Local Book Lovers Offer Recommendations

Midnight Library by Matt Haig

The short days and long nights provide ample time to reconnect with your passion for reading. To help you get back into reading this winter, we offer this book list, which can help you feel energized to pursue your goals, excited to connect with others and eager to reflect on your daily activities and choices. 

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by Minnesota born J. Ryan Stradal is uniquely told; each chapter focuses on a different character and all the chapter titles are ingredients. The story follows Eva on a journey of discovery told through the lens of food and the community it creates.  Each ingredient is a step along her path. And no, this is not a cookbook.

The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates is focused on empowering women in work, marriage, school and health decisions. She narrates this book with stories from women around the world and the life decisions they made based on their circumstances. 

The Authenticity Project by Claire Poole is focused on our connection with each other. The book follows a notebook as it passes through the hands of seven individuals, each documenting their own deep hidden truths. This book is heartwarming and shows what can ensue when you dare to share your authentic self.    

It All Comes Back to You by Beth Duke is a beautiful story that juxtaposes the joys of love with the sadness of heartbreak and the process of moving forward. The protagonist is a young nurse, Ronni, who has the dream of becoming a writer. She is forced to follow that dream when an octogenarian, Violet, in Ronni’s care, tasks her with writing Violet’s biography. 

Have you ever looked back on life and thought, if I changed one decision, what would my life be like? In Midnight Library by Matt Haig, Nora experiences her various lives if she made different choices.  After which she can choose to stay in that new life or go back to her current life. If given this opportunity, what would you do?

@overbookedmoms