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Mid-Year Book Recommendations in Fiction

Mid-Year Book Recommendations in Fiction

Mid-Year Book Recommendations in Fiction

We are almost half way through the year, and as always there are so many great books to enjoy. I wanted to share some of the fiction favorites I’ve read so far in 2018, and hope you will share your favorites with us in the comments. (Please note: Not all of these books were published in 2018.)

The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
Irish writer Boyne is in a class by himself when it comes to taking the reader on a journey through the lives of funny, compelling, and flawed folks just trying to get through the day and through their lives. The author explores taboo subjects and brings them to light with humor and grace. This book offers the proverbial “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll laugh some more” take on literature.

Elmet by Fiona Mozley
A finalist for the Mann Booker prize in 2015, Elmet exposes the seamy side of life in a small rural town in England. Told through beautiful, lyrical prose, the story centers on a family who has become one with countryside that surrounds them, and pits them against those who use muscle and intimidation to position themselves as overlords of the land.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
This beautiful, sprawling saga follows a family’s fate over a 70-year time span as they migrate from Korea to Japan. Part strange love story, part family narrative, and part historical fiction, the book will pull you in and take you for a ride until the very last page. The writing is superb and the storytelling is first-rate.

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Moshin Hamid
I was a big fan of Hamid’s award-winning novel Exit West, and I like this novel even better. Using a self-help book format, the author instructs his protagonist (and the reader) on how to seek those things in life that every good rag-to-riches capitalist wannabe thinks will bring happiness. The story unwinds as a complicated, life-long love story, and morality tale that is as funny as it is engaging and heartfelt.

Circe by Madeline Miller
Miller has set out write about key figures in Greek mythology. She uses the novel to explore the life of one key mythological character whose life intercedes with others of mythological legend. The book makes the characters (everyone from Helios to the Titans to Odysseus) both intimate familiars and larger-than-life players in the fates of the world. A great way to learn about (or refresh your knowledge of) Greek myth and stories from Homer.

Please let me know what books you’ve loved from your 2018 reading, and I’ll share a list from readers in a future post.

See you at the Library!

Kerry Cobb
Executive Director