Fiction

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield. "Fun easy read – Laura Bush story with a Midwest twist! High school tragedy, survival, falling in love to someone out of your element, questioning a marriage, repenting husband, finding religion, power, wealth, white house Read the 500 page book in four days. A real ego boost when you haven’t finished a book in a year. Very light, but not Danielle Steele." And, “am embarrassed, but whipped through American Wife and fully enjoyed the trash.”

Ancient Lightby John Banville.  "Gripping and wistful account of a long ago love affair in rural Ireland.  Gorgeous writing, if a tad pompous in places."

And Sons by David Gilbert.  “I loved this book ,  A story within a story… three generations of waspy men, fathers and sons, set in Upper East Side NYC,  It was so unexpectedly well written and funny and hauntingly familiar.  I felt like all the characters, as flawed as they were, were people I knew in my life for better or for worse.  It is also a page-turner with a very bizarre reveal at the end.”

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni. “A mix of fiction and biblical mythology, the book focuses on the Nephilim, human/angel hybrids created when god first created Earth and sent angelic Watchers to oversee humanity. The hybrids, beautiful, cruel creatures who live among humans, are dying of an unknown disease and attempting to discover the cure hidden in a convent. In turn, the convent houses a few nuns/angelologists who attempt to destroy the Nephilim before they ruin humanity. The book is reminiscent of a Dan Brown novel, however it feels like Trussoni got tired of writing by the end.”

Angle of Repose (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by Wallace Stegner.  One of our contributors reminded me of this gem, saying “I'm not sure why a book set mostly in mining towns in the West during 1880s appealed to me, but it did. It is the best book I've read!” Crossing to Safety, also by Stegner, has appeared on our list previously, one of my all-time favorites, and I think a good "beach classic."

Anonymous Sourcesby Mary Louise Kelly. When this book was on the list in 2013, two contributors had mentioned it, and it hadn't even been published yet! It was a great read, and is of particular interest to this blog’s readers. “An intriguing thriller from a former NPR correspondent about a young reporter who must match wits with spies, assassins and a terrorist sleeper cell targeting the very heart of American power… Thom Carlyle had it all: the rowing trophies, the Oxbridge education, the glamorous girlfriend. But on a glorious summer evening in Harvard Square, Thom is murdered—pushed from the top of a Harvard bell tower. The New England Chronicle sends a beautiful, feisty, but troubled reporter named Alexandra James to investigate. It is the story of a lifetime. But it is not what it seems. Alex’s reporting takes her abroad, from the cobbled courtyards of Cambridge, England...to the inside of a network of nuclear terrorists...to the corridors of the CIA...and finally, to the terrorists’ target itself.”

The Anthologist: A Novel by Nicholson Baker. “The title and subject matter may sound dry (an obscure writer annoys his girlfriend and himself by failing to write the introduction to a poetry anthology), but the book is hilarious. It will also make you think about poetry, and it sent me running back to Amazon to buy some books by the authors that he most admires.”

Apparition & Late Fictions: A Novella and Stories by Thomas Lynch. “Beach reads because it is short story format: Love, memory, family, set in Ohio, from a great poet. High class beach reading.”

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty.  “Excellent mystery, thriller beach read.  Once you start, you can't put down.  I felt on the edge of my seat while reading - very taut and psychologically twisted.  Lots of unexpected turns and don't want to say too much, but it delivers...”

Appointment in Samarraby John O'Hara. “One of the great novels of small-town American life, Appointment in Samarra is John O’Hara’s crowning achievement. In December 1930, just before Christmas, the Gibbsville, Pennsylvania, social circuit is electrified with parties and dances. At the center of the social elite stand Julian and Caroline English. But in one rash moment born inside a highball glass, Julian breaks with polite society and begins a rapid descent toward self-destruction. Brimming with wealth and privilege, jealousy and infidelity, O’Hara’s iconic first novel is an unflinching look at the dark side of the American dream—and a lasting testament to the keen social intelligence if a major American writer. (My husband and I read this along with two other couples and discussed over dinner and several bottles of wine. Lots of lively banhulter and interesting discussion followed).”