Here are 100 books that Open Throat fans have personally recommended if you like
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I grew up fascinated by and terrified of Hollywood in equal measure, fascinated because my mother was once married to a movie star and terrified because she refused to talk about that time in her life, saying she preferred to “pretend it never happened.” Accordingly, I’ve always been drawn to stories that involve characters who live in the orbit of stage and screen stars, people whose lives are touched, and in many cases forever changed by fame even if their face is not the one people recognize. These novels all offer glimpses into the heady rush of fame and its many foibles.
I was immediately drawn into this story’s premise: former best friends who haven’t seen each other in forty years reuniting in Los Angeles for one night of conversation, a night that will leave each woman changed forever.
Lacey and Edith met and bonded as young girls on the East Coast, but it is Hollywood that tore them apart. I am always interested in stories of female friendship, when ties are strongest, and when they are severed. And, of course, the introduction of a movie star love interest is bound to test even the tightest bond.
This story is especially poignant because it is told by two older women, looking back, who understand the consequences of their decisions and know what they would do over again and what they regret most.
A Gentleman in Moscow meets My Brilliant Friend in this novel of two estranged friends who reunite to confront each other and the devastating betrayal that tore them apart
Downtown Los Angeles, 1990. Alone in her luxury hotel suite, the reclusive Lacey Crane receives a message: Edith is waiting for her in the lobby. Former best friends, Lacey and Edith haven’t spoken to one another in over four decades.
As young adults meeting at summer camp in Maine, and later making their way in the glitzy spotlight of postwar Hollywood, Edith and Lacey share a deep-rooted bond that once saved…
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
I used to get in trouble (nightly) for eating with my book propped against my plate. Yet with all the books I devoured, there was never one about a kid that looked like me with a family like mine. The single anomaly was Blubber, which absolutely thrilled me to see a supporting character named Tracy Wu. And while the YA world has thankfully become more diverse, BIPOC authors and protagonists are still the exception in adult literature. I’m excited to share this list of badass female AAPI authors who write equally strong protagonists because, though we’ve come a long way since Tracy Wu, we still have further to go.
Shockingly, it wasn’t until taking an Asian-American History class in college that I learned about the US internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. My husband is Japanese-American, and so I now also have family who experienced this shameful time in our history firsthand.
Evergreen is the second book in Naomi Hirahara’s Japantown Mystery series, the first being Clark and Division. It takes place during post-WWII and centers around Aki (a nurse’s aide) and her family's struggles after being released from Manzanar in 1946. This backdrop and its inherent social injustices are adeptly interwoven with a murder mystery happening in Little Tokyo.
In itself, this is a compelling combination of mystery and historical fiction. But it's also a morally significant book, and I'm so glad that Naomi Hirahara was the one to write it.
A Japanese American nurse's aide navigates the dangers of post-WWII and post-Manzanar life as she attempts to find justice for a broken family in this follow-up to the Mary Higgins Clark Award–winning Clark and Division.
It’s been two years since Aki Ito and her family were released from Manzanar detention center and resettled in Chicago with other Japanese Americans. Now the Itos have finally been allowed to return home to California—but nothing is as they left it. The entire Japanese American community is starting from scratch, with thousands of people living in dismal refugee camps while they struggle to find…
As a child, I adored mid-19th to early 20th-century fiction, stories like A Christmas Carol, Little Women, and The Railway Children. The period resonated with me, and my passion grew alongside my love of France and painting. Yet for some reason, after university, I applied for a postgraduate course in 18th-century decorative arts. Luckily, fate was having none of this. The course was cancelled, I switched to 19th-century French painting, and the rest is—quite literally—history. When my doctoral research uncovered the story of a forgotten 19th-century courtesan, I began my career in biography. With a special interest in women, the arts, and 19th-century France, my writing seeks to bring history to life for the 21st-century reader.
I know I’m stretching the scope of my own title here, but this book’s worth it.
Maggie O’Farrell excels at striking harmony between character, place, and historical moment. Starting with her discovery of a painting of Lucrezia de Medici, the little-known member of that great Italian dynasty, O’Farrell paints her own portrait and revives 16th-century Italy. Pushed into marriage at just 16, Lucrezia quickly infers that her husband, Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, is planning to kill her.
Her swerve-by-swerve struggle to escape his clutches had me gripped to the very last page. But above all, it was Lucrezia’s passion for art that fascinated me. Her love of drawing and collecting was so sensitively described, and I was moved by her resilience when all her equipment was taken from her.
Besides being a compelling read, the book is a powerful reminder of the role art can play in the lives of…
WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The author of award-winning Hamnet brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court.
“I could not stop reading this incredible true story.” —Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club Pick)
"O’Farrell pulls out little threads of historical detail to weave this story of a precocious girl sensitive to the contradictions of her station...You may know the history, and you may think you…
The problem is not with the actions young women take but with the toxic, sexist conditions they are responding to.
