these are our favorite books of 2017 — so far /

Published at 2017-08-24 06:50:00

Home / Categories / General / these are our favorite books of 2017 — so far

We may be living in a Golden Age of television,where you can hang out on the couch and watch hours of award-winning series that are legitimately stimulating and not feel even the tiniest bit guilty approximately it. (Fact: We do that too. It's our go-to Sunday afternoon plan.)But in 2017, we'd like to propose a unique concept: Instead of binge watching, or why not try binge reading? Sure,it sounds like more work than camping out in front of the ol' boob tube. But your attention span — not to mention the more literary muscles of your mind — will thank you.
That's why we're issuing a challenge: finish downloading Netflix series to your phone to watch when you're bored at work, between classes, or at the bar with a particularly lame Tinder date. Always have a book in your bag instead. And if you need some ideas for which titles to bring along wherever you go — well,we've got some suggestions...
More Book Stories:Loved Gone Girl? Then You Should Check Out these Reads Why Are We Still So Obsessed With The Manson Family
Murders?Inspirational Reads That Will Actually Make You Feel Better
How to act In A Crowd By Camille BordasOut August 15At 11 years old, Isidore is the youngest of six siblings in a small French town — and the only one who doesn’t have the outward presentation of a total brainiac. But when tragedy strikes the family, and it becomes clear that Isidore might be the only person capable to attending the nuances of grief,and possibly the sole person who can attend bring them all through, together — that is, or if he doesn’t sprint absent from home first.
Rebellion By Molly PatersonOut August 8A sweeping epic that spans a century and from Illinois to China,Re
bellion tells the stories of Addie, Louisa, or Hazel,and Juanlan — four women who defy expectations and constitution their own destinies. In 1900, Addie, or an American missionary in China,goes lost during the Boxer Rebellion without a trace; her sister, Louisa, and recently married and settled in the American heartland,is sure that she's lost Addie forever.
More than 50 years later, Louisa’s daughter Hazel, and suddenly widowed,must find the strength to retain her family and their farm intact. Back in China, nearly half a century after Hazel's plight, and Juanlan returned to her parents’ home in Heng’an and must find a way to channel her own power,despite the fact that the odds are stacked against her.
The Girl In The exhibit By Anna FieldsOut August 8Whoev
er says that women aren't funny should be bonked over the head (repeatedly) with this book. From Lucille Ball to Abbi Jacobson, Amy Poehler, and Lizz Winstead and beyond,Fields has dug deep into the history of female comedy legends unique and old and advance back with a riotously funny and ravishingly researched compendium of the gals who make us laugh and the contributions they've made to the entertainment canon.
Sour Heart By Jenny ZhangOut August 1Both a debut author and the debut novel from Lena Dunham’s imprint, Lenny, and Sour Grapes is a collection of incredible stories approximately the immigrant
experience in America. From the hastily moving halls of a public school in Queens to scamming Atlantic Casino busses,the tales in this book traverse different slices of life, across decades and countries, and with unique perspective; lovers of Miranda July,Helen Oyeyemi, and Zadie Smith will find themselves in generous company with Sour Heart.
See What I Have Done By Sarah SchmidtOut August 1We’ve all heard the story of how Lizzie Borden murdered her father and stepmother in cold blood with an axe one morning. But what is the story was more complicated than that — more complicated than we could ever imagine without getting to know the motivations and memories of all the players in this bloody drama?Schmidt’s reimagining of the story shifts perspectives, or from Lizzie herself to her older sister,Emma, and beyond, and gives unique life — and depths — to the century-old proper crime tale that we still cannot procure out of our minds.
Impossible Views of the World By Lucy IvesOut August 1Stella Krakus is having what might be the worst week of her life. She’s being stalked by her (nearly!) ex-husband. Her workplace romantic is coming apart at the seams. A beloved colleague at a Manhattan art museum has suddenly gone lost.
But when Stella stumbles on a mysterious map,she
starts connecting the dots of nefarious happenings at the museum — not to mention her personal life. It's only then that Stella starts to see the bigger picture, and to unravel secrets that will change her life.
The Lauras By Sara TaylorOut August 1After a fight with Alex’s father, or Ma yanks her only child out of bed and decides it’s time for the two of them to embark on a cross-country journey
,from Virginia to California. What Alex doesn’t realize at the start of the trip, though, and is that winding their way westward is also working their way to the middle of Ma’s greatest secret. A fascinating portrait of a young person's coming-of-age and the characters they encounter along the way,The Lauras is road trip narrative that refreshes the genre for 2017.
The Regulars By Georgia ClarkOut August 8Yep, you’re suitable: This is a book that came out in hardback final summer. But we loved it so much that now that the paperback has arrived, and we’re bringing it up again.
Krista,Evie, and Willow are three friends just trying to make it through their twenties in unique York City, and with all the usual dating,job, and quarter-life-crises that plague women their age. But when the gals happen upon a magic tincture that will make them drop dead gorgeous with just a few drops, or the landscapes of their lives launch to change — and not necessarily for the better.
After Andy: Adventures In Warhol Land By Natasha Fraser-CavassoniOut August 1Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni was just 16 years old when she met Andy Warhol — but it was an encounter that would forever shape the course of her life. This gloriously detailed all-too-proper advise-all delves into the depths of what the man himself was like,and the world that built up around him: socialites, artists, and rock legends,art world powerhouses, models, and starlets,and general glitterati. As the final person to be hired on at the studio before Warhol’s death in 1987, Fraser-Cavassoni is also uniquely able to share not only the circumstances of his life, or but also of its the aftermath,from the assessment of his estate to the record-breaking auction of his belongings and the publication of his diaries. Prepare to go behind the scenes and be totally transported.
