海角大神

1.听Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick聽by Zora Neale Hurston

Eight lost stories by Zora Neale Hurston? Sign me up. The iconic Harlem Renaissance writer (鈥淭heir Eyes Were Watching God,鈥� 鈥淏arracoon鈥�) cast her insightful eye on race, class, love, and gender in these stories while she was the lone black student at Barnard College in 1925. Edited by Genevieve West, the book offers a chronological trove of a classic writer finding her stride, including these lost eight, which have been rescued from obscurity from periodicals of the day.

2.聽Lady Clementine聽by Marie Benedict

Marie Benedict has written a fascinating historical novel about Clementine, Winston Churchill鈥檚 wife, keen political partner, and trusted confidant. She and her formidable husband inspired the people of Britain during the dark years of World War II.聽

3.聽The Blaze聽by Chad Dundas

An Iraq War veteran returns to his hometown. The trouble is, he was injured in an explosion and has lost much of his memory. His news reporter ex-girlfriend helps him piece together his past amid arson and murder that may relate to his boyhood. 鈥淭he Blaze鈥� is a gripping and suspenseful thriller.

4.聽Little Gods聽by Meng Jin

Su Lan launches herself from poverty into a physics career in 1980s China; things disintegrate after her daughter is born at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre. A chorus of narrators caught in Su Lan鈥檚 orbit teases out the slow unraveling of her psyche. The acute insights of Meng Jin鈥檚 debut novel linger long after its close.

5.聽American Dirt聽by Jeanine Cummins

A young mother and her son flee north after a Mexican cartel kills her journalist husband. Jeanine Cummins鈥� contemporary thriller juxtaposes the tenderness of a young family against the terror of the cartel and illuminates the humanity of those seeking entry at America鈥檚 southern border.

6.聽Stories of the Sahara聽by Sanmao

As a Chinese woman born in 1943, the peripatetic polyglot author Sanmao was a pioneering global citizen. These 20 essays about living in one of the harshest areas of the world in the 1970s are testimony to her audacity, courage, and utter charm.

7.聽Virginia Woolf聽by Gillian Gill

Virginia Woolf is a cipher, lurking at the margins of this book, which is subtitled 鈥淎nd the Women Who Shaped Her World.鈥� Gillian Gill鈥檚 research turns up fascinating details of her maternal lineage, but the book drifts off course in attempting to psychoanalyze the Bloomsbury years. The author makes the case that Woolf, and likely her sisters, was sexually abused as a young child by her half brother. The experience affected Woolf鈥檚 relationships and exacerbated her mental illness, but fortunately failed to extinguish her brilliance as a writer.

8.聽Fight of the Century edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman

Contributors including Ann Patchett, Yaa Gyasi, and Marlon James offer riveting takes on a century of landmark ACLU cases. The essays offer rich affirmation that the ACLU鈥檚 defense of 鈥渕arginalized people and unpopular causes鈥� represents 鈥渢he very best our country has to offer.鈥�

9.聽The Bomb聽by Fred Kaplan

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Fred Kaplan tells the fascinating, often surreal story of America鈥檚 nuclear arsenal, the efforts by some U.S. presidents to de-escalate the arms race, and the gambles by others that brought us to the brink of nuclear war. 鈥淭he Bomb鈥� is a compelling work of history.

10.听厂辞惫颈别迟颈蝉迟补苍听by Erika Fatland

In this absorbing travelogue, Erika Fatland picks her way through five former Soviet satellite states, witnessing the social, economic, and environmental damage they鈥檝e sustained. She talks with people who live, strive, and dream in these new countries.