1) 'A Constellation of Vital Phenomena' by Anthony Marra:
Set in war torn Chechnya, '...Constellation' is the beautiful realized story of a young girl who whose life rests in the hands of two doctors, one, her neighbor, the other the only surgeon in the towns battered hospital. Weaving their stories with their immediate family members, the incredibly talented Marra (it's amazing this is his first novel) brings the horrors of two wars into a disturbing and haunting vision of hell. The best, and most moving book I've read this year.
http://www.amazon.com/Constellation-Vital-Phenomena-Novel/dp/0770436404/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388426493&sr=1-1&keywords=a+constellation+of+vital+phenomena
2) 'The Interestings' by Meg Wolitzer:
I can't begin to express how much I tapped into this book, these people, this world that Meg Wolitzer has her memorable collection of characters inhabiting. Spanning nearly forty years, with six friends who meet at a summer arts camp Wolitzer devotes the largest portion of the book to Jules Jacobson, formerly Julie, who the summer of her fathers premature death goes away to an arts camp where she meets the core group of friends that will stay with her for the rest of her life. Wolitzer has packed the book with big ideas, big cultural, political, and social touchstones that shape these characters; Characters I felt I knew intimately, and were invested in their personal lives the way I haven't been with a book for a while.
http://www.amazon.com/Interestings-Novel-Meg-Wolitzer/dp/1594488398/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388426558&sr=1-1&keywords=the+interestings+meg+wolitzer
3) 'Life After Life' by Kate Atkinson:
Beautiful, languid, frustrating, heartbreaking and complex, Atkinson's book is like a layered onion that keeps revealing more while revisiting the same. Ursula Todd is born in 1911, but dies during birth, strangled on her umbilical cord. But then she comes back and is saved, only to die again, then be reborn again, while gradually moving through her life. With each rebirth comes an opportunity to make the next go around right, while she lives her current life with a pervasive sense similar to deja vu that she's been here before. This is the book to be debated and dissected by book groups everywhere to make sense, and grapple with Atkinson's unique perspective on a life lived in the most full and complete way.
http://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Novel-Kate-Atkinson/dp/0316176494/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388426378&sr=1-1&keywords=life+after+life+kate+atkinson
4) '& Sons' by David Gilbert:
I don't know how I've missed David Gilbert before, but for the rest of us that didn't know him, that will all be a distant memory with the publication of his latest book. It's the literary main course for the summer after appetizers of Hosseini, and Wolitzer. Hip, intelligently written, and peppered with flawed yet likable characters I was completely absorbed. It's no surprise that two of his endorsements come from John Irving and Jess Walter,or the book is followed by a conversation with Amor Towles because this is exactly the kind of book for fans of those authors work. Onto the plot: A reclusive writer reaches out to his two grown sons, begging them to come see him in New York. The book weaves their stories together, but uniquely seen through the lens of the son of said writers best friend. It's dense, but not pretentious, ambitious, and yet Gilbert brilliantly rises to the challenges he presents in his prose, especially when it comes to writing stories within stories the way John Irving so brilliantly does.
http://www.amazon.com/Sons-Novel-David-Gilbert/dp/0812993969/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388426614&sr=1-1&keywords=david+gilbert
5) 'NOS4A2' by Joe Hill:
I loved this book. It almost seems like a cop out or worse not giving the guy his due if I say it reads like the best vintage Stephen King you can remember. Even down to his use of italics, time shifts and creep factor feels like something King would have dreamed up. Or let it germinate in his sons head for thirty years. It's a massive doorstop of a novel that I truly had a hard time putting down with an intimate collection of characters who I was so invested in. Charles Manx is the insidious evil doer who kidnaps children and takes them to "Christmasland", where their every dream comes true. Victoria McQueen is the one who escaped, and now twelve years later Manx returns to claim what is rightfully his the only way he knows how- By taking her son. It's only fitting the manifestation of Manx's evil is a classic Rolls Royce, because once you strap yourself in, it's hard to take your foot off the accelerator. On a side note, Hill does give a cursory nod to his father with a blip of a mention of Pennywise the Clown, which is a small but perfect touch.
