We asked our staff to share their latest book recommendations and give us a peek into their reading habits by answering your favorite bookish questions. This month we hear from Julie Hernandez, Executive Director, Sales. Read on for Julie’s trusted book recommendations by female authors and to hear what’s on top of her TBR pile. 

 

Julie Hernandez, Executive Director, Sales

This novel is perfect for our collective post pandemic angst – while we were forced to be shuttered at home during the pandemic, imagine not being able to leave your home due to trauma-induced agoraphobia? I was rooting for Meredith and for all of us!

 

I loved Ruthy Ramirez and her sisters! A deeply moving debut by a Latinx author and a poignant novel about a strong Puerto-Rican mother and sisters dealing with loss, generational trauma, but ultimately, about the love and hope and humor that allows women to go on, it hit home for me.

 

What a fun, romantic novel, written by one of the members and songwriter of The Bangles (If you are not a Generation Xer, Google them). I loved the use of lyrics and music, a memorable and fun character in Jane and the sexy British romantic interest, I imagined myself having fireside chats in cozy pubs, and frolicking in the English countryside.

 

I am a huge fan of true crime, and a recovering Catholic! Christine Kenneally delivers a disturbing, tale of true crime inside Catholic orphanages in America. The horrors that happened at St. Joseph’s orphanage in Burlington, Vermont, will keep you up at night!

 

 

What’s the weirdest thing you have used as a bookmark?

My eyeglasses cleaning cloth, folded in a rectangular shape (where are those bookmarks when you need them?)

 

Do you have a go-to comfort read?

Call me weird – I find comfort in True crime and traumatic Memoirs, when I need a reminder that life could be worse and it’s the perfect escape into someone else’s drama, like I said odd.

 

If you owned a bookstore, what would you call it?

Bocaditos, Jam & Read. My sisters and I would fantasize about opening a bookstore with DJ, bartender, small plates (tapas) and books – A silent dance party with headphones, where you can browse the shelves, socialize, and read while you jam & listen to your favorite music.

 

What book is at the top of your TBR pile right now?