J Courtney Sullivan Popular Books

J Courtney Sullivan Biography & Facts

Julie Courtney Sullivan (born 1982), better known as J. Courtney Sullivan, is an American novelist and former writer for The New York Times. Biography Sullivan grew up outside Boston, Massachusetts. She attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she majored in Victorian literature and received the Ellen M. Hatfield Memorial Prize for best short story, the Norma M. Leas prize for excellence in written English, and the Jeanne MacFarland Prize for excellent work in Women's Studies. She graduated in 2003, then moved to New York City and began working at Allure. Sullivan later moved to The New York Times, where she worked for four years. Her writing has since appeared in The New York Times Book Review, the Chicago Tribune, New York magazine, the New York Observer, Men's Vogue, Elle, and Glamour, among many others. Sullivan comes from an Irish-Catholic family where many of the women go by their middle rather than first names. Her first piece for Allure was published under the name "Courtney Sullivan," but she added the J back in shortly thereafter. She self-identifies as a feminist, a stance that has been reflected in both her fiction and nonfiction work. In 2006, she wrote a piece for the New York Times "Modern Love" column about her experiences in the dating world, and in 2010 she co-edited a feminist essay collection titled Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists. Her novels deal prominently with relationships between female characters. In 2017, Sullivan wrote the foreword to a new edition of one of her childhood favorites, Anne of Green Gables, published by Penguin Classics. Sullivan lives with her husband, Kevin Johannesen, and their son, in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. She was raised Roman Catholic. She now considers herself a "lapsed Catholic" but still prays and visits an abbey on retreats. Novels Commencement In 2010, Sullivan published her first novel, Commencement, which focuses on the experiences of four friends at Smith College, Sullivan's alma mater. She wrote 15 different drafts of the book before sending it to her editor, after which it underwent two or three more revisions.Commencement received positive reviews from many major publications and became a New York Times bestseller. Feminist icon Gloria Steinem described the novel as "generous-hearted, brave...Commencement makes clear that the feminist revolution is just beginning".In 2011, Oprah's Book Club included Commencement in a list of "5 Feminist Classics to (Re)read as a Mom, Wife and Writer". Maine Sullivan's second novel, Maine, deals with four women from three different generations of an Irish family named the Kellehers. The foursome includes: Alice, the stubborn and opinionated matriarch who is dealing with the guilt she has over a tragedy in the past; Ann Marie, who married into the family and is nursing her newfound love for creating dollhouses; Katherine, Alice's eldest daughter who has commuted from California to be with her daughter, Maggie; and Maggie, a kindhearted 32-year-old from New York who is dealing with her pregnancy. Each woman's world collides while spending the summer at a beachfront cottage in New England. Though Sullivan did not base the fictional family directly on her own Irish-Catholic family, she drew on her own childhood experiences while writing the novel. Maine was named a Best Book of the Year by the Washington Post and one of the top ten fiction books of 2011 by TIME magazine. It was a New York Times bestseller, and has sold half a million copies since its publication. The Engagements Evelyn has been married to her husband for forty years—forty years since he slipped off her first wedding ring and put his own in its place. Delphine has seen both sides of love—the ecstatic, glorious highs of seduction, and the bitter, spiteful fury that descends when it's over. James, a paramedic who works the night shift, knows his wife's family thinks she could have done better; while Kate, partnered with Dan for a decade, has seen every kind of wedding—beach weddings, backyard weddings, castle weddings—and has vowed never, ever, to have one of her own. As these lives and marriages unfold in surprising ways, we meet Frances Gerety, a young advertising copywriter in 1947. Frances is working on the De Beers campaign and she needs a signature line, so, one night before bed, she scribbles a phrase on a scrap of paper: "A Diamond Is Forever." And that line changes everything. Reese Witherspoon's production company picked up the rights to The Engagements before the book was even published. Fox 2000 signed on to make the film soon thereafter. The Engagements was a New York Times bestseller, and was named a best book of the year by People Magazine and the Irish Times. It has been published in 17 countries. Saints For All Occasions Sullivan's fourth novel was named one of the ten best books of the year by the Washington Post, a New York Times Critic's Pick for 2017 and was a finalist for the New England Book Award. Richard Russo said, "I hope to read another novel as strong and wise and beautiful and heartbreaking as Saints For All Occasions this year, but I'm not sure I will." Books Fiction Commencement (2010) Maine (2011) The Engagements (2013) Saints for All Occasions (2017) Friends and Strangers (2020)Nonfiction The Secret Currency of Love (2009) (contributing essayist) Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists (2010) (co-editor with Courtney E. Martin) Foreword to the classic novel Anne of Green Gables (2017)References External links Official website Girls Write Now GEMS: Girls Educational and Mentoring Services Articles about SullivanJulie Bosman. "Brunch and TV, But Still a Workday." New York Times. May 27, 2011. MB2. Heather Schwedel. "Exclusive: An Interview with Commencement's J. Courtney Sullivan." June 16, 2009. Flavorwire. Emma Shakarshy. One Young Writer's Commencement: An Interview With J. Courtney Sullivan. August 5, 2009. Girls Write Now.Reviews of Sullivan's booksLily King. "Permanent Waves." New York Times Book Review. June 10, 2011. BR16. Review of Maine. Stephan Lee. "Jennifer Close, J. Courtney Sullivan, Sloane Crosley: Chick authors who avoid the 'chick-lit' stigma." September 19, 2011. Maria Russo. "B.F.'s Forever." New York Times. June 12, 2009. BR8. Review of Commencement. Elizabeth Taylor. Review of Maine. July 1, 2011.. Discover the J Courtney Sullivan popular books. Find the top 100 most popular J Courtney Sullivan books.