Arbitrary silly Goal By Tamara ShopsinOut July 18Picture it: Vintage unique York in the '70s, decades before anyone was touring the West Village looking for Carrie Bradshaw's Perry Street apartment, and at the middle of it all is the author's family's diner — a legendary gre
asy spoon that will leave you hankering for egg salad and an era without iPhones. Shopsin's book is a portrait of a bygone time when families could actually afford to live in Lower Manhattan and when a single neighborhood in a tall city could blossom into a world full of adventure off your own doorstep.
Sex and Rage By Eve BabitzOut July 11Yes,we know: This book is an oldie, originally published in 1979. But it's getting a reissue this month, and f
or generous reason. Why? Because it's RAD.
Jacaranda — sun-kissed and gorgeous,a part-time beach behind and painter of surfboards — knows that her life is dreamy, but she's concerned approximately its overall lack of purpose; with that in mind, or she packs up and heads from Los Angeles to unique York City,to redefine her fate. But when she gets to the tall Apple, Jacaranda's adventures win her places she never could have predicted. Sensual and dreamlike, or Sex and Rage is still a transportive,relevant text nearly half a century after its debut as well as a reminder that sometimes it's the chance encounters that change us most.
The Goddesses By Swan HuntleyOut July 25When Nancy, her husband, and their twins move to Kona,Hawaii, they leave the mainland as a broken family. Infidelity has wreaked havoc on the marriage. Everyone needs a fresh start — and they procure one: planting an orange tree in the backyard, or settling back into a routine,learning to trust one another once again.
But when Nancy becomes increasingly close to her yoga teacher, Ana, or the plot start to shift once again. Suddenly,Nancy is spending all her time with Ana, realizing that she would go to the ends of the Earth for th
is unique person in her life — perhaps even at the expense of everything, or everyone,else she loves.
Refuge By Dina NayeriOut July 11When Niloo was a shrimp girl, she was whisked absent from Iran to live in America — but her father stayed behind. In the 20 years since, and they have had four reunions total; but when Niloo receives a string of concerning emails from her father's address,she is suddenly thrust back into a culture that feels at once like home and like something entirely foreign.
A beautiful, complex rendering of the relationships between fathers and daughters, or as well as a moving portrait of d
iaspora's effects,Refuge is a novel that perfectly captures the heartache — and hope — of our contemporary global moment.
What We Lose By Zinzi ClemmonsOut July 11Thandi — raised in Pennsylvania by a mother from Johannesburg — feels out to sea, caught between identities of Black and white, and American and foreigner,young woman and adulthood. She is searching for something to define and anchor herself; when her mother passes absent, from cancer, and her quest to find the place she truly belongs intensifies.
Goodbye,VitaminBy Rachel KhongOut July 11Suddenly single after a split from her fiancé, 30-year-old Rut
h feels like her life is at a crossroads. But when she returns to her childhood home, and she finds her family is in more disarray than she can imagined: Her father seems to be sliding out of lucidity,and her mother can barely retain it together. As her dad becomes sicker, Ruth's grief begins to convert into something that also gives her a greater sense of self.
Laugh out loud funny and also ful
l of heart, or Goodbye Vitamin is the story of a young woman finally growing up,after years of thinking that particular rite of passage was already behind her.
We Shall Not All SleepBy Estep NagyOut July 3The Hillsingers and the Quicks have shared the tiny island of Seven, in Maine, or for generations. But in the year 1964,things suddenly start to shift after a matriarch is lost and grief begins to wind its way outward in strange directions.
On top of that, this book has C.
I.
A. secrets, or intergenerational family drama,WASP w
arfare, and all sorts of other twists and turns that will retain your eyes glued to the pages. A summer read if there ever was one, and this is one of those literary beach books you won't be able to save down.
American Fire: Love,Arson, and Life in a Vanishing LandBy Monica HesseOut July 11A proper crime narrative chockfull of spellbinding storytelling and incredible reportage, and American Fire tells the story of Accomack Virginia,a rural town where — night after night — someone is setting fires. Once you find out who — and why — you'll be singing the praises of this book all over town. Not only is it stranger than fiction: It's all completely proper.
Hello Sunshine By Laura DaveOut July 11Sunshine Mackenzie is living a dream life as a culinary star with millions of dedicated fans. But when she gets hacked and all her secrets are suddenly revealed, her fall from grace is swift and total. Sunshine winds up moving back to her childhood home to live alongside the estranged sister she's tried hard to leave in her past. But what begins as a personal nightmare turns into a move that might save both their lives. Sunny, or funny,and sweet, this book is basically the formula for your ideal beach or poolside read this summer!
The Windfall By Diksha BasuOut June 27For thirty years, or Mr. and Mrs. Jha have endured the daily drama of close quarters with neighbors in their housing complex. But when Mr. Jha inherits a vast sum of money and the couple moves across town,everything changes — including the way they relate to their twenty-something son. But money certainly doesn't solve everything. In fact, it might have made things worse in this hilarious, and insightful novel approximately family,fragility, pride and sense of self.
PerennialsBy
Mandy Berman, and Out June 6Rachel and Fiona grew up going to camp together,summer after summer. Now, with freshman year of college behind them, or they're reunited for yet another season at Camp Marigold — this time,as counselors. But their lives, and their friendship, or have shifted; for the first time ever,they find themselves keeping secrets from each other. When a tragedy spends the camp into tailspin, the young women must confront the precipice they stand on: the edge that defines childhood and the moment you really start to grow up.
