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Rebecca Serle is the best-selling author of "In Five Years," "One Italian Summer," and several young adult novels. In her forthcoming novel, "Expiration Dates," a woman on her 43rd first date receives an unsigned note indicating this guy may be the one.
'The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.' by Adelle Waldman (2013)
Anyone who knows me knows I will not shut up about this book, which is told from the point of view of Nathaniel P. — a true Brooklyn "sad young literary man." (If you know, you know.) Waldman has a way of writing a man who is both sympathetic and infuriating — and very, very familiar. Buy it here.
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'The Catcher in the Rye' by J.D. Salinger (1951)
Alongside Wuthering Heights, this is one of the two novels that made me want to be a writer. Hemingway's short stories made me see that language didn't have to be "flowery" to be impactful — and Salinger drove this point home. I still marvel at how he can do so much with such brevity. The ability to say what you want to say and get out is a skill I deeply admire. Buy it here.
'Good Material' by Dolly Alderton (2023)
I just finished this book and feel it is in some ways the literary sister (or brother?) of Nathaniel P. Also told from the male point of view, the novel is essentially the anatomy of a breakup in your mid-30s. It's tender and true. There were so many times that I stopped while reading and simply muttered, "Yes." Buy it here.
'The Jessica Darling series' by Megan McCafferty (2001–09)
I have loved Jessica and Marcus — the on-again, off-again couple at the center of this five-book YA series — for what feels like forever. There is no book series I've come back to with more frequency, and after all these years, Jessica still feels like a friend. Buy it here.
'Nothing to See Here' by Kevin Wilson (2019)
I became a lifelong fan of Wilson's with the publication of this novel about the caretaker of twins who burst into flames when agitated. I have read few books that are this inventive and surprising and strange. I love the way Wilson writes magical realism. Buy it here.
'Sylvia's Second Act' by Hillary Yablon (2024)
This book won't be out until March 12, but I read an advance copy and loved it. It's about a 60-something woman who catches her husband cheating and decides to move to New York City to start over again. Buy it here.
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