Editor’s note: Another month of quarantine means another wonderfully overstuffed #bookradar! You’ll notice all the links we feature below lead to Bookshop.org or IndieBound. We encourage you to do whatever you can to support your local bookstore, including purchasing audiobooks from our sponsor Libro.fm. Feel free to share what’s on your bunker reading list by tweeting us @WritersBone or in the comments section below. Stay safe, stay home, and keep reading!—Daniel Ford
Pop Star Goddesses: And How to Tap Into Their Energies to Invoke Your Best Self by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
Daniel: We're breathing deeply and seeking inspiration with our pop star goddesses, thanks to Pop Literacy and #Authoring co-host Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s new book. Yes, wine is involved as well.
Godshot by Chelsea Bieker
Daniel: Sure, the cover might grab you initially, but it’s nothing compared to the opening words inside. The first two paragraphs alone should win awards.
The Lost Family by Jenna Blum
Daniel: Jenna Blum is doing great work with A Mighty Blaze, which is helping authors reach their readers during these crazy times. She’s also a damn good writer herself. We’ll let Crane brothers explain how we feel about discovering her work:
Within Plain Sight by Bruce Robert Coffin
Daniel: Bruce Robert Coffin was the leadoff hitter for the inaugural (and virtual) Boston Noir at the Bar. Within Plain Sight is his latest John Bryon novel, which we’re going to get to once we devour the rest of the series. Judging by how fast we’re rifling through it, it won’t be too long.
Swing Kings by Jared Diamond
Daniel: Jared Diamond’s Swing Kings is taking the edge off of missing baseball. The author’s passion for the sport is imprinted on every page. He also has a lot of terrific advice for aspiring journalists, so keep your ears peeled for his appearance on an upcoming podcast episode.
Finding Katarina M. by Elisabeth Elo
Daniel: Elisabeth Elo was another participant at April 13’s Boston Noir at the Bar and we’re glad we didn’t have to brave Siberia to get our hands on her book. Read it (or the novel’s description) and that joke gets funnier.
No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram by Sarah Frier
Daniel: Not only does Sarah Frier deliver a knockout debut, but she also shared good social media tips for authors during her appearance on #Authoring.
Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
Caitlin Malcuit: Amity Gaige dispenses of quotation marks in her mesmerizing novel Sea Wife, and who needs them, really? Gaige depicts the untangling of grief in the wake of tragedy that follows the Partlow family’s year-long, life-altering journey on a 44-foot sailboat by way of unfettered prose. Juliet Partlow seeks the traces of her husband, Michael, in his captain’s log as she reconciles the breakdown in their relationship and the decision to escape Connecticut for a year to go sailing with two young children in tow. The result is a thrilling voyage for readers as Sea Wife nourishes us with Juliet’s fevered analysis of the mysteries in her life (suburban discomfort, fractured marriage, motherhood, daughterhood, unfinished Ph.D. dissertation—and just who is this Harry Borawski fellow her husband keeps mentioning, anyway?). The writing creates such aching and longing and melds Juliet’s thoughts with yours (if you have an inner monologue, that is). You can’t keep from flipping the pages to figure out just what the hell happened on that boat. I can’t do the whole of Sea Wife justice, but Gaige has created a novel so human and raw and electrifying that this is easily a best of 2020 contender.
Empire City by Matt Gallagher
Daniel: Matt Gallagher’s Youngblood is one of my favorite novels from the last decade and he sure as hell didn’t disappoint with his sophomore effort Empire City. Set in an alternate United States, which isn’t too far removed from our own reality, the book is ambitious, relentlessly questioning, and endlessly thought-provoking.
Daniel: Stop binging “The Office” long enough to binge-read Andy Greene’s excellent oral history about the show. Perhaps my favorite part was learning that creator and showrunner Greg Daniels insisted on recreating a gas station he saw on the Merritt Parkway for Jim and Pam’s engagement moment. That’s the kind of attention to detail and enviable intelligence that transformed a show about a drab office environment into one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time. Greene’s book is a beautiful exploration of how the cast and crew pulled it off.
Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
Daniel: These are blurbs to live for:
"Stay-up-all-night, miss-your-subway-stop, spit-out-your-beverage funny...irresistible as a snack tray, as intimately pleasurable as an Irish goodbye."—Jia Tolentino
As if we needed more incentive to read something new from Samantha Irby…
Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles
Daniel: Paulette Jiles’ new book Simon the Fiddler started eyeing me the moment it landed in Writer’s Bone HQ. I tried to resist its charm and inviting description. I explained I had other books to read for interviews, pleasure, etc. So, of course, I’m reading it along with everything else.
Barker House by David Moloney
Daniel: I know, I know, blurbs can be misleading and are a weird staple of the publishing business, but when author Elizabeth Strout tells us David Moloney "is a voice to listen to," we're going to heed her advice.
Truth Be Told by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Daniel: After the virtual Boston Noir at the Bar, I closed my eyes, plopped my finger down, and chose this book from Hank Phillippi Ryan's catalog. Much like Hank herself, it's brilliant.
All the Best Lies by Joanna Schaffhausen
Daniel: As you can see, Boston Noir at the Bar removed some serious book money from our pockets. Pretty sure I perused Bookshop.org to add the Ellery Hathaway series to my cart during the event. The “at the Bar” part really lived up to its name.
Crimes and Survivors by Sarah Smith
Daniel: You could have heard a pin drop in my apartment when Sarah Smith read this at Boston Noir at the Bar. I can't wait to read the whole series and get Sarah on the podcast!
Sigh, Gone by Phuc Tran
Debutiful's Adam Vitcavage: Phuc Tran's family immigrated to America in 1975 during the fall of Saigon. They ended up in rural Pennsylvania where Phuc was one of the only non-white kids. Out of place from the start, his humorous and touching memoir chronicles his misfit years as a teen where punk rock and skateboarding literally saved his life from rednecks who didn't like him because of how he looked. The book uses literature as a framing device—there's a chapter that relates Kafka's Metamorphosis to puberty—and tackles the coming-of-age in a fresh way.
Broken by Don Winslow
Daniel: We’re still high from Don Winslow’s overcaffeinated appearance on our show while he was promoting The Border. Any new fiction of his is most welcome on our #TBR list.
The Boston Massacre: A Family History by Serena Zabin
Daniel: When you have a weakness for buying books and you’re currently surviving quarantine with wine, beer, bourbon, etc., it’s in your best interest to avoid your older brother’s nonfiction recommendations. Because now I have to publicly admit he was right and that I bought Serena Zabin’s “people’s history” of the Boston Massacre immediately. My future children will be well-educated despite not being able to attend a reputable college thanks to their father’s book-buying addiction.
Author’s Corner
Kathleen Barber, author of Follow Me, stopped by the podcast recently and gave us a ton of great recommendations!
Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins
Pretty as a Picture by Elizabeth Little
Temper by Layne Fargo
NovelClass
In NovelClass Episode 4.02, host Dave Pezza and author Gila Green (No Entry, Passport Control), discuss The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas.