Editor’s note: We’re in the process of narrowing down our Best of 2019 list, so we decided to combine our November/December Books That Should Be On Your Radar posts. Feel free to add to this list in the comments section or tweet us at @WritersBone. Let us know your favorite reads of the year as well. Keep reading!
Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott
Daniel Ford: I’m including this 2009 novel by Megan Abbott because it’s been inching its way up my book pile all year, it features a Depression-era murder mystery/tabloid scandal, and we should all be reading her work whenever possible.
Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
Daniel: Stephanie Ford and I weren’t even thinking about what show to watch after finishing off all the available episodes of “Modern Family” on Hulu when the streaming service suggested “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and swiftly started the pilot episode. We fell in love with the characters immediately and we always feel good after watching one or two episodes a night. I stupidly put off reading Pop Literacy’s Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s excellent book about the show for fear of spoilers. Realizing that hiding from knowing too much about the events of a sitcom that aired in the 1970s was silly, I dove into Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted and came away loving the show even more. And, as I pointed out to the Twitterverse, I am a wannabe Lou Grant who is really a Murray.
A Particular Kind of Black Man by Tope Folarin
Daniel: It’s one thing to take the advice of a wise traveler next to you on an airplane, and quite another to then produce a work like Tope Folarin’s A Particular Kind of Black Man. After hearing Folarin’s origin story on Torie Clarke’s fantastic lit podcast “Chatter on Books,” I had to get my hands on the book and it did not disappoint. Beautiful and engrossing don’t even begin to describe it. It’s richly infused with the author’s history, intelligence, and your personality. The opening line and the fraught, memory-hazed first chapter had me brewing a pot of coffee and looking forward to a late night of reading. Don’t hesitate to follow my lead.
A Death in Harlem by Karla FC Holloway
Daniel: As a writer, Weldon Haynie Thomas is one of those characters you wish you could invent. Seeing the Harlem Renaissance from his eyes in this book was a lot of fun and Holloway breathes so much life into a man who has so many expectations and responsibilities other than his duties as a policeman. Considering the author recently retired as professor of English, Law, and African-American Studies at Duke University, it’s no surprise that A Death in Harlem’s mystery is intertwined with insights into New York City’s Jazz Age’s “high” and “low” society. After interviewing Holloway for the podcast, it’s clear to me that storytelling is in her blood and we can look forward to more adventures from Weldon in the very near future!
Me by Elton John
Daniel: I’ve been an Elton John fan ever since my father put “Tumbleweed Connection” in my hands when I was in high school. It’s been a permanent staple on my writing playlists, as have so many songs from the legendary songwriter’s oeuvre. I was predisposed to like this memoir regardless of its content, but I was completely ensorcelled by John’s storytelling. He explores both light and dark sides to his life with such humanity and verve that you’d swear he was sitting at your dinner table telling you all of these tales. Highlights for me including his prank war with Rod Stewart (that needs to be a podcast), his partnership with Bernie Taupin, and him embracing his role as a father. Pair this with the sensational “Rocketman” and you’ve got yourself something to keep you plenty warm this winter.
How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Daniel: I’ve been reading Dr. Kendi’s Stamped From the Beginning, which details how racist ideas originated and seeped into the fabric of American history, in between fiction pursuits, but I already have my eye on his 2019 offering How to Be an Antiracist. Both are essential reading, especially with a 2020 Presidential Election looming (one that features at least one prominent supporter of white nationalism). As a chaser, watch HBO’s “Watchmen,” which viscerally starts with the Tulsa Massacre of 1921 and explores racism and white nationalism in its own warped way.
The Dishwasher by Stéphane Larue
Anna Kramer: Does the world really need one more young-man-coming-of-age novel, or yet another Bourdain-style exposé of the unsavory side of fine dining? If it’s The Dishwasher, then the answer is, surprisingly, yes. As translated from the French by Pablo Strauss, Larue’s story of a troubled art student who takes a menial job at a Montréal restaurant is vivid and detailed, haunting and unsparing, as nauseating as a hangover and as thrilling as winning the jackpot (some of the most powerful writing depicts the highs and lows of the narrator’s gambling addiction). As a fan of Montréal and of urban novels in general, I loved the way Larue captures the city’s nighttime vibe, from the seamy to the elegant and sometimes both at once.
In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado
Daniel: Carmen Maria Machado has been on our radar ever since 2017, when Debutiful’s Adam Vitcavage named it one of the best short story collections of the year (he wasn’t the only one). Her memoir In the Dream House, about domestic abuse and written in yet another inventive way, has been similarly praised and I have grand plans for it being the last thing I read in 2019.
