Read This: My New Author Girl Crush, Liane Moriarty

So every once in a while after I read a book I think, "I need to read every book by this author." It happened right away with Emily Giffin from the moment I finished Something Borrowed and I've loved reading all of her books and staying up to date as her new titles come out ever since (I look forward to her new book First Comes Love, out in June).

Well, I'm excited to report I have another official author girl crush: Liane Moriarty. This Australian writer was highly recommended to me, and as luck would have it my sister Becky bought me "The Husband's Secret" for Christmas, even though I hadn't mentioned the recommendations to her. Becky is an awesome gift giver!

Well, after flying through the Husband's Secret I knew I had to read them all :) My mom found The Hypnotist's Love Story for me half-priced, and I bought Big Little Lies used and read that in under a week, too! So I've read one Liane Moriarty book a month in 2016--not bad! She has 6 novels so these are the ones I've read:

And these are the ones I need to read:

She also writes children's books which I'm totally tempted to read as well.

But what are her books like?, you ask. Glad you asked! To keep the Emily Giffin comparison alive, I'd say she's a darker Emily Giffin. Similarly, her books center around women, but whereas most of Emily's center around, say the 25-30 year-old woman who's struggling to find love (speaking in generalities, of course), most of Moriarty's protagonists are slightly older than that, and most are moms. Or, should I say, since Moriarty is an Australian author, "mums." (Aside: I love the Australian elements thrown into these books. It's fun reading about people on the other side of the world! Who, of course, have a lot in common with us.)

I enjoy love stories, and there are certainly romantic elements weaved in throughout Moriarty's books, but it's not all love. In fact, two of the three books I've read of hers involve a murder--but don't think it's a murder mystery in the traditional sense of a crime-story genre. It's not!

In regards to the writing itself: All of her books (that I've read) are written in third person tight with alternating points of view. I do think a challenge here is, in each book, I did start to care about one point of view more than all of the rest. (I'd love to know, if you read them, which protagonists you preferred.) Regardless of POV, she's great at incorporating humor as she writes, and adept at drilling down to little insights about life that ring so true.

Overall, I find her writing incredible relatable, fun, and full of great tension. The girl will make you want to turn the page! I'd say The Hypnotist's Love Story was my least favorite of the three (not as complex/layered, felt a bit too simple), so I'd recommend starting with The Husband's Secret or Big Little Lies. If you check out the books (or have read them already) I'd love to know what you think! Next up on my Moriarty book list for April: What Alice Forgot which is apparently a tear-jerker. Happy Monday, friends! xx

(First two images of books from the author's website.)