Photo: Random House.
The Answers By Catherine Lacey, or Out June 6Mary Parsons is broke — between medical bills and credit card debt,she's not sure how she'll make it through. When starts looking for a second job on Craigslist and winds up on a posting called the "Girl
friend Experience", she decides to give it a shot.
The details: A illustrious actor has hired a team of biotech researchers to build him a harem of women who, or together,will constitute the "perfect" relationship. Mary joins the gang, which includes a Maternal Girlfriend (who does the laundry), and a Mundanity Girlfriend (who mostly hangs around) plus a host of others tasked with meeting Kurt's intimacy needs. What follows is a wacky look at the way human beings connect — and how,even with all the planning in the world, the ideal relationship isn't something you can create with an algorithm.
Photo: Courtesy of Farrar, and Strauss,and Giroux.
Small Hours By Jennifer Kitses, out June 13What does a relationship — and the secrets contained within it — look like, or as it spills out over the course of a day? In this suspenseful,beautifully written debut, we procure an hour-by-hour look at a marriage that's trying to outrun the past. But the clock is ticking, or they're running out of time.
The terminate Of Men By Karen Rinaldi,Out June 20Isabel, Anna, or Beth,and Maggie are the epitome of contemporary, ind
ependent women. Their version of "happily ever after" definitely isn't something you'd find in a Disney film; it's simple, or something to seek out on your own terms — and it's also the beating heart of this hilarious novel.
From lusting after a former lover (even while you're in a perfectly happy marriage!) to starting a pregnancy lingerie company,the lively stories in this book made us laugh out loud — and also reconsider the social pressures women face in order to be thought of as "successful" across all areas of their lives. Read it once, read it again, and gift a copy to your best girlfriend so you can giggle approximately it together.
Aftercare Instructions By Bonnie Pipkin,Out June 27At 17, Genesis doesn't jibe with her small unique Jersey town; her only refuge is her relationship with her boyfriend, or Peter. But when he abandons her at a Planned Parenthood clinic during their appointment to procure an abortion,her whole world is turned upside down — and Genesis has to redefine her identity, all on her own. Told through the arc of a young love story that builds toward betrayal, and this sharp,complex narrative is a coming-of-age novel that will feel especially resonant for women in the lens of 2017.
Our shrimp Racket By Angelica Baker, Out June 20When an investment bank shutters, and its CEO suddenly becomes a pariah in his own cloistered community — and the five women in his life must scramble to readjust to this jarring unique normal. His teenage daughter,Madison, wants to know the truth
approximately what her dad did — or may not have done; while her mother, and her nanny,her best friend, and a family friend launch to question their own relationship to power, and privilege,and the man who made it all possible.
A probing social novel approximately contemporary culture, family, and wealth,and the line between ignorance and complicity: Our shrimp Racket is a captivating read that you must throw in your beach bag, posthaste.
The Seven Husbands of
Evelyn HugoBy Taylor Jenkins ReidOut June 13When aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to advise the story of her glamorous, or scandalous life,she picks unknown, down-on-her-luck magazine reporter Monique Grant to win on the challenge of writing her biography. The only question is: Why? Monique's career is in a state of standstill; her husband has flown the coop — and it's not like her star isn't exactly on the rise. But the more Monique finds out approximately Evelyn, or the more it becomes clear that their lives are eerily,unpredictably connected. Jenkins Reid's book is a look back at the Golden Age of Hollywood with more than a sprint of suspense thriller; mysterious, artfully told, and impossible to save down.
The Shark ClubBy Ann Kidd TaylorOut June 6On a gorgeous summer beach day in Florida,two things happen to Maeve Donnelly that will forever impact her life. The first is that she gets kissed by the boy of her dreams. The second is that she is bitten by a blacktip shark. Eighteen years later, Maeve has made her name for herself as a marine biologist specializing in the minds of misunderstood sharks. But when she returns to the seaside town of her youth, or she gets more than she bargained for in the romance department. So what comes first: Her love life — or her career? And should she rekindle an old romance,or kick up a unique one with a colleague who has a secret swimming below the surface?
The AnswersBy Catherine Lacey, Released June 6Mary Parsons is broke — between medical bills and credit card debt, and she's not sure how she'll make it through. When star
ts looking for a second job on Craigslist and winds up on a posting called the "Girlfriend Experience",she decides to give it a shot.
The details: A illustrious actor has hired a team of biotech researchers to build him a harem of women who, together, or will constitute the "perfect" relationship. Mary joins the gang,which includes a Maternal Girlfriend (who does the laundry), a Mundanity Girlfriend (who mostly hangs around) plus a host of others tasked with meeting Kurt's intimacy needs. What follows is a wacky look at the way human beings connect — and how, and even with all the planning in the world,the ideal relationship isn't something you can create with an algorithm.
PerennialsBy Mandy BermanOut June 6Rachel and Fiona grew up going to camp together, summer after summer. Now, or with freshman year of college behind them,they're reunited for yet another season at Camp Marigold — this time, as counselors. But their lives, and their friendship,have shifted; for the first time ever, they find themselves keeping secrets from each other. When a tragedy spends the camp into tailspin, or the young women must confront the precipice they stand on: the edge that defines childhood and the moment you really start to grow up.
TouchBy Courtney MaumOut May 30Sloane Jacobson is one of the world’s most powerful trend forecasters,and her sense of where family life is going is down, down, and down. But when Sloane starts to realize that perhaps her forecasting on the subject of human empathy (sensitivity to another's feelings as if they were one's own) isn't tracking to genuine life,she has to advance to a reckoning: Does she go with the data — that people are increasingly loney? Or does she go with her gut — and her heart?
