Every month, the Writer’s Bone crew reviews or previews books we've read or want to read. This series may or may not also serve as a confessional for guilty pleasures and hipster novels only the brave would attempt. Feel free to share your own suggestions in the comments section or tweet us @WritersBone.
All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg
Daniel Ford: Oh, to write like Jami Attenberg. What a masterful display of storytelling. All This Could Be Yours (out Oct. 22 from HMH Books) is packed with humanity, remorse, sorrow, anger, and true sentence-level beauty. There may not be a better scribe for the human condition out there right now. Every chapter, every character is a gem. Will be high on my year-end list for sure.
Listen to my previous interview with the author below and tune in Oct. 21 to hear our recent chat.
Caitlin Malcuit: As an indifferent sports enjoyer, Seth Berkman’s A Team of Their Own: How an International Sisterhood Made Olympic History made me feel a rare flicker of warmth in my cold, casual-observer heart. Berkman’s exhaustive reportage goes so much more in-depth than any “30 for 30” doc could ever dream of taking you. A detailed account of the creation of the unified Korean women’s ice hockey team, personal insight, and recollections from the players makes you feel like you’re growing up and training alongside these women, from their first time on the ice up to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. “A tale of unlikely friendships” doesn’t do a lick of justice to describe what these women experienced together as Berkman invites the reader to share in the team’s highs and lows—all with the eyes of the world on them.
Listen to my interview with the author:
Queen Meryl by Erin Carlson
Daniel: Read this book. That’s all.
Listen to Erin Carlson’s appearance on Pop Literacy:
Swapping Purples for Yellows by Matthew Duffus
Daniel: Matthew Duffus’ debut is like catnip for this reader. It features family drama, a compressed timeframe, and an out-of-his depth professor trying to hold his life together. It’s the kind of story you wish you had written, but leaves you glad it ended up in more than capable hands.
Listen to my interview with the author on this week’s Friday Morning Coffee.
When Life Gives You Pears by Jeannie Gaffigan
Daniel: As ordered by Jeannie Gaffigan herself on a recent episode of Pop Literacy (which you can listen to below), we’re sending plenty of heart eyes emojis into the world. Also, you should really buy her book for added inspiration.
You Can See More From Up Here by Mark Guerin
Daniel: I was instantly sucked into Mark Guerin’s debut You Can See More From Up Here. The first chapter sets the scene so well and I’ve returned to it a few times since to reread it. His main character Walker and his father Michael felt so lived in from the moment we met them and it’s their tortured relationship keeps the pages turning. Guerin’s prose reminded me of Richard Russo’s—heartfelt, darkly comedic, and laced with plenty of small-town edge.
Listen to my interview with the author:
Full Throttle by Joe Hill
Daniel: Joe Hill has been one of the podcast’s favorite authors since we started and we’ll read whatever he writes in perpetuity. We loved his short story collection Strange Weather (featured on the NovelClass episode below), so we can’t wait to dig into Full Throttle. As an added bonus, the collection features “In The Tall Grass,” one of two stories co-written with Stephen King (who has, sadly, yet to appear on our airwaves) and the basis for the new Netflix film.
Little Voices by Vanessa Lillie
Daniel: From the first page, Little Voices shoots your heart into your throat and leaves it there. Vanessa Lillie’s genuineness and heartfelt literary sensibilities meld perfectly with her tortured, yet dogged, protagonist and serpentine whodunnit. A sensational debut that will make you welcome all those dark voices in your head.
Listen to my interview with the author:
Circe by Madeline Miller
Daniel: I know, I know, I’m way behind on this incredible book and I have no real excuse. I’d still be wandering an Athenian marketplace, bookless, if not for a bookseller at Brookline Booksmith literally putting it into my hands after a book event with Edwin Hill. As someone on Twitter said to me recently, Circe is “full on magic.”
Every Moment After by Joe Moldover
Daniel: Joe Moldover’s young adult debut Every Moment After has one of the more shattering first chapters I’ve read all year. Graduating senior Cole Hewitt is famous, but not the way any young man should be. His picture was snapped after a school shooting, one that claimed his friend Andy, and he’s sleepwalking through his graduation day responsibilities when we first meet him. After graduation, Cole and his friend Matt, who was home the day of the tragedy, embark on a summer that test the bonds of their friendship and demonstrate how grief distorts and troubles reality, even for those right at the door of adulthood. A timely read for young and old readers alike.
Stay tuned for my upcoming podcast interview with the author!
