Booklist's Spotlight on Women's Fiction, 2017

Looks like it's time for my annual posts (sad but true!) again, with the Booklist March 1st issue being the Spotlight on Women's Fiction.

First up, the Top 10!

Top 10 Women’s Fiction: 2017


The top 10 women’s fiction reviewed in Booklist between March 1, 2016, and February 15, 2017, showcase a variety of story types, from classic chick lit to romance to tearjerkers. These novels deliver something for just about every women’s-fiction fan.

The Assistants. By Camille Perri. 2016. Putnam, $25 (9780399172540).
Perri’s debut is reminiscent of the golden era of early aughts chick lit—a workplace comedy featuring average women caught up in extraordinary situations. The characters’ millennial concerns—overwhelming student-loan debt, underemployment, loneliness in a world of hyperconnectivity—ring true.

The Book That Matters Most. By Ann Hood. 2016. Norton, $25.95 (9780393241655).
Her husband having recently left her, and with her adult children both out of the country, Ava looks forward to joining the library’s book club. She suggests a long-forgotten book that helped her through a difficult childhood, but it now has her questioning the secrets surrounding the deaths of her sister and mother.

Every Wild Heart. By Meg Donohue. 2017. Morrow, $14.99 (9780062644411).
When radio-host Gail is offered a new contract for a television show at the same time that her teenage daughter, Nic, has an accident that puts her in a coma, the lines blur as decisions with unknown consequences have to be made.


I Almost Forgot about You. By Terry McMillan. 2016. Crown, $27 (9781101902578).
After two failed marriages and countless other romantic missteps, Georgia considers herself done with love. She is successful and has two beautiful daughters, but a chance meeting reminds her that she is not altogether happy—so she decides to leave it all behind and begin all over again.

Leave Me. By Gayle Forman. 2016. Algonquin, $26.95 (9781616206178).
Maribeth is too busy with 4-year-old twins and an increasingly demanding job to realize she’s had a heart attack at 44. Complications lead to an extended recovery period, yet somehow Maribeth is quickly back to the grind. Fed up, she packs up and hightails it out of town, where she hopes to find some answers about her past—as well as some time to herself.

The Mother’s Promise. By Sally Hepworth. 2017. St. Martin’s, $26.99 (9781466889927).
Alice’s cancer diagnosis sends her into a panic, not because of her uncertain prognosis but because her 15-year-old daughter, Zoe, has a paralyzing social-anxiety disorder that makes her dependent on Alice. This story tugs at the heartstrings, guaranteeing that readers will smile through the tears.

To continue reading the rest of the list, which includes Nine Women, One Dress by Jane L. Rosen, The Regulars by Georgia Clark, Swear on This Life by Renée Carlino, and We Are All Made of Stars by Rowan Coleman, click here to go to the full article on Booklist Online.