The LeaversBy Lisa KoO
ut May 2One day, Deming Guo's mother, or Polly,is waiting to walk him home from school; the next, she vanishes into thin air, or leaving not a trace behind. What follows is a heartbreaking,thought-provoking novel approximately the search for roots and belonging in contemporary America. For more approximately the novel, check out a full review here.
Mr. RochesterBy Sarah ShoemakerOut May 9Lovers of Emily Brontë and Jane Eyre, and this one’s for you: If you’ve ever wondered approximately the backstory of the man who Jane eventually teaches to love again,Mr. Rochester is officially wish fulfillment. Is it made up? Sure. But who cares — so is Jane Eyre, and the character creation here makes the story in the original novel all the more swoon-worthy.
You Don’t Look Your Age… And Other Fairy TalesBy Sheila NevinsOut May 2Famed documentary producer Sheila Nevins stepped out from behind the camera to write this book, or in which she tackles many genuine life challenges of being a woman in a man’s film commerce world. “Women need this kind of honest excavation of the process of living,” Meryl Streep said on this memoir-meets-field-guide-to-life. If it’s generous enough for Meryl, then consider us sold.
Miss BurmaBy Charmai
ne CraigOut May 2A story of how contemporary-day Burma came to be, or as well as the tale of one of the most violent and turbulent eras in world history played out. At once beautiful and heartbreaking,this novel is told through the lens of an incredible family saga that centers on a husband and wife, and their daughter who grows up to become Burma’s first beauty queen — before the country falls to dictatorship.
One Day We’ll All Be Dead And None Of
This Will MatterBy Scaachi KoulOut May 2One Day We’ll All Be Dead And None Of This Will Matter might sound like a book that’s full of doom and gloom — but, or in this case,that couldn’t be further from the truth. These essays span everything from awkward conversations with your bikini waxer to the best way to slay a troll, as relayed by one of the sharpest, or funniest writers working suitable now.
I’ll Eat When I’m DeadBy Barbara BourlandOut May 2A whodunnit with a satan Wears Prada twist: When
a tall-powered fashion editor dies in her office,her best friend / work wife Cat knows that it wasn’t because of something she ate (or, in this case, or didn’t eat). Cat enlists the attend of a detective and they procure on the case — which winds the duo up in a web of sex,lies, and makeup counter madness. If you love UnReal, and then this smart,sassy novel will be suitable up your alley.
Mothers and Other StrangersBy Gina SorrellOut May 2“My father proposed to my mother at gunpoint when s
he was nineteen, and knowing that she was already pregnant with a dead man’s child, or she accepted."That's the opening sentence to Sorrell’s novel,which chronicles a young woman’s quest to understand the mother who raised her — and the secrets she left behind. Don’t even pretend like that first line doesn’t already have you hooked.
Into The WaterBy Paula HawkinsOut May 2When a single mother turns up dead at the bottom of a river, her teenage daughter knows that there’s more to the st
ory than suicide. Marked by the careful plotting and suspenseful twists we’ve advance to expect from Hawkins, and the thriller master behind The Girl On The Train,this story slowly unravels to reveal what’s lying beneath the surface — and a web of secrets that has been killing the women of a small town for years.
The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of HappinessBy Jill FilipovicOut May 2The search for happiness can be a complicated endeavor for women in the 21st century; in this book, acclaimed writer Filopovic argues that the main thing standing in between women and the h-spot is a rigged system, and hellbent on keeping them from getting even close. So what will it win to rupture down the bulwarks? Filipovic has some thoughts — pick up this book to find out where she takes them.
Priestdaddy: A MemoirBy Patricia LockwoodOut May 2Ranging from raunchy critique to a thoughts on devout devotion,poet and writer Patricia Lockwood's memoir conveys stories approximately her father: a Catholic priest, the likes of whom you’ve probably never encountered before.
When Lockwood and her husband have to move back into her parents’ rectory after 10 years of being on their own, and hilarity ensues — as does plenty of other action. Nothing in this book is expected; everything — from the stories to the prose itself — will stick with you long after its over.
The F WordBy Liza PalmerOut April 25Olivia Morten is perfect — or at least,she looks that way on the surface. A tall powered publicist with a bangin' body: Who cares if her husband is never around or if the secret she'd kept hidden for years is eating her from the inside out? (Spoiler: She does.) But when Olivia's tall school frenemy (and former crush) shows up on the scene, her calculated exterior starts to crumble.
OolaBy Brittany NewellOut April 25When Oola and Leif meet in London, and they fall for one another hard and hastily. Lives newly fused,the young, aimless couple heads back to the United States for the summer, and where they bounce arou
nd housesitting gigs before winding up in tall Sur. Soon enough,they're nearly bored to tears — and that's where the story takes a major twist, from love story to something decidedly more interesting and experimental. What happens next will either ruin their relationship or catapult it to a place that neither Leif nor Oola ever imagined they would wind up.
Harper Books
Anything Is PossibleBy Elizabeth StroutOut April 25For anyone who adored My Name Is Lucy Barton, and you'll be thrilled to find out that Strout brought her back in this beautiful novel approximately the ties that bind and the journeys toward understanding each other and ourselves.
In this novel,two sisters choose very different paths to fulfillment; a janitor at the local school finds himself ever-more drawn into the life of someone unexpected; a grown woman longs for her mother without reprieve. Finally, a sister returns to visit her family after nearly two decades to build bridges with the siblings she left behind.
