I have always been a reader. In 5th grade, I made a goal to reach 300 books that year. I had a little chart to mark my progress. Over the last 9 weeks with not much else to do besides read or watch tv, I have read and read A LOT. Some of the books I've read are among the best I've ever read, others were just fun light beach type reads. 

These books are listed in no particular order, but here are my favorite books of my recovery so far:

Circe - a fictionalized story about the Goddess Circe, a minor character in the Odyssey. This is by far one of the most impressive fiction books I have ever read. I loved this story. The writing was phenomenal. The character development just incredible. I highly recommend for any one that likes a challenging, long, detailed story to read this. It is not a light or easy read but so worth it. I'm looking forward to reading the authors other book The Song of Achilles, which is on my reading this for the week ahead.

Little Fires Everywhere - this story was advertised as a "suspense thriller." But it ended up being a story about the relationships between two families, and the interplay between the characters and how some little decisions lead to big long-term outcomes. I thought this would be a nice, light read but ended up being fully engrossed in the story.

The Last Thing He Told Me - is a story about a wife and teenage step-daughter after their father/husband disappears. This was another one that I picked up thinking I would be fun but I was quickly enraptured with the story. It's an interesting one to imagine what would you do in these circumstances.  

Malibu Rising - the author of this book was recommended to me by a friend (the author is Taylor Reid Jenkins) and I read several of her books during this time. All of them have been great, and many have overlapping characters which i always love. This story is probably the "lightest" read on this list but it was anything but light. It deals with relationships of all kinds (marriage, children, siblings) and the interweaving of the choices we make.

The Christie Affair - a woman disappears, the husband is having an affair, the couple have a daughter. You think you know what is going to happen...but don't be so quick to judge.

Opal & Nev - is about a band in the seventies and told from a "journalists" perspective. This story feels so real I had to stop myself from googling them at times. I wanted these characters to be real. I wanted to read more about Opal. I wanted to go find her on Instagram when the story was done. The band is a white British man and a black woman from Detroit. Race is a major arc throughout the story. There is violence, overt racism and those folks that think because they know someone black they aren't racist, racists as well. This book will push a lot of peoples' comfort but it is one that will sit with you for a long time.