If you’re reading this, it’s safe to guess you’re fond of books, reading, and being transported to different times, places, experiences, and viewpoints. We invite you to check out what others are reading and share your recommendations of favorite titles with us.
The Violin Conspiracy
by Brendan Slocumb
Asserting himself in a profession that has not proved accepting, Black classical violinist Ray McMillian is thrilled to learn that the instrument he plays–once his great-grandfather’s–is an invaluable Stradivarius. He’s devastated when it’s stolen before the all-important Tchaikovsky Competition and further learns that descendants of the family that had enslaved his great-grandfather claim it’s theirs. (2022; Fiction)
The Bee Sting
by Paul Murray
Set in Ireland, this latest masterful novel by Murray introduces the well-to-do Barnes family. Diffident father Dickie manages two local Volkswagen dealerships until a god-awful depression forces him to close one while the other hangs by a thread. Like Murray’s Skippy Dies, this is a tour de force, beautifully written (a cat was “so black it looked like a hole in the universe”) and perfectly apposite in its tone. It is, in sum, utterly fascinating and unforgettable. (2023; Fiction)
The Women
by Kristin Hannah
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life and she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and heads to Vietnam. (2024; Fiction)
The Cigar Factory
by Michelle Moore
A first novel, this is an empowering story of families and friendships forged through struggle, loss, and redemption. (2016; Fiction)
James
by Percival Everett
From a recipient of the NBCC Lifetime Achievement Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Booker Prize, and numerous PEN awards comes James, a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view. (2024; Fiction)
Before the Swallows Come Back
by Fiona Curnow
This is a truly lovely book, full of heart. It’s a gripping and moving plot about two young people separately affected by devastating life changes which uproot them and force them to learn self-reliance. All this against a backdrop of the most beautiful, lyrical description of the natural world of woodlands and streams, and good people. (2023; Fiction)
After I Do
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
From the author of Forever, Interrupted comes a breathtaking new novel about modern marriage, the depth of family ties, and the year that one remarkable heroine spends exploring both. (2023; Fiction)
Birnam Wood
by Eleanor Catton
Booker winner Catton (The Luminaries) returns with a tragic eco-thriller of betrayed ideals and compromised loyalties involving a collective of guerilla gardeners in New Zealand. (2023; Fiction)
The Times
by Adam Nagourney
This is a sweeping behind-the-scenes look at the last four turbulent decades of “the paper of record,” The New York Times, as it confronted world-changing events, internal scandals, and faced the existential threat of the internet. (2023; Nonfiction)
Among the Bros
by Max Marshall
From a brilliant young investigative journalist, this is an unprecedented look at elite American fraternity life, tracing a multi-million-dollar drug ring that ended in a chain of betrayals and a murder. (2023; Nonfiction)
We look forward to hearing about the books you or your book club recommend.
- Include your name (although it will not be published), the title, and the author of the book you are recommending, and email this to Tidelines at seabrookislandblog@gmail.com. (You may be able to click on the email address to open a new message.)
- For audiobooks, include the name of the narrator.
- Tidelines editors will provide a blurb to tell a little about the book and add the book jacket image.
- Publication is at the discretion of Tidelines editors.
And if you are weeding your bookshelves, consider offering your recent fiction books to The Lake House library. Please drop them off at the library and librarian Cindy Willis will organize them and put them on the shelves.
To see the complete list of books from 2019 through 2023, go to the Tidelines website here and look for the Seabrookers Read tab.
–Tidelines Editors
(Image and bibliographic credit: CMPL.org)