19 Books That Should Be On Your Radar: September 2019

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.

Generation Friends by Saul Austerlitz

Daniel Ford: Stephanie Ford and I were recently on a team that dominated "Friends" trivia and it's one of our go-to comfort TV shows. We thought we knew all we could possibly know about the Central Perk gang. Saul Austerlitz proved we couldn't be more wrong. The author took us to school in his new book Generation Friends, revealing gems like Janeane Garofalo and Eric McCormack almost being cast as Monica and Ross, respectively. Since we’re a show/website about writing and writers, we tend to love books like this that include a behind-the-scenes look at writing rooms and different personalities that populate them. Austerlitz also explains why "Friends" is attracting a new generation of new viewers, but why it's likely to resist the reboot trend. Listen to our interview with him below and check out his appearance on Pop Literacy.

Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Daniel: Author Laura Lippman recommended this novel during our last podcast chat, and I finally picked it up at Shakespeare & Co. in New York City while on book tour duty. I may have purchased a matching water tower tote bag as well. I was so mesmerized by Brodesser-Akner’s writing style and her characters that I was 50 pages through the book before I came up for air. And did I mention I loved the cover? Might be my favorite of the year!

Carrying Independence by Karen A. Chase

Daniel: I live a few steps away from the Old North Church in Boston, and Bunker Hill is a relatively short journey as well, so I have more than a soft spot for Revolutionary War narratives. Carrying Independence is a damn good one! Nathaniel instantly was one of my favorite historical fiction characters, and seeing the events of 1776 through his eyes was just a pleasure. Huzzah, Karen A. Chase is a writer to watch!

As a River by Sion Dayson

Daniel: As anyone who listens to the show knows, I’m a complete sucker for well-written character studies that feature wonderful characters and great dialogue, which As a River very much does. As an added bonus, Dayson tells a nonlinear story that elevates all of the themes she explores. Greer Michaels is a main character you won’t soon forget, especially if you’ve ever had to go home to take care of family business.

Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann

Daniel: If you’re going to have someone else spend your money, Porter Square Books’ Josh Cook isn’t the worst person to do it. He recommended Lucy Ellmann’s Ducks, Newburyport (shortlisted for The Booker Prize for Fiction) during a recent Twitter chat and I dutifully bought the book and grabbed it at the bookstore soon after. We’re in the midst of planning an epic NovelClass episode featuring the novel, so I won’t say too much more here, except to say I thoroughly enjoy when authors break established forms. Considering this novel is one long sentence, I think this might fit the bill.

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong: Against Me! lead singer Laura Jane Grace gives us the best of a satisfying rock ‘n’ roll memoir—nightmare tours, angry fans, band breakups, and blistering self-revelation—along with the illuminating story of her accepting herself as transgender, then coming out to family, friends, bandmates, and the world. Through narrative and shared journal entries from the time, she spares no detail as she chronicles her journey from indie anarchist punk rocker to major-label success and failure, from husband and father Tom Gabel to transgender activist Laura Jane Grace. Sometimes harrowing, always riveting, and ultimately inspirational.

The Warehouse by Rob Hart

Daniel: “Prescient” is the word that kept coming to mind when I was reading Rob Hart’s The Warehouse. An Amazon-like company called “Cloud” has essentially taken over a resources-depleted world and become the biggest employer in the United States. Workers are able to live, work, and play (if you’d call it that) within “MotherClouds” across the country. We get to witness the company’s operations through our two main characters—one, a down-on-his-luck entrepreneur and the other, a female corporate spy with a black past. Cloud seems to run seamlessly while also giving workers a comfortable and reliable existence. Also, the on-the-surface benevolent owner is dying, which naturally creates a power struggle/vacuum that’s only hinted at in blog posts and company-friendly news updates. Yeah, you guessed it; something is very amiss about the whole situation. I don’t want to give too much more away because there were more than a few moments when I gasped in my dark apartment. Hart tells a gripping thriller/mystery while also delving into issues about work, human interaction, and our reliance on technology and streamlined systems.

The Missing Ones by Edwin Hill

Daniel: Edwin Hill’s writing seeps into your bones like a fall storm. In his superb new book, his diminutive heroine Hester Thursby confronts a twisted mystery enveloping an insular island town while nursing the still raw scars left over from her last case. Hill once again gives his characters room to breathe and develop, often getting in their own way while Hester roots out the truth. Mystery storytelling doesn’t get much better than this.

Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson

Daniel: Author Craig Johnson was an early guest on the podcast (Episode 6!), and we’ve been huge fans of his work ever since. Personally, I read at least two Walt Longmire novels around the same time every year, and it always feels like I’m reconnecting with an old friend. However, it also means I’m woefully behind the series. Hey, like Walt, I go at my own pace! That said, it was such a pleasure dipping back into this incredible world in Johnson’s new yarn Land of Wolves. It felt like I just had to take my hat off, kick my boots up on my desk, and follow along as some of my favorite literary characters did their thing.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

Rebecca Weston: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly is at once comfortingly familiar and excitingly fresh. It is the exact type of book that I enjoyed reading as a child—the story of a girl from olden times who wants more out of life than petticoats and marriage. It is unlike those stories I so loved because Calpurnia Tate is entirely her own person. Calpurnia is growing up in a small Texas town in 1899 when she discovers that she shares a love of the natural world with her reclusive granddaddy. Through Calpurnia, we have the joy of entering another time through the eyes of someone who doesn’t belong there. I love how distinctively practical Calpurnia’s voice is and how each chapter begins with a quote from Darwin’s The Origin of Species, which Calpurnia has decided to read. The story follows Calpurnia’s day-to-day life during one summer, but, as she grapples with her place in her small corner of the world, it seems to be about something much bigger.

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

Rebecca: My husband and I are expecting our first child this fall, and, in preparation, rather than learning anything useful, like how to, say, change a diaper, we have been reacquainting ourselves with our favorite picture books. One of my husband’s is The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, which was first published by The Viking Press in 1936. In the story, Ferdinand is a young bull growing up in Spain. While all the other bulls are running around and butting heads, Ferdinand only wants to “sit just quietly and smell the flowers.” When, through an unfortunate misunderstanding, Ferdinand is taken to the bullring in Madrid to fight a matador, he is tortured but refuses to fight. In the end, he gets to return to his peaceful field and do the only thing he has ever wanted—to sit, “smelling the flowers just quietly.” The fact that this is one of my husband’s favorite picture books makes me love him all the more, and, whether or not he can change a diaper, I think that he is going to be a pretty fantastic dad.

Small Silent Things by Robin Page

Daniel: Robin Page’s debut Small Silent Things is such a compulsive read. Falling in love with all of her characters, especially Jocelyn and Simon, was pretty easy. They’re all damaged, looking for the truth in their lives while also having to survive in the world. Grief, motherhood, class, and familial ties are all explored through these characters’ eyes, and the book’s structure made you keep turning pages until the very end.

Jenny in Corona by Stuart Ross

Daniel: Any book blurbed by author Rebecca Makkai immediately goes on our radar, but Stuart Ross’ Jenny in Corona moved toward the top of the list because 1. Makkai refers to Ross’ strange mind and 2. the book is set in Queens, N.Y. It was indeed a pleasure to dive into the warped mind of the novel’s protagonist and see my favorite New York City borough through his eyes. Plus, Jenny in Corona has one of the best covers you’ll see all year.

Three-Fifths by John Vercher

Daniel: It’s been a few days now, and I don’t think I’m over John Vercher’s debut Three-Fifths. In fact, it may take me quite some time to recover. Whenever you’re shouting at the characters (and, by proxy, the author) in a dark room late at night, you know a novel is a success. Bobby Saraceno has passed for white his whole life, and that life is put on notice when his black father enters the picture. It’s complicated by his best friend returning from prison a very, very changed person. It doesn’t help that his alcoholic mother doesn’t have the mental or physical foundation to navigate the situation. Vercher explores issues of race, family, and friendship in a tight-fisted novel that will leave your jaw broken by the time you’re done reading. Yeah, I’m definitely still not over it.

Author's Corner

William Dameron, author of The Lie, stopped by the podcast recently and gave us a ton of great recommendations, so you should add them all to your reading list, and pick them up at your local bookstore.

NovelClass

In Episode 3.10, author Edwin Hill (Little Comfort, The Missing Ones) and Dave Pezza take a deep dive into Lou Berney’s November Road.

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