http://www.amazon.com/NOS4A2-Novel-Joe-Hill/dp/0062200585/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388426955&sr=1-1&keywords=nos4a2
6) 'Longbourn' by Jo Baker:
It's probably not required, that you've read 'Sense and Sensibility' before this, but it certainly makes the experience more rewarding and rich. Comparisons will inevitably made to 'Downton Abbey' since both deal with the lives of the servants of the privileged upper crust, but Longbourn is a cruder and harsher life than anything that Mr Bates and Mrs Patmore could imagine. Baker begins each chapter with a line from Austen's source material to let the reader know where we are in the original story, while weaving a terrifically engaging tale in its own right, centering predominantly on the housemaid Sarah and the mysterious footman James who arrives at the home. Both intimate and epic, and sweepingly romantic in much the same way Austen is, Longbourn is place worth visiting downstairs as much as up.
http://www.amazon.com/Longbourn-Jo-Baker/dp/0385351232/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388426314&sr=1-1&keywords=longbourn+jo+baker
7) 'The Golem & The Jinni' by Helene Wecker:
This novel, this wonderful fable/fantasy has the feel of a classic piece of literature. Set in turn of the century Manhattan, it's the colliding of two mystical creatures; A Syrian Jinni, suddenly released from his captive urn, and a female Golem, brought to life on a ship from Poland bound for America. Both having arrived in New York they begin to find their way with a collection of memorable characters rooted the ethnic culture of the city. But the wonder of the book is that it really becomes a story of two people searching for their identities, their value, and their worth. And that's what sets the book apart from some typical mystical themed novel. Wecker's world feels vaguely reminiscent of early Anne Rice novels like 'Cry To Heaven' or 'The Feast of All Saints', because of its rich, immersive and evocative prose. Not at all what I was expecting, and a wonderful surprise.
http://www.amazon.com/Golem-Jinni-Novel-P-S/dp/0062110845/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388426714&sr=1-1&keywords=the+golem+and+the+jinni
8) 'The Goldfinch' by Donna Tartt:
While reading this I had absolutely no idea where it was headed, and it didn't matter, I was just thoroughly invested and captured by Theo and his exploits. At times I found the book maddeningly wordy, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment, and I would say for roughly ninety percent of the book I was completely enthralled. It was only in the final-and I really mean final-pages that I found myself wandering as the narrative was suddenly peppered with philosophical musings, as the story wrapped up. The comparisons to Dickens aren't unwarranted both for the size and scope as well as the richly textured world, here New York and Vegas, as well as a collection of unforgettable characters. Sweet Hobie, Boris, and of course lovely Pippa. A contemporary book, that feels instantly classic, it certainly is worthy of its praise.
http://www.amazon.com/Goldfinch-Donna-Tartt/dp/0316055433/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388426225&sr=1-1&keywords=the+goldfinch
9) 'The Andalucian Friend' by Alexander Soderberg:
I was almost hesitant reading this because of all the negative reviews about this book specifically how confusing it was because of the myriad of characters. This should be the lesson on when just to ignore outside influences and trust your gut, because I thought it was pretty terrific. Yes, the plot is very involved, or at least the amount of characters are, but for anyone who has cracked open a George Martin book, this will seem like childs play. At its root the plot is primarily focused on a young widow who lives with her son, and works as a nurse when she comes across a patient who although very charming, is the head of a major crime syndicate in the middle of a war with a rival. I definitely had my moments I had to flip back to the front of the book to check who was who under the character guide, but if you're able to be patient and stick with it, I personally found it a thrilling page turner that managed to surprise me quite a few times.
http://www.amazon.com/Andalucian-Friend-Novel-Alexander-Soderberg/dp/0770436056/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388427207&sr=1-1&keywords=andalucian+friend
10) 'Not So Black and White' by Alexis Wilson:
I am lucky enough to have seen first hand what an extraordinary dancer Alexis is, had the great fortune of standing next to her on stage as she laid claim to her character like any great actor should, but what a marvelous surprise to discover what a gifted, sensitive, and beautiful writer she is.
