Ten 5-Star books to add to your TBR pile ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Top-shelf thrillers, encouraging reads, parenting in the digital age—a smattering of good stuff!
snuggle in, we’re talking about your next great read!Hello, my name is Emily Ley, and I love BOOKS. I read a little bit of everything, tbh: thrillers, self-help, fiction that takes me to new worlds, nonfiction that unlocks doors to the world I’m already in. These are a ten of my favorites I’ve read lately. Maybe they’ll lead you to your next favorite book, series, or author! 📚 (PS: to get your copies, check out this Amazon page I keep updated with everything I’ve read).
Thrillers I Couldn’t Put Down
📖 The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
Daphne and Amber Parrish are thrust back into each other’s lives upon the resurgence of a long-forgotten threat, forcing a vicious game of cat and mouse where everything is on the line, in this thrilling sequel to the million-copy-bestselling Reese’s Book Club pick The Last Mrs. Parrish.
The follow-up I wished for and finally got!! This is Book #2 in a super addictive thriller series. Loved this one.
📖 Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate? Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world.
LIANE MORIARTY! Need I say more? I will drop nearly everything to read what this woman writes the day it comes out. And this book is no exception. (Side note, did you guys see that Hulu’s adaptation of Nine Perfect Strangers is getting another season?? In the Swiss Alps!? There will be chaos. I am here for it.)
📖 The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…
Listen, after I finished this book I went down a Freida McFadden rabbit hole and I’m not sorry about it. Bonkers in the best way.
Writing That Filled My Soul
❤️ The Unplugged Hours by Hannah Brencher
Swap the hurried, constant pace of technology for a steadier, more rooted way of living. Establish your own unplugged rituals and rhythms in daily life. Uncover the magic within the ordinary awaiting you just beyond the screen. The Unplugged Hours gives you the practical ideas and spiritual inspiration you need to stop scrolling and start living.
I love Hannah!! She’s the founder of an org called The World Needs More Love Letters. And when she writes, she has this special way of weaving words together that always leaves me feeling seen and known. PS: I loved chatting with Hannah about this book on IG Live. When you watch, you’ll see why I adore her!
At long last, a book of poetry for people who didn’t even know they liked poetry. And they’re in good company: author Lyndsay Rush didn’t know she liked it either. That is, until she embarked on an internet experiment under the Instagram username @MaryOliversDrunkCousin that turned into a body of work that struck a chord with women across the country; thanks to her signature wordplay, witticisms, and—against all odds—wisdom.
Another wonderful poet named Kate Baer said it best: this book is “tender, smart, and downright funny.” Simply put, Lyndsay will make you feel all the things.
❤️ Shine Bright Anyway by Faith Broussard Cade
If life has left you feeling you are not enough or you are haunted by past choices, circumstances, or labels, Shine Bright Anyway will give you the encouragement to change your narrative. The expectations you live with today do not have to define you. You are enough.
I discovered Faith a few years ago when she shared a quote on her IG from one of my books in her signature handwritten Post-it style. I was so delighted this smart, kind woman thought anything I said was worth sharing on her platform! Since then, she’s become someone I love to follow and look forward to seeing in my feed—and I loved this book! She’s a beautiful voice of encouragement and positivity. The world would be wonderful if we had more people like Faith in it.
Books That Changed the Way I Think
💡 The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon
In her debut book, American’s favorite government teacher Sharon McMahon tells the inspiring stories of twelve Americans—regular people with human foibles—whose extraordinary heroism in the face of mounting trials created the character of our country. The Small and the Mighty is the encouragement we all need in an age of doomscrolling and division.
Listen, Sharon is the best thing to happen to the internet since Google, and I am not exaggerating. She’s the voice of reason you can trust, not to mention a gifted storyteller. In my own life, her IG posts have helped me kick off healthy discussions with people I love and disagree with more times than I can count. This book is exactly what we need right now. It is a treasure—and so is she.
💡 Reconnected by Carlos Whittaker
In the summer of 2022, podcaster and author Carlos Whittaker spent seven weeks entirely screen free, splitting his time between a monastery, an Amish farm, and home with his family. Blending the inspiring story of this experiment with practical guidance, Reconnected reveals how you can reset your relationship with screens and step into a life of real connection.
This is a beautiful book by one of my favorite IG friends!!! It’s an important story well told, and it’ll encourage you right where you are. I just loved it.
After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?
In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults.
Oh, did this one make me THINK. An important read if you have kids in your life.
Fiction That Swept Me Away
“Women can be heroes.” When twenty-year-old nursing student Frankie McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, Frankie joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
This is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.
No one makes me simultaneously weep and believe in the power of women like Kristin Hannah. Holy moly. Going into her books (or even series based on her books, like Netflix’s Firefly Lane), I know I’m going to need a box of tissues nearby. And yet I love her stories. LOVE.
🧵 Tell me: what are you reading right now?? (psst: audiobooks count!)
Adding some of these to my TBR! “Spells for Forgetting” is our October book club book and it’s perfect for getting in the fall/spooky spirit, even when youre physically in Florida 🙃 Really enjoyed the God of the Woods too. Diving into Blue Sisters next!
The once and future witches!