Our Favorite Books – Book Club Recommendations from The Inspired Abode
One of the best things that ever happened to us was when one of our best friends decided to start a book club back in 2014. We’ll still remember that first meeting with 30+ girls. Think lack of seating, so much excitement & difficulty getting a word in. In the months that followed, people joined & people left, but what remains is a core group of about 6 of us plus 2 or 3 more who join when they’re able.
We love our book club not only because of the incredible women we get to see on a fairly regular basis (we always shoot for every 4-6 weeks depending on the length of the book we’re reading), but because it inspires thoughtful conversation, provides us with the opportunity to read books we wouldn’t naturally pick up on our own, and it gives us so much more joy & “me time” beyond the hour that’s set aside to meet. Whether or not you’re part of your own book club, we hope you’ll join us in spending at least an hour of the day away from screens & enjoying a book.
“Never count down the pages to see exactly how much you have left. Finishing a good book is like losing a friend.”
Reading has become one of our favorite things to do & we’re so happy about that fact. Our dad was a voracious reader & always said, “finishing a good book is like losing a friend,” and we finally know exactly what he was talking about. Take a look at some of our favorites below. We hope you find what you’re looking for! Click on each book’s cover to be taken to the purchase & thank you for supporting our blog at no additional cost to you by doing so.
SHOP SOME OF OUR FAVORITES
Our Reading List
Inspired by Grace from The Stripe, we’ll be listing our favorite books alongside a rating. Keep in mind that everyone’s preferences are different, so our B-rated books might be your A-rated books & vice versa. We’ve gotten something out of every single book on this list, so happy reading!
**We’ll be updating this list whenever we read a new book that we’d recommend, so be sure to bookmark this blog post.
Organized in order of when we read the book (most recent being first):
Rating: A
This book was actually recommended to our book club by our book club founder’s fiancé (now husband), and while we’ll spare you the inside joke, we’re so glad that he did. Written by an author you might be familiar with if you’ve read (or seen) Never Let Me Go, the New York Times best-selling novel tells the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend, from her own perspective. These quotes say it best (without giving too much away):
“An intriguing take on how artificial intelligence might play a role in our futures…a poignant meditation on love and loneliness” - The Associated Press
“What stays with you…is the haunting narrative voice – a genuinely innocent, egoless perspective on the strange behavior of humans obsessed and wounded by power, status, and fear.” - Booker Prize committee
Rating: B+
People We Meet on Vacation was the perfect book to read after suffering through a trio of incredibly dark books that our book club chose to read, although I think we would have enjoyed it no matter what came before it. It tells the story of two unlikely best friends, Alex & Poppy, and how their friendship morphs over the years – for good & bad.
The chapters alternate between present day & each of the ten summers prior, beginning at the first summer the two met & progressively getting closer to the present as the book goes along. Not only is it a great story of friendship, but the reader is also whisked away to the variety of beautiful vacation destinations that the two visit each summer for ten years. It’s also a great lesson in knowing yourself & not hiding that person from the people you love.
Rating: B+
Let’s just start off by saying that the Hulu show of the same name, starring Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Shannon & Luke Evans, is only based on this novel. If you saw HBO & Nicole Kidman’s screen adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s novel Big Little Lies, you would have recognized most scenes from the book. In Nine Perfect Strangers, however, the first two episodes of the show are the most similar to the book, but then it jets off in a different direction – not worse, not better, but different – entirely and introduces six episodes that are only loosely recognizable from the novel.
The story revolves around nine strangers who attend a health & wellness retreat in a remote part of Australia & all that comes with it. We enjoyed learning about all of the different characters (something the Hulu show does perfectly well, with some dramatic additions) & the happenings at the wellness resort crescendo in an exciting way. We felt as though the end came too quickly after the climax of the story, but it was still a great read!
Rating: A+
Oh. My. Gosh. This is the most disturbing book we’ve ever read. It was also the biggest page-turner we’ve ever read. We can’t stop thinking about it or talking about it with whoever we come across who has also read it.
