, is scheduled for publication in September 2026.
Grace of the Empire State
Book Summary
When the patriarch of the O’Connell family died in a workplace accident within months of the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Grace’s family lost nearly everything. But she was at least making money as a dancer while her twin brother had a well-paying, but dangerous, job on the beams of the Empire State Building.
Life threw them another twist when Grace’s club closed, leaving her without income, and her brother was injured on the job. And if he can’t work, his entire four-person crew would be out of a job.
But Patrick has an idea. Could Grace use her time in the circus to take his role on the beams? She’ll have to pretend to be him, but they are twins…Could it work?
Why This Was One of Our Favorites
We’ve both been lucky enough to visit the top of the Empire State Building and see photos of the construction process, but reading this book gave us new perspectives on both the Empire State Building and this pivotal time in NYC history.
We were both very impressed with this debut novel, and Angela, who is a huge fan of musical theater, hasn’t stopped thinking about how wonderful it would be to see a stage production that combines the ballet of Grace’s past with the intricate choreography of the steelworkers for whom every move is a matter of life and death precision.
Upcoming Book by This Author
Gemma Tizzard’s second novel, The Nightingales of Boston, has just been announced and is scheduled for publication in November 2026. It tells the story of three heroic women during and after Boston’s 1942 Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
If you could find out exactly how many years you have left to live, would you want to know?
On the same day, all around the world, every person over the age of 22 receives an identical box. Inside each is a string. At first, no one knows what the strings mean, but it soon becomes apparent that a long string means long life, and a short string foretells a life cut short.
As society responds to the revelation of the boxes, each person must make a choice: Do you want to know how long you will live? If so, what will you do with that knowledge? And what if your choice is different from those you care about most?
These are the dilemmas facing the eight protagonists in The Measure, whose fates become interwoven as their individual stories unfold.
Our Thoughts on This Book
This is a book that really makes you think and will stick with you long after you’ve read the last page. While there are multiple main characters, each is well-developed, and it’s not hard to keep track of each storyline.
Other Works by This Author
Nikki Erlick’s much-anticipated second novel, The Poppy Fields, was released in 2025. While The Poppy Fields received praise from critics, some readers find the slower pace and static setting aren’t as compelling as The Measure.
The Bright Years
Book Summary
Ryan and Lillian Bright were deeply in love when they married and became parents to baby Georgette. But they were also keeping secrets from one another. As the years pass, Georgette comes of age, watching the highs and lows of her parents’ marriage and becoming best friends with the boy next door.
Later, after a shocking blow tears the family apart, teenager Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. But an unexpected email changes what she thought she knew about her mom’s past. Ultimately, she’ll have to decide what she wants to do with this information and how she should move forward in her life.
As you follow the Bright family history from the 1970s to 2019, there are a few flashbacks in the early chapters, but the majority of the book is a linear timeline. The years are clearly denoted for each chapter. Instead of one character narrating the whole book or alternating narrators, you’ll find that the first half of the book is told from Lillian’s perspective before her daughter takes over for the next 40%. One final narrator then tells the last 10% of the story.
What to Know Before Reading
While this novel covers nearly fifty years of a family’s story, it’s a very quick read at 271 pages. Melissa read it in one afternoon because once she started, she couldn’t put it down.
She agrees with the long list of readers praising this debut author, who is also a Harvard-educated social worker, for creating compelling and realistically flawed characters that you will really come to care about.
Several difficult topics are covered, so please check trigger warnings if needed. Melissa picked it up, not remembering much more about the book than that several people had told her it was their favorite of the year. Because of that, her jaw dropped at several points, and she recommends going in not knowing more than we’ve told you, if possible.
While this is, without a doubt, a tear-jerker and a gut-puncher at times, the author also brings back hope through lighter moments and character growth. That balance keeps it from feeling like a dark book, even as the family faces some very tough seasons.
Upcoming Book by This Author
Sarah Damoff’s second novel, The Burning Side, is scheduled for release in May of 2026 and is already receiving extremely high reviews from early readers. It’s another family saga about a Texas family, this time as a couple’s home burns, and they must return to the wife’s childhood home and parents, which brings both comfort and complications.
The Girl with the Louding Voice
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
99% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Adunni is a 14-year-old girl living in poverty in a Nigerian village. She loves school and knows that learning all she can is the key to achieving a better life. But, despite promising to allow Adunni’s schooling to continue after her mother’s death, Adunni’s father makes a decision that ends her education in the village and changes the trajectory of her life.
You’ll be moved to both tears and cheers as Adunni endures and overcomes heartbreaking challenges while remaining focused on her dream of an education.
