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Thanksgiving 2021 is a perfect time to catch up on your reading.
This is such a fun time of year. Halloween starts it off right. And Christmas is right around the corner. Is it just me or are people putting decorations up earlier and earlier? Not that I mind because I do love holiday lights, haha.
Anyway, Thanksgiving is a great one as well! It’s one of my favorite holidays. Whether you have a quiet one planned or are gearing up for a big family gathering, it’s a great time to reflect, and of course, give thanks. I’m thankful to have a healthy and happy nine-month-old! He’s been such a joy and it’s so fun seeing him grow.
I’m also so thankful to all you readers! Thank you so much for visiting the site and chatting with me about books. It’s truly is such a pleasure.
I thought it would be fun to put together a list of books to read over the Thanksgiving holiday. BTW, if you’re looking for holiday reads, be sure to check out my list article featuring 10 new holiday books as well as my Christmas book club article, which includes books from the past couple of years.
For this list, I don’t have any Thanksgiving-themed books but I do believe there’s something for everyone here. Let’s get to it!
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy is such an atmospheric novel that is haunting, sad but still very hopeful. It follows a woman’s journey to track the migration of Arctic terns, which also serves as a personal redemption story. You will hug your loved ones a little tighter after you finish it. Here’s the synopsis:
Franny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny’s history begins to unspool—a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime—it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds. When Franny’s dark secrets catch up with her, how much is she willing to risk for one more chance at redemption?
Epic and intimate, heartbreaking and galvanizing, Charlotte McConaghy’s Migrations is an ode to a disappearing world and a breathtaking page-turner about the possibility of hope against all odds.
You can order the book on Amazon here.
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
If you’re looking for a story about a family and something with both humor and heart—The Guncle by Steven Rowley is the perfect fit for you. The story follows Patrick, a retired sitcom actor who takes in his niece and nephew for the summer after their mother died. It made me laugh and cry—I just love all the characters. Here’s the synopsis:
Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is, honestly, overwhelmed.
So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick’s brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of “Guncle Rules” ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled acting career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting–even if temporary–isn’t solved with treats and jokes, Patrick’s eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you’re unfailingly human.
With the humor and heart we’ve come to expect from bestselling author Steven Rowley, The Guncle is a moving tribute to the power of love, patience, and family in even the most trying of times.
You can order the book on Amazon here.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
If you’re wanting to be transported to another place, you can’t go wrong with Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I’m not a huge sci-fi fan but I really liked this one. While on the surface this is another man alone in space like The Martian, it goes in unexpected directions. And it actually features many touching scenes. Here’s the synopsis:
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.
Or does he?
An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.
You can order the book on Amazon here.
We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza
For many people, friends are family. And that’s the case for the main two characters of We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza. The story is about the lifelong bond between the two women, one Black and one white, whose friendship is forever changed after a tragic event. Here’s the synopsis:
Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten. As adults, they remain as close as sisters, though their lives have taken different directions. Jen married young, and after years of trying, is finally pregnant. Riley pursued her childhood dream of becoming a television journalist and is poised to become one of the first Black female anchors of the top news channel in their hometown of Philadelphia.
But the deep bond they share is severely tested when Jen’s husband, a city police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Six months pregnant, Jen is in freefall as her future, her husband’s freedom, and her friendship with Riley are thrown into uncertainty. Covering this career-making story, Riley wrestles with the implications of this tragic incident for her Black community, her ambitions, and her relationship with her lifelong friend.
Like Tayari Jones’s An American Marriage and Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things, We Are Not Like Them explores complex questions of race and how they pervade and shape our most intimate spaces in a deeply divided world. But at its heart, it’s a story of enduring friendship—a love that defies the odds even as it faces its most difficult challenges.
You can order the book on Amazon here.
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict
For my historical fiction readers, if you haven’t checked out The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict, I highly recommend it. The novel covers Agatha Christie’s mysterious 11-day disappearance in 1926 and it’s very fascinating and also takes many different turns. Here’s the synopsis:
In December 1926, Agatha Christie goes missing. Investigators find her empty car on the edge of a deep, gloomy pond, the only clues some tire tracks nearby and a fur coat left in the car—strange for a frigid night. Her World War I veteran husband and her daughter have no knowledge of her whereabouts, and England unleashes an unprecedented manhunt to find the up-and-coming mystery author. Eleven days later, she reappears, just as mysteriously as she disappeared, claiming amnesia and providing no explanations for her time away.
The puzzle of those missing eleven days has persisted. With her trademark historical fiction exploration into the shadows of the past, acclaimed author Marie Benedict brings us into the world of Agatha Christie, imagining why such a brilliant woman would find herself at the center of such murky historical mysteries.
What is real, and what is mystery? What role did her unfaithful husband play, and what was he not telling investigators?
Agatha Christie novels have withstood the test of time, due in no small part to Christie’s masterful storytelling and clever mind that may never be matched, but Agatha Christie’s untold history offers perhaps her greatest mystery of all.
You can order the book on Amazon here.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
