1. The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst
(8 Rave, 4 Positive, 3 Mixed)
“…the immense assurance of the writing, the deep knowledge of the settings and periods in which the story unfolds, the mingling of cruel humour and lyrical tenderness, the insatiable interest in human desire from its most refined to its most brutally carnal, grip you as tightly as any thriller … It’s a wonderful structural device, this layering of similar situations on top of each other like a series of transparencies that cumulatively portray a culture as it exists in time as well as in space.”
–James Lasdun (The Guardian)
*
2. Back Talk by Danielle Lazarin
(6 Rave)
“Danielle Lazarin’s first story collection, Back Talk, is a marvel of its kind, and it’s marvelous precisely in its Munrovian shiftiness, its ability to bend form and turn the story into something that is temporally and emotionally elastic … That’s the territory that Back Talk most regularly and brilliantly charts: the subjunctive, the conditional, the future, the world of desire and its many complications.”
–Anthony Domestico (The San Francisco Chronicle)
*
3. Happiness by Aminatta Forna
(4 Rave, 1 Positive, 1 Mixed)
“Happiness starts out as a novel about coincidence — chance encounters, twists of fate — and turns into one about coexistence: how to overcome intolerance, accept differences and live in harmony. What could have been a strident, speechifying polemic is instead a subtle, considered yet deeply resonant tale, one which sensitively and intelligently highlights connection over division and kindness over cruelty.”
–Malcolm Forbes (The Minneapolis Star Tribune)
*
4. Force of Nature by Jane Harper
(3 Rave, 5 Positive)
“Harper’s writing style is hypnotic, and if there was ever any doubt as to whether or not she’d be able to carry on the success of her critically-acclaimed debut novel, she silences doubters in a big way with this book … Force of Nature is beautifully written, and features a hair-raising plot that’ll have readers questioning how well they really know those around them. Harper’s character development continues to be her strength, but her well-rounded skill set is on full display throughout.”
–Ryan Steck (The Real Book Spy)
*
5. The Sandman by Lars Kepler, Trans. by Neil Smith
(3 Rave, 3 Positive)
“With its tight, staccato chapters and cast of dangerous wraiths lurking everywhere, The Sandman is a nonstop fright. It’s able to shift its focus frequently with no loss of tension … the book’s greatest tension comes from wondering whether either Joona or Saga [the detectives] is any match for this near-supernatural monster, who can implant thoughts in his victims’ heads or turn up as an apparition just staring into their windows. Scared yet? You will be.”
–Janet Maslin (The New York Times)
**
1. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
(8 Rave, 2 Positive)
“…[a] meticulously researched, uniquely evocative nonfiction opus … With unflinching self-awareness, McNamara captures the adrenaline rush that accompanies each potential lead and the crushing disappointment that follows when most inevitably hit a dead end … The true crime genre has been criticized for exploiting trauma, but McNamara’s attention to specific details humanizes but doesn’t overexpose her subjects … I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is narrative true crime journalism at its very finest, a complex, multilayered, chilling portrait of a faceless monster, and a remarkable tribute to the woman who, up until her last day, believed she would one day have him in her crosshairs.”
–Amelia McDonell Parry (The Village Voice)
*
2. What Are We Doing Here? by Marilynne Robinson
(2 Rave, 5 Positive, 4 Mixed)
“In essays that challenge our current myopia, Robinson praises our past and our potential. She sheds light. She muses. She quotes great thinkers and poets. She marvels. There is always in these essays the sense of the divine behind every human encounter … Not all the essays are easy. Her ruminations are meandering and deep — ideas river off, etymologies are explored, histories examined. The reader will do well to keep her paddle in the current, for it is well worth the ride.”
–Christine Brunkhorst (The Minneapolis Star Tribune)
*
3. The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist by Radley Balko & Tucker Carrington
(4 Rave, 2 Positive)
“…a superb work of investigative reporting … Messrs. Balko and Carrington combine expertise, industry and outrage into a searing narrative. And while one unreservedly hopes that The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist will spur reform in Mississippi’s system of justice, there is reason to doubt it will.”
–Nancy Rommelman (The Wall Street Journal)
*
4. Raw: My Journey Into the Wu-Tang by Lamont “U-God” Hawkins
(3 Rave, 1 Positive, 1 Mixed)
“Hawkins’s fight to get his bars up to scratch after coming out of prison is strangely poignant, even in this context. The bigger story, though, is his life. He writes with a mixture of braggadocio, insight, pride and weariness about the years leading up to the Wu-Tang … A breakdown, sobriety and therapy have had a role in the making of this memoir, which should have an audience in hip-hop fans and policymakers alike.”
–Kitty Empire (The Observer)
*
5. All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of the Wire by Jonathan Abrams
(1 Rave, 4 Positive, 1 Mixed)
“[an] excellent oral history … All the Pieces Matter renders the making of ‘The Wire’ in enough rich detail to please even its most ardent fans … The picture that emerges is one in which ‘greatness’—the arc from pilot episode to best TV series of all time—is contingent on an almost infinite number of factors, from financial considerations and casting decisions to critical reception, timing and plain dumb luck … All the Pieces Matter offers a reminder that the very definition of ‘greatness’ is itself circumstantial, subject to shifting mores, changing tastes, industrial constraints, popular interests.”
–Matt Brennan (Paste)
***