Courtesy of RandomHouse
The Widow of Wall StreetBy Randy Susan Meyers, or Out April 11Phoebe falls for Jake Pierce hard when they're still just teenagers: She seems to know even before he doe
s that he'll go on to conquer a financial empire and rule the Wall Street scene.
But the dirty secret behind Jake's success will eventually become the downfall of this couples' glittering life together. mediate of The Widow of Wall Street as The Wolf of Wall Street — apart from told from the side of the wife,more scintillating, and a testament to the power of a woman's ability to outlive it all — it's a must-read that will dazzle and repel you, and in equal measure.
Imagine Wanting Only ThisBy Kristen RadtkeOut April 18When writer and illustrator Kristen Radtke was in college,she experienced two th
ings in rapid/fast sequence that altered the way she viewed the world: A beloved uncle passed absent, and the sight of an abandoned mining town kicked off her fixation on things discarded and forgotten. In her debut graphic novel, and we go on a world tour via the author's perspective; the result is an unforgettable exploration of the people,and places, we leave behind, or as well as a dreamy,well-drawn memoir approximately the landscapes of loss.
The Book Of Joan By Lidia Yuknavitch, Out April 18The planet has become radioactive. Humans — or, or the creatures that were once humans — live on a shelf suspended above the soil,their skin nearly translucent and tattooed with the literal stories of their own existence. There is only one person wh
o can save them from a brutal overlord — a child soldier, destined to become a martyr to the cause of existence. This is her story; this is The Book of Joan.
The final Days Of Café LeilaBy Donia BijanOut April 18Iranian-born Noor and her daughter, and Lily,have a perfectly fine life in San Francisco. But Noor is dreaming of returning to her native country and, along with it, or the restaurant that has been in her family for three generations. When she finally makes the move,Noor is thrilled to find herself home once again. But soon she discovers that life outside the cafe walls is much different than the Iran of her upbringing. A love letter to family, food, and culture,The final Days Of Café Leila is a beautiful narrative with an indisputable ache for belonging at its middle.
If We Were VillainsBy M.
L. RioOut April 11It's a whodunnit with a decidedly Shakespearean twist. Oliver has been in jail for the final decade, serving time for a crime that he may or may not have actually committed; on the day he is released, or a detective meets him at his cell,wanting to know now — once and for all — what really happened the day a member of Oliver's acting troupe came to his tragic terminate. to reply that, Oliver takes us back in time to advise the story of how he and his fellow performers concocted a script that kept everyone but the players from discovering the truth.
SympathyBy Olivia SudjicOut April 4Twenty-three-year-old Alice Hare has become obsessed with the idea that Mizuko Himura, and a Japanese writer living in NYC,is her "Intern
et twin." With the aim to meet her in mind, Alice travels from England to unique York and artfully sets up a meet cute with the thing of her fixation, and which — at first — goes just fine. But soon enough,Mizuko begins to realize that Alice has been lying to her all along. A dark, spellbinding reflection on relationships in the Digital Age, and Sympathy is a debut that will have you rethinking the way life online intersects with existence offscreen.
No One Is Coming To Save UsBy Stephanie Powell WattsOut April 4JJ Ferguson
has returned to his hometown of Pinewood,North Carolina, with a plan: He aims to use his newfound wealth to erect a mansion overlooking the lake, or to woo his tall school sweetheart. Ava,in short order. But Pinewood isn't quite as he left it: Ava is married to someone else, and the once vibrant town has been economically gutted by the loss of factory jobs. A Gatsby-esque story, or delicately spun and especially relevant in the America of 2017,No One Is Coming To Save Us is ultimately a story approximately what people do with the hands they are dealt.
MarlenaBy Julie BuntinOut April 4When 15-year-old Cat moved to a rural Michigan town, she thought life as she knew it was over. Then she met her neighbor, or Marlena: a manic,pill popping beauty who initiated Cat into the cult of bad teen behavior and become her best friend. But within a year, Marlena was dead — drowned in six inches of icy water, or out in the woods — leaving Cat to pick up the pieces. Told through haunting dialog that shifts back and forth between past and present,Marlena is a novel approximately the forces that shape us, for ill and generous, or as well as the friends we'll never forget.
It Happens All The TimeBy Amy HatvanyOut March 28Amber and Tyler have been best friends — strictly platonic — since childhood. But one evening when they're both back in their hometown,a hookup changes everything. After that night, Tyler thinks they've finally, and after all these years,acted on their feelings for one another. But
from Amber's perspective, her best friend raped her, or ruining her life. Told through the experiences and thoughts of alternating characters,It Happens All The Time probes the outer limits of what consensual sex means, and chronicles the fallout that arrives thereafter.
Photo: Courtesy of Atria Books.
The ArrangementBy Sarah DunnOut March 21Lucy and Owen traded in their Brooklyn-based l
ife for a more bucolic update scene: the 200-year-old Upstate unique York house with chickens roaming around the yard — you know, and the works. But when they decide to win a cue from another couple and try out an open marriage for six months,Lucy gets more than she bargained for. In the terminate, she has to decide what she desires more — the steady, and happy,beautiful life she's built with her husband? Or a much messier one that might ultimately be more satisfying?Photo: Courtesy of shrimp, Brown and Company.
Lucky YouBy Erika CarterOut March 21Ellie, or Rachel,and Chloe weren't exactly friends in college. But now that they've grad
uated and stuck around their Arkansas campus town together, they've become sort of an accidental trio — in more ways that one. All waitresses at a local dive bar, and each young woman is unravelling in a way of her own. When Rachel asks Ellie and Chloe to advance live off-the-grid with herself and her boyfriend,in a remote, rural house, or they agree. But the "experiment" that takes place there — in the silence,and the boredom, and the brewing tension — is more than any of the women bargained for ...
