non-viral books you should read

because we're all tired of hearing about yesteryear and yes, sometimes emma lion too

Years ago, I had a bookstagram account with a decent amount of followers. I loved posting about books I was reading, and even better, interacting with the authors! But one of my pet peeves about the online book world is that you only tend to see the same 3-5 books talked about for months at a time. Nothing else really gains traction if it’s not trending. Whenever I read viral books, I am almost always disappointed. They never live up to the hype for me or have content I’d rather not read.

Bookstagram circa 2018, with a book an author sent me! She’s one of my fave writers.

I have a sneaking suspicion I’m not the only one feeling this way, so I compiled a list of books I haven’t seen splashed all over the internet that are, in my opinion, severely underrated. You may or may not have read or heard of these books (you’ve probably heard of them), but these are some I’ve enjoyed that have not gone viral. And if they’ve gone viral in your corner of the internet but not mine, oh well! Write your own post.

The Electra McDonell series by Ashley Weaver: A family of career criminal locksmiths become essential to the WWII war effort when given an ultimatum by the government. I’m not going to lie—the first book was maybe 3 stars for me. It was fine! I just wasn’t totally invested in the story. I wasn’t sure what else to read, so I continued through the series and became hooked. I mean HOOKED. I told a friend about them and we read through the 5 books together and loved every second of them. Every book was better than the last! Perfect historical fiction that covers all the genres, and it got me through the winter doldrums. There’s lots of fun spying, European adventures, and mystery.

For fans of: Sherlock, The Nightingale but without the emotional exhaustion, a bubbly/smart female and a cranky man trope, WWII mysteries

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot: This is a classic that has been around for a while, but I find most people I know haven’t read it. I have LOVED watching the new season of the show each January and truly can’t get enough of it, so to stave off my depression after the season finale this past year, I got the book from the library. And it was delightful. The real James Herriot (though that’s not his real name) wrote a book about his time as a vet, working with the cantankerous Siegfried, meeting his wife, and many hilarious adventures in the English countryside. I experienced every single emotion. In the words of Larry the Cucumber: “I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob.”

For fans of: British humor, animals, funny stories, Masterpiece Theater shows that make 1930s & 40s England look absolutely idyllic

Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza: Jo made a podcast years ago about influencer culture that I devoured (though honestly she defended influencers way too much for my taste), and when I saw the premise to this book I knew I had to read it. This, in my opinion, is what Yesteryear was trying and failed to be. One friend is a journalist and one is an influencer. Journalist friend goes to influencer conference to do a story and it turns into a murder mystery and commentary on how fake the online world is. I read this a few years ago so there may be some uncouth content I don’t remember and probably some language, but I loved it. I don’t even remember the ending; I just remember being thoroughly entertained and loving the shade on influencers.

For fans of: rolling your eyes while scrolling Instagram, murder mysteries, social commentaries, wishing Yesteryear was different than what it was but still sort of agreeing that everything is fake and stupid

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan: this book is the epitome of analog living. It’s literally a nature journal of birds in Tan’s backyard. I loved it. She writes little quips about her observations, includes amazing sketches, and my favorite part was the insight on bird activity during the California wildfires (thrilling, I know!!!). This is not a book you binge as a late night thriller, but one you read slowly, a few entries a day. I was in a book store in Michigan recently and saw that there’s now a companion bird journal sketchbook thing (I was hopped up on a vacation iced coffee so I didn’t pay close enough attention to what it was, but it was something like that). I didn’t buy it, but just knowing it existed thrilled me to my core. Maybe in my 40s I’ll enter that world.

For fans of: Charlotte Mason homeschooling, nature journaling, staring out the front window at the bird feeder, all the “if you listened to this song in the club, how’s birdwatching going?” memes out there

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by M.J. Wassamer: What would you do if you went on a luxurious vacation to a brand new resort, and then the sun exploded? Yeah, I don’t know either, but this was a fun way to think about what could happen. It’s kind of an apocalyptic thriller but in a lighthearted, dark humor kind of way. It was scary, funny, and so witty. I don’t know what else to say without giving things away, but it was refreshing to read a book with such a unique plot.

For fans of: looking for reasons to be grateful you’re not on vacation, reading news stories about those people quarantined for weeks on cruise ships, exquisite dark humor, Lost, a movie that I really want to name but might be a spoiler so I’ll let you draw the conclusion after you read it

a different Newman book, but just as wild

Drowning by T.J. Newman: If you want to be stressed out to the max, I cannot recommend T.J. Newman enough. This book in particular is one I think about weekly (literally) and I read it THREE YEARS AGO. A plane crashes in the Pacific ocean shortly after takeoff from Hawaii, and then sinks to the bottom. There’s an air pocket in the plane where some people are still alive and hoping for rescue. She has two other books that are similar and just as fantastic and terrifying. She was an actual flight attendant, so she has the knowledge to write very convincing and horrifying airline thrillers. I will say, from someone with a lot of flying experience, I have become a bit of a nervous flyer over the last few years and I credit much of that to these books. They’re that good/traumatizing.

For fans of: that feeling of horror you get when you wake up from a nightmare in the middle of the night and haven’t yet remembered it’s not real, Frieda McFadden books, doomsday movies, panic attacks

The Second Life of Mirielle West by Amanda Skenandore: This book is how I learned leper colonies existed well into the 20th century. A well known socialite is forcibly sent away to live in a leper colony and has to basically start her entire life over. It’s a novel, but it’s based on a real leper colony in Louisiana. This made me deep dive all kinds of crazy things—I genuinely thought leper colonies belonged to biblical times and not recent history. I loved this book even though there was definitely some sadness in it. I did recommend it online once just to have some random girl from high school who I never talk to post that she read it after I recommended it and she hated it, SO BE WARNED.

For fans of: weird history, covid lockdowns, novels about fresh starts, Google deep dives that lead you to reading about Japanese internment camps, Radium Girls

Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo: I need to capslock this real quick so you know how serious I am: I LOVE BOOKS THAT TEACH ME ABOUT WEIRD, LITTLE KNOWN HISTORICAL EVENTS AND THIS ONE IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE. A SLOW MOVING TIDAL WAVE OF MOLASSES WIPED OUT BOSTON. I CANNOT. To be completely honest, the book was kinda dry at times (unlike the molasses ba dum tish), but it opened my world to the weirdest event ever. If an occasionally boring nonfiction book is too much for you, there’s an I Survived the Great Molasses Flood book that my 11 year old highly recommends. She’s joined me in my weird history obsession. This is genuinely one of the strangest disasters out there.

For fans of: impressing people with your history knowledge, corporate ineptitude, natural disasters, this meme that I made on January 15th in honor of the anniversary

One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson: This might surprise you, but this book is about what happened in America the summer of 1927. It talked a lot about baseball, Charles Lindbergh, murder, flooding, mobsters, etc. It was fascinating. I read it a couple years ago and remember thinking that even though it was about a time nearly 100 years ago, it felt eerily similar to stuff we’re going through today. Also, Bill Bryson is a fantastic writer and is always worth reading, but I still skipped the baseball sections because I will never care.

For fans of: history, Americana, witty writing, saying “there’s nothing new under the sun

I could write 100 posts like this, but I want to know what books you’d add to the list!