Time for another roundup of buzz-worthy books! Let’s go!
–Marissa
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong was a BOTM selection, has topped all kinds of “best of” lists this summer, and has been everywhere. This slim, quiet novel is all about a year – told through diary entries – that Ruth spends at home caring for her ailing father. It’s not so much that anything *happens* but more in the gorgeous prose, turns of phrase and observations that Khong packs into this novel. Recommended!
Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta is his first novel since 2011, and it’s…awkward. We have a total “bro” of a son heading off to college along with a single mother who is suffering from empty nest syndrome… and then we mix in a bunch of quirkly characters and a lot of NSFW references to sex and porn, and you have a Perrotta novel! Unsettling and odd, character-driven and well written, this one is hard to describe. You’ll have to try it for yourself, if you dig the author of Little Children, Election and The Leftovers…
Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips is a total one-sitting read! Told over the course of several hours (and with ever-increasing tension), Joan is leaving the zoo at closing time with her young son when something makes her turn and run – and hide. Filled with maternal ferocity, suspense, heart, and a continual “edge of your seat” vibe, you’ll devour this one!
I also just finished Final Girls by Riley Sager (fine enough except for that ending, but not worth ALLLLL the hype I heard about it!) as well as Dear Martin by Nic Stone (who we met at ALA and was all kinds of fabulous!). Dear Martin is going to be the next The Hate U Give: a young adult novel telling a story of race, class, police power, snap judgement and how to be your best self when the world might be against you – it’s one to read right now, and in one sitting.
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