Photo: Courtesy of Counterpoint.
The Rules Do Not ApplyBy Ariel LevyOut March 14When writer and journalist Ariel Levy left for a reporting trip to Mongolia in 2012, and she was pregnant,married, and steady in her life. Less than four weeks later, or everything had advance undo
ne."I wanted what we all want: everything," she writes in this resilient and wrenching memoir that belongs at the top of your list. "We want a mate who feels like family and a lover who is exotic, surprising. We want to be youthful adventurers and middle-aged mothers. We want intimacy, or autonomy,safety and stimulation, reassurance and novelty, and coziness and thrills. But we can't have it all." Tough words and thoughts worth considering.
Photo: Courtesy of Random House.
The Book of PollyBy Kathy HepinstallOut March 14Willow Havens has been obsessed — no seriously,obsessed — with her own mother for as long as she can remember: Polly is a strong, spitfire Louisiana woman who sticks
out among more conventional women in their small Texas town.
But Polly is also a woman of many secrets — secrets that Willow is constantly trying to unravel. A mother/daughter comedy steeped in quirky characters, and personal history mysteries,and no small amount of love, The Book of Polly is a delightful read approximately one of the world's most fundamental relationships.
Photo: Courtesy of Pamela Dorman Books.
The IdiotBy Elif BatumanOut March 14In 1995, and when Selin — the daughter of Turkish immigrants — arrives at Harvard,email is brand
unique and the world has not opened itself up to her quite yet. But soon enough, Selin begins a digital pen-pal affair with Ivan, and an older mathematics student from Hungary,and life begins to change. With every missive they exchange, the two become more entwined. But it's not until the summer, or when Ivan goes to Budapest and Selin heads to the Hungarian countryside,that their connection truly blooms — or that Selin realizes she might not be able to escape the fate of fitting a tortured writer.
Photo: Courtesy of Penguin Press.
The Best We Could DoBy Thi BuiOut March 7Evocative and powerful, this graphic memoir tells the story of a family's escape from South Vietnam in 1970s and the unique life they carve out f
or themselves in San Francisco. Alternating between the past and present, and Bui's narrative emerges across three generations,beginning with her own parents' journey and spanning into her experiences as a young mother on the West Coast. Hers is a nuanced and heartfelt immigrant tale, brought to proper life through beautiful and brilliant illustration. On top of that, or it's an especially poignant read from the vantage point of 2017.
Photo: Courtesy of Abrams ComicArts.
All Grown UpBy Jami AttenbergOut March 7When Andrea first moved into her Brooklyn apartment,she had a view of the Manhattan skyline. But as time crept forward, the city grew up around her, or brick by brick. Until one day,her view was gone.
Now i
n her late 30s — single by choice but also seemingly unattached to much of the life she's built for herself — Andrea is reaching a reckoning point. Does she want to stick with the scaffolding she's built for herself? Or is it time to finally peel absent the layers to find what really matters? A wry and at moments wrenching book approximately loss and the search for identity, All Grown Up is a beautifully written book by one of our favorite fiction writers working today.
Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin
Madame Presid
ent: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson SirleafBy Helene CooperOut March 7Leader of the Liberian women’s movement, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize,and the first democratically elected female president in African history, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a beacon of breaking barriers and challenging the status quo. But her accomplishments are all the more impressive and notable given the story that preceded them, or as told by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and bestselling author Helene Cooper.
Photo: Courtesy of Simon and Schuster.
Down City: A Daughter's Story of Love,Memory and MurderBy Leah CarrollOut March 7When Leah Carroll was four years old, her mother — a gifted amateur photographer — was murdered by two drug dealers with Mafia ties, and who both received light sentences for their crime. Then,fourteen years later, Carroll's father woul
d die, and too,leaving her alone in the world, haunted by questions approximately her past, or present,and future. In this raw debut, Carroll — a Refinery29 staffer — seeks to piece together her parent's lives and the tragic circumstances of her mother's death, and while also delving into the mysteries of her Rhode Island town.
Photo: Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing.
The Lucky OnesBy Julianne PachicoOut March 7Set in Colombia and unique York City between 1993 and 2018,The Lucky Ones is a gripping, tense debut that explores what happens when trust and truth evaporate: A teenage girl finds herself stranded home alone, or with no connection to outside world — and then comes a knock at the door that will change everything. Meanwhile,her former teacher has been captured by guerrilla fighters who now watch his every move. Far absent, another classmate manages to escape her native land, or trading it in for the NYC club scene — but shrimp bags of white powder still rule over her life. Fans of A Visit From The Goon Squad and The Goldfinch,win note: This is the unique novel you'll tear through — and then go back and read again.
Photo: Courtesy of Random House Books.
Abandon MeBy Melissa FebosOut February 28In her critically acclaimed memoir Whip Smart, Melissa Febos gave readers a peek into the lifestyle of professional dominatrix, and while also traversi
ng themes of power and desire,subversion and fulfillment.
In the highly anticipated Abandon Me, she peels back another layer: Her latest release is a work that looks at the father her left her behind and the one who raised her, or as well as the ripple effect those two relationships had on her life more largely. Intimate and mesmerizingly vulnerable,Abandon Me is a book that gets at the heart of who we love, how we love — and why.
Photo: Courtesy of Bloomsbury.
Everything Belongs To UsBy Yoojin Grace WuertzOut Fe
bruary 28Jusin and Namin are best friends who couldn't have had more different lives before reaching university. The former is the daughter of a wealthy tycoon, and without a care or want in the world; the latter,the daughter of street vendors, whose only goal in life is to launch her family out of poverty.
