WSJ’s Top Book Recommendations-Cary Regional

Discover the best books of the year, handpicked by the editors of The Wall Street Journal. From thought-provoking nonfiction to engrossing fiction, our Top Book Recommendations offer a curated list of exceptional reads that will inform, inspire, and entertain. Featuring titles from acclaimed authors and emerging voices, our selection spans genres and subjects, ensuring there's something for every reader. Dive into the world of ideas, stories, and perspectives that will change the way you think, feel, and see the world.

Showing 1 - 13 of 13  There are a total of 302 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "Angelica"
Star rating for Angelica
Author:
Description:
Through the extraordinary life of Angelica Schuyler Church, a politically astute and socially influential figure, this story reveals how women shaped early American history through diplomacy, personal networks, and a strategic presence in key revolutionary moments.
Book cover for "Days of light"
Star rating for Days of light
Description:
"A sweeping, sensual historical novel about one woman's unconventional life lived in search of an answer by the award-winning author of The End We Start From and The Harpy. In 2017, Megan Hunter burst onto the literary scene with her debut novel, The End We Start From, a startlingly beautiful story of climate change and motherhood that is now a feature film starring Jodie Comer. Her second book, The Harpy, fiercely explored marriage and power through...
Book cover for "The dry season"
Star rating for The dry season
Description:
"A wise and transformative look at relationships and self-knowledge In the wake of a disastrous two-year relationship, Melissa Febos decided to take a break--for three months she would abstain from dating, from relationships, even from casual sex. Her friends were amused. Did she really think three months was a long time? But to Febos, it was. Ever since her teens, she had been in one relationship or another. As she puts it, she could trace a "daisy...
Book cover for "El Dorado Drive"
Star rating for El Dorado Drive
Description:
"When Harper moves in with her sister Pam, she's surprised to find Pam doing so well financially after her messy divorce. After all, Pam's ex-husband wiped their bank accounts, even stole from their kids. But Pam managed to find her way back. Thanks to the Wheel. Twice a month, the women of the Wheel meet. New members bring cash to the party that is pooled together and then gifted to one lucky member. It's all about giving back. Lifting each other...
Book cover for "Fresh water for flowers"
Star rating for Fresh water for flowers
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
"Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne. Her life is lived to the predictable rhythms of the often funny, always moving confidences that casual mourners, regular visitors, and sundry colleagues share with her. Violette's routine is disrupted one day by the arrival of Julien Seul--a police chief from out of town--who has come to scatter the ashes of his recently deceased mother on the gravesite of a complete...
Book cover for "How to be well"
Star rating for How to be well
Author:
Description:
"A groundbreaking cultural, political, and personal exploration of the multi-billion dollar wellness industry and the ways it's shaping our thinking about health and self-care. Peleton. Pilates. Biohacking. Colonics. Ashwaganda. Today, the wellness industry is a $3.7 trillion dollar behemoth that touches us all. In this urgently needed book, journalist Amy Larocca peels back the layers behind the movement and reckons with its promises and profits....
Book cover for "The queen of Dirt Island"
Star rating for The queen of Dirt Island
Average Rating:
3.8 stars
Description:
"You'll never truly understand love until you've read Donal Ryan: a searing, jubilant story about four generations of women and the fierce devotion that binds them together The Aylward women of Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland, are mad about each other, but you wouldn't always think it. You'd have to know them to know that-in spite of what the neighbors might say about raised voices and dramatic scenes-their house is a place of peace, filled with...
Book cover for "The quiet tenant"
Star rating for The quiet tenant
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
"A psychological thriller about trauma, power, and survival, which follows a young woman who has been captured and confined by a serial killer--who is a father, widower, former Marine, and lineman for the local electric company--as he hides the true nature of his double life from his daughter, neighbors, and the local bartender who could be his next victim, unless his captive manages to stop him."--
Book cover for "The radium girls"
Star rating for The radium girls
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
As World War I raged across the globe, hundreds of young women toiled away at the radium-dial factories, where they painted clock faces with a mysterious new substance called radium. Assured by their bosses that the luminous material was safe, the women themselves shone brightly in the dark, covered from head to toe with the glowing dust. With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" were considered the luckiest alive--until they began to fall mysteriously...
Book cover for "Runaway"
Star rating for Runaway
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
A collection of short fiction captures the lives of women of all ages and circumstances, as they deal with the limits and lies of passion, unfulfilled dreams, motherhood, betrayal, and the bonds of love.
Book cover for "The space between worlds"
Star rating for The space between worlds
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
"A multiverse-hopping outsider discovers a secret that threatens her home world and her fragile place in it-a stunning sci-fi debut that's both a cross-dimensional adventure and a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging. CARA IS DEAD ON THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR WORLDS. The multiverse business is booming, but there's just one catch: no one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel...
Book cover for "Vanishing world"
Star rating for Vanishing world
Description:
"From the author of the million-copy literary sensation Convenience Store Woman comes a surprising and highly imaginative story set in a version of Japan where sex between married couples has vanished and where all children are born by artificial insemination. Sayaka Murata has proven herself to be one of the most exciting chroniclers of the strangeness of society, x-raying our contemporary world to bizarre and troubling effect. Her depictions of...
Book cover for "The women's march"
Star rating for The women's march
Description:
"An ... historical novel of the woman's suffrage movement inspired by three courageous women who bravely risked their lives and liberty in the fight to win the vote"--