About the Sequel
In August of 2024, Abi Daré’s second novel, And So I Roar, was released. It picks up when Adunni is 15 years old, and the husband she escaped is searching for her. Again, she must use her louding voice to protect herself and others in her village.
Consider This Before Reading
While we didn’t experience this ourselves, some readers struggle with the dialect in either audio or written form, but find that the other form works well for them (if the audio isn’t working for you, try reading and vice versa). The main character, Adunni, tells the story using her limited English, and one of the beautiful parts of the writing is that you can see her improvements over time.
When the Cranes Fly South
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
97% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Bo is 89 and still living at home with his beloved elkhound, Sixten, to keep him company. He also receives daily visits from a care team, but otherwise, it’s a quiet and lonely life. His wife is still alive, but is in a care home with Alzheimer’s. He has a son, Hans, but their relationship is rocky.
When Hans decides that Bo can no longer care for Sixten and that his beloved pup must be rehomed, Bo vehemently disagrees. The threat of losing Sixten makes Bo take stock of his own life and relationships, especially with his own father, who was not a loving man.
Why We Think You’ll Love It
This heart-wrenching, yet beautiful, read is a Swedish bestseller and extremely highly rated, but don’t pick it up unless you’re okay with a tear-jerker. Choose when you read the final chapters carefully, as sobbing is likely.
In addition to seeing the inner perspectives of both Bo and Hans, each chapter ends with notes from the carers, providing an impartial snapshot of reality. It’s the most realistic book Melissa has ever read about daily life at the end of life, and she found herself so thankful that Bo lived in Sweden, where the government provides in-home carers multiple times per day as part of its comprehensive eldercare system.
Melissa intended to read this in Kindle form, but there was no wait for the audiobook, which was phenomenal. The narrator was absolutely perfect for Bo and added to his story.
This is the author’s only novel as of the date of this list.
Book Summary
Natalie projects the picture-perfect life and tradwife values to her 8 million followers online from her Idaho farmhouse. Her husband is a handsome cowboy born into a conservative political dynasty, and her six children are a delight…or so she tells her audience. Behind the scenes, she’s building an empire based on her Christian pioneer lifestyle, so no one needs to know that her house is really full of nannies, producers, and industrial-grade fridges and ovens to make her content possible. She’s also a common target of online critics who label her as anti-feminist.
One morning, instead of waking up in the fake life she represents, she wakes up in 1805, and everything is so much harder. Her home is heated by fire instead of electricity, her children are dirty, and her husband seems to be an actual farmer now. Suddenly, life depends on hauling firewood and handwashing clothes. She has no idea how she ended up in this alternate life, but after she is injured in the woods, she knows she has to escape.
Why This Book Made the List
For our debut author list, we focused on books that had been out long enough to have a history of good ratings. However, we wanted to give you one option debuting this month with rave pre-release reviews. This novel is said to be darkly funny, but also frightening at times, with a truly shocking twist.
Two things to know in advance: the satire is bold and biting, including topics of faith and politics, and all the characters are, to varying degrees, unlikable. If either of those is a deal-breaker, you should skip this one.
Yesteryear’s movie adaptation is already in development and is set to star Anne Hathaway, who is also a producer of the film.
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
99% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In this charming debut novel, Widower Tova works at the Sowell Bay Aquarium to occupy her mind and time. She takes pride in cleaning perfectly every night, even though she doesn’t need the money. She loves all the aquarium life but forms a special bond with the intelligent (and curmudgeonly) octopus named Marcellus.
He’s just as surprised to feel friendly toward this human who visits him nightly. Soon, he connects the sadness he sees in her with something he saw in the ocean long ago. Can he help her solve the mystery of her son’s disappearance 30 years ago?
Our Thoughts on This Book
Neither of us expected to have a book partially narrated by a giant Pacific octopus on our best books of 2022 list, but Marcellus stole our hearts. Beyond that, we loved each of the human characters and their struggles in different phases of life. Young or older, so many people deal with loneliness and loss. Watching characters process and evolve through that was a heartwarming treat.
Remarkably Bright Creatures is Shelby Van Pelt’s only book as of the date of this post.
Book Club Resources for Remarkably Bright Creatures
We have a great printable Remarkably Bright Creatures book club guide available on Etsy, including discussion questions, themed games, a Marcellus bookmark, and more!
You can also find free resources for your book club discussion about Remarkably Bright Creatures on our website.
Book Summary
In 1932 Berlin, Bertie worked for the renowned Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld at the Institute of Sexual Science. As a trans man, working to improve queer rights was especially important to him. Before Hitler’s rise to power, he was free to spend carefree nights at the Eldorado Club. Everything changed when Nazis raided the Institute, shuttered the Eldorado, and began rounding queer people up.
