November鈥檚 shorter days make reading all the sweeter
Our reviewers鈥� selections include a collection of essays by beloved novelist Ann Patchett, a ground-breaking biography on Picasso, and the history of the American Transcendentalist movement in the 19th century.
1.聽The Island of Missing Trees
by Elif Shafak
Why We Wrote This
The 10 picks for this month celebrate individuals charting their own paths, from a Muslim and a 海角大神 who fall in love in sectarian-torn Cyprus, to a U.S. secretary of state battling terrorists and a memoir by renowned Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei.
Cyprus, 1974. Tensions between the island鈥檚 Greek and Turkish communities are at a boil, as Kostas, a 海角大神, and Defne, a Muslim, fall in love. Their poignant story, told in part from a watchful fig tree鈥檚 perspective, blends facts about Cyprus with moving reflections on the toll of civil war, the challenges of being uprooted, and the interconnectedness of all life.
2.聽State of Terror
by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny
Well-crafted and engrossing, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny鈥檚 jointly written political thriller delivers wise commentary on power, partnership, and trust. (Full review here.)
3.聽Look for Me and I鈥檒l Be Gone
by John Edgar Wideman
How does one capture the vastness of Black life in America? In his sixth collection, author and essayist John Edgar Wideman continues to use the short-story form to paint a powerful, faceted reflection of Black history and culture. Both joyous and haunting, Wideman鈥檚 book deftly weaves together the past, present, and future.
4.聽The Bad Immigrant
by Sefi Atta
A modern-day Nigerian family wins the visa lottery to pursue their American dreams. Sefi Atta鈥檚 layered novel examines the culture clash faced by migrants trying to assimilate while still preserving their identities. Atta鈥檚 intelligent, unfiltered, satirical storytelling is compelling and compassionate.
5.聽White on White
by Ay艧eg眉l Sava艧
The author, a Turkish writer living in Paris, has produced an elegantly stark character study of Agnes, a painter. As Agnes shares stories of her life 鈥� as well as her artistic ideas 鈥� with an unnamed postgraduate student who narrates the book, her path becomes a haunting cautionary tale.
6.聽1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows
by Ai Weiwei
Art world superstar Ai Weiwei mines decades of history in a memoir that is equal parts political statement and personal narrative. The son of celebrated poet Ai Qing, who was banished by Mao Zedong during China鈥檚 Cultural Revolution, the author finds that his life hauntingly echoes his father鈥檚 when he is detained without charges and then forced into exile. The book illumines the vital importance of freedom of expression and stands as a declaration of the triumph of creativity in the midst of political oppression.
7.聽These Precious Days
by Ann Patchett
The heart of this generous collection of essays is a moving tribute to a woman named Sooki, whom Ann Patchett befriended during Sooki鈥檚 cancer treatment and helped in what turned out to be the last years of her life. Mixing the personal and professional, Patchett also writes about her three beloved fathers (biological plus two stepfathers), about book jackets good and bad, and about the sense of community that grew from opening Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee.聽
8.聽A Life of Picasso聽
by John Richardson
The fourth volume of John Richardson鈥檚 鈥淟ife of Picasso鈥� biography tracks the great artist through Paris in the 1930s and early 鈥�40s. Clear and compelling, it carefully and fairly examines his life and art.聽
9.聽The Transcendentalists and Their World
by Robert A. Gross
Robert A. Gross explores the wider community in Concord, Massachusetts, that challenged and sustained Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Gross spent decades on this exhaustively researched chronicle, and it鈥檚 worth the wait. In it, he explores the tension between individual contentment and social responsibility, which is as topical as the morning headlines.
10.聽The Correspondents
by Judith Mackrell
Judith Mackrell鈥檚 thrilling account tells the stories of six dauntless female journalists who covered the most dangerous World War II combat zones in Europe, reporting on the action while also fighting for the same access as their male counterparts.
