1. Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott
8 Rave • 3 Positive
“Ultimately, though, the reason to read this compelling and hypnotic novel is not the execution of the plot or the sleight-of-hand final revelation. What makes it stand out is Abbott’s expert dissection of women’s friendships and rivalries. She is an investigator of the human heart and mind, and Give Me Your Hand is a fine addition to her body of work—one that should cement her position as one of the most intelligent and daring novelists working in the crime genre today.”
–Ruth Ware (The New York Times Book Review)
Read an interview with Megan Abbott here
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2. The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley
4 Rave • 3 Positive • 1 Mixed
“Headley’s prose is as fluid and florid as Old English was guttural. Headley never shies away from violence or horror, but she shatters it into the tiny shards we experience…flashes of pain and moments of joy. When a character is overwhelmed or disoriented, so are you, the reader. When she means to put you behind a character’s eyes, that’s where you are … The book shifts tone constantly, so at times you’re reading a satire that turns into an adventure novel that veers left into horror that can, at times, feel almost romantic. But the majority of the book is dedicated to a critique of suburban culture—specifically the way a particular type of class-obsessed suburbia can suck all the meaning out of a woman’s life … I love a book that asks more questions than it answers. I love a book that wrestles me, and makes me think about it after I’ve finished it. If you enjoy battling monsters, I can’t recommend this book enough.”
–Leah Schnelbach (Tor)
Read an excerpt from The Mere Wife here
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3. The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams
3 Rave • 3 Positive
“Beatriz Williams has made a name for herself as a historical novelist with a knack for the obscured whisperings and yearnings of women’s lives … With The Summer Wives, she has perhaps crafted her most evocative and stirring novel yet … But Williams also never falls into the trap of nostalgia, always taking care to draw back the curtain on this sparkling world to show the rottenness at its core … The novel is also a compelling mystery that will keep you turning the pages to discover both the secrets of the past and the prospects of the future. Williams writes with compassion and empathy for all of her characters, beguiling you with twists and turns.”
–Maureen Lee Lenker (Entertainment Weekly)
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4. Comemadre by Roque Larraquy, Trans. by Heather Cleary
4 Rave • 1 Positive
“The nearly indescribable approach is part of the fun of Comemadre, especially given the confidence and poise of its delivery … Comemadre shocks on each page, and it’s also very funny. It is absurd and straight-faced and frighteningly self-assured … Part of the horrifying joy of this novel is how safely you can rest in the hands of a maniac as the narrative world is built and burned down around you.”
–Nathan Scott McNamara (The Los Angeles Review of Books)
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5. The Price You Pay by Aidan Truhen
2 Rave • 4 Positive • 1 Mixed
“In Jack Price’s world, killing is as compulsive as popping bubble wrap: ‘like Candy Crush’, as he says, ‘but with murder.’ The Price You Pay is a catchy and distinctive comic revenge thriller by Aidan Truhen—the pseudonym, we are told, of an established author—with a larger-than-life narrator protagonist. He’s a mouthy wise-ass, whether musing on herbal tea, deciding the free market is ‘a prick’, or shooting someone in the eye … A catchy revenge thriller.”
–Tony White (The Guardian)
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1. Indianapolis by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic
5 Rave • 1 Positive
“…a gripping and engaging tale that features grievous mistakes, extraordinary courage, unimaginable horror, and a cover-up … Vincent and Vladic spent years talking to the dwindling band of survivors and giving voice to their stories. Some parts of this wonderful book—especially those involving the sailors in the water waiting for rescue—make for painful reading. But this exhaustive and comprehensive assessment is as complete an account of this tragic tale as we are likely to have. It is compelling history.”
–Terry Hartle (The Christian Science Monitor)
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2. The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela, Ed. by Sam Venter
2 Rave • 5 Positive
“Heartbreaking and inspiring … This book confronts readers with the most direct evidence yet of Mandela’s intellectual evolution into one of the great moral heroes of our time … With words as his only ammunition, Mandela fought his case patiently, on lined paper, his eloquence inseparable from his rectitude.”
–Charlayne Hunter-Gault (The New York Times Book Review)
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3. The Widower’s Notebook by Jonathan Santlofer
3 Rave • 3 Positive
“Santlofer’s book is an affecting read and not entirely heavy, despite the subject matter … Santlofer’s book, which shines most brightly when it focuses on his grief for his wife, is not a pedagogical tool and does not advance our understanding of grief in an appreciable way. It is the testimony of Jonathan Santlofer about the loss of his beloved wife … Viewed in that more limited lens, the book has perhaps less literary or cultural merit, but it still offers a moving portrait of one widower with a notebook.”
–John Duberstein (The Washington Post)
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4. City of Devils by Paul French
3 Rave • 2 Positive
“French’s powerful voice is perfectly suited to his subject matter. The omnipresent, hardboiled narration would be at home in any noir, and though this is nonfiction, the larger-than-life figures fall into nearly every trope of that genre. There are deadly dames aplenty—beautiful showgirls, desperate prostitutes, dangerous drug addicts, and mobster’s molls. Cutthroat racketeers who stack the odds in the house’s favor, pull razor blades during riots, and shrug when someone else takes the fall for their transgressions. Toadies and henchmen. Traitors and corrupt G-men … From the very introduction, you’ll be hooked. I honestly can’t remember the last time a work of nonfiction was so compelling and readable; I devoured half of the book before I came up for air.”
–Angie Barry (Criminal Element)
Read an excerpt from City of Devils here
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5. The Wonderful Mr. Willoughby by Tim Birkhead
2 Rave • 3 Positive
“This fine biography of Francis Willughby (1635-72) is intriguingly double-layered, the life of a 17th-century naturalist seen through the eyes of a modern ornithologist … The dialogue between past and present brings the whole book alive … Mr. Birkhead responds engagingly to Willughby’s eager curiosity, adding contemporary knowledge, including vivid observations and personal anecdotes—another story of the making of a naturalist. We feel the author’s excitement.”
–Jenny Uglow (The Wall Street Journal)
