The book that brought me back to fiction

Prior to last year I had not read a fiction book in decades. I was an exclusive non-fiction reader. And I don’t know when or where or how that happened. I guess the things that I wanted to read about were contained in fiction books—marriage, parenting, business, life, the memoirs of women I found interesting.

But last year my friend Janine started a YouTube channel talking about her fiction reads and it sparked my interest. So for 2025 I said whenever we travel I would pick a fiction book to be my travel read and for spring break I chose Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman. I was intrigued by Janine’s explanation of the book and I asked Chattie G (a.k.a. ChatGPT) to recommend books and gave her a few things to consider—I enjoy lighthearted books, no science fiction, fun characters, and a bonus if there is depth and meaning with levity as well. Well Chattie G recommended Eleanor as well so I felt confident in my selection.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I finished the book and WOW—here’s what I discovered. Reading fiction at night is my new favorite way to end the night. I used to read non-fiction before bed and what happens a lot is I want to take notes, get a highlighter, it makes me think of other things and that detracts from winding down and going to sleep. I didn’t realize it until I used nighttime to finish Eleanor.

Each night I was so excited to get in bed and see what she was up to. It was like an appointment with a friend each night and also like watching a television show! And it dawned on me, reading the book each night felt like watching tv before bed without the adverse affects of screens before bedtime!

And now I’m hooked! I am committed to reading fiction as my nighttime reading which means I’m going from a few fiction books a year to reading them weekly!

Before I share what book I chose next let’s talk about Eleanor and why I enjoyed it! If you haven’t read it and you enjoy books that are easy reads, light-hearted, but also have characters of substance that are not one note and that have more to them that what originally meets the eye you may enjoy Eleanor. I enjoyed watching her story unfold. There were times I laughed out loud and times I gasped like—oh! how did I not figure that out?!

It kept me coming back for more without being overly dramatic, or dramatic at all in fact. I enjoyed it so much and hope that Gail Honeyman will write a sequel because I want to know more about how life unfolds for my friend Eleanor!

Next up!

Next up? Well, I went back to Chattie G and said, girl if I enjoyed Eleanor what other books would I enjoy? She gave me a list of other books, the first was completely checked out at the library, all sixteen copies (a good sign!) so I went with number two on the list, The Authenticity Project.

I’m just a few chapters in and I’m looking forward to it. I would love to hear if you have recommendations (based on what I enjoy reading). Let me know!

And have you read Eleanor or The Authenticity Project?