Cloud and Wallfish by Anne Nesbet
Rebecca Weston: The year is 1989, and Noah has just been informed that he is ten years old, not eleven, and his name is, in fact, Jonah. He and his parents are moving to East Berlin—behind the Iron Curtain—so that his mother can work on her thesis. Or so she says. Noah has a long list of rules to follow and isn’t allowed to go to school—as if he won’t stick out enough just by being American, he has an Astonishing Stutter. Life is pretty lonely. Then one day, Noah meets Claudia (pronounced “Cloudia”), and the two strike up a meaningful friendship. But when they start investigating Cloud-Claudia’s parents’ supposed deaths, will that be enough to keep them safe? I really enjoyed the characters in this story, from earnest Noah to his seemingly clueless parents to imaginative Cloud-Claudia, and the humorous narration that continually pokes through the wall of grey. Cloud and Wallfish is a sweet story about staying true to yourself—even when you have no idea who you really are.
The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski
Rebecca: I know next to nothing about sports. I am obsessed with the work of sports writer Joe Posnanski. He is one of the most prolific writers of our time, and his consistent excellence inspires in me a sense of wonder. His first non-sports book, The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini, explores this very quality. What was it about Houdini that created such a sense of wonder during his lifetime? What makes Houdini loom so large to this day, nearly a century after his death? Was it his fierce dedication? His showmanship? Or is it that, like Houdini, we are all looking for an escape? I know next to nothing about magic. I could not put this book down. It is fun, witty, exciting, and it had me tearing up as I read its final lines. It brims with Posnanski’s trademark blend of delightful humor and genuine compassion. I love the moments when we join him on his journey of discovering yet another gem about Houdini; when he interacts with the eccentric players in the world of contemporary magic; and when he performs his own sleights of hand, which I won’t give away. But best of all, when I read Joe Posnanski’s writing, I am reminded that writing itself is a type of magic—my favorite kind.
The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini is available in stores now, and my conversation with the author is live on the Writer’s Bone podcast!
How Fires End by Marco Rafalà
Daniel: While I can’t recommend Marco Rafalà’s debut How Fires End highly enough, I don’t suggest consuming the amount of wine and cannoli I did while reading it. Rafalà also takes some risks in this book, which pay off beautifully because of the warmth and depth of his characters.
Listen to my podcast interview with the author:
The World Doesn't Require You by Rion Amilcar Scott
Daniel: “David Sherman, the Last Son of God” sets the tone of Rion Amilcar Scott’s blistering short story collection and there’s no let up from there. Scott plays with genre and form throughout and doesn’t hold anything back while exploring race, love, brotherhood, and humanity through the lens of his imagined town Cross River (built on the foundation of the only successful sale rebellion in the nineteenth century. This author is a talent to watch.
Holding On To Nothing by Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne
Daniel: I wish I had written every word of this novel. Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne’s lyrical, heartfelt prose goes down as easy as Basil Hayden’s on a winter’s night (any night, really). Her characters are scarred and troubled, but flinty and tenacious. Through them, Shelburne explores everything from parenthood and class to substance abuse and small-town life. A masterful debut I couldn’t put down.
Grand Union by Zadie Smith
Daniel: Zadie Smith has mastered essays and novels, so why not short stories? I love when our best writers explore the story form that I love most, so I can’t wait to dig into this. And, I feel like I’ve said this about a lot of the books this month, that cover is beautiful and pitch perfect for a short story collection.
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Caitlin: Olive, Again. Elizabeth Strout, again! Why isn’t this book in my grubby mitts yet? Until that glorious day arrives, I’ll settle for reading the outstanding “Motherless Child” excerpt in The New Yorker over and over.
Famous in Cedarville by Erica Wright
Daniel: Every time Erica Wright publishes something new—whether it’s fiction or poetry—we always marvel at her exceptional storytelling ability. Her new book, Famous is Cedarville (out Oct. 22 from Polis Books), is her first standalone and makes a strong case for her best yet. Wright is a master at warming the reader to her characters from the very first sentence. How’s this one grab you?
Samson got the call because he skipped church most Sundays, not because he had any experience with removing a body.
Yeah, we thought you’d like that. Do yourselves a favor and slither to your nearest indie bookstore and devour this superb novel in one sitting.
Listen to our previous interview with the author/poet below and tune in Oct. 25 to hear our recent chat.
Author’s Corner
Vanessa Little, author of Little Voices, stopped by the podcast recently and gave us a bunch of great recommendations, so you should add them all to your reading list, and pick them up at your local bookstore.
The Murder List by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke
This House Will Pay by Steph Cha
NovelClass
In Episode 3.11, Dave Pezza, Eric Privy, and Guido Fargiorgio discuss The Laws of the Skies by Gregoire Courtois live from Proclamation Ale Company.
Episode 3.12, recorded live from Barrington Books in Cranston, R.I., features Dave Pezza and special guest James Charlesworth (The Patricide of George Benjamin Hill) discussing Susan Choi's National Book Award finalist Trust Exercise.