Five Books to Read Right Now

Reading is an impossible game of whack-a-mole, only with pages, paragraphs, sentences and words instead of animatronic rodents. But don’t lose hope! Even the most well read person has gaps in their personal library. (There are people who still haven’t read any of the Harry Potter books, for example!). If you are reading this, you can read at least one book before the end of the month. If that’s your goal, here are some to try:

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A… story about the rapaciousness of American capitalism, along with its surprising ennui, told with off-handed wisdom, clarity, and I-should-probably-underline-that-amazing-sentence-kind of wit, (that, not for nothing, also involves men who turn into wolves)…

…THEN TRY:  The Hunger of the Wolf by Stephen Marche

the-hunger-of-the-wolf-9781476730813_hr

 

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR AN… entry into the growing canon of literature that explores, explains, and exemplifies the narrative complexities of America’s current wars, and the effects they’ve had on the confused and confounding Millenial generation, that flows with poetry, heart, irony, and hard-won truth…

…THEN TRY: War of The Encyclopaedists by Christopher Robinson and Gavin Kovite

war-of-the-encyclopaedists-9781476775425_hr

 

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A… surprisingly light literary blockbuster that inevitably drew as much praise as (possibly jealous) ire, about technological ambivalence, the questions of identity in our never-not-online world, family (a favourite topic of the author), and our potentially futile quest for authenticity and connection…

THEN TRY: Purity by Jonathan Franzen

9200000039977746

 

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A… shockingly ambitious, full-hearted doorstop of a debut novel (which, even in these print-averse times, sparked a million-dollar bidding war) about interconnectedness, art, music and obsessions set in the manic, lonely, and all-but-disappeared New York of the late 1970s…

…THEN TRY: City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg

32304-1

 

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A… novel that will change the way you see the debate that forever swirls around immigration — no matter how you see that debate now — while forcing you to keep the pages turning because of prose that bursts with energy, life, and unforgettable intelligence…

THEN TRY: The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota

F013593272