 |
| This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases. |
I was tempted to make a list of books with shiny, reflective covers . . . .
Unfortunately, that's not what we're doing today. We're talking about books where the characters reflect on the past. They could be grappling with their own memories or engaging with a historical event. These are all books where the past influences the characters' present behavior.
Best Reflective Books
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Young Adult Contemporary Novel-In-Verse
A gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he?
As the elevator stops on each floor, someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows.
Why I recommend it: The plot of Long Way Down reminds me of A Christmas Carol, but it’s set in a modern, inner-city apartment building. Most of the story takes place on an elevator. Yep, a 300-page elevator ride. (I swear it’s not as boring as it sounds!) A teenager’s brother is murdered, and the teen sets out to get revenge. When he steps into the elevator in his apartment building, a ghost gets on with him. The elevator stops at every floor, and a new ghost gets on at each stop. That’s when the Christmas Carol vibes start. The ghosts force the teen to confront his choices and reevaluate his decision to commit murder. It’s a thoroughly modern ghost story! And, best of all, it never gets preachy or heavy-handed! The author treats his (deeply flawed) characters with compassion and lets the readers draw their own conclusions.
Support Independent Bookstores
The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Adult Historical Fiction
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
Why I recommend it: I never thought I’d be obsessed with the love life of fictional celebrities, but here we are. Evelyn Hugo is one of my favorite protagonists. She’s confident, cunning, and will do anything to get what she wants. This novel is beautifully written and full of twists and surprises.
Support Independent Bookstores
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Adult Historical Fiction
Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle's dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast's booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery.
One thread of Homegoing follows Effia's descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day.
Why I recommend it: The writing is stunning. There are scenes that will stick with me forever, especially the ones set in prisons and mines. They’re very visceral. I like that the book doesn’t solely focus on well-known bits of history. There were a few moments where I went, “Oh, I didn’t know about that.” Then I had to do some Googling. The best historical fiction books teach me something new while keeping me entertained.
Support Independent Bookstores
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Adult Science Fiction
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now . . .
Why you should read it: Have you ever loved a book so much that you can’t talk about it? You just scream incoherently and hope everybody understands? That’s me with this book. I read it for the first time when I was in my late teens or early twenties, and it blew my mind. It’s intricately structured and beautifully written. It’s both insightful satire and horrifying dystopia. It was written 30+ years ago, but it feels timeless because it’s still eerily relevant. It’s about environmental damage, religious extremism, dictatorships, and women’s rights. Those are all issues you encounter on news sites every day. If you don’t want to read the original version of this novel, there’s a brilliant graphic novel adaptation.
Support Independent Bookstores
A Psalm For The Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Now the life of the tea monk who tells this story is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They will need to ask it a lot. Chambers' series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?
If you're in the mood for a short, gentle story, this is a good one. It'll make you think about what you truly need in life.
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Middle Grade Science Fiction
At the age of twelve, Jonas, a young boy from a seemingly utopian, futuristic world, is singled out to receive special training from The Giver, who alone holds the memories of the true joys and pain of life.
Why I recommend it: Seventh grade English class forced me to read this novel, and it was the first assigned reading book that I actually enjoyed. I loved it so much that I reread it outside of school. (*Cough* Nerd *Cough*.) I suspect I enjoyed it because it's about a character who is an outcast in his society. Middle-school-me was a drama queen who always felt soooo misunderstood. Jonas is also misunderstood because he knows things about his utopian society that are not common knowledge. He has to watch everybody else live in bliss while he knows pain.
Support Independent Bookstores
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Adult Historical Fiction
Angelfield House stands abandoned and forgotten. It was once the imposing home of the March family—fascinating, manipulative Isabelle, Charlie her brutal and dangerous brother, and the wild, untamed twins, Emmeline and Adeline. But Angelfield House conceals a chilling secret whose impact still resonates.
