Why am I passionate about this?

Because both of my parents worked, I had to go somewhere after school. The public library was selected, thank the stars! A librarian watched me gobbling up all the young adult books and suggested maybe Iā€™d like to tackle some from the grown-up room. Wow! I was only 11 years old, but that woman steered me into what has become my career, a reader and reviewer and, best of all, a writer! My first grown-up book? A Portrait of Jenny by Robert Nathan. 


I wrote

The Importance of Being Erica

By Carolyn Banks,

Book cover of The Importance of Being Erica

What is my book about?

When Erica falls asleep watching The Picture of Dorian Gray, she wishes she could lose weight the same wayā€¦

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

The books I picked & why

Book cover of Nothing to See Here

Carolyn Banks Why did I love this book?

I like quirky plotlines, especially when the writer is talented enough to make the most farfetched thing accepted by even a cynical reader. Let me backtrack a bit.

The kids, Bessie and Roland, live with their mom until she dies and then go to the mansion where their politician father lives with his hot new wife. This is bad news because when angry, the two children catch on fire.

Bessie and Roland are stashed in a guest house on the estate, and the wife calls a best friend from boarding school, Lillian, to nanny the kids and, especially, to keep them out of sight. Itā€™s Lillian who tells this topsy-turvy tale and who, an oddball herself, bonds with the children to give us the happiest of endings.

By Kevin Wilson,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked Nothing to See Here as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A New York Times Bestseller  ā€¢  A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, People, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, TIME, The A.V. Club, Buzzfeed, and PopSugar

ā€œI canā€™t believe how good this book is.... Itā€™s wholly original. Itā€™s also perfect.... Wilson writes with such a light touch.... The brilliance of the novel [is] that it distracts you with these weirdo characters and mesmerizing and funny sentences and then hits you in a way you didnā€™t see coming. Youā€™re laughing so hard youā€¦


Book cover of Romantic Comedy

Carolyn Banks Why did I love this book?

I liked cynical Sally Milz. She's a writer for a show that sounds to us like Saturday Night Live. Itā€™s The Night Owls, which, like SNL, has a weekly A-list guest host.

Often, the female hosts are beautiful, the sort of women who could land any male on the planet. And guess what? These women often fall for men who are subpar in the looks department. Sally is convinced an average-looking woman scoring a gorgeous guy would never happen. But when Noah Brewster comes to host and actually likes Sally and flirts with her, what is she to make of it?

Her doubts at first seemed reasonable, but then I found myself wanting to shake her and scream, ā€œGirl, this is real!ā€

By Curtis Sittenfeld,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked Romantic Comedy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Ad

Book cover of Welcome To The Hamilton: A Hotel Hamilton Novel

Welcome To The Hamilton by Tanya E. Williams,

Two sisters. One opulent hotel. A chance to change everything.

For 17-year-old Clara Wilson, the glamour of the Roaring Twenties feels worlds away. With her family on the brink of eviction, Clara pins her hopes on a position at the grand Hotel Hamilton. But when her adventurous sister impulsively followsā€¦

Book cover of Enough

Carolyn Banks Why did I love this book?

This is nonfiction, a memoir by the truth-telling aide who cast her Trump-appointed lawyer aside and found one who would support her account of January 6 and all that came before and after.

What hooked me was Hutchinson's honesty. Sheā€™s in her early 20s and on a first-name basis with all the movers and shakers. She knows the former President well enough for him to suggest blonde highlights for her dark hair.

If you are at all like me, you just can't help liking her more as she fends off Matt Gaetzā€™s advances and rolls her eyes at interactions with Mike Lindell, the pillow guy. The book is determined and real, as is Cassidy Hutchinson herself.

By Cassidy Hutchinson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Enough as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Cassidy Hutchinson's desk was mere steps from the most controversial president in recent American history. Now, she provides a riveting account of her extraordinary experiences as an idealistic young woman thrust into the middle of a national crisis, where she risked everything to tell the truth about some of the most powerful people in Washington.

