Never Let Me Go
The narrator in Never Let Me Go tells a story unlike any you have ever read. The tension in Ishiguro’s novel is unrelenting, and even as you piece the plot together, you will not be prepared for the revelations.
More info →Miss Pym Disposes
Josephine Tey wrote quiet stories, and Miss Pym Disposes is one of my favorite. A girls’ school, a murder, a busybody. But the friendship at the center of this book is deeper, and more frightening than the simple plot might suggest.
More info →Name All the Animals
This memoir hurt me.
More info →Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is pure pleasure. An updating of Greek myths, the heroes are hilarious, and clever, and in constant peril. I wanted to be these kids, and reading their adventures is the next best thing.
More info →A Room of One’s Own
Money and a solitary place to work. These are still vital for the artist. A Room of One’s Own is a lovely book, and easily read. If you’re able to track down a copy of Eileen Atkins’ monologue, you’ll have a particularly delightful experience of Woolf’s treatise.
More info →Fun Home
Fun Home is a brave book, and beautifully rendered. I’ve never experienced a story like this, and the restraint is poignant.’
More info →Nightwood
I’m not entirely sure that I get Nightwood, but I love the language and the characters, and I go to the bookcase sometimes just to touch its spine and reconnect with the story.
More info →The Graveyard Book
Nobody Owens lives the most unusual tale of heartbreak I have ever read. Gorgeous, and unpredictable, and eerie.
More info →Housekeeping
Housekeeping is the kind of story that you want read to you at night, so that you can dream in this language with these characters.
More info →Citizen Vince
A compelling book about citizenship. Layered and inventive, violent and funny, an urgent and compulsive read.
More info →The Accidental
The Accidental is circular and complicated, and explores multiple voices and perspectives with disconcerting ease. I was deeply involved with these characters, even when I didn’t want to be.
More info →Cultural Amnesia
An astonishing collection of essays: anti-establishment, insightful, tough-minded. When I read Cultural Amnesia I felt tethered to all the world.
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