Chris Bohjalian is the author of Midwives and Past the Bleachers, both of which were made into critically acclaimed films, as well as The Law of Similars and Trans Sister Radio.
The Midnight Club (2024) Margot Harrison "I devoured The Midnight Club. It's a smart, surprising, and gripping mystery about the reality that we can't change who we were back in college, but we'd all be a lot better off if we could. And, for the characters in this fine novel, one of them might even still be alive."
The Nude (2024) C Michelle Lindley "A remarkable debut, a slow-burn page-turner that turns a sweltering Greek island into a haunting house of mirrors. C. Michelle Lindley would have made Patricia Highsmith and Graham Greene proud."
Jackie (2024) Dawn Tripp "The reason we read historical fiction is because sometimes the facts just aren't enough. A brilliant, beautiful book like Dawn Tripp's Jackie touches the soul in ways conventional biographies can't. I devoured this novel and felt the power of history and a remarkable woman."
The Road from Belhaven (2024) Margot Livesey "Margot Livesey is a treasure: a writer who understands the magic and mysteries of the human soul, and brings that wisdom to novels that are both riveting and lush. The Road from Belhaven is a smart, profound, and beautiful book that draws you in and holds you tight."
The Madstone (2023) Elizabeth Crook "The Madstone is a treasure: a brilliant, beautiful page-turner of a book. Elizabeth Crook has reimagined the Western, giving us a poignant love story and a riveting road novel. I devoured it--and you will, too."
The Prospectors (2023) Ariel Djanikian "Smart, surprising, and epic: the sort of adventure that brings to life both a nineteenth-century gold rush and a twenty-first century fight for the family riches that remain."
Happiness Falls (2023) Angie Kim "[A] page-turner about a missing man and a precise (and luminous) exploration of what it's like to be the teens he has left behind."
Silver Nitrate (2023) Silvia Moreno-Garcia "Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a treasure and Silver Nitrate is a gem: a chilling roller coaster of a tale that captures perfectly why we love horror movies, scary books, and things that go bump in the night."
Pineapple Street (2023) Jenny Jackson "I'm not sure which is bigger: Pineapple Street's heart or its humor. It's smart and surprising and, yes, scrumptious. I devoured it. I can't recall the last time I read a novel that was both this heartwarming and this hilarious. One word of advice: clear your calendar before you start reading. You won't stop until you've finished. It is, pure and simple, a treasure."
The Lost Americans (2023) Christopher Bollen "The Lost Americans is a gripping, page-turning tour de force. Christopher Bollen isn't merely a great storyteller - though he is. He is also a brilliant stylist who, once again, has given us a literary thriller where the action never flags and character and atmosphere never are slighted."
The Spite House (2023) Johnny Compton "Ever since I devoured Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House as a boy, I've loved a good ghost story, and The Spite House gave me those same chills. Johnny Compton has built a haunted house that is creepy as hell, the bricks and mortar oozing not just spite, but evil. Here's a supernatural thriller that will have you watching the windows and doors as you read."
Small World (2023) Laura Zigman "Small World is a treasure: a family story that is wistful one moment, witty and wry the next. Few novelists write as beautifully about the damaged heart and the wounded soul as Laura Zigman, or understand the emotional bonds of siblings and sisters. I loved this novel."
The Lost Kings (2022) Tyrell Johnson "The Lost Kings is one of those wonderful novels that defies categorization: part psychological thriller, part coming of age tale, part exploration of the demons that dog some of the most damaged among us. It's smart, haunting, and rich with surprise."
Take My Hand (2022) Dolen Perkins-Valdez "Take My Hand is a gem: one of those rare and beautiful novels that walks the balance beam of heartbreak and hope. Dolen Perkins-Valdez can breathe life into history through fiction that adds deep and profound meaning to the past - and makes its relevance to the present meaningful and clear."
I'll Be You (2022) Janelle Brown "Janelle Brown is a terrific storyteller and stylist, and I'll Be You is one of those books you'll devour. It has a hot mess of a narrator--actually two hot messes, twins--both of whom you will root for, even as you are screaming at them to get a grip. Also? The novel has more twists and turns than the canyon roads that snake up and around Los Angeles."
The Good Left Undone (2022) Adriana Trigiani "Adriana Trigiani is a treasure and The Good Left Undone is a gem: a sweeping epic that spans a century. Chronicling the fallout from the cataclysmic sinking of the Arandora Star - torpedoed by a German U-Boat in 1940 - this extraordinary novel manages to mourn the dead, celebrate the living, and remind us that every family has secrets that are heartbreaking, heartwarming, and (yes) inspiring."
Her Last Affair (2022) John Searles "John Searles brings the misfits among us to life with the clarity of Carson McCullers -- and then scares us with the brilliance of Stephen King. Her Last Affair is a perfect, page-turning example of the heart and horror that makes me love his work so very, very much."
The Violin Conspiracy (2022) Brendan Slocumb "I loved The Violin Conspiracy for exactly the same reasons I loved The Queen's Gambit a surprising, beautifully rendered underdog hero I cared about deeply and a fascinating, cutthroat world I knew nothing about--in this case, classical music. I devoured this fine novel: every page and every word. And that ending? Never saw it coming."