Best Seller J Courtney Sullivan Books of 2024

  • Bad Summer People synopsis, comments

    Bad Summer People

    Emma Rosenblum

    Der perfekte Sommer. Die perfekte Ehe. Das perfekte Geheimnis?Jeden Sommer lassen Jen Weinstein und ihre Freundin Lauren Parker ihr privilegiertes Leben in New York hinter sich, um...

  • Saints for All Occasions synopsis, comments

    Saints for All Occasions

    J. Courtney Sullivan

    NATIONAL BESTSELLER  A sweeping, unforgettable novel from The New York Times bestselling author of Maine, about the hope, sacrifice, and love between two sisters and the secre...

  • Perfect Tunes synopsis, comments

    Perfect Tunes

    Emily Gould

    “An intoxicating blend of music, love, and family from one of the essential writers of the internet generation” (Stephanie Danler).Have you ever wondered what your mother was like ...

  • Fly Away Home synopsis, comments

    Fly Away Home

    Jennifer Weiner

    Sometimes all you can do is fly away home . . . When Sylvie Serfer met Richard Woodruff in law school, she had wild curls, wide hips, and lots of opinions. Decades later, Sylvie ha...

  • Der Platz im Leben synopsis, comments

    Der Platz im Leben

    Anna Quindlen

    Ein feinsinniger Roman, der den Neuanfang feiertBis zu jenem Tag, an dem ein brutaler Vorfall die Nachbarschaft erschütterte, glaubte Nora, dass sie glücklicher kaum sein könnte: S...

  • Die Launen des Lebens synopsis, comments

    Die Launen des Lebens

    Emma Straub

    Vom großen Chaos und noch größerem Glück, das man Familie nenntEs scheint ein ganz normaler Tag zu werden im idyllischen Clapham, Upstate New York. Doch der plötzliche Unfalltod ei...

  • Little Monsters synopsis, comments

    Little Monsters

    Adrienne Brodeur

    A National Bestseller!“Juicy…simmers with tension as secrets explode out into the open.” The Washington Post “So alluring…I raced happily through the pages.” The New York Times Bo...

  • The Books That Changed My Life synopsis, comments

    The Books That Changed My Life

    Bethanne Patrick

    One hundred of today’s most prominent literary and cultural icons talk about the books that hold a special place in their heartsthat made them who they are today.Leading authors, p...

  • Unser Traum von Freiheit synopsis, comments

    Unser Traum von Freiheit

    Beatriz Williams

    Fesselnd, emotional und wunderschön ein Roman, so imposant wie ein Sommersturm am Meer!Sommer 1951: Miranda Schuyler ist jung, schön und träumt von der großen Liebe. Als ihre Mutt...

  • This Is Home synopsis, comments

    This Is Home

    Lisa Duffy

    From the author of book club favorite The Salt House comes a deeply affecting novel about a teenage girl finding her voice and the military wife who moves in downstairs, united in ...

  • The Salt House synopsis, comments

    The Salt House

    Lisa Duffy

    In the tradition of Jodi Picoult and Lisa Genova, this gorgeously written, heartbreaking, yet hopeful debut set during a Maine summer traces the lives of a young family in the afte...

  • A Likely Story synopsis, comments

    A Likely Story

    Leigh McMullan Abramson

    CBS New York Book Club with Mary Calvi and Belletrist Book Club Pick“Raw, complex, and utterly unforgettable.” Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling authorThe only child of a fam...

  • We Are Not Like Them synopsis, comments

    We Are Not Like Them

    Christine Pride & Jo Piazza

    A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK Named a Best Book Pick of 2021 by Harper’s Bazaar and Real Simple Named a Most Anticipated Book of Fall by People, Essence, New York Post, Pop...

  • Anne of Green Gables synopsis, comments

    Anne of Green Gables

    L.M. Montgomery & Benjamin Lefebvre

    The beloved comingofage tale of a spunky heroine named Anne “with an E”, for the first time as a Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, with a foreword by bestselling author J. Courtney ...

  • Maine synopsis, comments

    Maine

    J. Courtney Sullivan

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER  The celebrated author of Commencement and The Engagements introduces four unforgettable women and the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them...

  • You Were Always Mine synopsis, comments

    You Were Always Mine

    Christine Pride & Jo Piazza

    The acclaimed authors of the “emotional literary roller coaster” (The Washington Post) and Good Morning America book club pick We Are Not Like Them return with this moving and prov...

  • Mating for Life synopsis, comments

    Mating for Life

    Marissa Stapley

    From the bestselling author of Luckya Reese Witherspoon Book Club pickcomes a captivating novel that explores marriage, motherhood, identity, and what it takes to love someonefamil...

  • My Kind of People synopsis, comments

    My Kind of People

    Lisa Duffy

    From the author of The Salt House and This Is Home comes a profound novel about the power of community and a small town’s longburied secrets as a group of New England islanders com...