The perfect mix of a page-turning thriller & hot romance novel, Verity is totally worth the hype. We want to say more but we don’t want to give anything away. What we will say is something you can find by reading the synopsis online or on the back cover.
This book tells the story of Lowen, a young writer who receives the job offer of a lifetime when she is tasked with finishing the book series of bestselling author, Verity Crawford. However, while sorting through notes in Verity’s office, she finds an unfinished manuscript with all of the bone-chilling, vivid details of her life.
We love that as the reader, you get to read the manuscript right along with Lowen. It pulls you into the moment and we guarantee you’ll stay up later than you normally do to find out what comes next.
Rating: A+
This was actually Kelcy’s recommendation for our book club & we all absolutely LOVED it! The author spent years studying joy, and she presents the information in such an informative & fun way. You’ll find yourself picking up your phone or computer to Google all of the various people, places & things she describes to give yourself an even deeper understanding.
Each chapter focuses on one of the ten aesthetics of joy: energy, abundance, freedom, harmony, play, surprise, transcendence, magic, celebration, and renewal. While not every aesthetic sparks joy in everyone, Ingrid explains that each person will gravitate toward a few key aesthetics of joy. Not only will you learn so much about the science behind joy, but you’ll learn so much about yourself throughout the process.
This book has already changed our lives! It lit a fire under Brooke to move to a condo beaming with natural light & it’s inspired us both to add a pop of color to our weddings’ color palettes. Highly recommend!
Rating: A+
This remains one of our book club’s favorite books we’ve ever read & it was actually Brooke’s pick! Whenever we’re in the mood for a fun, light read, we task someone with attempting to find the next One Day in December. Reese Witherspoon picked it for her own popular book club & we really think she says it best:
“Get ready to be swept up in a whirlwind romance. Laurie falls in love at first sight with a stranger, and spends the next year looking for him. Fate brings them back together at Christmas, but not in the way anybody expects: turns out he’s dating her best friend. It absolutely charmed me.” —Reese Witherspoon
Don’t worry, she didn’t give much away as you find out the unfortunate news pretty early on in the novel; however, there’s so much more to it than that! It’s a story of friendship & love, in more ways than one.
Let us know what you think & if you’ve read a book that gives you the same can’t-put-it-down-while-feeling-warm-and-fuzzy vibes, please let us know!
Rating: A
There’s a reason this book is a New York Times bestseller, plus being twins ourselves, we found it even more thought provoking & interesting.
The novel tells the very different stories of identical twin sisters who, although close throughout their childhood, end up choosing different paths for their adult lives. One sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town they grew up in, and the other secretly passes for white in California with a white husband who has no idea who she really is. The story weaves between the pair of sisters until their lives ultimately intersect.
We don’t want to give away too much, but we hope you find it as interesting as we did!
Rating: A
One of our best friends recommended this one to us & we’re so glad she did! She didn’t give us a summary of the book so as not to give anything away, and so we’re going to do the same for you. You’ll thank us later.
Be prepared to be as confused about what’s happening as the main character. Colleen Hoover puts it perfectly, “You’ll have whiplash until the very end.”
Rating: A
This memoir tells the story of an interesting (to put it lightly) family of survivalists living in the mountains. Tara recounts what it was like growing up completely isolated from society as we know it and all of the crazy happenings that occurred throughout. Aware of what she’s missing, Tara makes the difficult choice to take life into her own hands in order to change her destiny.
It’s a book that will not only shed light on the way some groups of people think, but it will also make you realize how lucky it is to be born into a family that welcomes & appreciates education.
Rating: A-
We always seem to love reading books that are or end up being in Reese’s Book Club, and this suspenseful novel is no different. The story revolves around the friendship between a local resident of a small, summer vacation town in Maine and a longtime summer tourist. When the visiting friend is found dead under suspicious circumstances, all eyes turn to her best friend, and the whole town is turned upside down.
We used to visit a small town on an island in Canada every summer, and we couldn’t help but picture the town’s streets & residents as we read this. It made it all the more suspenseful!
