the editors of BookPage

NonfictionFiction

I know what you read last summer

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Thrills, laughs, romance, drama—you know what you want out of a beach read. But just because you know what you want doesn’t mean you’ve found it yet. Based on what you read last year, we’re recommending eight new beachy books to fill your long summer days.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
Jessica Knoll’s Luckiest Girl Alive. You relish bad-girl thrillers fueled by toxic friendships, bad choices and exclusive parties.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton. In this deliciously dark novel, single white female Louise is 29, flat broke and feels like she has utterly failed at achieving her New York City dream of becoming a famous writer. Enter 23-year-old socialite and bohemian glamour girl Lavinia, bursting with youthful joie de vivre, boundary issues and seemingly unlimited funds. Their intense friendship blossoms into a glitzy NYC bender that includes designer drugs and copious selfies in increasingly over-the-top settings, including ultra-expensive hotel bars, secret literary parties, costume balls and seedy, bottle-service-only sex clubs. Louise is old enough to know that everything that goes up must come down, and her descent is glorious fun.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“I want to remember this forever. Until the day I die.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
The Big Apple. Catch Hamilton, stay up all night on a Manhattan rooftop, and ride the Staten Island Ferry for free at dawn.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand or any novel set by the ocean that revolves around women on the verge of something life-changing.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
The High Season, the debut adult novel from YA author Judy Blundell, who has a gift for depicting issues of love and class in jaw-dropping, gorgeous prose. Museum director Ruthie Beamish rents out her magnificent beach house every summer. But when socialite Adeline Clay moves in for the season, Ruthie’s life begins to deteriorate—from her job to her self-respect to her fraught relationship with her estranged husband. Ruthie knows it’s not Adeline’s fault, but she increasingly views the other woman as a symbol of everything she’s missing. Additional storylines follow Ruthie’s social-climbing employee, Doe, and her teenage daughter, Jem, but the book begins and ends with Ruthie, whose interior state is rendered with remarkable insight. Blundell’s empathetic attention to tiny relational shifts makes every moment of connection feel magical.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“Summer was a forever season, and held no pain.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
The beach, of course, where you’ll dine al fresco, wander through an art gallery and casually infiltrate the lives of the obscenely wealthy.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
A screwball historical novel like Christopher Moore’s The Serpent of Venice. You’re looking for an armchair escape that also engages your brain.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
The Judge Hunter, a hilarious combination of historical adventure and bromance by acclaimed author Christopher Buckley. Hapless Balthasar “Balty” de St. Michel can’t seem to hold a job in swinging 1664 London, but his diabolical brother-in-law has hatched the perfect scheme: Send Balty to the New World in order to chase down some regicides on the lam. But Balty isn’t cut out for life in New England and only survives the first week thanks to a mysterious (and often murderous) secret agent of the crown known as Huncks. High jinks quickly ensue as Balty unwittingly blasphemes his way through Puritan society and Huncks attempts to covertly start a war with the Dutch. This is a Larry David- esque tale for the history buff, filled with delightfully off-putting characters and read-through-your-fingers moments of situational comedy.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“But you might fall in love with New England. . . . They say a man can be anything he wants to be there.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
A New England town with your bestie—ideally somewhere with a rowdy historical pub crawl.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
An entertaining deep dive into culture like The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
Planet Funny by Ken Jennings, whom you may remember from his record-breaking run on “Jeopardy” or his bestselling books like Brainiac. Humor is difficult to study—it’s hard to define, it’s different for everyone, and it changes over time. But it’s also incredibly important in today’s world, whether you’re making a flight safety video, trying to land a date or attempting to get into politics. Jennings has penned a highly entertaining yet genuinely scholarly look at the evolution of humor—from ancient Sumerian fart jokes to Andy Kaufman’s absurdist humor and internet cat memes. This book will have you analyzing everything around you, because these days, everybody’s a comedian.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“One of the worst qualities of a Roman jokester, according to Cicero, was that he used jokes ‘brought from home’ instead of ones made up on the spur of the moment.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
A road trip with someone who won’t mind that you’ll be spouting off funny facts and cracking jokes for the majority of the vacation. Just don’t bring any from home.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
An intense technothriller like Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz. You’re looking for suspense that makes the pages fly by as quickly as those beautiful summer days.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
Exit Strategy by debut novelist Charlton Pettus. Wealthy scientist Jordan Parrish is on the brink of losing everything, so he makes the call to Exit Strategy, a secret organization that squirrels away high-profile criminals, crooked politicians or anyone who has reached the end of the line. They fake your death and give you a new face and life, and you can never contact your old family ever again—at the risk of their deaths. When Jordan begins to regret making the call, he starts asking questions: Was it really his choice, or did someone nudge him in the direction of Exit Strategy? As Jordan works his way back to his old life, the result is a fast-paced joyride with cool tech, hot romance and high-stakes adventure.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“In a while you’re going to be somewhere far away, new town, new life, new you.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
As far away from home as you can get.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
The latest action-adventure thriller from Clive Cussler or Stuart Woods.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
Gale Force by award-winning author Owen Laukkanen. When the cargo ship Pacific Lion founders off the coast of Alaska, it provides a multimillion-dollar opportunity for salvagers like McKenna Rhodes. After her father’s death at sea, McKenna left the deep-sea salvaging business, but retrieving the ship’s cargo would yield a profit she can’t pass up. And so she gathers her father’s old crew on her tugboat, Gale Force—but what they don’t know is that a stowaway was aboard the Pacific Lion with millions of dollars stolen from the Yakuza. The thrills come as hard and fast as a hurricane, and readers will love the brave female lead.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“She was happy, at least, to have escaped the city. The water was where she belonged.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
The Pacific Northwest, where you can marvel at the power of nature.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes or any story that makes you feel the full depth of human emotion.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
How to Walk Away, the latest uplifting novel by Katherine Center. This bittersweet romantic comedy covers all your heart’s bases: familial love, romantic love and, most importantly, self-love. The unthinkable happens to Margaret Jacobsen: Her fiancé, Chip, proposes to her while they’re flying high in a little white Cessna; when Chip tries to land the plane, he loses control, and they crash. Margaret wakes up in the hospital, badly burned and unable to use her legs. And the hits keep coming: Chip barely visits; Margaret’s physical therapist is morose and difficult; and Margaret’s estranged sister has returned after three years, dredging up long-buried family secrets. But lovable Margaret is enviably tough, and through all the trauma and change, she maintains a great sense of humor.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“It’s the trying that heals you. That’s all you have to do. Just try.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
A getaway with your closest girlfriends to a picturesque cabin, where any drama or pain will be met with understanding and love.

LAST SUMMER, YOU READ:
A book that made you laugh while also speaking to some deeper truths about femininity and aging, like I Thought There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley.

THIS SUMMER, TRY:
There Are No Grown-Ups by Pamela Druckerman. In this “Midlife Coming-of-Age Story,” the fresh and witty Druckerman (Bringing Up Bébé) makes sense of life after the big 4-0, settling into her home in Paris with her husband and children, figuring out what “age-appropriate” clothing really means, grasping the French woman’s philosophy of aging and truly becoming comfortable with herself. Druckerman’s funny yet deeply insightful essays ring true, and they will no doubt have you nodding your head in appreciation, because yes, someone out there really gets it.

YOUR SUMMER INSPIRATION:
“You know you’re a fortysomething parent when you’ve decided that swimming counts as a shower.”

RECOMMENDED VACATION:
The nearest pool, or if you can’t get that far, a bathtub will do. Just make sure someone else is watching the kids.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Druckerman for There Are No Grown-Ups.

This article was originally published in the June 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Thrills, laughs, romance, drama—you know what you want out of a beach read. But just because you know what you want doesn’t mean you’ve found it yet. Based on what you read last year, we’re recommending eight new beachy books to fill your long summer days.

FictionDebut Fiction

Six new authors you need to know

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Become a fan from the very beginning, as these six outstanding new novelists make their debuts with deeply emotional narratives peopled with tremendous characters that will leave you aching for more.

IF YOU LEAVE ME
By Crystal Hana Kim

For fans of: Lisa See, Amy Tan, Toni Morrison and Jesmyn Ward.

First line: “Kyunghwan and I met where the farm fields ended and our refugee village began.”

The book: In war-torn Korea, Haemi and Kyunghwan find love in a refugee village, but honor and duty take precedence when a wealthy man begins courting the spirited Haemi.

