Here are 45 books that Mad Mabel fans have personally recommended if you like
Mad Mabel.
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I’ve always been interested in what drives people, their passions, and whether or not they’ve gone after them. I love it when something inspires them to emerge from a dormant state and give it their all. Show me a person who graduates from college at 85 or skydives at 99. Those people are inspiring! People go through the most incredible situations and use them as fuel for their lives. I funneled all of this into my latest novel. It’s a universal story that’s singular only to the person going through it. We can all take something positive away from this type of story.
I can probably find a way to put this novel into every book category there is – I love it that much!
Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant chemist in the 1960s, a time when society accepted that only men could be brilliant or chemists. But through a series of opportunities and her defiance in the face of attempts to marginalize her, Elizabeth becomes a de facto leader of a small but mighty group of women who change their circumstances and thereby begin to change the world.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • Meet Elizabeth Zott: a “formidable, unapologetic and inspiring” (PARADE) scientist in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show in this novel that is “irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel. It reminds you that change takes time and always requires heat” (The New York Times Book Review).
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Oprah Daily, Newsweek, GoodReads
"A unique heroine ... you'll find yourself wishing she wasn’t fictional." —Seattle Times
Sloane Cheney has no intention of returning to the South Carolina island town where she grew up. She enjoys her life in the big city and teaching at the college there. The thought of revisiting the place where her mother deserted her family is too painful.
This cosy mystery won me over with its well-thought out plot, engaging characters, and New Zealand setting. It's the first in a new series and the book 2 is on my To Read list.
Yesteryear was a satirical delight. It hooks the reader immediately with its perfectly flawed characters and its fantastic premise. It is engaging, funny and thought-provoking, even if the ending lags ever so slightly.
'My name is Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive...'
Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle - and her followers are sick with envy. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the…
A plucky, recently widowed mathematician takes a job with a new NASA-funded research center, but when a fellow employee turns up dead, things add up to murder…
Dallas, 1961. There’s a new president in the White House, a new birth control pill, and a new Russian satellite called Sputnik flying…
It's not a quick or easy read but very intense and propulsive, beautifully written by one of our greatest writers. As with other T. C. Boyle stories, the lead character becomes obsessed, flailing outside of his comfort zone, making decisions on the fly, out of control. Every step along the way, you get how this could happen and go along for the ride.
Terrence Tully, work-obsessed and a naif in the arenas of sex and love, is at work when he receives news that his mother has died. A third-year medical resident in a gritty community hospital in downtown Los Angeles, he sees death daily, but the news that his mother has passed away, delivered to his cell phone by the voice of a stranger, jolts him like no other, even as he is in the act of trying to save the life of a patient undergoing cardiac arrest.
Turn the page and he's heading north on I-15 though a lifeless desert to…
My mom says I always had my head in a book. In fact, I got in trouble once for reading a questionable book while sitting in the choir stand at church. I’ve always been a reluctant rule-follower. Reading allowed me to explore worlds that I wasn’t allowed to talk about, let alone visit. Even now, as an adult, my life is pretty boring. But the books I read and the stories I write—that’s where it all goes down, baby!
I adore quirky characters, and the author nails it with the main character, Fern Castle. (Fern immediately reminded me of Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant.)
The author dropped hints of a super-dark secret between Fern and her sister, Rose, in the very first chapters, and I was hooked from that moment on. I love complex relationships in the middle of a flashback mystery.
I've been writing for 20 years, and the more I learn about the craft, the less interested I am in big, bombastic thrillers about the end of the world. Now I'm more impressed by books that do a lot with a little. Some talented writers can spin a gripping story out of nothing more than two people in a room (Stephen King's Misery is one of my all-time faves). The domestic noir genre lends itself to this kind of minimalism. Sure, serial killers are scary, but not as scary as the thought that your spouse might not be who they seem.
Pippa has everyone else's dream husband. Not only is Gabe gorgeous and a loving father to their two daughters, but he's also a bona fide hero—they live in a house on the edge of a cliff, and Gabe has talked several would-be jumpers out of committing suicide. But one day, a woman falls to her death. Pippa doesn't see the event, but she does see Gabe a split-second later, arms outstretched—did he reach out to save the woman, or did he push her off the edge?