Rating: B
Before we get into the book itself, and although not a major part of the story, we highly recommend this book for anyone that’s worked or works at a restaurant as a waitress. Those passages felt so real & instantly brought back memories we’d long since forgotten.
The story follows Casey Peabody, a young woman who moves to Massachusetts (a place we’d love to visit!) in the summer of 1997. She waits tables in Harvard Square while working on her debut novel, determined to live a creative life. She ends up getting involved with two men who couldn’t be more opposite from one another, and it’s almost as if each of the men appeals to the woman she is & the woman she wants to become.
Rating: B+
While we absolutely loved this book, we felt it was a little over-hyped & that may have contributed to our rating. We totally get why it’s a fan favorite, but we have to admit, it took us awhile to get into it. Once we did, it was a great story & we still think about the ending!
If you haven’t read the book yet, we definitely think it’s worth reading, especially before the movie comes out this summer. The novel tells the story of Kya, known better around town as the “Marsh Girl,” a young girl & now young woman who has survived on her own for years deep in the marshland. When a local young man is found dead, the town speculates that it was the Marsh Girl, but as usual, there’s always more than meets the eye.
Rating: A+
Being the author’s debut novel, we were incredibly impressed by this suspenseful thriller that kept us guessing until the end. The novel is as much about Theo Faber, a criminal psychotherapist working at psychiatric hospital, and his patient Alicia Berenson, a famous painter who shot her husband five times & hasn’t said a single word since.
That’s as much as we knew going into reading this book, and we want the same for you so we’re going to stop there.
Rating: A
We absolutely loved this autobiography of a psychotherapist in Los Angeles. It was so well-written & honest that it felt like reading fiction, but it made it all the more lovely that it was true.
Lori Gottlieb not only shares the stories of a select group of her patients’ lives – including a Hollywood producer who doesn’t take her seriously, a new wife diagnosed with cancer, an older woman who is ready to end her life, and a young woman who is attracted to the wrong guys – but she also shares her own struggles & experiences with her therapist.
It not only challenges you to think about your own life & thoughts, but it shows that we’re all human and we all need help, even the people who we place our trust in to help us. We think it’s a must-read for everyone to understand the benefits of therapy!
Rating: B+
Yet another nonfiction book that could easily fool a reader that it is fiction, the author, Lisa Taddeo, spent 8 years immersing herself in the lives of women across America & this New York Times bestseller is the result of her reporting.
Three Women tells the stories of “Lina, a young mother in suburban Indiana whose marriage has lost its passion, reconnects with an old flame through social media and embarks on an affair.... Maggie, a seventeen-year-old high school student in North Dakota, allegedly engages in a relationship with her married English teacher; the ensuing criminal trial turns their quiet community upside down. Sloane, a successful restaurant owner in an exclusive enclave of the Northeast, is happily married to a man who likes to watch her have sex with other men and women.”
We find ourselves thinking about each of the women’s stories to this day. And although their sex lives are far from ideal, we can only imagine how true their stories are for many women in this country and beyond.
Rating: B
You may have seen the Elizabeth Holmes documentary on HBO, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, but before that, we read John Carreyrou’s detailed account of everything that went down at Theranos in this book.
In case you’re not aware of the story, we suggest reading this tell-all before watching the documentary. In summary, Bad Blood is all about Elizabeth Holmes, the CEO and founder of Theranos – a company that planned to revolutionize the medical world with a device that could complete a large number of laboratory tests with a single drop of blood…except it couldn’t. At one point, the company was valued at over $9 billion, but it was all based on lies & ultimately fraud.
Spoiler alert (but not really because the book is still amazing to read in order to understand everything that lead up to this point): Elizabeth Holmes was recently found guilty of conspiracy to defraud investors and faces up to 20 years in prison as well as a hefty fine.
Rating: A+
Compared to the likes of page-turners by Gillian Flynn, we were incredibly impressed with P. J. Vernon’s debut novel, When You Find Me.