The author: Winner of the PEN America’s Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, Crystal Hana Kim is a contributing editor for Apogee Journal and lives in Brooklyn.

Read it for: Lyrical prose that offers an unflinching look at motherhood and the aftermath of American imperialism.

BABY TEETH
By Zoje Stage

For fans of: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver and movies like The Babadook, The Bad Seed and The Ring.

First line: “Maybe the machine could see the words she never spoke.”

The book: Upscale parents grapple with an inexplicable and unremitting evil—in the form of their 7-year-old daughter.

The author: Zoje Stage is a former filmmaker and screenwriter who lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Read it for: One more book to talk you out of procreating.

FRUIT OF THE DRUNKEN TREE
By Ingrid Rojas Contreras

For fans of: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.

First line: “She sits in a plastic chair in front of a brick wall, slouching.”

The book: Two coming-of-age stories—that of rich city girl Chula and her maid, Petrona—overlap during Colombia’s violent 1990s.

The author: A Bogotá native, Ingrid Rojas Contreras and her family fled to Los Angeles when she was 14. She now writes for HuffPost and NPR, and teaches writing to immigrant high schoolers in San Francisco.

Read it for: A first-hand glimpse into the plight of vulnerable Colombian children in the recent past.

THE SHORTEST WAY HOME
By Miriam Parker

For fans of: Camille Perri, Elin Hilderbrand and Stephanie Danler.

First line: “I would have never predicted that a winery could change my life.”

The book: A business school graduate lands a coveted New York investment job, but her heart is set on a path less traveled (quite literally) in the wine country.

The author: Miriam Parker has worked in publishing for more than 17 years and is currently an associate publisher at Ecco. She lives in Brooklyn with her dog, Leopold Bloom.

Read it for: The love of wine, and the inspiring tale of taking chances and dreaming of a life more rewarding than a nine-to-five job.

LET ME BE LIKE WATER
By S.K. Perry

For fans of: Mitch Albom, Anne Tyler and Rachel Khong.

First line: “I was sitting on a bench at the beach when Frank told me I’d dropped my keys.”

The book: After the death of her boyfriend, 20-something Holly finds solitude and hope at the seaside in Brighton, in particular through a new friendship with an elderly, retired magician.

The author: The author of the poetry collection Curious Hands: 24 Hours in Soho, S.K. Perry was long-listed for London’s youth poet laureate in 2013.

Read it for: A sense of comfort, and for a reading experience as soothing and cathartic as ocean waves lapping at your toes.

BROTHER
By David Chariandy

For fans of: Zadie Smith, Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid, Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn.

First line: “Once he showed me his place in the sky.”

The book: The lives of two Canadian brothers are forever changed after a violent shooting draws additional police scrutiny to their neighborhood.

The author: David Chariandy grew up in the same Toronto public housing as the family in Brother. He currently teaches English at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He has been previously published in his native Canada (the critically acclaimed novel Soucouyant), but this is his first novel to be published in the United States.

Read it for: A poignant and timely look at community, family and race in a setting that will be new to many American readers.

August is First Fiction Month at BookPage! Click here to read all our First Fiction coverage on the blog; click here to read our most recent coverage of debut novels.

This article was originally published in the August 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Kim photo credit Nina Subin.
Stage photo credit Gabrianna Dacko.
Contreras photo credit Jeremiah Barber.
Parker photo credit Shannon Carpenter.
Perry photo credit Naomi Woddis.
Chariandy photo credit Joy von Tiedemann.

Become a fan from the very beginning, as these six outstanding new novelists make their debuts with deeply emotional narratives peopled with tremendous characters that will leave you aching for more.

30 years of author interviews

Feature by the editors of BookPage

30 years of author interviews

For 30 years, BookPage has had the great pleasure of interviewing incredible authors about their work. To celebrate our third decade, we’re letting the authors speak for themselves. These are some of our favorite quotes from some of our favorite authors we’ve spoken to over the years. 

 

Writers on reading

“I think it’s a function of the human mind to reach out toward some kind of memorable language. . . . Poetry in some form or other is part of everything I do. There will never be any other orientation. . . . I come from the back pages of obscure poetry magazines. That’s where I came from and that’s where I’ll go back to.” — James Dickey, 1989

“The book is a perfect form, a physical thing that you can carry with you, that survives power outages and doesn’t need batteries.”— Annie Proulx, 1996

“I can’t explain the sense of relief and salvation I experienced when I discovered what existed in books.”—Anne Lamott, 1997

“I would no sooner fall in love with a humorless book than with a humorless woman.” —Jonathan Franzen, 2001

“I’ve always had this attraction to Graham Greene characters, failed romantics shambling around the world in a dirty seersucker suit. I guess I’m not afraid to make myself look silly.” —Anthony Bourdain, 2001

“Literature has the power, the ability to move men’s and women’s souls.” —Maya Angelou, 2002

“Books mean a lot to me. I love them. I like to handle them. I can look up from my desk and see walls and walls and walls of books. It’s an extraordinary beauty for me.”—Pat Conroy, 2010

“Books also remind me of the enormous culture to which I owe most of what I know and understand.”—Ken Follett, 2010

“Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned from fiction.”—Jojo Moyes, 2015

“I think good poetry gives you the impression that it’s being written just for you.”—Billy Collins, 2016

“Most of us have forgotten that we love poetry, but it’s how we learn to communicate as children, in rhythm and rhyme and verse.”—Kwame Alexander, 2017

“It’s an interesting concept, I think, that one sees more of the world when you read than you do with your eyes. That’s just extraordinary.”—Avi, 2017

Writers on writing

“To write a novel is itself such a remarkably hopeful act.”—Richard Ford, 1991

“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had.”— John Grisham on leaving his career in law to become a writer, 1992

“It makes me really happy to get letters from young women who say that a book I wrote in the ’60s applies to them today.”—Madeleine L’Engle on A Wrinkle in Time in 1993

“I don’t write to investigate my own life or sensibility. I write more to investigate the world.”—Jane Smiley , 1998

“Everything I have today is because of my readers.”—Judy Blume, 1998

“Writing is an enterprise that demands unabated discipline and concentration—but by God, it sure beats working.”—Tom Robbins, 2000

“I have to find the story within the story, to write my way to what is most true.”—Mary Karr, 2000

“I want to retrace a journey into wonder.” —Oliver Sacks, 2001

“Being beat up as much as I was during my childhood is a great preparation for being a writer. To be a writer in America is a contact sport. You’ve got to be tough.” —Pat Conroy, 2002

“If you write clearly and cleanly enough then the reader will get what you want him or her to get. Beyond that I want people to think that they have been in the presence of real people.” —Kent Haruf, 2004

“[T]o conjure up things out of your head and turn them into black marks on paper is a great privilege and remains very exciting to me.”—John Updike, 2006

“Writing a novel is a great excuse to think as deeply as you can about a particular plot of existence, of the world and of being alive.”—David Mitchell, 2006

“My standard line is that writing is like taking a car trip. If I don’t know where I’m going and I don’t have a map, I don’t get there.”—Ann Patchett, 2007

“Wherever I go, I always write in bed.”—Gary Shteyngart, 2010

“Sometimes I write in third person just to prove I can.” — Richard Ford, 2010

“I don’t think you can be a good writer and a bad listener.”—Amy Bloom, 2014

“I learned from Twain that if you’re going to go to dark places, you’d best go armed with humor.”—Richard Russo, 2016

“I know some writers who can tell you what their next three books will be, but I can’t tell you what my next three paragraphs will be.”—Carl Hiaasen, 2016

“Novels are not about showing how people are wrong or right—novels are about trying to swim in a certain mental climate and depict and understand it.”—Zadie Smith, 2016

“In writing, the use of humor at its highest level is trying to mimic the comic nature of the universe.”—George Saunders, 2017

“That’s my aspiration, always—to try and convey a truthful emotion.”—Elizabeth Strout, 2017

“I enjoy the public part of being an author. I’m not some monastic introvert. I love doing events. I love meeting readers.”—Julia Glass, 2017

“Ultimately, the long battle for the heart and soul of fiction may depend less on an author’s willingness to explore a prescriptive moral position than on that author’s willingness to break out of merely human stories into a celebration of wonder and astonishment and humility and awe.”—Richard Powers, 2018

Writers on living well

“Follow your inner voice, never listen to anyone. I’ve done it all my life, sometimes as a clown or a fool, but I follow anyway, whether I am right or wrong.”—Norman Mailer, 1991

“I think pure intellect is impossible. It’s always going to be tainted by these odd, primitive impulses that we have. One cannot repress the irrational.”—Donna Tartt, 1992

“[E]ating is one of those things that you have to do every day, so you might as well do it as enjoyably as possible.” —Peter Mayle, 1992

“As we reveal different worlds to each other, we move forward into being more compassionate people.” —Alice Walker, 1996

“I’m just always seeking to find something new.”—T.C. Boyle, 2009

“I’m always looking for that connective tissue that binds one piece of humanity to the next.”—James McBride, 2009

“The simpler life, the better. An hour of conversation with my wife or a walk with my dog is more interesting than a lifetime on Twitter.”—Dean Koontz, 2017

“I would like readers to realize that at the heart, we are all human beings. We all love and grieve and struggle and hunger and yearn, regardless of our race.”—Jesmyn Ward, 2017

 

 

For 30 years, BookPage has had the great pleasure of interviewing incredible authors about their work. To celebrate our third decade, we’re letting the authors speak for themselves. These are some of our favorite quotes from some of our favorite authors we’ve spoken to over the years. 

