If I Had Your Face
Frances Cha
Several women in contemporary Seoul navigate beauty, money, and K-pop. Vivid and unsparing.
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The Secret History
Donna Tartt
The Secret History by Donna Tartt is one of the books I’m jealous of other people for getting to read for the first time. In the opening sentence, you learn that a boy has been murdered, and the narrator, Richard, has helped murder him — the mystery, of course, is why. We go back in time, following Richard as he transfers to an elite New England college and becomes fascinated with a tight-knit, charismatic group of friends. The first time I read this book, I was completely carried away by the plot. The second (and third and fourth) times, I’ve been able to appreciate its exploration of beauty, morality, and the allure of belonging.
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (Neapolitan Novels, #3)
Elena Ferrante
Book three, and the friendship gets thornier and more real.
Intimacies
Katie Kitamura
A court interpreter at The Hague, unmoored in a foreign city. Cool, precise, and quietly unsettling.