Something to sit with
Recommendations #16
Welcome to If In Doubt, Read an approachable book recommendation newsletter from someone who simply loves reading. Subscribe to make sure I land in your inbox 💌
We’ve nearly made it to the end of Jan ✨ It is always the longest slog but the next thing we know it will be October. I’ve managed to squeeze two ski trips which has (unsurprisingly) made it significantly easier to trudge through January. I worked for the majority of the first one and so I am really looking forward to shutting my laptop for down for this second one.
Otherwise, Jan was made up of hibernating, catching the odd 3pm(!) sunset and braving the outside world to watch Hamnet (I’m still recovering!).
Post title thanks to Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners album which has been on repeat this month.
Currently reading: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (finally!)
On to the recommendations! As ever it is a diverse bunch this month but the theme seems to be strong female protagonists written by female authors ✊
For those that are new here (hi, welcome!), I split my book recommendation’s into four categories and include a mix of new releases and books I’ve previously loved that feel timely. Hopefully there’s something for you.
COSY & COMFORTING
A book that has no ulterior motive and is simply a delightful time.
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
Published: Mar 2021
Summary: Jenny Colgan is the ultimate cosy writer and one I reach for whenever I just need a brain massage. In the Bookshop on the Corner a recently unemployed librarian moves to the highlands of Scotland where she may or may not start a bookshop based in a van. Yes of course there is a rugged, handsome and grumpy farmer who happens to be her landlord…
The book title is misleading as the bookshop is in a van so not on a corner but Colgan explains this (a bit) in the sequel (The Bookshop by the Shore).
LOVE & BEING HUMAN
Everything and anything that gives insight and exposes the true messiness of being human..
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
Published: Sept 2023
Summary: This isn’t necessarily a book recommendation but more of an author recommendation. We All Want Impossible things is Newman’s debut and it blew me away, the humanness, messy unfiltered emotions, complicated friendships and familial relationships all exquisitely portrayed with humour peppered throughout. This book is about her best friend dying, so how Newman weaves humour in is beyond me. It’s one of my top ten books.
Since then Newman has written Sandwich and its sequel Wreck in which you follow the mum of a grown family. There is more of the same; the beauty and joy of life amongst all the raw, sticky, anxious inducing and tender bits (aka illness, grief, trust and beyond) all - somehow - explored with lightness and humour. I will read anything she writes and strongly suggest you do the same.
INTENSE & REWARDING
Books that can fall on the heavier side but really give you something to get stuck into.
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Published: Nov 2025
Summary: This one is best read under a weighted blanket with a hot chocolate in hand. It is bleak but totally absorbing. A remote island south of Tasmania but not quite Antartica. A dad and his three kids (of which he has a fractured relationship with each of them). A women who has quite literally been washed up. A plan to abandon the island in 6 weeks time due to rising sea levels… They just need to pack up and salvage what they can… what could go wrong…
Incredibly gripping until the very last page.
PICK ‘N’ MIX
Anything that doesn’t fit into the other three (e.g. fantasy/ non-fiction) or simply something I want to recommend that fits the theme.
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
Published: Feb 2003
Summary: Another apt winter read. Crow Lake is based in northern Canada and is set in a remote town originally founded by four families - and not populated by many more to this day. The book opens with the Morrison kids experiening the unthinkable tragedy of losing both their parents. All four of them cope in different ways but Kate, the only one who manages to leave Crow Lake and gain a PHD, struggles to move past the complete unfairness of this event. Eighteen years later she returns with her ‘city’ partner and finally confronts the past.
This is my second Lawson book and I’m thoroughly obsessed. They perfectly fill the ‘what should I read next’ hole - not too dramatic or emotional but enough to scratch an itch.
TBR UPDATE
The Correspondent by Virgina Evans (I think I’m the only person on Substack who hasn’t read this)
Chosen Family by Madeline Gray (I loved Green Dot so am excited to read more of Gray)
This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page (Excited and terrified by this concept. Think PS I love you but her late partner has left her a trail of books… tissues at the ready)
PRE ORDERED: Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason (I adore Mason - especially You Be Mother - and cannot wait to read this later this year).
I finished the last letter with a note/ poem I had enjoyed and thought I’d do the same today -
Let Goddess this month ✨
And as always, let me know what you’re reading and loving 💌
Happy reading xo
I keep a spreadsheet of every single post and book recommendation. It now has 98 books in it and you can filter it by category (or author!):
Or if you’d like to read more of my book recommendations on Substack, see my previous posts here:
Take what you need | A grazing board of books | Take one, pass the rest along | A pocket of peace | A sip of comfort | A mixed bag | Strength and beauty | Steady rhythm, joy | Here comes the sun | The illusive beast | A soft exhale | Floating through change | Go on, try it | Trying to lean in | Lighter days ahead
Or follow me on Goodreads or the Bookshop to keep up to date with my reading:
🔗 Goodreads here
🔗 Bookshop.org here
I think you should write a book. You write so welllll! Makes me want to read all the books. Immediately!