One American Robin by E. A. Mann
Daniel: I spent an afternoon in October selling books next to E.A. Mann at Ink Fish Books in Warren, R.I., and the more I heard him and his readers talk about his debut One American Robin, the more I wanted to dive right into it. The book features a disillusioned and whip-smart protagonist who is trying to navigate her family’s new normal dealing with the patriarch’s Alzheimer’s and her own arrested coming-of-age narrative. Mann’s spunky, fast-paced prose keeps the pages turning and his characters’ thoughts, dialogue, and actions will force your emotions right into your throat when you least expect it. I’m not surprised at all that it won the 2017 Independent Publishers of New England Award. Look forward to a podcast interview with the author soon!
Caitlin Malcuit: The 1936 Summer Olympics marked the first appearance of basketball at the Games. The U.S. Olympic basketball team made its debut as well, playing outdoors on a converted tennis court, and sometimes in miserable weather conditions. But that's not all there is to Games of Deception: The True Story of the First U.S. Olympic Basketball Team at the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Germany.
Andrew Maraniss wastes no time drawing back the curtain to remind us that the Games were a mere charade—an event to disguise the horrors perpetrated by the Nazi Germany regime. Maraniss weaves the story of the U.S. Olympic basketball team and the trajectory of world history together to create a well-researched and satisfying narrative that, at times, launches your heart into your throat. He ensures that the specter of contemporary parallels haunts you as you experience the Games through the eyes of the U.S. athletes.
This book is essential reading for absolutely everyone.
Tune into our Friday Morning Coffee interview with Andrew Maraniss on Dec. 6.
The Way We All Became the Brady Bunch by Kimberly Potts
Daniel: The Way We All Became the Brady Bunch (out Dec. 3 from Grand Central Publishing) is a fun, well researched ode to a slice of Americana that defied all odds to remain a cultural touchstone fifty years after the show premiered. Packed with Brady trivia and cast reminiscences, the book also features a complete accounting of the iconic blended family’s many reincarnations and revivals (both praised and ill-fated). Kimberly’s Potts’ exuberant writing style and the sugary, but tender, subject matter will intensify your longing for shag carpeting and morally satisfying life lessons (dispensed neatly within thirty minutes, of course). A perfect pop culture morsel not to be missed.
Daniel: I recently attended the American Society of Journalists and Authors 2019 Writers Conference (where I was on panel talking about podcasts with Deliberate Freelancer’s Melanie Padgett Powers) in Washington D.C. and had the opportunity to chat with Frank Sesno while we signed books at a post-conference cocktail party. While his books flew off the shelf and I enjoyed more than a few alcoholic beverages, I couldn’t help asking him a bunch of questions about his career and his new book. Sesno, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and former CNN talk show host, was articulate as you would imagine, passionate about the craft of journalism, and insightful about today’s media climate. Future Writer’s Bone guests, get ready, we’re upping our interview game! Don’t be surprised if we get Sesno on our airwaves one of these days to thank him.
Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer
Daniel: I read Jeff VanderMeer’s Borne for a NovelClass episode during its first season on Writer’s Bone (listen below) and have been a big fan of the author’s work and online persona ever since. I’m planning to read his new novel Dead Astronauts (out Dec. 3 from MCD Books) during an upcoming holiday break, however, there’s a good chance I cave and blitz through it an hour from now. And how about that cover? Wonderfully weird.
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
Gary Almeter: This is one of the best books I have read all year, likely one of the best books I have read in a couple years, and I am not certain why. It's about a wayward young woman who becomes a nanny for two children who spontaneously combust with some frequency. I am not a big magical realism sort of guy, but I loved every word of this. Here are my hypotheses on why I love this book: a) the nanny's story is a great redemption story; b) it is extremely funny, often laugh-out-loud so, because, in large measure, to the nanny narrator's matter of fact delivery; c) I keep thinking about the kids' father and what his situation says about the world and its constraints; d) the children, despite being fire children, are simply authentic children; and e) the relationship between the nanny and the kids' stepmother is fascinating. Plus it has a great ending. Like a really good ending. I just love the fact this book is in the world. It's a great story. Read it. You'll see why.
Author’s Corner
Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne, author of Holding On To Nothing, stopped by the podcast recently and gave us two great book recommendations, so after you listen to this, you should go pick them up at your local bookstore.
Alexander Chee’s Edinburgh
George Singleton’s Staff Picks
NovelClass
In Episode 3.13, host Dave Pezza chats with author Gila Green (No Entry, Passport Control) about Bianca Marais' If You Want to Make God Laugh.
Episode 3.14 features Dave Pezza and author Daniel Ford (Sid Sanford Lives!, Black Coffee) discussing Growing Things and Other Stories by Paul Tremblay.
In Episode 3.15, Dave Pezza and Daniel Ford discuss Erica Wright's winning new novel Famous in Cedarville.