Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle

Push your cold weather blues away with an escape to the south of France! Peter Mayle, a British expat, writes about his life in picturesque Provence. As the pages turn, Mayle brings to life the sights and sounds of the region and its people. Readers were first introduced to Mayle’s France in A Year in Provence, which described his first year adapting to the Provencal culture and lifestyle. However, Toujours Provence can easily be appreciated on its own. Each chapter is its own tale. Readers get a fascinating description of a Luciano Pavoratti concert, learn of the mystery and intrigue surrounding truffles, go on an unexpected treasure hunt when gold is found on Mayle’s property, explore amazing gastronomic depictions, and so much more. Picking up Toujours Provence or any of Peter Mayle’s travel memoirs is one of the quickest, cheapest, and most rewarding travel experiences!

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club is a group of Chinese women who banded together as they navigated a new country, coming together to share their life experiences and help one another through new ones. After one of the members passes away, her daughter June is invited to be a member in her mother’s spot. Upon her first meeting, June is greeted with a truth from her mother’s friends that she wasn’t prepared for: she must go to China to meet her twin half-sisters, the very sisters her mother believed had died long ago before she fled the country. In preparation, the women tell June of their past experiences in China and moving to America. Their daughters also provide stories to June about their relationships with their mothers and how their stories have impacted their relationships.

Tan creates a fantastic collection of stories woven together to make this novel a piece of art. Each story holds heartache and tragedy, but also strength and triumph! This is a coming of age story, a celebration of life, experience, and love between mothers and daughters.

The Institute by Stephen King

In this novel, Stephen King introduces us to The Institute, a secret operation in the middle of a wooded area in northern Maine. Here there are children who can move things with their minds, and also read the minds of others. But hidden behind the fake smiles from the orderlies and the tests and shots being given to them, what purpose does it all serve? According to the children, it isn't good and they want out.

This was a great thriller and an edge-of-your-seat kind of novel. It's an incredible story of bravery and hope, but also of frustration and dread. It was hard to put down because I wanted to know what would happen next. King takes the reader into a world that could be realistic, operations and tests that could actually be happening, right under our noses. He makes it just believable enough to make the reader think a little harder about what happens to all of those missing children in the world.

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell

Deja and Josiah are about as different as two people can be. She's flirty and extroverted, and he's shy and hard-working. But both of them love fall, and both of them love their local pumpkin patch, and so for two months each year, they are best friends, coworkers, and succotash experts together. But this is their last year working at the pumpkin patch before they both go off to college, and there's so much left undone and unsaid. So on this, their last night working together, they go on an epic quest all across the pumpkin patch, to make the most of their last chance.

This is an incredibly charming seasonal read about friendship and young love and nostalgia. Josiah and Deja are very fun, very relatable characters, and watching them romp around the pumpkin patch makes you want to go find a caramel apple and ride on a hay wagon. If you're looking for a lighthearted book to get you in the mood for Halloween, you couldn't make a better choice.

After the Eclipse by Fran Doricott

Even though sixteen years have passed, Cassie has never gotten over the disappearance of her younger sister. Olive ran off while they were watching a solar eclipse in their grandmother's hometown and was never seen or heard from again. Now an investigative journalist, Cassie returns to the small town to care for her Alzheimer's-stricken grandmother. But another eclipse is coming up, and another girl has disappeared. Cassie knows in her heart that the two must be connected, but will anyone believe her when the evidence doesn't seem to agree? And will this finally be her chance to get answers-- and justice-- for what happened?

This is an intense mystery with a ton of emotional depth. The main character Cassie struggles with her grandmother's mental deterioration, a hiatus from her job, reminders of her sister's disappearance, and even reconnecting with her childhood crush, who happens to be a police officer in the small town. The eclipse looms over everything like a ticking clock, and the ending has lots of twists and turns that keep you on your toes. Highly recommended for fans of dark, thrilling mysteries like Tana French or Ruth Ware.

Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos by Lucy Knisley

Kid Gloves is a memoir about Lucy Knisley’s journey from just before pregnancy to just after. She highlights some tough and personal issues she personally went through trying to conceive "Pal," the nickname she gives her son in the comic, as well as the awful medical emergency she endured at the end of her pregnancy/birth of her son. In between her chapters, marked by what trimesters she was entering, she offered up amazing facts and history about contraception, conception, pregnancy, births, babies, mothers, etc.

This was such a well put together memoir of Knisley's experience. The way she separated her experience by trimester was such a cute and original idea, and adding the facts and interesting history in between really brought the reading experience together in a fun and delightful way. The entire book was emotional, especially the ending. Overall it was a fantastic comic and memoir, and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot, world-renowned Belgian detective, has just finished a case in the Middle East and is headed home on the luxurious Orient Express. In spite of the time of year, the train is strangely full. This becomes a problem when, while stranded in a snowdrift in Yugoslavia, the man in the compartment next to Poirot’s is murdered. With a train full of suspects and no way of contacting the police, Poirot must find the murderer before they escape justice.

Murder on the Orient Express is considered a classic of the mystery genre for a reason. Light on action, but heavy on twists and turns, this story keeps you gripped and guessing from start to finish. Thankfully, unlike some modern authors, Agatha Christie stories do not have to be read in order. Although this is the tenth Poirot book, he still receives a full introduction, allowing this to serve as a perfect first stop for a reader new to her works, as I was.

The audiobook version in particular is a treat. Narrated by actor Dan Stevens, each character is given a distinct voice, making the scenes really come to life, and, at only six hours long, the book is a quick listen. I easily recommend this to anyone who has wanted to give Christie a chance before, or to anyone who loves a good book.