Best Books of 2018: Fiction & Nonfiction

Feature by the editors of BookPage

The dust has settled on our spirited yearly debate, and here are the books left standing—the 30 best works of fiction and nonfiction of 2018.

Best Fiction

#1 Circe
By Madeline Miller
The infamous witch from Homer’s Odyssey is now just plain famous thanks to Miller’s lush and empowering reimagining of the Greek myth. Follow her richly detailed journey, and fall under the spell of your new favorite heroine.

 

 

 

#2 There There
By Tommy Orange

This fierce, original voice ripped through our reading list, offering shattering revelations about contemporary Native American life through multiple storylines leading up to a catastrophic powwow in Oakland, California.

 

 

#3 The Overstory
By Richard Powers
The canopies high above you will never look the same after being swept up in this epic literary tree opera from National Book Award winner Powers.

 

 

 

#4 The Mars Room
By Rachel Kushner
Kushner cut us down at the knees with this captivating book about a woman serving two consecutive life sentences. This novel is like a wild animal in a cage, tense and vibrating but contained through to the end.

 

 

 

#5 Transcription
By Kate Atkinson
The latest from bestselling author Atkinson is a traditional World War II spy novel that’s a pure delight to read—but it doesn’t hold back from raising questions about changing worlds and the nature of truth.

 

 

 

#6 Severance
By Ling Ma
A post-apocalyptic office novel might not sound like it would appeal to everyone, but Ma’s debut is a ravishing, masterful millennial tale, complete with zombies that are trapped in an endless loop of their former lives.

 

 

 

#7 Warlight
By Michael Ondaatje
The protagonist of this haunting novel looks back at his childhood to understand the mysterious actions of his mother, whose secret life flutters on the edges of Ondaatje’s vivid prose and then, all at once, comes into the light.

 

 

#8 An American Marriage
By Tayari Jones
Newlyweds Celestial and Roy seem to have a charmed life as up-and-coming professionals in Atlanta. But when Roy is sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Celestial is forced to reckon with the struggle of moving on.

 

 

 

#9 Virgil Wander
By Leif Enger
Everyone’s a little worse for wear in the small Minnesotan town of Enger’s new novel, but they’re making the most of it. After reading this uplifting, bittersweet tale, you’ll be dreaming of kite flying and skipping your way to the movies.

 

 

 

#10 Washington Black
By Esi Edugyan
An 11-year-old slave in 1830s Barbados finds adventure and (eventually) freedom in a hot air balloon alongside an eccentric naturalist and abolitionist.

 

 

 

#11 The House of Broken Angels
By Luis Alberto Urrea
A dying patriarch hosts his mother’s funeral and his own final birthday party —all in the same weekend—in this touching Mexican-American family saga brimming with joy, humor and sorrow.

 

 

 

#12 Freshwater
By Akwaeke Emezi
Emezi’s startling debut follows a Nigerian girl born with multiple supernatural personalities, plunging the reader into a symphonic, poetic depiction of a soul being slowly torn apart.

 

 

 

 

#13 The Great Believers
By Rebecca Makkai
In a story that shifts from 1980s Chicago to present-day Paris, Makkai traces the impact of the AIDS epidemic, as one woman discovers how greatly the disease has shaped her life.

 

 

 

#14 Little
By Edward Carey
This macabre and quirky historical novel follows a small orphan girl through the streets of 18th-century Paris as she discovers her immense talent for lifelike waxwork—and grows up to become Madame Tussaud.

 

 

 

#15 Red Clocks
By Leni Zumas
There have been quite a few female-focused dystopian novels this year, but none are as impressive as Zumas’ novel of five women living in a society obsessed with motherhood.

 

 

 

 

Best Nonfiction

#1 Educated
By Tara Westover
Westover’s remarkable memoir revisits her isolated and astonishing upbringing as the daughter of survivalist parents. She stepped into her first classroom at age 17, where she discovered an entire world she didn’t know existed.

 

 

 

#2 There Will Be No Miracles Here
By Casey Gerald
In his electrifying memoir, Gerald reflects on growing up in a poor, Evangelical household, where he spent his youth in conflict with himself and the American dream.

 

 

 

#3 The Feather Thief
By Kirk Wallace Johnson
This fascinating true crime tale delves into a bizarre heist, in which a 20-year-old flautist breaks into the British Museum of Natural History and makes off with hundreds of rare bird specimens.

 

 

 

#4 Frederick Douglass
By David W. Blight
Blight’s biography is a fitting tribute to the brilliant Frederick Douglass, presenting this titan of American history in all his complexity and letting his powerful words speak for themselves whenever possible.

 

 

 

#5 Calypso
By David Sedaris
Sedaris’ latest satirical dispatches come from his offbeat South Carolina beach house. Fans won’t be disappointed with his wry and hilarious look at the pains and pleasures of aging.

 

 

 

#6 The Library Book
By Susan Orlean
From the author of The Orchid Thief comes a riveting account of unsolved arson—the disastrous Los Angeles Public Library fire of 1986.

 

 

 

#7 Dopesick
By Beth Macy
In this impeccably researched and heartbreaking book, Macy traces the devastating path that opioids have carved through every avenue and back road of America.

 

 

 

#8 Burning Down the Haus
By Tim Mohr
A giddy and electrifying look at the underground punk scene of 1980s East Germany, Mohr’s history tracks how a youth movement evolved into a revolutionary and ultimately successful force for change.

 

 

#9 The Last Palace
By Norman Eisen
In this stunning book that makes European history sing, Eisen views the world through the lens of the spectacular palace he resided in as a U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, weaving in the story of his Jewish Czech-American mother, who fled her home country as a young woman.

 

 

#10 American Prison
By Shane Bauer
Take an unfiltered look inside the private for-profit prison industry that has taken over the American criminal justice system in this searing report from an undercover journalist.

 

 

 

#11 Heart Berries
By Terese Marie Mailhot
This vulnerable, clear-sighted memoir places Mailhot’s account of her childhood abuse and subsequent suffering from mental illness within the context of modern Native American womanhood.

 

 

 

 

#12 The Line Becomes a River
By Francisco Cantú
This hard-hitting look at U.S. immigration from former Border Patrol agent Cantú is indispensable reading for any American today. His insider story is shocking, and he carefully unpacks how difficult immigration can truly be.

 

 

 

#13 The Widower’s Notebook
By Jonathan Santlofer
After the sudden death of his wife of 40 years, Santlofer must rebuild his understanding of his life and future. This beautiful memoir—buoyed by unexpected humor—is an inspection of grief and the way forward.

 

 

 

#14 The Sun Does Shine
By Anthony Ray Hinton
Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. His memoir recounts his rage and pain at this injustice, yet the real focus is Hinton’s incredible ability to find hope and joy in impossible circumstances.

 

 

 

#15 Tell Me More
By Kelly Corrigan
In this honest, inviting memoir, Corrigan explores 12 phrases—such as “Yes” and “I was wrong”—that have made her relationships and life richer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This article was originally published in the December 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The dust has settled on our spirited yearly debate, and here are the books left standing—the 30 best works of fiction and nonfiction of 2018.

Best Books of 2018: Mystery & Suspense

Feature by the editors of BookPage

BookPage Best Books of 2018:
Mystery & Suspense

Lock your doors and close the blinds—it’s our list of the year’s 15 best works of crime fiction.

