With plenty of time spent at home, once the kids are asleep, there aren’t too many ways to spend the rest of the evening. While I try to use this time to get focused work done, it typically ends with me on the couch, mindlessly watching one too many hours of TV. And hey, that’s fine, we all should unwind in whatever way feels best to us after these long days.
I’m not quitting my TV habit any time soon, but I have been making an effort to spend a little less time watching TV and a little more time reading. There’s nothing quite like diving into a can’t-put-down amazing book. Even finding a binge-worthy show doesn’t compare. Plus, reading is a calming way to move into sleep mode.
If you’re looking for a little escape, here’s what our editors read and loved while staying home.
This book was on so many recommended lists that I had to read it for myself, and it did not disappoint. It’s a moving and miraculous memoir from author Tara Westover, who never attended school, yet went on to get her PhD from Cambridge. Her writing is beautiful without holding back about the raw, painful, and intense hardships she endured growing up off the grid in Idaho. It’s now a top recommendation of mine too. 
This book starts with Emira, a young Black woman being stopped and questioned by a grocery store security guard while she’s babysitting a white child, Briar. What unfolds is a page-turning story with important social commentary as Briar’s mom, Alix, tries to make things right and her relationship with Emira becomes even more tangled as a person from Alix’s past emerges as part of her nanny’s life.
I’ve been wanting to read more work from Indigenous writers and “There There” came highly recommended to me from a friend. I’ll be honest. It’s not easy to read. The book follows 12 Native American characters in Oakland as they fight to understand who they and where they came from, all in an urban landscape. They deal with things like addiction and suicide and family struggles, and it’s a very untold aspect of life in this country. I am grateful to have read this, regardless of how uncomfortable it made me.
Imagine if you had a dream of exactly what would happen to you in five years. This is what happens to the main character. She falls asleep, has an incredibly vivid dream where she experiences one hour of her life, five years in the future. The book follows her journey through those five years, leading her to the confusing hour of her life, one that looks nothing like her present-day life. This was such a page-turner, and I finished it in a couple of days. It was somehow light and heavy at the same time, and I couldn't stop reading.
Alright, this is a bit of a cheat as I haven't exactly finished it yet, but I will take any and all excuse to talk about this book. I'm not normally one for romance, but I really enjoy it while I'm sipping a bev on the beach in the summer (or this summer, where I'm guzzling water and laying in the heat at the park very far away from other humans). Anyway, this book follows Alex, the son of America's first female president, and his rivalry with the Prince of Wales (aptly named, Henry). To the surprise of no one, they fall in love and struggle to figure out how to be together. There's a political aspect to the book that I absolutely love, amidst some steamy, steamy romance. I might be a changed woman.
If you were a fan of "Gone Girl," you will love "The Last Mrs. Parrish." I was hooked from the first page and could not put it down. It is a psychological thriller about a married couple that will keep you questioning what to believe.
Read More: 14 Books by Black Women You Need to Read
