Reading Suggestions by Zodiac Signs: Aquarius Edition
Posted on February 6, 2026
by Amy H
Aquarius: Jan. 21 – Feb. 19. Born during the coldest time of the year, Aquarians are often described as the innovative, eccentric “weirdos” of the zodiac, known for their big-picture thinking and desire for freedom. They are known to be tolerant, idealistic, independent, humanitarian, and slightly aloof. Here’s a selection of books with characters and appeal factors that match these traits.
leonard and hungry paul by Rónán Hession
The story of two single, thirty-something men who still live with their parents and who are . . . nice. They take care of their parents and play board games together. They like to read. They take satisfaction from their work. They are resolutely kind. And they realize that none of this is considered . . . normal. Leonard and Hungry Paul is the story of two friends struggling to protect their understanding of what’s meaningful in life. It is about the uncelebrated people of this world - the gentle, the meek, the humble. And as they struggle to persevere, the book asks a surprisingly enthralling question: Is it really them against the world, or are they on to something?
romantic comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
The most aptly named book ever, this is a perfect mix of smart and funny dialog, interesting characters, and a fascinating look into how a weekly late night comedy like Saturday Night Live is actually created fresh each week. Liked it so much I listened to the audiobook after reading the print.
vera wong's unsolicited advice for murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Vera Wong is a lonely lady of a certain age who lives above her once thriving, now forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco's Chinatown. She likes nothing more than a good cup of Wulong and extensive, loving detective work on the Internet to see what her Gen-Z son is up to. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing--a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand is a flash drive, which Vera picks up after calling the cops like any good citizen would. Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands. Vera knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of curious customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer. What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her new customers and start to care for each and every one of them. As a protective mother hen, will she end up having to turn in one of her newfound chicks to the police?
project hail mary by Andy Weir
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission--and if he fails, humanity and Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery--and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he's got to do it all alone. Then his radar picks up another ship in the vicinity, and it isn't anything a human would make. Can this former junior high science teacher turned doubtful world savior make a friend via first contact?
nothing to see here by Kevin Wilson
Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then Lillian is expelled in the wake of a scandal, and they've barely spoken since. Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for help. Madison's twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there's a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian suspects Madison is pulling her leg, but it's the truth. Wanting to escape her dead-end life at home, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Soon Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other and (literally) stay cool while also staying out of the way of Madison's haughty politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her.
it's elementary by Elise Bryant
Mavis Miller has a lot on her plate with her feisty seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, an exhausting job at a nonprofit, and the complexities of a multigenerational household. So no one is more surprised than Mavis when she finds herself in charge of the school's brand-new DEI committee. As one of the few Black parents at this elite California elementary school, Mavis tries to convince herself this is an opportunity for real change. But things go off the rails at the very first meeting, when the new principal's plans make longtime PTA president Trisha Holbrook absolutely furious. Later that night, Mavis uneasily spies Trisha in yellow rubber gloves and booties, lugging cleaning supplies and giant black trash bags to her waiting minivan. Then Principal Smith fails to show up for work, and has been MIA since the meeting. Determined to get to the bottom of things, Mavis, along with the school psychologist with the great forearms (look, it's worth noting), launches an investigation that will challenge her views on parenting, friendship, and cuthroat elementary school politics.
the book club for troublesome women by Marie Bostwick
Four dissatisfied sixties-era housewives form a book club turned sisterhood that will hold fast amid the turmoil of a rapidly changing world and alter the course of each of their lives. By early 1960s standards, Margaret Ryan, Viv Buschetti, and Bitsy Cobb, suburban housewives in a brand-new "planned community" in Northern Virginia, appear to have it all. The fact that "all" doesn't feel like enough leaves them feeling confused and guilty, certain the fault must lie with them. Things begin to change when they form a book club with Charlotte Gustafson, the eccentric and artsy "new neighbor" from Manhattan, and read Betty Friedan's just-released book, “The Feminine Mystique.” Controversial and groundbreaking, the book struck a chord with an entire generation of women, helping them realize that they weren't alone in their dissatisfactions, or their longings, lifting their eyes to new horizons of possibility and achievement. Margaret, Charlotte, Bitsy, and Viv are among them. But is it really the book that alters the lives of these four very different women? Or is it the bond of sisterhood that helps them find courage to confront the past, navigate turmoil in a rapidly changing world, and see themselves in a new and limitless light?