Tanenbaum found, based on six years of interviews with young people ages 14-30, that young women are navigating a culture littered with gendered dress codes, revenge porn, and sexually explicit…
I have long been fascinated by how personal and singular the experience of grief is. There is something soothing and relatable about reading others’ experiences—the more strange, nonsensical, or even supernatural the better. My own novel, The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn, is a retelling of The Secret Garden, but with an adult protagonist moving through grief over the death of her complicated mother, striving to see a bright ray of hope on the other side. Each of the books on my list about unusual manifestations of grief tackles this same concept in new and surprising ways, and I hope they touch you as they have touched me.
Rouge is at its heart an exploration of a daughter’s grief for her troubled mother and the bizarre turns that grief can take.
Rouge tells the story of a young woman obsessed with cult-like beauty culture. When her mother mysteriously dies, she is forced to return home and confront the complicated relationship she had with her also beauty-obsessed mother. Fairy tale surreal and viscerally disturbing, Rouge delves into obsession, grief, and the dangers of beauty culture taken to the extreme.
Like all of Awad’s books, this is a story that will stick with me a very long time.
From the critically acclaimed author of Bunny comes a horror-tinted, gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother's unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty.
Can she escape her mother's fate and find a connection that is more than skin deep?
A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 in The Guardian, i newspaper, The New York Times, Time, Globe and Mail, Bustle, The Millions, LitHub, TOR, Good Housekeeping, Our Culture Mag, and more!
'You think, "She's not going to go there...yes, she is.' Margaret Atwood
'The trancelike, rhapsodic language and deepening…
I’m a bit fairy tale obsessed. I love how the characters go into the woods and face wolves, witches, stepmothers, and ogres. But despite the abuse and neglect and trauma, they somehow emerge whole. These five books each have a unique heroine, not with a sword, but with her own quiet strength. Each one is a cathartic but reassuring guide into the woods and out again, acknowledging that though there will be hurt and heartbreak, transformation and healing will follow. If you love fairy tales for the same reasons I do, come, step onto the path. The magic of hope and healing awaits.
This book has everything I want in a fairy tale novel: an immersive setting, green magic, romance, shape-shifting creatures, and of course, resilience and healing.
Before I read Kell Wood’s debut novel, I had never thought about the long-term consequences Hansel and Gretel surely experienced at the hands of the witch in the gingerbread house, but now I can’t un-see it. Of course, these two people, now young adults, would have some serious (but unique) struggles.
Also, I love it when an author weaves multiple fairy tales and/or folkloric elements into a story, and Woods is fantastic at this!
After the Forest is a dark and enchanting fantasy debut from Kell Woods that explores the repercussions of a childhood filled with magic and a young woman contending with the truth of “happily ever after.”
Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon. Flour.
Twenty years after the witch in the gingerbread house, Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their mother and stepmother are long dead, Hans is deeply in debt from gambling, and the countryside lies in ruin, its people starving in the aftermath of a brutal war.
Greta has a secret, though: the witch's grimoire, hidden away and whispering in Greta's…
A little history in the mix of some high-stakes suspense is my jam. I’ve always been a fan of suspense novels, and when a storyline brings in a touch of reality, I find it only enhances the mystery and adrenaline rush. The world has lots of unsolved mysteries and conspiracy theories, so why not weave a few into fiction? It gives readers a deeper read, and I am always looking for those big plot twists and edgy suspense moments. I review suspense novels on my blog, Best In Suspense, and am always looking for something new and different.
I love interesting characters—especially with unique jobs.
Andi Forester is a former FBI agent turned insurance investigator and works on an art heist, which is right up her alley. She meets the man responsible for the art gallery security and soon learns someone is willing to take extreme measures to keep them from investigating. The story has plenty of drama, action, suspense, and lots of red herrings. Everyone is a suspect.
I enjoyed this complex story. I loved the art heist aspect of the story a lot. It added to the excitement.
Taunting riddles. A deadly string of heists. Two broken hearts trapped in a killer's game.
Christian O'Brady was pulled into a life of crime at a young age by his con artist parents. Now making amends for his corrupt past, he has become one of the country's foremost security experts. When a string of Southwestern art heists targets one of the galleries Christian secured, he is paired up with a gifted insurance investigator who has her own checkered past.
Andi Forester was a brilliant FBI forensic analyst until her career was destroyed. She now puts those skills to work investigating…
Crossing is a vividly human re-imagining of the love, sacrifices, and accomplishments that two Chinese brothers - American Immigrants - experience as they travel to California to build the Transcontinental Railroad.
I am a tumbleweed writer—one who moves from town to town every few years—and I have learned to adapt to new communities and break into new friend groups. In a sense, one could say I reinvented parts of myself as I moved from place to place, and I changed hats regarding what job I would get. Although challenging at times, the scope of this atypical lifestyle has provided me with a wealth of experiences to draw on when drafting a story, not only in setting and career, but also the psychological rollercoaster that comes with blowing with the wind.
I love when stories tease out backstory in little bits, and this book does that wonderfully.
