There There
Tommy Orange
A dozen Native characters in Oakland all converging on one powwow. Propulsive and heartbreaking.
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★ 5Shuggie Bain
Douglas Stuart
I read Shuggie in three hours during a sleepless night (in retrospect, it probably exacerbated my insomnia rather than curing it.) This novel is relentless. The setting and situation—a crowded tenement apartment in 1980s Glasgow—is bleak when Shuggie begins, and things get bleaker. And bleaker. And bleaker. If you can stand the emotional flagellation, Shuggie will reward you. The characterization
The River
Peter Heller
Two college friends on a canoe trip in the far north race a wildfire — and stumble into something worse. Tense and gorgeous.
Swing Time
Zadie Smith
Two mixed-race girls who love to dance, and the friendship that shapes and divides them. Ambitious Zadie Smith.