The Cabin at the End of the World#15 The Cabin at the End of the World
By Paul Tremblay
What begins as a fun, relaxing getaway at a New Hampshire lake for 7-year-old Wen and her dads, Andrew and Eric, turns into a terrifying ordeal of survival in the latest thriller from the Bram Stoker-winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts.

 

 

 

Red, White, Blue#14 Red, White, Blue
By Lea Carpenter
The new novel from screenwriter Carpenter is an intriguing, albeit challenging, read. But for lovers of spy novels, it’s more than worth the read.

 

 

Noir#13 Noir
By Christopher Moore
Set in 1947 San Francisco, Moore’s latest switches back and forth between on-the-lam bartender Sammy “Two-Toes” Tiffin and an unnamed second party (“Don’t worry about who I am, I know things.”). Larceny abounds, committed or attempted by pretty much everyone in the book, and there is a laugh-out-loud moment every couple of pages.

 

The Fighter#12 The Fighter
By Michael Farris Smith
The setting for Smith’s fourth work of fiction is the vividly described poor, rural towns and back roads scattered throughout the Mississippi Delta, where Jack Boucher is driving alone in the dark, planning to repay his large debt to an unforgiving fight and vice promoter named Big Momma Sweet.

 

 

The Woman in the Window#11 The Woman in the Window
By A.J. Finn
In suspense fiction, as in life, things aren’t always as they appear. We view events through similar, although by no means identical, lenses. And therein lies the fun, both between the covers of one of the year’s most audacious psychological suspense debuts.

 

 

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle#10 The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
By Stuart Turton
Conventional wisdom cautions, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but thankfully, author Turton must not have gotten the memo. His debut novel is a daring and wildly imaginative spin on the tried, tested and true English manor house murder mystery trope.

 

 

Sunburn#9 Sunburn
By Laura Lippman
At one time or another, all of us have considered the appeal of walking out of our current life, leaving everything and everyone behind, and starting afresh somewhere new. Few people have stronger reasons to do this than Polly Costello—female lead in Lippman’s new James M. Cain-inspired thriller.

 

 

Dark Sacred Night#8 Dark Sacred Night
By Michael Connelly
Connelly pairs series stalwart Harry Bosch with Renée Ballard in their first (but hopefully not their last) adventure together. They both share a bit of an outsider’s perspective—respected for their work but not always liked by their peers—and this is what makes them such a formidable team.

 

 

Baby Teeth#7 Baby Teeth
By Zoje Stage 
In Stage’s debut novel, you can’t blame put-upon Suzette Jensen for wanting to be free from her monstrous daughter, Hanna. Indeed, by page five you’re praying for the little horror to eat it in the worst way possible.

 

 

Infinite Blacktop#6 The Infinite Blacktop
By Sara Gran
Imagine, for a moment, a Nancy Drew mystery told partially in flashback by Nancy herself, a girl grown up into the Best Detective in the World—her own rather immodest appellation—and now facing Her Most Perplexing Case. Then you will begin to have an idea of Sara Gran’s strange yet wildly entertaining new novel.

 

 

A Necessary Evil#5 A Necessary Evil
By Abir Mukherjee
Picture Archie Goodwin, Nero Wolfe’s wisecracking and nose-thumbing sidekick, plucked from his New York brownstone and transplanted to 1920s Calcutta, and you’ll have a pretty good image of Captain Sam Wyndham, a former Scotland Yard officer whose first-person perspective offers a noir voiceover to Mukherjee’s brilliant new novel.

 

Lethal White#4 Lethal White
By Robert Galbraith
Strike, a London private investigator with a reputation for unraveling high-profile cases, and his able, lovely assistant, Robin, are in the thick of it, investigating political blackmail and the murder of a Tory minister.

 

 

 

Kingdom of the Blind#3 Kingdom of the Blind
By Louise Penny
Penny’s novels are unique for how seamlessly they straddle the line between charming small-town mysteries and big-city police procedurals. This time out, protagonist Armand Gamache, former head of the Sûreté du Québec, receives a strange invitation to an abandoned farmhouse, and an even stranger request to act as executor of a will crafted by someone he never met.

 

 

The Word Is Murder#2 The Word Is Murder
By Anthony Horowitz
It’s tempting to wade into these first few pages of Horowitz’s latest with the assumption that you’re about to enjoy a loving homage to the classic British mysteries of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. Then comes Horowitz’s inventive twist: The inscrutable investigator enlists an author whose name happens to be Anthony Horowitz to join him as he probes the case.

 

The Witch Elm#1 The Witch Elm
By Tana French
In French’s brilliantly tense first standalone novel, an oblivious male protagonist investigates two crimes—and confronts whether he is, in fact, the hero of his own story.

Lock your doors and close the blinds—it’s our list of the year’s 15 best works of crime fiction.

15 women to watch in 2019

Feature by the editors of BookPage

The March issue of BookPage is a total Women’s History Month party, with oodles of reading recommendations for female-centric historical fiction, biographies of long-forgotten heroes in women’s history and shrewd, of-the-moment social commentary. But it wouldn’t be Women’s History Month at BookPage without our annual list of Women to Watch. Keep these 15 female authors on your radar in 2019—big things are coming.

Carty-WilliamsCandice Carty-Williams
QUEENIE
March 19 • Scout

This debut novelist is no rookie: Starting in publishing at the age of only 23, Carty-Williams created and launched the Guardian and 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize in 2016, which focuses on and celebrates black, Asian and minority writers. Her first novel is a feel-good, smart rom-com starring a 25-year-old Jamaican-British woman who, post-break-up, needs a lot of help from her friends to navigate dating apps and self-doubt.

SerpellNamwali Serpell
THE OLD DRIFT
March 26 • Hogarth

When Zambian author Serpell won the Caine Prize in 2015 for her short story “The Sack,” she announced that “fiction is not a competitive sport” and shared the $15,000 prize with the other short-listed writers. Clearly a badass, Serpell teaches English at UC Berkeley and makes her debut with an ambitious, century-sweeping family saga set in Northwestern Rhodesia (now Zambia) that blends elements of post-colonialist literature with magical realism.

Sarah Blake
NAAMAH
April 9 • Riverhead

In the tradition of recent feminist reimaginings (like Madeline Miller’s Circe and Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls), Blake’s first novel transforms an ancient tale by exploring it through the eyes of a woman. Naamah, wife of Noah, is aboard the ark, trapped on unreceding waters—and seeking sanctuary with a seductive underwater angel. Blake has two previously published collections of poetry (Let’s Not Live on Earth and Mr. West), and her debut novel enters into a surreal dreamspace through sensual, lyrical language.

KimAngie Kim
MIRACLE CREEK
April 16 • Sarah Crichton

South Korea-born Kim was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, then practiced as a trial lawyer, and she’s also won a handful of awards for both nonfiction and fiction writing. She brings her two talents together in her debut, a courtroom drama that centers on the deadly explosion of a device known as the Miracle Submarine: a pressurized oxygen chamber used as therapy for autistic children and people suffering from issues such as infertility. Immigration, autism, mysterious notes, a murder trial—it’s a book club bonanza.

Casey McQuiston
RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE
May 14 • St. Martin’s Griffin

The buzz for McQuiston’s debut romance novel is near-deafening in the hallowed halls of romance Twitter, and for good reason—Red, White & Royal Blue is one of the few print romances from a major publisher to center a gay couple. And as one half of said couple is a fictional prince of England, fans thirsty for more tales of royal love will be very, very satisfied.

PhillipsJulia Phillips
DISAPPEARING EARTH
May 14 • Knopf

Phillips has loved Russia since she was a teenager, and she used her Fulbright fellowship to live and study there after college. Her impressive debut takes readers to the remote Russian peninsula Kamchatka—a land of extremes, of mountains, tundra and forests—where two young sisters disappear from a beach one August afternoon. Each chapter of the book explores a different character throughout the year after the kidnapping, from witnesses to fellow students to the detective. 

PitoniakAnna Pitoniak
NECESSARY PEOPLE
May 21 • Little, Brown

A Yale graduate and former senior editor at Random House, Pitoniak initially caught the attention of the literary community with her first novel, The Futures, and its assured, striking blend of insightful character work and well-plotted suspense. Her second novel takes a well-trod premise—a young woman from a poor family becomes the close friend of another girl, who is far more wealthy and charismatic—and gives it an ingenious twist, as aspiring journalist Violet has begun to outgrow her flighty friend Stella and achieve career success, dangerously upsetting the unhealthy equilibrium of their relationship.

KeaneMary Beth Keane
ASK AGAIN, YES
May 28 • Scribner

Celeste Ng fans and readers of smart domestic fiction, keep an eye on this one. In 2011, Keane was named one of the National Book Award Foundation’s “5 Under 35,” and in 2015 she was awarded a John S. Gugenheim fellowship for fiction writing. She has written two previous novels (The Walking People and Fever), and her third novel—about two rookie cops in the NYPD and their wives, who live next door to one another—has the potential to make Keane a household name. 

Catherine ChungCatherine Chung
THE TENTH MUSE
June 18 • Ecco

Chung’s list of honors is enviably long: She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and a Director’s Visitorship at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. She was a Granta New Voice, and won an Honorable Mention for the PEN/Hemingway Award for her first novel, Forgotten Country, which was also the BookPage Top Pick in Fiction for March 2012 and one of our Best Books of 2012. Her much anticipated sophomore effort centers on a mathematician named Katherine who, in her journey to conquer the Riemann Hypothesis, unearths secrets that date back to World War II.

BenzChanelle Benz
THE GONE DEAD
June 25 • Ecco

Benz, an assistant professor of English at Rhodes College in Memphis, made her debut in 2017 with her short story collection, a book of literary acrobatics wonderfully titled The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead. Her first novel promises to be an important addition to the Southern literature canon, unfolding a decades-long family legacy when a biracial woman returns home to the Mississippi Delta 30 years after her father’s death.

TaddeoLisa Taddeo
THREE WOMEN
July 9 • Simon & Schuster / Avid Reader

Pushcart Prize-winning fiction writer and journalist Taddeo has written her first book, and it’s already changing the game of narrative nonfiction. It’s an intimate profile of three ordinary women’s pursuit of sensual passion: an unfaithful housewife, a sexually deviant entrepreneur and a high school student. Taddeo spent nearly a decade with these women, and the result is a stunning, timely examination of female desire.

TomarRuchika Tomar
A PRAYER FOR TRAVELERS
July 9 • Riverhead

For readers who’ve been waiting for a worthy successor to Claire Vaye Watkins’ Gold Fame Citrus, the Nevada-set debut novel from Tomar sounds promising. A former Wallace Stegner Fellow, Tomar is currently a Jones Lecturer at Stanford University, and her novel stars two girls—quiet Cale and enigmatic Penélope—and the tragic events that lead to Penny’s disappearance and Cale’s desperate search in the desert.

JiaJia Tolentino
TRICK MIRROR: REFLECTIONS ON SELF-DELUSION
August 6 • Random House

Texas-born Tolentino is a staff writer at The New Yorker whose writing has covered everything from music to vaping to sexual assault. Her debut collection of essays contains nine new essays about the cultural forces that have warped this already twisted decade. You won’t find anyone with a funnier, sharper, bolder take on the world as it unravels.

BroomSarah M. Broom
THE YELLOW HOUSE
August 13 • Grove

Broom’s debut memoir is a complex portrait of a city, a house, a family and the author’s place within each of them. In 1963, at the age of 19, Broom’s mother bought a yellow shotgun house in East New Orleans for $3,200. Now Broom tells the 100-year story of her family through this house, with equal parts deftness and depth. This book, and its author, demands our attention.

MachadoCarmen Maria Machado
IN THE DREAM HOUSE
October 1 • Graywolf

Machado’s debut short story collection, Her Body and Other Parties, was the winner of five literary awards (including the Bard Fiction Prize) and a finalist for six others (including the National Book Award). It blew readers’ expectations of the genre to bits, and her upcoming memoir promises to do the same. In the Dream House explores the reality of domestic abuse in queer relationships by recounting Machado’s entanglement with one magnetic but explosive woman. Bravery, levity, sociology, unorthodoxy—this book has it all.

 

Carty-Williams photo © Lily Richards / Serpell photo © Peg Korpinski / Kim photo © Tim Coburn / Chung photo © David Noles / Benz photo © Christine Jean Chambers / Taddeo photo © J. Waite / Broom photo © Hal Williamson / Machado photo © Art Streiber / AUGUST

The March issue of BookPage is a total Women’s History Month party, with oodles of reading recommendations for female-centric historical fiction, biographies of long-forgotten heroes in women’s history and shrewd, of-the-moment social commentary. But it wouldn’t be Women’s History Month at BookPage without our annual list of Women to Watch. Keep these 15 female authors on your radar in 2019—big things are coming.

NonfictionSocial ScienceReligion & SpiritualityPoliticsCrafts, Hobbies & HomeBusiness & Finance

Resolutions: New year, new you!

Feature by the editors of BookPage

You've got goals, and we've got the books to help you achieve them. Tackle your resolutions with these 10 books.

The Formula: The Universal Laws of Succes
By Albert-László Barabási

RESOLUTION: Work better, not harder, to reach your goals.
FRESH TAKE: If life were a fair fight, talent plus work ethic is all you’d need to succeed—but we’ve all been passed over for opportunities we’re qualified for. With this data-driven book, Albert-László Barabási explores the universal forces that affect our likelihood of success or failure.
GOOD ADVICE: The differences among top contenders in any category are so tiny that they’re essentially immeasurable—which means wine connoisseurs only know so much, and a nice Pinot can come at any price.

Love for Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection
By Haemin Sunim

RESOLUTION: Practice self-love (beyond just buying bath bombs).
FRESH TAKE: In this gentle, kindhearted guide to inner peace, the Zen Buddhist teacher Haemin Sunim argues that if one begins with self-acceptance, one will have greater empathy for others and an easier time adapting to life’s trials.
GOOD AVICE: When beset with negative emotions, observe your own feelings and then try to trace them back to their roots. You might realize that a bad experience in your past or a subconscious insecurity is influencing your behavior.

How to Hold a Grudge: From Resentment to Contentment—the Power of Grudges to Transform Your Life
By Sophie Hannah

RESOLUTION: Embrace your negative side.
FRESH TAKE: Novelist Sophie Hannah believes that nursing one’s grudges can lead to greater self-knowledge, personal growth and healthier boundaries.
GOOD ADVICE: By using Hannah’s hilarious grudge-grading system, you can channel your angry feelings into a deeper understanding of your own values and set necessary boundaries.

No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work
By Liz Fosslien & Mollie West Duffy

RESOLUTION: Feel great about your work.
FRESH TAKE: Two former tech workers offer a fresh, funny approach to handling workplace relationships. By leaning on emotional intelligence, you, too, can navigate the pitfalls of modern office life. 
GOOD ADVICE: Establish context and trust with colleagues by using “richer communication” channels like voice chat before relying on written, and often misinterpreted, methods like email and instant messages.

Life Admin: How I Learned to Do Less, Do Better, and Live More
By Elizabeth Emens

RESOLUTION: Overcome invisible labor.
FRESH TAKE: From disputing bills to planning a vacation, Elizabeth Emens introduces readers to the concept of admin, our sometimes onerous daily to-do list. Through relatable anecdotes, she breaks down the types of admin in our lives and offers advice on balancing tasks and relationships.
GOOD ADVICE: Talk with your partner about how to divvy up household duties before moving in together or getting married.

Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing as We Age
By Mary Pipher

RESOLUTION: Chart the course for the next phase of your life.
FRESH TAKE: Women face many challenges as they age: misogyny, ageism and physical changes. Yet psychologist Mary Pipher shows that most older women are more content than their younger selves. Pipher offers warm, empathetic guidelines for navigating aging and for recognizing its unexpected gifts. 
GOOD ADVICE: Every life stage is filled with pain and difficulties. The challenges and changes presented by aging are different, but they also present new ways to learn about yourself and cultivate empathy. 

The Monkey Is the Messenger: Meditation and What Your Busy Mind Is Trying to Tell You
By Ralph De La Rosa

RESOLUTION: Finally get into mindfulness and meditation.
FRESH TAKE: Everyone knows we should be meditating, but what if your thoughts just won’t shut up? Ralph De La Rosa draws on Buddhism, neuroscience and psychology to posit that instead of growing increasingly frustrated with these intrusive thoughts, we should accept them as a part of ourselves and use them as a tool to understand ourselves better. 
GOOD ADVICE: Try not to allow circumstances to dictate your emotions. Instead, accept circumstances and view them as an opportunity for growth and learning. 