The People We Keep (2021) Allison Larkin "I loved everything about The People We Keep, beginning with the narrator, April Sawicki, who is both wise beyond her years and unbelievably naive, to the fact it’s 1994 and no one has a cell phone. Allison Larkin has given us a heroine who is raw and real, a young person capable of breaking your heart one moment and lifting it up the next."
Bath Haus (2021) P J Vernon "Bath Haus is riveting: a gripping thriller about how quickly a life can unravel after a single bad decision. P. J. Vernon deftly reminds us that the terrifying traumas from childhood are often but a prelude to the nightmares we will walk into as adults. This book is stylish, smart, and scary as hell."
How Lucky (2021) Will Leitch "How Lucky is a gem: a riveting plot and a narrator who is charming, engaging, and downright inspiring. Will Leitch brilliantly juggles hilarity and horror. I loved this novel — every page."
Eternal (2021) Lisa Scottoline "A beautiful, heartbreaking, wrenching love story set in the Second World War. It’s alive with characters I cared about deeply - including the remarkable city of Rome, itself - and their courage in the face of Fascism."
Soldier of Indira (2020) (Tinderbox , book 1) Lou Diamond Phillips "A wonderful mashup of Stars Wars, Game of Thrones, and one of Hans Christian Andersen's most complex fairy tales. An added bonus - Yvonne Phillips's haunting, beautiful illustrations."
(Faye Adelheim, book 1) Camilla Läckberg "It's about time that Americans get to savor the delicious twists and bad behavior that mark a Camilla Läckberg thriller. The Golden Cage is a wonderful, take-no-prisoners mashup of Gone Girl, Billions, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."
The Stranger Inside (2019) Lisa Unger "It’s not often that I’m stunned by the ending to a novel. But The Stranger Inside is rich with surprise from the very first page. It’s a smart, taut thriller."
Girls Like Us (2019) Cristina Alger "Girls Like Us is something special: A beautiful, deeply textured novel and a poignant, surprising mystery. I loved it, every chapter and every word. I’m going to be thinking about it as a reader, a father, and a storyteller for a long, long time."
A Well Behaved Woman (2018) Therese Anne Fowler "A Well-Behaved Woman is a gem: a fascinating tale of Gilded Age manners and mores, and one remarkable woman's attempts to transcend them. Therese Anne Fowler, the immensely gifted writer who gave us all new insights into Zelda Fitzgerald in her novel, Z, has done it again for Alva Vanderbilt Belmont."
The Lost Vintage (2018) Ann Mah "The world needs novels like The Lost Vintage: page-turning tales that remind us both of the power of the human spirit and the mystery of the human heart. It's a remarkable novel."
The Book of Essie (2018) Meghan MacLean Weir "Every once in a while, a novel comes along that is both timelessly beautiful and unbelievably timely. The Book of Essie is such a story. Meghan MacLean Weir has given us a young heroine who is at once authentic and courageous — and a tale that is wonderful and mysterious and relentlessly surprising."
The Map of Salt and Stars (2018) Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar and Zeyn Joukhadar "E. M. Forster taught us that 'fiction is truer than history because it goes beyond the evidence.' Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar's magic first novel is a testimony to that maxim. We've all been aware of the plight of Syrian refugees, but in this richly imaginative story we see one small family - both haunted by history and saved by myth - work their way west. It's beautiful and lovely and eye-opening."
Never Coming Back (2017) Alison McGhee "Never Coming Back is a deeply moving exploration of growing up and growing old, and the ties that bind parents and children – and the mysteries that sometimes keep us apart."
The Halo Effect (2017) Anne D Leclaire "The Halo Effect is a wonderful hybrid: a compelling murder mystery and a thoughtful meditation on longing and loss. I was fascinated by the book's saints - and sinners."
Almost Missed You (2017) Jessica Strawser "A deft exploration of the mysteries of marriage, the price we pay for our secrets, and just how easy it is to make the worst choices imaginable."
The Winter People (2014) Jennifer McMahon "I don't believe in ghosts. At least that's what I kept telling myself as I read The Winter People. I also don't need to sleep with the lights on. I told myself that, too. But I was whistling past a graveyard--or, in this case--past a Vermont landscape that is authentic and recognizable and still altogether chilling. The Winter People is terrifying--everything you could want in a classic ghost story."
The Blasphemer (2010) Nigel Farndale "Poignant, surprising - and perhaps best of all - absolutely riveting. I loved this book."
The Temple of Music (2004) Jonathan Lowy "A big, bold and absolutely Breathtaking work of historical fiction. The only thing more impressive than Jonathan Lowy's remarkable research is the richness of his characterizations."
Hidden (2004) Paul Jaskunas "Hidden is a page-turner: poignant and powerful. I was transfixed by the tale Paul Jaskunas has written, and haunted by Maggie Wilson, the wondrous heroine he has given us."
(b.1960)
