This semester has been a bit nutty – and I’m teaching a graduate class on YA novels so reading is essentially my job lately…I am not complaining! BUT, it means that I haven’t had the opportunity to read a whole lot of my own choice. Last week I managed to sneak in some extra reading time and I read three books that I felt compelled to write about.

Here We Lie by Paula Treick DeBoard is a must read. I had the pleasure of meeting Paula at an author event a year or so ago for The Drowning Girls and she was so lovely. At the time, she seemed to be a bit mysterious about her upcoming novel and now I totally understand why. It would have been very hard to preview this book in a way that does it justice. Here We Lie is simply fantastic. DeBoard creates multidimensional, authentic characters that practically jump off the page to get your attention.

The story centers on two young women – Megan and Lauren – who meet in college. Lauren is everything Megan is not – polished, rich, connected. Lauren comes from an old money Connecticut family. Her father is a senator, her siblings are beautiful and successful and her mother manages all of their lives. Lauren is the black sheep – she makes mistakes, she feels entitled and untethered. Megan is none of these things. Her father died recently and she comes from a small town without any money or influence. Somehow, they both wind up at a small liberal arts school in Connecticut where they are looking to reinvent themselves. After a series of incidents, they becomes friends and roommates and discover that they actually bring out the best in each other. They remain central to each other’s lives until one night, the summer before their senior year, when the unthinkable happens. The ramifications of that evening send their lives in completely opposite directions and the consequences deeply impact each of the girls and those that love them. Told part in present day and part in flashbacks to their college years, the girls are so real and raw that you can imagine being friends with them. For me, their college years were just about the same as my own – and I also went to a small liberal arts college in Connecticut – so all of the references to current events and pop culture were easily relatable. It provided me with a personal trip down memory lane. As the story unfolds – and the past and present collide – Megan and Lauren must make decisions about when to tell their stories, who to believe and how to reconnect despite time and distance. Here We Lie is a powerful book about friendship, influence and the challenges of speaking our truth.

Second, Still Me by Jojo Moyes is the third book in the popular Louisa Clark series that began with Me Before You. From the opening pages, Lou is back and as charming, witty and authentic as ever – navigating life after Will Traynor and starting a new job in New York City. As personal assistant to Agnes Gopnik – the young, new wife of a powerful, wealthy, older man, Lou is suddenly thrust into the world of money, influence and power. From running with Agnes and her personal trainer at sunrise to ball gowns and charity dinners, Lou puts her unique stamp on everything she touches. With humor and grace, she navigates her transition while also trying to maintain her relationship with Ambulance Sam and her connection to her family and friends in England.

I LOVE Lou. I loved her in the first two books and in the movie – Emilia Clarke was amazing. Lou is messy and creative, she is kind and idealistic – she is real. I laughed out loud at parts of this story and cried at others. I found myself cheering her on and wanting to give her a hug. This story of self-discovery is incredibly well written. The first book of the series was all about Lou’s relationship with Will, the second was all about her life after his death. This book – which may be my favorite in the trilogy – is all about what comes next. Lou is trying to follow Will’s advice – to live in the moment and use her full potential. She has to decide who she is and where she belongs and she does so in true Lou fashion – with honesty, humor, a quirky sense of style and with an open mind and heart.

Finally, thanks to a recommendation on David Baldacci’s facebook page, I read Need to Know by Karen Cleveland. Trust me, just read it now. The story centers on Vivian Miller, a CIA analyst focused on finding Russian sleeper cells on American soil. After a series of disappointments, a program she designed finally begins to return results. On an otherwise normal day, she opens a file identifying “friends” of Russia working in our country and finds herself starring at a picture of her husband, Matt. Her anger, fear and confusion is almost palpable. What would you do? Do you protect your husband? Save the father of your children? Do you blow up your own life to protect your country? Can you forgive him? Can you forgive yourself if you do? Can you forgive yourself if you don’t?

Viv’s story unfolds against the real life backdrop of our country’s current investigation into Russian meddling and influence which makes it all the more powerful. The story keeps coming back to the core question: What would you do and how do you handle the consequences of your decision? Author Karen Cleveland is an ex-CIA agent and she makes Viv incredibly real (flaws and all) and paints a truly complicated and compelling scenario. As Viv fights to protect what matters most to her, she must also decide how much she is willing to do for her husband, her family and her country.

What are you reading? Any recommendations for me? Thanks, as always, for reading!