Booker Prize Long List

How Much of These Hills Is Gold

“In the most inventive and fresh language I’ve seen in a long time, C Pam Zhang’s How Much of These Hills Is Gold, set during the American gold rush, tells the story of siblings Lucy and Sam as they wander the western expanse to give their father a proper burial. Zhang transforms the mythology of the American West and reclaims it through the eyes of first-generation Asian-Americans, tackling themes of race, immigration, and gender and creating a new narrative of a voice and people often left out of this pivotal historical period. Strange and surreal, this is a novel to read with care and gratitude.”

Chris Alonso, Books & Books

Redhead by the Side of the Road

“I’m feeling a slight bit of shame as I write this, and a great feeling of excitement. The shame is because I started reading Anne Tyler years ago when I was younger. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, The Accidental Tourist, and Saint Maybe. And then, I stopped. For no reason. Just didn’t keep up. But now, after having listened to Redhead, I’m so excited that I have all these Ann Tyler books that I missed waiting for me. Listening to Redhead by the Side of the Road was like calling an old friend that you haven’t spoken to in years (I think everyone can relate to that at the moment) and being so moved and thankful that the two of you haven’t missed a beat. MacLeod Andrews does a beautiful job with the narration. He delineates and gives life to each character. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to be outside and walk during this time and this wonderful novel is a great companion to have with you for a while. And, I have to say, the engagement dinner party at Micah’s sister’s home is one of the best sequences I’ve read in a novel in a long time. Thank you, Anne Tyler.”

Tom, Rediscovered Books

A FINALIST for the Booker Prize, the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, the VCU/Cabell First Novelist Prize, the Lambda Literary Award, the NYPL Young Lions Award, and the Edmund White Debut Fiction Award 
 
“A blistering coming of age story” —O: The Oprah Magazine

Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington... Read more »

Such a Fun Age

“What a beautifully rich and nuanced book! Emira, a mid-twenties educated but slightly driftless woman is working 2 part time jobs still trying to find her passion. She find joy in her part time babysitting job, finding her three year old charge a delightfully odd little person who keeps her interested. But things turn complicated when she is asked to take her charge to the local grocery store late at night and is accosted by the store security guard and a "well meaning" patron. Accused of kidnapping and unable to leave Emira holds her dignity and stands up for herself as another patron films the incident. Emira wants nothing more than to put the incident behind her but those closest to her have other ideas of what is best for her. This novel packs an emotional punch, making us question our own motives and wondering if we really have our loved ones best interests at heart. A perfect book group pick for those who like to focus on character driven stories.”

Genavieve, Books & Company

"A brilliant novel, lyrically lifting history towards myth. It's also compulsively readable. I devoured it in two days." ? Salman Rushdie In 1935, orphaned servant Hirut struggles to adapt to her new household as Ethiopia faces Mussolini's looming invasion. As the battles begin in earnest, Hirut and other women must care for the wounded. But... Read more »

Apeirogon: A Novel

“This is a towering, breathtaking, sweeping work of poetic and technical brilliance. Although much of Apeirogon resides in the current and past state of Israeli-Palestinian relations, the novel demonstrates how each person, each story, in this ultimately small section of the world represents but one point of an infinitely sided shape — how between all of us, even those locked in seemingly irreconcilable conflict, there pulses a vital connectivity, a path to understanding, forgiveness, and compassion.”

Ben Newgard, Flyleaf Books

"The many listeners enthralled by the earlier two volumes in Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy will find all their expectations met in this final installment... Here is a narrative achievement of the highest order." — AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner

This program is read by Ben Miles, who played Thomas Cromwell in the Royal Shakespeare... Read more »

Anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job, Tambudzai finds herself living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare. For reasons that include her grim financial prospects and her age, she moves to a widow's boarding house and eventually finds work as a biology teacher. But at every turn in her attempt to make a life for... Read more »

A Washington Post, NPR, and Buzzfeed Best Book of the Year • Shortlisted for the Booker Prize“More than timely, the novel feels timeless, solid, like a forgotten classic recently resurfaced — a brutal, beguiling fairy tale about humanity. But at its core, The New Wilderness is really about motherhood, and about the world we make (or unmake) for... Read more »