Ever since a childhood visit to Washington, DC, Cassidy Hutchinson aspired to serve her country in government. Raised in a working-class family with a military background, she was the first in her immediate family to graduate from college. Despite having no ties to Washington, Hutchinsonā€¦


Book cover of Dear Committee Members

Carolyn Banks Why did I love this book?

Have you ever been a teacher? If you have, you will roll on the floor with laughter reading this book.

The author, Julie Schumacher, has absolutely nailed what faculty life on campus, with all its stupidity, pettiness, and rivalries, is like. After I read it, all I wanted to do was get other people to read it. Amazingly, so many already had!

Finding other fans of the novel was a way to sort of relive the experience of reading it, with a lot of ā€œHow about the part where...ā€ There is a wonderful curmudgeon in the book, my favorite sort of person.

By Julie Schumacher,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Dear Committee Members as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Finally a novel that puts the "pissed" back into "epistolary."

Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished liberal arts college in the midwest. His department is facing draconian cuts and squalid quarters, while one floor above them the Economics Department is getting lavishly remodeled offices. His once-promising writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life, in part as the result of his unwise use of his private affairs for his novels. His star (he thinks) student can't catch a break with his brilliant (heā€¦


Ad

Book cover of The Woodland Stranger: A Fairy Tale with Benefits

The Woodland Stranger by Jane Buehler,

Burneā€™s been hiding out in the forest since deserting the Kingā€™s Guard. Each time he tries to return to the village, he begins to panic. And then one day, he encounters a handsome stranger picking flowers and hides behind a tree instead of talking.

He wants to be braverā€”and heā€™sā€¦

Book cover of First Lie Wins

Carolyn Banks Why did I love this book?

Itā€™s going to be hard to write about this novel without giving something away, but Iā€™ll try.

Only a robot could read the opening of this book and stop after that. Why? Because at the start, we see the main character, Evie Porter, creating the story that she will use to depict her past life. And, of course, we want to know her reason for doing so.

The suspense only grows as we continue to read. I am in awe of this bookā€™s plot! Evie is a wonderful character, too, as she wanders through joy and heartbreak.

By Ashley Elston,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked First Lie Wins as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

REESEā€™S BOOK CLUB PICK | INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

ā€œThis 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.ā€ā€”Reese Witherspoon

ā€œOne of the best thrillers Iā€™ve ever read... Amazing.ā€ā€”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 doesnā€™t exist.

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once sheā€™s given a name and locationā€¦


Explore my book šŸ˜€

The Importance of Being Erica

By Carolyn Banks,

Book cover of The Importance of Being Erica

What is my book about?

When Erica falls asleep watching The Picture of Dorian Gray, she wishes she could lose weight the same way Dorian stayed young. Little does she know that the author of that story, the flamboyant 19th-century wit Oscar Wilde, is watching her. Oscar, in heaven with his friend Bram Stoker, comes to earth to initiate the charming and whimsical farce that is Carolyn Banksā€™ The Importance of Being Erica

Book cover of Nothing to See Here
Book cover of Romantic Comedy
Book cover of Enough

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,888

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

šŸ“š You might also likeā€¦

Book cover of The Devil To Pay

The Devil To Pay by Gary Blackwood,

Some knowledge is dangerous... especially in the wrong hands...

As the conflict in Vietnam heats up, Simon Hannay is pursuing his Masters in Comparative Literature at a Midwest university, teaching karate on the side and doing his best to avoid the draft. He's not overly excited about his thesis... untilā€¦

Book cover of Built on Sand

Built on Sand by S R Kay,

Elsie has two feet in the 20th century. Smith has one foot in the 19th. Their marriage, founded on physical attraction, is built on sand as all around them the earth of Europe also starts to quake. Prised apart by emotional conflict and the loss of two children they areā€¦

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Saturday Night Live, politics, and presidential biography?

Politics 774 books