Sober Curious: The Blissful Sleep, Greater Focus, Limitless Presence, and Deep Connection Awaiting Us All on the Other Side of Alcohol
By Ruby Warrington

RESOLUTION: Be more mindful of your alcohol intake.
FRESH TAKE: Going without alcohol may sound like an extreme lifestyle change and, frankly, a really dull one. But Ruby Warrington is here to tell you, nonjudgmentally, that cutting out alcohol doesn’t mean you’ll become boring, and it can lead to a happier life, filled with better sleep, health and relationships. 
GOOD ADVICE: If you’re worried about all the fun you’ll miss out on while sober, remind yourself of the phenomenon known as “euphoric recall,” in which an experience is misremembered in a far more positive light than the reality. That epic bachelor party five years ago? It perhaps wasn’t as epic as you remember—but the hangover you’re forgetting no doubt was.

Craftfulness: Mend Yourself by Making Things
By Rosemary Davidson & Arzu Tahsin

RESULTION: Pick up a creative hobby.
FRESH TAKE: Rosemary Davidson and Arzu Tahsin have crafted (sorry) a well-researched guide to the meditative, restorative and mood-lifting effects of working with your hands on a craft or creative pursuit. Filled with advice on how to let go of the pressure of Pinterest perfection, how to make time for crafting in your busy schedule and even a couple of quick beginner projects to get you started, this book is as warm as the scarf you’ll be knitting.
GOOD ADVICE: For too long, we’ve all been focused on the finished product of our artistic pursuits, which can often lead us to abandon less than perfect-looking projects. But there’s joy to be found in the process of making and mending, regardless of our perceived abilities.

If You Ask Me: Essential Advice from Eleanor Roosevelt
Edited by Mary Jo Binker

RESOLUTION: Sail through life with presidential aplomb.
FRESH TAKE: In 1941, the outspoken first lady Eleanor Roosevelt started an advice column. For 20 years, she doled out clever, pithy advice on love, etiquette and issues like gender and race equality. These lovely columns, collected and annotated by Mary Jo Binker, provide sound advice as well as a look into the life and thinking of a legendary first lady.
GOOD ADVICE: Roosevelt was adamant about gender equality in her personal life, writing that she thinks “people are happier in marriage when neither is the boss” and that all relationships are best built on “unselfishness and flexibility.” 

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

You've got goals, and we've got the books to help you achieve them. Tackle your resolutions with these 10 books.

2019 preview: Most anticipated nonfiction

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Last year was a big one for nonfiction (you’ve read Educated, right?), and we’re hoping for another winning year with plenty of revelatory memoirs from voices we’ve never heard before, groundbreaking historical works and must-read essay collections. Here are the 15 nonfiction books we can’t wait to read in 2019 . . . with more to come!

Deep CreekDeep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country by Pam Houston
Norton | January 29

The latest collection of personal essays from beloved author Houston invites us into what she calls the greatest adventure of her life: her 120-acre ranch in rural Colorado. Surrounded by the Rockies, the ranch has become a sanctuary to Houston—a place of self-discovery, wonder and healing.

Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden
Bloomsbury | March 5

Essayist Madden’s debut is high on the list of the year’s anticipated memoirs, as she shares the story of her coming of age as a queer, biracial teenager in Boca Raton, Florida.

The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality by Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein
Viking | April 16

For readers who enjoyed Jon Meacham’s The Soul of America or Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Leadership, the trend of history books that re-examine U.S. presidents in light of the current political climate continues with this collaboration from Isenberg (White Trash) and Burstein (The Passions of Andrew Jackson). It offers an intimate family drama about Presidents John and John Quincy Adams as well as critique of their prophetic warnings about demagogues in democracy.

Everything in Its PlaceEverything in Its Place: First Loves and Lost Tales by Oliver Sacks
Knopf | April 23

From the late, acclaimed storyteller and neurologist Sacks comes a posthumous collection of never-before-published essays that explore his varied interests (from swimming to the natural world), his youth and career, and his final case histories of dementia, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s.

Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting by Anna Quindlen
Random House | April 23

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and columnist Quindlen showed readers just how much she’s enjoying middle age with her frank and humorous Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. Now she’s sharing her thoughts and observations on being a grandmother, a role very different from motherhood.

Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination by Brian Jay Jones
Dutton | May 7

In previous books, critically acclaimed biographer Jones has captured the stories of Jim Henson and George Lucas. His new work delves into the life and career of another American icon: Theodor Geisel, the beloved Dr. Seuss.

Furious HoursFurious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
Knopf | May 7

Cep’s first book taps into the eternal mystery that was Harper Lee’s life while exploring an incredible story of an Alabama serial killer—a case that Lee investigated with the hope of writing a true crime book.

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough
Simon & Schuster | May 7

From the two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award comes a chronicle of the founding of the Northwest Territory (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin) by a group of pioneers determined to begin a new settlement that must uphold three conditions: freedom of religion, free universal education and prohibition of slavery.

Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World’s Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West by David Wolman and Julian Smith
William Morrow | May 28

In 1908, three Hawaiian cowboys traveled to Cheyenne, Wyoming, for a grand rodeo competition. Initially dismissed by the white cowboys who considered themselves the only “true” cowboys, the Hawaiians proved everyone wrong and walked away as American heroes. This is the tale to remake—and reinvigorate—our love of the American West.

OutragesOutrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love by Naomi Wolf
HMH | June 18

It’s always news when feminist icon Wolf (Vagina, The Beauty Myth) announces a new book, and her latest is particularly intriguing. Outrages will tell the untold story of how homosexuality, and specifically gay male identity, became codified and demonized in the 1850s.

Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl
Milkweed Editions | July 9

Renkl is a frequent op-ed writer for the New York Times, where she captures the spirit and contemporary culture of the American South better than anyone. Her articles often include mediations on the natural world, a topic which will feature prominently in her first book, a melding of flora, fauna and family.

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott & Harmony Becker
Top Shelf | July 16

Takei may be most recognized for his role as Captain Sulu in “Star Trek,” but the 81-year-old actor has also been a tireless activist for human rights and social justice. In this graphic memoir collaboration, Takei writes about his childhood experience of living inside Japanese internment camps during World War II and how legalized racism in America shaped his life.

CoventryCoventry by Rachel Cusk
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | August 20

The award-winning author of the Outline trilogy has put together her first collection of essays, which promises to be a mix of memoir and literary and cultural criticism.

Make It Scream, Make It Burn by Leslie Jamison
Little, Brown | September 24

We adored Jamison’s The Recovering, which combined an investigation into the cultural depiction of alcoholism with the story of her own descent into addiction. But she first began to attract readers with her astute essay collection The Empathy Exams (2014), and now she’s heading back to the form with a new volume that will focus on longing and obsession.

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Graywolf | October 1

The author of the National Book Award finalist Her Body and Other Parties has turned to a deeply personal and painful subject for her first memoir: a tumultuous and psychologically abusive relationship. In what is promised to be a frank and in-depth look at queer domestic abuse, Machado synthesizes her own memories and experiences with historical research and important cultural tropes. Her Body established Machado as a master of the short story, and In the Dream House is poised to do the same in nonfiction.  

Last year was a big one for nonfiction (you’ve read Educated, right?), and we’re hoping for another winning year with plenty of revelatory memoirs from voices we’ve never heard before, groundbreaking historical works and must-read essay collections. Here are the 15 nonfiction books we can’t wait to read in 2019 . . . with more to come!

FictionMysteryDebut Fiction

March: The Hold List

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Brooklyn
By Colm Tóibín

To be fair, there is sadness in Tóibín’s story of Eilis, a young Irish woman who emigrates to New York City—homesickness has never been so effectively portrayed. But as Eilis adapts to a dizzying amount of opportunity and freedom, she sees how her new life can be more fulfilling than anything she could have attained in Ireland. Brooklyn is masterfully understated, and Tóibín’s ability to capture his protagonist’s emotional state is astonishing. The tentative warmth of new love, the longing for a family across an ocean and the rush of liberation are nearly tangible on the page, and Tóibín’s evenhanded depictions of both Ireland and America give the novel a lingering, melancholic beauty.

