Editor’s note: 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
Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
Daniel Ford: This book appeared on numerous fall reading guides I perused while putting this month’s #bookradar together. With that title, premise, and cover, it was a shoe-in for our list.
A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom by Brittany K. Barnett
Daniel: Hope, justice, and freedom sound like good things. Things worth fighting for. And certainly worth voting for.
A Year of Playing Catch by Ethan Bryan
Daniel: The pandemic really put a damper on my plans to visit author Ethan Bryan in Kansas City and play catch while devouring some barbecue. Reading his book about his year playing catch every day takes the edge off.
The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey with Michaela Angela Davis
Daniel: Stephanie Ford and I saw Mariah Carey perform last Christmas (which feels like 100 years ago) at the Wang Theater. Middle school Daniel Ford would have lost his mind during the hits medley. I make no apologies for my unabashed, ‘90s-nostalgia love for Mariah Carey.
Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
Daniel: One of the best things about having author Rachel Harrison onboard as a recurring guest host is that she recommends books like Adam Cesare’s Clown in a Cornfield. Because who needs sleep and time off from screaming in fear.
The Nicotine Chronicles edited by Lee Child
Daniel: We were lucky enough to get a sneak peek of Akashic Books’ The Nicotine Chronicles thanks to our interview with Michael Imperioli, whose excellent short story “Yasiri” is featured in the collection. The book also includes stories by Lee Child and Joyce Carol Oates.
This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Daniel: Tsitsi Dangarembga’s latest novel This Mournable Body was recently shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize for Fiction. I’m eager to get my hands on it and Dangarembga’s first novel Nervous Conditions, which I hear from readers is either as good if not better than This Mournable Body.
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
Daniel: Here’s where I admit I have yet to read Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels. While I still want to dive into that quartet of beloved books, I think the opening line of The Lying Life of Adults made me an offer I can’t refuse: “Two years before leaving home my father said to my mother that I was very ugly.”
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Daniel: I absolutely adored Yaa Gyasi’s debut Homegoing, so I’m all in on her second novel Transcendent Kingdom. One of the most beautiful covers of the year as well.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Daniel: Matt Haig made us readers for life with his novel How to Stop Time. There’s no way we can resist a book about a magical library written by one of our favorite authors.
Make Them Cry by Smith Henderson and Jon Marc Smith
Daniel: I was a huge fan of Smith Henderson’s Fourth of July Creek and had been eagerly awaiting a follow up. My patience was rewarded with one hell of a thriller (with the added bonus of co-author Jon Marc Smith) that my late aunt would have loved. I’m hoping us readers get to spend a lot more time with Diane “Hardball” Harbaugh in the future.
Daughters of Smoke and Fire by Ava Homa
Daniel: Try reading the prologue to Ava Homa’s Daughters of Smoke and Fire and not get swept away and keep yourself awake by any means necessary so you can finish it in one sitting. I dare you.
Next to Last Stand by Craig Johnson
Daniel: Boy howdy, do we love a Walt Longmire yarn. Craig Johnson never disappoints. We can’t wait to banter with the author again soon.
The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim
Daniel: Nancy Jooyoun Kim’s The Last Story of Mina Lee has been getting rave reviews from readers writers and it was a Reese’s Book Club selection. It’s all well-deserved for a novel I couldn’t put down. It featured characters who I’m still thinking about. Kim also provided a little life/writing advice when she was on our show: "Surround yourself with people who believe in you."
All the Broken People by Leah Konen
Daniel: I could not open up Bookshop.org fast enough after hearing Leah Konen describe her debut thriller All the Broken People. A couple asking for help to fake their own deaths? Yes, please, that can only go horribly, entertainingly wrong.
For the Best by Vanessa Lillie
Daniel: For the Best features one of the most satisfying, and most honest, endings I’ve ever read for a thriller (as well as perhaps my favorite opening line of 2020). Vanessa Lillie, a wonderful advocate for authors of all genres, stamps herself as an essential voice in the mystery/thriller genre with her sophomore effort.
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
Daniel: Beautiful cover and beautiful, gut-wrenching words inside. Just shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize for Fiction!
Living Color: Angie Rubio Stories by Donna Miscolta
Daniel: Donna Miscolta’s Living Color: Angie Rubio Stories is sensational, and she completely had us in her storytelling grasp from the moment Angie’s teacher tells her, “If you can’t skip, you shouldn’t be in kindergarten.” Angie is such a wonderful character and you get the full scope of her early life in this collection.
What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez
Daniel: Yeah, this doesn’t seem like something we need right now… “Nunez brings wisdom, humor, and insight to a novel about human connection and the changing nature of relationships in our times.” I don’t envy Sigrid Nunez having to try to follow up The Friend, but all signs point to her not missing a beat and providing us all with more insightful fiction.
Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
Daniel: To borrow a popular social media saying from my generation, I feel seen. Can’t Even should be essential reading for anyone in my generation or anyone who actually wants to understand my generation. Contrary to popular belief, we’re not the worst period generation period ever period. We work hard, too hard, don’t have outlandish desires for ourselves and our families, and most of us aren’t entitled, avocado-toast eating, themed-brunch-going, unicorn-latte swilling a-holes. Forgive us for railing against the broken promise of the American Dream we were sold as kids and the absolutely rigged economic system we grease the wheels of 24/7. Rather than trigger more anxiety, Petersen’s exploration of millennial life gave me hope that “it doesn’t have to be this way.”
Intimations: Six Essays by Zadie Smith
Lindsey Grant: As we approach month seven of a global pandemic, it’s possible the fatigue of consuming news and commentary about our current climate could be enough to make you shy away from this short collection of essays inspired by that very topic. Yet, this collection of prose is not to be missed. Smith eloquently broaches the subject in vignettes that are likely to send chills through your body (like I felt while reading “The American Expectation”), or offer reassuring comfort that you’re not alone in the broad range of emotions you’ve likely experienced since 2020 began. In addition, she effortlessly weaves America’s other long-standing pandemic, racism, into the narrative. Do yourself a favor, set aside a few hours, settle in to your favorite reading spot, and devour Smith’s “Imitations” in one fell swoop, or if you’re one to savor beautiful writing, take your time with it. How you read it is up to you, but read it—especially if you’re a writer.
Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
Daniel: So there are book descriptions and then there are masterpieces like this: The Boys meets My Year of Rest and Relaxation in this smart, imaginative, and evocative novel of love, betrayal, revenge, and redemption, told with razor-sharp wit and affection, in which a young woman discovers the greatest superpower—for good or ill—is a properly executed spreadsheet. Yes, sign us up for that. Plus, we like any book that features a blurb calling it “fast, furious, compelling, and angry as hell.”
The Big Door Prize by M.O. Walsh
Daniel: From the cover to everything inside it, The Big Door Prize is one of the best books we’ve read all year. These characters will sing to you long after you’ve put the novel down.
Snake by Erica Wright
Daniel: Another eye-catching cover for Erica Wright. We’re excited to slither our way over to her book Snake once we brush up on our Parseltongue.
Author’s Corner
Leah Franqui, author of Mother Land and America for Beginners, stopped by the podcast recently and gave us a ton of great recommendations, so you should add them all to your reading list and buy them from your local bookstore, Bookshop.org, Indiebound, or Libro.fm.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card
Conjure Women by Afia Atakora
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline
NovelClass
In Episode 4.07, host Dave Pezza is joined by Melissa Faliveno, author of the essay collection, Tomboyland. Melissa and Dave chat about The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel.