Top 15 Books For Grandma Updated 04 /2024

A lot of people like to read because it is both a treat and a way to be alone. Reading is a great way to spend time with yourself. I'm never happier than when I've got my head in a new book! My favorite time to read is when I'm outside in the summer. I put my book in my handbag and it goes with me, whether I'm at a local cafe drinking a nice, cold beer or when I'm on a beach somewhere far away. My favorite thing about this time is that I get to switch off and let myself be carried away by the characters in my book. I think about how simple my life is compared to these fictional characters who are in some kind of drama or another.

The number of bookish accounts that are taking over social media has made me start to think that some books are just too good for us alone. For people who don't have a book club nearby, I suggest going with your grandma. Her Kindle will be broken by the end of its first year if she's anything like mine.

Today, we're celebrating #GourgeousGrandmaDay with nine new books that you can read and talk about with your grandma. Love, marriage, and family are the subjects of these stories. They will show you women you'd like to know, some you're glad you don't, and maybe some that you recognize in your own family. In the end, have some carrot cake and tea, or wine and cheese. Your grandma might share some stories with you. These are the 9 books I think you should read and talk about with the great female role models in your life:

What You Did by Claire McGowan

Having six college friends back together after 20 years was supposed to be the best thing that had ever happened. This is the life Ali always wanted, with a job that she can be proud of and a family with her college boyfriend, now husband. But one night, her best friend says something so shocking that nothing will ever be the same again.

A bleeding and traumatized Karen comes into the house after being in the garden and says that Ali's husband has hurt her. Make a quick choice: who should she believe? Her husband was shocked. One of them is lying, but who? Then why?

When the chaos ensues, Ali is forced to look back at the good times they had together at university. She realizes that there are also dark memories. Memories that have been forgotten for a long time. Memories that someone would kill to keep from being erased.

A Fire Sparkling by Julianne Maclean

The man Gillian Gibbons loves broke her heart, so she runs away to her family home for a much-needed break. When she finds an old picture of her grandmother in the arms of a Nazi officer, her life gets even more complicated. Gillian is shocked when she finds out about the photos. She tries to figure out what happened to them, which takes her on an epic journey through the past.

1939. During World War II, Vivian Hughes falls in love with a handsome British official. When bombs start to fall and Vivian's happy life is destroyed in the blitz, she will do anything to protect the people she loves.

As Gillian learns more about her grandmother's past, the old picture starts to make more sense and make sense. As soon as you answer a question, a new one is asked to fill the void. It turns out that what Gillian thought she knew isn't at all what she thought. She tries to find out more about her family's history, but also about herself.

This multigenerational saga is a heartbreaking but hopeful look at one woman's struggle to stay alive. It's great for fans of The Nightingale andBehind a Scarlet Sky.

The Best Girls by Min Jin Lee

When the author of National Book Award finalistPachinko wrote this short story, it was based on a true story. It looks at what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal society and what it costs to keep quiet.

The narrator, who comes from a poor, traditional family in Seoul, has always heard the same thing: Only a boy can give the family respect and money. She isn't. Neither her three sisters, nor anyone else in her family. She has decided to take on her family's problems because she only gets praise for unreserved sacrifice. She's a good person. She also knows what good girls should do.

 

The Best Girls is part of a collection of six short stories called Disorder. The stories are about living nightmares, chilling visions, and uncanny imagination. They show a world that is out of balance in terrifying ways. If you don't know what to do with each piece, you can read or listen to it all in one go.

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

"Life is both short and dangerous, and there is no point in denying yourself pleasure or not being who you are."

She is the #1 best-selling author in the U.S. for Eat Pray Love and The Signature of All Things. Elizabeth Gilbert is back with a love story set in New York City theater in the late 1940s. It's told from the point of view of an older woman who looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret, but mostly pleasure. City of Girls talks about female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the unique traits of true love. In 1940, Vivian Morris, a 19-year-old student at Vassar College, was kicked out because she didn't do well in her first year there. Her rich parents send her to New York City to live with her aunt, Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling theater called the Lily Playhouse in the middle of the city. Vivian meets an entire universe of people who are different and interesting, from the fun-seeking showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and a no-nonsense stage manager there. That is not the case, though. When Vivian makes an error of judgment that leads to a professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in a way that will take her years to fully understand. That leads her to a better understanding of the life she wants and how much freedom it takes to get there. It will also lead her to the love of her life, a love that stands out from the rest of the love. Vivian, who is now 89 years old and has finally told her story, talks about how the events of those years changed the course of her life and the way she went about it. Women get tired of being ashamed all the time at some point. Then she can be who she is. City of Girls is a love story like no other. It was written by someone who knows a lot about human desire and how people connect.

Mother Dear by Nova Lee Maier

Helen has a good, simple life. At work, she's happy with her job. She is raising three happy teenagers, and her family has the most envied house on the street. She admits that she's not very happy with her marriage to her workaholic husband, Werner. But she can fix that. Helen comes home one day and sees something completely out of the blue that could ruin her carefully planned world.

They thought it was a way to make some money: a quick home invasion. There are two people they want to hit: Helen and Werner. With Ralf as a lookout, Brian goes into Helen and Werner's house and doesn't come out. He doesn't come out.

Her nightmare has just begun, and it's only getting worse. She doesn't know how bad things can get or how far she'll have to go to protect her family.

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

Almost one year after her husband died in a car accident, Eveleth "Evvie" Drake rarely leaves her house, which is big and empty. Everybody in the town, even her best friend and best friend, Andy, thinks that Evvie's grief keeps her inside. Evvie doesn't correct them. At the same time in New York City, Dean Tenney, a former Major League pitcher and Andy's childhood best friend, is having the "yips." He can't throw straight anymore, and even worse, he can't figure out why. A trip to Maine from Andy might be the perfect way for Dean to start over and get his life back on track. At the back of Evvie's house, Dean moves into an apartment. He and Evvie make a deal: Dean will not talk to her or ask about her husband, and Evvie won't talk to him. Rules, on the other hand, have a way of being broken, and what starts out as a friendship soon turns into more. It will be hard for Evvie and Dean to move forward if they don't face their mistakes from the past, but there's always a chance to move forward. Evvie Drake Starts Over is a happy, funny, and hopeful debut. It will make you cheer for the two most unlikely comebacks of the year, and it will make you want to read more from Linda Holmes.

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

Mrs. Everything is like "Beaches," but with mothers, daughters, and sisters instead of just one person. I may never be able to come back. She is the author of RUNNING WITH A POLICE ESCORT and READING BEHIND BARS.

Does the world change us?

When Jo and Bethie Kaufman were born, they lived in a world that was full of hope.

In the 1950s, they lived in a house called "Dick and Jane," where their roles in the family were very clear. In this story, Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel who wants to make the world a better place. Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl who wants to be a star and wants a normal life.

But the truth turns out to be very different from what the girls thought. Traumas and tragedies happen to Jo and Bethie. Free love and Vietnam are in the background as their lives go on. Woodstock and Women's Lib are also in the background. Bethie becomes an adventure-loving wild child who dives into the counterculture and is up for anything (except settling down). As time goes on, Jo grows up to be a proper young mother in Connecticut. She is a witness to the world changing rather than a participant in it. There is no woman who lives her dream life, or who has a life that feels real or brings her happiness. Are women too late to claim their share of happiness?

It's Jennifer Weiner's most ambitious book yet. She tells the story of two sisters who have very different dreams and paths. They both answer the question: How should a woman be in the world?

Mrs. Everything is a big, detailed look at history and the lives of these two sisters as they live in a changing America.

---