Bertie barely escaped from Berlin, but he and his girlfriend, Sofie, were able to move to a farm, where they assumed the identities of an elderly couple and lived in isolation for more than a decade. As the war was finally winding down, they faced a new threat. The Allied forces, who were liberating others, were arresting queer prisoners. Bertie’s only hope is to flee to the US.
About the Book
This extremely high-rated novel was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for both Debut Novel and Reader’s Favorite Historical Fiction in 2025. While it is a work of fiction, it is inspired by true history and artifacts the author found in his research. Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld was a real Jewish German physician and LGBTQ advocate whose Institute was raided in 1933.
His next novel has not yet been announced.
The Names
Book Summary
Cora has a nine-year-old daughter and a brand new baby son. Her husband is a respected doctor in the community, but to Cora, he is a terrifying and controlling presence. After a huge storm, Cora sets out to register her son’s birth. Her husband expects the infant to be named after him, but when the registrar asks Cora for the name, she hesitates.
Can a name change the course of your life? This novel spans 35-years, following three alternate versions of life for Cora and her young son, each shaped by her choice of name.
Consider This Before Reading
Be aware that this novel deals with domestic violence. The Names is Florence Knapp’s only novel as of the date of this post, however she has written a highly-rated non-fiction book about quilting.
The Names was voted one of our Readers’ Favorite Books of 2025.
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
97% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Lenni is only 17 years old, but she has a terminal illness. Despite the devastating impacts of her disease and the drugs she has to take to manage it, Lenni is determined to live every moment that she can, even if she can’t leave the hospital.
Escaping to the hospital’s crafts room, Lenni enrolls in a painting class where she gets to know Margot, an 83-year-old fellow rebel with heart problems. As their unexpected friendship grows, the pair realizes that between the two of them, they’ve lived an entire century of life. To celebrate this milestone, they decide to paint their life stories – joy, kindness, loss, and love.
About the Author
This book is said to be especially good on audio, with two different narrators doing the voices of Lenni and Margot.
Marianne Cronin is also the author of the 2024 highly-rated and heartwarming novel, Eddie Winston is Looking for Love.
Lessons in Chemistry
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
95% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Elizabeth Zott is a quirky, brilliant female chemist working on an all-male team at the Hastings Research Institute. But her scientific qualifications don’t stop the “good old boys” from being frustrated that she won’t get coffee or make copies for them. When Elizabeth meets Calvin Evans, another scientist at the Institute, another type of chemistry results.
Fast forward a few years. It’s 1961, and Elizabeth is a 30-year-old single mother, and her career has been detoured. Instead of working for Hastings, she’s now (somewhat reluctantly) the star of a much-loved cooking show called Supper at Six. Her cooking methods are unusual (“combine one tablespoon of acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”). As her popularity grows, it turns out she’s not just teaching women to cook, she’s also daring them to change the status quo.
What to Expect in This Novel
This novel is funny, but not in a laugh-out-loud sort of way – more in a way where you sometimes have to laugh so you don’t cry. The descriptions of the misogyny that Elizabeth faces (and specifically some of the language that is directed at her) offend some readers, but it’s an accurate representation of what she and so many women faced in the 1950s and 1960s.
By no means is our struggle for equality over, but this book gave us so much respect for the women who paved the way.
Bonnie Garmus has a much-awaited second novel scheduled for publication in late 2026 titled Peck & Peck.
Book Club Resources for Lessons in Chemistry
We have a printable Lessons in Chemistry book club guide available on Etsy, including discussion questions, themed games, a printable bookmark, and more!
You can also find free resources for your Lessons in Chemistry Book Club Discussion on our website.
Homeseeking
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Suchi was only 7 years old when she first met Haiwen in Shanghai. She was drawn to the sounds of his violin, and their friendship developed into a deep love. But when Haiwen secretly enlisted in the Nationalist army in 1947 to save his brother from the draft, Suchi was left behind with nothing more than his violin and a note begging for her forgiveness.
Sixty years later, they see each other for the first time thanks to a chance encounter at an Asian supermarket in Los Angeles. Recently widowed Haiwen hopes it might be a second chance for him and Suchi, but she has survived the intervening decades by refusing to look back.
This novel follows Suchi and Haiwen through the six decades they were separated. Through alternating viewpoints, Suchi’s story is told from her childhood to the present, while Haiwen’s story is traced in reverse. From Chinese war and famine to the song halls of Hong Kong, from military encampments in Taiwan to the busy streets of NYC, and to sunny California, where they are finally reunited.