The novel tells the story of an alcoholic socialite who wakes up one night to find her husband missing. First thinking he may have just left to get some space from their rocky marriage, she ultimately realizes that her husband is gone. Enter a stranger who calls her claiming to know details about her husband’s whereabouts, her calls and the information she possesses becomes more frightening & disturbing by the day.
If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, you need to read this book!
Rating: A
By the cover you may have guessed that this book was made into a movie starring Glenn Close & Jonathan Pryce, and once again, we still have yet to see it! We think there’s just something about not wanting to be disappointed in how the story plays out on screen versus on the pages.
Anyway, the novel follows Joan and Joseph Castleman on their way to Helsinki where Joseph is being honored with a prestigious award to honor his accomplishments as one of America’s best novelists. A writer herself, Joan has spent the last 40 years as a loving & supportive wife who has put her own talents on the back-burner. The story weaves through a series of flashbacks, including when they met in college, the fame that followed their marriage, and the ultimate breaking point.
Now that we just remembered everything that happened again after writing this synopsis, we definitely want to see the movie & highly recommend you all read the book!
Rating: A
This was Kelcy’s book club pick & we absolutely loved it! It’s one of those books that instantly transports you to a new destination so much so that you feel like you traveled there yourself.
The novel flips back and forth between the story of the protagonist, Elisa Perez, in present day Miami and the life of her grandmother, the daughter of a sugar baron, in Havana, Cuba in 1958. After her grandmother’s death, Elisa brings her ashes to Cuba to scatter them in the land she came from and ends up learning more about her family history than she expected.
Rating: A
Now a documentary on HBO, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark details the true story of the Golden State Killer – a serial rapist & murderer who killed throughout California during the 1970s and 1980s and was only recently caught.
In tandem with learning the ins and outs of the case, you also get to know the writer & journalist, Michelle McNamara, who worked tirelessly to find him on her own by interviewing victims, reading through police reports & making the mission of finding him her obsession – all thirty years after his killing spree ended. Without her sleuthing, who knows if The Golden State Killer would have ever been found.
Rating: B
Now a Hulu limited series (that we still have yet to see!), Little Fires Everywhere tells the story of how the lives of a wealthy suburbian family, a single mother & her teenage daughter, and a Chinese-American baby intertwine.
The synopsis summarizes it best, “Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.”
Rating: B+
The Immortalists is one of those books with a scene that you still think about for years to come. The story revolves around four brothers & sisters and how their lives are shaped by the prophecies they received from a mystical women when they were young.
One brother searches for love in San Francisco, his sister moves to Las Vegas to become a famous magician, their oldest brother Daniel works as an army doctor, and the second sister is a scientist at a research facility studying longevity. The way each of the siblings live life after learning their fates begs the question of whether you’d want to know how you die, if you’d even believe it, and if knowing (whether true or false) will help you lead a better life or instead fulfill the prophecy that may not have happened had you never known.
Rating: A
Another book that sealed our newfound love of historical fiction, Lilac Girls takes place in 1939, just after Germany invaded Poland at the start of World War II. The story revolves around three very different women & how their lives are impacted by the war.
Jumping from New York where a socialite works at the French consulate, to Poland where a teenager becomes a courier for the underground resistance, and finally to Germany where a young doctor takes an ad for a government medical position that she soon realizes brings her into the Nazi regime. The novel does a wonderful job of showcasing the lives of each of these women and how they intersect in a period of history that shaped the world we live in today.
Rating: B
Being the third book in the Crazy Rich Asians series, we didn’t actually read the first two before diving into the trilogy’s finale. Even so, the author did a great job of giving background on each of the characters so we didn’t feel like we were missing anything. Although if you’d like to read the first two books before reading this one, we think that’s a great way to go!
The story starts with the Shang-Young family coming together when the matriarch of the family is on her death bed, and the chaos that ensues when each family member’s mission is to inherit her 64-acre estate, Tyersall Park. If you’ve seen the movie Crazy Rich Asians (which we loved!), you’ll definitely want to read this book. And if you haven’t? You’ll be as enthralled by the story of a wealthy family that takes you from Singapore to New York & many places in between as we were.
