Looking for your next great read? Check out this list of amazing books that everyone’s raving about.
Must-Read Fiction:
Love and Ruin by Paula McLain
The bestselling author of The Paris Wife returns to the subject of Ernest Hemingway in a novel about his passionate, stormy marriage to Martha Gellhorn—a fiercely independent, ambitious young woman who would become one of the greatest war correspondents of the twentieth century.
“Historical fiction at its best.” —Library Journal, starred review
“Propulsive . . . McLain does an excellent job portraying a woman with dreams who isn’t afraid to make them real, showing [Martha Gellhorn’s] bravery in what was very much a man’s world.” —The New York Times Book Review
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Do This for Me by Eliza Kennedy
Uproarious, incisive and poignant, Do This For Me introduces a brilliant, off-kilter heroine on a quest to understand sex, fight workplace inequality, and solve the mystery of herself.
“An uproarious, sometimes salacious, and always entertaining quick summer read.” —Library Journal
“[A] deliciously over-the-top divorce tale.” —EW.com
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Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton
Louise has nothing. Lavinia has everything. After a chance encounter, the two spiral into an intimate, intense, and possibly toxic friendship. A Talented Mr. Ripley for the digital age, this seductive story takes a classic tale of obsession and makes it irresistibly new.
“Diabolical . . . A wicked original with echoes of the greats (Patricia Highsmith, Gillian Flynn).”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times “17 Refreshing Books to Read This Summer”
“Dark, stylish . . . Burton’s exceptional character work further elevates the tale; every individual is both victim and villain, imbuing their interactions with oceans of emotional subtext and creating conflict that propels the book toward its shocking yet inevitable conclusion . . . At once a thrilling and provocative crime novel, a devastating exploration of female insecurity, and a scathing indictment of society’s obsession with social media.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
The Ensemble by Aja Gabel
The addictive novel about four young friends navigating the cutthroat world of classical music and their complex relationships with each other, as ambition, passion, and love intertwine over the course of their lives.
“[A]bsolutely sublime . . . Mark our words: you won’t be able to put this exquisite book down.”—Refinery29
“Stunningly resonant . . . With remarkable assurance, Gabel takes the four [characters] through their shaky early performances and expertly ties their individual and collective lives together with generous doses of empathy . . . A virutuoso performance.” —Booklist, starred review
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The Pisces by Melissa Broder
A masterful blend of vivid realism and giddy fantasy, pairing hilarious frankness with pulse-racing eroticism, The Pisces is a story about falling in obsessive love with a merman: a figure of Sirenic fantasy whose very existence pushes one woman to question everything she thought she knew about love, lust, and meaning in the one life we have.
“Bold, virtuosic, addictive, erotic – there is nothing like The Pisces . . . I loved every dark and sublime page of it.” —Stephanie Danler, author of Sweetbitter
“The Pisces is many things: a jaunt in a fabulous voice, a cultured critique of Los Angeles, an explicit tour of all kinds of sex (both really good and really bad) . . . Broder’s voice has a funny, frank Amy Schumer feel to it.” —The Washington Post
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Nonfiction We Can’t Stop Talking About:
Bad Blood by John Carryrou
The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end, despite pressure from its charismatic CEO and threats by her lawyers.
“Crime thriller authors have nothing on Carreyrou’s exquisite sense of suspenseful pacing and multifaceted character development in this riveting, read-in-one-sitting tour de force . . . Carreyrou’s commitment to unraveling Holmes’ crimes was literally of life-saving value.” —Booklist
“Carreyrou blends lucid descriptions of Theranos’s technology and its failures with a vivid portrait of its toxic culture and its supporters’ delusional boosterism. The result is a bracing cautionary tale about visionary entrepreneurship gone very wrong.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Chilling . . . Reads like a West Coast version of All the President’s Men.” —The New York Times Book Review
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The Soul of America by Jon Meacham
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear.
“This is a brilliant, fascinating, timely, and above all profoundly important book.”—Walter Isaacson
“Meacham gives readers a long-term perspective on American history and a reason to believe the soul of America is ultimately one of kindness and caring, not rancor and paranoia.” —USA Today
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The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson
A rollicking true-crime adventure and a captivating journey into an underground world of fanatical fly-tiers and plume peddlers, for readers of The Stranger in the Woods, The Lost City of Z, and The Orchid Thief. The gripping story of a bizarre and shocking crime, and one man’s relentless pursuit of justice, The Feather Thief is also a fascinating exploration of obsession, and man’s destructive instinct to harvest the beauty of nature.
“Fascinating from the first page to the last—you won’t be able to put it down.” —Southern Living
“[An] enthralling account of a truly bizarre crime . . . Johnson goes deep into the exotic bird and feather trade and concludes that though obsession and greed know no bounds, they certainly make for a fascinating tale. The result is a page-turner that will likely appeal to science, history, and true crime readers.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
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I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
For readers who have engaged with America’s legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, I’m Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God’s ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness—if we let it—can save us all.
“Powerful . . . Brown calls on readers to live their professed ideals rather than simply state them.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Takes readers on a journey through the racial divide in a way we’ve truly never seen before. Powerful, haunting, and absolutely impossible to put down, [Brown’s] account of what it’s like to grow up black, middle-class, and female in modern America is not to be missed.”—PopSugar, “Best New Books to Read in May”
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Strange Stars by Jason Heller
If today’s culture of Comic Con fanatics, superhero blockbusters, and classic sci-fi reboots has us thinking that the nerds have won at last, Strange Stars brings to life an era of unparalleled and unearthly creativity—in magazines, novels, films, records, and concerts—to point out that the nerds have been winning all along.
“Fans of popular music and sf alike will thoroughly enjoy this journey through the center of the 1970s. Recommended for all libraries.”—Library Journal, starred review
