11 can't-put-them-down books by Richmond authors to add to your reading list
Already burned through all the titles on your bookshelf? Consider picking up any (or all!) of these must-reads from Richmond area authors.
Whether you’re interested in practical life advice from industry experts, a deep dive into our city’s murky history, or dramatic novels that will take your mind off of real life for a while, this list offers a little something for everyone.
by Alicia Valenski
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Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom
This National Book Award Finalist (2019, Non-Fiction) boasts a provocative, transgressive collection of essays touching on technology, higher education, class, race, gender, and more.
Renowned author Tressie McMillan Cottom deftly blends the personal with the political in a way that scholar Dorothy Roberts likened to “holding a mirror to your soul and to that of America.”
McMillan Cottom is also an award-winning Associate Professor of Sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University and a faculty affiliate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.
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Lovable Livable Home by Sherry and John Petersik
This was actually the second book published by the Petersiks, the self-proclaimed “Youngsters” behind the explosively popular Young House Love.
Like its predecessor (aptly entitled Young House Love), Lovable Livable Home is a New York Times bestseller. It’s all about how your home shouldn't just look pretty, it should also make your life easier — and it strives to show how beautiful homes can be functional, too.
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The Year of the Needy Girls by Patricia A. Smith
While this enthralling drama is set in a New England town, its author received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University here in Richmond and has been teaching American Literature and Creative Writing at the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School in Petersburg, VA since 2006.
This thriller has it all: bigotry, paranoia, classism, and even murder. You can expect mysteries upon mysteries to unfold as you get lost in this small, divided town in Massachusetts.
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More Than Enough by Miranda Anderson
“Once I have this one more thing, I’ll be happy.” Many of us have had that thought before, right? Whether it’s a certain article of clothing, a particular home decor piece, or anything else, we tell ourselves that buying it will solve everything, and then we’ll be done. But then we buy it, and a new item becomes “the thing that will solve everything.” Rinse and repeat.
That’s precisely the mentality that Miranda Anderson aims to undo in her candid memoir, More Than Enough. She chronicles how “during one year of not shopping for ANY non-consumable goods, [her] family of five not only survived, but actually emerged fundamentally changed for the better.”
Each chapter of the book even includes workbook-style pages designed for self-reflection so you can truly apply the principles of the book to your own life in a practical way.
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Wicked Richmond by Beth Brown
Spanish pirates. Peddling liquor during prohibition. Civil War espionage.
These and more examples of the River City’s sordid streak are revealed in this wicked history book.
Beth Brown, a seventh-generation Richmonder, “ventures through the city's colorful history of vice, intrigue and subterfuge” in this collection of tales that “captures the spirit of debauchery that runs through this historic city's past.”
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Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina
Meg Medina is an award-winning, New York Times best-selling author who lives right here in Richmond — but this particular novel (one of a dozen that she has published) is actually set in New York City.
It’s the summer of 1977, and “the city is besieged by arson, a massive blackout, and a serial killer named Son of Sam who shoots young women on the streets.” Our protagonist Nora is struggling to deal with her threatening brother and helpless mother, all while falling in love with a new guy and with disco.
As Medina writes: “Life is a series of secrets, with tempers and temperatures running high. What will it take for Nora to survive?”
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Slay Like A Mother by Katherine Wintsch
Don’t brush this off as a self-help book, because it’s so much more than that. The stories and advice in Slay Like A Mother dismantle self-doubt and unrealistic expectations, uncovering the real truth about the difference between struggling and suffering.
But yes, technically, this book will “help” you to help yourself. As Wintsch puts it, “Slay Like A Mother will encourage you to live more confidently, enjoy the present, and become your best self — as a woman, a mother, and beyond.”
Good to be Me by Jessica Parham
This is the book every parent needs, in Richmond and beyond! Open the conversation with your children about the beautiful differences that make us all unique from race to body type to disabilities and beyond. Good to be Me even talks about kindness and we could sure focus on that these days! Every child can see themselves in this book which is why it is a must read.
Greater Things
A Million Suns
and Date Me
by Kristin Beale
Greater Things is the story of Kristin, a young girl whose life was turned inside out in an instant, and was given no hope of normalcy. It reveals her journey of accepting a disability as a teenager, while at the same time trying her hardest to overcome it. It's not about falling apart, but rather about making the most of a heartbreaking situation ... and waiting for Greater Things.
A Million Suns is the powerful and entertaining continuation of Greater Things. This is the story of Kristin, a teenaged girl who was in a Jet Ski accident that left her paralyzed and in a wheelchair. It recounts her effort to embrace her difference, while rediscovering the passion and happiness she lost with her diagnosis. It shows both the struggle and the beauty of a disabling situation, and how she moved from the darkness of her disability, into the sunlight of her new circumstance.
Date Me is a collection of stories of Kristin Beale's attempts at dating with a disability; interactions surrounding her disability that are humorous and/or lousy; and a few more indiscriminate stories to keep you entertained. All the stories in Date Me are true and told in a unique voice that will make you laugh, smile, feel frustrated, sadness and, hopefully, learn something.