Rating: B
We really wish we remembered how this story ended, but we do remember how suspenseful it was!
The novel starts off with the kidnapping of thirteen-year-old Julie Whitaker from her bedroom. Time passes & the family is expectedly torn up about the loss of their daughter. Years later, a knock at the door reveals a young woman who claims to be Julie, but is it really her? Weaving between the mother’s search for answers & the guilt that Julie’s sister feels after witnessing her sister’s kidnapping, Good As Gone was definitely a page-turner.
Rating: B
You may know Noah Hawley as the creator, director, and executive producer of popular television series’ Fargo and Legion, but he’s also a writer! In Before The Fall he vividly captures the stories & experiences of the only two survivors of a plane crash – a painter who was never meant to be on the private plane and a young boy who is now the only remaining member of a powerful media mogul’s family.
We don’t want to say much more than that, but we think it’s a must-read about the intricacies of family, the nightmare we all have of perishing in a plane crash, and the way trauma affects everyone in different ways.
Rating: B+
This novel-turned-movie stars real-life couple Michael Fassbender & Alicia Vikander (who met on the set!). And even though it was released in 2016, we have yet to see it!
Set in Australia shortly after World War I, the novel tells the story of a man who works as a lighthouse keeper completely isolated on a remote island off the coast. Shortly after he and his wife experience two miscarriages & a stillbirth, they find a boat washed up on their shore with a dead man & a living baby inside.
The rest of the story revolves around the couple’s differing opinions around keeping the baby or reporting it, and the subsequent realization of their choice when they finally return to the mainland. In a time before technology & DNA testing, it makes the reader wonder what they might do faced with a similar situation.
Rating: A-
As you can tell by the rating, we definitely prefer this novel to the “more popular” novel by Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch. Although it was published in 1992, you wouldn’t know it. It feels very current, except for the lack of technology which is actually quite refreshing.
The novel tells the story of a group of misfits under the influence of their professor, and how they learn to think about & live in a world that differs from their peers. Things take a turn & we won’t say much more than it definitely gives us How To Get Away With Murder vibes.
We don’t really know why – maybe it’s because we always wish we’d applied to a university on the east coast – but we always gravitate towards stories about elite colleges & what goes on beyond the surface.
Rating: A
We read this bestseller with our book club back when it only had the original book cover, and not the specialized HBO show branding. We have a whole blog post on this book-turned-series if you’re interested in reading, but we were so happy we read it before it became a massive hit mini-series.
The novel is set in a seaside town in Australia, whereas the HBO series is set in Monterey, California. It tells the story of a group of women (& their husbands) & how their lives intersect more than simply sending their children to the same school. We don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say that a murder takes place in the small town & secrets are kept.
We hope you enjoy this book as much as we did! And if you somehow haven’t seen the HBO series yet, we highly recommend reading the book first, followed by watching the series. It was similar yet different & unlike some books-turned-series (or movies), it did not disappoint!
Rating: A
Amanda Lindhout shares the details of her 15-month abduction in this memoir. As a young woman, she aspired to see every corner of the world, backpacking through Latin America, Laos, India, Sudan, Syria & Pakistan. She even became a television reporter sharing stories from war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Iraq.
But when she traveled to Somalia, she was abducted and held hostage for 460 days, all of which is detailed in her incredibly vivid memoir. It’s a must read!
Rating: B
Some have named Jessica Knoll the next Gillian Flynn (author of Gone Girl), and she’s definitely following in her footsteps of novel to big screen! Luckiest Girl Alive will be released as a Netflix film starring Mila Kunis this year.
The story follows Ani, a young woman who has worked hard for her glamorous life – job, fiancé – and she seemingly has it all. That is, until a something painful from her past is brought to light and shakes the foundation of the life she’s built for herself.
Full disclosure: We might just have to read this one again (or watch the Netflix movie) because we can’t seem to remember what Ani’s secret is.