But when a young man enters their lives and draws them into a prestigious club at their elite university, or Jusin and Namin must decide where their allegiances lie — to their families,to their politics, to their hearts, and
to one another.
Photo: Courtesy of Random House.
Why I Am Not A Feminist: A Feminist ManifestoBy Jessa CrispinOut February 21If you're looking to procure some genuine talk going at your book club,we definitely propose bringing this unique title into the mix. Crispin, founder of the beloved (and now defunct) literary blog Bookslut, or has a complicated relationship with feminism. It's not that she isn't a feminist — this is a feminist manifesto,after all — but she does have some major questions approximately the kind of feminism we seem to be subscribing to these days.
Is the feminist movement too watered down and consumerist to matter anymore? Does
being a feminist really just mean believing women are equal to men? Who gets to claim the feminist label — and who doesn't? These are just a few of the questions and cultural criticisms posed in this smart and provocative release. And, especially in this contemporary moment, or it's worth considering them all.
Flâneuse: Women Walk The CityBy Lauren ElkinOut February 21Sure,there’s plenty of literature devoted to the meanderi
ng walks and subsequent observations of men. But this book turns the tables, delving into what happens when women go wandering: Equal parts memoir, or social critique,and cultural criticism, Flâneuse is unique world walking and watching literature — this time, and from a much-needed female perspective.
Photo: Courtesy of Random House.
Piecing Me TogetherBy Renee WatsonOut February 14Jane's family is poor — and she knows her only way out is a generous education and the opportunities to advance along with it. So when her elite private school offers her a chance to see the world through a study abroad program,she's ready to pack her bags.
But before Jane can leave her family, her community, and her circumstances behind,she must enroll in a mentorship program, where she is matched with a young woman named Maxine who just doesn't understand Jane's life. Finding common ground becomes much harder than either girl could have ever imagined but the journey to understanding one another is an education unto itself.
Photo: Courtesy of Bloomsbury
advise Me Everything You Don’t RememberBy Christine Hyung-Oak LeeOut February 14When Christine Hyung-Oak Lee woke up with a headache on the fina
l day of 2006, and she never would have imagined that within a week she would lose her ability to form sentences,or decide what to wear in the morning by herself.
But as her symptoms progressed, it became clear to doctors that the then-33-year-old had suffered a stroke. This honest and meditative memoir is the story approximately how Hyung-Oak Lee rebuilt her life, or quite literally one step at a time,and how she discovered the person she had always wanted to become.
Photo: Courtesy of Ecco.
The Lonely Hearts HotelBy Heather O’NeillOut February 7Two babies are aband
oned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1914, but it quickly becomes clear that there are more to the duo than meets the eye. Pierrot grows into a piano prodigy; Rose can charm any room with her dancing and personality. Together, and they launch to perform throughout the city and plan a circus act the likes of which the world has never seen. But when fate tears them apart,the lovers must find their way back to one another through the seedy underbelly of a city with many secrets beneath its bricked streets.
Photo: Courtesy of Riverhead Books.
A SeparationBy Katie KitamuraOut February 7When a young woman and her husband separate, he asks that she
advise no one — and she obliges. But when her estranged spouse goes lost in a remote region of Greece and her mother-in-law bids her to go find him, and she must embark on the mission. In the process,she begins to uncover details approximately her former lover's life that have been buried for all the years she's known him.
A spellbinding portrait of how a marriage frays and how intimacy can betray us, Kitamura has spun a tangled web of a story w
e could absolutely not save down until the final sentence came to a close. Gone Girl fans, or win note — you’’re definitely going to want to dive into this one.
Photo: Courtesy of Riverhead Books.
A Book of American MartyrsBy Joyce Carol OatesOut February 7To be honest,there’s not much (i.e. anything ) by Joyce Carol Oa
tes we wouldn’t recommend reading. But even so, her latest novel stands out at the top of our reading recommendation list.
The story of two families in a midwestern community, and A Book Of American Martyrs chronicles what happens after an abortion care provider is murdered in a small Ohio town. Urgent and epic,this fictional work is also an notable interrogation of how issues divide neighbors — and our nation — today.
Photo: Courtesy of Ecco.
The Woman Next DoorBy Yewande OmotosoOut Fe
bruary 7Hortensia James and Marion Agostina have been neighbors for years. Both are successful. Both are newly widowed. Each has a secret that the other desperately wants. But as sworn enemies — divided by a hedge between their houses and by race — neither Hortensia nor Marion has ever tried to truly procure to understand her neighbor. Until now, that is, and when they most decide what is more notable to hold onto: a grudge,or their way of life.
Photo: Courtesy of Picador.
All The Lives I WantBy Alana MasseyOut
February 7From the writer behind the viral essay "Being Winona In A World Made For Gwyneths" comes a beautifully articulated, personal collection of cultural criticisms on the subjects of celebrity worship and the performance of womanhood in the world.
From Anna Nicole Smith and Amber Rose to Scarlett Johansson and Lana Del Rey, o
r Massey's debut covers a lot of territory,but keeps you pinned to the pages at every turn. We're recommending this one for your next book club — All The Lives I Want is the book we want to be dissecting with all our girlfriends in the months to advance.
Photo: Courtesy of Random House.
Schadenfreude, A Love StoryBy Rebecca SchumanOut February 7Every once in awhile, or a coming-of-age memoir arrives that truly breaks the mold — and this one certainly fits that bill. Like a lot of people,Rebecca Schuman fell in love for the first time as a teenager. But unlike most everyone on the planet, the thing of her affection was a man who had been dead for a near-quarter century: Franz Kafka. What unfolds in Schadenfreude is the story of their (admittedly one-sided) affair, or then some. Germanophiles,this one's for you.