rosaline palmer takes the cake by Alexis J. Hall
Rosaline Palmer is just barely holding her life together. Her paycheck might as well be parchment paper, her house is falling apart, and help from her parents is always served with a generous slice of disappointment and judgment. And the cherry on top? Now her daughter's school is charging all sorts of outlandish extra fees for trips that Rosaline can't afford. But where there's a whisk there's a way... and Rosaline has just landed a place on the nation's favorite baking show. Winning the prize money could change everything, but more than collapsing trifles stand between Rosaline and sweet, sweet victory. Charming and suave Alain Pope is just the type of person her parents planned for her to marry, and better yet, her fellow contestant is doing his best to sweep her off her feet. Yet while he says and bakes all the right things, it's friendly, down-to-earth electrician Harry Dobson who Rosaline finds as tempting as a midnight ice-cream sundae with salted caramel... and just as hard to resist. But as the competition -- and the ovens -- heat up, Rosaline starts to realize the most delicious recipes come about when you don't follow the recipe.
one two three by Laurie Frankel
Everyone knows everyone in the tiny town of Bourne, but the Mitchell triplets are especially beloved. Mirabel is the smartest person anyone knows, and no one doubts it just because she can’t speak. Monday is the town’s purveyor of books now that the library’s closed―tell her the book you think you want, and she’ll pull the one you actually do from the microwave or her sock drawer. Mab’s job is hardest of all: get good grades, get into college, get out of Bourne. For a few weeks seventeen years ago, Bourne was national news when its water turned green. The girls have come of age watching their mother’s endless fight for justice. But just when it seems life might go on the same forever, the first moving truck anyone’s seen in years pulls up and unloads new residents and old secrets. Soon, the Mitchell sisters are taking on a system stacked against them and uncovering mysteries buried longer than they’ve been alive. Because it's hard to let go of the past when the past won't let go of you. Three unforgettable narrators join together here to tell a spellbinding story with wit, wonder, and deep affection. As she did in This Is How It Always Is, Laurie Frankel has written a laugh-out-loud-on-one-page-grab-a-tissue-the-next novel, as only she can, about how expanding our notions of normal makes the world a better place for everyone and how when days are darkest, it’s our daughters who will save us all.
nesting by Roisín O'Donnell
On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes off the clothesline, she straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe--and that this time, when she leaves, she must stay away. With no job and no support, Ciara struggles to provide a sense of normalcy for her little girls. Facing a broken housing system, they move into a hotel room on a floor reserved for women like her, eating takeout, washing their clothes in the bathroom sink, and building a community with the other residents. Ryan, meanwhile, wages a relentless campaign to win her back, and Ciara's determination wavers. He never hit her, after all, and don't the girls need a stable home?
the borrowed life of frederick fife by Anna Johnston
Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he'd return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there's nobody left in Fred's life to borrow from. At eighty-two, he's desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness. But Fred's luck changes when, in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, he takes the place of grumpy Bernard Greer at the local nursing home. Now he has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head -- as long as his poker face is in better shape than his prostate and that his look-alike never turns up. Denise Simms is stuck breathing the same disappointing air again and again. A middle-aged mom and caregiver at Bernard's facility, her crumbling marriage and daughter's health concerns are suffocating her joy for life. Wounded by her two-faced husband, she vows never to let a man deceive her again. As Fred walks in Bernard's shoes, he leaves a trail of kindness behind him, fueling Denise's suspicions about his true identity. When unexpected truths are revealed, Fred and Denise rediscover their sense of purpose and learn how to return a broken life to mint condition.
wild dark shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world's largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore. Isolation has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again. But Rowan isn't telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, they all must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it's too late.
when the cranes fly south by Lisa Ridzén
Bo is running out of time. Yet time is one of the few things he’s got left. These days, his quiet existence is broken up only by daily visits from his home care team. Fortunately, he still has his beloved elkhound Sixten to keep him company … though now his son, with whom Bo has had a rocky relationship, insists upon taking the dog away, claiming that Bo has grown too old to properly care for him. The threat of losing Sixten stirs up a whirlwind of emotion, leading Bo to take stock of his life, his relationships, and the imperfect way he’s expressed his love over the years.
heart the lover by Lily King
In the fall of her senior year of college, Jordan meets two top students from her 17th-Century Lit class: Sam and Yash. Best friends living off campus in the elegant house of a professor on sabbatical, the boys invite her into their intoxicating world of academic fervor, rapid-fire banter and raucous card games. There, she quickly discovers the pleasures of friendship, love and her own intellectual ambition. Youthful passion is unpredictable though, and she soon finds herself at the center of a charged and intricate triangle. As graduation comes and goes, choices made will alter these three lives forever. Decades later, Jordan is living the life she dreamed of, and the vulnerable days of her youth seem comfortably behind her. But when a surprise visit and unexpected news brings the past crashing into the present, she returns to a world she left behind and is forced to confront the decisions and deceptions of her younger self.
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