These are the fiction titles Monitor reviewers like best this month:
Amity, by Nathan Harris
Book-loving, risk-averse Coleman journeys from New Orleans to Mexico in 1866 to find his sister, June, and the greedy patriarch who once enslaved them. Vivid, evocative, and thoughtful, Harris’ story of courage and character is an absolute winner.
Why We Wrote This
Our reviewers’ picks this month include British writer Ian McEwan’s latest, “What We Can Know,” a postapocalyptic novel that manages to skip the dystopian clichés. On the nonfiction side, American historian Jill Lepore is out with a sweeping examination of the U.S. Constitution that focuses on the amendment process.
To the Moon and Back, by Eliana Ramage
It’s the late 1990s and Steph Harper, a young Cherokee woman in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, wants nothing more than to rocket into space. Literally. Eliana Ramage’s astral sweep of a tale follows Steph and those in her circle as they navigate ambitions, identities, fears, commitments, and values. It’s a big, bumpy read – and worth it.
What We Can Know, by Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan paddles readers into a sea-swamped United Kingdom of 2119 to explore truth telling. With its striking take on Earth’s next chapter, the novel avoids the shoals of postapocalyptic cliché.
Little Movements, by Lauren Morrow
A Black dancer from New York pursues artistic success as a choreographer-in-residence in a white, rural Vermont town. Genuine characters, incisive prose, and timely wit elevate this novel.
Great Disasters, by Grady Chambers
Grady Chambers’ novel about the friendships among six high school boys that carries into adulthood is stunning. Their search for meaning (sometimes lost in adolescent antics and alcohol) highlights grace, hope, and sobriety.
These are the nonfiction titles Monitor reviewers like best this month:
Storyteller, by Leo Damrosch
Although Robert Louis Stevenson is known mostly as a writer of books for children, the 19th-century literary titan should be celebrated for the wider body of his work. That’s the premise of “Storyteller,” Leo Damrosch’s new Stevenson biography, which promises to attract new readers to Stevenson.
Dark Renaissance, by Stephen Greenblatt
Stephen Greenblatt’s skills as a scholar, storyteller, and literary critic are all on display in “Dark Renaissance.” This gripping book about the short, daring life of the Elizabethan dramatist Christopher Marlowe makes an eloquent case for his work’s beauty and sly unorthodoxy. Its chilling portrayal of Elizabeth I’s brutally repressive reign also reminds us of the damage wrought by unchecked power.
We the People, by Jill Lepore
Jill Lepore’s sweeping history of the U.S. Constitution focuses on the amendment process, arguing that the Founders intended the document to be revised. Polarization has made the ratification of new amendments nearly impossible, and Lepore warns that authoritarianism and political violence are more likely when the Constitution cannot be adapted to the times.
History Matters, by David McCullough
This gratifying posthumous collection of work by the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian compiles essays and speeches. The subjects include historical figures, tributes to various mentors, and the writing process; the connective thread is his deep love of history and steadfast belief in its value.
Super Natural, by Alex Riley
Science writer Alex Riley casts his inquisitive gaze upon the extremists. Forget the far right and the far left; these are the far-deep, far-up, and far-flung lifeforms that inhabit Earth’s less move-in-ready biomes. These beings, Riley argues, serve as guideposts, and their survival affirms life’s tenacity.
