At LJ, we consider best books on many fronts, but mostly we are searching for titles that stop us in our tracks for more reasons than we could possibly articulate. Because that is what great reads do. They overwhelm any criteria we can list and reduce us to “Yes, that, and that too, and even more.” Listed here are books we stayed up all night reading and started the day wanting to discuss. Books we read and re-read, together and apart, books that some of us are already re-reading again. We hope you find treasures among these lists and that they make you, and the readers you help every day, stop and say, “Yes, that.”
Romance fans will delight in the story, the addition of sweet bakery treats, and the showdown between the judgmental town, the snooty Buenaventuras, and the pull of the love that got away.
In flashback-laden, dual-POV style, Williams (Do You Take This Man) uploads her best yet contemporary romance, full of complex characters, the highs and lows of being a Black woman in STEM, and plenty of steam. Recommend to readers who enjoyed Jasmine Guillory and Chloe Liese.
Highly recommended for listeners interested in social justice and entertainment equity. Offer to those who have devoured Kantor and Twohey’s She Said or Ronan Farrow’s Catch and Kill.
There’s a face-off between organized religion and friendship in Jones’s well-written, compelling sequel to Dead of Winter. It’s a gritty crime novel for fans of Joe Ide’s “IQ” series or David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s Winter Counts.
Readers of the other books in Frost’s series will be pleased with this newest addition, full of Christmas foods, decorations, and festivities, with an intriguing central mystery; it’s sure to be a hit with cozy-mystery lovers.