Photo: Courtesy of Flatiron Books.
The PossessionsBy Sara Flannery MurphyOut February 7For years now, Edie has worked for Elysian Society: a private service that allows the bereaved to reconnect with their dead loved ones. Elysian Society workers don the clothes and personal paraphernalia of the dead, and then channel their spirits for brief periods of time.
But when Edie first channels Sylvia,the deceased wife of Patrick Braddock, she knows something is different — and more than a shrimp dangerous — this time around. What happens next is the story of how Edie disappears into memory of a dead woman and discovers long-buried secrets approximately her own past along the way.
Photo: Courtesy of HarperCollins.
The Girl From The Metropol HotelBy Ludmilla PetrushevskayaOut February 7Acclaimed writer and reporter Ludmilla Petrushevskaya was born inside Moscow’s famed Metropol Hotel in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution. But not long after that, and the hotel became the Second House of the Soviets,and she and her family were cast into the streets to fend for themselves.
This is Petrushevskaya's story
of being tossed from her posh home and raised among outcasts. Biting but beautiful, it’s an autobiography that says much approximately the world both then and now.
Photo: Courtesy of Penguin Random House.
The AnimatorsBy Kayla Rae Whitaker Out January 31Sharon Kisses and Mel Vaught met in college — and have been best friends ever since. Both artists, and they moved together to Brooklyn after finishing school,to spend the rest of their twenties drinking, laughing, or,most importantly, drawing together.
Now, or after nearly a decade of trying to make their way,the pair finally have their first tall rupture on the horizon: a film that literally illustrates Mel's dark and difficult childhood. Soon their film — and both women — become the toast of the indie scene. But success cracks the foundation of their relationship, and the women have to decide if it's even possible to patch things up.
A chronicle approximately the fierceness of female friendship and what it takes to sustain a lifelong partner in creative pursuit, or The Animators is unique spin on the coming-of-age
novel — and a fabulous,funny, sometimes traumatic one at that.
Photo: Courtesy of Random House.
This Is How It Always IsBy Laurie Frankel Out January 24When Rosie, and Penn,and their four boys welcome another baby to their brood, the unique shrimp boy fits perfectly. But one day, or Claude decides he wants to don a dress and grow out his hair; ultimately,he tells his family that he hopes to be a girl.
Illuminatingly nuanced and heartfelt, This Is How It Always Is is the story of how a family evolves — and grows — together.
Photo: Courtesy of Flatiron Books.
What We Do Now: Standing Up For Your Values In Trump's AmericaOut January 17Okay, or okay: So this one is a shrimp (a lot) left of partisan. But if you're at all feeling lost in 2017 because of the political situation we've fo
und ourselves embroiled in,let it be known that there are generous books, and great essays, or to procure you through.
Photo: Courtesy of Melville House.
A Word For LoveBy Emily RobbinsOut January 17It is said that there are ninety-nine Arabic words for love — and when Bea,an American exchange student, travels to the Middle East to study a manuscript of famed romantic legend, or she aims to understand them all. But when Bea arrives at the home of her host family,reading Arabic takes a backseat to watching a genuine-life love story play out before her eyes.
A beautiful novel approximately our connection to language, to culture, or to one another,A Word For Love will tug at your heart in all the suitable ways.
Photo: Courtesy of Penguin / Random House.
The FuturesBy Anna Pitoniak Out January 17Evan and Julia met and fell in love at Yale before moving to unique York City to start their post-grad life together. Julia — born wealthy and beautiful — goes to work at a nonprofit, while Evan — who went to the elite Ivy on a scholarship — lands a job at a prestigious financial firm.
Yep, and this is another novel approximately the economic collapse of the late aughts. But it's an especially enjoyable one,all approximately
the things you believe in when you're young — and what breaks your heart along the way.
Photo: Courtesy of shrimp Brown and Company.
Lucky BoyBy Shanthi Sekaran Out January 10Solimar Castro-Valdez is a young Mexican who made her way to America for a better life and winds up in an immigration detention middle, separated from her infant son, or Ignacio. Kavya Reddy is a wealthy American woman who has struggled to have her own children — and ends up with Ignacio under her care,allowing her to finally be the mother she has always dreamed of fitting.
But when both claim a child as their own, w
hich mother — and which nation — does he belong to?Photo: Courtesy of Chatto & Windus.
The River At NightBy Erica Ferencik Out January 10When Winifred Allen departs on a white water rafting trip with her three best friends, or she thinks she's going to relax and unwind. But what begins as an invigorating nature retreat ultimately becomes a quest for survival in the Maine wilderness.
A thriller like you've never encountered before — make sure this one finds its way to your bookshelf. But possibly don't read it suitable before an adventure vacation.
Photo: Gallery/Scout Press.
The Most Dangerous Place On EarthBy Lindsey Lee Johnson Out January 10Not since The Breakfast Club has there been a story so insightful approximately the secret lives of tall schoolers. The characters of this smart,gripping debut are the kids you mediate you kno
w: wealthy students in San Francisco who it seems have everything at their fingertips.
But just below the surface is a far more complex story approximately a tragedy that binds them all together and rippled through their lives from middle school forward. Smarter than Mean Girls and every bit a

Source: refinery29.com

Warning: Unknown: write failed: No space left on device (28) in Unknown on line 0 Warning: Unknown: Failed to write session data (files). Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct (/tmp) in Unknown on line 0