—Savanna, Assistant Editor

Conversations with Friends
By Sally Rooney

 

Friends become lovers, lovers become friends—Rooney’s debut novel is an introspective tale of fleeting pleasures, female sexuality, chemistry and miscommunication, as readers are invited to explore between the cracks of a 20-something woman’s relationships. Frances performs her spoken-word poems in Dublin with her best friend and former lover, Bobbi, and at one of these events they meet an enigmatic photographer named Melissa. Frances and Melissa’s husband, Nick, soon become entangled, and Frances finds herself sinking into a dark place, as her life becomes a web of messy emotions and convoluted motives. The drama is a slow build, the humor is sly, and the dialogue is on point.

—Cat, Deputy Editor

The Commitments
By Roddy Doyle

Doyle is known for his ability to spin an incisive yarn about the painful challenges of modern life and the struggles of the Irish people, like his Man Booker Award-winning novel, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. But his 1987 debut, The Commitments, is decidedly lighter fare. There’s just something about a story of disaffected youth who forge a bond through a shared love of music and pop culture that’s simply irresistible to me, and if you feel the same way, then you’ll inhale this story of a bunch of cheeky, working-class Dubliners determined to bring soul music to their fair city. It’s a rollicking and irreverent story steeped in the 1960s sounds of Motown. Be prepared to fall in love with these brash and complicated lads.
—Hilli, Assistant Editor

Himself
By Jess Kidd

A darkly comic murder mystery set in a small Irish village, Kidd’s debut also has a macabre twist. Her handsome sleuth Mahony, who rolls into town to catch his mother’s murderer, can see and talk to the dead. His unjustly slain mother, Orla, had the same powers—which may or may not have led to her death while Mahony was still an infant. To catch the killer, Mahony teams up with one of the town’s many eccentrics, former actress Mrs. Cauley, and they hatch a plot straight out of a Shakespearean drama. They’ll put on a play and place their suspects in the cast. If you’ve read or seen Hamlet, you know things aren’t going to go well. In Kidd’s hands, the chaos is glorious.

—Savanna, Assistant Editor

Broken Harbor
By Tana French

If you haven’t read French’s bestselling six-book Dublin Murder Squad series, now is the time, as Starz is planning an adaptation of the first two books, but it’s not necessary to read them in order. Broken Harbor (the fourth book) is my personal favorite. It’s more of a classic murder mystery than some of the others (and not nearly as emotionally eviscerating as In the Woods), and I loved the narrator, Detective Mick “Scorcher” Kennedy, who was a bad guy in Faithful Place but gets a second chance during this investigation of a grisly triple homicide in Dublin. Add in Scorcher’s sister, a troubled woman who dregs up some unsavory childhood memories, and readers are in for a hell of a ride. It’s chilling, creepy and addicting—a perfect police procedural.
—Cat, Deputy Editor 

There’s no shortage of brilliant Irish books, but they can tend to be a wee bit bleak. (It’s either the weather or the centuries of oppression.) So we’re sharing a few of our favorite stories set on the Emerald Isle that are a bit lighter. With humor, magic, young love and classic mystery, any of these books would be perfect for reading with a pint or whatever libation tickles your fancy.

NonfictionAudioMemoir

The Hold List: Laugh-out-loud audiobooks

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
By Mindy Kaling
Actress, comedy writer and producer Kaling makes social anxiety charming in her first memoir. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? is an entertaining collection of personal essays, humorous lists (like film franchises Kaling would like to reboot) and glimpses into the twisted world of LA celebrity. Though this isn’t exactly groundbreaking territory for a celebrity memoir, it’s hard to notice while listening to Kaling read her own work in her bright, chirpy voice. As you’d expect from a writer who honed her skills on “The Office,” Kaling’s comedic timing is on point, and her chatty style and focus on pop culture make listening to the audiobook feel like dishing with a friend who happens to be the best storyteller around. Listen to this one on a long drive, and let the miles fly by. 

—Trisha, Publisher

My Life as a Goddess
By Guy Branum
Is there anything more satisfying than an incredibly articulate complaint? Those who can pick a subject and eviscerate it, not cruelly but with utter realness, deserve every opportunity to rant at will. My Life as a Goddess, comedian Branum’s candid collection of essays about his small-town Californian upbringing and his coming-out coming of age, is hilarious, and his audacious performance unfolds with the blistering pace of a stand-up comic. He offers riotous hindsight, only to soften at poignant moments of self-awareness, when this “survival guide” really does explore his fight to survive the world’s treatment of a fat young gay man. His acerbic footnotes roll out like natural asides, and he even lets a self-deprecating laugh fly from time to time. Beneath it all is a love of words that any audiobook listener will relish. 

—Cat, Deputy Editor

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
By David Sedaris
If there’s one author whose voice is inseparable from his writing, it’s David Sedaris. He rose to fame as both a performer and writer, first as a guest on NPR’s “This American Life” and then as a headliner for sold-out theaters. When you read Sedaris’ writing, it’s difficult not to hear his familiar cadence and inflection in your head, so why not skip the paper cuts and get right to the source? All of his audiobooks are exceptional—like hilarious radio productions with jazz interludes and guest appearances by the author’s sister Amy Sedaris—but Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is a fine place to start. It’s laugh-out-loud funny one minute and gut-punch poignant the next: Sedaris at his best and most beloved. 

—Christy, Associate Editor

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.
By Samantha Irby
The loose, freewheeling essays in Irby’s second collection, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life., are just as likely to stop you in your tracks with razor-­sharp observations as they are to spin out into hilarious, unexpected digressions. The first essay takes the form of Irby’s application to be a contestant on “The Bachelor” but makes several stops along the way to talk about why men are just as catty and self-­obsessed as women and to justifiably roast the Bachelor franchise for its absurd lack of diversity. As Irby reads her pieces on dating in her late 30s and entering what she describes as a mutually codependent relationship with her rescue cat, her relaxed deadpan serves as the deceptively unruffled foundation for her twists into the absurd and perfectly setup punch lines. 

—Savanna, Assistant Editor

If you’re gearing up for summer vacation, don’t even think about embarking on that 10-hour drive without downloading an excellent audiobook (or two, or five) to pass the time. Buckle up! These are our picks for great books that are even better on audiobook.
NonfictionFictionWorld Fiction

The Hold List: Crowd pleasers

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Each month, the editors of BookPage share special reading lists—our personal favorites, old and new. Do you have a book you can recommend to anyone, anytime, anywhere? To avid readers, to reluctant readers, to strangers whose tastes are unfamiliar to you? This month, we’re sharing our go-to recs—the books we pass out like free candy.

City of Thieves by David Benioff
Now that David Benioff has tasted screenwriting success, my guess is he won’t return to writing novels. I may be the only person disappointed by this, given the many fans of his TV work (you might have heard of “Game of Thrones”?). Nevertheless, I’ve done my part to recruit more mourners of Benioff’s brief literary career by doling out copies of City of Thieves. Set during the Siege of Leningrad in World War II, this slim little page-turner balances the dark historical backdrop with humor and brio that never veers into flippancy. It’s been a hit with everyone I’ve recommended it to, including my brother, who hadn’t read a book in years before I loaned him my copy. (For the record, he’s now a member of a book club.) —Trisha, Publisher

Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan
Of all the essay collections I’ve read and cherished, this is the one I recommend the most—for its humor, catharsis, revelation, style and sanded-to-a-point precision. John Jeremiah Sullivan is one of the deepest probing, widest ranging, sharpest shooting essayists of our time, and Pulphead is a smorgasbord of his interests—from Axl Rose to “One Tree Hill” to Christian rock festivals to weed. He even has an essay about American cave art, which I usually skip because its contemplative rhythms lull me right to sleep—but I met someone just last week who said it was their favorite of the whole lot. It just goes to show you: There’s truly something for everyone in this collection. —Christy, Associate Editor

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Little Fires Everywhere tells the story of the residents of suburban Shaker Heights, Ohio, and the intersections among them, but such a brief synopsis can hardly do justice to the intricacies of the novel. I became captivated by the wide array of characters I encountered, from cruel perfectionist Mrs. Richardson to her hell-raising, fire-starting daughter. With every complication, twist and heartbreak, I became just a bit more rabid, and by the time I was done with the book, I found myself questioning the very meaning of family, identity, love, art and morality. Those questions are universal, so I have no doubt that any reader will find something to love in Little Fires Everywhere, just as I did. —Olivia, Editorial Intern

