Recommendations 7/17/2021: Your Go-To Writers
With some writers, I know I'm going to read whatever they publish
This week’s column is an appreciation of Laura Lippman, whose new novel, Dream Girl, is a tremendously propulsive reading experience, but the main takeaway I hope readers receive is that picking up any Laura Lippman book is a guaranteed, satisfying reading experience.
This got me thinking about other writers with whom I connect so strongly that I’m going to read whatever they publish. These are the writers who I know are always going to deliver no less than a solid double, with a high probability of a home run, and even a decent chance of a grand slam (essentially becoming one of my favorite books of the year).
At first I was thinking that these writers must be relatively rare, but upon consideration, I realized that they’re more numerous than I figured.
One thing that clued me in to that notion was the fact that I purchased books by two of these writers this very week, Wayward by Dana Spiotta, and The Vixen by Francine Prose. I’m a Spiotta completist, having first encountered her with Eat the Document, a book about a 70’s radical who slips away into a middle class lifestyle.
Wayward is Spiotta’s fifth book, so reading everything she’s published is quite doable. For Francine Prose, that’s a bit tougher, given that she’s published over 20 novels, three collections of short stories, and a bunch of nonfiction primarily focused on her side job as a penetrating art critic and historian. While I haven’t read everything Francine Prose has written, Household Saints, Bigfoot Dreams, Blue Angel, My New American Life, and Mister Monkey are among my favorite reads of all time. You really never know what you’re going to get in a Francine Prose novel in terms of historical era or subject matter, other than you know you’re in the hands of a pro.
Some other (still publishing) fiction writers who are must reads sight unseen include:
(Links to my favorite book for each, which is a tough choice in some cases.)
James McBride - The Good Lord Bird
Elizabeth Strout - Olive Kitteridge
Richard Russo - Straight Man
Jhumpa Lahiri - Unaccustomed Earth
Paul Beatty - The Sellout
Anne Tyler - The Accidental Tourist
A.M. Homes - May We Be Forgiven
George Saunders - Civilwarland in Bad Decline
Yaa Gyasi - Homegoing
Teddy Wayne - Loner
Joshua Henkin - Morningside Heights
Lauren Grodstein - A Friend of the Family
Megan Abbott - Dare Me
Lisa Lutz - How to Start a Fire
Ron Currie Jr. - Everything Matters!
Jennifer Egan - A Visit from the Goon Squad
Tom Drury - The End of Vandalism
Kate Atkinson - Case Histories
Percival Everett - Telephone
Jess Walter - Beautiful Ruins
Emily St. John Mandel - Station Eleven
Mohsin Hamid - How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia
Colson Whitehead - The Intuitionist
Sam Lipsyte - Home Land
Vendela Vida - Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name
J. Robert Lennon - Mailman
…and that’s pretty much just off the top of my head. There’s some other writers who have been in this category, but fell out over time (e.g. John Irving), but who produced many books that I still think of very fondly.
Now, it’s your turn. In the comments, tell the rest of us what currently publishing fiction writers are a guaranteed satisfying reading experience for you. (And maybe even a little something about why if you’re so inclined.)
Links
Disturbing story of a hostile takeover of the Niles Public Library.
The massive book preview article/list is ubiquitous now, but to my knowledge, The Millions was the first to do this. Here’s their “Great Second-Half 2021 Book Preview.”
A very strange tale of a guy who just started sending his book to reviewers and critics in installments during the pandemic and the attempt to find the true identity of the author.
The Center for Fiction has released the longlist of books nominated for their first novel prize.
Good news! Print book sales are way up in the first half of the year.
Lastly, some guy named former President Barack Obama has released his summer 2021 reading list:
Reading Companion of the Week
I may have missed some, but as far as I can tell, I don’t have anyone else’s reading companion in the queue, so I gotta share one of my new little guy, Quincy, who is not only a great reading companion, but a writing one too. He’s the first dog I’ve had who will sit under my desk as I work since the dog (Sam) I had 25 years ago in grad school.
Send pictures of your favorite reading companion to biblioracle@substack.com. Put “reading companion” in the subject line and I’ll stand a better chance of not misplacing it in the giant pile of email.
Recommendations
All links to books on these posts go to The Biblioracle Recommends bookshop at Bookshop.org. Affiliate income for purchases through the bookshop goes to Open Books in Chicago. We broke triple figures and now stand at $101.85 for the year!
If you’d like to see every book I’ve recommended in this space this year, check out my list of 2021 Recommendations at the Bookshop.org bookshop.
As always, recommendations are open for business.
1. Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir
2. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
3. The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
4. What We Become by Arturo Perez-Reverte
5. Peaches for Father Francis by Joanne Harris
Kathleen S. - Plainfield, IL
This book was on everyone’s reading list for awhile, but I don’t hear much about it anymore. I think it has just the right flavor of drama rooted in character, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.
1. Long Division by Kiese Laymon
2. Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward
3. Memorial Drive by Natsha Trethewey
4. The Yellow House by Sarah Broom
5. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Kayleigh S. - Jackson MS
What powerhouse list of books and writers here. I’m going to dip into the past for a cult classic that was recently republished and is just one of the most electric and entertaining reading experiences you could imagine, Oreo by Fran Ross.
1. Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
2. Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
3. The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood; Youth; Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen
4. Peaces by Helen Oyeyemi
5. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Angela J. - Des Moines, Iowa
Recommending Fran Ross has put me in the mood to recommend another sly bit of satire that also reads like a thriller, this one more recent, My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite.
This one’s going out a bit early because apparently I’m featured on Substack’s home page and that ends on July 18th (tomorrow).
Have a wonderful rest of your weekends
John
(The Biblioracle)
My current book is the first book by Elizabeth Brundage I’ve ever read called The Vanishing Point. It’s dark and quite powerful and I can’t put it down! I will most definitely be reading her other novels in the near future.
I've loved everything written by Jean Hanff Korelitz, but my favorites are The Plot, The Devil and Webster, and The White Rose. I'm also a huge fan of Sue Miller's writing. New on my list is Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy, and I'm looking forward to her next book, Once There Were Wolves.