Looking for something perfect to put under the Christmas tree? Nothing warms our hearts and de-grinchifies us faster than a stack of great books. We crowd-sourced our in-real-life Sisterhood to put together this stellar booklist. Some books we have loved, others we are wishing to see under our own trees this Christmas. In any case, they all come stamped with a Sisterhood Seal of Approval, so you can feel confident that your favorite reader will move you to the top of their list after receiving any of these.

If you are like us or know someone like us,

this list is for you.

1. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

A book club pick, we devoured this book individually and as a group. In a nutshell, a young woman loses her job and then goes to work for a young quadriplegic, but that’s just on the book jacket. There is so much meat to this tale. The relationship that develops between Louisa and Will doesn’t just touch the reader, it makes you reevaluate the line between ordinary and extraordinary and the paths we take to get where we need to go. It also launched a great book club discussion which is, of course, the very best endorsement.

2. You: A Novel by Caroline Kepnes

A cautionary tale for our hyper-connected world, this riveting tale of Joe and his obsession with the lovely, unsuspecting Beck will heighten your pulse and take your breath away. A creeper tale of the highest order, this story watches Joe watching Beck and then making his move from stalker to boyfriend. Read this one with all the lights on and feel to check your heart rate often during this compulsively readable and thrilling book.

3. For The Love by Jen Hatmaker

A book club pick from another book club, we were thrilled by Hatmaker’s honest, funny take on parenting, marriage, and modern womanhood. A Christian blogger cum HGTV star, Hatmaker is the best girlfriend you wish you had. This book means you can carry her wisdom and wit with you all the way through the carpool line and beyond.

4.The Clasp: A Novel by Sloane Crosley

Wickedly funny, this book starts with relatively unlikeable characters, adds some loose connections to the story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, throws in a road trip, and somehow ends up with a satisfying read. The three young people at the heart of this one–Kezia, Victor, and Nathaniel–were best friends in college who crash back in to each other’s lives at a wedding. Their intricate dance throughout the novel holds all the moving pieces here together, but Crosley’s wry funny observations and humor are the real stars. Erin quoted this book out loud to her husband many times. Be prepared to laugh and cry.

 5. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein

Erin is a Freakonomics podcast enthusiast and found this recommendation in an episode. Funny as well as fascinating, this book takes on the idea that is transforming behavioral economics: small changes can produce great results. Finding a book to stimulate your mind and your funny bone at the same time is like finding a bathing suit in January, but this is one magical unicorn of a book. Not just appropriate for non-fiction lovers, this book will thrill anyone curious about why people do what they do. It might make you reevaluate how funny college professors really can be. A fun, fascinating read.

6. Fates and Furies  by Lauren Groff

Full disclosure: we really liked Gone Girl so this book which has hints of that same dark heart beating beneath the shiny surface of the marriage between these two new beautiful people thrills us.  But this is not Gone Girl Lite. Groff is a beautiful writer and the power of her prose combined with the structure she imposes here give this book new heights to reach and new depths to plumb. With the two points of view explored fully and exposed honestly, this book could also have been titled The Rise and Fall of a 20 Year Marriage,  but even that falls short of the literary magic happening here. Love her or hate her, Groff of Arcadia fame is a reader’s writer and this story moves, breathes, and completely blows away what you ever thought about long term relationships.

7.The Daylight Marriage by Heidi Pitlor

Another wife gone missing book with an important difference: Pitlor’s gifted hand. She draws everyday married life in all it unexceptional uniqueness. When Hannah disappears after an argument with her husband Lovell, the story of their marriage unfolds as the mystery begs to be resolved.  Pitlor deftly explores the special country that each love story spawns with exquisite and realistic detail. You have seen those blind turns, you have navigated these back roads. A page turner with heart and humor.

 8. Among the Ten Thousand Things by Julia Pierpont

Another look at yet another marriage, but this time the focus includes the teens caught in the crossfire. The immensely gifted Pierpont draws the philandering Jack, his wife Deb, and their two children with such clarity that their pain is palpable. An inventive structure to the novel adds layers to this already complex and accurate portrayal of a modern family in distress.

 9. The Mothers by Jennifer Gilmore

This book is a novelization of the up close and brutal of the adoption process. The complex, often times unlikeable characters of Jesse and Ramone populate this novel with their insecurities and shortcomings, but ultimately this book wins because it has a raw honesty. Though it is at times bitter, this vulnerability and truth is also welcome. Dark humor and real emotion pull this novel along. 

 10. The Darlings by Cristina Alger

This book answers the question: what happens after the torpedo hits the bow? A novel set in New York City, this story follows the Darling family, a family firmly in the 1%, after a financial scandal threatens to sink the whole ship. Rich with details of what it’s really like inside the hearts, minds, homes, and work spaces of the wealthy elite, this book will definitely grab your imagination. The well paced plot and superbly drawn characters will keep it.

So don’t forget: nothing says “I love you” like a stack of books under the tree on Christmas morn.

Didn’t find what you are looking for?

Check out our other booklists from this year here and here and here and here.

We even have a

booklist for those parenting teens and tweens

and one for those who are grieving.

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Check out our books, “I Just Want to Be Alone” and “You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth.”

 

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