As the 2024-25 Season comes to a close, and as we ready THE LIST for the 2025-26 Season, please enjoy these Summer Reading recommendations!

Prepare to smile! And laugh…and perhaps cry. Drita and Petrit have grown up as adopted Albanian twins, living with their Italian-American parents in Connecticut. Drita has always been the “good” twin while her brother has struggled to stay out of trouble. When Petrit’s partner and child show up on the doorstep of Drita, the “good” sister must decide how far she will go for her family. Is blood thicker than water? Or is the blood of the covenant thicker than the water of the womb? You’ll have to read this stellar novel to find out! Whip-smart writing with a huge heart!

This intriguing and beautifully written novel will help stop any ‘summer slide’ your brain may be planning to take! Revolving around, subverting, and interrogating the truth of a family of three, this is one thought-provoking book. It starts with a young man alleging the woman he has met in a cafe is his long-lost mother. But she’s never had a baby…has she? You’ll be thinking about the roles we play and how life can be a stage–fascinating!

A perfect book for an airplane ride! When their daughter is accused of murder, two parents–one a lawyer and the other a pastor–are confronted with excruciating moral dilemmas. Can they save their daughter and in doing so, not ruin themselves? Translated from the Swedish and narrated in three parts, by the mother, the father, and the daughter, this one’s a page-turner!

A young woman, hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, suddenly vanishes. The gripping narrative of the massive manhunt that ensues introduces us to Beverly, the game warden in charge of the effort to locate the missing hiker, Lena, an aging birdwatcher who becomes obsessed with the story, and the hiker herself. The book delves into how we lose ourselves, how we lose those we love, and how we can be rescued, all while holding the reader in suspense: “Will the hiker be found in time?“

This novel has so much to it–you’ll be so glad you picked it up! It follows the story of Ebby Freeman, a Black woman living in New England who is grappling with her family history. A family heirloom–a centuries old jar–carries secrets and answers–as do many of the characters. A thoughtful, compelling, and layered narrative, this multi-generational epic is a winner!

Set in the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska in the immediate aftermath of the real-life dust storm of April 1935, this speculative novel relates its tale via a colorful cast of characters. It is a thought-provoking meditation on the value and burden of memory and the danger of collective amnesia and a re-examination of the history of the Great Plains. A ripping read!

Centering on an unnamed narrator who has abandoned her marriage to join a convent in rural Australia, this unique book is a pleasure to sink into. We watch as our protagonist is confronted by three challenges: a plague of mice, the arrival of a murdered nun’s remains, and the appearance of an activist nun who was once the bullied victim of the protagonist when she was a child. Sounds odd but works beautifully as we contemplate what it means to live a good life with empathy, forgiveness, and care for our world.

An action-packed read, this novel illuminates both the beauty and harshness of its Yellowstone, Montana setting and the bleak reality of modern-day life for ordinary people in the west. The bond between the two brothers at the heart of the story is stretched to the breaking point by the physical hardships of their way of life and the desperation of their financial situation. Faced with a dangerous, long-shot propositiion to solve their predicament, the two lurch forward on an undertaking that will change the trajectory of their lives.

Aptly named, this novel will shred your heart! The story is narrated by Amy, sister to Ollie, the star of the show. Ollie is ill, and although Amy and her parents recognize this, they lack a name for what drives Ollie’s destructive behavior. They also lack any support or means of dealing with it–and the fallout is all encompassing. A gut-wrenching tale of how one person’s mental illness affects everyone always, this book is also a beautiful story of sisterly love. Have your tissues ready!

A sneak peak into the harsh, competitive world of Russian ballet and the politics behind the curtain, this is the story of a world famous Russian prima ballerina returning to St. Petersburg after a debilitating injury that led to her alcoholism and addiction. Given the opportunity to step back into the spotlight, she re-examines the relationships and choices that have brought her to this point.

A young woman living in current day New York City receives word that her beloved grandfather, the patriarch of her sprawling family, has died and left the family estate to her. Shocked and puzzled, she returns to India after a 16-year absence to confront her fractured relationship with her mother as well as the resentment of her extended family as they all try to find a way to move forward together.

An aging Shakespearean actress wakes up Thanksgiving Day morning and decides she can’t quite face the holiday with all her family packed in her Manhattan apartment. She’s out the door with her beloved pooch and what unfolds is 36 hours of self-reflection and bad behavior as she makes her way to visit her mentor, currently in exile in Brooklyn, accused of sexual harassment. A funny, moving, and supremely readable meditation on the roles we take on–or choose to forgo–as we navigate life.

A Romeo and Juliet story but in this version Romeo is the son of a local sheriff in Waco, Texas, and Juliet’s mom is a devout member of a Branch Davidian commune. Set in the early 1990s, this page-turner was inspired by the real-life siege that captivated an entire nation. No doubt you’ll be rooting for the young lovers…will they prevail? You’ll have to read it to find out!

It’s 1950s Tehran and 7 year-old Ellie, whose family is newly impoverished, meets a longed-for friend: Homa, who has even less money but unlimited spirit and a gigantic heart. The girls become inseparable, vowing to grow up to be “lion women.” When Ellie’s mother has a chance to “marry up,” Ellie’s and Homa’s paths diverge, only to reconnect years later when Homa is now a political activist and Ellie has settled down to a traditional life. A story of friendship, loyalty, courage, and a glimpse into the history of regime change in Iran–this one has it all!

Banned immediately upon publication by the Irish censorship board in 1961, this novel has been recently reissued. The wealthiest and seemingly most devout of couples in an Irish neighborhood is planning a pilgrimage to Lourdes in a last-ditch attempt to heal the husband’s crippling arthritis. In the lead-up to their departure, anonymous letters start arriving, threatening to expose dark and shocking secrets–and for the Ireland of the 1960s, there are plenty! While the premise reads like a sexy romp, the book actually looks thoughtfully at the roles of sex, death, and the Catholic Church in small town Ireland during the 1960s.

Literary Masters members loved Joan is Okay during our 2022-23 Season, and now the author is back with this timely and frequently funny narrative of a busy young couple; she’s been raised by strict Chinese parents while he’s from rural, white, working-class stock. Inviting their parents to join them on vacation (what could go wrong?), the couple struggles to understand what it means to be a family while also grappling with the state of their marriage–all during a time when they are supposed to be relaxing!

She Said, a trenchant analysis and exposé of the #MeToo movement, was a Literary Masters favorite during our 2019-20 Season. Now you can read a riveting novel that covers some of the same ground while asking new and critical questions. When colleagues Sloane, Ardie, Grace, and Rosalita’s boss Ames is suddenly and unexpectedly promoted to CEO, each woman’s past with him takes on a new light, and it’s not always a bright one. How will each woman navigate this new power structure? And just who is it that is holding the power? And has anything changed at all?