Recommendations based on "The Mutual Friend The Unmissable Debut Novel from the Co-Creator of How I Met Your Mother"

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A USA TODAY BESTSELLER • A brilliantly funny novel about friends, lovers, Ireland in chaos, and a young woman desperately trying to manage all three • “O'Donoghue deepens the familiar coming-of-age premise with riveting moral complications." —People"If you’ve ever been unsure what to do with your degree in English; if you’ve ever wondered when the rug-buying part of your life will start...if you’ve ever loved the wrong person, or the right person at the wrong time…In short, if you’ve ever been young, you will love The Rachel Incident like I did.” —Gabrielle Zevin, New York Times best-selling author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and TomorrowRachel is a student working at a bookstore when she meets James, and it’s love at first sight. Effervescent and insistently heterosexual, James soon invites Rachel to be his roommate and the two begin a friendship that changes the course of both their lives forever. Together, they run riot through the streets of Cork city, trying to maintain a bohemian existence while the threat of the financial crash looms before them.When Rachel falls in love with her married professor, Dr. Fred Byrne, James helps her devise a reading at their local bookstore, with the goal that she might seduce him afterwards. But Fred has other desires. So begins a series of secrets and compromises that intertwine the fates of James, Rachel, Fred, and Fred’s glamorous, well-connected, bourgeois wife. Aching with unrequited love, shot through with delicious, sparkling humor, The Rachel Incident is a triumph.

Somewhere out in this world, at the end of an unassuming beach, there lies a hotel from where you can travel anywhere you wish in a heartbeat. But beware: entry comes at a bitter price, and the innkeeper collects payment only AFTER you’ve checked in…"Both heart-warming and thought-provoking" - Helena, Amazon-Customer“I had tears in my eyes, I was so moved.” - Ivybooknerd"Perfect for rainy days in a reading nook with a good cup of coffee" - Claudia, Amazon Customer“A book about the big questions of life, about searching and finding yourself”– Amelie, TV-Host & Podcaster“I laughed, cried and felt like I was right in the middle of that wonderful story. (...) a page-turner right from the beginning! ” Jana, Heartbeatb00ks“Don’t worry: the story does not lack lies, deceit and plenty of twists and turns. Enjoy the ride!” – Svenja, Amazon CustomerWhat would you give up for the chance to go anywhere in the world, anytime you wanted?When Ava Marley stumbles upon the mysterious Atlas Hotel on a remote beach in Zanzibar, she's already on the run. Her estranged father wants her to join the family's global coffee-shop empire, but she would rather scrub toilets than follow in his footsteps. So, when innkeeper Bruno di Mare offers free lodging for honest labour, it doesn't take Ava long to agree.Only the Atlas is no ordinary hotel - it's a portal to the world. In a matter of seconds, Bruno's guests can travel the entire globe as long as they return within twenty-four hours. Croissants for breakfast in Paris, lunch with elephants in the Okavango Delta, a sunset cruise on the Amazon, finished off with a rooftop dinner in Cappadocia - the Atlas makes it all happen in a day, and Ava gets sucked in like a drop of water into sand.But entry comes at a bitter price - one the innkeeper reveals only after she has checked in. And now Ava, like all other guests, must make a choice: Will she leave her mark on the world or run away forever?If you like a charming house that reads like a character, lush travel narratives, and a vivid cast from around the world, you will love checking in at 'The Anywhere Hotel'…

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction!"Brilliantly faceted and extremely funny. . . . While I was reading it, I was making a list of all the people I wanted to send it to, until I realized that I wanted to send it to everyone I know." — Ann PatchettThe internationally bestselling sensation, a compulsively readable novel—spiky, sharp, intriguingly dark, and tender—that Emma Straub has named one of her favorite books of the yearMartha Friel just turned forty. Once, she worked at Vogue and planned to write a novel. Now, she creates internet content. She used to live in a pied-à-terre in Paris. Now she lives in a gated community in Oxford, the only person she knows without a PhD, a baby or both, in a house she hates but cannot bear to leave. But she must leave, now that her husband Patrick—the kind who cooks, throws her birthday parties, who loves her and has only ever wanted her to be happy—has just moved out.Because there’s something wrong with Martha, and has been for a long time. When she was seventeen, a little bomb went off in her brain and she was never the same. But countless doctors, endless therapy, every kind of drug later, she still doesn’t know what’s wrong, why she spends days unable to get out of bed or alienates both strangers and her loved ones with casually cruel remarks.And she has nowhere to go except her childhood home: a bohemian (dilapidated) townhouse in a romantic (rundown) part of London—to live with her mother, a minorly important sculptor (and major drinker) and her father, a famous poet (though unpublished) and try to survive without the devoted, potty-mouthed sister who made all the chaos bearable back then, and is now too busy or too fed up to deal with her.But maybe, by starting over, Martha will get to write a better ending for herself—and she’ll find out that she’s not quite finished after all.