Right from the opening chapters, seeds of intrigue are sprinkled everywhere, and I had so many questions that I needed answers to. It’s the kind of opening where it seems that life is going well for the character, yet there is something amiss.
And then the metaphorical rug was pulled out from under me, and I had to stay up well past my bedtime because I just needed to know more.
REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK | INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“This fast-paced read has everything you could want in a thriller: secret identities, a mysterious boss and a cat & mouse game that kept me guessing the whole way through.”—Reese Witherspoon
“One of the best thrillers I’ve ever read... Amazing.”—Jesse Watters
Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.
The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location…
My passion for small islands began as a child. I spent my summer holidays on the Isles of Scilly, where everyone knew each other, and the sea wiped the landscape clean, leaving it pristine each morning. Since then, I’ve visited dozens of islands, keen to understand the islanders’ survivalist mindset. I worked as an English teacher before becoming a writer. It allowed me to share my love of storytelling, but the tales that linger with me still take place on small islands where the consequences of our actions are never forgotten. I hope you enjoy exploring the ones on my list as much as I did!
This mesmerizing book started my love affair with Sweden. The story was spellbinding, and the chilly Nordic winter crept into my bones. It made me book a long holiday to explore the Swedish archipelago, a landscape that has inspired so many brilliant Scandinavian authors.
I found the plot riveting. I used to dream of starting a new life in a country idyll with my husband and kids, but the reality of such a huge life change can be much more challenging. This book explores the impact of losing a child, which has always been my biggest nightmare.
The combination of exquisite landscapes, believable characters, and a horrifying dilemma make this bookone of my all-time favorites.
Legend has it that the ocean can lure children and make them fall into the depths to never return . . .
Martin, who has always been drawn to the ocean, moves his wife Alexandra and their two young children move to his family's idyllic summer cottage in the picturesque island village of Orust, on the west coast of Sweden. Martin begins to cultivate a mussel farm, where he soon runs into trouble with the locals.
One January weekend, when Martin is distracted by a ringing phone, he discovers that in those few moments, his young son has gone missing…
It’s not my fault! My foremothers were strong, capable, compassionate women. I have been passionate about restoring the voices and contributions of women to history and culture. While a voracious reader of history, I enjoy historical fiction (when it’s done well). History tells us what happened; historical fiction tells us what it was like to live through events. I love author’s notes and/or historical notes where the author explains what is real and what is imagined; and resources to learn more about the subject of the novel.
I loved meeting Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law. What a gutsy, courageous woman. I loved her courage in the face of adversity. A widow with a baby in early 1800s France, she inherited van Gogh’s paintings, which were worthless at the time. But through perseverance, she “introduced” him to the world. And yet she was a person in her own right—with her own struggles and dreams.
I loved her compassion toward her brother-in-law. The settings are realistic and the characterizations are great. Another good example of historical fiction.
"This book draws all the emotions out of you. I went from tears to snorting with laughter. It was both lighthearted and heart breaking, yet it inspires me to live my best life! " Michelle Cox
When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds her famous grandmother's diary while cleaning out her New York brownstone, the pages are full of surprises. The first surprise is, the diary isn't her grandmother's. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law.
Johanna inherited Vincent van Gogh's paintings. They were all she had, and they weren't worth anything. She was a 28 year old widow…
At five years old, Kasiel was found with the pointed ends of his ears cut off. Despite that brutal start, he’s lived twelve peaceful years with the man who took him in. Keeping his hair long over his mutilated ears helps him hide the fact that he is Vanrian, a…
During Covid, I gave myself the Story-a-Month Challenge. I started a story on the first day of each month and stopped on the last day. A subconscious theme emerged: the struggles of grown people and their parents, done fantastically. By year’s end, I had twelve stories, placed in magazines somewhere. I collected them, adding earlier stories, longer and with younger protagonists, but with the same theme of arrested development. I called the book “Adult Children,” a wry reference to offspring of alcoholics (I am one). Also subconscious: my inspiration from other authors of fantastical collections, some of whom I’ve included here.
A French import published in the US in 2024, Plasmas is an intriguingly spare, linked collection of short futuristic scenes.
Acrobats whose routines are programmed by biotechnology…tomorrow’s La Brea Tar Pits, where artifacts of both the distant past—and future—are unearthed…a female scientist bonds idealistically and tragically with great apes…these compelling stories revolve around a post-human world, written in an icy style that often feels post-human, as well.
Prodigiously translated by Annabel Kim, it’s a subdued, sort-of successor to Cosmicomics and won the French Prix de L’imaginaire, that country’s top prize for speculative fiction.
A speculative masterpiece of technology and mythmaking that contemplates humanity.
The stories in Plasmas dive into a post-human, more-than-human world where life as we know it has been replaced by life as it goes on. Acrobats glide through the air attached to biotech devices, an archivist presents scenes from Earth after interstellar colonization to her students, and scientists in Siberia play god with a manmade beast.
Written as a series of vignettes into futures near and far, Plasmas dives into questions of legacy, memory, the body, and technology through striking prose from one of France's leading sci-fi writers.…
