A comic novel of post-divorce Tinder shenanigans, a history of the American automobile, and a deep dive into the mercurial nature of North Korea’s young dictator are among the books that had critics swooning over the past seven days.
1. Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
10 Rave • 5 Positive
“The narrator…is longing for a story to tell … And God, does she tell it well … a Tinder-age Portnoy’s Complaint … The great trick of Fleishman Is in Trouble is that it cons the reader into siding with Toby. Brodesser-Akner demonstrates how women get suckered into acquiescing to misogyny by suckering both narrator and reader—and then showing us what she’s done. When I saw her trick, I was floored … Brodesser-Akner…uses a lot of intelligence, a lot of anger, a great sense of humor and a whole new variation on the magic we know from her magazine work. The result is a maddening, unsettling masterpiece, and, yes, you will be moved and inexplicably grateful at the end.”
–Lily Meyer (NPR)
2. The Porpoise by Mark Haddon
6 Rave • 9 Positive • 2 Mixed
“Haddon’s glittering tapestry of a novel skilfully redeploys the structures of Pericles’ source material … The sea is the strongest metaphor in the novel, surging and changing, providing life and death, and becoming an agent of the marvellous. Shakespeare’s late romances are all about those coincidences and supernatural effects which can seem, on stage and on the page, ridiculous. They do, however, indicate the agency of divine providence. In The Porpoise, Haddon gives voice to a character who, in Shakespeare, receives no more than a passing mention, and in doing so, shows the transcendent power of stories to heal and restore.”
–Philip Womack (The Independent)
Read an excerpt from The Porpoise here
3. The Capital by Robert Menasse
6 Rave • 8 Positive • 1 Mixed
“If you tasked an excellent writer with turning a tall stack of recent issues of The Economist into a novel, you might get The Capital. Somehow I mean this as high praise … Perhaps what we have in The Capital is a great murder mystery … It’s an unusual murder story, though, because the suspense lies not in discovering the identity of the assassin (we follow him as he goes on the lam) but the identity of the dead man. You come to suspect that the murder is a kind of MacGuffin, that maybe it doesn’t matter at all. I enjoyed The Capital so much that I could keep going like this. It’s possible this is a great Holocaust-minded novel for a new millennium…”
–Dwight Garner (The New York Times)
4. Conviction by Denise Mina
6 Rave • 1 Positive
“Perhaps it’s not even fair to compare Mina’s previous novels to Conviction because this latest is so different, it seems to have been written by someone else—some glorious genetically engineered composite of Mina herself along with Daphne du Maurier…fellow Scot Helen MacInnes…and, especially toward the end, Lisa Scottoline…Conviction is spectacular; if you, dear reader, can sanely spread your enjoyment of it out over, say, a week, you’re a more disciplined consumer of suspense fiction than I am. I inhaled this novel in two extended sittings in one day … As much as it is a weird suspense tale in which both ghosts and bullets fly through the air, Conviction is a giddy celebration of the art of storytelling itself … it’s a testament to Mina’s considerable storytelling gifts that by the end of Conviction, I wanted to go right back to the beginning and read all those intertwined tales all over again.”
–Maureen Corrigan (The Washington Post)
5. The Poison Thread by Laura Purcell
1 Rave • 7 Positive
“The book drips with scenes of gothic horror and quiet menace. There are moments that are truly creepy and intense, heightened by the ambiguity of the two sides to the story … The language used is beautiful throughout. The different voices of the two women draw you deeply into both their worlds and the shifts in the prose depict the changes in their thoughts and behaviour patterns, as their stories shift and change … combines class envy with sexual repression and social history. Purcell writes beautifully, drawing the reader into the dark, gothic landscape of Victorian England. A highly recommended read.”
–Linda Sever (Historical Novel Society)
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1. The Widow Washington: The Life of Mary Washington by Martha Saxton
5 Rave • 1 Positive
“Rejecting facile judgements, Amherst College historian Martha Saxton’s brilliant and gripping book instead helps readers understand Mary Ball Washington within her own place and time. Drawing on local histories and archaeology as well as letters, diaries and a broad knowledge of related historiography, The Widow Washington is a clear-eyed biography of the mother of our first president and a fascinating window into the generation before the American Revolution’s founding fathers and mothers.”
–Kathleen Duvall (The Wall Street Journal)
2. Are We There Yet? The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless by Dan Albert
4 Rave • 1 Positive
“…a smart, well-written look at the subject [of cars], full of insights based on research into contemporary and historical sources, generously peppered with Albert’s personal experiences, reminiscences and opinions … Albert can be irreverent … Are We There Yet? takes a linear, chronological path through American automotive history, and concludes with Albert’s bittersweet concession that we may indeed be on our way to a new relationship with transportation … I recommend Are We There Yet? to anyone who wants to take the journey through our shared automotive history with a smart, opinionated guide.”
–Jason Fogelson (Forbes)
Read an excerpt from Are We There Yet? here
3. Slime: How Algae Created Us, Plague Us, and Just Might Save Us by Ruth Kassinger
3 Rave • 2 Positive
“… Kassinger will change your mind, taking an obscure topic that might seem boring, perhaps even gross, and making it fascinating and relevant … As Kassinger finds unique nuggets within algae’s backstory and possible future, she unravels amazing, microscopic details of this vital resource … where it gets really interesting is her detailed explanation of the large role algae played in the complicated, multistep process of human evolution … Kassinger has penned a wondrous story of this multifaceted, often misunderstood microorganism whose existence is vital to our own. Algae’s numerous uses, benefits and even its potential harm provide a wake-up call for humanity to find more ecological solutions to reverse climate change and help support our growing population.”
–Becky Libourel Diamond (BookPage)
4. The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un by Anna Fifield
3 Rave • 1 Positive • 1 Mixed
“Anna Fifield forcefully demonstrates that the North Korean leader is far more savvy, ambitious and ruthless than his ludicrous nicknames suggest. Writing a biography of Kim is a notoriously difficult undertaking. False information abounds, and testimonies of North Korean escapees and refugees can be unreliable. To overcome these hurdles, Fifield has cross-checked a wealth of facts, relied on extensive primary and secondary sources, and engaged in old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting … The Great Successor is a hard-earned, comprehensive portrait of Kim and his country’s uncertain future … essential reading for anyone seeking insight on one of the world’s least-understood leaders.”
–Krys Lee (The Washington Post)
5. Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life by Louise Aronson
3 Rave • 1 Positive
“… a holistic, compassionate understanding of the third stage of life … [Aronson] exposes the default of ageism again and again in her meticulous consideration of medical and family networks, political policy, municipal oversights, capitalist ambition and nearly every other sector of life that comes in contact with (or at the expense of) the elderly … dynamic, multifaceted and full of wonder. Aronson’s writing flexes with vibrant energy as she discusses the ways she has seen the healthcare system neglect the overall well-being of her patients, her colleagues and herself … Intimidating as it may seem, elderhood becomes welcoming and generous in Aronson’s deft care.”
–Dave Wheeler (Shelf Awareness)