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
Amelia Peabody is a forthright British spinster who recently inherited a sizable fortune. Desperate to escape her grasping relatives, she runs off to Egypt to fulfill her dream of seeing the pyramids. Never one for senseless propriety, she marches right onto a dig site—and directly into a fascinating mystery involving a mummy. Radcliffe Emerson, the archaeologist in charge of the excavation, is none too pleased to have his workplace invaded by an inexperienced woman, and his and Amelia’s barbed banter lends the proceedings a hilarious screwball energy and more than a little sex appeal. Elizabeth Peters’ first mystery in this long-running series is a total romp, with an old Hollywood breeziness and a spiky feminist energy. —Savanna, Assistant Editor

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
I almost didn’t choose Exit West as my pick for this month, because I’m starting to feel like a broken record. But I can’t help it. There isn’t a single reader to whom I wouldn’t recommend this book. An unnamed Arabic country teeters on the brink of civil war, and new lovers Saeed and Nadia decide to flee. But in the novel’s version of a global refugee crisis, people flee their countries via magical doorways that deposit them elsewhere. From their home, Saeed and Nadia are transported to Greece, London and eventually California. It’s a slim read with a rich imagination, and at its heart is a love story, as through the lovers’ journey we witness the way a relationship could be shaped by a mad dash for survival. The audiobook is phenomenal, too. The author reads, and his voice is gorgeous. —Cat, Deputy Editor

Each month, the editors of BookPage share special reading lists—our personal favorites, old and new. Do you have a book you can recommend to anyone, anytime, anywhere? To avid readers, to reluctant readers, to strangers whose tastes are unfamiliar to you? This month, we’re sharing our…

Fall 2019 preview: Most anticipated children’s books

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Back-to-school season is a blessing—especially because we get to look forward to the most anticipated children’s books of fall 2019!

Picture books

A Stone Sat StillA Stone Sat Still by Brendan Wenzel
Chronicle | August 27

The Caldecott Honor-winning author-illustrator of They All Saw a Cat is a master at transforming the quotidian into the incredible. His latest explores the boundlessness of a single stone’s existence.

Small in the City by Sydney Smith
Neal Porter | September 3

The illustrator of Sidewalk Flowers and Town Is by the Sea makes his author-illustrator debut with a tender story narrated by a child, who is giving advice for navigating the big city to a missing friend.

The Hundred-Year BarnThe Hundred-Year Barn by Patricia MacLachlan & Kenard Pak
Katherine Tegen | September 10

Newbery Medal winner MacLachlan teams up with award-winning illustrator Pak for a generations-spanning tale of a big red barn.

Fly! by Mark Teague
Beach Lane | September 17

A bird and a baby converse back and forth through imagery-based speech bubbles in this utterly hilarious picture book. Reading this one aloud with a child will be so, so fun.

Home in the WoodsHome in the Woods by Eliza Wheeler
Nancy Paulsen | October 1

Based on her grandmother’s childhood, Wheeler’s latest tells the story of a family in the Wisconsin woods during the year after their father’s death. Let me count the ways this book will steal your heart: the narrative, the palette, the lines, the seasons, the characters, the fluid family pairings, the optimism, the team work, the authenticity, the games and the ultimate triumph.

 

Middle grade

Lalani of the Distant SeaLalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly
HarperCollins | September 1

Inspired by Filipino folktales, the fantasy debut from Newbery Medalist Kelly (Hello, Universe) follows a young girl named Lalani who leaves her island to save her mother and the members of her village. It begins as a story of darkness, but Lalani discovers the light within through kindness, integrity and steadfast love.

Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick | September 24

This is the third in DiCamillo’s series that began with Raymie Nightingale, but each novel stands on its own. This one is a master class in middle grade fiction, with a rewarding sense of community and Beverly’s delightful, unique voice ringing as true as ever.

Look Both WaysLook Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
Atheneum | October 8

Every single Reynolds book demands attention. This one tells 10 tangential stories within a neighborhood, and each unique chapter has its own style and punch.

The Story That Cannot Be Told by J. Kasper Kramer
Atheneum | October 8

Under Communist rule in the 1980s, living conditions in Romania were poor, especially in cities like Ileana’s Bucharest. Reminiscent of life under Nazi occupations, spies are everywhere and the paranoia is palpable and justified. When young Ileana ignores her parents’ instructions, their house is bugged, and she must immediately be sent away to a small town with unfamiliar grandparents and customs. There, she is introduced to the traditions of her culture through folktales, which are interspersed throughout the narrative.

Back-to-school season is a blessing—especially because we get to look forward to the most anticipated children’s books of fall 2019!

Science Fiction & FantasyFictionYA FictionYAMemoir

The Hold List: October 2019

Feature by the editors of BookPage

It’s the time of year when pumpkin spice suddenly flavors everything. But what if autumn were distilled into a book? The mixture of crispness and warmth, the thrill of possibility, the bittersweetness of change—these books are pure pumpkin spice.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Lake Michigan on a cool morning, a well-worn copy of Moby-Dick, a lazily draped scarf worn to a beloved college class—this is pumpkin spice latte territory. Chad Harbach’s debut novel is a philosopher’s playhouse, a literature student’s carnival and a baseball fan’s last hurrah of the season. It’s the story of shortstop star Henry Skrimshander and the many intellectuals in his orbit at Wisconsin’s small Westish College. Cute literary jokes abound (Henry’s last name is an obvious nod to Melville and scrimshaw), and meandering passages are capably balanced by thrilling baseball scenes. There’s angst and romance as well—always best in autumn—and a cheeky sense of humor that looks so good with your fading summer tan. —Cat, Deputy Editor

I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron
First of all, what’s more autumnal than the words of Nora Ephron? (Think “bouquets of newly sharpened pencils.”) But I love this collection in particular because it’s the last book Ephron published before she died. Every time I read I Remember Nothing, I cherish it more urgently because I know I’m approaching the end of her expansive but finite body of work. (Oh, for a thousand more charming observations about seer­sucker napkins!) I think this makes it a perfect book for fall, which is the season for lapping up every drop of beauty we can before it’s gone. Poignantly, the last essay in the book is a list called “What I Will Miss,” and it includes: fall, a walk in the park, the idea of a walk in the park and pie. —Christy, Associate Editor

Possession by A.S. Byatt
This supremely meta, deeply romantic bestseller is a lot. But its dual narratives—a doomed romance between Victorian poets and the modern-day scholars who stumble upon their story—offer some sublimely cozy pleasures for a very specific type of book nerd. If your ideal autumn involves prowling through Victorian letters while a storm rages outside, taking baths in crumbling old manor houses and sighing over love thwarted and love gained, Possession is the book for you. And for those who miss school (but not its over-caffeination and assigned reading), A.S. Byatt’s awe-inspiring creation of not only the work of two poets but also the modern scholarly commentary surrounding them will scratch that essay-writing, argument-crafting itch—sans the all-nighter. —Savanna, Assistant Editor 

Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar
Scalding, flavorful, and unapologetic, this poetry collection invites readers to scrutinize its speaker’s struggle with alcoholism, desire, and mental obstruction. The reader is welcomed into madness, ardor, misery and silence, but this is not our madness, our sadness, or our experiences. We may not have experienced alcoholism, but we are allowed to smell the same odors, hear the cacophony of a bar and call out to the speaker’s hope. This collection taught me that poetry is never about the reader, but is ultimately an act of generosity. I thank this book for the warmth it gave me, for I needed a comforting drink to withstand its multiclimatic world. Ultimately, I found myself warm enough—and secure enough—to ditch my cup. —Prince Bush, Editorial Intern

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
If your perfect walk through autumnal woods—fallen leaves in fiery hues crunching beneath your boots, the scents of mist-damp soil and October’s chill filtering through the air—comes with the sense that something is hiding behind every tree, waiting just ahead at every crook in your path, something not sinister but curious about your strange mortal ways, then may I suggest settling down with An Enchantment of Ravens once your latte has chased your chill away? Full of tricksy fairies, a delicious slow-burn romance and plenty of wit and literal Whimsy (the name of the village where Margaret Rogerson’s characters live), it reads the way autumn feels, deep down in your bones. —Stephanie, Associate Editor

It’s the time of year when pumpkin spice suddenly flavors everything. But what if autumn were distilled into a book? The mixture of crispness and warmth, the thrill of possibility, the bittersweetness of change—these books are pure pumpkin spice.

The Art of Fielding by…

Sign Up

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.

Sign up now

Trending Features

All Features