Your reading list for the month ahead, hand-curated by us.

1. L’Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home by David Lebovitz

We’re of the opinion that tales of expats in Paris are perenially appealing, but should you feel the genre is staler than a day old brioche, consider this twist on the beloved travel memoir category. Lebovitz—whose chronicles of Californian-foodie-turned-French-transplant you may have already encountered on his popular blog and in his previous best-sellers—has decided to finally buy his own place in the city of lights after 10 years as a renter. This hilarious, closely-observed book tells the harrowing tale of buying, renovating and well, surviving the acquisition of that property.

2. The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

We couldn’t be prouder of this Canadian woman single-handedly bringing poetry back to the best-seller list. If you aren’t already a mega-fan of the Instapoet after her first collection, Milk and Honey, may we proffer this slim volume? Illustrated by Kaur itself, it’s divided into five chapters that trace the life cycle of a flower / love in all its forms / the meaning of life.

3. Where The Past Begins by Amy Tan

We first encountered this American author’s work via the film The Joy Luck Club: After we scraped our snotty, cried-out selves from the floor, we devoured the actual book it was based upon, cried even more, and then waited patiently for many years for Tan to write some more. And at last, she has! Her latest book is something a bit different, however: Not so much a collection of essays as a connected series of memories, thoughts, ideas that are as moving and thought-provoking as we found The Joy Luck Club all those years ago.

4. Kaukasis: A Cookbook by Olia Hercules

While it’s certainly not new to the people of the region, the food of “Georgia, Azerbaijan and beyond” that this delightful cookbook explores was a revelation for us. Something about the cuisine that this London-based Armenian chef so lovingly curates in this book feels perfect for this time of year—it’s chock-full of soups, roasted veg and of course, hearty heapings of plav, the rice-based dish common throughout the Caucasus region.

5. The Break by Marian Keyes

The premise of this one is a bit soapy (man in his 40s tells wife in her 40s he wants a break from their marriage) but the book itself is nothing but. Instead, it’s a funny (SO funny) and honest look at modern love, of all kinds—friends, family, marital, and spoiler, extra-marital. If you haven’t read the brilliant Keyes before, we can think of no better introduction to one of the wittiest and warmest writers around.