Alice & Oliver by Charles Bock
"A stunning book about Alice and Oliver, yes, but also about the way illness shatters us all." A literary novel about cancer and the way a husband and wife try to survive. Read full book review.
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
"Jahren transcends both memoir and science writing in this literary fusion of both genres." Award-winning scientist Jahren (Geology and Geophysics/Univ. of Hawaii) delivers a personal memoir and a paean to the natural world. Read full book review.
The Protable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie
"McKenzie's idiosyncratic love story scampers along on a wonderfully zig-zaggy path, dashing and darting in delightfully unexpected directions as it progresses toward its satisfying end and scattering tasty literary passages like nuts along the way." On the brink of her marriage, a charmingly quirky, unassumingly intelligent, and winningly warmhearted young woman forges an unusually strong bond with a squirrel. Read full book review.
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The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts by Laura Tillman
"A Helter Skelter for our time, though without a hint of sensationalism—unsettling in the extreme but written with confidence and deep empathy."A haunted, haunting examination of mental illness and murder in a more or less ordinary American city.Read full book review.
The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder
"Bachelder's take on manhood is sharply observed and sympathetic and funny enough to win over even those readers who abhor football and its fans."In this comic dissection of male bonding, a group of men gathers for their yearly celebration and re-enactment of a notorious play in professional football.Read full book review.
Consequence by Eric Fair
"A startling debut from a haunted individual who wishes he had left Iraq earlier "with my soul intact.""A candid and deeply unsettling account of the author's work as a government contractor in Iraq charged with interrogating detainees in Baghdad, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib.Read full book review.
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And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile
"A deeply rewarding novel that heralds the birth of a major new literary talent."A family reckons with the sudden, inexplicable disappearance of a child in this debut novel from a young Nigerian writer. Read full book review.