Big Fall Books: The 10 Bestsellers I've Read So Far (And The 6 I Want To Read)
Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer: A Jewish family in DC confronts a crisis. A BIG book in all senses of the word: it’s an undertaking. Will affect you… some people love it, some people hate it. I haven't read any of his other books, and I'm thinking I should.
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett: AP is the bomb. Love her. I didn't get into this one as much as I did State of Wonder or Bel Canto. Still brilliant. The story of how an illicit kiss at a party irrevocably intertwines two families.
The Nix by Nathan Hill: Outstanding. Vaulted into my top five favorites. See my full review HERE.
Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple: Hells yeah! By the author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Quirky and cool. Short review HERE.
Small Great Things by Jodi Piccoult. Loved the concept—an African American nurse is instructed not to touch the newborn of some mangy white supremacists, and things go horribly wrong from there. Fans of JP will love it. She’s the master of incorporating tricky social issues into her books.
Hero of the Empire by Candice Miller: Sometimes when people ask me what genre my own novel is, I answer, “I write biographies of Winston Churchill.” Because if I tell them Women’s Fiction, some people look confused, and some look smug, I guess because they automatically figure Women’s Fiction is somewhat dumb. (It’s not!) But Miller’s book actually IS a Winston Churchill bio. And needless to say, it’s not dumb.
Mischling by Affinity Konar: Strange and brilliant and disturbing literary fiction. The story of twins at Auschwitz who fall into the clutches of Josef Mengele. Not for the faint of heart. Full review HERE.
Leave Me by Gayle Forman: Hard protagonist to love—a woman who abandons her family after a health crisis because she is seriously FED UP with being taken for granted. Forman is brave enough to portray her main character with all her warts intact; sometimes I wanted to leap into the book and take over. (In other words, it's compelling.) But I have to admit, we’ve all had the fantasy. This is a book meant to strike a nerve. Great writing.
The Guineveres by Sarah Domet: Gorgeous story of four convent-dwelling girls named Guinevere, from a debut novelist scooped up by the acclaimed editor of The Help. See full review HERE.
Mercury by Margot Livesay: Donald, an eye doctor, is at first oblivious to his wife Viv’s increasing obsession with a winsome thoroughbred, which could have catastrophic consequences. A beautifully written psychological drama.
Fractured by Catherine McKenzie: A novelist with a stalker faces an escalating neighborhood feud. Cool novel-within-a-novel concept. See full review HERE.
New Releases I Want to Read:
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles
Home by Harlan Coben
Nicotine by Nell Zink
The Trespasser by Tana French
IQ by Joe Ides