Rating: A+
When people ask us for book recommendations, this memoir is always at the very top of the list! The story is so wild it’s like reading fiction, but unfortunately, it’s the true story of what a young woman went through. The parallels between her life & our own made us think about the rarity of what happened to her & also how our lives could be so different had we been forced to go through the same thing.
A Netflix movie starring Chloe Grace Moretz was made about this, but we can’t bring ourselves to watch it after seeing the reviews. The memoir was just so good & we don’t want to taint it. If you did see it, let us know what you think! But if you didn’t like it, please don’t let it affect your decision to read this book!
Rating: A-
This New York Times bestseller & Pulitzer Prize winner was the first to make us fans of historical fiction novels. It tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a blind French girl and an orphaned German boy during World War II.
The novel is not only beautifully written, but it sheds light on a dark time by showcasing the innate good in some people.
Rating: A
Being a true story, this book was chilling. If you were like us and somehow missed this when it was in the news, we highly suggest waiting on looking it up until you’ve finished the book.
Pulitzer Price-winning journalist, Héctor Tobar was given exclusive access to the miners & their stories, and in the novel he recounts the horrifyingly true stories of the miners involved in the San José collapse in August 2010.
Not only is being trapped in a mine one of the most frightening things we could possibly think of, but the way the author paints the picture of each miners life – family, hopes & dreams – makes it all the more devastating. We don’t want to say too much more so as not to give anything away, but we think everyone should read this book. Even if you’re not into non-fiction books, this terrifying tale reads as if it’s fiction.
Rating: B-
It’s been years since we read this, but we wanted to include it on our list because we remember enjoying it, and because it’s a New York Times #1 Bestseller! Being more of a young adult novel, it’s not the most sophisticated book our book club has read, but it was definitely a page turner!
Filled with suspense, the story takes the reader to a private island enjoyed by an affluent family & four friends every summer. After an accident, secrets are held, lies are told & friendships crumble.
Rating: A+
We absolutely loved this book! It’s one of those books that you’ll want everyone in your circle (no pun intended) to read once you’re finished so you’ll have someone to talk to about it.
Extremely fitting for the social media, phone-obsessed world we live in today, it’s a dystopian novel that tells the story of the protagonist who gets the job offer of a lifetime when she’s hired to work at The Circle on a large campus in California – think Facebook, Google, Amazon & the next big internet company all wrapped into one. Little does she know at the time, but she’s about to discover the frightening truths behind the company when it comes to surveillance, privacy & more.
The novel became a 2017 feature film starring Emma Watson as the protagonist, and other big names like Tom Hanks & John Boyega, but like most books-turned-movies, the movie fell flat. Don’t let that stop you from reading the novel though! Even if you’ve seen the movie & didn’t love it, we encourage you to read the book & “see” it again all for yourself.
Rating: B
At 775 pages, this novel is quite the commitment. The popularity of this book, as well as it being a Pulitzer prize winner, turned it into a 2019 feature film starring Ansel Elgort, Sarah Paulson, and Nicole Kidman, which we honestly have yet to see! Like most books-turned-movies, it wasn’t well received by critics.
The novel starts off with the horrifying story of its protagonist miraculously surviving an accident but losing his mother in the process. The rest of the novel chronicles his life thereafter, and how the traumatic event that changed his life when he was thirteen follows him wherever he goes.
If you’re at all interested in the art community, we think you’ll want to give this novel a read. And if you’re like us & happened to appreciate the book more than enjoy it, you’ll definitely feel like quite the sophisticated reader having it on your bookshelf.
Rating: A
It’s hard to recall exactly why we loved this book so much considering the first time we read it was in 2014. Not only was it heartwarming & fun to learn about the meanings behind flowers, but it was also the book we read for our inaugural book club. With that fact alone, we will always remember it. We hope it kicks off many book clubs to come around the country & globe.
If you made it to the bottom of this long list of books, congratulations!! We encourage you to bookmark this page & come back to it as we continue to add more recommendations as we read them.