It's a great set-up, and the author refuses to rest on it. The story takes one bold leap after another (if you'll pardon the expression) but never leaves the reader behind. When I realized that half the chapters would be narrated by the dead woman, speaking from beyond the grave, I should have been disbelieving, but instead, I was even more intrigued.
'Gabe is alone at the cliff's edge. His arms are outstretched, palms facing the empty air.'
He said she jumped. He wouldn't lie.
Before the woman went over the cliff, Pippa and Gabe were happy. They have the kind of marriage that everyone envies, as well as two sweet young daughters, a supportive family, and a picturesque cliff-side home - which would have been idyllic had the tall beachside cliffs not become so popular among those wishing to end their lives.
Gabe has become somewhat of a local hero since they moved to the cliff house, talking seven people down…
I write psychological thrillers, and I find stories where the main character thinks they’re going crazy, particularly gripping, especially when it’s caused by (supposed) loved ones. I suspect it’s because these stories share an element of "this could happen to me." I’ve only written three books, but I’d say all of them have an element of gaslighting, probably because I sit down and think things like, What would it feel like if your best friend came back after many years, and you’re the only one who can tell it’s not her? It’s a deliciously creepy way to pass the time.
One of my favourite books ever, by one of my favourite authors.
Darling Girls follows three women who grew up together in foster care run by Miss Fairchild, the manipulative foster mother. It's not a spoiler to say that the level of gaslighting inflicted by Miss Fairchild upon these children is out of this world, but it doesn't even end there.
Sally Hepworth treats this difficult topic brilliantly, so it’s never soppy, with plenty of humour to keep things from getting really dark. The final twist is brilliant.
SISTERS, SECRETS, LOVE, AND MURDER... Sally Hepworth’s new novel has it all.
For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.
But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three…
As a huge fan of history, I read a lot about Thomas Jefferson, but knew almost nothing about his daughter. What a fascinating woman! She truly played a large part in our Founding Father's legacy, but quietly and behind the scenes. Her life was one of adventure and duty. Loved this one!
In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph--a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.
From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson's oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of…
Raised in a strict Mormon household in rural Idaho, Tara Westover gives us a rare glimpse of what it is like to live off the grid in modern America. In terms of being educated, this is a true-life “rags to riches” story: a self-taught child who rises above her stifling, survivalist upbringing to become a Cambridge scholar.
A truly remarkable and brave account of defying one’s family, breaking free of psychological conditioning, reaching for impossible dreams until they become possible, learning to accept help, and pruning abusive relationships out of one’s family tree.
The prose is direct and engaging. The story impossible to put down!
Selected as a book of the year by AMAZON, THE TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, NEW YORK TIMES, ECONOMIST, NEW STATESMAN, VOGUE, IRISH TIMES, IRISH EXAMINER and RED MAGAZINE
'One of the best books I have ever read . . . unbelievably moving' Elizabeth Day 'An extraordinary story, beautifully told' Louise O'Neill 'A memoir to stand alongside the classics . . . compelling and joyous' Sunday Times
Tara Westover grew up preparing for the end of the world. She was never put in school, never taken to the doctor. She did not even have a birth certificate…
American Daughter is a gorgeously written but vulnerable account of a young Stephanie growing up in a world that looks nothing like the American Dream we're all promised--no white picket fence or parents to keep her safe. She sleeps on floors and lives in a car with a mother who is unstable on her best days and incredibly dangerous on her worst. I loved this story because of its optimism and Stephanie's unshakeable belief that she could have a different life than the one she'd born into. Her story resonates with resilience and bravery and as a teacher, it explained to me the reasons some of my students are so quick to be in serious relationships: They are creating love and building a family for themselves. A beautiful memoir told by an incredible woman who has absolutely created the life of her dreams (Google her ASAP to see how!)
The sharp and surprising true story of a woman who finally sets out to understand her past, and the mother she had one day hoped to forget. Full of unexpected twists and unbelievable revelations, American Daughter is an immersive memoir that will have you on the edge of your seat to the very last page.
For years, Stephanie Plymale, successful CEO and interior designer, kept her past a fiercely guarded secret. Only her husband knew that her childhood was fraught with every imaginable hardship: neglect, hunger, poverty, homelessness, truancy, foster homes, a harrowing lack of medical care, and worse. Stephanie,…