'...Black and White' goes beyond the typical memoir that presents its narrator facing some kind of Sisyphus like event they overcame before it rolled back down the hill. No, she was tackling multiple boulders, yet managed to navigate them not without cost, but ultimately with phenomenal personal growth. Born to ballet dance superstars, her mother was white, her father black, and together they had an intense love affair that sustained long enough to produce she and her brother before their mother abandoned them.
Soon Alexis and her brother Parker were being raised by their father Billy and shortly thereafter his partner Chip, a new kind of family until AIDS took them both far too soon.
What I loved about her writing so much was her brutal honesty in regards to frankly everything; Her mother leaving them, race identification, the struggle with sharing her father's attention with someone else, let alone a man, and then her massive loss at losing them both, and finally her maturation both as an artist and more importantly, a woman.
I am so thrilled for Alexis to have opened up this literary part of her, and so excited for all of us who get to experience the fruits of her loving labor.
'...Black and White' goes beyond the typical memoir that presents its narrator facing some kind of Sisyphus like event they overcame before it rolled back down the hill. No, she was tackling multiple boulders, yet managed to navigate them not without cost, but ultimately with phenomenal personal growth. Born to ballet dance superstars, her mother was white, her father black, and together they had an intense love affair that sustained long enough to produce she and her brother before their mother abandoned them.
Soon Alexis and her brother Parker were being raised by their father Billy and shortly thereafter his partner Chip, a new kind of family until AIDS took them both far too soon.
What I loved about her writing so much was her brutal honesty in regards to frankly everything; Her mother leaving them, race identification, the struggle with sharing her father's attention with someone else, let alone a man, and then her massive loss at losing them both, and finally her maturation both as an artist and more importantly, a woman.
I am so thrilled for Alexis to have opened up this literary part of her, and so excited for all of us who get to experience the fruits of her loving labor.
http://www.amazon.com/Not-Black-White-Alexis-Wilson/dp/0615568246/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388427344&sr=1-1&keywords=not+so+black+and+white
11) 'Want Not' by Jonathan Miles:
It seems a bit absurd distilling this book to its essence as a tale about waste, but that's exactly what it is. Three stories that track life in our modern world of excess through very different lives. There's Talmadge and Micah, the young New York City squatters, living their lives on the garbage of others, dumpster diving and maintaining until a friend from Talmadges' past arrives and quickly upsets the apple cart.
There's Elwin Cross, an overweight linguistics professor whose wife recently left him, who in a bizarre opening hits a deer while coming home one night, and decides to skin the animal for its meat, with the aid of his neighbors twenty two year old son, who has been nothing but a disappointment to his father. Lastly, the fractured family of Sara, Dave and Alexis. Sara, who lost her first husband in one of the twin towers is now remarried to a pretty despicable debt collector Dave, who vacillates between being flesh crawlingly inappropriate, (especially with his step daughter), and downright pathetic. I realize when I look back at what I just described, this whole thing can look rather bleak, but it really isn't. Miles manages to create sympathetic portraits of virtually all of these characters that completely pulls you in. The guy is an extraordinary writer who has written some of the most descriptive prose that would rival the best of current literary queen supreme Donna Tartt. It's and fascinating and provocative book.
http://www.amazon.com/Want-Not-Jonathan-Miles/dp/0547352204/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388425016&sr=1-1&keywords=want+not
and one more just because:
'The Husband's Secret' by Liane Moriarty:
It's unfortunate that the publishers decided to put such an awful cover on the American edition of this, because it really shouldn't be relegated to just 'chick lit' as so many people have already commented. That said, I get why it could be classified as such since it revolves around three different women whose lives all come loosely together, each dealing with their own domestic issues. Cecelia, is burdened by a letter she finds in the attic, her husband has written which is to be opened only in the event of his death. Tess is reeling from an admission from her husband and cousin, and Rachel still trying to cope with the unsolved murder of her daughter. It's an easy read, but one that shouldn't be perceived as light. Moriarty manages, like Jodi Picoult, to infuse enough witty insight into the human condition to give the book both gravitas and depth.
http://www.amazon.com/Husbands-Secret-Liane-Moriarty/dp/0399159347/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388428196&sr=1-1&keywords=the+husbands+secret
