Melancholic and unexpectedly moving. Darnielle’s lyrical prose is refreshing and makes this dark and twisting story unforgettable. Revolving around an unusual hero and the role-playing game he created, this story reminds us of the decisions we make each day, and how those map the course of our lives. I loved how this book unfolded as if the story itself was a role-playing game, mirroring the choices of the characters.
-Reviewed by Madison
Aside from Play It As It Lays, a lot of Joan Didion’s fiction is wrongly looked over when discussing her life’s work. Run River is her first novel, and it is dark, romantic, suspenseful and, of course, masterfully observant of how people are shaped by place. This reads like Hemingway, but is better because it’s Joan Didion.
-Reviewed by Kate
An apocalyptic adventure that explores themes of capitalism, pandemics, and office culture. Beginning in New York City, a lethal illness begins to sweep the globe. When Candace is one of the few not to fall ill; she finds herself still tied to her desk, unable to abandon mundane office tasks. As she documents, through photography, the ghost town NYC has become she realizes she needs to find others who are immune to survive.
-Reviewed by Sam
I loved this book so much, it made me want to get up and dance with happiness. Miller does a beautiful job of turning Circe, an immortal and mythical figure, into a character with struggles as keen as any of us mortals. I was so steeped in the story that I felt as if I was there on Aiaia with Circe, sharing her exile and watching the myths unfold over the centuries.
-Reviewed by Breanna
I cannot say enough good things about this book. The mystery drew me in, but I was astounded by the beautiful prose and the honesty with which the characters were written. Lydia's heartbreaking story had me in tears more than once, but the ending brought with it a clarity and light that brightened the more dark and sensitive nature of the novel.
-Reviewed by Negar
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a deeply emotionally evocative novel of a young man navigating childhood and adolescence. Vuong brings to life all the intensity of those years in a beautiful and painful way. Vuong’s protagonist deals with complex familial relationships, cross-cultural experience, his sexuality, young love, and so much more. This is a very richly written and touching novel.
-Reviewed by Peter
Wish You Were Here is the exact emotional ride you would expect of a story that takes place against the backdrop of the COVID pandemic. Fans of her work will thoroughly enjoy this book, delivered in Picoult's wonderfully readable voice. At times difficult to read due to the accurate mirror to real-life experience, at its core this is a story about resilience in difficult times and is ultimately an uplifting, hopeful story.
-Reviewed by Katie
A beautifully written, intimate journey of one couple travel from the Spanish Civil War through immigration to Chile and dislocation to Argentina. The fractures of war, of marriage and of country resonate as we watch Roser and Victor find love with each other and with their homeland, wherever it may be. A timely parable exploring loyalty and a true joy to read!
-Reviewed by Cynthia
I laughed out loud throughout the entirety of this book. Gilda is an anxious and depressed atheist lesbian who happens upon a job as the receptionist for a Catholic church. Watching her play the part of a straight, devout Catholic as she inserts herself into a local murder mystery is hilarious. The turmoil of Gilda’s personal life makes this an equally emotional and endearing novel.
-Reviewed by Kate
Five women and their fairy tale inspired stories of love and trauma skewer our own obsession with tabloid and reality TV, media’s victim-blaming and slut-shaming, and society’s tendency to disbelieve women’s stories. This book is whip-smart, and the characters are dimensional and real (even if you don’t really like all of them). A great pick for book clubs, there’s so much to pull apart here. I absolutely loved it!
-Reviewed by Julia
After Luz’s brother is run out of Denver by a white mob, she receives visions of her ancestors’ origins. As she struggles to navigate life in 1930s Denver, she understands how her Indigenous Chicano family flourished and how they were threatened. Fajardo-Anstine crafts an incredible generational saga—poignant in its realism, tragic in its circumstance, and absolutely beautiful in its resiliency.
-Reviewed by Breanna
A little known piece of history is dissected from all the major players in this novel of the 1800s. Known as the Fetterman Fight, this was the battle where Crazy Horse earned his status as a warrior, where the Lakota tried to take back their hunting lands from a newly built fort. Punke builds the world in such vivid detail, I could feel the tall grass singing in the wind as I read along. Incredibly evocative.
-Reviewed by Brad
Possibly Ferrante's best stand alone novel. When Giovanna hears her father compare her to an aunt whom the family has distanced themselves from, she wants to meet her hidden family and learn about them. What unfolds is a story of a teenager who loses her footing in the world, who comes to realize that no one is what they seem. Ferrante's descriptions of Naples are stunningly picturesque.
-Reviewed by Brad
One of my favorite books of 2021. Labatut describes the lives of physicists and mathematicians, trying to see what makes their lives different, what makes them see the world at a different angle, culminating in the battle for quantum mechanics between Schrodinger and Heisenberg. My favorite chapter is about Schwarschild and his solving of the equations of general relativity, while coming up with black hole theory.
-Reviewed by Brad
Perestroika is a runaway racehorse that finds a home near the Eiffel Tower. Somehow she eludes the gaze of the thousands of people that pass by each day. A menagerie of animals and a small boy befriends her and help keep her safe and fed in this heartwarming tale of friendship. Smiley’s novel is like the best Disney film imaginable without being overly sentimental.
-Reviewed by Arsen
