It’s July Fourth—a great time for a little diversion from our regularly scheduled programming. This week I recommend my favorite books I’ve read so far this year. I’ve read 20 books as we hit the year’s halfway point, but my goal is 52, so I need to get a move on! Turns out, my personal favorite book genre is literary fiction in which I completely fall in love with the characters and want to hug them and help them and wish the best for them. Not sure what you call that, but that’s what I love. I also love memoirs, and five of the 20 books I’ve read are memoirs; I include one recommendation here. Happy reading! Biz Bite: Use your library’s hold system. Resources: My Goodreads profile and reviews The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai The One-in-A-Million Boy by Monica Wood Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng Celeste Ng on Twitter “Celeste Ng Is More than a Novelist” A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza A Place for Us—“Sarah Jessica Parker Has a Book She Wants You to Read” Dark Matter by Blake Crouch “5 Books to Read After Dark Matter Rewires Your Brain” The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane “‘Ask Again, Yes’ Is A Profound Yet Unpretentious Family Drama” Maid by Stephanie Land What Should I Read Next podcast Melanie appears on the What Should I Read Next podcast! Check out the time stamp 22:55 in episode 185: What should you read this summer?