Dr. Tara Westover
Westover’s memoir of life in an isolated, paranoid Mormon household is gripping, grim and terribly sad. Her bipolar father believes the End Times are near and they spend countless hours prepping. He also distrusts the government, the schools, doctors, safety gear and seat belts. His family pays …
Jacka is a relative newcomer to the urban fantasy genre, but a most welcome one. His mage, Alex Verus, is the everyman wizard. He is an adept diviner – having the ability to see into the future and suss out the most likely outcome. But this skill conveys little respect …
Edgar Cantero
Cantero‘s modernist gothic horror novel is a ridiculously fun read. When Brit “A” discovers he has inherited a huge mansion and fortune from a previously unknown relative, the penniless student chucks it all and comes to the States. He and his companion, Niamh, a mute punker chick, …
Edgar Cantero
Scooby-doo meets H.P. Lovecraft. What’s not to love? Cantero’s hilarious novel blends the cheesiness of Saturday morning cartoons with creepy, supernatural beasts from the depths of the earth. Years after the Blyton Summer Detective Club solves its last case, the gang decides to reform and revisit the case. …
The Funnies/Worst Place on Earth
Wendy E. Simmons
Simmons’ title really does sum it up. A life-long travel addict, her ten day guided trip to North Korea is more than deserving of a book. Simmons chronicles as much of her “holiday” as she could remember (once she was out of …
Simon R. Green
Green, author of the fabulous Nightside series, has a new …”hero.” Ishmael Jones is an alien, crashed on the Earth decades ago. With no memory of who or what he is, but endowed with all sorts of handy strengths, he works for a secret organization protecting …
Michael Finkel
Ever had one of those days where you simply want to walk into the woods and just…disappear? Chris Knight, the most notorious hermit in modern times, did just this. One day he simply walked into the woods, and remained there for 27 years. His sole conversation with another …
Michael Perry
On Christmas Eve itself bachelor Harley Jackson stepped into his barn and behold there illuminated in straw a smallish newborn bull calf upon whose flank was born the very image of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
‘Well,” said Harley, “that’s trouble.”
And thus begins The Bard o’ …
Kelley Armstrong
This atmospheric mystery is a gripping read. Homicide Detective Casey Duncan has a nasty secret in her past and a best friend who she is trying to protect from an abusive ex. When things come to a head, the two decide to drop out of society. They are …
Jang Jin-sung
Jin-sung’s story of escape from North Korea is as heart-stopping as any spy thriller. Unlike a thriller, this is a true story. Raised in a family with high levels of access to benefits and income, Jin-sung is well-educated and thoroughly indoctrinated. He is perfect fit for to join …
Gretchen Archer
There are magical-realism authors that can spin a fine web or fantasy – making you believe a little bit of magic, and then a bit more – until you find yourself believing in a whole other fantastic realm. They do so subtly, slowly and skillfully. Writers like Hoffman …
Robin Sloan
Sloan creates the perfect balance of old and new, neither one better than the other. Out of work designer, and now accidental clerk, Clay Jannon lands a strange job manning the third shift at a 24-hour bookstore. While virtually no-one buys the normal used books, a serious of …
M.T. Anderson
It’s amazing how divided the genre of young adult novels can be. There is the mindless shlock full of sparkling vampires, short words, poor grammar and insipid plot-lines. Then there are brilliant, complex and wildly imaginative series like Jinks’ Evil Genius, Stewart’s Mysterious Benedict Society and …
A.J. Jacobs
Like his other other fantastic books, The Year of Living Biblically and The Know-It-All, Jacobs uses himself as a guinea pig to run a series of tests to improve himself. While other writers have undertaken this in a more serious vein (Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project being …
Sue Grafton
The other day, my dad said “This Grafton woman has another book on the NYTimes bestseller list. She’s up to V. I wonder if they’re any good. You should read one and find out.” And I did. And they were. Very, very good. But then again, she IS …
Simon R. Green
Green’s Nightside series is the perfect read for Neil Gaiman and Jim Butcher fans waiting for their next fix. The first title, Something from the Nightside, does tend to feel heavily derivative of of Gaiman’s Neverwhere and Butcher’s Dresden Files in places. However, there are definitely …
