1. The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
(9 Rave, 1 Positive)
“Nunez deftly turns this potentially mawkish story into a penetrating, moving meditation on loss, comfort, memory, what it means to be a writer today, and various forms of love and friendship — including between people and their pets. All in a taut 200 pages.”
–Heller McAlpin (NPR)
*
2. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
(7 Rave, 3 Positive)
“These are punishing questions, but they’re spun with tender patience by Jones, who cradles each of these characters in a story that pulls our sympathies in different directions. She never ignores their flaws, their perfectly human tendency toward self-justification, but she also captures their longing to be kind, to be just, to somehow behave well despite the contradictory desires of the heart.”
–Ron Charles (The Washington Post)
Read an excerpt from An American Marriage here
*
3. Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
(7 Rave, 2 Positive)
“…a scorchingly intelligent first novel … The two stories never explicitly intersect. A third section, a radio interview with Ezra, hints at the link between them, but the game — and real pleasure — for the reader is to trace deeper resonances. What does it mean that these lives coexist? … this book is musical, not architectural in structure; themes don’t build on each other as much as chime and rhyme, repeat and harmonize, so what we receive is less a series of thesis statements than a shimmering web of associations; in short, the world as we know it.”
–Parul Sehgal (The New York Times)
*
4. Insidious Intent by Val McDermid
(3 Rave, 3 Positive)
“While the construction of the novel and its genuinely shocking conclusion preclude revealing any more of the plot, Insidious Intent is a bold gamble that has the potential to shake long-cherished characters from their emotional complacency and advance the series into uncharted territory.”
–Paula L. Woods (The Los Angeles Times)
Read an interview with Val McDermid here
*
5. The Job of the Wasp by Colin Winnette
(3 Rave, 1 Positive, 1 Mixed)
“The narrator proves to be anything but reliable, and that’s the creepy fun of The Job of the Wasp — the gap between what the boy witnesses and what he understands … Despite its many influences, Winnette’s book, however, is its own unique, surreal thing, related in a distinctive voice, by turns funny and spooky, even if its ultimate meaning remains elusive.”
–Michael Berry (The San Francisco Chronicle)
Read an excerpt from The Job of the Wasp here
**
1. I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
(6 Rave, 2 Positive)
“As well as making sense of the extraordinary, O’Farrell’s expertise lies in finding significance in the ordinary, making connections and finding clarity where most might find fog … O’Farrell hopscotches across the decades, offering us a series of hugely evocative vignettes that point to multiple lives and identities.”
–Fiona Sturges (The Guardian)
*
=2. Norwich by Karen Crouse
(4 Rave, 3 Positive, 1 Mixed)
“To capture the mystique of Norwich, she didn’t drop in occasionally — she lived there for five months. As a result, her account is imbued with local color and detail … But Ms. Crouse’s message applies beyond a particular town or state: Rather than micromanage their children, parents should ‘act as their guides to charity, well-roundedness, curiosity, perspective, and a healthy life anchored by physical activity.'”
–Matthew Rees (The Wall Street Journal)
*
=2. When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors & Asha Bandele
“What’s remarkable about her story is that for all of her earned anger against the systems and institutions that perpetuate racial inequality — too often to fatal ends —Khan-Cullors’ narrative is brimming with love … Khan-Cullors and bandele paint a vivid portrait of growing up in 1990s Van Nuys, a poor black and Latino neighborhood of Los Angeles… Throughout the book, Khan-Cullors and bandele personalize the radical love that fuels her work’s theory and praxis.”
–Erin Keane (Salon)
*
4. The Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantú
(2 Rave, 4 Positive)
“Through José’s story, Cantú comes to see the border crossers’ fierce resolve in the face of border police and brutal smuggling gangs as a defense of family and civilized values. Cantú’s rich prose and deep empathy make this an indispensable look at one of America’s most divisive issues.”
*
5. Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
(3 Rave, 1 Positive)
“Although this slim and devastatingly calibrated memoir which features brief, impressionistic and carefully modulated essays tops out at 160 pages, Heart Berries truly does provoke the reader to reconsider what it means to be epic … In blunt yet lyrical prose, she depicts struggles and stories — of herself, her mother, her father and her grandmother — that are at once singular and sovereign, yet also representative and collective, portraying the travails and quotidian heroism required to be ‘a woman wielding narrative now.’”
–Kathleen Rooney (The Chicago Tribune)
***