A sophisticated, page-turning double love story spanning forty years-an unforgettable Brief Encounter for our times.It is 1960. When Jennifer Stirling wakes up in the hospital, she can remember nothing-not the tragic car accident that put her there, not her husband, not even who she is. She feels like a stranger in her own life until she stumbles upon an impassioned letter, signed simply "B", asking her to leave her husband.Years later, in 2003, a journalist named Ellie discovers the same enigmatic letter in a forgotten file in her newspaper's archives. She becomes obsessed by the story and hopeful that it can resurrect her faltering career. Perhaps if these lovers had a happy ending she will find one to her own complicated love life, too. Ellie's search will rewrite history and help her see the truth about her own modern romance.A spellbinding, intoxicating love story with a knockout ending, The Last Letter from Your Lover will appeal to the readers who have made One Day and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society bestsellers.

In this #1 bestselling page-turner from "the queen of beach reads" (New York Magazine), a Nantucket novelist has one final summer to protect her secrets while her loved ones on earth learn to live without their golden girl. On a perfect June day, Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three nearly grown children, is killed in a hit-and-run car accident while jogging near her home on Nantucket. She ascends to the Beyond where she's assigned to a Person named Martha, who allows Vivi to watch what happens below for one last summer. Vivi also is granted three “nudges” to change the outcome of events on earth, and with her daughter Willa on her third miscarriage, Carson partying until all hours, and Leo currently “off again” with his high-maintenance girlfriend, she’ll have to think carefully where to use them. From the Beyond, Vivi watches “The Chief” Ed Kapenash investigate her death, but her greatest worry is her final book, which contains a secret from her own youth that could be disastrous for her reputation. But when hidden truths come to light, Vivi’s family will have to sort out their past and present mistakes—with or without a nudge of help from above—while Vivi finally lets them grow without her. With all of Elin’s trademark beach scenes, mouth-watering meals, and picture-perfect homes, plus a heartfelt message—the people we lose never really leave us—Golden Girl is a beach book unlike any other.

Full of romance and humour, this is a book about fresh starts, friendship and the unexpected places we find happiness.I love getting lost in a Jules Wake book! Debbie Johnson, bestselling author of the Comfort Food Cafe seriesThis is the story of two women.One old, one young.One looking for new adventures. One looking for a purpose.Both needing a friend.And this is how, along with two little girls in need of a family, a gorgeous stranger, and a scruffy dog, they bring the whole community together every Saturday morning for love, laughter and a little bit of running(well, power walking).Some people come into your life when you need them the most.Readers are loving THE SATURDAY MORNING PARK RUN: This heart-warming read will leave you feeling happy, emotional, and potentially ready for a run A gorgeous, engaging charm of a read Jenn, Amazon reviewer I am addicted to books by Jules and as her stories are simply delightful and heartwarming however this one is just magical KR, Amazon reviewer Absolutely loved this gem of a book! A great read detailing the benefits of family life, work life balance, friendship, love and intergenerational friendships! Sally, Amazon reviewer

A brand new cosy novel from best-selling author Debbie Johnson. Welcome to the cosy Comfort Food Café, where there's kindness in every cup of hot chocolate and the menu is sprinkled with love and happiness... Moving to the little village of Budbury, Zoe hopes the crisp Dorset sea breeze and gentle pace of life will be a fresh start for her and her goddaughter, Martha. Luckily for them both, the friendly community at the café provide listening ears, sage advice, shoulders to cry on, and some truly excellent carrot cake. And when Martha's enigmatic, absent father suddenly turns up, confusing not only Martha but Zoe too, the love and support of their new-found friends is the best present they could ask for. Have Zoe and Martha truly found their home at the Comfort Food Café? ‘As sweet and as satisfying as a mug of hot chocolate’ Sunday Times bestseller Milly Johnson ‘Full of comfort and cheer – the perfect antidote to cold winter nights’ Sunday Times bestseller Jane Costello Readers LOVE the Comfort Food Cafe! ‘Full of heart and delivers so much more than you expect...a real joy to read’ Alba in Bookland ‘I truly believe that Budbury, the Comfort Food Café and the characters that live there have magical healing powers. I want to live there. I want to be in the novel, in every book in this series’ Lisa Talks About ‘I urge you to pull up a chair, grab a bowl of your own comfort food and sit back and relax with a wonderful story’ Rachel’s Random Reads ‘Funny, touching, realistic and sweet’ Bananas Are Tricky ‘I simply adored it with all my heart and my whole little miserable life’ On My Bookshelf ‘Debbie's best yet’ Annie Cooper’s Book Corner ‘Such a heartfelt story’ Jane Hunt Book Reviews ‘The perfect story whatever the season. I adored it’ Rae Reads