This epic, character-driven novel illustrates the different ways that people learn to survive through a lifetime of difficult decisions. Haiwen holds his memories close, while Suchi forces herself only ever to look forward.
More About This Novel
This novel incorporates various languages, and the characters are referred to by different names and at different times in their lives. While this initially seemed like it would get very confusing, it was done in such a way that Book Girl Angela was able to keep track of the characters even while listening to the audiobook.
Angela especially enjoyed the non-linear structure where one story is being told forward, and the other in reverse. From the first moment that they saw each other at the supermarket in Los Angeles late in their lives, she needed to know their backstory. Along the way, Angela learned so much more about the Chinese Civil War.
Homeseeking is Karissa Chen’s only novel as of the date of this list.
The Music of Bees
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
98% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Forty-four-year-old Alice is in the midst of deep grief. She’s unexpectedly lost her husband, her job is a dead-end, and even her beloved beekeeping hobby isn’t bringing her the usual joy. She has even begun to have anxiety attacks, thinking about how far her life has strayed from her dreams.
As she’s transporting 120,000 bees in her truck, she nearly collides with Jake. He’s a troubled, paraplegic teenager with the tallest mohawk in Hood River County. When Alice sees Jake’s genuine interest in the bees and learns about his own difficulties at home, she impulsively invites him to see the farm.
The third member of the unlikely trio that makes up this novel is Harry. He’s twenty-four and his social anxiety has prevented him from getting a traditional job. He answers Alice’s ad for part-time farm help and is shocked to be hired. Alice, Jake, and Harry become fast friends when they have to work together to stop a pesticide company that is threatening the bees. Through their new friendship, they each begin to heal.
What to Expect in This Book
While this book deals with grief and other tough topics, the overall book is uplifting and heartwarming. It was one of Melissa’s favorite reads of the year!
Other Works by This Author
In 2024, Eileen Garvin’s second novel, Crow Talk, was released and is another great story that incorporates nature into healing and unexpected friendships.
Burn Down Master’s House
Book Summary
Inspired by true stories, this novel is told as four interconnected stories that center on Magnolia Row, a fictional Virginia plantation. Luke and Henri are determined to escape the unimaginable cruelty that surrounds them every day, and they find a way to leave their mark.
The actions of Luke and Henri spur future uprisings, including from Josephine, a young girl, Charity, who fought for her freedom but still battles an unjust system, and Nathaniel, a Black enslaver.
What to Know Before Reading
Although this debut novel was just released in January of 2026, it already has nearly 5000 reviews on Goodreads with an average rating of 4.47.
Keep in mind that it’s an extremely tough read at times, and the author doesn’t shy away from brutal truths, including topics of rape, torture, and more horrific dehumanizing scenes. However, readers say it’s also a story of resistance and resilience.
While this is Clay Cane’s first novel, he has previously published non-fiction books.
The Collected Regrets of Clover
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Clover had an unusual childhood, with her Kindergarten teacher passing away during a reading of Peter Rabbit. Then, her parents passed away while traveling, and she started a new life with her grandfather in New York City. She continued to be fascinated by death and was studying different cultural traditions abroad when she received the terrible news that her grandfather had passed away alone in his office.
Clover commits to preventing others from dying alone by becoming a death doula. She only takes one patient at a time, so she can be more present for her clients than hospice workers. Whether she’s only holding their hand or hearing their regrets about life, she is present to honor them in their last moments. Her only friend is actually her grandfather’s friend, Leo, who is very concerned that when he is gone, Clover will be alone. Between his friendship-matchmaking and a fiesty new client, can Clover shift her life focus outside of work from the dying to a new life of her own?
Our Thoughts On This Book
Melissa highly recommends this book for anyone who loves the heart of Fredrik Backman and characters like Eleanor Oliphant or Albert Entwistle, who have been loners for much of their lives.
While the book’s concept sounds heavy on death and grief, the novel is very much about life. It’s a rare book that Melissa wanted to read again immediately, while also wanting to give it a hug.
Another Book by This Author
Mikki Brammer’s second novel, Good Joy, Bad Joy, is scheduled for release in May of 2026. It features octogenarian Joy, who has always played by the rules. But as her best friend, Hazel, approaches the end of her life, Joy becomes determined to live life to the fullest while they have time left, even if that includes some hijinks and petty crime.
Go As a River
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
98% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This novel transports you to 1940s rural Colorado and the home of teenager Victoria Nash. Despite her young age, she runs the household as the sole female in a family of troubled men. One day, she meets Wilson Moon, a mysterious young drifter who has been displaced from his tribal land. Their sudden and passionate connection is full of danger and secrets.
