It's easy for me to forget books I want to read if I don't keep them visible on my reading tables. That's why this temporary upheaval is turning out to be less burden and more treasure. These five books include a thriller, a first novel, short stories, and more. Also, I found a letter from the wife of a Vietnam soldier tucked inside a military classic.
Category: Good Books
New books published this month, plus two irresistibles
Lev Grossman's new fantasy plus the eleventh book in Norman Lock's American Novels Series are among the new releases you'll find here. Plus, an unputdownable classic novel of escape.
“His world had ended:” the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
“The Radetzky March” is Joseph Roth's masterpiece. Everyone's pretty much in agreement about that. They're also in agreement that it's one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. If you don't know about it, here's what you’re missing, and why I took so long to get to it.
The “hoss and horl” of the North Sea in Carys Davies’ new novel
Carys Davies is the author of two collections of short stories and three novels, most recently "Clear." It tells the story of two men who forge an unlikely bond on a remote Scottish island in 1843. You could read the story in one sitting, but you'll want instead to live inside the island's world over several days. It's a flawless work of fiction, not unexpected from this talented author.
Books I’m reading and plan to read
Memoirs, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and a surprising Great American Novels list from The Atlantic magazine are shared in this post. Some of the books are new this month and next. All are what intrigue me right now, and what I'm looking forward to.
The truths of a real place and time
“No More Giants,” first published in 1966, fell into obscurity but is now back in print. Set in the American West in the 1940s, the novel’s narrator searches for the key to her brother’s death when they were growing up on the family’s cattle ranch. All I wanted to do was read this book.
New books recommended and anticipated
Percival Everett, who wrote the unforgettable, hilarious, and wrenching novel “The Trees,” has a new novel coming in March. You can read about it here, along with other books that include a suspenseful revenge plot written by a talented Irish author, and nonfiction about chance encounters. Also, science fiction and short stories.
New books this month, plus more
I wanted to write about January's new releases, but the two novels here are the only ones that interested me. So I'm also including a classic novel and a tempting new biography that came out a couple months ago.
New books, including a true crime stunner
Look within to find a memoir from the author of the 1980 bestseller “Tracks," and a novel with an autistic protagonist that's being described as a mesmerizing debut. You’ll also find a murder trial that transfixed Australians, and an interesting book about Finland's savvy dealings with Stalin.
A 1927 bestseller, film criticism, and Alice McDermott
There’s a sea of blue in these dust jackets, which I noticed when placing the books together on my dining room table. All fiction, that too a commonality, but the plots and settings of these three novels vary widely. Two I’ve read and highly recommend. The third entices.
A Navy captain’s integrity and the Great Chicago Fire
Here are two new books I want to read. Perhaps you’ll also find them interesting. One is a novel that’s, according to the subtitle, “a sea story, a war story, a love story.” The other is what’s being described as a well-researched, fascinating look at Chicago's 1871 disaster.
Four novels and the 2023 Booker Prize
The novels of four Irish authors make up one third of this year's longlisted Booker nominees. It's a first for this prestigious prize, and not all that surprising given the literary talent surging from Ireland these days. Here are the four books, a glimpse at their wide-ranging plots and tones (humor to dystopian logic), and why I've made room for them on my reading table.
Staying cool these last hot days of the season
A late blooming poet, the Dutch Golden Age in art history, a Jewish family in peril, and a schoolgirl's mystery. It's a rich mix of fiction and nonfiction I’m currently reading.
Reading Bette Howland’s Chicago stories and Robbie Arnott’s gem
Several new books by big name authors (Ann Patchett, Colson Whitehead, Richard Russo) are heading into bookstores these upcoming weeks, but I’m all into “Blue in Chicago” and “Limberlost,” two books that likely don’t pop up during your online book browsing, or that you’ll find on an indie bookstore shelf. Here’s what that’s all about.
What I’m reading this month, June 2023
There's a wide range of stories here, from a complex mystery in small town Australia to time-traveling historians, from a Central American hit man on the run to the biography of an American poet. These are the books I've chosen for myself this month, a beginning of summer reading. What do you plan to read these long hot days?
The Longest Chapter 