'Derry Girls meets David Sedaris' Elske Rahill 'The writing is full of energy and originality' Irish Times Growing up on the Falls Road in 1990s Belfast, Alix O'Neill has seen it all - burnt-out buses blocking the route to school, the police mistaking her father for a leading terrorist and a classmate playing hide and seek with her dad's prosthetic hand (blown off making a device for the IRA). Not that she or her friends are up to speed with the goings-on of the resistance. They're too preoccupied with the obsessions of every teenage girl - booze, boys and Boyzone - to worry about the violence on their doorstep. Besides, the odd coffee jar bomb is nothing compared to the drama about to explode in Alix's personal life. Desperate to leave Northern Ireland and the trials of her mother's unorthodox family - a loving yet eccentric band of misfits - behind, she makes grand plans for the next stage. But it's through these relationships and their gradual unravelling that Alix begins to appreciate not only the troubled history of where she comes from, but the strength of its women. Warm, embarrassing and full of love and insight, The Troubles with Us is a hilarious and moving account of the madness and mundanities of life in Northern Ireland during the thirty-year conflict. It's a story of mothers and daughters, the fallout from things left unsaid and the lengths a girl will go to for fake tan.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER"It will break your heart and nourish your soul. . . . Her finest novel yet." —Nigella Lawson From internationally bestselling author Marian Keyes comes the eagerly awaited sequel to Rachel's Holiday. Prepare to laugh and cry by turns with Rachel and the Walsh family.Back in the long ago nineties, Rachel Walsh was a mess.But a spell in rehab transformed everything. Life became very good, very quickly. These days, Rachel has love, family, a great job as an addiction counsellor, she even gardens. Her only bad habit is a fondness for expensive sneakers.But with the sudden reappearance of a man she'd once loved, her life wobbles.She'd thought she was settled. Fixed forever. Is she about to discover that no matter what our age, everything can change?Is it time to think again, Rachel?

Clover Brooks has forgotten how to live. It might be because she spends her time caring for people in their final days, working as a death doula in New York City.Or it might be because she has a regret of her own - one she can't bring herself to let go of.But then she meets Claudia: a feisty old woman who has one last wish . . .As Clover begins a new adventure, will she remember how to live her own big, beautiful life?A big-hearted story about figuring out what you want from life - and then finding the courage to go after it. Perfect for fans of Sally Page, Ruth Hogan and Clare Pooley.-----Readers are loving The Collected Regrets of Clover ... 'A beautiful, uplifting novel about unexpected friendship, a decades-old love story, and finding the courage to live your best life' LUCY DIAMOND'I fell in love with Clover, longed for her world to open up and cheered when she finally realised that comfort zones are designed to be stepped out of' JILL MANSELL'Charming, delightful and quietly powerful . . . this will warm your heart and change your life' VERONICA HENRY'Beautiful, poignant and the literary antidote to when life feels a little stationary' JESSICA GEORGE'A tender, charming delight, perfect for anyone who loved The Authenticity Project or Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine' KJ DELL'ANTONIA'This book will be one that I remember for a long time' RUTH HOGAN'Warm, profound, and expertly told, The Collected Regrets of Clover explores how befriending death can help enrich our lives. This is one of those special books that will leave a handprint on your heart' EMMA BRODIE'Heartfelt and delightful . . . You will turn the last page with a fresh zest for life and absolutely no regrets' ANNABEL MONAGHAN'An evocative, bustling setting, an intriguing cast of characters and a brave, caring heroine make this a book to read and read again' CELIA ANDERSON'Poignant and big-hearted, [this] is the kind of book that reminds you how to live, and is one to usher into the hands of everyone you know' i News