Damon Galgut
[isbn]
Winner of the Booker Prize in 2021, this is a powerful, concise piece of literature. It's the story of a troubled family in troubled South Africa. The writing is lovely.
Recommended by Nan S.
Recommended by Nan S.
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Alan Bradley
[isbn]
Oh, what a charming little ditty of a mystery. Firstly, Alan Bradley has a knack for weaving words in such a precise tapestry that you feel, smell, and absorb the world he creates around you. It's so exact and precise in description, with little flourishes of sighs for gentle beauty, that you feel as if you've settled into a warm memory. Nice light prose that bubbles off the page in lyrical humor and subtle grace.
Secondly, little... (read more)
Recommended by Nan S.
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Hervé Le Tellier
[isbn]
The #1 bestseller in France during the lockdown, and my favorite of that year! This dizzying, whip-smart novel blends crime, fantasy, sci-fi, and thriller all in one. The ending stunned me.
Recommended by Nan S.
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Danya Kukafka
[isbn]
Recently recommended by the New York Times, this book is a searing portrait of complicated women caught in the web of a serial killer.
Recommended by Nan S.
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Vauhini Vara
[isbn]
A great, twisty debut featuring a fascinating alternative history of tech and the internet in a dystopian world.
Recommended by Nan S.
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Benjamin Percy
[isbn]
If you're looking for very well-written escapism, this sci-fi book is for you! Debris from a comet turns a dying Minnesota town into a violent, crazed, weird, greedy boom town. Percy is a successful superhero comic writer. It shows.
Recommended by Nan S.
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Lion Feuchtwanger
[isbn]
This novel describes in real time the relentless disintegration of German humanism and the insidious manner in which Nazism penetrates German society.
Recommended by Nan S.
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Deborah Levy
[isbn]
I jumped on this new book by Levy since I was such a huge fan of Hot Milk. Her latest is one of the most unique and unusual books I have read both in structure and content. It is intellectual but accessible; complex without being indecipherable; dark but strangely pleasant; and at times quite amusing. The book is a captivating and sly take on what it means to look back on one’s life and try to make sense of it all.
Recommended by Nan S.
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Paolo Cognetti
[isbn]
Oh, man. I truly wept when I finished reading this book simply because it was over. This beautifully written novel is at once painful and lovely. It is the story of a 30-year friendship between two very different men who share a love of hiking in the Dolomites. Serious hikers will marvel at the descriptions of these unique Italian mountains.
Recommended by Nan S.
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Mohsin Hamid
[isbn]
This book really touched me. It was so timely and relevant. The tools Mohsin uses to describe the plight of refugees around the world are, well, magical. I was mesmerized.
Recommended by Nan S.
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Kim Addonizio
[isbn]
Kim Addonizio grabs your sleeve and tugs you with brutal passion through her raw and vicious life. With unflinching sincerity, we soar through vignettes of unforgiving, brutal beauty wrapped in humorous observation and savage honesty. Kim has a knack of undressing sentimentality and revealing the naked ache of poignancy underneath.
This stunning little slice of inspection, retrospection, and deconstruction bites you, nibbles you,... (read more)
Recommended by Nan S.
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Ethan Canin
[isbn]
This is a big, masterfully written novel that explores mathematical genius and its high cost on the individual, spouse, and family. Within this multigenerational saga are nicely crafted themes of nature versus nurture, addiction, and redemption.
Recommended by Nan S.
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Ethan Canin
[isbn]
How I love to get lost in a big, complex, and exceptionally well-written novel. In A Doubter's Almanac by Ethan Canin, the reader is embedded in the life of Milo Andret and his parents, wife, and children — particularly his son, Hans.
It is the story in part of genetics — how genius and alcoholism is passed down from one generation to another. And how love and family can break the generational cycle of despair and... (read more)
Recommended by Nan S.
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