It started out with an innocuous text from my sister-in-law. I should have been getting ready for work. I should have been putting the finishing touches on the slideshow for the party we were hosting the next day to celebrate her daughter, my son, and our niece all graduating from high school. Maybe she was stressed and needed a distraction, who knows? But I jumped all over this text like a pig in, well, you know. Because, yes, I can recommend books. Anytime. Anywhere.

Can I Recommend Books? Why Yes, I Can.

When someone asks me for a book recommendation, there is a physical change in my body chemistry. My brain literally comes alive and starts firing on all cylinders. What do I know about this person? What books have we discussed before? How much time does this person have to read? If you are jumping to the conclusion that I’m a book nerd, it’s not a big leap. I’ll tell you, though, there is pressure when you recommend a book to someone. What if they don’t like the book???? It’s even harder when the person is a friend or relative. You really want to knock it out of the park when you are recommending to someone that you care about.

After my sister-in-law texted me, I immediately went to her Goodreads to see what she’d already read. I didn’t want to give her books she’d already read, obviously. But I couldn’t find her in my Goodreads friends. How are we not Goodreads friends??? So I texted her again. Turns out she’s not on Goodreads. I started sweating. I was recommending cold. I had vague recollections of her talking about a Rick Riordan series a couple of years ago, but I couldn’t remember which one. So, I basically just started grabbing things off of my bookshelves for her.

I may have gone a little overboard when I started grabbing things for my sister-in-law. There was a method to my madness, though. I initially sorted by genre.

The Standalones

My book club read Absolutely True Lies by Rachel Stuhler and I thought it was a fun, easy book to read. I remember laughing out loud more than once. Given that her oldest child just graduated high school and is off to college in a couple of months, I thought a good, solid, mind-candy book was in order. I didn’t catch a pic of just A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, but it’s kind of a standalone book. Even though it brought me to tears more than once, it also made me laugh out loud several times. I wouldn’t consider it a mind-candy book, per se, but it’s definitely a good book to get lost in.

Horror and Thrillers

Having your oldest child graduate from high school can be a little stressful. Being scared out of your mind is a good distraction. This stack contains a combination of books that will scare you in all sorts of ways. Pet Sematary by Stephen King is one of my all time favorite books. Behind her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough and The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda are both Spring Break reads. You by Caroline Kepnes will ensure you never date again if you are single. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is actually non-fiction but it is so well written that you will forget that little fact. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood actually seems like non-fiction sometimes.

YA- Sort of

Two of my favorite authors are John Green and Rainbow Rowell, genre be damned. I threw two YA books in, and then realized that Landline isn’t actually YA. Which is fine, because my sister-in-law is an adult. Whether she’s writing YA or Contemporary Adult Fiction, Rainbow Rowell writes books that speak to where you are. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Lenithan is funny and poignant and emotional and angsty and YA to its core, but I loved it and I recommend it to my YA peeps.

Historical Fiction

Historical fiction isn’t for everyone. I get that. I used to find it unbearable. I have no idea what changed and I honestly can’t tell you what book turned it around for me. I love historical fiction now. These are three of my favorites. Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland tells the story of the painting of Auguste Renoir’s masterpiece (which just happens to be my favorite painting). The Paris Wife by Paula McClain is another “true” story; the story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson. The third book in this trio, Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, was the hardest for me to read. Based on the actual event of the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup, this book breaks your heart coming and going but I still recommend it.

Sci-Fi and Fantasy

I can hear the groans now. Fantasy and sci-fi are not your genre? They didn’t used to be mine either, but these books WILL change your mind. Version Control by Dexter Palmer (another Spring Break read), messed with my head all kinds of ways; reality takes on all a whole new meaning in these pages. I am a HUGE Maggie Stiefvater fan, and her standalone book, The Scorpio Races, is unique and imaginative but every bit as dramatic and compelling as her Raven Cycle books. I wrote a whole post about my love of George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones series, so of course I put this in here for my sister-in-law (just in case she hasn’t read it yet). The Passage by Justin Cronin is the first book in an amazing and amazingly- long trilogy.

Mixing Things Up

After I figured out which books I wanted to give her, I re-sorted them in case she was put-off by any of the genres. Kind of like sneaking veggies into your kids’ meals by chopping them up really, really small. Sometimes recommending books is like that.

Books to TV

Each of these books have been made into a TV series that is currently airing, or just finished (LOVE YOU, Jon Snow!) so you can read these to get the original source material and compare. I recommend all of them, because as good as the shows were, it’s always better to read the books.

Books to the Big Screen

Admittedly, including Catcher in the Rye on this stack is a stretch. J.D. Salinger refused to sell the movie rights to Catcher in the Rye and supposedly even went so far as including this wish in his Last Will and Testament. “Rebel in the Rye” is a 2017 drama of J.D. Salinger’s life, so it sort of counts. It’s not the only stretch in the pile, though. The original Pet Sematary movie hit the screens in 1989 and then was remade in 2019. Sarah’s Key came out in 2010; many tissues needed for the film as well as the book.

A Man Called Ove was released in the US in 2016 and won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film . It was not super popular among my friends, even if the book was. Back in 2017, Tom Hanks announced that he was going to produce and star in an adaptation of A Man Called Ove, and people (okay, me and my friends) got super excited. But that’s the latest news on that. Sigh. Same with Devil in the White City. Leonardo DiCaprio bought the film rights a decade ago. Sigh. The latest is that it’s maybe possibly definitely going to be a Hulu miniseries. Or it might still be a movie. And then there’s The Scorpio Races. Waaaaay back in 2015, they announced this was going to be a movie. I’m still waiting. According to IMDB, it’s “In Development”. Sigh. Just remember, it’s always better to read the books.

Books You Should Have Read By Now

No pressure on my sister-in-law or anyone else my age, but really?!?! Didn’t everyone have to read The Handmaid’s Tale and Catcher in the Rye in high school? I know the answer is no, but it seems like some kind of crime. And Pet Sematary! I get that some of you don’t like scary books, but this isn’t just any scary book. It’s from the King of Scary Books and if you haven’t read it, you need to. Some of you haven’t read Game of Thrones because you are waiting for the series to be complete. Respect. I will give you a pass because I know the joy of binge reading a series from start to finish. If you haven’t read it because your head has been in the sand, get on it.

So, What Do You Think?

I haven’t heard back from my sister-in-law yet, but what do you think? Have you read any of these? Are any of these appealing? Do you have any books you would add here? Can I recommend any other books for you?