Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist of March, returns to bookshelves this year with Memorial Days, a heartrending memoir of marriage, grief and the journey toward peace from the loss of her husband, the celebrated journalist Tony Horwitz.

How to Lose Your Mother by Molly Jong-Fast

Black in Blues by Imani Perry

From political writer and podcaster Molly Jong-Fast comes an exposé on her reckoning with her complicated childhood and her relationship with her mother, Erica Jong, in How to Lose Your Mother. And National Book Award winner Imani Perry goes beyond the personal and pens a memoir and meditation on the color blue and its fascinating role in Black history and culture in Black in Blues.

The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb

Ask any bibliophile what their top five favorite books of all time are and you will see them panic. How is it possible to choose? My “Top Five Books List” changes weekly, but one pick that has always stayed put is Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much Is True. I am beyond thrilled to welcome Lamb to the Nantucket Book Festival this month to discuss his first novel in eight years, The River Is Waiting, hitting the stands June 10, the week of the festival. It’s a propulsive story of a young father who, after an unfathomable tragedy, reckons with the possibility of atonement for the unforgivable. With themes that focus on addiction, the American prison system and forgiveness, the novel demonstrates the transformative power of fiction and how it nurtures emotional intelligence, empathy and connection. Like all of Lamb’s novels, the book is brutally sad at times, but he always manages to find faith, hope and light in the darkness.

I will be in conversation with Wally Lamb on Friday, June 13, at 11 a.m.at the Nantucket United Methodist Church (schedule subject to change

Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen

Carl Hiaasen has been described as “America’s finest satirical novelist” by The London Observer. His most recent novel, Fever Beach, tackles the current chaotic and polarized American culture in a laugh-out-loud plot with zany characters on every page. Hiaasen’s books are always entertaining and must-reads for me. They make you think, “There is no way this could happen” or “People don’t do these things”—that is, until you turn on the news and realize truth is often stranger than fiction. Hiaasen brings the state of Florida to life in a way only a native Floridian could, with good humor and his signature style. Fever Beach features the characters Figgo, Twilly and Viva, with a larger-than-life supporting cast, in a tale of right-wing extremism, greed and corruption. Once you finish it, race to the nearest bookstore for Squeeze Me and Bad Monkey, two other Hiaasen crowd-pleasers. Carl isn’t just a writer for adults—check out his No. 1 New York Times bestseller and Newbery Honor winner, Hoot. He’s a writer for the whole family.

Elin Hilderbrand and I will be in conversation with Carl Hiaasen on Saturday, June 14, at 11 a.m. at the Methodist Church for a special live recording of our podcast, “Books, Beach, & Beyond” (schedule subject to change).

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

When I read Ocean Vuong’s 2019 debut novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, I knew the literary world had just welcomed someone special. The author’s name and the book’s title alone are like beautiful miniature poems. His sophomore novel, The Emperor of Gladness, produces the same gorgeous prose and poignant passages in every paragraph. You’ll find yourself underlining phrases as they lift off the page and resonate in your mind and heart. Featuring characters that become a part of us and people you think about long after the story ends, this novel is about chosen families, unexpected friendships, what it means to exist on the fringes of society, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive. I will never look at carrots, bread rolls or fast-food restaurants and their employees the same way again. Occasionally, you can read a piece of literature that shifts your way of thinking about the world. I’m glad to say this is one of them. Don’t miss Vuong’s poetry collections Time Is a Mother and Night Sky with Exit Wounds.

I will be in conversation with Ocean Vuong on Saturday, June 14, at 3 p.m.at the Methodist Church (schedule subject to change).

COLEMAN HILL by Kim Coleman Foote

THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND by Patti Callahan Henry

JACKIE by Dawn Tripp

GOOD DIRT by Charmaine Wilkerson

I revere historical fiction because I believe that the stories from the past guide us in our present, giving us the tools to understand ourselves and our place in the world. Kim Coleman Foote’s Coleman Hill draws from the author’s own family legend and historical record to tell an unforgettable saga set in 1916. The novel is told in nine voices, and each perspective makes you feel like you’re part of the Coleman clan, joining in their conversations, struggles and dreams. Patti Callahan Henry centers her writing on the power of stories to move and change us, and The Story She Left Behind is perfect proof of this. Inspired by a true literary mystery, the novel takes us back to 1927 with a legendary book, a lost mother and a daughter’s search for them both. Jackie by Dawn Tripp is an intimate investigation into the very heart and soul of one of the most famous women of the 20th century, Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. The research and writing in this fictionalized biography is absolutely masterful. You can feel Jackie in  between the prose. Good Dirt, by Charmaine Wilkerson who also penned the Read with Jenna selection Black Cake, connects the past to the present in this tale of a childhood tragedy and a beloved family heirloom from the 1800s. I will never forget the Freeman family and this epic generational saga.

Connect with all four historical novelists at their Nantucket Book Festival events June 12-15.