The most recent book I finished from this list published by the Huffington Post is Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique.
(Image from amazon.com)
The story follows two families woven connected by a tragic secret. It begins in 1917 in the Virgin Islands, but follows the members of each family well into the 1970s.
The story is fictional, but draws largely on family stories Yanique’s grandmother told her. Yanique grew up in the Virgin Islands so her descriptions of the places, people, and language are believable and vivid.
Although this novel is a little slow starting, the well-developed characters kept me interested. Often throughout the book, it really did feel like a grandmother was telling fascinating old family stories over a warm cup of tea.
Here’s an updated list. The first five books on this list are the ones I had read prior to discovering the list:
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Yes, Please by Amy Poehler
Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Drink by Ann Dowsett Johnston
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
Her by Christa Parravani
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique
NW by Zadie Smith
A HOUSE WITH CHARACTER 