The Books We Read Blog is conducting a series of interviews with contributors and friends of the blog to get a snapshot of our reading habits: the things we like to read, the circumstances in which we read, and more.
Jill Morrow is one of the Administrative Assistants at the Administrative Services Group, Rutgers-New Brunswick Libraries. Working at the James Dickson Carr Library, she has an easy reach to the Recreational Reading Collection, which is physically located on the first floor by the entrance. Processing invoices for the collection and performing all related administrative tasks are definitely not the only connection she and RUL books have. Enjoy the richest selection of book recommendations of the summer of 2022 below.
“I am a very eclectic and prolific reader and our RecRead collection has opened me up to even more authors. Sci-fi, fantasy, romance, women’s fiction, Young Adult, suspense, plus a combination of them. I have already read 45 books this year and am touching on some of them.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is an awesome sci-fi story that takes place in the near future. I read this last year and still recommend it.
Anything by Jayne Ann Krentz aka Jayne Castle aka Amanda Quick though my favorites are the Jayne Castle ones. Most of her stories are romantic suspense and many involve at least a little paranormal vibe. I just read her latest Amanda Quick release When She Dreams and enjoyed it.
If you want to read something more ethnic, Tif Marcelo’s books all have Filipino families in them and it has been interesting viewing life from their perspective. Her latest is Know You by Heart.
Brenda Novak writes wonderful romance, women’s fiction, and suspense and is personally involved in her Online Book Group on Facebook. I have met her and her husband plus one of her daughters multiple times at book tour and book group events and she is very welcoming. Her latest is Summer on the Island and it was hard to put down to go to work.
Viola Shipman aka Wade Rouse writes really heartwarming stories. Nora Roberts writes in different genres. My favorites are the ones that involve magic like her current The Dragon Heart Legacy trilogy. The second book came out in November, The Becoming. These you really need to read all three books, not start part way through. [Editor’s note: Nora Roberts also writes the In death series under the pen name J.D. Robb. The latest is Abandoned in death, available in the RecRead Collection.]
For romance and women’s fiction you cannot go wrong with anything by Robyn Carr, Susan Mallery, Debbie Macomber, RaeAnne Thayne, Mary Kay Andrews, Jill Shalvis, and Jennifer Probst. For suspense, Heather Graham and Rebecca Zanetti are great. For a funny paranormal suspense series aimed at the 40 plus crowd, the Forty Proof series by Shannon Mayer is good.
Finally, I have another book to mention that was written by a Rutgers Alumnus who has been a friend of mine since college. I read it late last year, so it was not in the Goodreads list for this year that I was reviewing this afternoon. The Tales of Amrynn Book One: The Emperor’s Road by David C. Dowd. It is his first book and it is a fantasy book that is based on a D&D campaign that he wrote for our friends a long time ago. It is well written and for me had the right amount of detail.”
–Jill Morrow
Related blog posts
- The Recreational Reading Collection
- Genres in the Recreational Reading Collection
- Summer with New Jersey books and authors
- Rutgers Alumni Writers: Janet Evanovich
- Staff Picks: The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century
- Staff Picks: Stepping into the Romance Genre
