Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
The engrossing 10th novel from Nobel laureate Gurnah is filled with compassion and historical insight.
All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews
Bitingly funny and sweetly earnest, Mathews’ debut is one of those rare novels that feels just like life.
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
Not since Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend has a novel so deftly probed the magical and sometimes destructive friendships that can occur between two girls.
Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah
When your heritage and ancestry are the reasons for your oppression, to whom can you turn in order to survive, but to family? Hokeah’s exceptional debut novel follows a Native American man’s life through the many leaves of his family tree.
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
Egan’s empathetic interest in human behavior is what drives The Candy House, making her companion novel to A Visit From the Goon Squad more than a literary experiment.
The Consequences by Manuel Muñoz
In this story collection, Muñoz forges a new Latinx narrative, wherein all aspects of Latinx life are displayed with richness and complexity.
Either/Or by Elif Batuman
Selin, the hero of Batuman’s The Idiot, returns with a voice that is more mature, reflective and droll.
The Furrows by Namwali Serpell
Serpell’s award-winning debut novel, The Old Drift, was a genre-defying epic about three generations of Zambian families, and her purposely disconcerting follow-up will reinforce readers’ appreciation of her daring experimentation and keen talent.
How It Went by Wendell Berry
Taken together, the 13 stories in Berry’s How It Went create a tale that gently unwinds and doubles back on itself, not so much like a river but more like a flowering vine.
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
Escoffery’s connected stories offer an imaginative, fresh take on being a man and nonwhite immigrant in America.
Lessons by Ian McEwan
This scathing, unsettling novel posits that knaves and heroes come in all guises.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Garmus’ devastating and funny debut novel blows the lid off simplistic myths about the 1950s.
Natural History by Andrea Barrett
The stories in Barrett’s dazzling collection demonstrate that while history distills events, fiction can bring messy humanity to life.
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
Ng is undoubtedly at the top of her game as she portrays an American society overcome by fear.
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
Despite its doomed Midwestern setting, Gunty’s debut novel makes storytelling seem like the most fun a person can have.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
It’s impossible to predict how, exactly, you’ll fall in love with this novel, but it’s an eventuality you can’t escape.
Trust by Hernan Diaz
Diaz’s second novel is a beautifully composed masterpiece that examines the insidious disparities between rich and poor, truth and fiction.
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
Stuart’s follow-up to Shuggie Bain is a marvelous feat of storytelling, a mix of tender emotion and grisly violence.
