Goodbye, Vitamin
Rachel Khong
A daughter moves home to help care for her father as his memory slips. Told in little diary entries that are funnier and more tender than that premise suggests.
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My Dear You
Rachel Khong
Ten stories with premises that shouldn't work — a woman killed by a crocodile on her honeymoon picks out her appearance for the afterlife; a factory worker falls for an AI sex doll — and absolutely do. I've been a Khong fan since Goodbye, Vitamin, and this collection is her at her strangest and most playful.
★ 5Whistler
Ann Patchett
Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors for a reason; I couldn't put this down.
★ 5Heart the Lover
Lily King
A college love triangle from the '80s reignites decades later when crisis pulls the three back together. Turns out it's Casey from Writers & Lovers all grown up, and King just keeps getting better.
★ 5Clock Dance
Anne Tyler
A woman who's spent her life being useful to others suddenly drops into a family of strangers who need her. One of Tyler's most tender.
★ 5At Weddings and Wakes
Alice McDermott
An Irish-Catholic family in New York, seen through the kids being shuttled to their grandmother's apartment. McDermott makes the ordinary ache.