Victoria ends up fleeing to the harsh mountain wilderness in a small hut, where she struggles against impossible conditions. As the Gunnison River rises and threatens her homeland, she begins a quest to fight for all she has lost.
Thoughts on This Book
This is a great pick if you enjoy deep and descriptive, character-driven reads. While much of the book is slower-paced, the final chapters are said to be the best.
As of the date of this post, details on Shelley Read’s second book have not been released.
Book Club Guide Available
Don’t miss our entire book club guide for Go As a River, which includes discussion questions, food ideas, and so much more!
Black Cake
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This novel opens in present-day California shortly after Eleanor’s death. She has left behind a voice recording for her two adult children – Byron and Benny. She’s also left them a traditional Caribbean black cake that she tells them to share “when the time is right.”
Her children, it turns out, only know a small part of their mom’s life story. Posthumously, Eleanor is finally ready to share her truth so that Byron and Benny can truly know and understand their family history.
As the story unfolds, everything that her children thought they knew about their lineage and themselves will be rocked to the core, and by the time they finally share the black cake, another person will be joining them at the table.
Thoughts on This Book
Although Eleanor has already died when this novel begins, through her voice recordings, this novel traces the story of her life and shows how the choices she made over the years impacted not only her future but also those of everyone in her family.
Angela rated this book five stars and highly recommends the audiobook version because the accents really bring the story to life.
Black Cake has been adapted into a streaming television series on Hulu.
It’s Different This Time
Book Summary
Five years ago, June and Adam were best friends sharing a brownstone in NYC. Since that time, almost everything has changed. June and Adam are no longer friends, and June chased her dreams to LA, where she landed a hit TV show.
Right after learning that her show is being canceled, June receives a cryptic email from the company that manages the brownstone. With nothing to lose, she decides to fly back to NYC.
It turns out that, thanks to a legal loophole, if June and Adam move back into their beloved West Village brownstone together for one month, it will become theirs. Any New Yorker knows that you don’t pass up prime real estate.
Fall in NYC is the most magical time of year, but is it enough to bring these two former friends back together?
Other Works By This Author
Joss Richard’s second book, Let’s Kiss and Tell, is scheduled for release in August of 2026.
Looking for Jane
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
It’s 2017 when Angela discovers a letter containing a life-shattering confession. She’s determined to find the recipient, and her search leads her to Toronto’s underground illegal 1970s abortion network, known only as Jane.
In 1971, before she went to medical school, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was a typical teenager. However, when she became pregnant, she was sent to a home for “fallen” women and forced to give up her baby for adoption. She never recovered from the trauma and vowed to spend her career providing women choices.
In 1980, Natalie was twenty and had just discovered a shocking family secret that changed everything. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant amid the other chaos in her life, she needs someone to turn to and finds Jane. She works alongside Dr. Turner but continues to be haunted by lies.
Additional Books By the Author
After the success of this novel, Heather Marshall released the equally highly-rated book The Secret History of Audrey James, which was inspired by real women in the German resistance.
Her third novel, Liberty Street, is coming this summer.
Buckeye
Book Summary
This is the story of two marriages and one stolen kiss that changes everything for all four individuals.
Growing up with a physical disability was challenging at times for Cal Jenkins, but it affected him most when it prevented him from serving in WWII. Cal’s wife, Becky, has a spiritual gift that enables her to help family members connect with loved ones they’ve lost. Margaret Salt struggled her whole life with questions about why her birth mother abandoned her. Felix, her husband, is serving on a Navy ship in the Pacific Theater when Margaret receives a concerning telegram.
We follow the lives of Cal, Becky, Margaret, and Felix through the post-war years and beyond. Set against the backdrop of some of the most transformative decades in modern America, the consequences of a long-ago moment of passion create ripple effects through the next generation of both families.
What to Expect in This Book
Throughout this novel, we see the ordinary lives of the main characters intersect with big historical moments. Buckeye is a heavily character-driven novel that explores the ways in which love and loyalty can both anchor people together and drive them apart.
Other Works by This Author
This novel is widely publicized as a debut novel by 60-year-old Patrick Ryan, and we love authors who find such wide acclaim and success later in their careers.
We’re including it on this list based on the promotion of the book as a debut and because it was one of Angela’s favorite reads of 2025. However, we did want to note that Patrick Ryan has released lesser-known prior works, including short stories and a 2006 series of interconnected stories titled Send Me, which is very close to a novel. So, Buckeye isn’t as firmly a debut as others on this list, but it is his first work of this kind.
His next novel has not yet been announced.
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Book Recommendations for Every Bingo Prompt
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