Now Margaret Lea is investigating Angelfield's past—and the mystery of the March family starts to unravel. What has Angelfield been hiding? What is its connection with the enigmatic author Vida Winter? And what is it in Margaret's own troubled past that causes her to fall so powerfully under Angelfild’s spell?
Why I recommend it: Atmospheric writing, ghost children, and a biographer who is trying to uncover the secret past of a famous author. It has all the scandalous twists of a great gothic novel. The end surprised me. This is a hard book to discuss without spoiling the twists, but if you’re a fan of Jane Eyre, or Rebecca, or The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo, you need to read it.
Support Independent Bookstores
The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Young Adult Fantasy
Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.
Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was: a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.
Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous—it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost, Da's death was hard enough, but now that her little brother is gone too, Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself may crumble and fall.
Why I recommend it: This fantasy duology reminded me why young adult fiction is so addictive. The duology is fun. It's twisty, angsty, mysterious, creative. There's even a love triangle. I couldn't stop reading. I enjoyed learning about the world where ghosts are archived. It's an intriguing take on the afterlife that I haven't seen before.
Support Independent Bookstores
Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey
Adult Mystery
Maud, an aging grandmother, is slowly losing her memory—and her grip on everyday life. Yet she refuses to forget her best friend Elizabeth, who she is convinced is missing and in terrible danger.
But no one will listen to Maud—not her frustrated daughter, Helen, not her caretakers, not the police, and especially not Elizabeth's mercurial son, Peter. Armed with handwritten notes she leaves for herself and an overwhelming feeling that Elizabeth needs her help, Maud resolves to discover the truth and save her beloved friend.
This singular obsession forms a cornerstone of Maud's rapidly dissolving present. But the clues she discovers seem only to lead her deeper into her past, to another unsolved disappearance: her sister, Sukey, who vanished shortly after World War II.
As vivid memories of a tragedy that occurred more than fifty years ago come flooding back, Maud discovers new momentum in her search for her friend. Could the mystery of Sukey's disappearance hold the key to finding Elizabeth?
Why I recommend it: This book destroyed me in the best possible way. It’s narrated by an elderly woman who is losing her memory. There are people in my family who have dementia, and that disease is freakin’ terrifying. I never want it to happen to me. Nope, nope, nope. This novel shows dementia in all its awfulness.
The story is narrated by Maud, who has lost her short-term memory, but still remembers her childhood in the years after WWII. She remembers that her sister Sukey left her house one day and never came home. Now Maud is worried that the same thing has happened to her best friend Elizabeth. She can’t remember the last time she saw Elizabeth. Her daughter and Elizabeth’s son keep telling her that her friend is safe, but Maud doesn’t believe them. She’s convinced that Elizabeth is missing, and she’s the only one who can find her.I feel so bad for all the characters. Maud thinks nobody takes her seriously because she’s losing her memory. Maud’s daughter, Helen, is struggling to be a good caretaker. It’s hard because Maud is not an easy person to care for. She’s so obsessed with Elizabeth being missing that she tends to wander around the neighborhood and create havoc. She has an affinity for digging up the neighbors’ gardens and breaking into homes. Her loyalty to Elizabeth is very sweet, though. Nothing will stop Maud from finding her friend.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Adult Literary Fiction
After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.
Why I recommend it: It was adorable. I love that one of the characters is a hungry octopus that escapes from its tank and eats its fishy neighbors. RIP aquarium exhibits.
The human characters are equally compelling. The main character is Tova. She works the night shift at a public aquarium, and that's where she meets Marcellus, the escape-artist octopus. Tova and Marcellus form a bond because Tova's teenage son disappeared in Puget Sound. Marcellus knows what happened to him, but how can he tell her? How can an octopus communicate with a human?For a book about death and loneliness, the tone is surprisingly light. Marcellus has some funny observations about the world. There are also a bunch of quirky human characters who are all searching for love or family. The book tackles heavy topics, but it never feels depressing. It'll (probably) leave you smiling.
No comments:
Post a Comment